A small cottage just beyond the borders of Hogsmeade billowed a narrow pillar of smoke from its chimney. Windows, hazed over with a thin sheet of frost, glowed dimly in the early evening. It was approaching mid-November and the weather had never been colder. Already were the grass of spring and the leaves of autumn blanketed by a light, crisp coating of winter snow. However, the temperature outside would not falter the plans of the two shadows residing within that homely cabin.
One figure, heavily clothed in cloaks and robes of a black satin, paced about by the hearth, where a fire burned humbly. Every so often he would stop in mid-step to process a thought or two, and once an idea struck him, a second figure, seated in an armchair, would be consulted. This conduct of such suspicious behavior had been continuing for nearly a month now, and few of the townspeople were growing curious. The denizens of Hogsmeade were quite aware of this cottage, as it's chimney breathed forth plumes of gray smoke incessantly. It wasn't this that they were unaccustomed to, but the cabin had been abandoned for nearly thirty years. However, none of them desired to investigate the small house as it was told to be haunted, and thus, the Shrieking Shack would be let alone.
"Harry? --- Harry, wait up!" Hermione called after her fellow Gryffindor. Collecting her books and schoolbag, the bushy haired girl came bustling up towards him. "Where's Ron?" she asked.
Harry gave her a look of slight bemusement, those green eyes intent on Hermione's face. "Haven't seen him since Divination earlier. Why?"
"Curious, is all," she replied. "The two of you are always together. I mean, it's quite unlikely to find you apart." Harry nodded in agreement as she was right. He and Ron we nearly inseparable, and remained so since their first meeting on the Hogwarts Express. "There he is," Hermione exclaimed.
Rounding the corner that lead to Gryffindor Tower, came Ron, Fred, and George Weasley; all of which possessed golden freckles, a fair complexion, and the trademark red hair typical of such a family. The three of them seemed in good spirits, laughing and chortling as they came.
"Good news, Harry," said George, noticing he was also with Hermione.
"Ron's made Keeper," the other twin finished. Ron, just spotting his two friends, flushed a deep crimson that rivaled his hair.
"Smashing, isn't it, Harry?" Ron said, moving towards him. "Just after Divination, Professor McGonagall sent Fred and George after me. 'Told me I was just made Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team," he smiled.
"That's great, Ron," Harry retorted, smiling as well.
"Another Weasley on a broomstick," came a scoff. The petty insult come from none other than Draco Malfoy, who began pushing through a crowd of second years along with his two haughty henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle. "But then again, with you Keeper, it should make things even easier." The platinum blonde-haired boy sneered maliciously, glancing to his fellow Slytherins in self-satisfaction.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Hermione spat with complete disgust. Ron boiled with fury by her side, cunningly slipping a hand beneath his robes to take a firm hold on his wand. He would use it if need be, and had done so on many previous occasions. Granted, the results of which weren't necessarily to his liking, but he wasn't afraid to try again.
"At least Ron didn't buy his way onto the team," Harry said hotly. Those emerald eyes narrowed on his arch nemesis with the greatest of spite.
"Of course not, his family doesn't have near enough money. Can't even afford decent looking school books, those Weasleys." Malfoy's gray eyes caught a quick glance of the tattered binding on the book George held beneath his arm. "Then again, not everyone can be as rich as you, eh, Potter?" Crabbe and Goyle chortled fervently behind Draco's back.
"You shut up, Malfoy, or I'll have you!" Ron lunged forward, his wand pointed directly square between Draco's eyes. However, he was being held back by both his brothers. Malfoy fumbled for his wand, and once he had a good hold on it, took the same readied position as Ron.
"Go on, Weasley, I dare you."
"No, Ron --- Don't!" Hermione intervened, watching the two as they precariously threatened to duel.
"Come off it, Ron. He's not worth it," George said, holding his brother back by the right shoulder. "We can get him back during the Quidditch match against Slytherin."
"Yeah," Fred added with a mirthful grin, "Nothing a bludger or two couldn't fix."
