Disclaimer: I own nothing
Magnolia Crescent
Chapter Fifty-One
Paper Pranks
The class was just filing into their seats when Harry sat down, ready for another class of Defense Against the Dark Arts. The sound of a rapping stick echoed around the room and Harry turned his head. Beside him, Ron mirrored the action and they were shocked to see Mad Eye Moody making his way towards the front of the classroom.
They exchanged glances. Nobody dared moved and instead just stared at him. It was a moment before even Hermione raised her had. Harry groaned, instantly getting flash backs to last year when Lupin was indisposed and he immediately thought of the worst possible outcome.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Mr. Moody," she started.
"Professor Moody. I will be taking over Professor Black's lessons for today. He had some important business to take care of and asked if I could cover classes today," he explained, looking through the class notes. "Now then!" he shouted, causing everyone to jump. "Due to the lack of handiness, I do believe it's past time someone explained exactly what you are dealing with. There are three curses that will get you a one-way ticket to Azkaban. They are collectively called the Unforgivable Curses. Can anyone give me a name of one of those three? Miss Granger?"
"The Imperious Curse," Hermione said quietly, lowering her hand. She turned slightly, still confused as Moody continued to teach class. Neville offered up the Cruciatus Curse and Moody trailed off on the Killing Curse while staring at Harry intently. Harry's mind was wandering, having already been well taught in these spells thanks to Sirius. His godfather had been insistent that he knew how to deal with them.
"Jump on your desk," a voice in his head suggested. Harry thought about it for a moment, thinking that it seemed like a good idea. He was beginning to stand from his seat when he suddenly stopped moving.
"Why?" Harry asked, his mind snapping back to attention. He quickly realized that someone was trying to control him with the Imperious Curse.
"JUMP ON YOUR DESK!" the voice shouted, even more persistent. Harry relaxed, clasping his hands and looking at Moody expectantly.
"Are you done, Professor?" he asked with a smirk.
"Excellent, Mr. Potter. That would explain why you are dozing off in my class. I would prefer it if you gave me the courtesy of not falling asleep. I also believe that Mr. Finnegan needs to find another place to put his chewing gum rather than the underside of his desk," he said, continuing to write on the chalkboard.
"No way, the old codger can see out of the back of his head?" Seamus whispered in horror.
"And hear 'cross classrooms!" Moody snapped, turning around and chucking the piece of chalk at Seamus. Harry became stoic while class continued. The only thing that stirred him was Neville's behavior.
"I should also inform you lot of the Valentine's dance we shall be having this year," Moody told them while everyone gathered their things to leave. Harry slumped back in his chair.
"Not another one," he groaned. He jumped as the sound of the desk screeching across the floor beside him. A quick glance told him that Ron had disappeared.
"HermioneDoYouWantToGoToTheDanceWithMe?" he blurted out, his cheeks turning as red as his hair. Hermione pulled back in surprise.
"Sure," she answered, smiling back at him and his awkward smile.
"Right," Ron replied, smiling and trying to figure out what he needed to do next. He turned to walk out of class but paused when he heard someone shouting from the corridor. Harry glanced at the door and began to count down on his fingers until someone rushed into the room.
"Leo," Harry called, recognizing the Slytherin skidding to a halt before crashing into the floor. He winced while Leo rolled onto his back and glanced up at Harry.
"Too late?" he asked, glancing at Hermione who was blushing furiously. Ron looked like was preparing to run while Leo stood up and merely dusted himself off. He sighed but said no more and walked out of the room.
"He took that a lot better than I expected," Ron mentioned.
"I suppose. Time to find a date, in any case," Harry said, not really thrilled about that fact. Leo came walking back in and sat down in Ron's vacated seat. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.
"Next class is here," he admitted, giving a sheepish smile. Harry patted him on the back.
"You could ask Ginny," Ron asked causing to Harry to glance at him worriedly.
"You know, most guys aren't cool with a friend dating their sister, right?" Leo piped up, causing the Gryffindor trio to go silent.
