Chapter 26
On 29th August Rigel and Draco returned to their home while Harry and Thomas returned to Potter Castle where their whole family and then surprisingly Harry also met Daphne and her they got to know that Peter Pettigrew had escaped Azkaban. Harry spent the rest of the day with his family and he went to bed early. He was very tired. In next 2 days he was about to leave to Hogwarts
Next morning he was met by his Father and Grandfather arguing over a matter it was then he joined them
"No Dad I think we should not allow them to go to Hogsmeade" James said
"No we should allow them" Charlus said
"Remember Dad what Petigrew did he had killed 13 muggles and escaped, Sirius was about to be tossed to Azkaban he was saved by uncle Arcturus" James said it was true and very painful on the fateful Halloween night when James, Lily and sirius arrived at godric's Hollow they saw the cottage in ruin when they entered the cottage they saw (assumed) dead body of Dorea potter after seeing which Sirius went mad after sending James and his family to Potter Mansion he set off to find Pettigrew the traitorous Rat when he encountered him he tried to blame sirius and escape as he fired a spell and 13 muggles were instantly killed and he escaped and Sirius was hit with Laughing jinx soon Aurrors arrived to the scene they were already looking for Sirius Black to arrest him on the Charge of betraying Potters which led to the death of Dorea Potter and they were ordered by Albus Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Sr to send him directly to azkaban. Aurrors arrested Sirius and charged him with Murder of 13 muggles and Peter pettigrew it was then that Arcturus Black interfiered and James cleared that Peter was their Secret keeper after which sirius was cleared and Pettigrew was found within a week in a Muggle restaurant trying to steal some food.
"Grandfather I am capable enough to defend myself" Harry said
"Yes Harry I know are capable to defend yourself but you know James is scared to let you both go to Hogsmeade" Charlus said
"Common grandfather we have trained from a month at least we can defend ourselves and I will kill the rat if he confronts me" Thomas said
"Yes James we should send them to Hogsmeade they have trained for a month they can easily defend themselves I am sending them" Lily said firmly at which Dorea too nodded
"Ok then but Harry be careful from the rat and coot" James said smiling
Harry smiled and nodded at him
"and take this and I am sorry just couldn't wait to open your letter as there was something like badgy inside it and to my surprise I found that you are made quidditch captain this year Congratulations man I was made captain in my 5th year you are really good at it" James said handing harry the letter with badge in it
"Wow Harry, congratulations, what do you think? Will I be made the captain next year after the wood is gone?" Thomas said, giving Harry a handshake and everyone congratulated Harry. Soon Harry had to leave to Hogwarts when he reached the Kings Cross station he could see it was being guarded by several Potters army men he knew his grandfather was very scared inside but was very prideful to show it he deeply cared about safety of the family, he boarded the train
Harry and his friends walked through the train trying to find a compartment that was free. They passed Remus on their quest for one, sleeping soundly and had briefly considered going in there but they realized their excessive yelling and card-playing would keep him up for the whole journey. Eventually, they'd found one right at the back of the train and had locked it with simple locking charms, ones that were allowed on the train and anyone with a bit of intent could get past.
They pulled out their textbooks and games and got comfortable for what was sure to be a long train ride. Tracey congratulated Harry and daphne on their betrothal
Rest of the journey was
"Hey Tracey," said Harry. "I've got good news for you."
"What is it?" asked Tracey looking up from her textbook.
"I just got made Quidditch captain," he said smugly pulling out a letter along with a dark green badge with a silver QC emblazoned on the front. Harry pinned it to his robes happily, realizing he had just received exclusive permissions that none of his friends had.
"How the hell?" asked Tracey, and every one of Harry's friends agreed with her. "Flint's still in the school."
"Yeah, but the letter says something about how he wanted to focus on his NEWTS instead of Quidditch this year, and I'm not complaining. Derreck and Bile are too thick to become captain, Blethcley's graduated from Hogwarts and Pucey got kicked off the squad for bullying some muggleborns. That leaves me, Rigel and Draco, and I've been on the team longer. Sorry about that," he said to Rigel and Draco who just laughed it off.
"I can be vice-captain, right?" Rigel asked and Harry nodded.
"You are going to let the girls try-out this year, aren't you?" asked Tracey.
"Yes, of course. I'm not a sexist git like Flint," Harry assured her. Flint had a policy that no girls were allowed on the squad, dating back to several hundred years ago when it was implemented by even more sexist Slytherins. "And I'll be damn surprised if you don't get into the squad."
"Thank you!" squealed Tracey wrapping him a quick hug.
"Anytime Tracey," nodded Harry, putting the letter back into his pocket.
