Author's Note: Once again, I don't really have people to thank for reviews, but I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been reading and keeping up with the story. Here's the next chapter.

"HARRY! RON!"

Harry and Ron were in the common room working on their Potions essays for Slughorn when Hermione came dashing out of the girls' dormitory later that afternoon, screaming for them.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked her.

"You'll never believe this," said Hermione frantically, holding up the book on Azkaban she had gotten from Professor Hanratty. "I was reading the book Professor Hanratty gave me, okay? And I came across a section of the book where all the pages had been torn out." She opened up the book and showed them. Harry and Ron looked, and noticed that a good hunk of pages had been torn out right in the middle.

"Yeah. So?" Ron prompted.

"So, I turned to the table of contents to see which pages the book was missing, and it turns out that the ripped-out pages are a chapter all about her!" Hermione flipped to the Table of Contents to prove it. Sure enough, the listing for chapter eight read as follows:

8. CARLA HANRATTY………pp. 164-193

"That's really odd," Harry agreed. "It looks like she tore out the pages because she purposely didn't want you to read them, Hermione."

"But what could the book possibly say about her?" Hermione wondered aloud. "There's a whole chapter dedicated to her!"

"I doubt it would be anything special. Probably just her achievements in dementor research, or something," Ron said, waving a hand. "She probably isn't the type who likes to show off."

Hermione thought. "Do you think that there exists a spell to grow back torn-out pages of a book?"

"I don't know," Harry said truthfully.

"We should ask a teacher," Ron said. "Harry, didn't you need to see Lupin anyway?"

A few minutes later, the trio was sitting in Lupin's office drinking pumpkin juice. Lupin was flipping through one of the many spell books he kept around.

"A spell that grows back torn pages?" Lupin asked as he turned the thin pages of a book that looked as if it were 5000 pages long. "As far as I know, no such spell exists, Hermione." Hermione looked disappointed.

"However, I'm not positive," he continued. "The only person that would probably know for sure is Professor Gordon. He's the spell expert."

"Is he in his office right now?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure. You should go and check."

Hermione took the book back, thanked Professor Lupin once more, and left for Professor Gordon's office. Ron and Harry stayed behind. "Professor Lupin, I have to ask you something," Harry told him. "You know that Professor Hanratty's planning to take us to Azkaban, right?"

Professor Lupin shook his head and laughed. "Yes, I know. She even asked me to help chaperone. That crazy Carla."

"But doesn't she know the dementors are siding with Voldemort?" Harry blurted out.

"She knows perfectly well, Harry. But didn't she tell you that you'd be wearing stress helmets?"

"Yeah, but what are stress helmets, anyway?" Ron asked.

"A stress helmet is a cap you put on your head that keeps the dementors from knowing you're there. If you're wearing a stress helmet, a dementor cannot sense any of your feelings, and therefore, it cannot sense you."

"Whoa," Ron mumbled. "I didn't even know they existed!"

"They were just invented. Professor Gordon came up with the idea for them, and a man named Julian Brawlak perfected them. Mr. Brawlak has been declared a magical genius because of it."

"That's the guy that wrote Hermione's book," Harry said.

"Yes, I like Julian. He's a good friend of mine. He offered me a job once," Lupin reminisced.

"Anyway," Harry continued. "If I wear a stress helmet, the dementors may not be able to sense me, but Voldemort still might know I'm there. I'm really nervous about going. I was wondering if you could talk to Professor Hanratty for me and--"

"And try to get you out of it?" Professor Lupin smiled.

"Yes," Harry said quietly.

"I'll try, Harry, but it's no guarantee. They say she's as hard to crack as a coconut."

"Thanks."

"And while you're at it," Ron added, "would you mind getting me out of it as well?"

Meanwhile, Hermione knocked on Professor Gordon's office door.

"Come in," called a gentle voice from inside. Hermione opened the door and came face-to-face with the cute Transfiguration teacher. Professor Gordon was seated at his desk, looking very weary as he poured through some old books.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, still very tired. "Come in and sit down. What do you need?"

Hermione sat down in front of his desk. She had expected his office to be a shrine to the Skeleton Crew, but it was far from it; instead, it was bookish and contemporary. The only thing worth mentioning was a chain that was hanging down from the ceiling. Hermione stared at it. "What's that for?" she asked, pointing to it.

Professor Gordon laughed. "That's a reminder of my own Hogwarts days. When I went here, Filch the caretaker would hang us by our thumbs in the dungeons if we did something wrong. So when I feel like being hard on you students, I look at the chain and remember how much school has changed since I went here."

Hermione just smiled. "Anyway, I came here to ask you a question. Do you know of any spell that re-grows pages that have been torn out of a book?"

Professor Gordon thought. "There's a spell that can re-attach torn pages, but I honestly can't think of one that would grow the pages back." He paused. "Is there a specific book with torn pages that you were hoping to read?"

Hermione held out the book about Azkaban. Professor Gordon took it and flipped through it for a few minutes. "Did Professor Hanratty lend this to you?" he asked at last.

"Yes," Hermione said quietly.

"I thought so." He closed the book. "Listen, Hermione, how about I hold onto this for a while? I'll work on it for you. Maybe I can find out how to re-grow the missing pages back."

"Yes," Hermione repeated again. "Thank you, Professor Gordon."

"Desmond."

"Desmond," she corrected herself, blushing. She thanked him once more and then got up to leave, but then turned around as she reached the door. "Desmond, are you all right? You look awfully tired."

Professor Gordon pushed a lock of dark hair out of his weary eyes. "I'm fine," he assured her quietly. "Please don't worry about me."

Author's Note: Please leave a review! I just want to know that there are people out there who are still interested, so I can continue writing the story!