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Chapter Nine: Hogsmeade and the Fat Lady

Defense Against the Dark Arts immediately became the most popular class, and my favorite despite my struggles with my boggart. We studied Red Caps, horrible goblins that linger in places of bloodshed, and kappas, which were strange monkey-like water-dwellers with webbed hands that strangled anyone who entered their ponds. Only Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle made fun of him for his frayed robes.

Other classes weren't nearly as great. Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class was now spent taking care of flobberworms. And Professor Trelawney as well as Lavendar and Parvati Patil kept treating Harry like he was on his deathbed.

Though the mood became more positive when a sign was posted in the Gryffindor common room that announced the first trip to Hogsmeade was coming up on Halloween. Unfortunately for Harry, this made his mood worsen.

"Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," Hermione said as we sat down at one of the tables. "They're bound to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already"

"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages —"

"Ron!" said Hermione. "Harry's supposed to stay in school —"

"He can't be the only third year left behind," Ron said. "Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry —"

"Yeah, I think I will," Harry said.

"Do you realize who you're going to ask?" I said, "McGonagall isn't very lenient about that stuff, especially without a signed permission form."

Hermione was about to speak, but before she could, Crookshanks jumped up onto her lap with a large, dead spider in his mouth. Bonnie was with him and climbed up onto my lap.

"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" Ron said, scowling.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" Hermione said.

Crookshanks swallowed the spider as he stared at Ron.

"Just keep him over there, that's all," Ron said irritably, looking back at the star chart he was working on. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag."

Harry took out his own star chart and Ron let Harry copy off of his, much to Hermione's disapproval. Crookshanks was still staring at Ron and then—

"OY!" Ron roared, and grabbed his bag as Crookshanks' claws sank inside, tearing fiercely. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!"

Ron whirled the bag around with Crookshanks still hanging on while Hermione squealed at him and the entire common room watched. Scabbers rocketed out of the bag.

"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks detached himself from the bag to chase after the horrified Scabbers. Then, Bonnie jumped out of my arms and joined the chase. Her and Crookshanks swiped at the chest of drawers Scabbers was hidden under.

Ron, Hermione, and I raced over to the drawers to grab our pets. Bonnie and Crookshanks were still staring at Scabbers ferociously.

"Look at him!" he said furiously to Hermione as he held up Scabbers by his tail. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione said, as her voice shook. "All cats chase rats, Ron! Jamie's cat did too!"

"Only because Crookshanks set her cat off! There's something funny about that animal!" Ron said, who was trying to put Scabbers back into his pocket. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"

"Oh, what rubbish," said Hermione impatiently. "Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else d'you think —"

"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" Ron said, as people started to laugh. "And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!"

Ron stormed up the stairs and into the boys' dorm.

The next day during breakfast, Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other once again.

"How long is this going to go on for?" I said to Harry as I spread marmalade on my toast. "They fight all the time. It's tiring being their peacekeeper."

"I don't know how much more I can take," Harry agreed.

"What happened?" Klaus asked as he approached, and I moved over to make room for him. Harry and I grimaced.

"They're at it again," I said, "Crookshanks tried to attack Scabbers. Ron is upset."

"But cats are supposed to attack rats," Klaus said matter-of-factly.

"That's what I tried to tell him," Hermione said, for the first time today, causing Ron's face to go red with fury.

"Okay, enough with this," I said, before Ron could retort. "Scabbers is fine. Now let's move on."

Hermione and Ron glared at each other, but didn't say anything more.

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Jamie?" Klaus said.

"Of course," I replied and followed him away from the table.

"Are you excited about Hogsmeade?" Klaus said.

"Yeah," I said, "It will be great. I can't wait to visit the candy store. I think Ron said it's called Honeydukes."

"Do you want to go together?" he said, finally.

"You mean like a date?" I said.

"Yes," Klaus said, "You know, we never really got a chance to do the whole dating thing. And I know we've been having some trouble lately so I think it might help us…get a fresh start."

"You're right, we never really got around to it."

I remembered the last time we tried to have a date. It was going to be the weekend after Valentine's Day, except; Klaus was petrified, obviously making it impossible. A chill ran through me at the thought, but I pushed it to the back of my mind along with everything else.

"I'd love to have a date with you," I said, and kissed him gently. "A real first date."

We had Herbology first today, though, Hermione and Ron were still angry with each other. When Transfiguration arrived, Harry told us he was going to ask Professor McGonagall for permission to go to Hogsmeade with everyone else. Before he could ask, however, there was another disturbance near the front of the line.

I saw that Lavender Brown was crying while Parvati had a comforting arm around her and explained what happened to Seamus and Dean.

"What's wrong?" I asked, anxiously.

"She got a letter from home this morning," Parvati whispered. "It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox."

"Oh, that's terrible," I said, "I'm sorry, Lavender."

"I should have known!" Lavender said tragically. "You know what day it is?"

