Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all rights to Harry Potter except for Lauren, Jacob and Mandy Potter who are my own creations
Authors Note: Many apologies for such a gap between uploads everybody but I've had a few real life issues to deal with.
I will hopefully be able to upload a bit more regularly now but rest assured either way that the story is still being written and I will finish it. Hope your are all enjoying it so far.
Chapter Fourteen:
The second lesson of the day arrived and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville left the charms classroom taking the long walk over to the Defence Against Dark Arts Tower in which rested the defence classroom.
Hermione was still not talking to Harry and Ron, only to Neville, which led to a lot of awkward talk in which poor Neville was forced to respond to two conversations at once and Harry could tell he was thoroughly put out by it.
As they rounded the corner to the defence classroom Neville had had enough and held Harry and Ron back as Hermione walked towards the classroom door and stood with the other Gryffindor's "you guys need to apologise to Hermione, this is way too awkward" he told them irritably "we're all still friends aren't we?" Harry and Ron nodded "well then act like it and say sorry!" he snapped as he walked off.
Harry and Ron exchanged looks, sighed and nodded to each other.
Without saying a word Harry knew his best friend had agreed with him that Neville was right. They couldn't let this sort of thing go on for too long or there would be bad blood and neither boy wanted that amongst their group of friends.
The two boys wasted no time as they rounded the corner just after Neville and walked over to Hermione who was chatting with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown.
They just caught a bit of the conversation as they approached which made Harry gag "I think Professor Lockhart is dreamy" Parvati sighed.
"Me too" added Lavender.
Hermione had turned red and said "he's really clever too".
Ron turned to Harry and indicated with his eyes that they should walk away and not speak to their friend but Harry glared at him before nodding at Hermione and raising an eyebrow.
Ron scowled at him but cleared his throat to talk just as Harry said "sorry to interrupt girls but mind if we talk to Hermione?".
Lavender and Parvati acquiesced and walked off leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione alone as Neville approached and watched on.
Both boys took a deep breath and Harry began to speak "Hermione me and Ron wanted to apologise for earlier in the Great Hall".
"Yeah we're sorry for calling Lockhart a prat" Ron added "even though I think he is" she glared at Ron and Harry slapped him round the back of the head.
"Just because we think he's prat doesn't necessarily mean he is and we should judge him on his ability as a teacher...right Ron?" Harry said.
Ron picked up the suggestion immediately and nodded "um..yeah...right, as Harry said we'll wait and see how he does and...sorry again".
Their bushy haired friend rolled her eyes and replied "I suppose that's the best apology I'll get...well alright then I forgive you" she wagged a finger in their faces "but don't act like prats anymore today" both boys grinned as did the nearby Neville as it seemed like everything, at last, was getting back to normal.
Not long after Neville joined them, the classroom door burst open to reveal in the doorway Gilderoy Lockhart dressed in brightly coloured orange robes with his hair coiffed up immaculately and a beaming smile plastered on his face "all on time, jolly good!" he said enthusiastically "well in you come then!" the Gryffindor's walked past him, some giving him funny looks while most of the girls smiled back at him.
Harry knew at once that he was not going to enjoy today's lesson and sighed as he sat down near the front of the class just waiting for the idiot Lockhart to begin speaking.
"It's so nice to see so many eager young faces willing to learn" he said with a smile before taking the register seeming oblivious to the fact that none of the boys were looking eager at all.
Once the register was done lockhart set it aside and surveyed the students as he strode back and forth by his desk "it is my job to arm you with the tools to deal with all manner of dark and dismal creatures" he said.
"Like Snape" Ron muttered causing Harry to give a snort of laughter as Hermione glared at them.
"Some of the things you will see in this room will shock you to your very core and will likely scare you" Professor Lockhart smiled "but have no fear for if I'm with you there will be nothing to worry about" he assured them all.
Harry and Ron rolled their eyes only to look in surprise when Lockhart approached something that had a large towel draped over it obscuring the shape.
