'Ello mates.
Disclaimer: I don't know about any of you, but I am so excited for the last Harry Potter movie! (Which, by the way, I don't own...) It's going to be so sad when it all ends...
Oh, and as I said before, reviews are now on the bottom.
Anyway. Knock yourself out. (Not literally)
Levina raced into the Great Hall as fast as her feet would carry her, her long brown hair flying behind her. The footsteps of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny echoed behind her as they tried to keep up.
"Oi, slow down!" Ron hollered after her.
Levina skidded to a halt in front of the long Gryffindor table and dropped into one of the empty seats. Panting, the others came into view beside her and found seats around her.
"Sorry, guys," Levina apologized. "I'm just...excited! Honestly, even though I've been living with Destiny, I still get homesick." Hogwarts was the one place Levina could truly call home.
"He's not there," said Harry.
"Who?" Levina followed Harry's gaze to the staff table, where Hagrid was absent from his seat. "Oh...he's probably just running late."
"He can't have left," said Ron, sounding slightly anxious.
"Of course he hasn't," said Harry firmly.
"You don't think he's...hurt, or anything, do you?" sad Hermione uneasily.
"No," said Harry at once.
"But where is he, then?"
Levina shrugged, but Harry leaned in close to them and whispered, "Maybe he's not back yet. You know-from his mission-the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore."
"Oh, right," said Levina.
"Yeah, that'll be it," said Ron, sounding reassured.
"Who's that?" said Hermione suddenly, pointing up to the staff table.
Levina glanced up again to the middle of the staff table, where someone Levina didn't recognize was whispering something into Dumbledore's ear. She was squat and had short, curly brown hair with a horrible pink bow in it. When she turned away from Dumbledore, Levina noticed her face was very toad-like.
"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I expect," said Levina.
"It's that Umbridge woman!" said Harry.
"Who?" said Hermione.
"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"
"Nice cardigan," said Ron, smirking.
"Works for Fudge?" Hermione repeated. "What on earth's she doing here?"
"Didn't I just answer that?" said Levina hotly, but they didn't appear to be listening so she dropped the subject.
The doors to the entrance hall opened and the line of terrified first years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool with the Sorting hat, which was an ancient, heavily patched-up wizard's hat.
The chattered died away as the first years lined up in front of the staff table, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back. The entire school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song.
It was different, Levina thought, as she listened to it. Many eyebrows raised as it sung, and Levina exchanged a confused look with Harry. One line that most caught Levina's canine hearing by surprise was "For our Hogwarts is in danger from External, deadly foes." What was that supposed to mean?
"And we must unite inside her or we'll crumble from within, I have told you, I have warned you...Let the Sorting begin."
"Okay then..." said Levina as applause broke out in the hall, but many people were whispering and muttering.
"Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?" said Ron.
"Too right it has," said Harry.
"Well, it was certainly different than last year, that's for sure," said Levina.
"I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?" said Hermione, sounding slightly nervous.
"Yes, indeed," said Nearly Headless Nick, leaning across Neville toward her. "That hat feels itself honor-bound to give the school due warning whenever it feels-"
But Professor McGonagall was now shooting everyone who was talking a death glare, and Nearly Headless Nick grew quiet.
"Abercrombie, Euan."
A terror-stricken boy stumbled up to the hat and placed it on his head. After a moment, the hat cried "GRYFFINDOR!"
Levina clapped loudly as Euan staggered over to their table and sat down, looking incredibly embarrassed.
Slowly the line of first year students thinned, and by the end of it, Levina's stomach was beginning to hurt. "Zeller, Rose" was the last one sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall took away the hat and stool.
Dumbledore rose to his feet and smiled, beaming at them all. "To out newcomers, welcome! To our old hands-welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"
There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore reclaimed his seat. Food materialized onto their empty plates and flagons of pumpkin juice appeared on the tables. There were pies and dishes of vegetables, bread, sauces, and various meats.
"Oh, forget this werewolf business," said Levina, seizing the plate of steak and pork chops. She piled corn, bread, and potatoes onto her plate, eating hungrily.
"What was it you were saying before the Sorting?" said Hermione to Nearly Headless Nick.
"Oh yes. Yes, I've heard the hat give several warnings before, always at time when it detects periods of great danger for the school. And always, of course, its advice is the same: Stand together, be strong from within."
"That's odd," said Levina, reaching for her goblet.
Ron mumbled something through a mouthful of potatoes.
"I beg your pardon?" said Nick.
Ron swallowed the food in his mouth and cleared his throat. "How can it know if the school's in danger if it's a hat?"
"I have no idea. Of course, it lives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks up a few things in there."
"And it wants all the Houses to be friends?" said Harry, looking over at the Slytherin table.
"That's likely," said Levina sarcastically as she watched Draco Malfoy smirking about something as he talked to Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"Well, now, you shouldn't take that attitude," said Nick. "We ghosts, though we belong to seperate Houses, maintain links of friendship. In spit of the competitiveness between Slytherin and Gryffindor, I would never dream of seeking an arguement with the Bloody Baron."
