Chapter 7: Professor Sirius Black
A lot of questions swarmed inside Harry's head as Dumbledore dismissed the students and they all rose up from their chairs, gathering to head back to the dorms. The boy had to ask Sirius most of his questions, like how in the name of Merlin he had decided to become a professor without giving Harry any hint. However, he decided he could ask those later. Now he had something more important to discuss with the headmaster.
"Professor Dumbledore!" the boy called for him as he went to leave. Hearing his name, the headmaster turned around.
"Ah, hello Harry. Enjoying the evening so far?" he asked politely.
"Yes, sir. I just wanted to ask you something."
"I'm sure you can discuss your godfather's appointment with him at length in the coming days. If I'm not mistaken, you even have classes with him tomorrow morning. Now if you will please excuse me..."
"It's not about Sirius, sir." Harry told the professor. Recognising the serious look on the boy's face, Dumbledore nodded.
"Very well, follow me to my office then."
After a brief detour to the Gryffindor table to tell Ron and Hermione where he was going, Harry followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall and up to the third floor. The two were soon standing in front of the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office.
"Sugar quills." Dumbledore said. At once, the stone figure leapt aside, allowing them passage through the corridor behind it. A few moments later, the headmaster was seated behind his desk while Harry sat on a chair in front of it, marveling at Fawkes the Phoenix for a few moments before remembering what he had come for.
"Sir, I can't help but wonder what Voldemort is up to these days. I didn't hear anything about him all summer long." at this point Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes, a little accusingly.
"It's been almost three months since he returned. How many Death Eaters has he gathered? What are his plans? When is he going to attack?" Harry shot his questions in a rapid succession. In response, Dumbledore just smiled. He seemed genuinely happy about something. The silence dragged on for a moment too long and Harry's anger was amassing quickly. Luckily, Dumbledore finally spoke up:
"Surprising as it may seem, Harry, it's because nothing has happened so far. Both the Ministry's and my informants report Voldemort is into hiding. He has not made any moves since his battle with you in June, Harry."
The boy was dumbfounded. Why had Voldemort backed down, now that he was finally back at his full power?
"Sir, I'm afraid I don't understand. How can this be true? I mean, why did he spend the whole last year planning his return only to sit around and do nothing?"
"I'm sure that wasn't his plan initially, Harry. In fact, it's you who sabotaged his plan again." the old wizard replied, still smiling kindly. Noticing Harry's confusion, he continued.
"You see, Harry, Voldemort knows Fudge well. He anticipated the Minister would rather turn a blind eye than admit he was back. And so he planned his next moves based on that, thinking he would be playing from the shadows. However, you put a spoke in his wheel. I showed the Minister your recollection of the evnts that transpired in Little Hangleton. That was proof he couldn't deny. Thus the Ministry and the public became aware that Voldemort had returned way sooner than he anticipated. He has not yet amassed his forces, so he can't deal with any potential retaliation from the Aurors. Thus he took his only available option. He retreated to reconsider his plans."
Harry stared at his headmaster with a blank expression. It felt almost surreal, hearing that Voldemort wasn't a threat.
"But what about later, sir? When he strikes again?" the boy objected. Still smiling benevolently, Dumbledore replied to that too.
"I wouldn't worry about that too much if I were you, Harry. He'll need months to get ready, and when he is, so will be the Ministry. He can't infiltrate it like he did last time; every witch and wizard is on high alert. Additionally, I'm also reassembling an old group I started back during Voldemort's first reign. We will combine forces with the Aurors and pool our knowledge. Together, I think we shall be more than a challenge for him."
Anticipating Harry's question from the look on his face, Dumbledore replied to it before the boy had even asked.
"No, Harry, you can't become a member of my group. You are far too young."
"So... what should I do now, Professor?" Harry asked, confused beyond measure.
"Whatever you please, Harry. If I were you though, I would try to enjoy this year to its full extent. As you're probably tired of hearing, school is the greatest time of our lives, time to make friends, learn new things and maybe even fall in love." the old wizard winked at Harry.
"I know you are used to your burden by now, but for once, it is off your back. Enjoy the break while it lasts, Harry. Who knows what the future holds. Good night."
"Bollocks! You-Know-Who's hiding? You must have given him one hell of a scare, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. He and Hermione had been waiting for their friend in the Gryffindor common room, eager to hear what he and the headmaster had discussed. Both were equally amazed to hear that for the time being Voldemort posed no threat.
