The Monthly Exams were over.
Even the air in the Library felt relaxed.
Sunlight sliced through the Castle's high windows, dust motes drifting in the light.
Ron lay slumped over the table, poking an open Potions textbook with the end of his quill and letting out low groans.
"I bet Snape will definitely make that question about the Peace Potion and the Confusion Potion compulsory on the next O.W.L.s."
His voice was listless. "That was a whole twenty marks, Harry! Twenty! I couldn't even understand the question!"
Harry gave an absentminded grunt.
His thoughts had long since wandered elsewhere, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the report beneath the table-the report Moody had given him.
The Monthly Exams were finally over. He could devote all his energy to his real task.
He was even getting a little impatient to begin.
Hermione was unusually quiet.
A blank sheet of parchment lay before her, her quill poised motionlessly above it.
Click.
A soft sound.
Hermione put down her quill.
She looked up at Harry.
"Harry," she said quietly, "I want to talk to you."
"About Deputy Director Moody."
Harry's heart gave a jolt.
The air instantly grew tense.
Even Ron stopped complaining and looked at Hermione in confusion.
"This isn't a good place." Hermione glanced around.
An abandoned classroom on the second floor. The door slammed shut behind them, shutting everything out.
Hermione needed somewhere completely private.
She wasted no time and got straight to the point.
"Harry, the Monthly Exams interrupted Deputy Director Moody's earlier analysis."
She asked, "What else did he tell you alone afterward? Did he give you a new assignment?"
Harry immediately grew wary.
Moody's hoarse voice echoed in his ears-"This is a secret between the two of us, Potter."
His instinct was to brush her off with "nothing."
"Nothing