Hogwarts a ReWrite: The Obsidian Jar
Harry smiled as he turned over in bed. He never remembered this bed being so comfortable. When he opened his eyes he was taken aback by the scarlet drapes around his bed before realizing where he was. After years of a small bedroom full of broken toys, he was in a pristine bed with soft pillows, and his favorite color. The snores he would eventually get used to, he imagined, as he rolled out of bed. Maybe Ginny was waiting for him downstairs. His eyes lit up when he thought of his very own friend. He didn't know how long she would last before she noticed how unnatural he was, and he didn't care. He was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
When he met Ginny Weasley on the train, he thought that she was just another pretty girl that wouldn't ever give him the time of day. Not only was he wrong, but also she seemed to have the same concerns that he did. In the span of the day, they had traveled a magical train and had their very first glimpse of the Hogwarts Castle together. He hoped they could pick up where they left off, that she hadn't decided her dorm mates were more interesting than plain old Harry. He shook his head, this friendship thing was so difficult and foreign to him, and it made him almost wished he had a book about it. Harry had never been the insecure type, and it made him feel mildly uncomfortable to be starting now.
Harry got out of bed to see all his dorm mates were still sleeping. He dressed in his new robe and uniform. He sat on a couch by the fireplace in the nearly empty common room and began to read from his potions book. He hardly noticed a certain redhead sit down right next to him.
"Good morning, Harry!" Ginny said brightly
"Morning Ginny, Was someone snoring?" Harry asked, "You're up early."
"Well, Mum had me up just after dawn every day to help cook breakfast. I was never any good, but Mum wanted to teach me. What your excuse?" Ginny said sleepily.
Harry noticed that Ginny looked rather done up today. He brushed it aside, he looked good after a shower as well. "I had to get up early to fix my relatives breakfast. I don't think they know how to cook for themselves. They'll probably starve without me there!"
"Sometimes I think the same of my brothers." Ginny laughed, "If Mum didn't love to cook so much; I don't think I'd have as many brothers as I do, they always seem to…"
Whatever Ginny had been saying halted as a few students came down very noisily as they hurried off to breakfast. She was about to continue when Hermione Granger burst through the Portrait Hole.
"I've just come back from the library. I went to check if you needed a library card, and good news, you don't. I've already checked out a book on Hogwarts customs." Hermione said excitedly, brandishing the antique looking volume.
"That's, um, great. Well, Ginny and I were going to err, breakfast. I guess we'll see you later" Harry shifted nervously.
"Oh wait up, I'll put my book away and be right down." Hermione said running off.
"She is persistent isn't she…?" Ginny whispered as Hermione came back down the stairs, walking over to their couch.
"She just wants a friend." Harry said, feeling a strange sense of protection of Hermione.
The group began their trek down to the Entrance Hall for breakfast as they politely listened to Hermione prattle on about her newly checked out book. Harry and Ginny both tried interjecting various jokes and stories to move the conversation, but the conversation kept shifting back to some book of another. This continued most of the way to the Great Hall. At the bottom of one of the staircases, however, they came to a fork as Hermione started towards the right.
"Hermione, the Great Hall is this way." Harry called as he and Ginny headed left.
"No, I'm completely certain it's this way. We passed that statue of the one eyed witch on the way up last night." Hermione smirked, as if trying to be patient.
"No, we walked right past the portrait of the 'backwards man' down this way." Ginny retorted.
"Well fine, you two go your way and get hopelessly lost while I eat my fill. I'll make sure to pick up your time tables for you, and some toast if you're lucky." Hermione said angrily as she walked off to the right.
"That was a bit of an overreaction." Harry sighed as he and Ginny went left.
"You know, she's going to get lost." Ginny said as they walked down a flight of stairs and turned right, then left.
"Yeah, but she's probably smart enough to find her way to Gryffindor tower eventually." Harry replied as they took another left. "It's just straight up.
"Or the library," Ginny giggled, "I bet she can smell all those books from far off somehow."
Harry laughed as they went down another flight of stairs and they walked down an unfamiliar hallway. They continued in companionable silence for a while until Harry began to get worried.
"So Ginny, shouldn't we be there by now?" asked Harry uncertainly as they continued down the corridor for what seemed like half an hour.
"I don't know, I think" Ginny began to look around, "Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy being lost with Harry Potter…"
"But it's worse that Hermione was right about which way to go" said Harry, smartly choosing to ignore the jest at his notoriety. "What does it say about me that we are lost in a giant magical castle we've yet to explore, filled with who knows what, and all I can think about it that delicious breakfast we are sure to be missing"
"It shows that you and my brothers are going to get along just fine." Ginny said with a small frown that Harry never caught.
Harry shuffled his feet a bit nervously as they walked. He got the feeling of such ease around the girl he had only met the day before, almost like they had been friends for years. The way she spoke stream of consciously about her life made him feel as if he knew her better than any girl he had yet to meet. The fact that her only competition for that was his Aunt probably skewed it quite far in her favor.
Ginny couldn't explain why she felt she could be so open with this new boy, let alone the great Harry Potter. He made her feel respected, like an equal. Harry never spoke down to her like her older brothers, or even her younger brother at times. She felt he understood her better than her younger brother Ron did, whom she'd grown up with. Her brother was not known for his listening abilities, so that wasn't a big stretch by any means.
Ginny's follow-up reply to Harry's comment about missing breakfast, which surely would have been a comparison with her piggy brothers, was cut off by a cackle a little ways down the hall. As they, continued walking down the hall an apparition of some sort floated around the corner. A small floating man with wicked, dark eyes and a pointed hat held in his hands what must have been all of the toilet paper out of the bathroom he had just come out of.
"Wee firsties lost are we," He said as he unceremoniously threw the toilet paper out of the window as he glided towards them.
"Yeah we took a wrong turn after we left Gryffindor Tower." Harry said eying the tiny, floating man cautiously.
The small man grinned widely as Harry talked, "Gryffindors are you? Well, don't worry, Peeves will show you to someone who can help you get to breakfast, just you follow Peeves." Peeves started flying back down the hall. Harry turned to Ginny and they both shrugged their shoulders and ran to catch up with Peeves. Any Hogwarts ghost must be bound to help the students.
Peeves led them at a grueling pace through hallways, staircases, and passageways through the walls. Harry and Ginny were both panting to keep up with the poltergeist, but every time they got close Peeves sped up again. They followed him at a run for what must have been ten minutes before he stopped suddenly at a section of decorative carpet lying on the floor. He pulled up the carpet revealing a trap door. Opening it up revealed a giant slide, pitch black at the end.
"I must leave you here firsties, places to go and all that" said Peeves, "just slide down and walk left. It's the third door on the right, just ask for help to the Great Hall, got all that?" Peeves asked, after receiving their nods he floated off to whatever business he had mentioned.
Harry looked down the tube skeptically, "Should we trust him Ginny?"
Ginny thought it over, "Well, Dumbledore is the greatest and goodliest wizard of all time. He wouldn't let them keep a bad ghost in Hogwarts would he?"
Harry just shook his head and jumped down, trusting her judgment. Ginny was not far behind as they flew out of the mouth of a snake sculpture and sliding across the floor. Getting up and shaking out the kinks, they looked around the hallways that were so drank and dreary they must have been in the dungeons. Upon standing Ginny moved involuntarily closer to Harry.
"Well, I guess we should head left." Said Harry, he was taking the narrow hallways a lot better than Ginny was, obviously from growing up with his cupboard punishments.