"Here comes Professor McGonagall," Harry warned, spotting the emerald green clad Deputy Headmistress walking hurriedly down the hall. She looked as stern as ever. Her lips were pursed into nothing short of a straight line, and her eyes remained severe behind those square spectacles. Ron hastily hid his wand back in the depths of his school robes.
"And where are you all supposed to be?" Her voice was sharp, and almost tack-like. A single hand rose to fix the feather on her witch's hat that concealed her black hair, which was pulled tightly back into a bun.
"Ron was just telling us how he made Keeper for the Gryffindors, Professor." Hermione was the first to speak, and nearly all the others were glad that she did so. McGonagall gave them all a suspicious look, and then nodded slightly.
"Very well, Miss Granger, but I believe the six of you are to be in Advanced Transfiguration. The celebration can wait until later." Soon, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle all headed towards her classroom without a further word. "As for you two, you're not excused. Off to class with you, come on!"
"Bye, Harry! Bye, Ron!" The twins called after their fellow teammates before leaving for Professor Sinistra's class.
Harry, and Hermione had a great deal of fun with their lesson in Advanced Transfiguration that afternoon. Ron, however, didn't. The assignment was to transfigure a beetle into a tarantula and then transfigure their tarantula into a butterfly.
"It's a shame I let Rita Skeeter go," Hermione commented as she stared at the beetles in her jar. "She would have made a fine spider, wouldn't you say, Ron?" Ron was in complete disagreement, as he wasn't all too fond of arachnids. Instead, he simply glowered at her. Harry snickered to himself.
"Attention!" Professor McGonagall said in that harsh tone of hers. "Today's lesson will be comprised of three spells: Invarem, Araccio, and Rittorus. The first, Invarem, will allow you to transfigure your beetles into tarantulas. Araccio will turn the tarantula into a butterfly, and Rittorus will change the butterfly back into the beetle. Remember to wave your wands properly or the charms won't work." Soon the class was buzzing and chattering with anticipation. Draco, however, was torturing the two beetles in his jar by swirling them around like some sort of liquid. "Malfoy, would you stop playing with the specimen?" McGonagall hissed. He set the jar back on his desk and sat back with a sour expression. "Are there any volunteers?"
Immediately, Hermione's hand flew into the air. Parvati Patil, her partner for the class, gave Hermione an exasperated look. "Very well, Miss Granger. Would you and Miss Patil please demonstrate?" Professor McGonagall asked in a soft, gentle tone she used too infrequently.
"Gladly, Professor," Hermione said jovially. Reaching forward, she grabbed the glass jar on her and Parvati's desk. Unscrewing the top, she emptied the two beetles onto the desk. One of them, however, decided to escape and took flight in the direction of Parvati. As the beetle lightly hit her on the cheek, she yelped. The class chortled and grinned. Hermione, howbeit, paid no attention to the class or her partner. Instead, she was fixated on casting her spell. Pushing back the sleeves of her robes, she raised her wand into a readied position. Swish, swish, point. "Invarem!" Hermione called aloud. Suddenly, her beetle froze on the desk. It began to grow in size and sprout wiry hair along it's body. A second more and what once was a beetle became an ugly, black tarantula.
Harry glanced to Ron who turned a light shade of sea green. Instinctively, he pushed his chair as far as he could back away from the giant spider. "Araccio!" Hermione commanded, aiming her wand at the tarantula. As it's body mass began to shrink, wings of violet sprouted from the insect's back. Soon enough, for Ron at least, the spider had become a vibrantly-colored butterfly. The butterfly flit about the class, flying past Harry and Ron's table. Ron ducked in fear, imagining Hermione's charm wearing off and the tarantula falling atop his head.
"Well done, Granger," Professor McGonagall complimented. "Now transfigure it back into a beetle." Using the last spell, Hermione turned her butterfly back into it's original, beetle form. Sliding out of her chair with a big smile, she went and retrieved the insect from where it had landed by the window. "Now, following Miss Granger's example, I would like you all to try," McGonagall continued.