"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, I think it best to get them out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..." Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued.
"I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," he said, gesturing to Lupin who stood up and took a bow.
There was loud applause from everyone, since Lupin was the first Defense Professor they'd seen that actually looked competent. He was well-dressed in brand new robes and the scars on his face gave him a rugged look, and the student body already saw him as much more competent than both Quirrel and Lockhart. The Slytherin table was perhaps the loudest, led by Harry and his friends with Gryffindor close behind led by Thomas.
"Snape's pissed," Rigel whispered in Harry's ear subtly looking towards the potions master.
"Gee, I wonder why?" asked Harry drily. "Maybe because the job he's been wanting for 10 years just got taken by someone he hates?"
"Surely that can't be the case," said Daphne. "But in all seriousness, how long do you think they're gonna go until there's a duel in the hallways?"
"Until Snape gets pissed enough. Remus isn't going to fight him, but if Snape attacks first I'm going to love seeing Remus whoop his ass. It will be glorious," sighed Harry, Riggle nodded at him and each of his friends looked at them weirdly.
"Hey, we are fine with Snape but we are taking our uncle over him any day." Rigel said
"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the great applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."
Harry and his friends all looked at each other, their faces set in stone. "And we're screwed," Harry said at last, not joining in with the applause.
"Of all the goddamn teachers there are in this world, Dumbledore had to go with him," Draco complained as he sank down in his seat. All the Slytherins had similar looks upon their faces, too familiar with Hagrid's bias against them.
"Now the book makes sense," muttered Daphne. "Hagrid's the only one thick enough to give us a book that can take our heads off if we're not too careful. How did you guys get it to stop biting you?" she asked.
"Whacked it with a crowbar until it fell asleep and then I skinned the cover off so now it's a normal book," said Harry painfully. "It took me way too long."
"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore, breaking Harry out of the rousing discussion he was having. "Let the feast begin!" The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Harry, suddenly very hungry, began to eat
Later at school, Harry found himself called up to the headmasters office shortly after the sorting feast. He arrived in the office, accompanied by Professor Snape, when he arrived he found the golden trio sitting at the side of the office.
In front of him he saw McGonagall standing to the left of Dumbledore who was looking at him with a grandfatherly smile and an annoyingly bright twinkle in his blue eyes. Harry mentally groaned, he just knew that he'd get a headache at the end of this.
"Ah, Mr Potter, please take a seat" Dumbledore gestured to the chair in front of the desk, Snape moved to stand on Dumbledore's right, Harry slowly sat on the chair. He looked around the office one more time before looking at Dumbledore. "How are you Mr Potter ?"
"I'm fine" Harry answered "yourself?"
"I am also fine" Dumbledore smiled
"Mr Potter, here are the important things I wished to discuss with you."
"Carry on" Harry said clearly irritated
"Peter Pettigrew has escaped from Azkaban"
"I'm aware" Harry replied
"Of course" Dumbledore inclined his head slightly "with that being said, I believe it's best for you and your brother to not go to Hogsmead, it's too dangerous for you to be there and..."
"No" Harry interrupted
"I beg your pardon?" Dumbledore asked slowly
"I said no, you're not my guardian and therefore you have no right to ban me from Hogsmead. I have my signed circular from my Guardian and my brother here has signed circular from my parents you have no rights to ban us" Harry said
"Mr Potter, please see the reason" Dumbledore said "Mr pettigrew is after..."
"if Pettigrew comes behind me I ll show him why people fear Potter " Harry looked at his brother and winked at him before looking back to Dumbledore "even if you do ban me then I can pretty much just sneak out and go to Hogsmead don't forget my Father was the most notorious and sneakiest student Hogwarts had ever seen,(Harry could see McGonagall nodding at this) even if my father may not give me some tricks but you have to remember who my Godfather is, let's not waste time here Dumbledore I think we are done"
"Very well Mr Potter" Dumbledore sighed and looked at Harry with that disappointed grandfather look "we are done"
"Come on Thomas what work do you have here" Harry called his brother who then followed him to the surprise of teachers and his friends.
Harry stood up on one of the tables in the Slytherin Common Room at 9 in the night, the same day after the feast and meeting. The 7th graders had just left the room to go study in their own rooms, and Harry had been waiting for this opportunity. "Can I have everyone's attention?" he yelled with a sonorous charm and everyone looked at the 3rd year standing on one of the round tables at the front of the room. "I, Hadrian Potter, am now the Quidditch Captain! Quidditch trials will be taking place on Sunday at 11 in the morning at the field, so make sure you're there."
"Are the girls going to be allowed to try-out this year?" asked a 6th year girl hopefully Harry didn't know the name of.
