As promised, another chapter within a week. In other words, finals suck and I'm going to be glad to finally go home on Thursday.
Hogsmeade trips were canceled until further notice following the attack, due to safety concerns. A rumor was going around that they had captured one of them but were having difficulties getting any information. Harry hoped it was Dolohov, it served him right in Harry's opinion. However, on a happier note, Harry was going to Care of Magical Creatures soon. The trio had visited Hagrid before their first lesson and, under the guise of congratulating him, talked about his lesson plans, and they had convinced Hagrid to save the bigger creatures for later. Now, several months into the year, they trekked towards Hagrid's hut and realized he had a necklace of dead ferrets over his shoulders, and Harry suspected he was about to meet Buckbeak again.
Hagrid greeted everyone with a smile and brought them to a clearing that was devoid of snow in the forest. Harry saw Buckbeak and smiled, even volunteering when Hagrid asked. Harry approached the Hippogriff with caution, bowing low as he did. After a moment, Buckbeak bowed back, and Harry reached up to pet him, stroking the soft feathers of his head. He did not have a chance to ride the Hippogriff, as Hagrid said it was too cold for riding. Hagrid had the students split into groups and attempt the gain the Hippogriffs approval. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle went to Buckbeak, and they seemed to be fine with the Hippogriff at first, but Hermione, who had been keeping a close eye on them, noticed as Draco opened his mouth, his usually haughty expression in place. She sent a nonverbal Langlock in his direction to quickly shut him up. He found himself unable to speak and started flailing, drawing Hagrid's attention. He looked towards the boys and noticed just as Crabbe started lumbering towards the creature.
"Oh no, yeh don'." Hagrid pulled Crabbe back by the collar, "Yeh gotta show some respect 'fore yeh try to pet 'em!"
Draco continued his frantic movements and Hagrid's attention returned to him, "Ah, seems yeh've been Langlocked, best head to the Hospital Wing, I don' know the counter fer tha' jinx. End 'o class anyway." Hagrid lead the class back to the main grounds and sent them off towards their classes as he brought Draco to the Hospital Wing.
Two weeks after the Hogsmeade incident, Harry noticed the Prophet had gone silent on reported sightings. Perhaps Bellatrix had gone in search of Voldemort. He hoped so at least. Harry wasn't sure how this year was going to play out at this point. It was so different from what third year had once been, and he was worried they'd changed too much. At this point, it was probable that Hogsmeade trips would be canceled completely for the time being, but he doubted it would last. Afterall, the trips had continued even in sixth year, when Voldemort was very publicly in power.
Ginny was rather upset by this, as her supply to Honeydukes was completely cut off. That was until the twins along with Harry and Ron offered to sneak into the sweet shop and get some. They'd pay for what they took, of course, but they couldn't be spotted.
Ginny grinned when they offered, "Fine. But if you get caught I want in on it. If you really want to lose the House Cup so badly, that's one way to do it."
"It's more me trying to exemplify that fact that Dumbledore is determined to make us win the House Cup. It's ridiculous, I'm pretty sure we could end up with zero points by the end of the year, and Ravenclaw could have a thousand points, and he would give us enough points to win."
"Why is that? I've never known him to give out points, let alone hundreds." Percy had entered through the portrait hole mid-rant and picked up the gist of it.
"I'm pretty sure he thinks it'll make me happy. And if I'm happy, I don't question decisions he makes, despite previous evidence to the contrary. I mean, I get that he's supposed to be this wise old man who knows what he's doing, and I do trust him to an extent, but I have my own goals that don't necessarily line up with his. Besides, if age was really the biggest factor in trustworthiness, then we should trust Voldemort a whole lot more." Percy, Fred, and George looked at Harry like he was psychotic, "Well, he would be about seventy years old by this time. He was born back in the twenties."
"How in the world do you know that?"
"Well, after all that stuff in the Chamber last year, I found out his real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. After that, it was only a matter of looking at the old school registry in the library." The twins exchanged looks that clearly showed Harry had given them an idea. What it was, he had no idea, but he figured it would be exciting and probably not entirely legal. They said their goodbyes before making their way up to their dormitory.
"Well, seeing as I have a test for Transfiguration tomorrow, I best go study." Percy left for his own dorm, bag slung over his shoulder. Harry sighed and rolled over the back of one of the couches, falling face first onto the cushions. Ginny laughed and sat on his feet.
"What could possibly be the matter?" She asked. Harry groaned into the couch before turning his head to the side to answer.
"This entire year. I mean," He paused and cast Muffliato around them, "It's the first time we don't know what's going on, I really shouldn't mind, and I know that, but it was kind of nice knowing what was going to happen. And we don't know how this is going to affect the rest of what happens, or even if it's still going to be even similar to what happened before. What if we changed it too much and nothing is the same? GOD! Why am I suddenly so worried about all this?"
"Because you're in a thirteen year old body?" Hermione suggested, and Harry groaned again.
"Why do I have to go through this AGAIN? It was bad enough the first time." The people around him laughed, though they were all going through the same thing, Harry had always been particularly moody as a teenager. Most likely, they now knew, because he'd been a Horcrux the entire time, with a direct link to Voldemort.