"Only because you're terrified of him," said Ron.
"Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins-"
"Blood?" said Levina, wrinkling her nose.
"What blood?" said Ron. "Surely you haven't still got-?"
"It's a figure of speech! But I am quite used to students poking fun at my death, I assure you."
"Nick, he wasn't laughing at you!" said Hermione, throwing a furious look at Ron.
"He was just being stupid," said Levina.
Unfortunately, Ron's mouth was full of food and he didn't manage a full apology. Nick swept away from them, apparently not accepting his mumbles as an apology.
"Well done, Ron," snapped Hermione.
"What? I can't ask a simple question?" said Ron.
Levina rolled her eyes and reached for more steak-and-kidney pie. It wasn't until she'd finished off the last lick of her pudding when Dumbledore got to his feet.
"Now that we are all fed and watered, I must ask a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students-and a few of our older students ought to know by now as well."
Levina, Harry, Ron, and Hermione smirked at each other.
Dumbledore continued the rest of the rules and the variety of things not allowed before he finally reached the topic of staff. Levina perked up at this; was he about to tell them about Hagrid?
"We are pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who whill be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to introduce Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was a scatter of unenthusiastic applause. Levina felt her heart drop and she frowned. Dumbledore had not mentioned whether Hagrid would be returning, nor where he was.
Just as Dumbledore had begun to speak again, there was a small, "Hem, hem" and he broke off. Umbridge had gotten to her feet, apparently wanting to make a speech of some sort. How dare she interrupt Dumbledore! thought Levina. She's definetly not making a good first case...
Dumbledore sat down smartly and Umbridge rose to the front of the stage. "Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome."
Her voice was high-pitched and much like a little girl who was overly excited for a new toy. Levina's eyebrows raised. She already didn't like her.
"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"
Who? thought Levina; on the contrary, no one was smiling. Everyone looked surprised at being addressed like five year olds.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be great friends!"
"Yeah, like that'll happen," said Levina, smirking.
As she continued, Levina put her head down on the table and sighed. There was a warm, cozy bed waiting for her back in the common room. If Umbridge would shut her trap, she would be walking up to it at that exact moment. She glanced around the room, but no one seemed to be paying much attention anymore.
Small giggles and whispers began to break out, and it seemed only the teachers and prefects were listening. Luna Lovegood had the Quibbler out again and Cho Chang was talking animatedly at the Ravenclaw table. The Slytherins were smirking and Draco Malfoy was talking to Crabbe amd Goyle, sniggering under their breath.
"Well this is fun," Levina muttered sleepily.
"I wish she'd shut up," said Harry as he put his head down beside hers.
Only Hermione seemed to be paying attention. She was looking straight up at Umbridge, apparently determined to hear every word.
Levina was just beginning to doze off when Umbridge finally sat down and Dumbledore began clapping. She was startled by the sound, having not been listening, and it seemed many others were as well; they jolted or sat upright, blinking many times and rubbing their eyes.
"Thank you Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," said Dumbleore. "Now-as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts-"
"Ugh, finally!" groaned Levina.
"Yes, it was certainly illuminating," said Hermine in a low voice.
"What are you talking about?" said Levina.
"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" said Ron. "That was the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."
"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," said Hermione. "It explained a lot."
"Did it?" said Harry. "Sounded like a load of waffle to me."
"There was some important stuff in that waffle," said Hermione grimly.
"Like what?" said Levina.
"Like 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? I'll tell you what it means. It means the Ministry of Magic is interfering at Hogwarts."
Everyone around them began to rise from their chairs, apparently dismissed by Dumbledore. Levina hoisted herself out of her seat and yawned.
"Well, that's just great," said Levina. "On that cheery note, I'm going to bed..."
"Ron, we're supposed to show the first years where to go!" said Hermione.
"Oh yeah," said Ron. "Hey-hey you lot! Midgets!"
"Ron!" said Hermione.
"Well, they are..."
Levina followed Harry up the corridor. She practically had to drag herself, being as tired as she was. Harry seemed to be in a bad mood again for some reason, but she wasn't entirely sure why. It wasn't like Umbridge had been horrible to them.
"What's up?" said Levina as she trudged up the stairs.
"What's up?" Harry repeated. "Did you not see the looks on the first years' faces? They must have heard all that stuff about me from last year!"
"Oh Harry," said Levina, "who cares what a bunch of midgets think about you?"
They came to a halt in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, and it was then that Levina realized she didn't have the password.
"Uh," said Levina.
"No password, no entrance," said the Fat Lady.
"Oh come on, you know who we are," said Levina angrily.
"Harry, Levina, I know it!" Neville came jogging up behind them, holding the cactus plant in his arms. "Guess what it is? I'm actually going to be able to remember it for once-Mimbulus mimbletonia!"
"Correct," said the Fat Lady. She swung her portrait open and they climbed inside through the circular door.