They began walking left and counting the doors to the right as they passed them, when they reached the third door Ginny knocked on the door, the sound reverberating loudly in the hallway. A few seconds later the door was thrown open, revealing a tall greasy haired man with a large sneer on his face.
"What." The man said sharply.
"Um, excuse me sir, we were wondering if you could help us find our way to the Great Hall, we lost our way coming down from the tower-"
"Clearly" said the disgruntled professor, upon seeing Harry's scar his sneer seemed to grow larger, if possible. "Tell me Potter, is it too hard to walk down a flight of stairs until you reach the first floor. Surely you must know that all stairs lead to the Entrance Hall eventually, or did you wish for me to carry you, after all the famous Boy Who Lived deserves only the best."
Harry was completely at a loss for words, but unfortunately for the Gryffindor House Point jar, Ginny wasn't.
"Excuse me sir," she snapped, "but you can't possibly believe we came down her just to bother you, if we'd known who Peeves sent us to find. I assure you we would have rather gone hungry."
The teacher's glare picked up ferocity, and he looked downright dangerous. "That'll be twenty points from Gryffindor. Now get out of my dungeons." He nearly yelled as he slammed the door.
"Well, I guess we're on our own now." Harry said as he began walking back the way they had come from. "By the way, thanks, you know, for back there. No one's ever exactly stood up for me before."
"Oh it was nothing, He was being a bully and you definitely didn't deserve any of that. I don't even care that I lost house points, it was worth it." Ginny said with a blush that the darkness hid, still steaming mad.
Harry could almost see steam coming from her ears and her face matched the color of her hair, and there was that smell again. As he was looking, he walked straight into a suit of armor. The sound of the armor crashing to the ground reverberated so loudly in the dungeons that he and Ginny had to cover their ears in hopes of keeping their ear drums intact. Ginny helped a blushing Harry to his feet as a poorly dressed old man came sprinting down the hall towards them.
"Ah, some first years thought they'd make some trouble for me while the others were at the feast, thought you'd have ol' Filch off guard did yah, while you wrecked the dungeons. Thought I'd be having a lay in on the first day of school, no siree, I have to be vigilant to catch you troublemakers. Now you come right this way we'll see you get the proper punishment." Filch said as he led them off, he was flanked by a devilish looking cat.
Harry was completely surprised by this new man as he came up to them, this must have been the Filch that Dumbledore had mentioned last night. As he and Ginny walked behind Filch up the stairs to the Entrance Hall, they became steady more worried until neither could talk, all the while listening to Filch rant about evil first years and hanging troublemakers by their pinky toes.
Filch threw the Great Hall doors open and walked in. At first glance, it looked as if Breakfast was nearing its end. Most student were done eating and talking, and there was Hermione sitting there looking incredible smug. The quiet of the Hogwarts morning was about to be shattered by a very disgruntled caretaker.
"Dumbledore," Filch yelled as they were halfway up the aisle, "I demand these students be expelled."
Harry heart was in his throat and his eyes stung… expelled?
Dumbledore's face however didn't change, almost as if he had grown used to this. "Good morning Argus, have you slept well?"
"You heard me Headmaster; I demand these students be expelled." Filch screamed again, with no doubt the attention of the entire hall.
"What have my students done to harm you Argus," said McGonagall, sitting straighter in your chair. "Surely these first years on their first day have not done sufficient damage to require expulsion"
"I found them in the dungeon defacing school property by knocking over historic suits of armor at their leisure."
"We were not." Ginny protested
"Yeah, I accidentally ran into a suit of armor and knocked it over." Harry said, hoping they wouldn't ask why he wasn't paying attention. A blush crept on his cheeks; one that Harry wanted no one to notice. Harry felt a slight tingle in his brain, likely from the sheer nervousness he felt.
"You see Argus, no harm was done. I see it fit to only warn them this time." Dumbledore said while waving his hand, "Breakfast has another few minutes, I suggest you two eat quickly."
They heard Filch still arguing his case and ultimately stomping off while muttering under his breath about 'those damn Weasleys'. They took the only seats open, two at the end of the table next to Hermione. They passed Devon, who was shaking his head and laughing, obviously at their expense. Harry couldn't tell whether it was because of Filch's theatrics or sitting next to a very snug Hermione. They took the seats across from Hermione, Harry in front of and Ginny at her diagonal. No sooner had they set down then did Hermione give them the 'I told you so' speech.
"You guys should have followed me when I told you which way it was. I find it quite disheartening that after trying to help you, you completely ignored me." Hermione shook her head in disappointment, "I suggest you eat plenty, I will be heading to class. Unlike you two, I care for punctuality."
Hermione got up and walked off. When she left, Devon moved from a few seats down to sit in her recently vacated seat.
"She's a bit much, huh." Devon said as he sat down.
"You don't even know." Ginny nearly yelled, "She followed us from the tower, and had the nerve to say I told you so because we went the wrong way on our first day here. She's acts worse than my Mum, I just can't-"
"Whoa, calm down. I'd like to keep my ear drums intact." Devon said with his fingers in his ears for comical effect. "All I can say is: Wow, you've got one hell of a temper; future boyfriends aren't likely to last long. Don't say I didn't warn you Harry."
Ginny would have been aghast if not for looking at Harry's stunned face. Devon chuckled and left for class.
Harry somewhat regained his composure, "Well, you do have a scary temper."
"Oh you don't even know the half of it Potter..."
They spent the next few minutes wolfing down the largest amount of eggs and bacon as they could before they were shooed from the Great Hall and onto their first class. On the way out, Ginny was approached by members of her family. Harry listened as Percy scolded his sister on breaking the rules, while the twins congratulated her on a job well done. Harry kept silent, not really knowing what to think about the situation, other than a steadfast desire to avoid Filch.
Their first class was Charms, a class that Harry mildly enjoyed. It has been a lecture heavy concept class, but the entertainment was heightened by hearing the whispers about how cute Flitwick was. Harry and Ginny sat next to each other, with Hermione sitting on their right. Hermione for her part was either unaware of Ginny's cold shoulder, or chose to ignore it.
The class itself was purely an introduction to the theory behind Charms. Their classes continued in much the same way that day, culminating in a marvelous Hogwarts feast for dinner. It was all going well until Thursday afternoon when they had their first Potions class. The greasy teacher hey had met in the dungeons was teaching it. Snape was calling roll to begin his class, stopping to linger on Harry's name.
"Potter, did you by any chance get enough attention in the Great Hall the other day?" Snape sneered darkly at Harry, "I would have been there to see it first hand, but some idiotic student interrupted me while making a very complicated potion, which simmered over while I was addressing his foolishness."
"He wasn't alone you know, I was there too." Ginny added from next to Harry, a sneer to match Snape's on her face.
"Ah yes, Potter's lap dog." said Snape slowly, "That will be another five points from Gryffindor."
The rest of the class advanced in a similarly antagonistic fashion. Twelve snide remarks and thirty seven points later they left the dungeons.
The next morning they had Transfiguration first thing. Harry grimaced as he swallowed his pride and decided to follow had Hermione down to the Great Hall, as they had done every day after their disastrous first day.
Hermione took this straight to her head, taking to leading them to all their classes. After breakfast, they walked to the transfiguration classroom. As they walked in the door, Harry saw a cat sitting on the desk, but no Professor McGonagall. Harry made his way over to the desk next to Ginny. They waited for five or so minutes, Harry never pegged the stern professor as one to ever be late. The class was descending into chaos, and Harry decided to walk to the front of the class room and rub the cat behind its ears. The cat purred and rolled over onto its back as Harry pet its stomach.