Harry unscrewed the top of his and Ron's jar, pouring their beetles onto the desk. Ron simply stared at his beetle, his wand shaking frantically in his hand. "Oh, go on, Ron," Harry quipped with a grin. "If Hermione can do it, you can."
"Shut up, Harry," Ron snorted. "You know I don't like spiders."
"Well, then, you may want an excuse from class because the place is crawling with them," Harry replied, looking around the classroom. Nearly everyone had managed to turn their beetles into tarantulas. Even Neville Longbottom, the infamous Gryffindor boy known for making things go awry, had managed to produce a tarantula. Yet, when he tried to transfigure it into a butterfly, he accidentally mixed up the spell with the conjuring charm 'Accio'. Instead of flying on brightly colored wings, the tarantula went flying straight into poor Neville's face. Seamus Finnigan, his partner, burst into laughter, but as a result he also messed up his spell, and his butterfly burst into flames.
"Mr. Weasley," came Professor McGonagall's sharp tone. "If you and Mr. Potter wish to pass this year's exams, you should be learning to use these charms."
"Yes, Professor," Harry muttered, staring down at his beetle, which was now crawling towards Millicent Bulstrode. He quickly prevented the beetle from escaping by cupping his hand in front of it. Once he had a nice aim, Harry lifted his wand and shouted the correct spell. "Invarem!" Ron copied, his face becoming a sickly pale, but only because the Transfiguration professor was looking on.
As soon as McGonagall stepped away, Ron pointed his wand at the beetle that was in mid-transformation. "Araccio!" He exclaimed, and before the tarantula was given enough time to complete it's metamorphosis, it began to sprout colorful wings from it's abdomen. Ron's fervent attempt to jump the spider's formation resulted in a winged creature that appeared to be half butterfly, half arachnid. The deformed insect began to roll and flop around, too aerodynamically incorrect to fly and too mutated to crawl.
Harry, however, successfully managed to transfigure his tarantula into a butterfly in enough time so that Ron didn't catch full sight of it crawling toward him. "Rittorus!" Harry said whilst pointing his wand at the butterfly, and it fell to the ground as a beetle.
By the end of Advanced Transfiguration, the classroom was filled with butterflies that matched the colors of the spectrum. Ron, nevertheless, hadn't managed to transfigure his mutant spider-butterfly thing back to it's original state. In fact, he was too busy amusing himself by poking his wand at it every so often and making it squirm and writhe about on the desk. Hermione, accusing Ron of insect cruelty, took matters into her own hands and returned the beetle to it's quintessential form. Ron was quite ticked at her for doing this, and thus didn't speak to her until it was time to go.
After class was dinner, and so Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed down to the Great Hall. Just as they approached the entrance, they saw a large group of students huddling around the large oak door on the right. The entire lot of them were whispering and chatting to each other, making a scene over something Hermione thought was probably pointless.
"What do you suppose this is all about?" She asked Ron and Harry, stepping into the crowd to see what they were all looking at.
"They've posted the new House team rosters," said Lee Jordan, who came up behind them. "Go on, Harry. Go check. See who your competition is for this year." Harry gave a shrug and then looked to Ron.
"Go on, Harry," Ron called after him. He stayed behind to talk to Lee, who by now, was congratulating him on getting the position of Keeper. Ron, naturally, turned a bright shade of pink.
As Harry stepped into the huddle of students, he could feel their eyes pressing in on him. What were they looking at? It was his fifth year at Hogwarts. The only people with the excuse to stare at him were the first years. Suddenly, walking toward Harry was none other than the beautiful Cho Chang. Harry felt himself freeze and the pit of his stomach instantly twist into a pretzel.
"Congratulations, Harry," Cho said with a pretty smile.
"Er--- Thanks," he managed to reply but only too late as Cho had by then slipped into the Great Hall with the rest of her Ravenclaw friends. What on earth could she be congratulating him for? Harry struggled to correct his thought process, and as he did so, the knot in his stomach dissipated.