"I think it's—"

"The sixteenth of October! 'That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the sixteenth of October!' Remember? She was right, she was right!"

Everyone was surrounding Lavender. Hermione looked a bit hesitant.

"You — you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?" she said.

"Well, not necessarily by a fox," Lavender said, looking up with tearstained cheeks, "but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't I?"

"Oh," Hermione said, pausing for a moment. I knew where she was about to go with this. "Was Binky an old rabbit?"

"N — no!" sobbed Lavender. "H — he was only a baby!"

"But then, why would you dread him dying?" Hermione said.

Parvati glowered at Hermione.

"Why don't we go?" I tried pulling Hermione away, but she brushed my hand away.

"Well, look at it logically," Hermione said, looking at everyone else. "I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he? Lavender just got the news today—" Lavender let out a loud cry. "— and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock —"

"Don't mind Hermione, Lavender," Ron said loudly, "she doesn't think other people's pets matter very much."

I managed to steer Hermione away to our seats before she could say anymore.

"You can't honestly believe that Professor Trelawney predicted it," Hermione said as we took our seats for the start of the lesson.

"Look, I don't disagree with what you were saying," I said, "But other people find that a little insensitive."

Ron shot a glare at her and sat down beside Harry so he was farther away from her.

After the lesson ended, Professor McGonagall made some announcements about Hogsmeade permission forms.

"Ask her now," Ron hissed at Harry when she was done.

"Oh, but —" Hermione began.

"Go for it, Harry," Ron said stubbornly.

Ron, Hermione, and I waited outside the classroom as Harry asked her. But he returned, saying McGonagall said no.

"I'm sorry, Harry," I said, "I would stay with you, but I have a date with Klaus."

"It's for the best," Hermione said, "You'll be safer here." Ron scowled at her.

"There's always the feast," Ron said, trying make him feel better. "You know, the Halloween feast, in the evening."

"Yeah," Harry said gloomily, "great."

On Halloween morning, I awoke and went down to breakfast. I noticed Harry was looking thoroughly depressed, though trying to cover it up..

"We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione, looking desperately sorry for him.

"Yeah, loads," said Ron. He and Hermione had finally forgotten their squabble about Crookshanks in the face of Harry's difficulties.

"Don't worry about me," said Harry, in what he hoped was an offhand voice, "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time."

He accompanied them to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going.

"Staying here, Potter?" shouted Malfoy, who was standing in line with Crabbe and Goyle. "Scared of passing the dementors?"

Harry ignored him and made his solitary way up the marble staircase, through the deserted corridors, and back to Gryffindor Tower.

After saying goodbye to a sullen Harry, I went along with Hermione and Ron to the entrance hall courtyard where all of the students going to Hogsmeade were gathered. I searched the crowd for Klaus, but was disappointed to see that he had unpleasant company—Fiona. They were standing by the fountain and laughing about something like they were on the train not too long ago. When I approached, they were still busy laughing and didn't notice me there.

"Hi Klaus," I said, my teeth clenched.

"Oh, hi Jamie," he said, "Are you ready for our date?"

"A date?" Fiona said, "You didn't mention that. I thought we would all go to Hogsmeade together."

"Oh, I thought I did," Klaus said, "I'm so tired, I can hardly remember."

"Well, we are having a date," I said, "So maybe you should find someone else to tag along with."

Fiona put on a glum expression, which I could completely see through.

"All right then," she shrugged, looking down at the ground as she walked away. I kind of hoped she would keep walking far away from here.

Klaus looked from Fiona to me.

"Maybe we should let her come," Klaus said. "We can always go on a date some other time."

"No," I said, "I'm not going to let Fiona try to ruin our date. She'll be fine on her own. She doesn't need us to babysit her."

"Please, Jamie," Klaus said, "How about we just go to a few shops with her and then, we'll go somewhere together?"

"I am not going anywhere with Fiona," I said, tersely. "You see her everyday and I've barely had a chance to see you since school started."

"Okay, okay," he said, "She won't come this time."

I calmed down, satisfied for the moment. "Thank you," I said.

Klaus and I shared a carriage with Ron and Hermione and then, parted ways once we reached Hogsmeade. We had just started up a small cobblestone path line with shops when someone came up behind us.

We wandered all over Hogsmeade from Honeydukes, where we bought all kinds of wizarding sweets, including some for Harry, to Zonko's where Mel, Fred, and George were eyeing the prank swamps. It was nice to finally be able to spend time together for once.

"Oh, let's go to The Three Broomsticks," I said, pointing to the pub where many other students were entering. "Ron said the Butterbeer warms you right up."

"Are you cold?" Klaus said, offering me his jacket.

"Thanks," I smiled as I put it on and we entered to find the place full of students all indulging in Butterbeers. Klaus and I found a quieter table near the back. Madame Rosmerta brought us two butterbeers and the warmth from the liquid was so soothing.