"Now I must ask you not to scream" Lockhart warned as he placed a hand on the towel "remember, they can do you no harm where they are".
Now everyone was staring at the object in intense curiosity with even Dean and Seamus, who'd been chatting, gazing on wondering what creatures Lockhart had procured.
Lockhart whipped the towel away and every single student in the class stared on in bemusement.
Even Hermione could find nothing to say to defend Professor Lockhart with this one.
After a few moments of absolute silence Seamus Finnegan said in a voice of barely controlled laughter "pixies?!".
"Freshly caught cornish pixies!" Lockhart corrected him "and don't be mistaken Mr Finnegan" he said "just because they look harmless doesn't mean they can't cause an awful lot of damage when set free".
And then came the moment Harry would remember for years as the moment that signalled Lockhart as being a total prat after all for the Professor shouted "see what you all make of them!" and wrenched open the cage door.
People shouted, screamed in fright and many dove under tables as the pixies began to zoom around the room creating chaos.
Harry saw Seamus in a tug of war over his books which the pixie won and threw across the room. He saw Parvati and Lavender shrieking and running away.
"Neville!" he heard Hermione cry and looked up to see their friend being pulled up towards the ceiling by several grinning pixies.
Before Harry or anyone else could react they had hung Neville by his shirt collar from a chandelier and taken off elsewhere.
"Why does this always happen to me?!" Neville moaned.
From the front of the classroom Harry saw Professor Lockhart whip out his wand "fear not I'll deal with these pesky pixies!".
Harry watched as Lockhart aimed his wand at a group of the troublesome creatures and muttered "peskipiksi pesternomi!" Harry shook his head as the supposed spell had no effect but grinned momentarily as a pixie seized Lockhart's wand and flung it through one of the open windows.
The Professor seemed to decide that retreat was a good idea just then as he shouted to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who along with Neville were the only one's left in the room "I'll just err...leave you to deal with them then...good luck!" with that Lockhart ran up the stairs, into his office and slammed the door. They heard the sound of the lock clicking shut and Ron shouted "come back!. What are we gonna do now?".
"Leave it to me!" Hermione said loudly as she pushed Ron aside, aimed her wand at the pixies, who'd gathered in one place and shouted "immobulus!".
Harry watched in amazement as the pixies looked around seeming stunned.
He knew that they'd have no better chance and so the three students set to work on getting the pixies back into the cage, tossing them in any old how before slamming and locking the cage door to keep them secure.
They then went over to where Neville still hung from the chandelier and Harry stood up on the desk to get him down.
"Hold on Nev" he said kindly as he unlatched Neville's shirt and pulled him down carefully. With Ron and Hermione's help he set Neville down on the ground even as he realised that Neville was not quite so pudgy as this time last year, which was no doubt why he was so easy to pull down.
As the four of them left the lesson for break Ron said sarcastically to Hermione "he's such a great Professor that Lockhart bloke, isn't he!".
"I don't why you're so upset Ron" she replied with a sniff "he just wanted to give us some hands on experience".
Harry shook his head but decided not to say anything knowing how defensive she was of Lockhart and not wanting to fall out with her again after the argument at breakfast.
"Hands on?!" Neville burst out surprisingly "did you see me hanging off that chandelier Hermione! I could have fallen and broken my neck!".
This seemed to have the desire effect as Hermione finally admitted "well...maybe you have a point Neville. He should have been more careful with his choice of creatures".
Harry and Ron gaped at Neville in respect for it wasn't often that anyone got Hermione to backtrack on a point she had made.
The rest of that day passed without incident aside from an unpleasant confrontation with Malfoy and dinnertime arrived, with it came Professor McGonagall with news of when and where their detentions would be served.
"Mr Weasley, your detention will be served with Mr Filch" Ron groaned the second the name was mentioned and Harry felt very sympathetic for no one liked the sour faced, moody, old caretaker.