The common room was warm inside. A fire had been set in the fireplace and it was crackling cheerfully. Fred and George were pinning something to the notice board and there were people warming their hands in the armchairs by the fire.
Levina climbed into the girl's dormitory, where she slumped into her bed and rolled onto her back, stretching lazily.
"Hi," said Parvati Patil as she unloaded her suitcase.
"Hi. Good summer?" said Levina.
"Yeah, it was nice. It's good to be back, though."
"Agreed."
"Hi Lavender," Levina added; Lavender was sitting on her bed in silence, watching Levina cautiously as she climbed under the covers. "What?"
"I...well..." Lavender scooted closer near Levina and leaned in close. "Is it true?"
"Is what true?" said Levina.
"What really happened that night?" she demanded. "Surely Harry told you? You're his best friend."
Levina frowned. "You already know what happened. Dumbledore told us last year."
Lavender rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Levina. You can tell me, okay? I won't tell anyone."
"I'm telling the truth!" said Levina hotly. "Harry's not a killer, and you know it! The Daily Prophet's rubbish!"
"My gosh you're annoying!" spat Lavender. "Why can't you just tell me?"
"Lavender-" said Parvati nervously.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Levina growled. "You want the truth? Well, I'll tell you the truth! Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort!"
Lavender shrieked at the sound of the name. "You're lying!"
"What's going on?"
Hermione had entered the girl's dorm, looking winded from rounding up the first years.
"Levina here's refusing to tell me the truth about Harry!" said Lavender.
"I told you the truth, you-" Levina began.
"What are you wanting?" said Hermione. "Some other answer besides Dumbledore's?"
"I want the truth!" said Lavender angrily. "Harry's lying!"
"Keep your big fat mouth shut!" said Hermione.
Lavender eyes narrowed in fury. "I don't believe one bit of that stupid lie Harry's been spewing-"
She suddenly shrieked. The vase next to her had exploded violently, sending a shower of shards everywhere.
"Shut up!" Levina snarled. "Shut up about Harry! Don't talk about things you don't know, you idiot!"
Lavender stared in shock, looking from Levina to the vase. "D-did you-was that-?"
"Yeah, it was me," said Levina hotly, although she herself was startled by it. "Keep it up and next time it'll be your head."
And with that, Levina turned onto her side and pulled the covers over her.
...
The following morning was incredibly awkward. Lavender refused to look at Levina and was dressed and out of the girls' dormitory in under a minute. Levina made a rude gesture at her as her hair vanished around the door and Hermione frowned.
"Levina, don't do that," said Hermione sharply as she pulled on her socks.
"Do what?" said Levina innocently.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Look, just forget about last night. Come on, it's our first day back; you should be happy!"
"I was happy," Levina grumbled. She pulled on her robes and fastened her necklace on tightly around her neck, "but if Lavender reacted like that, then think of what the lot in the guys' dorm did."
Hermione shook her head. "They'll know we were right in the end," she said sadly.
They headed down the stairs to the common room, where Harry and Ron were making their way down to breakfast. Harry had an ill-tempered expression and he had his fists clenched.
"What's the matter?" said Hermione, catching up beside them.
"What's up?" said Levina, although she was certain she knew the answer.
"Oh for heaven's sake," said Hermione suddenly. She was staring up at the common room notice board, where a large new sign had been put up. It read:
"Gallons of Galleons! Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings? Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room.
Levina burst out laughing. "That sounds like them!"
"They are the limit," said Hermione, taking down the sign. "We'll have to talk to them, Ron."
"Why?" said Ron, alarmed.
"Because we're prefects!" said Hermione as they climbed out of the portrait hole. "It's up to us to stop this kind of thing!"
"Oh give them a break, Hermione," said Levina as she walked down a flight of stairs.
Hermione ignored her. "Anyway, what's up, Harry?" she asked.
"Seamus reckons Harry's been lying about You-Know-Who," said Ron.
Hermione sighed glumy. "Yes, Lavender thinks so too."
"Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not I'm a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?" said Harry loudly.
Levina glared at Harry. "What's your problem? You are acting like a prat lately, Harry! You forget that we're not the ones who don't believe you."
"I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually," said Hermione. "And Levina blew up a vase and called her an idiot. And Levina's right; it would be nice if you stopped jumping down our throats, because if you haven't noticed, we're on your side."
There was a short pause.
"Sorry," said Harry in a low voice.
"That's quite all right," said Hermione with dignity.
"It's fine," Levina muttered, but she could feel her anger rising once more. No matter what Harry was going through, he had no right to snap at them whenever he felt.
"Levina," said Hermione suddenly. "Are you wearing your necklace?"
Levina frowned and stopped abruptly in front of her. "Yes. Why?"
"I think you should go ahead of us," she said slowly.
"What? Why?" Levina demanded.
"To cool down," said Hermione quietly.
Levina opened her mouth to argue, but she realized Hermione was right; she was getting her anger worked up again, and it couldn't be good for her condition, being a werewolf.
