Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry had spent most of the day before in Quiditch practice, gone to bed early, and fallen asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. His eyes snapped open and he lay still, trying to discover what had woken him. He glanced out the window and saw the dawn had just barely arrived. Experience had taught him to trust his hunches and he knew something had startled him awake. A muffled yelp from the common room confirmed his fears and he shot out of bed, taking his wand out from underneath his pillow. "Ron! Wake up! Someone is in trouble in the common room," he yelled. Ron sat straight up in bed and grabbed his wand from the holster he had hung off the headboard. From the tone of Harry's voice, Ron knew now was not the time to argue about lost sleep. Another yelp fixed this in his mind as he took his place by Harry's side.
Harry flicked his wand at the door and whispered, "SILENCIO." Ron nodded once after the spell was cast. They had practiced this particular maneuver many times skulking around Hogwarts after hours. Both young men held their wands at the ready and Ron pushed the door open with his foot, giving Harry room to sneak through. A third painful yelp made them forget any sort of caution. It was clear to both of them that the yelp had come from Hermione. Ron slammed the door open wide enough for both of them to run through. He was a few steps behind Harry when his friend came to a sudden stop at the top of the stairs.
"Harry! We have to help. . ." Ron started to yell when he registered the fact that Harry was laughing. "What's so bloody funny?" he demanded. Harry just nodded towards the common room. Ron followed his gaze, rolled his eyes, and tucked his wand into the pocket of his pyjamas. "Leave it Hermione to try and get a jump on even this homework," he sighed. Ron turned around and walked back up to his bed, hoping to salvage another hour of sleep.
Harry walked down to the bottom of the stairs so he could watch Hermione practice with Remus' "Pyramid of Pain" as Ron had dubbed it. She had set the pyramid to project two Death Eaters at once. After she neutralized one, it would reappear in a different location five seconds later. Hermione was whispering her spells in an attempt not to wake her fellow Gryffindors, something that was severely hampering her chances at holding her own against a pair of "Death Eaters." Harry walked over and tapped the top of the pyramid to turn it off.
Hermione's back was to the pyramid and she spun around when the Death Eaters dissolved back into the Aether. "Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry I woke you. I was trying to be as quiet as I could," she tried to apologize.
Harry chuckled and pointed his wand at the ceiling and walls. "AUDIO REFLECTUS," he said with a double flick and swish of his wand. "Fred and George taught me that spell the last time I was at the Barrow. They said it was the only way they could listen to music in their room without their mom telling them to turn it down," he explained. "Sound won't leave the room, but it might get uncomfortably loud for us on this side," he warned her.
"Us?" Hermione inquired, still a bit embarrassed at waking harry and Ron.
Harry nodded while he picked up a practice wand and rotated the middle segment of the pyramid, setting it for two trainees. "Us," he confirmed. Taking a deep breath, Harry touched the top of the pyramid to activate it and then ran to join Hermione in the center of the room. "Back to back!" he shouted, turning to face away from Hermione. "EXPELLIARMUS!" they both yelled, sending two out of the four blue Death Eaters crashing into the walls where they exploded into a fine, blue mist.
********DrW********
Ron shook his head at Harry and Hermione as they passed through the Fat Lady's door on their way to breakfast. "Don't you think we take enough physical abuse from real Death Eaters," he asked sarcastically as he saw both of them trying to rub sore spots out of their shoulders.
Hermione and Harry started to chuckle. "Apparently someone needs to relearn his right from his left," she teased Harry.
"I thought you meant your right, not mine," Harry replied, trying to defend himself. Noticing Ron's blank look, Harry explained. "We were trying a move where we jumped away at the same time to see if we could confuse the pyramid. Unfortunately, we jumped in the same direction and collided in midair," he admitted. "The pain from the pyramid wore off long ago, but I bet this bruise will take a while to heal," he said while massaging the already dark bruise. Ron shook his head and closed the Fat Lady's painting.
The instant the painting clicked into place, the Fat Lady squealed in excitement when she saw the students. "Hermione dear, there is something that I just have to tell you," she blurted out. Her eyes grew wide as they all heard the noise of a metal gauntlet being balled into a fist from one of the other paintings. The Fat Lady swallowed hard in panic. "I. . .um. . .forgot to tell you happy birthday the other day, so. . .happy birthday!" she spat out and then ran off to hide behind her frame.
"I always knew she was mental, but that's a bit weird, even for her," Ron suggested, his eyebrows creased in concern.
