Bumps-A-Daisy
Lessons went smoothly for Harry and Hermione, but they faced a lot of teasing and cruel jokes from the Slytherins – Malfoy mainly - and also Ron Weasley. Professor Snape, who was the head of house for the Slytherins, refused to do anything about Malfoy or the Slytherins. Harry and Hermione did start talking to a girl called Astoria Greengrass. She would pass on information to the pair when she heard Malfoy plotting something. Apart from her, the only friends that Harry and Hermione had were Susan and Hannah. They understood the pair's directness and sometimes rudeness towards them, and Harry and Hermione tried to become friendlier towards people. One good result of their lives together was the fact they could get rid of Ron by simply looking at him for five minutes – without blinking!
"I hate Snape" Harry said quietly.
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"You know that he made me stay after class?" and Hermione nodded, "Well he started going on about how I should be more respectful while in Potions. Then he started pushing me around into the desks" Harry finished talking.
"That's bullying" said Hermione with a frown. "You should go and see Professor Sprout about it" and Harry agreed. He went to see his head of house and told her exactly what had happened to him after Potions. Sprout promised to talk to Snape and hear his side of the story.
# # # # #
Later that evening at dinner, Harry was summoned to see Dumbledore and he went to see the Headmaster along with Hermione. Everywhere one of them went, the other was sure to follow alongside.
"I did request to see Mr Potter alone" said Dumbledore when the pair arrived. "Miss Granger, you are not needed here. You may go and have dinner with your housemates" when she hesitated, Dumbledore placed her in detention for a week forced her to leave. "Now that we are alone, Harry, I wish to talk to you about the subject you brought up with Professor Sprout this morning" and the man's eye twinkled.
"Yes" replied Harry. "The man was rude to me, insulted me and then physically assaulted me" he added.
"I am sure you are making a mountain out of a molehill, Harry" said Dumbledore. "I have spoken to Professor Snape about this matter, and he assures me that nothing of the sort took place at all" and Harry became annoyed.
"I have the bruises to prove it" and he rolled up his sleeve to show the large purple mark on his right forearm.
"You may well have done that in order to get Professor Snape into trouble. This is a serious offence, Harry. You will serve detention every night for the next week. You will start tonight" and then Dumbledore kept Harry in his office for the rest of the hour. When he was let go, Harry went down to the great hall to find that dinner was over. He went back to the common room, and he found Hermione and took her aside.
"He gave me a week of detentions every night" he told her.
"And in doing so made you miss dinner" Hermione said. "I tried to bring you something, but I was tripped by something or someone. Snape took a hundred points off Hufflepuff for what happened. When I got up, I saw Malfoy grinning at me. I think he did something" and Harry was forced to agree. The pair got their bags and started writing their homework which was due for the following morning in Transfiguration. After they had finished, they put their bags away in their trunks, took some time to move a few things around, and then went back down to speak to Hannah and Susan. Both girls knew that Harry and Hermione would do their homework first and then talk to them. It was hard to get used to, but both of them understood they had little in social skills – even after some time spent at Hogwarts.
"What did Dumbledore want with you, Harry?" asked Susan.
"He said that Snape had not done anything towards me, called me a liar and gave me detention for a week" Harry replied.
"And made you miss dinner again" Hannah noted.
"Not the first time he has done that" Hermione was thoughtful for a moment. "Do you think he is trying to make you do what he wants by making you hungry all the time?" she asked her friend.
"Perhaps" said Harry. "Maybe we should start a record of every time Dumbledore gives either or both of us punishments" he added. Hermione agreed, and she started a list there and then of everything that had happened so far to them. They talked amongst themselves for a while until Harry and Hermione decided to go to bed.
# # # # #
Just as Harry was sitting for breakfast, Harry and Hermione were summoned to Dumbledore. He repeatedly asked them to change to Gryffindor, and the pair refused every order.
"I could expel you for not doing what I say" the headmaster said. He was angry that the pair had not done as he had asked, but then remembered that First Year Hufflepuffs had flying lessons that afternoon.