Some of the girls in the classroom were oohing and awwing at the cooing cat. Then suddenly the cat turned over and hissed at Harry. Harry backed away confused and returned to his seat.
"Maybe she doesn't like being pet?" Ginny helpfully added, before the cat sat up again.
The cat jumped off the table and transformed midair into the missing professor.
"No, I don't think she does Ginny, but maybe Harry can get extra credit?" Seamus laughed quietly from behind them.
Professor McGonagall looked mortified as she began the lesson. By the end of the class, no one had been able to transfigure the pin into a needle. Not that Harry could give it all his thought to begin with.
"Shameless Harry, utterly shameless" Devon said shaking his head.
"What are you talking about?" Harry said as he picked up his school things.
"There are better ways to get extra credit."
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The next night, Harry sat in the Common Room with Ginny reading for Transfiguration.
"So you have to wave your wand a certain way to turn the straw into a needle, or is it all in how much magic or…" Ginny said holding her head.
"Huh, I thought you just had to say the words right. This studying is giving me a headache. Let's try this again tomorrow." Harry said as he hugged Ginny goodnight, unknowingly being watched by a bushy haired bookworm from across the room. "Good Night, Gin."
Harry slowly marched up the stairs to his dorm. Devon was the only one in there as he was riffling through his stuff. He saw Harry come in holding his head "What's the matter Harry, she talking your head off?"
"No, Transfiguration essay" said Harry as he changed into his nightclothes. "It's a nightmare, it's the one about how to transfigure a straw into a needle. Ginny thinks it's the wand movement, I think it's the words."
"Well, your both wrong, you just have to want it to be done and it just happens." replied Devon, "You got a quill? I've seemed to have misplaced my last one?"
"Yeah, have this one," said Harry tossing him the one he had tucked over his ear "I don't ever want to see one of those again, ever"
Devon laughed as he took the quill, racing down the stairs, presumably to write the very same essay. Harry groaned as he took a few deep breaths, before eventually falling asleep.
The next week had been so full of essay's that Harry had begun to wonder if this was a school for wizardry, or grammar school. His most recent essay on Potions had been well thought out and thoroughly researched, which had received troll marks on account of a misplaced 'oxford comma'.
"Calm down, Harry." Ginny threw his crumpled up parchment back at him, "Fred and George said that first year got like this. We'll learn plenty of magic."
Harry groaned, "I just need a break. Feel like exploring?"
"Of course!" Ginny beamed, "But I get to choose the floor this time."
Harry nodded his accent as they began to poke around the castle. As they walked past the empty classroom on the fourth floor they the unmistakable sound of tears. Ginny gave Harry an empathetic look before knocking and walking in. Huddled in a desk was a clearly distressed Hermione.
"Hermione, what's wrong, was it Malfoy?" asked Ginny moving to sit in the desk next to her, Harry took the desk in front of her and turned it around.
"What do you two care, you've been avoiding me since you got here." Hermione sniffed as she tried to concentrate on her writing.
"No we haven't" Harry argued guiltily. "We've just been busy with schoolwork and… other things."
"Yeah, I know all about those other things. You two were best friends since you met. I've never had friends at my old school, they always used me to get better grades. I've had nobody take a genuine interest. When I was told I was a witch, I thought I was coming to a whole new world full of studious wizards and witches. Where I'd be accepted and loved for the unique qualities I brought, but It's the exact same as my old school. They just happen to teach magic here."
"Hermione, you have plenty of friends here-" Ginny started
"No I don't. No one has even taken the time to wish me a Happy Birthday today" Hermione was nearly bawling at this point. The usually logic based girl had not considered they could not know, if she did not tell them.
"Hermione, we had no idea it was your birthday, you hadn't told us! If I had known I'd at least have gotten you a new book or something." Harry consoled
"And I would have at least made you a card," Ginny added, "I might have even spelled your name with glitter."
Hermione let out a small laugh, "Really? You're not just saying that, you would have got me something?"
"We would have. We are friends, aren't we?" Harry asked. He felt a little awkward saying it. Apart from following her the first week, they had tried their best to avoid her.
"I don't know, are we?" Hermione looked hopeful.
"Of course we are," affirmed Ginny, as unsure as Harry. Hermione could be awkward, and they may not be best friends, but she was a dignified person who deserved someone to be there.
Hermione chuckled
"What is it now Hermione?" Harry asked innocently
"I'm just so happy, my own card with glitter!"
The next few weeks they formed a shaky friendship, sitting with each other in the common room. Hermione helped them with their homework, and they didn't avoid her. They each ended up getting her a belated birthday present, which was received with yet more tears. Hermione was also spending a little time every day with Neville, helping him with his work, which ended up working pretty well, Hermione liked to boss people around, and Neville was okay with being bossed around. Harry felt himself being curious about the 'family business' that Fred had mentioned to Ginny earlier. He hoped he would find out soon.
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The next few weeks were the same as the first two, hard. The class work had doubled and, barring Transfiguration, they hadn't done any spells yet. Snape had not let up in potions class, though redirecting most of his criticism on Neville. Neville was atrocious at Potions, as they had found out the previous week.
"Longbottom, are you completely incapable of a simple Boil Cure Potion, one of the simplest potions there is to make." Snape had chosen to denigrate Neville this day instead of Harry. His partner, Ginny, had helped her mother make this potion for her older brother Charlie plenty of times, thus there wasn't much wrong with theirs.
This was the day that Snape had discovered Neville was much more entertaining to pester than Harry, who never reacted to his yelling. Neville on the other hand was a gold mine. Neville got redder with every comment Snape made, and always ended up ruining Hermione's perfect potion. This particular class Snape had given her and Neville a zero, prompting her to run out of the classroom crying.
"Potter, when you see her next, tell her that'll be ten points for leaving class early." Snape snarled as he retook his seat. As class ended, Neville also rushed out of the room with a sickly glow to his face.
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Lunch was a relatively peaceful affair. Harry had made a game of stealing whatever was on Ginny's plat when she wasn't looking. Draco Malfoy began to saunter towards them with his usual counterparts.
"So Potter, ready to make a fool of yourself?" Malfoy said getting laughs from Crabbe and Goyle.
Harry signed, Malfoy came to taunt him almost daily. "What is this time Malfoy?"
Malfoy grinned, "You won't be so cocky in the air Potter, or did you forget our first flying lesson is tomorrow?"
Harry actually had forgotten, "Of course not Malfoy, and I can't wait to fly circles around you" He knew he sounded cocky, but he couldn't let Malfoy win.
Malfoy seemed put out not getting the desired effect and only mustered a "We'll see Potter" as he and his goons stalked back to the Slytherin table.
Harry was quiet for a while, "Ginny?"
"Yes Harry?"
"I don't know how to fly" He said dejectedly, "Malfoy's going to make a fool of me isn't he?"
Ginny grinned "No fear Harry, that is something I can help you with! After dinner we'll go out to the pitch."
"But we don't have brooms; first years can't bring them to school." Harry was filled with disappointment, clearly visible on his face.
Ginny's face also fell, which is where our favorite twins decided to sit down with them, "We hear someone is in need of a pair of brooms."
Harry grew excited, "You would let me and Ginny borrow your brooms tonight to practice flying!"
"Don't be absurd Harry, we'd think nothing of it! In fact, we insist you two take our brooms for the night." Fred said, smiling at his twin.