"Come on, we have classes to get to," Hermione said while the boys exchanged glances.
"You are not allowed to date Ginny," he said. Harry felt utterly confused.
"Oh," he said, understanding before looking at Ron horrorstruck. "I would never," he added while they headed to their next class.
They were walking through the corridors at a steady pace when Dante rushed past them, a towering pile of papers in his hands. The pile appeared to be jumping in his hands and leaving an unending paper trail. The three Gryffindors exchanged glances that were just as confused as the other before a yell echoed behind them.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" the voice yelled. Harry spun around to see poor Neville sliding down the stairs while even more papers scattered through the banisters and seemd to just keep growing in number.
"Was that Leo's friend Dante?" Ron asked, helping Harry to get Neville on his feet again. Alec ran past the group, his wand in front of him sucking up all of the papers.
"Dante, you idiot! Slow down! You're going to hurt someone!" Alec shouted, running down the corridor and after his fellow Slytherin.
"I wonder what they are up to," Harry murmured, continuing down the stairs to their next class.
"Where is my book?" Neville asked, causing the others to stop and glance back. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," he groaned. Before they could blink, Neville was pushed aside while the Weasly twins raced past them.
"I don't even want to know," Hermione sighed.
"Harry!" a voice cried out. Harry sighed when he turned around and saw Ludo Bagman hurrying towards him.
"Oh, what is it this time?" he groaned but Bagman appeared to ignore him.
"Well, the next part of the Triwizard Tournament is still a ways away so Karkaroff pulled some strings. A supplement, in the same vein as the dueling tournament, is going to be applied. Only it's a Quidditch tournament," Bagman said excitedly.
Harry, Hermione and Ron exchanged glances silently while other students passed around them.
"You're kidding, right? I mean, come on. How is that fair? Krum is the greatest Seeker of the century – how is it fair to the rest of the participants?" Ron griped, frowning at Bagman.
"That's how it works. The Ministry got a lot grief over adding in the American's along with Harry's surprise inclusion. So, the Ministry has been rolling over for all of them," he said, standing up a bit straighter. "I shouldn't have you told you that," he realized. "Anyways, Harry, can I have a word with you in private?" he asked, leading Harry away without an answer.
"Um, sure. I guess," Harry said.
"You doing alright? You're not having too many issues with the clue, are you?" he asked. "I could give you some tips."
"No, I've got it. Underwater, retrieving something important. I've a charm worked out, but I am looking to see if I can find other options," Harry admitted causing Bagman to blink in surprise.
"That's great. Well then, keep up the good work, Harry," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. He walked off, whistling while Harry mused over the new Quidditch tournament. He could use his house team, but that would mean that they would still be short a keeper.
"I could ask if the Ravenclaw keeper would be willing to help out. Considering that Hufflepuff is going to support Cedric and Slytherin is just out of the question," he mused, wondering who to ask in order to talk with the Ravenclaw keeper. "Luna!" he said aloud, jumping to get to his next class.
After one more class for the day, Harry spent a good portion of it hunting for Luna. He finally found her hanging out in the courtyard.
"Hello, Harry," she greeted. Harry frowned as a group of students in green tapped buttons on their robes as they passed by.
"Hello, Luna. I was wondering if you could help me out," he said, putting his hands in his robe pockets, unsure if he was being too forward.
"Oh, well I am sorry, Harry. I have no idea where you would find a basilisk egg at this time of night," Luna replied. Harry looked up to see that the sun was still in the sky.
"Maybe not that hard to find," Harry murmured, musing that getting one wouldn't be too hard - if he was remembering his magical creature knowledge. "I was wondering if you could introduce me to the Keeper for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. I am going to need a full team helping me for the next challenge."
"I don't know, Harry. Grant may be on his last year here. But I don't think he has been a, um, no," Luna said bluntly and Harry frowned. "You know, for someone who was forced into this, you sure are going above and beyond to compete," she pointed out. Harry opened his mouth before closing it. "It's admirable you're going above and beyond to prove your good enough. But they said you had to participate, not win," she reminded. Harry could feel his face turning red.