Harry turned around slowly, looking closer at the other paintings. In a few of them there were signs of a disturbance. A broken chair here, a smashed table there, and a few of the people in the paintings were sporting black eyes. When he finished his turn, he was looking at the painting where Sir Cadogan had taken up residence, after he had pestered Filch to move him closer to the Gryffindor dormitory. Sir Cadogan had requested this move after the Fat Lady had taken up her post as the gatekeeper to the Gryffindor dormitory again. Most of the students suspected the barmy old knight had developed quite the crush on their rotund guard. That morning, Sir Cadogan was missing from his painting and in his place was a much taller, younger looking knight dressed in plain, serviceable armor. "Where is Sir Cadogan?" Harry asked the newcomer.
The younger knight let his balled up fist relax before he turned his attention to Harry. Removing his helmet, the new knight shook out his shoulder length, blond hair. "Sir Cadogan has taken an indefinite holiday, I'm afraid," he replied and tucked his helmet under his arm.
Harry pointed to the mayhem in the other paintings. "Did you do all this?" he inquired.
The young knight smirked a little as he saw how the other paintings made it a point to look anywhere but at him. "Unfortunately, there was a small disagreement over the relative merits of gossip," he replied with a shrug. "The other paintings were spreading things about a good friend of mine that were none of their affairs. My brothers in arms and I decided to put a stop to it," he admitted casually. The knight bent slightly at the waist to get a better look at Harry's forehead. "Well, hello, Sir Harry. I thought I might get to see you here," he greeted when he saw the famous lightning bolt scar.
Harry was embarrassed by the knight suggesting he might be worthy of such a title. Not meeting the knight's eyes, he replied, "No sir, it's just plain Harry."
"Is that so?" the knight inquired. He smirked again as he put his helmet back on his head. "Perhaps Time is just waiting for the right monarch to have the honor of granting you that title," he said cryptically before he closed his visor and made some minor adjustments to how the helmet was seated. Once his helmet was firmly in place, the knight's head slowly turned from side to side, keeping a constant watch on the other paintings.
As the students continued their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry glanced back at the knight. "Any idea who the paintings where talking about that got the knight so upset?" he asked his friends.
Hermione scowled, deep in thought. "I have no idea who he was referring to, but something about that knight seems vaguely familiar. I just wish I could put my finger on it," she complained. Ron just shrugged his shoulders and urged the other two to move along faster with slight pushes on the small of their backs. Breakfast was one of his three favorite meals after all and the sooner they got there, the sooner he could start eating.
Inside the Great Hall, Hermione looked around for the guests staying at the castle. Tonks and Ace were seated at the Huffelpuff table, chatting away while the Doctor sat at the Gryffindor table across the aisle from Ace. With one hand he spooned his breakfast into his mouth and used the other to turn the pages of one of the books Hermione had recommended. Judging by the lack of anyone sitting even remotely near him, she guessed he was having that horrid "Lungbarrow" porridge again. She decided to talk with him after his bowl had been whisked away to the kitchen to be cleaned. As the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, she felt terrible for what ever pour elf had to scrub that particular vessel.
Hermione took her customary seat at the table next to Harry and across from Ron and began to eat. In between bites of her toast and fruit, she glanced at the Doctor from time to time. As usual, Harry and Ron were oblivious to the subtle observations made by a member of the opposite sex. Ginny, not being burdened with a Y chromosone, picked up on it immediately and had to duck her head down to keep Hermione from seeing her huge grin.
The Great Hall became quieter as Prof. Dumbledore stepped up to the golden podium just in front of the faculty table. He waited until all eyes were on him before speaking. "As you are all quite aware, dark days have fallen upon the Wizarding World. It seems as though every where we look, another depressing event is looming or has just occurred," he reminded everyone. "It is with that in mind that the staff and I have decided to shout in the face of this darkness and schedule a few things for you students to look forward to with happy anticipation," he told them. "Before the start of the school year, we were forced to cancel the annual History of Magic field trip for the 5th and 6th year students. Now that we have Aurors of incredible talent staying with us as guests, the Ministry of Magics has consented to allow the field trips, so long as at least one of the Aurors travels with each group of students," he explained.