"Maybe I'll finally have a normal school year." Harry joked after he and Ron had said their "Good night!" to Hermione and climbed up the stairs to the boys' dorm.
"You know, without two-faced wizards, giant snakes, rat-men or dragons trying to kill me."
"And spiders. Don't forget the spiders." Ron told him as the two laughed quietly while they changed for bed.
As Harry lied down, he sighed blissfully. For once, he didn't have any threat lloming over his head. He was free to think about about the things normal students did- his upcoming lessons, the Quidditch Cup and... why was he thinking about Ginny all of a sudden? Confused, Harry shrugged it off in his mind, before closing his eyes and drifting into sleep that was devoid of any nightmares.
The first morning back at school began with Professor McGonagall handing everybody their schedules as usual. Meeting up with Hermione in the common room, Harry and Ron saw that their first subject for the day was Defence against the Dark Arts, as Dumbledore had predicted.
"Great, we'll be in Sirius's first lesson!" the girl noted. Harry cheered together with her. Knowing Sirius had no previous teaching experience (or did he? another thing Harry had to ask), the boy thought he'd appreciate their help in the beginning. His godfather could also use some tips on dealing with the Slytherins- even though Harry could hardly believe it, he was a bit worried about Draco Malfoy after everything he'd told the animagus about him and he didn't want Sirius to get sacked on his first week.
"What have you got afterwards? Mine's Ancient Runes." Hermione asked, peeking curiously at their schedules.
"Oh great, Divination!" Ron sighed, exasperated. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown shot him cold looks across the room. They both worshipped Professor Trelawney. Personally, Harry wasn't a great fan of hers, but he felt less hesitant to go to her classes now that he wasn't threatened in any way for a change.
"And then double Herbology to round it off. Seems good for a first day." Hermione noted.
"It would have been perfect, if I didn't know Trelawney would be predicting my demise a few hours from now. What do you reckon it'll be this time?" Harry asked ironically. In responce, Ron widened his eyes, in an attempt to replicate the zooming effect of their professor's thick glasses, before he spoke, his voice a near-perfect imitation of Trelawney's mystical stage-whisper:
"Oooh, my poor boy, I only see suffering in your future. The unfortunate aspects of Saturn and Uranus have bestowed upon you eternal turmoil!"
This elicited chuckles from almost everybody in the room. Even McGonagall smiled magnanimously. Her dislike for her colleague's morbid and untrue predictions was secret to nobody. In fact, the only people not amused by Ron's display were Parvati and Lavender again.
The trio headed for the corridor leading to the staircase outside, hurrying to get to breakfast. As Harry, the last in line, moved through the portrait hole, he heard a voice behind his back calling him.
"Harry!"
Turning around, he saw it was Ginny, who was rushing to catch up to him. Stopping just behind him, she asked:
"I heard you have Divination today?"
"Yes."
"Good." she answered, puzzling Harry. As far as he knew, Ginny hadn't joined Parvati's and Lavender's Divination fan-club, so he wondered what the redhead meant exactly.
"I just wanted to share a trick with you. It got me pretty successfully through her classes last year. I think you know by now that the old beetle loves nothing more than ill omens?"
Harry nodded.
"So if you give them to her regularly, she leaves you alone. That's how I thought of my strategy. See, during my first lesson with her, I fell asleep... a bit."
Harry chuckled and Ginny glared at him with mock outrage.
"What? I needed sleep after the Quidditch World Cup! And you know what her room is like, all warm and stuffy." she protested, before laughing along with Harry.
"So anyways, for some reason she just let me sleep through the whole class. When recess came, she came over to ask me if I had had prophetic visions in my dreams. I made up something about Quidditch and she wasn't very happy. Next time I took a nap though I told her I would drown in the lake. You should have seen the look on her face, it was like Boxing Day for her."
Now Harry's chuckle evolved into a loud laugh that echoed through the school corridors.
"So what happens next?" he asked.
"Well, I just started catching up on sleep in her classes and giving her a new horrible story each time. It's never failed me so far."
Harry visibly brightened up. The day would turn out to be even better that way, he thought, getting some sleep instead of having to listen to Trelawney droning about his doom was like a dream come true.
"Thanks for the advice, Ginny. See you later!" he beamed at her before he rushed to catch up with Ron and Hermione.