"That is your choice, sir. If you try any physical action to myself or Hermione, then we'll quit the school and go to that French one" Harry said.
"Now if you don't mind, we have much better things to do with our time then talk to a demented old man" and with that, the pair got up and walked out the office and down the stairs.
# # # # #
The encounter was recorded and then they went to Potions in the company of Hannah and Susan. The lesson passed very well if you didn't count the points that Snape was taking away from Hufflepuff for Harry and Hermione's apparently sub-standard work. After Potions, it was time for an hour of History of Magic before having lunch. As they had not eaten at breakfast, Harry and Hermione ate the pasties, sandwiches and other food set out like hungry wolves. Susan had poured them out some Pumpkin Juice, but then remembered that both of them were allergic to it and so gave them pure orange juice instead. They trooped out to the grounds and went to the old courtyard where a woman with a hawkish look about her waited for them. In two rows on either side of her, lay brooms which they would be using them.
"My name is Madam Hooch. I am your flying instructor for one hour a week. There is no spell that you need to use, so simply stand next to a broom and wait until I tell you what to do" Hooch moved to one side and the students – a mixture of both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw First Years – went to the brooms and stood by them.
"I wonder what happens" whispered Hermione.
"No idea, Mione" replied Harry in the same hushed tone.
"When I tell you to, I want you to raise your arm over the broom and say 'up'. It is most important that you say this clearly or the charms will not work" Hooch said. A moment later, and she gave permission for the students to attempt to get their brooms up. Harry and Hermione's whipped up almost before they had finished speaking. After telling them about the basic principals of broomstick flight, Hooch allowed them to ground round the courtyard in a lazy loop at a height of two or three feet, and the pair did so side by side. But as they turned round to come down the far side, Harry's broom suddenly picked up speed and rocketed into the air.
"HARRY!" shouted Hermione. Everyone had stopped moving to watch the spot that was Harry getting smaller as he went away from them.
"Get down this instant!" Hooch called after him. If he had been close enough to hear her, Harry would have replied that he wasn't flying his broom.
#
Harry felt the broom pick up speed before heading up to the sky, and he heard Hermione's scream far below him. The broom was going faster and faster as it twisted and turned around the grounds. He passed over the heads of students having lessons outside who stopped to look at his passing over them.
'Warning, this broom has surpassed maximum speed limits. Please reduce your speed at once'
"How do I do that?" Harry asked the cold mechanical voice of the broom. In reply, there was an awful splitting sound as the broom continued to gain speed, and Harry looked back and saw the bottom of the broom beginning to crack. Indeed, small chunks had already began spinning down to the ground.
'Warning – Structural integrity of this broom has been compromised. Ten seconds to structural failure'.
"Turn off! Stop! Cease! Finish! Finite! Halt!" Harry shouted, but nothing worked out at all for Harry.
'Warning – Structural integrity has been compromised. Structural break up now in progress' and to Harry's horror, the broom broke up into many pieces and he was thrown high up before his body obeyed the gravitational constant and plummeted down to the ground. In the few seconds he had left, he said goodbye to Hermione and thanked her for being his friend. The ground came up to meet him and he hit the deck at around 90MPH. he hit with such force, that he kept going for several inches and Harry felt nearly every bone in his body break from the impact damage. Blood poured from deep wounds, and already he felt very light headed.
"Bugger" and then all he knew was blackness
A/N:
Bit of a short chapter this, but there is a reason for this. In three days time, it will be my birthday (my 22nd) and so I want a nice big chapter of something so that we can celebrate!
If anyone wants a good laugh, then look at the last review for Leaving Home. I have now got the honour of melting someone's mind!
Shameless Plug of the Month: the following fics are all worthy of being plugged: I'm Not Going, Leaving Home, Leaving Hogwarts, Harry Potter True Friends, A Year Without Harry, An Abnormal Prison Report, Goodbye Old Friend, The Deepest Friendship and The Great Road Trip all by an author called Pixel and Stephanie Forever. He/she/they are an author whose works I respect a great deal, but for some reason he does not get many reviews. Please let he/she/them know I sent you their way please!
Regards,
Pixel