"You guys really would?" Ginny questioned happily, until her face fell in distrust, "Wait a minute, what's the catch?"
The twins put on a hurt expression, "Dear sister we are mortified that you would think us so low that we would put a price on our own protégé borrowing a meaningless piece of equipment."
"Cut to it, what do you want?" Ginny said eying the twins carefully, "Were not trying any of your food. By the way Harry, never try any of their food."
The twins held each other's gaze for a moment before George spoke, "You guys have a free period tomorrow morning right?"
Ginny pulled up her bag to look for her schedule, but Harry answered for her, "Yeah, right before Transfiguration and Flying class. What, you haven't memorized your schedule?" Harry asked when Ginny turned to look questioningly at him.
Fred laughed, "Just like a woman Harry, anyways, we'll bring you our brooms to dinner tonight and let you use them to your heart's content. We'll discuss payment tomorrow during your free period."
"But don't you have a class during our free period?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, but I'm sure Flitwick won't miss us, see you tonight kiddies." Fred and George got up and left the hall.
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"As promised, here you are." said George as he and Fred handed them their brooms.
"Now remember, tomorrow morning we meet in the common room. We'll discuss payback then." Fred finished.
"Thanks guys, we'll remember. Seriously though, no food." Ginny reiterated as she dragged Harry off towards the pitch.
Once outside she began to instruct Harry in the sport from Queerditch Marsh.
"Now Harry, put your broom down on the ground and stand next to it." Ginny instructed as she did the same. "Then put your hand over it and say up."
Harry did as he was told and the broom literally jumped into his hand, much faster than Ginny's did to her hand. Harry was taken aback and Ginny was outright shocked.
"I don't get it," Ginny puzzled, "It took me several tries the first time I did it."
"Why exactly do we have to make the broom go to us, don't you just sort of, I dunno, kick off?" asked Harry as he mounted the broom.
Ginny mounted hers as well, "I have no idea, that's just how my mum taught me."
"Your Mum taught you?"
"Yeah, she caught me sneaking into the broom shed one day" Ginny grinned at the memory "she figured I was going to do it anyway, so she might as well teach me so that I don't break my neck. Now Harry, concentrate, this is the fun part. Kick off the ground, watch first."
Harry watched as Ginny gracefully kicked off the ground and flew a small circle around Harry's head, "Now you try."
Harry gave a hard push and pulled up on the broom rocketing into the sky. Harry's world turned upside down at that moment, it must have been the wind in his hair, or the joy in his stomach, or the fact that he was actually upside down. Whatever it was, he liked it. He righted himself on his broom from his previous upside down position and flew to where Ginny was.
"So, how did I do?" Harry asked pulling up beside her.
"Wow Harry, you're a natural. I don't think there is much I could teach you. Maybe we should fly around the pitch and you can get the hang of turning and such." Ginny turned and began to fly slowly along the wall.
Harry smirked and shot past her, obviously challenging her to a race. Ginny was no slouch and sped up to catch him. Harry turned and saw her approaching and swerved in front of her. The lap continued this way until Ginny decided to go under him instead. Unprepared for the sudden move, and unintelligible of how to react just leaned forward on his broom and willed it to speed faster.
Ginny was directly below him, also pushing for all the speed she could muster. As both brooms were the same type, the top speed was the same. As a result, they flew two laps around the pitch completely neck and neck the whole way. As if telepathically, they both slowed simultaneously and flew back to the center of the pitch.
Ginny landed first, "Well, I really don't think you have to do anything else. You fly like that tomorrow and Malfoy will be picking his jaw up off the ground."
Harry landed and dismounted, "Yeah let's hope. We should probably be heading in, it's getting pretty dark out here."
Ginny nodded and they began walking off the pitch. As they left the pitch a large figure was walking towards them, Harry grinned as he saw Hagrid approach them.
"Harry, what're you doing out here past curfew?" Hagrid asked, slightly worriedly.
"We were just our practicing flying, sir, we swear." Ginny asked, and then looked at Hagrid's bleeding arm that wasn't carrying his crossbow and gasped.
Harry saw it too, "Hagrid, what happened to your arm?"
"Now, don't you two worry 'bout me, I'll be fine, but if Filch catches ya out here he'll have a hay day, let me walk you back to the tower." Hagrid said as he walked towards the castle.
"Hagrid you need to get that looked at, was it something in the forest that did that?"
"Don't you worry bout it little Ginny, just a stray curse is all. I'm on my way to see Madame Pomfrey after I drop you kids off."
"No Hagrid, we should be walking you to the Hospital Wing. Wait, what do you mean a stray curse?" Ginny said as they walked up the first flight of stairs.
"No, ya heard me wrong I said tree branch. And I don't mind taking ya up firs'. In turn you can visit me fur tea sometime."
"That'll be great Hagrid," said Harry sensing they wouldn't get any more out of him, "We'll come by on Tuesday, won't we Ginny?"
"Yeah, we will." Ginny replied as they reached the Fat Lady and gave the password, "Thanks for the help Hagrid, hurry to Madame Pomfrey."
"It's no problem you two. Tuesday, I'll be waiting." Hagrid walked away down the nearest flight of stairs.
Ginny watched him go and turned to the side, "Harry"
Harry met her gaze, "Yeah Gin"
Ginny sighed, "He really did say stray curse…"
"I know he did, goodnight Ginevra"
Harry smartly chose to sleep with one eye open.
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Ginny woke up the next morning and went down to the Common Room to find Fred and George in the corner talking with Harry. Fred had a strange potion in his hand.
Ginny ran up to Fred, "I thought I said no food."
George grinned at his twin, "Don't worry sis, we were just showing him the ropes."
Ginny eyed the twins carefully, "So what's this big favor you have."
George thought, "Don't think of it as a favor, but more as an initiation, you might say."
"Initiation?" asked Harry obviously slightly wary of the idea.
George started "As the master pranksters we are, even we find ourselves behind schedule and we are in a jam and needing an extra hand or two."
"After all, great pranksters come in pairs." Fred finished grinning at his twin. "And we think that us two groups of hardcore pranksters could work together on something big."
"Something big? Like turning Malfoys hair green?" Ginny inquired.
Fred laughed, "You think so small, little sis. We mean a bit bigger."
They looked to Harry, "Um, I dunno. We could degrease Snape's hair, I guess."
"No Harry, but that would be quite amusing, Harry. But we were thinking of bigger things. Much bigger."
"Oh get on with it you two. What's the plan you two?" Ginny was becoming impatient.
Before Fred and George could respond, a mass of chattering students came in through the portrait hole.
"Ah, class is over. Well, George and I had better be going. Snape won't be nearly as forgiving as Flitwick. Meet us down here at curfew." Fred walked away with George by his side.
"Should we trust them," Ginny asked as she and Harry walked towards the stairs to go and get their things for their next class.
Harry shrugged as he walked up his staircase to the boy's dormitory, "Don't see why not." He gathered his Transfiguration book and his essay roll and headed back down to the common room.
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The grounds were hot from the previous week of straight sun. It was an oddity to have such a beautiful day this late in September, but none of the Hogwarts students were complaining. Surely, nothing but rain would come, but for now, they enjoyed the sun. All but a few nervous children heading out to the pitch for their first flying lesson.
Most were apprehensive, being Muggleborn and Half-blood. Even one pureblood was scared. But there were three students that had been anticipating this day. All for different reasons: all ready to shine.