Finally being able to bustle through the crowd, Harry and Ron both joined Hermione. The three of them found themselves looking at four individual sheets of paper, each differently titled with the House names and their respective insignia. Harry read each sheet as they appeared on the door:
Gryffindor;
Keeper - Ronald Weasley
Seeker - Harry Potter
Beaters - Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Chasers - Alicia Spinnet
Katie Bell
Angelina Johnson
Captain - Harry Potter
Hufflepuff;
Keeper - Morag MacDougal
Seeker - Kevin Whitby
Beaters - Elliot Rhys
Timothy Knowell
Chasers - Laura Madley
Hannah Abbott
Nathan Becket
Captain - Morag MacDougal
Ravenclaw;
Keeper - Molly Durgas
Seeker - Cho Chang
Beaters - Stewart Ackerley
Mandy Brocklehurst
Chasers - Devon McCurry
Sarah Pepperton
Gavin Reynold
Captain - Devon McCurry
Slytherin;
Keeper - Gretchen Bletchley
Seeker - Draco Malfoy
Beaters - Derrick O'Doule
Mordred Bole
Chasers - Adrian Pucey
Vincent Crabbe
Gregory Goyle
Captain - Draco Malfoy
Harry's eyes studied his name for what felt like a half an hour. He was Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team! Inside he was screaming with excitement, but he remained perfectly calm without. Finally it made sense to Harry as to why Cho congratulated him.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Harry!" Hermione beamed at him. "I knew you'd make it! Being the youngest Seeker on the team and all."
"Yeah, Harry, that's really great," Ron said as means of congratulations, but he was also too busy staring at his own name. He decided that it looked rather nice up there on that sheet of paper. A piece of him wanted to rip it off the door and frame it to hang in the dormitory. However, the lot of them were too pent up with enthusiasm that they nearly neglected who else now made the House teams.
"Oh, no way!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry. Ron. Come have a look at this." With her free hand, she gestured the two of them back over to the door. Her index finger, sporting pink nail polish, pointed out the two new names on the Slytherin team roster.
"What's this all about?" Ron asked, now staring at Hermione's fingernail as though it were foreign to him. Hermione took notice that he wasn't even looking at the names she was pointing to.
"Ron, what're you doing?"
"When did you start doing this?" He asked, looking up to her with a puzzled expression.
"Doing what, Ron?" She asked hotly. Harry, meanwhile, was just observing the two.
"Your nails," Ron began, "they're pink."
"So? What're you getting at?"
"What do you mean 'so'? You never painted them before." Ron studied her intently as though he were trying to read her mind.
"What does it matter, Ron?" Hermione asked, and she began to blush a light shade of red that matched the paint on her nails. She was shocked Ron had even noticed.
"You've never done it before," he insisted.
"Oh, Ron! Get over it! Now, look here," she continued, "Crabbe and Goyle made it, too! They're the new Chasers for Slytherin! And, look here! Malfoy's made Captain, too. This can't be good, Harry."
"What's so bad about it?" Harry questioned, completely missing the point Hermione was getting at.
"Yeah, honestly. Those two are so bloody fat they won't even be able to stay upright on their brooms," Ron added with a snigger.
"What are the three of you dawdling about out here for? Shouldn't you be having dinner with the rest of us?" The three of them looked up, where a slurring, slow voice spat at them with dislike and distrust. There stood none other than Professor Snape, the potions master. His skin was sallow and looking more sunk-in than ever. His long, black, greasy hair was kept tamed but untidy. Brown eyes followed a crooked, hooked nose to stare maliciously down at them.
"We were just looking at the Quidditch rosters," Ron said fervently. His dislike for Snape was easily detectable. Harry and Hermione stood silently by his side, awaiting what other caustic words the potions master would spit at them.