"This is so good. I love Hogsmeade," I said, "But it's too bad Harry isn't here to enjoy it too. Maybe I should have stayed with him, not that I'm not enjoying myself."

"We have tons of sweets for him, to make up for it," Klaus said. "I'm sure he's all right. Let's not focus on that right now."

"Right," I said, "We do have a lot to catch up on. It's been too long since we've really had a chance to talk."

Klaus nodded. "I barely know what's been going on in your life these past few months," he said, "It's just been so busy with all of the classes I'm taking." I had noticed that dark circles had begun to form under his brown eyes.

"I know," I said, "You know, you could probably ask to drop something if it's too much stress."

"I don't think I will," he said, "I can handle this. I usually stay up at night reading sometimes anyways. Though there are some classes I wish were better. Care of Magical Creatures is a bit dull now."

"That's all Malfoy's fault," I ranted and as I spoke I caught sight of the blonde haired Slytherin snickering with Crabbe and Goyle about something I could only assume had to do with Harry as usual. "He told us in potions, while he forced Harry, Ron, and I to help him with his ingredients, that he was only wearing it to try and get Hagrid fired. Oh, he makes me so mad sometimes. I just want to strangle him! This is just like last year when he—" I broke off as I realized what I was about to say.

"To what?"

"…when he and the Slytherin Quidditch team intruded on Gryffindor's practice time," I added, quickly. "He always cheats and lies about everything. I could go on all day about how much I hate him."

"They can't fire Hagrid," Klaus said. "He seemed so eager to teach. I can't imagine how upset he'll be. I'm sure Dumbledore will make sure that doesn't happen."

"It better not happen," I said. "I'm tired of flobberworms. They don't really do much. If Hagrid weren't the teacher, it would be as bad as Divination is. Madame Trelawney still acts like Harry is about to drop dead at any moment. And I keep getting terrible fortunes like facing some tragedy or struggle. It's a bit depressing."

The corners of his mouth turned down and he looked concerned. "I've been meaning to ask you how you've been doing?" he said. "With…everything…Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" I said, "Of course I'm okay. Well, with the exception of certain irritating people at this school, I'm pretty good."

"Hermione told me about what happened with your boggart," Klaus said. "She was concerned and thought I should know."

"Oh…" I said. I would have to ask Hermione not to tell Klaus embarrassing things without my permission. "Well…don't worry about that. It really doesn't matter. It was more than a month ago and I'm over it."

"You can't just say you're fine and move on," he said, "I know it doesn't work like that."

I sighed. "Nothing is wrong," I said. "I said I am fine. I can move on."

"Jamie, I'm only saying this because I'm concerned," he said, "You never said anything. Did you mention it to Dumbledore in your meetings?"

"No, I didn't," I said, firmly, "And I'm not going to."

"Jamie, you sh—"

"I told you, I'm fine," I snapped, a little more curtly than I maybe should have. I sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so short. Can we please not talk about this? I don't want it to ruin our date."

"All right, fine," Klaus said and gave me a soft smile. "We shouldn't waste this time arguing."

Ron, Hermione, Klaus, and I returned to the castle with loads of sweets and stories about Hogsmeade for Harry. Though his mood didn't seem to have improved.

"What did you do?" I asked as we made our way down to the Halloween feast.

"Did you get any work done?" Hermione asked.

"No," Harry said. "Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in. …"

He told us that Snape came in to give Lupin a goblet filled with an unknown liquid.

"Lupin drank it?" Ron gasped as my mouth fell open. "Is he mad?"

"But if he — you know" — Hermione lowered her voice and looked around nervously.— "if he was trying to — to poison Lupin — he wouldn't have done it in front of Harry."

"Yeah, maybe," Harry said as we found our seats in the Great Hall, which was decorated with live bats, flaming orange streamers, and pumpkins filled with candles. The feast was delicious, and I was glad for a bit of normalcy on Halloween this year.

That was, until the feast ended, and we returned to the Gryffindor Tower to find students swarming in front of the Fat Lady portrait.

"What's going on?" I asked, getting on my tip-toes to get a better look.

"Let me through, please," Percy said and importantly moved through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password — excuse me, I'm Head Boy —"

There was silence and then, Percy said sharply, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."

In just a moment, Professor Dumbledore arrived and everyone moved aside to let him through. Finally, we got a chance to move closer and see what had happened.

"Oh, my —" Hermione gasped and grabbed Harry's arm.

Ron and I exchanged alarmed glances.

The Fat Lady was gone, her portrait slashed ferociously and some parts were torn away completely. Dumbledore told Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape, who had just arrived, what happened and they were about to send Filch to look for the Fat Lady when Peeves arrived, looking gleefully at the wreckage

Professor Dumbledore remained calm though and asked Peeves where the Fat Lady went.

"She's ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily.

"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," Peeves said, growing excited. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

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