A tall, hawk-like had met them in the entrance hall and was leading them to the massive pitch in the distance, and possibly to their doom.
"Harry, don't worry. You are going to do great. Remember what happened last night?"
Harry sighed, "Yeah, but no one was watching me then."
"I was watching you, Harry," Ginny blushed, not meaning it the way it came out.
"That doesn't count-"
"And why not? Because I'm not a big pureblood like Malfoy?" Ginny responded hurt.
Harry cut in immediately and putting his hands on her shoulders, "Absolutely not, it's just that you're different from them. I know you. I don't know them. They all look at me and expect some great hero and when they see how pitiful I am at flying, I'll be such a disappointment."
Ginny looked into his eyes, "What do you care if you disappoint them. They don't matter Harry. All that matter Are your friends. The Slytherins won't like you no matter what, but the Gryffindors will always stick by you, even if you turned out to be a squib."
They stood looking into each other's eyes, Harry's arms still on her shoulders. She was right and he knew it. She wouldn't care if he failed, she'd still be his friend and that's all that mattered. He hurried alongside Ginny to catch up to the group ahead of them. They joined next to Hermione, who turned and gave them a worried look.
"Oh, I'm so worried." Hermione said, seemingly worried. "I've never flown before. I've read all through Quidditch through the ages and I haven't found an acceptable reference to how to control a broom. I'm a muggleborn, I've never even heard of flying brooms till I got to Hogwarts. Oh, I am so worried."
"Wow Hermione, you seem really worried." Ginny joked, earning the famous Hermione scowl.
Harry laughed, also getting a glare, sensing the famous Hermione head-turn and walk away he jumped in. "Don't worry Hermione" Ginny snickered quietly at 'worry'. "Someone pretty awesome once told me, 'It's not what others think of you, it's your friends that matter."
Hermione tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. It kind of makes sense. Well, I guess it makes sense for you two, but you see I haven't got any-"
Ginny huffed, "How many times do we have to tell you Hermione. We are your friends Hermione. You have to start trusting us."
"I know guys, it's just that I am so… so-"
"Worried?" suggested Harry and Ginny simultaneously. There was that glare again.
"Quiet down class and stand to the left of a broom." yelled their teacher, Madame Hooch, glaring at a few still talking Hufflepuffs. "Now, place your right hand over the broom-"
"What if you're left-handed?" asked Hermione.
"You're not left handed Hermione." Ginny stage whispered.
"No of course I'm not, I was just curious if it made a difference and…" Hermione stopped talking seeing the glare she was getting from Madame Hooch.
"Now if my class is done being interrupted. Place your right hand over your broom and say, up."
"UP" cried many voices at once.
Very few brooms rose. Only one rose on the first try. Ginny, emboldened by Harry's success, cried 'UP' with a bit more conviction and was successful. Malfoy and Devon were successful next. Hooch observed the struggling students and waited until the remainder had just given up and picked up their brooms.
"Good, now carefully mount your brooms and kick off the ground ever so slightly. Stay up the air for a few seconds, then lean forward and touch back down. If it is satisfactory, those who are gifted with a broom may move to gliding and eventually a class race." She watched all the children rise and come back down, except Longbottom. She bid him to go sit on the side-lines along with many others, including a thankful yet worried looking Gryffindor.
"Now those who are left, kick off and begin to slowly circle the spot where you stand now." Much less of the students seemed proficient at this exercise. She shifted more of the students off to the side.
Now there were only four students left. Three of which she knew as purebloods who had probably learned at home, but she had been surprised to see Harry Potter so proficient on a broom. "Now you four, fly over to where the mid-line touches the wall and get ready to race." She waited until they were lined in the air where she had told them. "Back up Mr. Malfoy, this will be a fair race. On my whistle now."
Harry gripped his broom tightly, completely confident in his abilities after his and Ginny's excursion the previous night. He looked to his left and flashed Ginny a grin. He looked to his right were Devon and Malfoy were: gave Devon a nod and a glare at Malfoy. He looked forward, lowered his shoulder and heard the whistle. Almost instantly, he surged past his competitors, but his fast start was nearly outweighed by Draco's early one. Leaving him neck and neck with Draco, and Ginny right behind him with Devon pulling up the rear. Malfoy slammed into Harry's side unexpectedly, throwing him off balance. Harry recuperated and sped behind Malfoy, his head even with Malfoy's broom tail. They came to the first turn, and were surprised when Ginny took the curve the best and landed in the temporary lead. Harry saw Malfoys hand reach out for Ginny's broom tail, and deemed it necessary to give Malfoy a push of his own. Unlike when Malfoy pushed him from the side, Harry steered over into the back of Malfoys broom, effectively throwing Malfoy into a spin, and eventually, a rough landing ten feet below.
Ginny was out ahead, with Harry right behind her, and Devon, who had caught up when Harry spun Malfoy, was at his side. At the next curve Harry pushed the broom for all it had, coming out right next to Ginny.
Neck and Neck with Ginny, they turned and gave each other a smile. Head to head with only a few meters to go. They leaned forward giving the chase everything they had, and that final burst of speed put Harry in front by his shoulders. The students were cheering and Madame Hooch had a smile on her face. She had obviously just told off a very angry Malfoy.
"That was some good flying Mr. Potter. Now the promised prize," she said handing him a folded card. At his blank look, she replied "This is for your eyes only. It is the password to the broom cupboard. Try not to break curfew" she gave him a rare smile and led the first years back to the castle.
Harry looked over at Ginny, almost afraid He'd see an angry witch, but instead he saw a curtain of red and the smell of Wild flowers. Yeah, he could also get used to this hugging thing.
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"There is just the two trouble makers we wanted to see" Exclaimed a jubilant Fred that evening.
"Not going to bed so early I hope" Chimed in an equally jubilant George.
Harry reddened as he began to think of excuses, they had been going to bed.
"That's right George, they seemed to have forgotten a little promise they made earlier today, maybe involving an initiation."
Ginny eyed the twins, "You two know it's nearly past curfew, right? You can't be dreaming of going out now can you?"
Fred and George looked aghast. George threw his hands in the air and cried out as Fred openly wept. "Where have we gone wrong Fred? Our prodigy, afraid of curfew."
"It's an abomination George." Sniffled Fred, "I can't believe after all we've done for her, she would just…"
Ginny sighed, and dejectedly asked "What's the plan?"
The twins immediately began smiling again. "Follow us to the kitchens; we'll need your help carrying these vials of potions and powders with us. We'll explain on the way."
And our star-crossed heroes set off into the middle of the night. Braving perils unknown, and others far too familiar. Escaping notice of the dastardly Filch, and dreading the appearance of the vile Snape, they carried on.
All the while Fred and George telling them of some strange Muggle movie they had seen while in town. "Ottery St Catchpole isn't completely magical, you see". Fred started as he and George led them to the kitchen.
"Too true, he and I had mistakenly walked up to some nutters dressed from the some muggle movie."
Fred nodded along, "Thinking them our own kind, we started talking to them. A funny story, but not one we have time to tell."
They arrived at a portrait of a fruit bowl and George tickled the pair, much to the astonishment of the younger duo, it changed into a door handle, which George pulled open.
"So this is the kitchens?" asked Ginny as they entered the deserted room that looked nearly exactly like the great hall.
"Yes of course the place is usually a bit livelier innit George?"
"Yes, now I'll take the potions to the House elves with our instructions, you help the munchkins put the powder on the right plates" Replied George.
"So, Malfoys plate?" asked Harry.
