Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

cushions on which to practise, the theory being that these wouldn’t hurt anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, but it wasn’t working very well. Neville’s aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room – Professor Flitwick, for instance.
    ‘Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?’ Harry hissed, as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. ‘I’m trying to tell you about Snape and Moody …’
    This class was ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention. Harry had been recounting his adventures of the previous night in whispered instalments for the last half an hour.
    ‘Snape said Moody’s searched his office as well?’ Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and knocked Parvati’s hat off). ‘What … d’you reckon Moody’s here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?’
    ‘Well, I dunno if that’s what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he’s definitely doing it,’ said Harry, waving his wand without paying much attention, so that his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. ‘Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he’s giving him a second chance or something …’
    ‘What?’ said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier and dropping heavily onto Flitwick’s desk. ‘Harry … maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!’
    ‘Oh, Ron,’ said Hermione, shaking her head sceptically, ‘we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry’s life, remember?’
    She Banished a cushion and it flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at. Harry looked at Hermione, thinking … it was true that Snape had saved his life once, but the odd thing was, Snape definitely loathed him, just as he’d loathed Harry’s father when they had been at school together. Snape loved taking points from Harry, and had certainly never missed an opportunity to give him punishments, or even to suggest that he should be suspended from the school.
    ‘I don’t care what Moody says,’ Hermione went on, ‘Dumbledore’s not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn’t have given them jobs, so why shouldn’t he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit –’
    ‘– evil,’ said Ron promptly. ‘Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark-wizard-catchers searching his office, then?’
    ‘Why has Mr Crouch been pretending to be ill?’ said Hermione, ignoring Ron. ‘It’s a bit funny, isn’t it, that he can’t manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?’
    ‘You just don’t like Crouch because of that elf, Winky,’ said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window.
    ‘ You just want to think Snape’s up to something,’ said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.
    ‘I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he’s on his second one,’ said Harry grimly, and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew straight across the room, and landed neatly on top of Hermione’s.
    *
    Obedient to Sirius’ wish of hearing about anything odd at Hogwarts, Harry sent him a letter by brown owl that night, explaining all about Mr Crouch breaking into Snape’s office, and Moody and Snape’s conversation. Then Harry turned his attention in earnest to the most urgent problem facing him: how to survive underwater for an hour on the twenty-fourth of February.
    Ron quite liked the idea of using the Summoning Charm again – Harry had explained about aqualungs, and Ron couldn’t see why Harry shouldn’t Summon one from the nearest Muggle town. Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in the unlikely event that Harry managed to learn how to operate an aqualung within the set limit of an hour, he was sure to be disqualified for breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy – it was too much to hope that no Muggles would spot an aqualung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts.
    ‘Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something,’ she said. ‘If only we’d done human