"You're lucky, Weasley. If I catch you out of place again, I'll be sure to take fifty points from Gryffindor for student insubordination. That goes for the rest of you," he snarled at the remaining students. As Professor Snape walked off towards the dungeons, the rest of the crowd around the door hurried into the Great Hall where dinner was being served.
One figure, heavily clothed in cloaks and robes of a black satin, paced about by the hearth, where a fire burned humbly. Every so often he would stop in mid-step to process a thought or two, and once an idea struck him, a second figure, seated in an armchair, would be consulted. This conduct of such suspicious behavior had been continuing for nearly a month now, and few of the townspeople were growing curious. The denizens of Hogsmeade were quite aware of this cottage, as it's chimney breathed forth plumes of gray smoke incessantly. It wasn't this that they were unaccustomed to, but the cabin had been abandoned for nearly thirty years. However, none of them desired to investigate the small house as it was told to be haunted, and thus, the Shrieking Shack would be let alone.
"Harry? --- Harry, wait up!" Hermione called after her fellow Gryffindor. Collecting her books and schoolbag, the bushy haired girl came bustling up towards him. "Where's Ron?" she asked.
Harry gave her a look of slight bemusement, those green eyes intent on Hermione's face. "Haven't seen him since Divination earlier. Why?"
"Curious, is all," she replied. "The two of you are always together. I mean, it's quite unlikely to find you apart." Harry nodded in agreement as she was right. He and Ron we nearly inseparable, and remained so since their first meeting on the Hogwarts Express. "There he is," Hermione exclaimed.
Rounding the corner that lead to Gryffindor Tower, came Ron, Fred, and George Weasley; all of which possessed golden freckles, a fair complexion, and the trademark red hair typical of such a family. The three of them seemed in good spirits, laughing and chortling as they came.
"Good news, Harry," said George, noticing he was also with Hermione.
"Ron's made Keeper," the other twin finished. Ron, just spotting his two friends, flushed a deep crimson that rivaled his hair.
"Smashing, isn't it, Harry?" Ron said, moving towards him. "Just after Divination, Professor McGonagall sent Fred and George after me. 'Told me I was just made Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team," he smiled.
"That's great, Ron," Harry retorted, smiling as well.
"Another Weasley on a broomstick," came a scoff. The petty insult come from none other than Draco Malfoy, who began pushing through a crowd of second years along with his two haughty henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle. "But then again, with you Keeper, it should make things even easier." The platinum blonde-haired boy sneered maliciously, glancing to his fellow Slytherins in self-satisfaction.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Hermione spat with complete disgust. Ron boiled with fury by her side, cunningly slipping a hand beneath his robes to take a firm hold on his wand. He would use it if need be, and had done so on many previous occasions. Granted, the results of which weren't necessarily to his liking, but he wasn't afraid to try again.
"At least Ron didn't buy his way onto the team," Harry said hotly. Those emerald eyes narrowed on his arch nemesis with the greatest of spite.
"Of course not, his family doesn't have near enough money. Can't even afford decent looking school books, those Weasleys." Malfoy's gray eyes caught a quick glance of the tattered binding on the book George held beneath his arm. "Then again, not everyone can be as rich as you, eh, Potter?" Crabbe and Goyle chortled fervently behind Draco's back.
"You shut up, Malfoy, or I'll have you!" Ron lunged forward, his wand pointed directly square between Draco's eyes. However, he was being held back by both his brothers. Malfoy fumbled for his wand, and once he had a good hold on it, took the same readied position as Ron.
"Go on, Weasley, I dare you."
"No, Ron --- Don't!" Hermione intervened, watching the two as they precariously threatened to duel.
"Come off it, Ron. He's not worth it," George said, holding his brother back by the right shoulder. "We can get him back during the Quidditch match against Slytherin."
"Yeah," Fred added with a mirthful grin, "Nothing a bludger or two couldn't fix."
"Here comes Professor McGonagall," Harry warned, spotting the emerald green clad Deputy Headmistress walking hurriedly down the hall. She looked as stern as ever. Her lips were pursed into nothing short of a straight line, and her eyes remained severe behind those square spectacles. Ron hastily hid his wand back in the depths of his school robes.