"Hmm, I guess we did bring an extra one, but we have no idea where he'll sit tomorrow morning." Said one of the twins, Harry didn't know which.
"Actually, he always sits in front of the fire on the right side." Harry pointed to the place he talked about.
The twins looked at each other and nodded. George threw Harry a small vial of blue powder. "Not too noticeably Harry, just a little should do."
George left into a side room with the small case of potions. Harry sprinkled the blue powder sparsely on Malfoys plate. He hurried up to where Fred and Ginny were. "So who are the unlucky targets?"
Fred smiled and nodded his head, Harry followed and he and Ginny gasped.
"You can't be serious!" Ginny squeaked.
"Alas," Fred smiled, "I'm quite serious."
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"I can't believe we're doing this." said Ginny as they made their way back to the Common Room. "That was so much powder."
"Made it all ourselves yesterday during Defense against the Dark arts," grinned George.
"Professor Henderson actually let you make that stuff in class?" said Harry disbelievingly.
Fred answered, "Well, we weren't exactly in class now were we George."
George replied, "No Fred, we were not."
The twins shared a laugh. A laugh that didn't last for long.
"Who's out here?" screamed a cranky voice they all knew as the cheerful caretaker.
"Run" George whispered.
Harry and Ginny followed Fred and George through passageway after passageway. They still heard the panting breath of the caretaker behind them. They veered around a corner and through a door to the right.
They waited quietly for what seemed like an hour. All of them had finally lost the blood pounding through their heads. Breath finally settling down, but still not thinking it a good idea to go outside just yet: they began to look around the room.
George was the first one to see it, as he was right in front of it, turned white. "What in blazes…"
"I can see from here George, it's just a dusty old mirror." Fred was used to his brothers oddness, even took part in it with him. This however confused the young prankster, hoping his brother had not in fact lost it.
"No, come stand in front of it properly." George said motioning Fred over.
Fred walked over and stood in front of the mirror, still wearing the confused expression on his face. George looked thoughtful and moved out of sight of the mirror, prompting Fred's face to light up with amazement. "Too right my brother, most astounding."
The twins seemed lost in their own world in front of an old dusty mirror that didn't even show their reflection. Harry watched in confusion at the twin's antics. 'What was so special about the mirror?' he thought to himself. Maybe it was one of the many things he didn't know about the magical world
Ginny was watching the twins as well, though skeptically. Unlike Harry, she was accustomed to being the subject of many of their pranks, though not so much as her younger brother Ron. Eventually she had learned not to eat anything from the twins, or left alone near the twins. She knew enough to know that when they put a big show on like this it was best to leave before they pulled their prank while you were unaware. She shifted to see Harry next to her with a questioning look on his face as he watched the twins. He seemed to be under the spell of their showmanship. She definitely had to save him from them. Looking back at the twins showing they were deep in conversation taking turns in front of the mirror and oblivious to the other occupants of the room.
Ginny turned to look at Harry. "Let's get out of here before they try anything."
Harry looked surprised, "But what about the mirror, don't you want to see what it does?"
"Forget the mirror Harry; they're just trying to bait us into a prank. It probably doesn't do anything. We have to leave now." Ginny proceeded to pull him out of the door, being careful to open it and close it softly behind her. She led him down the hall at a run, both eager to escape her brothers and Filch. They continued running as they turned around the corner. They didn't stop running till about the fifth floor. They slowed their pace to a walk.
"Let me explain a few things I learned growing up. Don't eat the twins food, don't take my younger brother Ron's food, and don't let the twins put on a show, or else you are in danger." Ginny instructed as they walked around a corner.
Unfortunately, that put them right in front of their defense teacher. Mr. Henderson, it seemed, was staring absentmindedly out of the window. Their teacher did not seem to notice them yet. They slowly backed back around the corner until their professor called out to them.
"Not so fast mister Potter" Professor Henderson said as he turned towards them, "Any special reason you and your sidekick are out of bed at nearly midnight?"
'Sidekick!' Ginny was used to being under the microscope and playing it off. She nudged Harry and tried to silently communicate with him to take after her. "We were just taking a walk professor."
Their slightly older than prehistoric professor chuckled to himself, "The beds were too lumpy I take it. Luckily, for you two, I do not have the nerve that Filch has. I don't intend to barge into the headmaster's office in the wee hours of the morning demanding your expulsion."
Harry was also used to scrutiny from adults. He was generally pretty good with telling what the punishment was going to be. The new professor was a mystery to him though. Professor Henderson had rarely even spoken to him in class. It was tough to gauge were this was going.
Their professor continued on mistily, "Unfortunate as it is, I'm rather busy right now and might not notice if you two headed straight up to Gryffindor Tower. I may be so charitable as to forget that I saw you two" He turned to continue looking out the window down upon the Forbidden Forest.
Ginny nearly burst with glee and grabbed Harry's arm in an attempt to pull him away. Harry wasn't to be taken away just yet. He was rather curious. "Busy doing what? You're just looking out the window at the forest."
Ginny looked at Harry like he was insane. They were just given a pass on breaking the fundamental Hogwart's rule of curfew and he chose to question it. She tried to pull harder on his arm, yet again attempting telepathy. It didn't work. She would really have to start working on their telepathy.
Professor Henderson took in the scene gave him a sharp look, "Perhaps I was wrong, and perhaps you are the sidekick. Good night mister Potter. You too miss Weasley. Don't let me catch you on any midnight wanderings, no matter how lumpy your mattresses may be."
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Hermione was worried as usual. When she wasn't worried, sometimes she found something small and meaningless to get worried about. This however was not one of those times. She was worried about a big something. She had woken to use the necessary only to return to find Ginny's bed empty. Having not seen her in the bathroom, she got the feeling something was very wrong. Ginny had always been in bed on time. Except for that one time, she had stayed up until midnight in the common room talking with Harry. She shook her head, she envied the friendship those two shared. She had never had a friend so close.
Then it dawned on her like it was the most obvious thing. Ginny was probably just in the common room with Harry talking. She sighed and began walking down the stairs towards the common room.
What she saw at the bottom of the stairs scared her to silence. She ran down the final flight of stairs to the empty common room. She looked behind the chairs turned away from her and even dared call out their names. She was worried of course, frantic even. They weren't there.
As a last ditch effort, she swiftly climbed up the boys staircase, all the way to the top were she knew the first year boys dorm room to be. Hermione hesitated before slowly opening the door. She was greeted by the sounds of a train station, or maybe it was a sleeping dragon with bad asthma. Upon closer inspection turned out to be a snoring chorus of first year boys. She shook her head; you would never hear anything like this in the girl's dormitory, well maybe in the Slytherins dorms. Hermione couldn't help but giggle to herself as she quietly walked to the only bed with closed curtains. She wasn't one for house rivalries, but some of the Slytherin girls were very, well, hairy.
She pulled the only closed curtain aside. The empty bed didn't surprise her, she had expected that. This didn't stop her from being worried. She looked around at the other boys, hoping to find a reliable face. Her eyes settled on the boy in the bed next to Harry's. She recognized him as Devon Creed, the boy who had come looking for her after she had fled the potions classroom and had even offered to have Neville as a partner so that he wouldn't mess up her perfect potions anymore.
He seemed trustworthy enough, if not kind of cute. In fact, she hadn't noticed this before, but Devon was very cute. Maybe it was his short brown hair. Maybe it was his toned chest, which was visible via the absence of a shirt. Maybe it was…
"Are you just going to stare at me or do you have a question?" Devon said sleepily through half open eyes.