"Fine," said Levina irritably. She brushed past them and made her way down the steps at a fast pace, reaching the Great Hall instantly. The ceiling above was a dark, cloudy grey. She dropped into one of the seats and sighed, placing her head on the table.
"'Morning." Levina looked up to see Fred and George, who were finishing up their breakfasts hastily.
"Oh, hi guys," said Levina. "Why the hurry?"
"We need to work on our joke shop," said George.
"And we need to talk to Lee Jordan about the costs and shipments," Fred added.
"Watch out for Hermione," Levina advised. "She saw the notice you posted on the bulletin board, and I don't think she was pleased."
Fred shrugged. "What's she going to do? Put us in detention?"
"Probably," said Levina. "Oh, here she comes now..."
Fred and George vanished instantly through the crowded hall and out of sight just as Hermione found a seat across from Levina. They were discussing Hagrid's disappearance.
"Any ideas?" said Levina as she reached for a slice of toast.
"Yeah, one," said Hermione. "I think Hagrid-"
"Hi."
Levina looked over her shoulder; Angelina, a tall black girl, was standing behind them.
"Hi, Angelina," said Levina.
"Good summer? Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," she added before Levina could reply.
"Nice one," said Harry, grinning.
"Brilliant!" said Levina. "I'll bet you'll keep your pep talks shorter than Oliver..."
"Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left. Tryoutd ae on Friday at five o' clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in."
"Okay," said Harry.
"We'll be there," said Levina, and she smiled at them and departed.
"I'd forgotten Wood had left," said Hermione vaguely. "I suppose that will make quite a difference to the team?"
"Less long of lectures," said Levina through a mouthful of toast. "I'll be looking forward to that."
"He was a good Keeper..." said Harry.
There was a whoosh and the morning owls soared in, hooting heartily as they delivered their usual mail. Apparently it was raining out, for the owls showered them with water. Athena, accompanied by Celeste, dropped from the sky and landed in front of Levina, carrying seperate letters. Athena had a package attatched to her leg.
"Oh good!" said Levina cheerfully as she untied the package off Athena's leg. "Lupin must have sent another werewolf book..."
A sopping wet owl drifted down in front of Hermione and she took a damp copy of the Daily Prophet off its leg.
"What are you still getting that for?" said Harry irritably. "I'm not bothering...load of rubbish."
"It's best to know what the enemy are saying," said Hermione darkly as she unfolded it.
"'The Werewolf's Official Guide,'" said Levina happily as she tore the paper away from the book. "I've been in need of something new to read...Oh, and there's a letter from Destiny," she added, removing the wet paper from Celeste. "She got to school just fine, and Ryuu's back in Romania with the other dragons and Eric...Oh, and Fleur says hi," she added.
Ron knocked over the glass of pumpkin juice he was reaching for. "Fleur? Fleur Delacour?"
Hermione shot him a very nasty look.
"Yeah," said Levina. "They're in dance class together, remember? Anyway..." Levina folded it up and scribbled a reply messily onto a sheet of paper.
"Nothing," said Hermione, rolling up the newspaper. "Nothing about you and Dumbledore."
Professor McGonagall was now moving along the table, passing out schedules to the students.
"Look at today!" groaned Ron. "History of Magic, double Potins, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts...Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day!"
"Are you kidding me!" said Levina, her good mood dissolving. "There goes my Monday..."
"I wish Fred and George'd hurry up and make those Skiving Snackboxes already," said Ron.
"Do mine ears decieve me?" said Fred, arriving with George and squeezing onto the bench beside Levina. "Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive off lessons?"
"Look what we've got today," said Ron grumpily, shoving the schedule under Fred's nose. "That's the worst Monday I've ever seen..."
"Fair point, little bro," said Fred, scanning the column. "You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like."
"Why's it cheap?" said Ron suspiciously.
"Because you'll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we haven't got an antidote yet," said George.
"Cheers," said Ron moodily.
They had History of Magic first, which was just about the worst subject they could have to start off the morning. Levina spent half the time sleeping on her desk, the other half playing hangman with Ron and Harry on the corner of her parchment. Hermione shot her dirty looks, but Levina's fresh new notebook took all the notes for her, so she needn't bother.
"Well, at least I got a good nap in," said Levina, stretching lazily as they made their way across the courtyard. "I need to be alert, in case Snape slips me some poison or something..."
They found a corner under a heavily dripping balcony and pulled their robes up at their collars to avoid the chilly September air. They were discussing what horrid things awaited them in Potions class next when someon walked around the corner to meet them.
"Hello, Harry, Levina," said Cho Chang.
"Hi!" said Levina brightly. Beside her, Harry went beet red.
"Hi," said Harry nervously.
"You got that stuff off, then?"
Levina had a feeling she was referring to the Stinksap.
"Yeah," said Levina, "Ginny cleaned it up."
"So did you...er...have a good summer?" said Harry breathlessly.
Levina glared at Harry; of course she didn't have a good summer! She and Cedric had been dating before he died, and obviously it must have ruined her holiday.