During breakfast, after Harry told his friends about the method Ginny had devised (Hermione had scoffed, but Ron had congratulated his friend on discovering such a treasure), he and Ron decided to adapt it to a strategy that would benefit both of them. After all, they couldn't have the Weasley having prophetic dreams too, it would be too suspicious.
"So, how about this? I tell Trelawney I stayed at your place during the summer and caught Ginny's vision flu. I started falling into trances mid-sleep, mumbling in some incomprehensible language only you could understand, because you had deciphered it from Ginny's trances previously." Harry pitched his idea. Ron grinned from ear to ear.
"And I will be constantly on the lookout for you, waiting to decipher each of your visions. Brilliant, Harry!"
"Honestly, I don't know why you two don't swap it for some other subject, if Divination is so bad you have to sleep through it." Hermione spoke sternly.
"Well, it's not so bad, we still learn things there." Ron objected.
"Like what?" the girl asked, astounded. Harry had to agree with her, Divination was just guesswork and ill omens, nothing to be learned.
"Like how to write great fiction. You know, all the homework we did for Trelawney. Maybe with her help I can be the next Gilderoy Lockhart." Ron replied, grinning widely.
The three were waiting in front of the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom before anybody else came along. All of them could barely hold their excitement in.
"What do you think he's going to teach? Dark Creatures like Lupin? Or how to protect ourselves from dark magic, like Moody... er, Crouch." Ron wondered.
Harry pondered on that for a second. He was more willing to bet on the second, taking his godfather's rash nature into consideration. Dark creatures were a bit too... static for him.
"Well, why don't you come in and find out for yourselves?" a familiar voice asked. The three spun on their heels to find the door to the classroom open and Sirius standing in the doorway.
"How come you never told me about this?" Harry asked, happy, yet a little angry as well.
"To be honest, I didn't know I would be teaching up until a few days ago either." Sirius replied.
"On the day you went to Diagon Ally, Dumbledore came to visit me at the Burrow. Said he couldn't find a Defence teacher this year and the Ministry was going to appoint some old hag called Umbridge. He didn't want her here, and I knew I'd get to see more of you that way, so I agreed immediately. I just had to sign a few forms and bam, I was your new teacher." Padfoot explained, grinning. While he had been telling his story, the rest of the Gryffindors from Harry's year had assembled outside the room as well, just outside of earshot.
"Is that everybody?" Sirius asked Hermione, who nodded affirmatively.
"Well, let's get started, then!" he spoke loudly and entered the room, Harry, Ron and Hermione following suit.
Once inside, Harry looked around. Sirius had removed most of the furniture and the decoration, only leaving the teacher's desk. Even the dragon skeleton usually hanging from the ceiling was nowhere to be seen.
While the class slowly filed in, gathering next to the desk, Sirius stood in the centre of the room. Once everybody had entered, he put on his best smile and closed the door with a swish of his wand.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to Defence against the Dark Arts!" he greeted his students warmly, if a bit dramatically.
"Now before we begin, I'll answer some questions I'm sure you all have. Yes, I'm that Sirius Black. No, I didn't kill all those people, as you should know by now. Any other questions?"
Unlike usual, it was Ron's hand who shot in the air and not Hermione's.
"Yes, Ron."
"What will you be teaching us, Siri... sir?" the boy asked, correcting himself mid-sentence.
"Well, luckily I've been preceded by two very capable teachers, even though one turned out to be a psycho."
The class chuckled at Sirius's words and relaxed a bit. Harry was glad to see they weren't afraid of his godfather as much as he had expected them to be. Apparently most of them had read the "Daily Prophet" already, and even if they had been skeptical at first, Sirius's joke had done its job.
"Barty Crouch Junior, who you knew as Moody, taught you many useful things about dark magic and counteracting it. After a brief talk with Professor Lupin, I understood you also have a pretty thorough grounding in dark creatures. However, there is one area you're sorely lacking in. Harry, will you assist me please?"
A bit surprised, Harry separated from the class and walked over to his godfather until he motioned him to stop about six feet away from the animagus.
The two stood in silence for a few moments. Just as the boy was wondering what exactly was going to happen now, his attention was drawn by an involuntary twitch in Sirius's left cheek. Harry tensed up. He had raced in many Tri-legged Tournaments together with Padfoot over the summer and knew what the twitch meant perfectly well: his godfather was about to cast a spell.
Almost automatically, Harry reached for his wand at the same time as Sirius drew his. And just in time.
