"You took too long to answer that question, Harry," Hermione said, still a little irritated. "But I believe you," she added with a smile. "There's one part I can't figure out... how did she know what was going on in the medical tent?"
"Wait, what? Was that just some kind of test?" Harry, for a second, nearly thought he was driving Hermione away from him.
Hermione grinned mischievously. "Don't worry, dear, you'll be getting an O from me if you keep doing what you always do. Now focus, Harry. Do you remember what happened during your checkup?"
Harry remembered the incident, nearly exposing the runes to the mediwitch. "My shirt got ripped during the race... the mediwitch noticed it and almost made me take it off, but I refused. Maybe she told her about it?"
"Not if she wanted to keep her job," answered Hermione. "I don't think a journalist could convince her to give up her career just for a quote in the paper."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, I guess you don't know about the privacy oath? It's not just something they say, Harry. It's one of the oaths that all mediwitches and Healers take upon graduation before they can start work. Apart from the Hippocratic oath, there's also an oath of confidentiality. She can't willingly talk about her patients, except to the patients themselves, their guardians, or other doctors, without prior consent or else she won't be able to work in the medical field again. And it's a magically binding oath."
Harry was surprised. He never knew about that, but it just added more to the mystery. If not from the healer, where else could Skeeter have gotten the information? The curtains themselves were silenced for privacy- he never heard Fleur leave or Krum and Cedric enter. "This is weird, Hermione. I almost let the mediwitch find out about the runes. I don't know how Skeeter was listening in to the conversation, but if she had seen them, I'm guessing that would be all over the newspapers. I don't want our secret getting out," he whispered.
"Maybe we can start practicing glamours, for now. I'll also do a bit of research to see if I can incorporate a hiding mechanism into the cluster. If not invisibility, then just a permanent glamour or something."
Harry knew what this was leading to. "You'll need to read a few books about it, I guess?"
Hermione nodded expectantly.
"Restricted books?"
Hermione nodded excitedly.
"Let's go."
"And why can't we just copy all these books into your tome, Hermione?" Harry stared at the wall of books that surrounded them. It was almost like a little fortress made of paper and leather.
"There's magical protections on the restricted books. And I can only copy books I already own, apparently," said Hermione.
"Oh..." Harry sulked a little, more disappointed in the fact that his gift to Hermione wasn't quite as useful as it seemed than having to flip through a lot of books. He enjoyed being with her, after all. The downside, of course, was that he always had to make room for her insatiable appetite for knowledge. After pulling a few books on glamours and disillusionment charms, she picked up a few more on Runes as well. Then she grabbed a bunch of spell books that dealt with privacy charms and wards. After only half an hour of reading, she realized very little of it was going to help Harry in his upcoming duels, so she found a few more for duelling. Harry was currently working his way through the latest copy of the official rule book of the European Duelling League. "Isn't there an easier one to read than this? It's just so hard to understand. I mean, it's all in English, but what does 'the release of a competitor's wand shall not constitute the defeat of said competitor without the prompt admission of their incapability of retrieval...' and all that mean?"
"That just means you don't lose the duel if you drop your wand as long as you can pick it up again," Hermione explained without looking up from her book.
"Then why don't they just write it that way?" Harry let out an exasperated groan. "You know what? I think I'd probably do better just fighting the duel and hoping I don't break any rules by accident instead of trying to remember them all."
"Hah! As if you really cared about rules, Potter!" came a venomous voice in front of him. Harry looked over the stack of books and saw a sixth-year Hufflepuff he didn't know. At his sides were Ernie Macmillan and another sixth year Harry recognized from Quidditch. What was his name again? Summers? Summerby? Sommerby? It didn't matter. He needed to respond to them.
"Sure I do," responded Harry in a loud whisper. "I wouldn't shout in the library. It's against the rules." Just as he said that, Madame Pince came around once again to warn them all.
"You're not getting away with it, Potter," growled the boy, more quietly this time. "We'll find out what you're up to."
"Yeah, don't think you'll fool us just because you're Harry bloody Potter. We don't care what people call you, we'll find the truth out ourselves," said Ernie.
Harry snorted. "Yeah, you do that, just like you did two years ago. I talk to one little snake and suddenly I'm the Heir of Slytherin. Weren't you the one who kept doing all the accusing and none of the investigating?"
"Shut it! You may have fooled Dumbledore, but you're not fooling us! You probably just called off your snake and then everyone thinks you're a hero! You're not getting away that easily this time!"
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