With the two girls trailing behind her on the way back to the Slytherin Common Room, Kate had already cursed Sirius out a hundred times in her head.
If he hadn't meddled, she might well have caught Peter by now. Why else would she have nearly had her own clone discovered?
Now she had to hurry back to the Common Room and, at the same time, spare some attention to steer the armored warrior to a safe place where it could hide for a while.
The air had turned noticeably chilly. Malfoy, shielding Pansy, looked up and saw that Kate had no interest in them at all and was marching straight ahead.
"Hey!" she called sharply, trying to stop Kate. "Can you slow down? Can't you see Pansy's been frightened?"
Kate was slow to react. She walked a few more steps before turning around, baffled. "What did you just say?"
She was busy steering her clone toward the Forbidden Forest.
Malfoy was so furious that the words stuck in her throat. After a few seconds she gave a cold laugh, shoved past Kate, and strode into the Common Room.
Left standing outside, Kate blinked blankly.
So they didn't need her anymore?
Fine by her. She needed a quiet place to give the clone her full attention anyway.
She turned quickly, planning to find an unused classroom and lie low for a while.
Meanwhile, Malfoy led Pansy into the Common Room and waited there for a good while, but Kate never came in.
Only when Pansy whispered a reminder did she realize Kate had probably left long ago.
"Damn Kate! She doesn't take me seriously at all!" she swore under her breath, grinding her teeth.
Pansy had heard that line so many times her ears had grown calluses. She rolled her eyes and dug a finger in her ear. Seeing that the Common Room was empty, she said bluntly:
"Come sit with me for a bit. Honestly, that hunk of scrap metal nearly scared me to death today."
Malfoy hesitated and glanced around. Only when she was sure the two of them were alone did she lower her head.
With a stifled gasp of pain, she peeled a layer of "human skin" off her face.
When she looked up again, her short pale-gold hair had become a waist-length mane, and her sharply masculine face had softened into something delicate and lovely.
If you ignored the sour look on her face, which was exactly the same as before, she was a golden-haired beauty through and through.
Pansy put her hands on her hips and looked her over with satisfaction. "I still like you better like this."
"Shut up." Malfoy wrinkled her nose, looked down at the "human-skin mask" in her hand, folded it carefully, and tucked it into her robes.
Who had made the rule at Hogwarts that only girls could enter the girls' dormitory?
The mask her father had given her could reverse and conceal her gender. With it on, no one would ever discover her true identity.
In the eyes of the world, she would only ever be Draco Malfoy, the brother who had died young.
"All right, hurry up and come in." Pansy took her by the hand and pulled her into the girls' dormitory. She was about to lead her to her own dormitory when Malfoy's steps faltered and stopped.
Pansy turned around, puzzled, and saw that her friend had stopped right in front of Kate's room.
"What? You want to go in?" Pansy asked in surprise.
Malfoy was silent for a moment, then drew her wand. "Didn't you say you saw a photo of Professor Scamander on Shafiq's desk?"
"Hey, wait!" Pansy's eyes went wide, and she rushed over to stop her. "Breaking into someone else's room without permission? That's not really okay."
"I'm not going in to take her things. I just want to look at a photo." Malfoy refused to listen and fired an Unlocking Charm at the door.
The two of them stared at the lock. After several seconds of silence, it was clear the door hadn't reacted at all.
Pansy finally let out a breath. "Looks like it's got an Anti-Unlocking Charm on it."
Given Kate's skill at magic, the two of them together couldn't break through this door.
But Malfoy wouldn't let it go. "If she has nothing to hide, why would she use an Anti-Unlocking Charm?"
"Tsk, that's a stretch," Pansy said helplessly. "Isn't casting a charm on your own room her right?"
"Whose side are you on?" Malfoy shot her an irritated glance, and her gaze darkened as it fell on the lock right in front of her.
Kate's room had a photo of Professor Scamander.
And the two of them had acted so familiar with each other earlier, not like an ordinary teacher and student, or even old family friends.
That idiot wouldn't have been taken in by some old man like that, would she?
Grinding her teeth in silence, Malfoy turned away with a dark face. She was about to take a step when she felt something at her feet.
"This is..." Pansy crouched down in surprise and picked up the little creature blocking their path. "Isn't this Kate's Diricawl? How did it get out?"
Malfoy sneered at her out of reflex. "Weren't you listening in class? Diricawls can teleport instantly. It must have teleported out..."
Before the words were out of her mouth, her eyes lit up. She snatched Fluffball out of Pansy's arms. "Hey, take me inside, quick!"
Fluffball was timid to begin with, and the sight of these two strangers made it burrow into its own fluff, trembling.
Seeing no response, Malfoy suspected it simply hadn't eaten enough and coaxed, "Take me in and I'll give you the best, most expensive birdseed!"
Who knew whether it understood, but at the words "birdseed," Fluffball finally stirred and cautiously lifted its head to meet her eyes.
"Yes, I can buy you lots and lots of birdseed!" Malfoy said excitedly, seeing it was working. "And plenty of bird snacks too, all delicious!"
Fluffball relaxed at last. Its feathers stopped quivering, and it stretched out its neck and gingerly bumped her cheek.
Then it gave a delighted chirp, and it and Malfoy vanished on the spot.
Pansy, left behind, was struck dumb. She looked around, then ran to Kate's door and knocked. "Delar! Are you in there? Delar!"
Her friend's voice did come from inside. "Yeah, I got brought in, but there's a spell on the door. I can't open it."
"Then what do we do?" Pansy cried anxiously. "Hurry up and figure out a way to get out!"
The voice inside was far calmer than hers. "No rush. I'll bribe the Diricawl again in a bit. It can take me out."
Since she was already in, there was no reason not to see whether that legendary photo was real.
She turned toward the desk, but there was no photo to be seen.
Clearly, unless Pansy had lied, Kate had put it away on purpose.
Malfoy wavered. She was already inside, yes, but deliberately searching for that photo would mean something else entirely.
As she agonized over it, the sound of a lock clicking open came from the door.
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