"Oh, it was all right, you know..."
"Is that a Tornados Badge?" Ron demanded suddenly, pointing to the front of Cho's robes. "You don't support them, do you?"
Levina turned her glare away from Harry and aimed it at Ron. She wondered how hard it would be to kick him without anyone noticing.
"Yeah, I do," said Cho.
"Have you always, or just since they started winning the league?"
"I've supported them since I was six," said Cho coolly. "Anyway...see you, Harry."
She walked away. Levina waited until Cho was halfway across the courtyard before rounding on Ron.
"Are you really that oblivious?" she demanded.
"You're so tactless!" said Hermione.
"What?" said Ron. "I only asked her if-"
"Couldn't you tell she wanted to talk to Harry on her own?"
"So? She could've done, I wasn't stopping-"
"That's the bell," said Levina, her canine ears catching it over Hermione and Ron's bickering.
Levina made her way to the dungeons along with the mob of students blocking up the hallway. They filed into the classroom and Levina sat down beside Harry and Hermione, who was still arguing with Ron.
"Settle down," said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him ominously. "Before we begin today's lesson, I think it is appropriate to remind you that next June you willbe sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'acceptable' in your O.W.L, or suffer my...displeasure."
Neville gulped nervoulsy, but Levina shrugged inside. Potions was one of her stronger classes, so she didn't need to worry about it much.
"Today we are mixing the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients, you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." Snape flicked his wand and the ingredients and instructions appeared on the blackboard. "You have an hour and a half...Start."
Snape couldn't have picked a more complicated potion; Levina found herself looking to the board more often than not, trying to find the right ingredients to add at the right times. The steam from her cauldron made her face sweat, but the potion appeared to be correct.
"A light silver vapor should now be rising from your potion," called Snape when there were ten minutes left to go.
Levina heaved a great sigh of relief; there was a light silver steam emitting from her cauldron. She inhaled deeply and her shoulders relaxed instantly. Snape swept past their table and paused behind she and Hermione, who's potions looked almost identical. Seeming to have nothing bad to say, he swept on and halted again this time behind Harry.
"Potter, what is this supposed to be?"
Levina looked over at Harry's cauldron, which was issuing a dark gray steam. She could see the Slytherins looking up eagerly.
"The Draught of Peace," said Harry tensley.
"Tell me, Potter, can you read?"
Draco Malfoy laughed.
"Yes, I can," said Harry through gritted teeth.
"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."
Harry squinted at the blackboard. He repeated the third step.
"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?"
"No, I forgot the hellebore..."
"I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesco."
The contents of the cauldron vanished.
"For those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill a flagon with a sample, label it with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework" twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."
Levina gave Harry a sympathetic look as she filled a flagon with her potion; nearly everyone in the room had messed up, but, of course, Harry was the only one to be hassled over it.
When they returned to the Great Hall, there was rain lashing at the high windows. Normally, Levina enjoyed rainy days, but today, she just groaned and dropped heavily into one of the seats, her mood irritable.
"Y'know, Snape must be pretty proud of himself," she said as the others sat down around her. "I bet in his spare time he thinks up different ways to make the Slytherins laugh."
"I thought he might be a bit better this year," said Hermione sadly. "I mean...you know...now he's in the Order and everything..."
"Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots," said Ron. "Anyway, I always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where's the evidence he ever stopped working for You-Know-Who?"
"I think Dumbledore's got plently of evidence, even if he doesn't share it with you," snapped Hermione.
"Oh, shut up, the pair of you," said Harry heavily as Ron opened his mouth. The three of them froze and stared at Harry. "Can't you give it a rest? You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad." And with that, Harry swung his schoolbag over his shoulder and left.
"Ouch," said Levina. "He's really mad at you two."
"But-but-" Ron spluttered, looking slightly offended.
"He's right, you know," said Levina. "I wouldn't have gone as far as to blow up like that, but you two argue a lot..."
Hermione shot her an angry look. "It's not our fault Snape and everyone's out to get him! He needs to control his temper..."
"Maybe he should get a werewolf necklace," said Levina darkly. She finished her sheperd's pie and leaned back in her chair. "I wonder what's up with Harry? He keeps having these mini bursts of anger...think it has anything to do with Voldie?"
Both Hermione and Ron flinched. "Oh, get over it!" said Levina. "I didn't even say Voldemort..."
They winced again, but this time Ron cut across her, "It's possible, but how would he be getting to him?"
"I dunno..."
"Anyway, we should stop arguing, I suppose..." said Hermione. "But when you two go to Divination, tell Harry I think it would be nice if he stopped taking his temper out on us," said Hermione.
"You can," said Levina to Ron. "I'm sick of trying to calm Harry down, it's really getting annoying..."
They made their way up to the North Tower and climbed the silver ladder to Trelawney's classroom, which was heavily perfumed, as usual. Harry had already found a table and was sitting on one of the poufs, looking as grouchy as ever. Levina sat down opposite of him and pretended to be busy with taking her stuff out of her bag to avoid eye contact.