Hermione began blushing furiously and let out a small squeal. "How long have you been awake?"
Devon sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I miraculously heard the door open." The covers that had been covering most of his chest fell, showing his entire upper body.
Hermione blushed and turned around. This was improper in many ways. "Harry isn't in his bed."
Devon looked over as he put his nightshirt on, "Ah, so he isn't. You can turn around now Hermione."
"Ginny's not in her bed either." Hermione was turning around slowly as if scared she was being hoodwinked.
"Well played Harry" Devon received the famous Hermione glare and faltered, "Don't worry Hermione, they're obviously out pranking. Something I would be doing if I didn't have such rotten luck that I would probably get caught. I can assure you that my mum wouldn't be too pleased with that." Devon lay back down. "I say let them have their fun, and let me have my sleep."
"No, we have to go find them. They could be out breaking rules and we have to stop them." Hermione said worriedly.
Devon looked up at her, "and wouldn't we be breaking curfew by looking for them."
This bit of simple logic didn't even begin to break through Hermione's resolve, "We have to go Devon, please?" She stared pleadingly at him.
He stared back for as long as he could then sighed, it wasn't often Hermione said please, but he was so tired. "Maybe we can wait in the common room and give them a stern talking to about the rules and why they should be followed, when they return." He said the last part purely to appease her as he got up, fully intent on falling back asleep once he got down to that comfy couch in front of the fireplace. He got out of his bed revealing him to be in just his boxers, causing Hermione to shriek and run out of the room.
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While all the commotion was going on upstairs, Fred and George Weasley were still downstairs in front of an ancient mirror busy being bedazzled. The twins stood in front of a mirror that showed them not what they looked like, but what they thought they were going to be when they grew up.
"So yours shows you in front of our business surrounded by a mountain of gold and adoring women." Fred said for maybe the fifth time.
"Of course Fred, as does mine."
The dastardly duo had still not noticed the absence of their younger compatriots. They stood agape, wondering if their futures were truly to be so fortunate.
"But why, Fred, would we keep all our gold outside and why would the women be focusing on us instead of grabbing the gold strewn about?"
"Maybe it's our boyish good looks, or in this case," Fred said taking another look at the scene before him, "Maybe it's pure sex appeal. Admit it; we do look like quite the studs when we grow older."
"Right you are my dear brother. Damn good looking if you ask me. Not that we needed some shoddy old mirror to tell us that. We've always known we'd be successful pranksters gifted with gold, women, and looks."
"But of course we will be George."
Stepping away from the mirror and turning to leave. The opened the door and looked up and down the hall to make sure the coast was clear. As they began walking down the empty corridor, they couldn't help but wonder what felt different.
"George" whispered an unsure Fred
"Yes Fred" whispered back an equally unsure George
"Do you also feel like were two pranksters fewer than we were when we started this journey?"
George looked down at the piece of parchment in his hand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
"It looks like they are almost back to the common room." Fred observed.
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Ginny and Harry hurried back to the common room, careful to look around corners before each turn lest they be spotted by another teacher. Harry was wondering what was so important in the forest. All of the teachers seemed to be watching it, and Hagrid had even been hit by a stray curse from the forest. Something was going on that they were afraid to talk about. There was something dangerous in the forest and Harry was going to find out.
While Harry was plotting ways of figuring out the forest puzzle, Ginny was trying to work on reaching Harry through telepathy. They had almost got in trouble because she couldn't quiet him from her head. She would ask Hermione about telepathy tomorrow. Not only because she would be in the head of Harry Potter, but also because it was important for their future prankly pursuits.
They kept on walking, unintelligible of the storm that was awaiting them in the common room. When they finally reached the portrait of the Husky Lady, as Ginny called her for compassionate purposes, they were greeted with the disapproving stare of an obese portrait, and the less than welcoming glare of Hermione inside.
Hermione watched them walk in the door, both looking smug in their rule breaking. She would set them straight. "Were in blazes have you two been?"
Hermione's famous glare seemed to be magnified by the sleeplessness in her eyes. She had dropped the book she had been reading when they walked in, something they had never seen before. The abuse of a book was the highest crime in Hermione's eyes.
Ginny wasn't one to back down from a fight though, "We weren't doing anything wrong Hermione, were we Harry?"
Ginny thanked the Lord when Harry shook his head in confirmation; maybe she was starting to get through to him with her telepathy. There was hope yet.
Hermione seemed to recoil slightly at her resolve but continued nonetheless, "Rule breaking is always wrong. If you were out pranking, you could be in serious trouble, even expelled. I read the Hogwarts rulebook and it clearly states that curfew is at nine every on every weeknight. Its midnight right now, it is way past curfew. The Headmaster reserves the right to…"
"Hermione, we know the rules. We even saw a teacher, and he just let us go." Harry tried to reason with her but immediately realized by the fire in her eyes he had said the wrong thing.
"A teacher saw you two out after curfew. This is unacceptable. You have to report him to the Headmaster. Who was it? Don't you shake your heads at me, who caught you two?" Just then, the portrait hole opened.
"You two got caught?"
Hermione rounded on the twins who had just entered. "You two were with these two? I can't believe you two would help them break the rules. They're bad enough without you two giving them crackpot ideas. Don't give me that look, Filch wanted to expel you two on the first day. Not one of you is even listening to me. I can't believe you refuse to see reason. Tell them Devon." Hermione swung her head around to look at the couch were Devon had waited with her.
Everyone turned to the couch Hermione looked. The twins laughed at the sleeping form of Devon. Harry almost felt sorry for Hermione when he saw the look on her face. She thumped him on the chest and he shot up, "Whaddya want?"
"Devon, you were supposed to tell them off for breaking the rules." Hermione whispered frantically.
Devon wiped his eyes and yawned before getting up and walking towards the pranksters. "Oh yeah, guys don't break the rules anymore or Hermione will get mad and wake me up again. Good night." Devon turned and walked up the stairs, much to the chagrin of Hermione.
It took a while for Hermione to regain her cool, but when she did, she turned back and gave them one last glare. "If you four want to get expelled then be my guest, but I'm going to bed so that I can concentrate in class tomorrow. Good night."
The four pranksters watched her climb, more like stomp, up the stairs. The twins were gracious enough to wait for her to go out of sight before…
"Were did you two go?"
"Yeah," Fred agreed with his twin, "We take some time to stare into a magic mirror and when we turn around."
"Poof, our prankster brethren," George received a glare from Ginny, "and sistren, decided to fly the coop."
"And you two met a professor on the way back and didn't get into trouble? Do you realize that never has been done before, we should probably throw you two a party."
"No Fred, I say their party is us not remembering this next time we decide to throw a magnificent prank." George finished. Fred and George marched away in fake anger leaving the younger two pranksters alone.
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The next morning was an important one for the pranksters. Harry awoke tense for the upcoming day. Today was the all-important morning of what Fred and George had promised to be the greatest prank Hogwarts had ever seen. He had a sleepless night the night before thanks to Hermione. She had read the Hogwarts rulebook and seen to think they could be expelled for being out after curfew. He simply couldn't be expelled, Hogwarts had been far too good to him. Not mention all the good people he had met there, Ginny and her brothers being the most prevalent in his mind. Then again, the twins had been at Hogwarts for longer than He and Hermione. Maybe they knew more, because they certainly didn't think they would be expelled. Harry heard his stomach rumble and had to rule out skipping breakfast altogether. If this is what Hermione felt like when she was worried, then he and Ginny would have to listen to her more often.