"Well, anyway." Hermione sat down on one of the chairs, "I'm sure everything will be fine, it always works out in the end, you know it does."
Harry pulled his legs out from under Ginny and sat up, "I also know that the last time we just went at it without any prior knowledge over fifty people died in the Battle of Hogwarts alone. We have this chance and if we squandered it then this entire thing is a big waste of time!" Harry was barely keeping his voice below a shout, and Ginny placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Harry. It's ok, we'll figure it out. Bellatrix escaped last time too. If she escaped a few years early, there's nothing we can do about it, we just need to focus on what's going on and get through the rest of the year. The Triwizard is next year, so focus on that. Are you going to let yourself be entered?"
Harry reluctantly nodded, "I hate that I have to, but I need to make it into that graveyard. It's the only way to end this quicker than I before. But I need to be on my feet, it's going to be Bellatrix and not Pettigrew that's resurrecting him. It's also the only way I'm going to keep Cedric out of the graveyard. I'm not going to be so generous in making it a tie this time." Hermione told everyone to shut up and removed Muffliato as Seamus and Dean walked in, and Ginny quickly removed her hand from Harry's shoulder.
"Hey Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny." Dean waved as Seamus said hi. They waved back, hoping they would walk past, but the two sat down in couches around them to start their homework. Conversation was reduced to the occasional question about homework, or small talk before Harry decided he needed a break. Without a word, he got up and left the room, letting his mind wander as he let his feet take him wherever.
He ended up on the Quidditch pitch, and he decided to do some flying. He retrieved his Firebolt from the Broomshed and took to the air. It whipped through his hair and robes, and he was instantly calmer. Flying had always been one of the surefire ways to calm him down, and he blew off some steam, doing loops and diving as low as he dared before pulling even to the ground. He would have given Wood a heart attack. He was doing laps around the pitch when he noticed another presence. It was Ginny on her Nimbus 2000, flying up to where he was. He slowed to a gentle glide as Ginny joined him.
"Hey, you ok?" She asked as she got close enough.
"Yeah, I just needed to get my mind off of things. It's hard being thirteen again."
"I get what you mean. I mean, there are some things that are nice, but it really sucks not being able to be together as much." She glanced around the pitch, "Not playing Quidditch also sucks."
"I wish I could help. But at least next year is the Triwizard Tournament, which means the Yule Ball is coming up. When that comes around, it'll all be fine. It won't be the same, but we can be there for each other without it looking suspicious. Plus, we won't have to deal with Ron and Hermione being all grumpy because they can't snog each other."
Ginny laughed, "I have a feeling they won't be able to keep their hands off each other by then. At least, Ron won't be able to. It'll certainly give us something to hold over their heads."
"I'm just glad I don't have to go through another seven years of them being up to their ears in sexual tension."
"I'm sure the other plus is that I don't plan on dating anyone else."
"I should hope not. I rather like it when you don't date others." Ginny laughed again, and the two fell into easy conversation as they glided around the pitch. They would have raced, but Harry's broom was too fast for even Ginny to have a chance. The sun had started going down and was hiding almost completely within the trees before they realized how late it was. They glided back down to the ground, and Harry couldn't resist giving her a hug after they landed. They put their brooms in the shed and made their way to the Common Room. They had to duck behind three doorways on the way up to avoid being harassed by Filch, but they made it up without much problem. As they entered the Common Room, Hermione and Ron saw them and quickly walked over.
"Where have you been? We looked around for forever!"
"Are you kidding? We've been down on the pitch this entire time!" Ginny said, and Harry looked slightly shocked.
"How did you not check there first? Where else did you check?"
Hermione blushed slightly, "Everywhere else."
"Including the Quidditch Pitch?" Ginny laughed.
"No. We figured it was too cold for anyone to be flying. It's late February, it's freezing out."
"Is it really? We didn't notice." Harry looks surprised, he had been so focused on his thoughts and then Ginny that he hadn't noticed. Ginny seemed to be feeling similarly, but she shrugged it off, and Ron sighed,
"A couple others noticed you two have been missing. A few of them are suspicious."
"What, did they think we were snogging in a broom closet? I'm twelve. I found him flying and joined him." Ginny said this mostly for the benefit of the students she knew were listening in on the conversation from just beyond her sight. She had been one of those students quite a few times. Harry nodded, catching on.
"It's not like we planned it. I was trying to blow off some steam and Ginny came by to talk. We lost track of time, that's it. Honestly."
Hermione and Ron both shrugged, "Just relaying information. Anyway, we better head off to bed."
Harry and Ginny agreed and started heading up the stairs, and Harry heard the quiet sound of several sets of steps running up the stairs. Harry and Ron sent smiles towards Ginny and Hermione before they went their separate ways and up the stairs to the dormitory.
Hagrid is literally the hardest person to write dialogue for. Even Krum and Fleur are easier. (Which is my sad excuse for why he doesn't appear more in the story.)
~PH