"Stupefy!" Sirius sent a Stunner at Harry, while his godson shouted:
"Protego!"
The Stunning Charm bounced of the magical shield and flew right through the spot where the dragon skeleton had once hung. Meanwhile, startled by Sirius's sudden attack, most of the class had quickly lied down.
"Great reflexes, Harry! 5 points to Gryffindor." Sirius announced, while the class slowly got back up. He then turned to the rest of the students again.
"Harry showed some admirable reactions there, but I doubt most of you here would be capable of the same. Professor Dumbledore has informed me that you only ever had one dueling lesson, and it was taught by a wizard who was a fraud. With You-Know-Who back out there, this is a critical skill you must acquire before you graduate. And now back to your question, Ron. My goal this year is to prepare you for real-life magical battles and teach you an array of useful defensive spells that are also good on the offensive. I want each of you to stand a fighting chance against You-Know-Who's agents by the end of this year."
This speech visibly intimidated most of the class. Harry could understand why. Sirius had set himself a very ambitious goal. The boy didn't know if his godfather's training could make a duelist out of everybody, no matter how rigorous it was.
On the other hand, Harry had to agree with him. Unlike some classes, like History of Magic and Divination, for which Harry was sure he would have no use for once he left Hogwarts, he was certain Sirius's lessons would come in handy someday.
"We'll start with a game." Sirius announced, trying to dispel the gloom
"I want you to split in groups of two and try to neutralise your opponent with what spells you already know. By neutralise I mean render your opponent unable to battle you any longer, not maim them! I don't want anyone to have to spend the rest of the first day in the Hospital Wing!"
The class hesitantly split as it was told. Since there was an odd number of students, Sirius excused Harry from dueling again, instead telling him to observe the others and help him spot their mistakes.
"Ready? 3,2,1, GO!" Sirius shouted, before casting a Shield Charm around himself and Harry. The boy was glad he had. A moment afterwards, dozens upon dozens of jinxes, charms and curses flew through the room in every direction possible. This chaos continued for about a minute until most students were lying down on the floor, groaning with pain. Ironically, Harry had noticed most of them weren't knocked out by their opponents, but by inaccurate spells cast by somebody in another group.
Sirius quickly hurried over to them and started casting counter-jinxes, soon joined by Harry and Hermione, the girl having somehow managed to remain unscathed in the skirmish. A few minutes later, all students were back on their feet, if a little bruised.
"I have a few remarks." Sirius spoke, bringing their attention back to him.
"First, we will have to work on your accuracy in the next few lessons. It needs some major improvement. Today most of you weren't actually hit by your opponent but by somebody else. That was a good Full Body-Bind Curse, Neville, but you have to make sure it hits Mr. Finnigan next time, and not Miss Patil."
Neville blushed with a weird mixture of pride and shame.
"Second, I noticed many of you used jinxes which aren't meant for battle, but for jokes amongst friends. Whoever cast that Boils curse on Miss Brown, though a horrible person (here the class chuckled again), is a pretty good witch or wizard, judging by the strength of the curse, but chose the wrong spell. Boils won't help you in a battle, they'll only make your opponent angrier and that's the last thing you need.
Try sticking to the spells usually used in battle, like the Body-Bind Curse or the Disarming Charm. Most importantly, try to learn the Stunner, it really is a wizard's bread and butter, as I'm sure you've heard already. I want you to read up on it before next time, then we'll practice it and your accuracy. In fact, we will start with the latter right now."
Sirius spent the rest of the time until recess teaching the class how to cast more accurately. While most people did better than before now that there weren't a dozen spells flying around, Harry's godfather observed several people were gripping their wands in a wrong way and had to correct them, noting that an improper wand grip always resulted in inaccuracy.
After he had dismissed the class, Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried over to him. Noticing them, he turned around and smiled.
"So, how did I do?" he asked, a bit nervous.
"You were great, Sirius." Hermione assured him, the two boys nodding their agreement.
"Yes, I think you maybe even outdid Lupin a bit." Ron remarked, at which Sirius huffawed.
"I'll be sure to tell him that." he promised "Bet he never thought I would be the better teacher!"
"I wanted to ask you about that, Sirius." Hermione chimed in.
"What is Lupin doing here? He's not teaching, or Dumbledore would have announced it, and there are no vacancies anyway."
Sirius looked torn. He looked as if he really wanted to tell them something, but knew he shouldn't.