"And where are you all supposed to be?" Her voice was sharp, and almost tack-like. A single hand rose to fix the feather on her witch's hat that concealed her black hair, which was pulled tightly back into a bun.
"Ron was just telling us how he made Keeper for the Gryffindors, Professor." Hermione was the first to speak, and nearly all the others were glad that she did so. McGonagall gave them all a suspicious look, and then nodded slightly.
"Very well, Miss Granger, but I believe the six of you are to be in Advanced Transfiguration. The celebration can wait until later." Soon, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle all headed towards her classroom without a further word. "As for you two, you're not excused. Off to class with you, come on!"
"Bye, Harry! Bye, Ron!" The twins called after their fellow teammates before leaving for Professor Sinistra's class.
Harry, and Hermione had a great deal of fun with their lesson in Advanced Transfiguration that afternoon. Ron, however, didn't. The assignment was to transfigure a beetle into a tarantula and then transfigure their tarantula into a butterfly.
"It's a shame I let Rita Skeeter go," Hermione commented as she stared at the beetles in her jar. "She would have made a fine spider, wouldn't you say, Ron?" Ron was in complete disagreement, as he wasn't all too fond of arachnids. Instead, he simply glowered at her. Harry snickered to himself.
"Attention!" Professor McGonagall said in that harsh tone of hers. "Today's lesson will be comprised of three spells: Invarem, Araccio, and Rittorus. The first, Invarem, will allow you to transfigure your beetles into tarantulas. Araccio will turn the tarantula into a butterfly, and Rittorus will change the butterfly back into the beetle. Remember to wave your wands properly or the charms won't work." Soon the class was buzzing and chattering with anticipation. Draco, however, was torturing the two beetles in his jar by swirling them around like some sort of liquid. "Malfoy, would you stop playing with the specimen?" McGonagall hissed. He set the jar back on his desk and sat back with a sour expression. "Are there any volunteers?"
Immediately, Hermione's hand flew into the air. Parvati Patil, her partner for the class, gave Hermione an exasperated look. "Very well, Miss Granger. Would you and Miss Patil please demonstrate?" Professor McGonagall asked in a soft, gentle tone she used too infrequently.
"Gladly, Professor," Hermione said jovially. Reaching forward, she grabbed the glass jar on her and Parvati's desk. Unscrewing the top, she emptied the two beetles onto the desk. One of them, however, decided to escape and took flight in the direction of Parvati. As the beetle lightly hit her on the cheek, she yelped. The class chortled and grinned. Hermione, howbeit, paid no attention to the class or her partner. Instead, she was fixated on casting her spell. Pushing back the sleeves of her robes, she raised her wand into a readied position. Swish, swish, point. "Invarem!" Hermione called aloud. Suddenly, her beetle froze on the desk. It began to grow in size and sprout wiry hair along it's body. A second more and what once was a beetle became an ugly, black tarantula.
Harry glanced to Ron who turned a light shade of sea green. Instinctively, he pushed his chair as far as he could back away from the giant spider. "Araccio!" Hermione commanded, aiming her wand at the tarantula. As it's body mass began to shrink, wings of violet sprouted from the insect's back. Soon enough, for Ron at least, the spider had become a vibrantly-colored butterfly. The butterfly flit about the class, flying past Harry and Ron's table. Ron ducked in fear, imagining Hermione's charm wearing off and the tarantula falling atop his head.
"Well done, Granger," Professor McGonagall complimented. "Now transfigure it back into a beetle." Using the last spell, Hermione turned her butterfly back into it's original, beetle form. Sliding out of her chair with a big smile, she went and retrieved the insect from where it had landed by the window. "Now, following Miss Granger's example, I would like you all to try," McGonagall continued.