"Hermione and me have stopped arguing," said Ron.
"Good," grunted Harry.
Ron repeated Hermione's message nervously as he sat down, looking at Harry as though he were a time bomb.
"I'm not-" Harry began.
"I'm just passing on the message," said Ron. "But I reckon she's right. It's not our fault how Seamus and Snape treat you."
"I never said it-"
"Oh, just give it a rest, Harry!" said Levina, exasperated. "You know, lately you've been worse then a Mandrake!"
"You're just being-"
"Good day."
"Oh no," groaned Levina; Professor Trelawney had entered and was staring around at them with her huge, magnified eyes.
"You will find on the table before you copies of The Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago. Dream interpretation is a most important means of viewing the future."
Levina sighed and flipped open the book to the introduction.
"Divide into groups and interpret your dreams. Carry on."
"I never remember my dreams," said Ron. "You say one."
Levina winced. She was certainly not going to write down her dreams of her mother's death, nor of the man in the cloak with the bundle.
"Well, I had one that I was playing Quidditch the other night," said Ron. "What d'you reckon that means?"
"Probably that you're going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow or something," said Harry as he flipped through the pages.
"Why not just make them up again like last year?" Levina suggested in a whisper. "Here...lets see...last night I dreamed a bunch of quills revolted against the wizards..."
It was very dull work, and by the end of class, they had been assigned more homework. They had to keep a dream diary and write down whatever they saw and interpret it.
"Fred and George were right!" moaned Levina, hoisting her book bag over her shoulder. "Look how much work we have already!"
"That Umbridge woman better not give us any," said Ron.
"I wouldn't count on it," said Levina sadly.
Everyone filed in and found seats. Umbridge was already seated at the front behind the teacher's desk, decked out in her usual pink attire. She was smiling overly sweetly out at them, looking more toadlike than before.
"Well, good afternoon!" she said when the whole class had found seats.
There was a mumbled reply.
"Tut, tut," said Umbridge. "That won't do, now will it? When I say 'Good afternoon,' you say, 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," the class chanted back. Levina yet again muttered it under her breath.
"That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please," she added.
Levina sighed and put her wand back in her bag; if it didn't involve wands, then it wasn't fun.
Umbridge extracted her wand, pointed it at the board, and the words Defense Against the Dark Arts, A Return to Basic Principles appeared there.
"Well, your teaching has been fragmented and rather disrupted, yes? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom seemed to not follow the Ministry-approved curriculum, have unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect in your O.W.L year."
Levina yawned.
They jotted down a few notes as she tapped them on the blackboard. Umbride continued, but she was exceedingly boring and Levina had trouble taking her seriously with her sweet, girly voice.
"I would like you to turn to page five of Defense Magical Theory and read chapter one. There will be no need to talk."
Levina pulled open her book and flipped to page five. She began to read, but it was increasingly dull, almost as bad as Professor Binns. She read the same lines over and over again, but nothing seemed to stick in her brain. After a while, she turned to see what the others were up to: Harry was staring at Hermione, who hadn't even opened her copy of the book and had her hand in the air.
Umbridge seemed to be purposely ignoring her, fixing her eyes in an opposite direction. However, more and more people throughout the room began to glance over at Hermione and stare at her, rather than read the chapter. When almost the entire class was looking at Hermione, Umbridge finally decided she could ignore her no longer.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked, very fakely looking at her as though she'd only just noticed she was there.
"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.
"Well, we're reading just now. If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."
"I've got a question about your course aims," said Hermione.
"And your name is-?"
"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.
"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them carefully."
"Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly. "There's nothing up there about using defensive spells."
"Using defensive spells?" said Umbridge. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
"We're not going to use magic?" said Ron loudly.
"Students are to raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr.-?"
"Weasley," said Ron.
Umbridge turned her back on him. Harry, Levina, and Hermione raised their hand as well.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Surely the whole point of DADA is to practice defensive spells?"
"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert?" said Umbridge.
"No, but-"
"Then you are not qualified to decide what the whole 'point' of any class is. You will be learning in a secure, risk-free way-"
"What use is that?" said Harry. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a-"
"Hand, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge turned away from him. "Yes, Miss-?" she said to Levina.
"Snowpetal," said Levina, "and if we wanted to learn about spells in a 'risk-free' way, we could just read the books on our own time and spend the classtime actually doing something productive-"
"But then how am I to know that you are actually learning it?" she said sweetly. Before Levina could answer, she turned to Dean. "And your name is?"
"Dean Thomas. Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked-"
"I repeat, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"
"No, but-"
"You have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class-not to mention, extremely dangerous half-breeds."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" said Levina, fuming. She instantly thought of Lupin.
"Hand, Miss Snowpetal-"
"If you mean Professor Lupin, he was the best we ever-" Dean began angrily.
"Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying, you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, innapropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal."
Levina shot her hand up. "But before you said we were 'below standard', now you're telling us we learned stuff above-?"