The Professor kept talking "will be served with Mr Filch in the Trophy Room, polishing all of the silverware by hand without using magic".
Ron was gazing at her in open mouth horror obviously thinking of appealing this. One look at the Professor's face however must have convinced him it would do no good for he soon changed his mind and closed his mouth.
"You Mr Potter" the Professor said as she turned her stern gaze on him "will serve your weeks detention with Professor Lockhart".
Harry was horror struck and felt in that moment that it would be better for him to be polishing the silverware instead "no!" he blurted out "can't we change places?...I mean..." he cast around for an excuse "it would be too much fun!" he tried hopefully.
The Professor raised an eyebrow "I doubt answering his fan mail for him will be much fun Potter" she said "you are to report to Mr Filch and Mr Lockhart respectively at 8 o'clock this evening" she told them before striding away.
At twenty minutes to eight both Harry and Ron left the Gryffindor common room waving goodbye to Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Lauren with whom he'd made things up earlier.
As they reached the Entrance Hall Harry said goodbye to Ron calling out cheekily "have fun!".
Ron fired back equally cheekily "you too!" and they went their separate ways, Ron to the Trophy Room and Harry to the Defence Against Dark Arts Tower which housed Professor Lockhart's Office and classroom.
Harry reached the door to the classroom at 8 pm sharp and knocked loudly on the door to let the Professor know he was there.
There was some bustling about from within and the door opened on a smiling Professor Lockhart who ushered him into the room and closed the door behind him.
Harry noticed that an extra chair had been set out at Lockhart's desk and sighed at the fact that he'd be required to sit next to the arrogant fop during the detention, 'but then again' he thought 'I'm lucky not to have got a howler yet'.
The detention dragged on laboriously as Harry wrote out greetings and other kind words from Lockhart to his multitude of fans and signed them using an approximation of Lockhart's signature.
'Even polishing trophies has to be better than this' he thought for the hundredth time as he licked and sealed another envelope which he added to the growing pile stacked next to him.
Just then he heard a voice. A voice like no other he'd heard before and it sounded angry "kill!" the voice hissed "must kill!".
"What?!" Harry shouted in alarm causing Lockhart to look at him in bemusement and some concern "sorry Harry?" he replied as if Harry had been talking to him "didn't say anything, are you alright?".
Lockhart sealed another envelope and said "you must be tired I expect" he glanced at his watch "good god is that really the time?" he smiled at Harry "how time flies when you're having fun. It's already 10 o'clock. I'd best send you on your way!".
As Harry left the classroom he felt thoroughly confused at the voice he had heard.
As he didn't hear anything else on his journey back up to Gryffindor Tower he decided that he must have imagined the whole thing and put it out of his mind.
The next morning, a Wednesday, found Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville having breakfast together in the Great Hall.
He was chatting to the others including Ginny and his Cousin Lauren about the upcoming Quidditch season and Gryffindor's chances when he could hear the flutter of wings from high up in the rafters.
He looked up along with many others as hordes of owls began to descend from the ceiling towards the tables depositing various parcels and letters for the students and staff.
Harry gulped as he saw his aunt and uncle's barn owl heading straight for the Gryffindor table, followed close behind by the Weasley family owl Errol.
"They'll be the howlers" Ginny said casually as she piled pancakes onto her plate.
The two owls circled the table for a short time before finding a clear space and landing in front of Harry and Ron.
Once each envelope had been placed before them the two owls each had a drink and a nibble of some bread before ascending towards the ceiling and heading off for the owlery.
Seamus Finnegan must have noticed the envelopes being dropped and recognised them for he suddenly shouted out "hey everyone Harry and Ron have got howlers!".
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous looks as Neville cut in "you'd better open them guys. My gran sent me a howler once last year...it was horrible!".
The two of them hesitated for just a moment before tearing open the envelopes.
Before they even had time to try reading the words two equally loud, equally angry voices rent the air speaking in unison "Harry James Potter!" and "Ronald Bilius Weasley!".