"He isn't by any chance here for Dumbledore's club, is he?" Harry expressed his suspicion, remembering about the conversation he had had with the Headmaster the previous evening.
"You know about the Order of the Phoenix? Who told you?" Sirius asked back, bewildered and worried.
"Dumbledore." the boy replied. Upon hearing that, his godfather looked relieved. Harry realised he had probably thought there was some breach in the security of the club, the Order, as Sirius had called it, that could be exploited by Voldemort.
"Oh yes, me and him are attending a meeting of the Order tonight. Sadly, Snivellus will be there too." the professor said, wincing.
"You a member, Harry?"
"No, Dumbledore said he was too young." Hermione replied.
"Yes, he said I couldn't join yet." the boy confirmed.
"Well, that's a shame. I would have appreciated having someone else to help me and Lupin fend off Snape tonight." Sirius spoke with a slight regret.
"I think it's almost time for you to go now. You'll be late for your next class!"
"Wait, one last thing." Harry said.
"What House have you got next?"
"Slytherin." his godfather spat out the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Harry was glad he had asked. If he had forgotten, who knew what curse Sirius would cast upon Draco in his class? The boy knew his godfather could be a bit reckless, like when he had risked being caught last year just to speak to Harry from the fireplace, and he didn't want Sirius to get a bad reputation again.
"Can I ask you to do something for me, Sirius?" the boy asked, apprehensively.
"Sure, Harry, who should it be? Little Malfoy or his minions?" Padfoot grinned wickedly. Noticing Hermione also seemed distressed after she heard Sirius's threat, Harry quickly replied:
"Actually, I want you to leave them alone, Sirius. Please don't mess with them."
"Yes, they are not worth it, and you'd probably get sacked." Ron joined in.
Though he was somewhat disappointed, Sirius agreed he would not harass Malfoy, Crabbe or Goyle.
"Though I don't promise I won't use them as target practice to teach Stunners to the rest!" he shouted after the three once they had left the room and were running along the corridor, hurrying for their next lesson.
For once Harry was optimistic about Divination. Armed with Ginny's clever trick, he felt certain this useless class was going to turn out very pleasant from now on.
Trying their hardest to keep their faces straight, he and Ron made a beeline for Trelawney's desk immediately after climbing up the stairs. Startled at their sudden appearance, the divination professor twitched and looked up at the two boys standing side by side. She soon focused on Harry, her favourite victim.
"Hello, my poor boy. How was your summer?" she asked with her voice full of grief, as if she were at a funeral.
"Dreadful. I was nearly killed by a Bludger." Harry replied, fighting hard to suppress his grin. Next to him, Ron had to pretend to sneeze in his robe sleeve to conceal his.
"While sad to hear that, dear boy, I am not surprised. I foresaw a critical injury in your future back in July." Trelawney replied with a sad voice, her eyes observing Harry with great concern from behind her thick glasses.
"Nevermind, Professor, I'm used to it by now. However, there is another matter of utmost importance I must discuss with you." Harry replied in a dramatic tone. Keeping a straight face now seemed harder to him than tackling an angry hippogriff.
"What is it, my poor boy?"
"Something happened during the summer while I was staying at Ron's house. Do you know that his sister has prophetic visions in her sleep?"
The professor nodded vigorously.
"I think her mystical waves have affected me. I've began having prophetic dreams as well ever since I was there." Harry said, trying hard to ignore Ron, who was attempting to pass his laughter for a bad cough. Luckily for him, Trelawney was so fascinated with Harry's revelation that she paid the laughter no attention.
"Yes! Finally, boy, your Inner Eye has opened! I can see it! I felt your powerful vibrations ever since you first crossed the threshold of this room for the first time. I knew your abilities would soon be awoken!" the professor proclaimed with great pathos. Ron sounded like he was ill of bronchitis and could barely stop himself from breaking out in laughter for the whole room to hear. Harry kicked him in the shin. His part was coming up.
"Oh, and Professor Trelawney!" Ron spoke once he had overcome his cough, turning the professor's attention to him.
"He sometimes speaks in his sleep, in another language! Nobody could understand it at home but me, I have some practice with my sister."
"We were wondering, Professor, if we could use the exceptionally strong vibrations from the future in this classroom to trigger my visions. " Harry interrupted his friend, knowing that Ron couldn't last much longer.
"But of course, dear boy! You and your friend can and must dedicate yourselves to unveiling the hidden meaning of your dreams!"
