Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia or Harry Potter and if I did, the world would end. Man comes up with a contract for ownership for both of them ...That's not a good sign.


It was fifteen minutes into the test and Harry was doing alright. His attitude was relatively buoyant, as Slytherins did not seem to like being bossed around and thus had lost their house several dozen points. The new professor was ruthless, and apparently had very sharp hearing. Hermione finally walked up to the front and handed in her test. The professor hadn't even looked up from his papers and merely took the paper from her. Harry was now stumped on a question. Name the four basic spells of each element and their effects. Harry racked his thoughts. There was lightning... he wrote it down. He could remember another one... fireball... He finally was able to finish the test and handed it in. After ten more minute's, professor Yuan stood up.

"Time's up. Everyone will now place their tests in a neat pile on my desk. After you have done this, read pages one hundred through to page one hundred and forty eight. By the time you have done this I will have marked your tests. There is still to be no talking." Professor Yuan sat down at his desk and began marking the papers. The class began to pull out their textbooks and began reading. Several Slytherins attempted to talk in hushed voices but before they could even begin, a harsh glare from the professor stopped them in their tracks. Professor Yuan got up again.

"I don't mind telling you that these are the most pathetic test scores I have ever seen! You apparently didn't listen to Professor Aurion's lessons very well, as I know for a fact that he is an excellent teacher. He taught a complete idiot how to survive in the real world in under a month." As he said this, Yuan caught Lloyd's eye and smirked at him to let him know who that comment was directed at. He continued.

"As I was saying, this class is pathetic. Everyone who did not complete the test within the time limit, not only will receive a zero, but also a detention. In fact..." Yuan browsed through the papers. "Only three people achieved half decent scores. Hermione Granger! Lloyd Irving! Presea Combatir!" Under his breath, he muttered. "Big surprise." He sighed and looked at the clock. "Continue reading. When the bell rings you may be dismissed."

Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking to the next class and discussing the lesson.

"Mental. He's completely mental!" Ron was going to blow out his voice box at the rate he was ranting about the substitute teacher. To no one's surprise he'd earned a very poor grade on his test.

"Just because he's very strict doesn't mean he's mental Ron!" Hermoine was relatively pleased at her high mark on her test. Lloyd managed to hear that snatch of conversation.

"No, he actually is mental. He went to war against an army of angels with only a few followers in comparison." A book came flying at Lloyds head and hit him hard sending him flying down the stairs. When Harry and co. looked back they saw a very annoyed looking Raine glaring at Lloyd. Genis began calling.

"Run Lloyd run!" Lloyd was already gone. Raine jumped over the narrow balcony after him. Genis snickered softly.

"I don't envy him." Harry looked back curiously but decided against asking. He thought over what Genis had said.

Back in the common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing their Astronomy homework, however now they had a new group member. He wore red, and carried two swords at the waist.

"Anybody remember what Jupiter's biggest moon is?" Lloyd asked boredly. Ron pointed out that it was Ganymede, which Hermione quickly corrected, saying it was Callipso. Lloyd decided to take Hermione's advice.

At that moment, a large barn owl flew in through the open window, and landed on the arm of one of the armchairs. A letter was attached to its leg. Harry took off the letter and unrolled it.

"It's from Percy!" The four of them clustered around to get a look at it, as Harry handed it to Ron.

Dear Ron,

I have only just heard (from none other than the Minister for Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher Professor Umbridge) that you have been made a Hogwarts prefect.

I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid you would take what we might call the 'Fred and George route' rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to take on some real responsibility.

But I want to give you more than congratulation Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than the usual morning post. Hopefully you will be able to read this away from prying eyes ("Too late" Lloyd muttered) and avoid any awkward questions.

From something the Minister let slip while telling me you are now a prefect, I gather you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you Ron, nothing could put you in more danger of losing your badge than continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this – no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favorite – but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different and more accurate view of Potter's behavior. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Profit tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing – and see if you can spot yours truly!

Seriously Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking about life after school too. As you must be aware, given that our father accompanied him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got of on a technicality, if you ask me, and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt.

It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter as I know he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent. But if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything in Potter's behavior troubling you, I suggest that you speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful woman who I know will only be too happy to advise you.

This leads me to my other little bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty should not be to him Ron, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that so far, Proffesor Umbridge is encountering very little co-operation from the staff (led no doubt by Dumbledore and his "special Defense against the Dark Arts teachers"). She will no doubt find this easier by next week (again, see the Profit tomorrow). I shall say only this- A student that shows himself willing to help professor Umbridge may very well show himself worthy of Head-Boy in the next few years.

I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you during the summer. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof as long as they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore. I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people- the Minister really could not be more gracious to me- and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to bind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions, either. I sincerely hope that in time, they will realize how mistaken they are and I will of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that time comes.

Your brother,

Percy

P.S. It may interest you that the new Defense against the Dark Arts teachers were hired against the Ministry's wishes. They will, of course, be sacked as soon as possible.

Lloyd snickered at the last line. "Good luck with that then." He glanced at the other three who began ranting about the letter, which involved Ron tearing it to shreds. After awhile, things settled down. However Harry seemed abnormally interested in the fire. Lloyd has noticed the mans head appear in the fire and decided he should leave. The matter at hand really wouldn't concern him and he felt the rest of the team should know about this. He headed out of the common room just after hearing Hermione shriek Sirius's name. He headed down to the Great Hall and began searching around.

"Mr. Irving?" Lloyd whirled around, his hand flying to his sword out of habit, however he relaxed as soon as he saw it was merely McGonnagall. "I realize I am a witch Mr. Irving, but that's no reason to attack me as though I was your foe." Lloyd bowed.

"Sorry Professor. Old habit. Actually I was wondering where Collette and Genis are." McGonagall stared at Lloyd as though trying to detect a lie. "I would assume they are back in their common rooms Mr. Irving. As you should be, it is nearly after hours." She gestured for Lloyd to head back to the common room which he grudgingly did, heading back up the stairs he had just climbed down.

When he got back, everyone seemed to have gone up to bed. Lloyd decided to practice a bit with his swords, now that no one could get hurt. He slashed around for a bit.

"Tiger Blade!" He executed his technique, accidentally slicing into one of the armchairs, causing it to fall in half. He whipped out his wand frantically. "Reparo." The chair reassembled itself. Lloyd decided he should get some rest and headed up to bed.


End of chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I was trying to figure out the best way to write a "non-filler chapter". I might be taking longer in the later updates but I will keep updating.