While the other students were whispering to each other excitedly, Hermoine looked over at the Doctor to see what his reaction would be. An involuntary laugh forced its way out of her when she saw the Doctor looked more excited at the prospect of an outing than the students did. Even though he was some what miffed at Dumbledore for not running this past him, the Doctor made eye contact with the headmaster and nodded. Prof. Dumbledore nodded back and waited for the murmurs to die down before continuing. "We have chosen two sights full of magical mystery for the students to explore this year. As the 5th year students are currently studying recent magical history, they will be visiting the famous Farringham scarecrow. The 6th year students will get to experience Stonehenge first hand," he announced.
The Doctor leaned across the aisle and tapped Ace on the shoulder. "If it's all right with you, I would prefer to escort the group going to Stonehenge. I all ready know all there is to know about the scarecrow," he told her.
"Now I understand the second event we have planned may indeed strike terror in even some of the bravest souls at our school, but I still think it is an excellent idea. Prof. McGonagall, would you be so kind as to tell our students what we have planned?" Dumbledore requested.
Prof. McGonagall made her way around the table and up to the podium. "We have decided to add a costume ball to our Halloween festivities this year. As this will not be a formal ball, I suggested to our headmaster that we try a tradition our friends across the Atlantic seem fond of. They call it a 'Sadie Hawkins Dance'," she told the students. "This is a type of dance where it becomes the responsibility of the girls to ask the boys to be their partners for the evening. I think it is high time you girls show the boys how it should be done, so that perhaps they will learn the proper way of doing it," she said hopefully, before relinquishing the podium back to Prof. Dumbledore.
"Thank you, Prof. McGonagall," he said graciously. "That is all the news I have for you this morning. Please enjoy breakfast and the rest of your day," he admonished cheerfully.
As soon as breakfast was over, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got up to head to their first class. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up, making him pause. He looked around the room for any sign of danger. What he saw made him feel like a golden snitch dropped into the middle of a seeker convention. Ron sensed his friend's fear and looked around the room as well. "Bloody hell! You're on own for this one, mate," he muttered.
Harry spared a quick glance back at Ron, who was walking backwards slowly so as not to attract the attention of the Harry infatuated girls circling the Great Hall. "Coward!" he hissed at Ron under his breath. He quickly returned his attention to the girls making their way ever closer to him. Plastering a fake smile on his face, he desperately looked around for either the one girl he hoped would ask him to the dance or a means of a quick escape. He took a protective step backwards when the girl he was looking for was no where to be seen.
Harry's fears were soon calmed when the girl in question showed off her skills as one of Gryffindor's most talented chasers, never once taking her eyes off of her intended target. The fact that she wasn't on her broomstick or any where near the Quiditch pitch made no difference to Ginerva Weasley. Growing up with Ron had taught her that if she wanted something, she had to be the first one there, especially if one was talking about deserts. She started at the back of the room and before the other girls could react, several found themselves pushed out of the way as a red headed missile plowed through their midst. Ginny stopped a few feet away from Harry and turned to look at the other girls. The warning look she gave them made them all remember why the Gryffindor mascot was a lion. When she was sure her message had gotten across, she turned to face Harry.
"Hi, Harry," Ginny said with a smile of pure innocence, even though she might have just sent at least one girl to the hospital wing on her dash to be the first to ask Harry to the dance. "Would you like to come with me to the Halloween Ball?" she inquired.
Harry was torn, not sure what to say. On one hand, he wanted more than anything to go to the ball with Ginny; but on the other, her older brother (who was also his best friend) was standing right behind him. Harry remembered how angry Ron had become when he had caught Ginny and Dean snogging. "Ahhhh...ummm. . .", he stammered lamely.
Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered in his ear. "I know it's just Ginny, but if you say yes, it will keep those other mental harpies off your back," he suggested.
While Ron couldn't see the huge smile that had spread across Harry's face, Ginny could, and she blushed as she read his expression correctly. "I would love to go with you. Thank you for being the first to ask me," Harry told her.
Ron sighed in relief. "Thanks, mate. She gets a bit violent when she's upset. When her last pet died, she slammed a door into my face so hard, it took Mom three tries with her wand to make the bleeding stop," Ron whispered. "I owe you one," he told his friend.
Still grinning like an idiot, Harry replied, "No problem, Ron. What are friends for?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's oblivious nature. Ever since the whole Chamber of Secrets episode, Hermione (and just about everyone else but Ron) had known that Harry and Ginny were destined to be together. She looked over at the Doctor, who was watching things with a bemused smile. Now if I can only figure out a way to ask him, maybe we can double date, she contemplated. She had no idea that Tonks was determined to make sure the Black CAT went to the ball with Hermione.