Lure Them In and Take Them Out

"I don't like Professor Snape anymore!"

Eliana slammed her History of Magic textbook onto the desk with a bang. "He actually threw me out of the dungeon!"

Luckily, Professor Binns hadn't arrived yet. Even though he was a ghost who barely paid attention to his students, a racket like that would have cost Eliana two points.

Hermione studied her expression and asked cautiously, "Did you do something?"

"Hey, since when does Snape need a reason to throw someone out? Look at Harry. Snape wants to take a swing at him just for standing there."

Simple-minded Ron missed Hermione's warning look. He also missed Harry staring at him sideways with a long face. Delighted, he jumped in.

"Eliana, you should've come to your senses ages ago! I told you that old bat Snape was no good, but you kept defending him."

Hermione hid her face behind her textbook. She couldn't bear to watch.

Sure enough—

Whack!!!

"Ow!!"

Eliana smacked Ron over the head with her book. A lump slowly rose on his head, and his face went X.X.

"Eliana, what was that for?" He clutched his head, aggrieved.

"Don't call Professor Snape such an awful nickname!" Eliana said, her little face dark.

"Wait, you said you didn't like Snape. Was that bait?" Ron stared at her in shock. "You lured me in just to take me out? What, are you stamping out every last person who insults Snape?!"

"What bait?" Eliana said stiffly. "I only said I didn't like Professor Snape anymore. I never said I hated him or didn't respect him."

The look on Ron's face was hard to describe. Imagine finally seeing your hopelessly lovestruck friend about to leave her Kappa boyfriend. You eagerly join her in tearing him apart, only for her to turn around and say, "Well, I don't like this one thing he did, but he's actually all right."

It was more sickening than swallowing ten thousand toads whole.

He hated everything, but most of all that lovestruck friend who had played him for a fool.

What, am I just part of your little game?

Every freckle on his face radiated outrage.

"Eliana, why did Professor Snape throw you out of the dungeon? Was it because you asked him about Nicolas Flamel?"

Hermione nudged the stunned Ron with her elbow and said reassuringly, "It's all right. Maybe the professors just don't want us to know. Even Hagrid wouldn't tell us, remember? He sent us out of his hut too."

Was Snape anything like Hagrid?

Ron immediately tried to leap up in protest, but Harry and Hermione pinned him down from either side.

"No, it was because I tried to steal his Truth Serum and give it to Quirrell. You understand, right? Three drops would make Quirrell tell us everything. It was hard to resist. But Snape caught me and threw me out."

"What??"

All three exclaimed at once, "You tried to do what?"

"Why are you making such a fuss? I didn't manage to steal it," Eliana said, baffled by their reaction and indignant. "I'd already put the Truth Serum in my pocket and taken it out, but Snape chased me down and snatched it back!"

"And I didn't even succeed, but he still took five points from me!" she cried. "Why does he have to be so fussy? He's a full-grown man, but he's so petty!"

"For the first time, I think Snape's surprisingly forgiving," Ron muttered, as if he'd been struck by lightning.

"Exactly. After all that, he only took five points," Harry said, dazed.

He imagined sneaking off to steal something from Snape and getting caught in the act... He couldn't help shuddering.

He suspected that if he killed a fly in Snape's office, he'd be assigned detention until next year for "disregarding life."

Eliana planted her hands on her hips. "Hey, whose side are you on?"

Ron still looked stunned. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd side with Snape over a fellow Gryffindor."

He shuddered hard, looking like a boy who had betrayed everything he believed in.

Hermione finally forced words past her shock. "Truth Serum? The Truth Serum I'm thinking of—the one whose use and dosage the Ministry of Magic strictly controls? Then you really can't complain."

Eliana felt a flicker of guilt, but she stuck out her chest and planted her hands on her hips anyway.

"It's not my fault. I asked him who Nicolas Flamel was, and he asked where I'd heard the name. I told him I suspected Quirrell was up to no good and had heard it from him. Then Snape said it was a shame Truth Serum couldn't be used on students. Wasn't he hinting that I could use it on Quirrell, since he's a professor?"

"And he put the Truth Serum right in front of me. Wasn't that a hint that I could quietly take it? But as soon as I did, he got upset. He's so petty."

For one miraculous moment, Hermione, Harry, and Ron sympathized with Snape. Was pettiness really the issue? How could you be so confident? Isn't it obvious who he wanted to give the Truth Serum to, Eliana?

"With that kind of confidence, you'll succeed at anything."

It wasn't until History of Magic ended that Harry finally managed to get the words out.

Eliana raised an eyebrow and stuffed her thick stack of notes into her schoolbag. "Of course I will," she said proudly.

She laid out her reasoning. "His reaction tells us he knows there's something in there. Maybe he even helped protect it. So Quirrell definitely isn't a good person. That purple garlic-head must want to steal the treasure inside!"

"But we still don't know who Nicolas Flamel is, or what could be so valuable that even a professor like Quirrell wants to steal it."

Harry sounded a little dejected.

"That's your task over Christmas." In high spirits, Eliana patted their shoulders. "Have a productive holiday."

Christmas was a major holiday, and hardly anyone in Gryffindor chose to stay. As it happened, both Harry and Ron had applied to do just that.

Hermione pulled a very, very long roll of parchment from her pocket and solemnly handed it to them. "Here's a list of books I put together during class. We can take this chance to look around the library."

Harry and Ron both looked pained.

Who wanted to spend the day before the holidays holed up in the library—even if something important, perhaps something truly momentous, was at stake?

"No." A voice that seemed to come straight from their hearts rang out. They both looked up, suddenly energized, each thinking the other had bravely spoken first and ready to back him up. Then they realized, to their surprise, that neither of them had opened his mouth.

Which meant it could only be—

Eliana, the library's most dedicated regular, said, "The holiday starts tomorrow, so I'm not going to the library today. I still have something to finish."

Something mattered more to Eliana than going to the library?

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, then stuck their heads out the window together. The howling wind and snow slapped them both in the face, and they shrank back with reddened cheeks.

But they were both certain of one thing: the sun hadn't risen in the west.