Harry and Ron both were unable to tear their eyes away from the letters which had formed mouths "do you two have any idea what you've done?!".
"You had no right to steal that car!" they shouted together as Mrs Weasley added "your father is facing an inquiry at work and it's entirely your fault!".
"Your uncle was sick with worry about you as was I and then we find you've stolen a car!" Harry's Aunt Mandy shrieked "he is now under investigation for his nephew utilising muggle technology for improper uses, you should be ashamed!".
Ron's howler concluded with "we are disgusted with your behaviour and if you put another toe out of line this year we'll bring you straight home!". As Ron's letter tore itself to pieces and silence fell from it Harry's concluded with "one more piece of mischief from you Harry and you will lose your broom, be brought home and grounded for six months!".
The letter then tore itself to pieces and Harry stared in horror at the remnants as Ron was doing with his.
Several students were laughing at them while Ginny, Lauren and Neville looked sympathetic as did Fred and George but Percy just looked superior as he said "well that'll teach you for taking other people's property".
"Oh shut up Percy!" Harry and Ron shouted together.
A short while later Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville found themselves stood in Greenhouse Three alongside the other Gryffindor's and the second year Hufflepuff's with whom they took herbology lessons now they were in their second year.
Standing at the table with them was a Hufflepuff boy Harry didn't think he'd ever spoken to before "hello, I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley!" the boy introduced with a happy smile.
Harry shook his hand and introduced his three friends whose hands the boy also shook after also greeting them warmly "you're Harry Potter aren't you? I read about you in the rise and fall of the dark arts, a truly fascinating read" he said before adding "so what do you think of Professor Lockhart then?" he carried on not giving Harry a chance to answer "I think he's terribly brave...not sure I could have fought all those zombies and vampires..." Justin shuddered.
Harry was about to answer when the greenhouse door opened causing him and every person to turn their attention to it.
A dumpy, squat woman with a kind face and fly away grey hair entered beaming at the students as she said brightly "good morning second years and welcome to Greenhouse three!".
"Good morning Professor!" the students chorused back for even those that didn't much care about herbology liked her and respected her due to her being a kind teacher and a good woman.
"Now today we are going to be repotting mandrakes" she looked round at the students "who here can tell me about them?".
It came as no surprise to Harry when Hermione's hand shot into the air as she itched to answer the question "yes, Miss Granger" the Professor said with a smile.
"Please Professor!, mandrake or mandragora is a powerful restorative used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed back to their original state. Despite being so useful however the cry of the mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it".
"Top marks Miss Granger!" Professor Sprout beamed at her causing Hermione to smile happily "take five points for Gryffindor!".
the other Gryffindor's applauded her while Harry, Ron and Neville said well done and even Justin Finch-Fletchley nodded in appreciation of her effort.
"Now as Miss Granger has said, it is fatal to hear the cry of the mandrake so I want you all to head over to those crates..." she indicated to several crates nearby "...and each select a pair of earmuffs that will prevent you from hearing the mandrakes. Off you go!" she hurried them over to the boxes.
There was a lot of scuffling as students searched for and tried to take earmuffs in their favourite colour.
Harry managed to get an orange pair, Hermione blue and Neville green while Ron came away from the crates grumbling and holding up a pair of pink earmuffs which he eyed with distaste.
"Now put them on and we can get started" Professor Sprout instructed as each student put on their earmuffs and pressed them tight over their ears to keep them secure.
"Now, firmly grasp the top of the mandrake and pull...like so!" she said as she hauled a mandrake out of the soil and held it aloft.
Harry felt mightily glad he was wearing earmuffs for he could just about hear the sound and it was awful.
"Professor...Neville's fainted!" Seamus Finnegan called out loudly.
"Oh...help him up someone and wake him up!" she replied.
Dean and Seamus hauled Neville to his feet and Hermione reached into her school bag. Pulling out some smelling salts she wafted them under his nose until he revived and looked round at them all in surprise "wha...what happened?" he murmured in confusion.
