Кассандра Клэр: Draco Sinister

"I can't get Pigwidgeon," said Ginny.

Ron stared at her. "Why not?"

Her face was very pale in the moonlight as she returned his gaze with wide, unhappy eyes. "He's gone," she said. "I think Hermione sent him off already with a letter."

"Oh, God," said Ron, with finality. "Harry."

"I don't think we should tell him," said Draco in a hissing whisper. It was eight in the morning, and they were standing outside Lupin's office door. Having found nothing, the demon had eventually left their dorm room at 3 a.m., vowing to return at some future point to retrieve its "other half." Neither Harry nor Draco had been able to get properly back to sleep afterwards; as a consequence, they were both very tired and jumpy.

"But he's a werewolf, Malfoy," protested Harry, running a hand through his hair, which was standing up wildly. "He's used to all this Dark Magic type stuff."

"That may be," said Draco, "but he's still a grown-up werewolf. A teacher werewolf. If we tell him there are demons in our bedroom, he'll feel morally bound to do something about it."

"We can't tell him there are demons in our bedroom anyway," said Harry. "We can tell him there was a demon in our bedroom. Just one."

"I think teachers are required to regard even one demon in the dormitory as an administrative problem," said Draco. "Ten to one he goes right to Dumbledore."

"So what if he does, Malfoy?" snapped Harry. "You're just afraid he'll take your toy sword away."

"We don't know that that's what it was looking for!"

"What the hell do you think it was after? Your socks? Your collection of hair care products? Oh, wait, it doesn't have any hair! You want to know why? Because it's a DEMON!"

"Don't yell in my ear," said Draco, looking irritable. "You want to tell him? Fine. You go ahead and tell him."

"All right," said Harry, feeling oddly deflated. "I will."

And he knocked on Lupin's office door, which swung open. Both boys went in, Draco following Harry.

Professor Lupin was sitting at his desk, reading the Daily Prophet.

The cool morning sunlight filtering in through the window turned his hair to dark gold. He looked up as they came in and smiled, folding up the paper and shoving it into a drawer as he did so. "I was wondering if you were planning on coming in or if you were just going to stand outside the door and fight with each other all morning," he said.

Draco and Harry looked at each other with guilty horror.

"Oh, don't worry," said Lupin. "I didn't hear what you were saying."

He glanced at Draco. "I'm glad you came by, actually, I-"

"Did you get a chance to look at my sword?" said Draco quickly.

"I did," said Lupin. He stood up and crossed the room to a glass case that was hanging on the wall. Harry saw that Lupin had placed Slytherin's sword inside it. He took the case down, and carried it over to his desk, where he laid it down and surveyed it calmly.

"Draco," he said. "When the sword was in your family's possession, where was it kept?"

"In a glass case in our fencing room," said Draco promptly.

"And did anyone ever use it?"

"No," said Draco after a moment, "it was always in the case, no one ever opened it that I saw."

"Dumbledore told me that the case was shattered by a Whirlwind Charm produced by a demonic object of some sort," said Lupin, and Harry and Draco nodded. "A very odd combination of circumstances. I am fairly sure, though I have no proof, that that case your father kept it in was no ordinary one. For this is no ordinary sword."

"Well, of course not," said Harry. "Dumbledore told us it was a Magid sword."

"It's more than that," said Lupin, "This sword is what is known as a demon blade. You can kill absolutely anything with it: demons, vampires, immortal monsters, even the risen dead."

"Great," said Draco. "That'll be a lot of fun at parties. 'Hi, my name is Draco Malfoy and I can kill absolutely anything, what can YOU do?'"

"You will not be taking this sword to parties," said Lupin severely.

"In fact, you won't be touching it again for a while."

Draco looked at Harry as if to say I told you so. "But it's mine!" he objected, turning back to Lupin. "It's been in my family forever!"

"When I say that it is a demon blade," said Lupin, "I don't meant that it is a sword made by a demon, or for a demon. I mean that it is a demon. This sword is very alive. It is also very evil."

Draco had his arms crossed over his chest and was glaring at Lupin.

"How do you know it's evil?"

"I don't," Lupin admitted, "I'll need to learn more about it, perform more tests — " He broke off. "I'm sorry, Draco. I'll need to keep it at least until I'm done conducting the tests."

"And is it less evil if you keep it in your office?" asked Draco, biting his lip.

"It's not the fact that it's in my office," said Lupin. "It's the fact that's in this case. I might be mistaken, but I would imagine your father kept it in a case much like this one." Draco and Harry both glanced askance at the case, which looked to them like ordinary glass. "It's not glass," said Lupin, correctly interpreting their glances.

"It's adamantine. A material that resists most types of magical interference and," he added, looking at Draco, "is very nearly unbreakable. Perhaps another very strong Whirlwind Charm might smash it, but I wouldn't recommend attempting it."

"In other words, no point in my trying to steal it back," said Draco, with a crooked sort of grin. "Even if I used a Summoning Charm?"

"No point at all," said Lupin cheerfully. "The sword can't be magically located while it's in the case."

Draco and Harry looked at each other. No wonder the demon hadn't been able to find it.

"You'll get it back when I'm sure it isn't dangerous," Lupin said to Draco, and turned to Harry. "Now, did you have something you wanted to tell me, Harry?"

Harry glanced from Lupin, who was looking gently inquiring, to Draco, who was staring angrily off out the window. Harry knew that if he so much as mentioned that a somewhat hysterical demon had showed up in their room the previous night, claming that it was looking for its "other half"-which Harry now had no doubt whatsoever was Slytherinś sword-that Draco would never see that sword again.

Harry shook his head. "No, Professor Lupin. Nothing."

"Oooh," said Draco, as they left Lupin's office and headed off down the hall, "You lied to a teacher, Potter. And with a totally straight face, too. Pretty soon you'll be turning into me."

"Been there," said Harry. "Done that."

Draco grinned at him. "Come on, you liked it, admit it-" and broke off, as a tiny owl swooped low over his head, twittering madly.

"Hey!" said Harry, craning his head to look up. "Pigwidgeon!" He held out a hand, and Pigwidgeon landed in it, hooting tiredly. "Poor Pig," said Harry, "back and forth from Ireland twice in two days.

D'you have a letter for me?"

Pigwidgeon stuck out his leg, on which was tied a curl of white paper fastened with a red ribbon. Harry took the letter and released Pig, who flew up and sat on his shoulder.

Draco was looking at him curiously. Harry wondered if he was bothered that Hermione hadn't sent along a letter for him as well.

Admittedly it wasn't like her. She must have had something on her mind.

Harry tore the letter open, started to read, and went suddenly very white.

Draco looked at him curiously. "Everything all right, Potter?"

"It's-it's from Hermione," said Harry.

"I know," said Draco, his eyes betraying a flicker of alarm. "Did something happen to her?"

"She's fine," said Harry in an oddly strangled voice. "She's… fine."

"Then what's wrong?"

"She's gone off to spend the summer with Viktor Krum," said Harry blankly, still staring at the letter."In Bulgaria. She says she realizes she's really loved him all these years." He looked up at Draco with the expression of someone caught in a horrible dream. "She's… she's breaking up with me."