"Of course, Professor." Harry replied before he dragged Ron with him to the back of the hot room. Now that they had turned their backs to Trelawney, both were grinning from ear to ear.
The two arranged three pouffes in the back of the room in a semblance of a bed for Harry, then Ron sat on another, strategically positioning himself in such a way that Harry's head was hidden from the Professor's view. This way she wouldn't know if he was sleeping or not.
"So, do you feel the visions coming already?" Ron asked his friend quietly, his wide grin still plastered on his face.
"Oh yes, loads of them. They are fighting in my head over which gets to be unveiled by you first." Harry joked, his face mirroring Ron's.
However, in a few moments the boy actually felt himself drifting. He shook his head in an effort to stay awake. Ginny was right- the warm and stuffy air was really causing him to become sleepy.
"Don't worry about it, mate, get a nap if you want to." Ron told him, having seen how he was fighting to stay awake. After nodding thankfully to his friend, Harry closed his eyes again.
This dream was new. He was strolling through the Hogwarts corridors at noon, but there was something... off about them. The real corridors were never silent at day- they either carried the voices of many students or the Peeves's cackle and Filch's angry yells. Strolling through the empty and silent corridors was really eerie, Harry thought. It felt as if the castle had been deserted.
As he turned around a corner, he came upon something. A black mass of smoke was swirling in mid-air, not touching the walls or the ceiling. There was something on the floor bellow it. Harry bent to pick it up and saw it was a carnival mask. This made little sense, but since he had realised this was a dream Harry didn't think it odd. He just left it back on the floor and approached the mass of smoke.
As he came closer, it didn't look like smoke anymore. It was more like a greasy black cloud. When Harry extended his hand to touch it, it deformed, evading his touch, before moving further down the corridor. The boy followed it and again tried to touch it, but the cloud escaped once more. This repeated several times, until Harry had almost reached the end of the corridor. Once cornered, the cloud didn't try to escape anymore. Instead, when Harry tried to touch it again, its centre flared red for a moment before it expanded, encasing the whole dream in darkness.
"My boy! What news from the great Beyond?" an awestruck voice awoke Harry. Startled, he opened his eyes and found Professor Trelawney looming over him, while Ron stood behind her, looking a little panicked. Harry mentally kicked himself. He had forgotten to think of a story before going to what was he going to tell his Professor?
"I dreamt... I dreamt about a great black hippogriff. It slashed me from throat to navel." Harry replied, knowing his professor appreciated gruesome details.
"I think it symbolises my inner self's uncertainty."
Much to his surprise and amusement, Trelawney seemed very content to hear that.
"You have finally joined our ranks, dear. Send my regards to Miss Weasley and thank her for spreading the gift of unfogging the future. I look forward to our next class together."
Harry looked back at her bewildered as she returned to his desk. He then realised the room was empty except for the Professor, Ron and himself. Looking at the clock behind Trelawney's desk, Harry saw he had slept through the lunch break.
"We'll be late for Herbology, hurry!" his friend spoke, as if he had read his thoughts.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Ron?" the boy asked, his stomach churning uncomfortably.
"Sorry, Harry, the bat wouldn't let me. Didn't want me disturbing your visions." Ron scoffed while he and Harry descended through the trapdoor, conveniently placed out of Trelawney's earshot.
The two sprinted down the staircase of the North Tower. Down in the Entrance Hall, they bumped into Hermione, who was also running late, and told her about what had happened in Divination while they resumed their sprint to the glashouses.
"You should have seen that bat's happy face, Hermione, she looked like it was her birthday!" Ron explained after they had arrived and professor Sprout had tasked them with repotting wolfsbane.
While Hermione still clearly disapproved of their method, which to her was almost cheating, they could tell she was also pretty amused by their story.
"Well, Harry, while I still think you may have been better off studying something sensible like Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, I'm glad Trelawney'll finally stop pestering you." she smiled at Harry.
The boy nodded. If only Ginny also knew of a way to get rid of Snape, life at Hogwarts would be perfect, he thought. However, he was sure that would never happen. Alas, the potions master would probably remain a thorn in his side until he graduated.
"... Harry! Are you listening?" he suddenly became aware of Hermione's voice again.
"No, sorry, I drifted off for a bit. What were you saying?" the boy replied.
"I said you may want to think of a way to repay Ginny. She saved you from Trelawney, after all."