Harry unscrewed the top of his and Ron's jar, pouring their beetles onto the desk. Ron simply stared at his beetle, his wand shaking frantically in his hand. "Oh, go on, Ron," Harry quipped with a grin. "If Hermione can do it, you can."
"Shut up, Harry," Ron snorted. "You know I don't like spiders."
"Well, then, you may want an excuse from class because the place is crawling with them," Harry replied, looking around the classroom. Nearly everyone had managed to turn their beetles into tarantulas. Even Neville Longbottom, the infamous Gryffindor boy known for making things go awry, had managed to produce a tarantula. Yet, when he tried to transfigure it into a butterfly, he accidentally mixed up the spell with the conjuring charm 'Accio'. Instead of flying on brightly colored wings, the tarantula went flying straight into poor Neville's face. Seamus Finnigan, his partner, burst into laughter, but as a result he also messed up his spell, and his butterfly burst into flames.
"Mr. Weasley," came Professor McGonagall's sharp tone. "If you and Mr. Potter wish to pass this year's exams, you should be learning to use these charms."
"Yes, Professor," Harry muttered, staring down at his beetle, which was now crawling towards Millicent Bulstrode. He quickly prevented the beetle from escaping by cupping his hand in front of it. Once he had a nice aim, Harry lifted his wand and shouted the correct spell. "Invarem!" Ron copied, his face becoming a sickly pale, but only because the Transfiguration professor was looking on.
As soon as McGonagall stepped away, Ron pointed his wand at the beetle that was in mid-transformation. "Araccio!" He exclaimed, and before the tarantula was given enough time to complete it's metamorphosis, it began to sprout colorful wings from it's abdomen. Ron's fervent attempt to jump the spider's formation resulted in a winged creature that appeared to be half butterfly, half arachnid. The deformed insect began to roll and flop around, too aerodynamically incorrect to fly and too mutated to crawl.
Harry, however, successfully managed to transfigure his tarantula into a butterfly in enough time so that Ron didn't catch full sight of it crawling toward him. "Rittorus!" Harry said whilst pointing his wand at the butterfly, and it fell to the ground as a beetle.
By the end of Advanced Transfiguration, the classroom was filled with butterflies that matched the colors of the spectrum. Ron, nevertheless, hadn't managed to transfigure his mutant spider-butterfly thing back to it's original state. In fact, he was too busy amusing himself by poking his wand at it every so often and making it squirm and writhe about on the desk. Hermione, accusing Ron of insect cruelty, took matters into her own hands and returned the beetle to it's quintessential form. Ron was quite ticked at her for doing this, and thus didn't speak to her until it was time to go.
After class was dinner, and so Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed down to the Great Hall. Just as they approached the entrance, they saw a large group of students huddling around the large oak door on the right. The entire lot of them were whispering and chatting to each other, making a scene over something Hermione thought was probably pointless.
"What do you suppose this is all about?" She asked Ron and Harry, stepping into the crowd to see what they were all looking at.
"They've posted the new House team rosters," said Lee Jordan, who came up behind them. "Go on, Harry. Go check. See who your competition is for this year." Harry gave a shrug and then looked to Ron.
"Go on, Harry," Ron called after him. He stayed behind to talk to Lee, who by now, was congratulating him on getting the position of Keeper. Ron, naturally, turned a bright shade of pink.
As Harry stepped into the huddle of students, he could feel their eyes pressing in on him. What were they looking at? It was his fifth year at Hogwarts. The only people with the excuse to stare at him were the first years. Suddenly, walking toward Harry was none other than the beautiful Cho Chang. Harry felt himself freeze and the pit of his stomach instantly twist into a pretzel.
"Congratulations, Harry," Cho said with a pretty smile.
"Er--- Thanks," he managed to reply but only too late as Cho had by then slipped into the Great Hall with the rest of her Ravenclaw friends. What on earth could she be congratulating him for? Harry struggled to correct his thought process, and as he did so, the knot in his stomach dissipated.