"I know; I just feel like I would be letting people down," he admitted with a sigh.
"Who?" Luna asked, giving Harry pause.
"That's a fair question," he admitted, sitting down next to her. She put her nose back into her book, her pair of odd glasses sliding down her nose. "I mean Zachary didn't get his egg but he still keeps going. It's not like anyone outside of my house has been all that supportive," he said. Luna sat quietly next to him and flipped a page.
"Taking a walk on the loony side, Potter?" Malfoy sneered, smirking at Harry. The Boy Who Lived simply ignored him but glanced at the pin Malfoy was sporting. He felt his anger boil inside and an odd thought entered his head.
"Are we the same?" Harry thought, raising an eyebrow at Malfoy and thinking back to what he knew of Sirius and Professor Snape's schooldays. "Are we bound to be the same?" he thought, frowning even more while he mind raced away.
"Well, how about that?" Harry said, glancing between Malfoy and Luna. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked, smiling at Luna.
"Sorry, what?" Luna asked, looking at Harry rather cluelessly. He just shrugged and looked back impassively at Malfoy.
"To take a walk. What do I have to prove to anyone? If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. But I know one thing – I am not going to turn into my godfather," he vowed, more to himself than anything. He dug through his bag for a textbook; he had better things to do than to let Malfoy irritate him.
"Hey, Harry," Neville said, a small quiver in his voice as he eyed Malfoy.
"Don't worry, he's been standing there for a while. Something on my face besides my scar?" Harry asked in amusement. Neville shrugged and sat down as well, textbook in hand.
Malfoy snarled and stalked away, tapping at the pin on his chest. Harry simply paid him no mind and glanced over at Neville.
"What are you reading?" he asked thought he wasn't quite interested. It was more to show Malfoy that he was being ignored.
"Moody gave it to me; it's on herbology," he admitted happily. The pages in the book seemed to flip through of their own accord suddenly until they finally stopped on a page titled Gillyweed. They both scanned the page and Harry noted it's ability to grant underwater breathing.
"That would be useful," Harry admitted, wondering why the book opened to that page.
"Really?" Neville said, immediately catching on. "I can get one for you, if that would help," he offered, glancing back up at Harry.
"Thanks, Neville. You really don't have to d that," he said. Neville remained quiet, staring at his book as though lost in thought. "It's worth it, I appreciate the help," he said, patting him on the back. Harry spotted something out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Leo, Dante and Alec walking by with hunched shoulders as if they were involved in some conspiracy. They looked up and waved at Harry while Alec nonchalantly dropped something appearing like a note on the ground. He watched them go and then a few moments later while Malfoy stopped to grab the parchment. Goyle glanced over his shoulder.
"What does it say?"
"Oh, right. You can't read well without glasses," Malfoy replied, sneer ever-present in his voice.
"How did you know that?" Goyle asked, staring at Malfoy with wide eyes. His question remained ignored however while Malfoy unfolded the piece of parchment and more sheets flew out in a tidal wave.
"It's in my eyes!" he cried out before being buried in parchment.
"Walk it off you Mary Sue!" Alec cried out in laughter, ruffling his spiky chestnut hair. "Ready?" he asked while they all drew their wands.
"I got this. Now, how did we turn it off last time?" Dante asked.
"Shit, don't tell me you forgot the words," Leo snapped, ponytail flying as he whipped around to face Dante.
"Yeah, you remember it?" Dante asked, shrugging.
"Crap, how long did it take last time before it ran out?" Alec asked, rubbing at his temples, grey eyes closed in thought. The other two glanced at each other. Soon they were arguing while the pile of parchment merely continued to grow.
Harry heard some giggling from around a corner and a glance told him that it came from Fred and George. They weren't standing too far behind the Slytherin trio.
"Amateurs," they said, glancing at each other and walking away.
Looks like the twins and Leo are officially in competition with other. Bets on who will win?
~LE