"Certainly." he agreed with her absent-mindedly, not noticing her suspicious-looking smile. He thought about how best to return the favour to Ginny. What did she like? Well, she liked Quidditch, but Harry couldn't really help her get on the team, there were no spots available except for a Keeper, and he knew the youngest Weasley preferred playing as a Chaser.
Maybe he could get her a Quidditch-related present from Spintwitches on his next trip to Hogsmeade? He blushed at the thought. No, getting her a present... it could send a different kind of message... or would it? Harry was totally confused. What would she think he was thinking about her if he just gave her a present out of nowhere?
And yet... there was this small rebellious voice in the back of his head that insisted he would actually enjoy her reaction upon getting his present... seeing her smile and the happy spark in her warm brown eyes...no! Harry mentally reprimanded himself and looked guiltily at Ron before banishing the voice to the back of his head again.
His mind was still preoccupied with returning the favour even after Herbology had ended and he was walking back up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower together with Ron and Hermione.
"Blimey, Harry, you're not ill or anything, are you?" Ron asked, concerned for his friend who was unnaturally silent, while Hermione still had her ominous smile on.
Harry's brain went into full overdrive. He had to think of something quick, or Ron would surely trace his silence back to Hermione mentioning Ginny, starting a disastrous chain of events Harry would rather avoid. The boy recalled the other events from the day, frantically scanning his memories for something that could explain his prolonged silence. Luckily, he soon remembered his dream.
"Um, do you remember that nap I took during divination? I had a very interesting dream back then." he blurted out, averting disaster.
"A dream? You don't mean you had a real vision, do you?" Ron asked him, taken aback.
"No." Harry quickly denied.
"It was just a silly dream. I was chasing this greasy cloud around Hogwarts, until it flared red and covered everything. That's when Trelawney woke me up."
"But what if it is a vision, Harry? Greasy cloud- that must be Snape! Maybe somebody will pulverise Snape?" Ron said hopefully, making his friends laugh.
While Ron fantasised about Snape being pulverised ("Do you think he'll still give us homework, Hermione?") and was distracted, Harry returned to thinking about Ginny... er, repaying Ginny, of course.
Maybe he could buy her a Butterbeer next time they went to Hogsmeade! Yes, that would do the trick! Or not... Upon thinking it through, the boy realised there was one major issue with this plan: Ginny didn't usually hang out with him, Ron and Hermione in Hogwarts. Having spent so much time with her during the summer, he'd nearly forgotten that.
This was a major setback, since it meant he could only buy her a Butterbeer in one of two ways. He could ask her to come with him, Ron and Hermione next time, but the problem was that once his friend had realised it wasn't Hermione who had invited Ginny, he would grow suspicious, starting the chain of events Harry dreaded.
Of course, he could always go to Hogsmeade with her alone, but that again would send a certain kind of message...no, he would have to think of something else. He scrapped the Hogsmeade plan and went back to the drawing board.
"Cactus tactus!" Ron ssaid the password, bringing his friend back to the real world. Harry looked around, surprised. Dwelling on his thoughts, he hadn't realised they had already reached the Fat Lady. They boy quickly followed his friends through the passage behind the portrait and a moment later he was standing in the common room, which was positively crowded.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Over here!" somebody called them over the crowd. Looking around, the three saw it was Ginny, who was standing by the bulletin board. The three walked over to her, while Harry was desperately hoping she wouldn't do him another favour. If he couldn't return one, how could he deal with two?
Luckily, that wasn't the case.
"Look!" the red-haired girl said once the three were close enough, pointing at a yellow note on the bulletin board. There, written in a squiggly, barely legible writing stood the following message:
Tired of getting your spells from books all the time? Then this is the class for you! Join the Experimental Magic class this Saturday at 5 P.M and make your own spells. Participation is voluntary.
"We're going, right?" Ginny asked, looking at her brother and Harry.
"Sure." Harry replied. He had been impressed by Professor Ortington's stories back on the Hogwarts Express, and the fact that Ginny was coming too only strengthened his resolve.
"Yes, the professor seemed like an interesting bloke. How about you, Hermione?" Ron said.
The girl was still perusing the note with a scrutinising look. Harry guessed she didn't like the professor's attitude towards books.
"Sure, why not." she said finally, though Harry could tell she was still skeptical.
A/N: Sorry about updating late, I've been unusually busy these days. I might start updating once or twice a week from now on, I just have less time available for writing than I used to. However, I will try to generally not update in bigger intervals than a week from now on.