"You fainted Neville" Dean told him.
"Oh no" Neville moaned in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it Neville I'm sure no one will remember it" Seamus assured him as he clapped him on the back and the two boys returned to their work area.
The lesson thereafter proceeded normally as the students repotted the mandrakes with only a little difficulty and only a few bitten fingers.
Sadly for Neville it turned out that Seamus was wrong for several of the Hufflepuff's had spread the story about of Neville fainting in herbology and many students laughed at him as the Gryffindor foursome entered the Great Hall that day for lunch.
"Oh I'll never live this down!" Neville said miserably as he banged his head on the table.
"Cheer up Nev they'll forget about it by tonight" Ron tried to reassure him. Privately, Harry wasn't quite so sure.
"And if they don't then we'll curse the gits" Harry added protectively "right Hermione?".
"Right" their bushy haired friend replied as she flashed a supportive smile at Neville who grinned back seeming a lot happier.
The rest of the first week went by quite normally as Harry and his friends had lessons and hung out together in their spare time. Sometimes Lauren and Ginny would also hang out with them.
The first weekend came and went with the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts taking place over the Saturday and Sunday.
As Harry had hoped he had aced the trial for seeker and kept his place on the team alongside the other returning players led by Captain Oliver Wood.
During Sunday Afternoon Harry and his best friends ventured down to Hagrids Cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest where their large friend was already waiting for them with a fresh pot of tea having invited them earlier in the week.
As Harry and the others had explained about their week Harry and Ron told Hagrid about their detentions and what had led to it.
Their large friend was just as perplexed as they had been about the barrier not letting them through and even more bemused at the idea of a house elf popping into Harry's room to warn him of some supposed danger inside Hogwarts "that's ludicrous that is" Hagrid insisted "Hogwarts is the safest place in the world and aint no place better for learning".
"That's what I told this Dobby" said Harry "but he still kept going on about danger, though he wouldn't say what".
Hagrid scratched his beard thoughtfully. At length, he spoke again and his next words were casual "I think he was having you on Harry. This all smacks of a prank by a certain Slytherin to keep you away from Hogwarts".
"Yeah...maybe" Harry replied before the five of them lapsed into silence. Despite everyone's belief it was just a prank Harry still felt wary, especially after the incident with the barrier and he resolved to write a letter to his aunt and uncle that evening asking them if such a thing had ever occurred before.
The second week of the term was generally good for Harry while being largely uneventful with only one run in with his nemesis Malfoy to speak of.
On the Wednesday he received a reply from his aunt and uncle on the issue with the barrier.
Dear Harry,
We were glad to receive your letter letting us know how your first week went and accept your apology for your stunt with the car.
If the barrier truly didn't let you through then that explains, I suppose, why you took the car in the first place though it doesn't excuse your recklessness.
Regardless of all of this I can't say I've ever heard of such a thing occurring before. I'll consult my boss in the Auror Department. Old Mad Eye will know if anyone does.
Keep your nose clean Harry and enjoy the term. Make sure to write more than you did last year and keep us better informed.
Love Uncle Jacob and Aunt Mandy.
While Harry had been overjoyed to receive the letter and was glad that his aunt and uncle were no longer mad at him for the stunt with the car he still couldn't help but feel disappointed at the fact that they were as in the dark as he was on why the barrier closed itself to he and Ron.
'Still' he thought positively 'at least Uncle Jacob is going to ask a man who knows all about dark magic'.
Harry had never met old Mad Eye Moody but judging by the reverence that he was held in by Sirius, Remus and Jacob he felt certain the man would be able to help.
The second week of term passed uneventful with only one run in with Malfoy and his goons and once again Harry was drawn to the irresistible girl with blue eyes that kept looking at him from the Slytherin table at lunch and dinner times.