He gave up on extra sleep and got up for the day. He didn't enjoy the knowing look Devon gave him as he came down the stairs. Ginny was sitting in a chair waiting for him. He squeezed down next to her in the chair.
Ginny scooted aside as Harry sat down in the chair with her. Both being quite small it was easy to fit. Later on they would have to find a new way to sit and talk, but this suited them for now. They both sat there silently thinking of the prank to come and its possible consequences. They each fidgeted in silence as they saw the twins come and the stairs and motion them out of the door. They reluctantly got up and followed at a distance as not to draw attention to their group. They reached the Great Hall and sat in their normal seats.
Dumbledore announced the start of breakfast and they began to eat slowly. Devon came to sit next to Harry.
Devon turned to them as he sat, "Whatever you two did, and I'm assuming that you didn't do it around the two of you. So I should be safe next to you, right?"
Harry chuckled, "I haven't the slightest idea of what you speak."
There was the usual chatter of morning conversations before the lessons. It went on for a good twenty minutes before somebody started snickering. It started slowly, but soon half of the Great Hall was roaring with laughter. Harry looked up at the Head Table to see what had happened and was confused to see a line of questionable characters. He was only lucky enough to recognize them because he used to hide while Dudley and his friends watched movies after hours. There in the middle of the Head Table was Old Ben Kenobi from the Star Wars movies, or who he knew to be Dumbledore. Sitting next to him was a younger McGonagall in a full metal bikini.
Harry looked around to see most of the Gryffindor table laughing, while the others looked generally confused. He figured that most purebloods wouldn't understand what Star Wars was but apparently, Fred and George had seen it. Many other half-bloods and muggleborns must have as well. He looked over at Devon, who he knew to be pureblood and saw him nearly glaring at Professor McGonagall as Leia in her metal bikini.
Harry shook Devon to snap him out of his stupor, but Devon pushed him away and continued to stare at Professor McGonagall, "Harry, I think I'm in love."
"With Professor McGonagall?" Devon didn't answer as Harry shook his head of the mental image of those two in a lip lock. This was definitely something he never wanted to think of again. He left Devon to his self as he turned to see what Ginny thought of the spectacle. Instead of looking at the High Table, she was laughing at something across the room.
Harry looked to see Draco rapidly growing Hair all over his body. Draco seemed alarmed by the sudden hair growth and seemingly tried to ask for help, but all that came out was a weak growl. Draco/Chewbacca looked up to the Head Table for help from his favorite teacher. But Snape seemed busy with other things.
Snape sat at the teacher's table shifting uncomfortably in tight leather clothing. His normal greasy hair and smirk were replaced by a black helmet with a long and curved nose. Harry recognized him as Darth Vader. Snape/Vader suddenly sprung from his seat and bolted from the Great Hall to the laughter of the students.
"That seems odd." Harry noticed as he watched Snape leave, "I've never thought of him as someone who cared about his image."
Fred chuckled from across the table, "No, but the strong laxative might have had something to do with that."
"Right you are my brother!" Laughed his twin.
Dumbledore examined himself and the other teachers with a smile. He seemed to laugh when his eyes turned to Professor Flitwick. The green professor seemed to be having trouble with his preposition placement. He took time to let the laughter die down before he stood. "Let me personally congratulate the students whom invented this scheme. Hogwarts is a school very accepting of academic creativity as long as it doesn't interfere with lessons. Now the time for class is near. Let us all finish our meals and leave."
Dumbledore sat down and began eating again. The students seemed happier, and McGonagall covered up her 'assets' and seemed to enjoy the anti-aging add-on to her potion. All was good in Hogwarts. But tonight marked the Start of Quidditch season and Harry was finally going to see what Ginny had been talking about all year.
Ginny went through her day as normal, always partnered with Harry and usually very successful. She watched that night as Gryffindor got demolished in their opening game versus Slytherin. She was upset at the dirty play of Slytherin that injured three of the Gryffindor players for the duration of the season. She went to bed with a heavy heart at the loss but then perked up when she remembered what she wanted to ask Hermione.
"Hermione?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you know about telepathy?"
"Telepathy?" The studious girl asked. "It's impossible as far as I know of."
"Oh…" Ginny looked at her feet.
"Maybe I can look up a book on mind magic." Hermione smiled as she patted the girl's shoulder.
HPHPHPHP
The mood in classes that day could only be described as distracted. Although not every student knew who the Star Wars characters were, they couldn't get enough. Because the potion was a digestive, no spell could take away the effect and the teachers were forced to teach as the characters they were transformed into. Harry thought this was shaping up to be a perfect Halloween with the teachers in costumes.
This made Herbology an incredibly interesting lesson to start their day with as Professor Sprout (R2D2) could only speak in beeps and whistles. She somehow managed to communicate what to do thanks to her various attachments which she used to point and such until Neville correctly guessed that they were assigned to cut the leaves off of a Voluminous Bulbous, a plant which when eaten causes the eater to develop a keen sense of night vision.
"I really can't see how you thought this would be a good use of our school time," Hermione griped as she slid closer to Harry, "How are we supposed to learn anything like this?"
"We didn't know anything about what was going to happen, Hermione. Honest"
"Don't lie to me Harry, I'm not stupid. I know you two were doing something with the twins last night. Now you have our professor changed into a robot. How can she teach us anything as a robot? What if I fail because of a crucial fact she was going to tell us today?"
Before Harry could express his sorrow, he was interrupted by Dean Thomas who was sitting nearby, "It was a great prank and you know it Hermione. Just because you're a stuck up bitch doesn't mean you can ruin everyone else's good time."
The effect was instantaneous. Harry and Ginny's mouth fell upon while Deans and his friends, starting laughing obnoxiously. Hermione's rant stopped immediately. Her eyes teared up at Dean's comment, but the flood works opened at their raucous laughter. She spun and fled the Herbology greenhouse. It took a while for what just happened to sink in.
"Ha, what a crybaby, right guys?" Dean said to his friends as he continued laughing with a false bravado to hide his sorrow.
Harry was beyond anger, but before he could do anything, a yellowish spell swept past him and hit Dean squarely in the face.
Dean's face began mysteriously bubble and there was a sudden explosion from his nose as small winged beasts flew from his nose and began to attack his face mercilessly. Dean's cries of pain called the attention of Professor Sprout. She wheeled over and began beeping loudly.
Harry turned to see Ginny's red, angry face, and followed it down her outstretched arm to the tip of her wand. She turned and their eyes met, without words they both turned away from the beeping's of Professor Spout. Ignoring the loud tears of Dean, Parvati yelling at them for killing her new boyfriend: of one mind, they sprinted out the door and towards the Forbidden Forest were they saw the back of their friend disappearing into the woods. The forest was nearly a half mile away. Having been raised in equally active environments, they kept up with each other very well.
A/N: Thank you so much for continuing this journey with me. I'm working very hard to update and keep this in character. If anything is spotted, please feel free to let me know! I've gotten a few questions on character development and why I chose to have Ginny start the year with Harry. I swapped the ages of Ginny and Ron because I wanted to see what would happen if Harry grew up with a supportive friend without insecurity, and if Ginny grew up meeting Harry, instead of hearing stories and fawning from a distance. This obviously has a major effect on how Hermione develops as well. Ginny isn't as anti-studying as Ron, so it will take a bit for the habit of bossiness to die out in her. I like how the characters are developing so far though, and I hope it's fun for you to read.
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