Finally being able to bustle through the crowd, Harry and Ron both joined Hermione. The three of them found themselves looking at four individual sheets of paper, each differently titled with the House names and their respective insignia. Harry read each sheet as they appeared on the door:
Gryffindor;
Keeper - Ronald Weasley
Seeker - Harry Potter
Beaters - Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Chasers - Alicia Spinnet
Katie Bell
Angelina Johnson
Captain - Harry Potter
Hufflepuff;
Keeper - Morag MacDougal
Seeker - Kevin Whitby
Beaters - Elliot Rhys
Timothy Knowell
Chasers - Laura Madley
Hannah Abbott
Nathan Becket
Captain - Morag MacDougal
Ravenclaw;
Keeper - Molly Durgas
Seeker - Cho Chang
Beaters - Stewart Ackerley
Mandy Brocklehurst
Chasers - Devon McCurry
Sarah Pepperton
Gavin Reynold
Captain - Devon McCurry
Slytherin;
Keeper - Gretchen Bletchley
Seeker - Draco Malfoy
Beaters - Derrick O'Doule
Mordred Bole
Chasers - Adrian Pucey
Vincent Crabbe
Gregory Goyle
Captain - Draco Malfoy
Harry's eyes studied his name for what felt like a half an hour. He was Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team! Inside he was screaming with excitement, but he remained perfectly calm without. Finally it made sense to Harry as to why Cho congratulated him.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Harry!" Hermione beamed at him. "I knew you'd make it! Being the youngest Seeker on the team and all."
"Yeah, Harry, that's really great," Ron said as means of congratulations, but he was also too busy staring at his own name. He decided that it looked rather nice up there on that sheet of paper. A piece of him wanted to rip it off the door and frame it to hang in the dormitory. However, the lot of them were too pent up with enthusiasm that they nearly neglected who else now made the House teams.
"Oh, no way!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry. Ron. Come have a look at this." With her free hand, she gestured the two of them back over to the door. Her index finger, sporting pink nail polish, pointed out the two new names on the Slytherin team roster.
"What's this all about?" Ron asked, now staring at Hermione's fingernail as though it were foreign to him. Hermione took notice that he wasn't even looking at the names she was pointing to.
"Ron, what're you doing?"
"When did you start doing this?" He asked, looking up to her with a puzzled expression.
"Doing what, Ron?" She asked hotly. Harry, meanwhile, was just observing the two.
"Your nails," Ron began, "they're pink."
"So? What're you getting at?"
"What do you mean 'so'? You never painted them before." Ron studied her intently as though he were trying to read her mind.
"What does it matter, Ron?" Hermione asked, and she began to blush a light shade of red that matched the paint on her nails. She was shocked Ron had even noticed.
"You've never done it before," he insisted.
"Oh, Ron! Get over it! Now, look here," she continued, "Crabbe and Goyle made it, too! They're the new Chasers for Slytherin! And, look here! Malfoy's made Captain, too. This can't be good, Harry."
"What's so bad about it?" Harry questioned, completely missing the point Hermione was getting at.
"Yeah, honestly. Those two are so bloody fat they won't even be able to stay upright on their brooms," Ron added with a snigger.
"What are the three of you dawdling about out here for? Shouldn't you be having dinner with the rest of us?" The three of them looked up, where a slurring, slow voice spat at them with dislike and distrust. There stood none other than Professor Snape, the potions master. His skin was sallow and looking more sunk-in than ever. His long, black, greasy hair was kept tamed but untidy. Brown eyes followed a crooked, hooked nose to stare maliciously down at them.
"We were just looking at the Quidditch rosters," Ron said fervently. His dislike for Snape was easily detectable. Harry and Hermione stood silently by his side, awaiting what other caustic words the potions master would spit at them.
"You're lucky, Weasley. If I catch you out of place again, I'll be sure to take fifty points from Gryffindor for student insubordination. That goes for the rest of you," he snarled at the remaining students. As Professor Snape walked off towards the dungeons, the rest of the crowd around the door hurried into the Great Hall where dinner was being served.