"Caw, caw."
There were no birds in Death Swamp, yet when Harry Potter stood atop the castle walls with Galvin, a flock of crows suddenly appeared.
"You don't like that kind of bird?" Galvin asked.
Harry forced a smile.
"Many Muggles believe crows symbolize disaster and death. They're like the black dogs of the wizarding world. I heard you saw a Grim in class during your third year."
"But it wasn't accurate. No one died that year," Harry said at once.
"People say crows can foresee death, but they truly are clever birds. I once saw a crow play dead, making the other crows think it had eaten poisoned bird feed. The others really did fly away afterward, and it had all the food to itself."
"I don't think there's any food in this swamp," Harry said as he looked down at Death Swamp. After the sun came up, the mist had thinned somewhat, making the pale, cement-like mud easier to see.
"Crows don't merely eat corpses, Harry. Like humans, they're omnivores. Crows often use their calls to lead other animals into attacking creatures they can't defeat themselves. A dragon once lived in Death Swamp, though that was many years ago."
"I don't think dragons can live that long," Harry said.
Galvin curled his lip as he watched the Aurors searching the swamp. Harry had left in a hurry, but Zabini had left markers behind. Since he had not been gone long, his footprints remained. Before long, they sent up a signal that they had found something.
"There may be no dragon here, but there could be a Basilisk. That's what you said," Galvin told Harry before Apparating to the clearing in front of the castle.
"There's nothing here," said an Auror whose face was as scarred as Moody's.
"That's