"I did not address you, Miss Snowpetal! It is my understanding that my predecessor not only preformed illegal curses in front of you, but also on you-"
"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" said Dean. "Mind you, we still learned loads-"
"Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas! And your name is?" she added to Parvati, whose hand had shot up.
"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our DADA O.W.L? Aren't we supposed to show we can actually do the countercurses and things?"
"As long as you have studied the theory long enough, there is no reason you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions."
"Without ever practicing before?"
"Rubbish!" said Levina angrily. "There's no way we can-"
"I don't see your hand!" said Umbridge. "I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory-"
Harry's hand shot up. "And what's good theory going to be in the real world?"
"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world."
"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"
"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter," said Umbridge calmly.
"Oh yeah?" said Harry angrily.
"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" she asked in a honey-sweet voice.
"Hmm, let's think..maybe Lord Voldemort?"
Ron gasped; Lavender let out a loud squeal; Neville slipped sideways off his stool. Now he's done it, thought Levina.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."
Levina shook her head, but she bit her lip to refrain from speaking.
"Let me make things quite clear. You have been tokd a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead-"
"He wasn't dead," said Harry angrily, "but yeah, he's returned!"
"Mr. Potter you have already lost your House ten points! As I was saying, you have been informed a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It is NOT a lie!" said Harry. "I saw him, I fought him!"
"Detention, Mr. Potter! Tomorrow evening, Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. Page five, chapter one." Umbridge sat back down triumphantly, but Harry, however, got to his feet.
"Harry, no!" whispered Hermione.
"So, according to you, Cedric dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking angrily.
Levina looked from Umbridge to Harry nervously, holding her breath. Umbridge was smiling sweetly, staring back at Harry.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly.
"It was murder," said Harry, shaking. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."
Umbridge's face remained blank. After a moment, she said, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."
Harry kicked his chair aside and strode up to her desk, where he halted in front of her, still glaring.
Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out and began scribbling something onto it in ink. Nobody spoke for a straight minute, until finally, she rolled up the paper, sealed it shut, and handed it to him.
"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Umbridge.
Harry turned on his heel silently and left the room at top speed, his eyes on the ground. The door slammed loudly.
"Now then," said Umbridge, looking rather satisfied. "As I was saying before that interruption, we-"
"It wasn't an accident."
Levina stared intently at Umbridge, who paused mid-sentence and looked over at her.
"Levina, no!" said Hermione.
"Your hand is not up, Miss-"
"Okay, okay!" Levina's hand shot up, but Umbridge turned away from her. She continued regardless, "Cedric was murdered, you're just refusing to face the facts."
Umbridge smiled sickeningly sweetly at her. "I'm afraid you have been told a lie, dear-"
"You're the one who has been told a lie!" shouted Levina, getting to her feet. Hermione attempted to feebly grab her arm, but she shook her off. "Or, is it that you know the truth, you just won't face it, is that it? Or did the Ministry tell you not to tell us?"
The class was now looking at Umbridge nervously for her reaction, but Umbridge merely shot her another honey-like grin.
"Detention, Miss Snowpetal. Tomorrow evening, my office. Five o' clock. You will be joining your dear friend, Mr. Potter," she said triumphantly.
Levina sank slowly into her seat, defeated. Fuming, she could feel her body shaking violently, but she bit her lip.
...
Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not in any way pleasant. Levina, who had expected that morning to have a brilliant first day back, was sorely mistaken. She cut her apple pie slice over and over again with the knife, seething.
"What I don't get," said Harry, who had his teeth clenched, "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them..."
Levina had a feeling he was referring to all the whispering around them. Everyone was discussing in low voices about how the entire thing was rubbish.
"Well, he is the Headmaster," said Levina, still cutting her apple pie.
"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," said Hermione grimly. "Levina, you're wearing a hole in that plate!" she added.
Levina, who hadn't been focusing on her dessert, glanced down to find she had indeed cut straight through the pie and the plate beneath it.
"Oh, let's just get out of here," said Hermione, throwing down her fork and knife.
Ron looked sadly down at his half-eaten apple pie, but he followed suit. People stared at them all the way out of the Great Hall.
"What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.
"Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened. You arrived back in the middle of the lawn, clutching Cedric's dead body...None of us saw what happened in the maze. We just had Dumbledore's word for it. You-Know-Who had come back and and killed Cedric and fought you."
"Which is the truth!" said Harry loudly.
"I know it is, so will you please stop biting my head off? Before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer."
"And all they had was the Daily Prophet rubbish," said Levina.
Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they strode along the empty corridor back to the common room. Levina shifted her book bag to her other shoulder, as it had become very heavy to carry. When they finally reached the Gryffindor Tower, Levina climbed through the portrait hole and curled up by the fire in one of the chairs. Lilypad leapt into her lap and purred happily, glad to see her.
"You've certainly had a better day then me, haven't you?" said Levina, stroking Lilypad's head. She purred in reply.