The only parts of the week he dislike were the defense against the dark arts classes taught by Professor Lockhart who, in Harry's mind, only showed what a fraud he was as more and more time passed and insisted in every lesson that he reenact parts of his books detailing his fights against dark creatures and witches and wizards.
Harry could have borne this were it not for the fact that there was a single solitary person called upon every lesson to help with the reenactment...him.
Every single time Harry entered the classroom it was with the sinking feeling that he would be called upon to help the idiot professor show off once again and the thing beyond everything else that made it unbearable was Hermione's continuing hero worship of the man.
To make matters worse Harry kept hearing the harsh hissing voice in his head.
He didn't hear it all of the time and it wasn't loud but he was surprised that it didn't seem to faze anyone else given that it spoke of killing.
Harry had thought several times of mentioning it someone, to one of his friends or a teacher or perhaps even writing to his family back at Potter Cottage but he set the thought aside, he didn't want anyone to think he was losing the plot after all.
September and October went on rather uneventfully.
One evening in October Harry was walking back from Quidditch practise through the Entrance Hall when he was confronted by a very angry Argus Filch "mud!" the sour caretaker shouted "mud all over my clean floors!".
Harry was tempted to say "the house elves clean floors you mean" but thought better of it.
"I didn't mean to drag mud in" he said mildly.
"But you did!" snarled Filch "I'll have you punished for this!. Come with me!".
Harry sighed in resignation and followed the man through the Entrance Hall and into the man's spacious office.
"Sit there!" Filch instructed as he rummaged around.
Harry looked round the room before his eyes lit on an envelope on the table. He gazed at it with interest but knew better than to go prying into someone's personal affairs.
Filch returned to the desk and seemed about to say something to Harry. His mouth opened just as an almighty crash resounded from the trophy room "Peeves!" Filch roared before sprinting full pelt from his office and in the direction of the disturbance.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief knowing that once Filch was locked on Peeves he would completely forget about Harry meaning he could just slip away.
Harry turned to go only for his eyes to be drawn once more to the envelope on the desk.
Still curious, he decided to take a peek and picked the envelope up slipping out what was within.
He found himself staring at a single sheet of parchment which proclaimed "congratulations on your enrollment in the witch weekly magical correspondents course. The first lesson in spellcraft involves wand technique...".
Harry heard approaching footsteps and hurriedly slipped the letter back into the envelope and back onto the desk as the door opened and Filch returning muttering darkly to himself.
The man's eyes locked on Harry and then the envelope. Filches eyes narrowed and sweat appeared on his forehead "what are you still doing in here?" he demanded "get out!".
Harry ran as quick as he could through the open door and didn't stop until he was on the second floor landing.
"Did it work?" asked an excited and curious voice from nearby.
Harry nearly jumped out of his skin in fright before his eyes found the ghostly form of Sir Nicholas floating in mid air before him "blimey Sir Nicholas, don't do that!" he chided as he clutched his heart.
"Apologies for scaring you young Potter" Sir Nicholas replied apologetically "I merely wished to know if my distraction worked".
"Yeah it..." Harry gaped at him in surprise "YOUR distraction?" he couldn't believe it.
He could have believed it of Peeves who was a troublesome poltergeist but Sir Nicholas? "you created the distraction?".
"Well...I asked Peeves to create one at least" Sir Nicholas informed him "so...did it work?".
Harry grinned "oh it worked all right Nick" he said gratefully "thanks for the help. I only wish there was some way I could help you with the whole Headless Hunt business".
Sir Nicholas sighed for a moment before his eyes lit up "maybe you can Harry!" he said "I'm having a five hundredth death day party, me and a large gathering of other ghosts and ghouls. The Headless Hunt will be there and I think if they saw you support me they'd change their minds and let me join!".
He looked at Harry hopefully "what do you say Harry...will you help an old ghost out?".
The look on Sir Nicholas' ghostly face was so hopeful that Harry didn't have the heart to refuse him "of course I will Nick" he promised "I might even be able to convince a few friends to come along".