The trio had continued bashing Umbridge, but Levina started on her essay for potions class. She had no earthly idea what the properties of moonstone where, so she looked to Hermione for help, but she was squinting in another direction.
Levina followed her eyes to the corner, where Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were now sitting at the center of a knot of innocent-looking first years, all of whom were chewing something.
"No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far," said Hermione, standing up furiously. "Come on, Ron."
"I-what?" said Ron. "No-come one, Hermione, we can't tell them off for handing out sweets..."
"You know perfectly well those are Nosebleed Nougat or-or-"
"Puking Pastilles?" said Levina helpfully.
"Fainting Fancies?" said Harry quietly.
One by one, as though hit over the head by something massive, the first years slumped unconcious to the floor, sliding off of their seats. Most of the people watching were laughing, but Hermione marched over to them angrily.
"She's got it under control," said Ron, sinking as low in his chair as he could.
"That's enough!" said Hermione.
"Yeah, you're right," said George, nodding as he looked up in mild surprise, "this dosage looks strong enough, doesn't it?"
"I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!"
"Give it a rest, Hermione-" Levina interjected.
"We're paying them!" said Fred indignantly.
"I don't care, it could be dangerous!" said Hermione fiercly.
"Rubbish," said Fred.
"Calm down, Hermione, they're fine!" said Lee reassuringly as he inserted purple sweets into the first years' open mouths.
"Yeah, look, they're coming round now," said George.
A few of them were indeed stirring. Some looked shocked to find themselves on the floor, others dangling in chairs.
"Feel all right?" said George kindly to a small dark-haired girl lying at his feet.
"I-I think so," she said shakily.
"Excellent," said Fred happily, but the next second Hermione had snatched both his clipboard and his bag of sweets from his hands.
"It is NOT excellent!"
"They're alive, aren't they?" said Fred angrily.
"You're okay, right?" said Levina, bending down next to a blond girl who had just awoken beside her chair.
The girl blinked several times, surprised. "I-yeah, I'm pretty sure..."
"Good," said Levina. "See, Hermione? They're fine."
"If you don't stop doing it," said Hermione, ignoring her, "I'm going to-"
"Put us in detention?" said Fred daringly.
"Make us write lines?" said George, smirking.
The onlookers in the room were laughing now. Hermione drew herself up to full height; her eyes were narrowed/
"No," she said, "but I will write to your mother."
"You wouldn't," said George, horrified, taking a step back.
"Oh, yes, I would. I can't stop you from eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not giving them to the first years."
The twins looked thunderstruck. Hermione thrust the bag and clipboard back into their arms triumphantly and went to sit down in her chair by the fire.
"Thank you for your support, Ron," she said acidly.
"You handled it fine by yourself," Ron mumbled.
Levina got to her feet slowly and made her way over to where the twins and Lee were now sitting together, irritated.
"I'll do it," she said confidently.
"Oh hi, Levina," said Fred. "Do what?"
"I'll test any new things you create in the future," said Levina, grinning.
George stared at her. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, if you guys need an extra tester, I'm your girl," she said with a wink. "But I'm not taking a Fatinting Fancy. I did enough fainting last year than I care to admit..."
Fred laughed. "Well, all right, then. Welcome to the club."
"We'll let you know when we have any new products," said Lee cheerfully.
"Great." Levina waved goodnight to them and made her way back across the room. Hermione had already gone up to bed, but there were a bunch of wool hats on the table covered in clutter, which Ron was removing.
"What's up with the hats?" said Levina curiously.
"Spew," said Ron. "Hermione's trying to trick the house-elves into freeing themselves with clothes."
"Doesn't that only work if their master presents it to them?" said Levina. "Anyway, I'm going to go to bed, too. I'll probably regret not doing the homework, but I need some sleep. See you guys in the morning."
Levina made her way up the staircase to the girl's dormitory, where she changed hastily into her pajamas and curled up in her bed, undoing her ponytail.
"I can't belive you," said Hermione moodily from the bed next to her.
"What?" said Levina, placing Lilypad next to her.
"You're helping out Fred and George!" she said, exasperated.
Levina shrugged. "I don't mind; it's not like I'm hurting anyone." She turned over on her side and pulled the covers over her head, closing her eyes to shield her into darkness.
Wow! This was an extra-long chapter. (Well...sort of.)
Did you enjoy Levina's first day back? Leave a review and I'll be a very happy person.
Savvygir101LunaRachel: Haha, yeah! He was absolutely checkin' her out ;) It always annoyed be how moody Harry became in the fifth book, even with all he was going through. I love Luna! She's bloody hilarious! As far as the Pirates movie, I thought the couple lacked the chemistry Will and Elizabeth had. I liked the movie a lot overall, but I agree that they could have done without that couple.
Flyingwerecats: Yup, Umbridge is the lunatic. (: Luna's craziness makes her who she is! Hooray for insane people! Haha I can totally see the neighbors yelling that at the Weasleys; I literally laughed out loud when I read that bit.
Things to come: Detention, Care for Magical Creatures, and more.