"I'm getting to that," he said looking up to the crowd of Slytherins. "Our previous captain, Marcus Flint, in his wisdom," Harry said that last word very sarcastically, "thought it a good idea to not allow girls onto the team, thinking they were inferior. I, on the other hand, am not like him. Girls will be allowed to try-out for the squad." This was met with cheers from all of the female Slytherins and most of the male ones, even if they didn't care about Quidditch at all.
"What!" shouted a 4th year boy from the back of the common room. "That bullshit!" Harry didn't know his name either and he didn't care about that.
"Any reason you think that?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow whilst the rest of the Slytherins glared at the boy.
"Everybody knows that girls are inferior to us!" he shouted. "They'll never be as good as us males!"
"Know what?" asked Harry calmly. "Let me attach a pair of globes to your chest and let's see if that stops your ability to play Quidditch," he said and everybody laughed at the boy, who was reddened in anger and embarrassment.
"That's it!" he roared. "You and me in the dueling pit! Now! I formally challenge you, Hadrian Potter, to a duel!"
Everyone looked at Harry seeing how he would respond, being a year younger than the one challenging him. "Fine," shrugged Harry, stepping down from the table. "Will you hold my cloak for me?" he asked Daphne and she nodded, handing it to Rigel when he gave her his cloak. "Wish me luck," said Harry smiling.
"You don't need it," said Daphne.
Harry stepped down into the dueling pit that had been revealed by a 6th year; normally it was hidden but in the case of honor duels and to settle arguments, it could be revealed through a simple spell. Everyone gathered around the sides, watching the 2 duelists face each other.
"Scared Potter?" asked the boy. "It's not too late to back out."
"I've seen your spellwork. It's so pathetic I'd be surprised if you even managed one out of that wand," retorted Harry and several people laughed.
"What in Salazar's name is going on here?" A door had been slammed open and Snape had come marching out of his office as soon as he'd been alerted to the fact that the dueling pit had been opened.
One of the 6th years explained the situation to Snape who listened moving whilst Harry and the boy waited patiently. "Very well," sighed Snape. "I will officiate the duel. It will go on until someone is knocked out or gives up. Bow to each other," he said and the duelists bowed, the boy snarling at Harry whilst Harry just had a bored look on his face. "3, 2-"
The boy fired a spell on 2, just as Harry had expected him to. "Stupefy!" he yelled and the red light shot towards Harry who brought up a small shield silently with a flick of his wrist. The watcher's eyes widened- the boy was doing silent spells in his third year. "Stupefy!" he yelled again and this time Harry ducked under the spell instead of blocking it.
"Expelliarmus," Harry murmured but the boy managed to dodge the spell. "Confringo!" he yelled, not letting him recover. The jet of blue light hit near the boy's feet and sent him flying off his feet onto the floor, and he followed up with a "stupefy," that he managed to somehow deflect back towards Harry, who was then forced to dodge his own spell.
The boy stood up shakily and pointed his wand at Harry, saying something under his breath and a sickly yellow light flew out the tip of his wand. Harry brought up the usual shield but the spell managed to go through it and launched him backwards onto the floor. Harry rolled to absorb the impact and got up instantly, his left shoulder aching from where the spell had hit him. "Ready to give up?" asked the boy darkly, wobbling as he stood. The spell had taken a lot out of him and Harry doubted whether he could cast another one.
"You wish," said Harry, firing a silvery light from his wand that the boy easily dodged.
"You missed," he taunted, bringing his own wand up, and that was when a small table crashed into him from behind knocking him to the floor, unconscious.
"Oh, did I?" asked Harry tiredly, stepping out of the pit.
"Mr Potter is the winner," said Snape without any emotion, hiding the fact that he was glad Harry had won. He cast a spell silently on the knocked out boy and we awoke with a gasp, standing up sorely. "Both duelists will come to my office to receive treatment for any injuries they sustained. Now," said Snape and Harry and the boy made their way with Snape to his office, one of them much happier than the other.
"That was quite impressive," said Dumbledore emerging from the pensieve memory Snape had supplied to him. "Mr Potter has turned out to be quite the formidable duelist." While on one hand he was glad that Hadrian still had good in him and was only using light spells, he was quite concerned about how strong he was becoming. This would make it very hard to convince him to sacrifice himself so that his brother could stop Voldemort.
"Silent spells in his third year," muttered Snape. "That's more advanced than any student I've ever taught."
"Yes, yes," concurred Dumbledore. Even he wasn't able to do a silent cast in his third year, and Tom definitely couldn't. This was very worrying. "Leave me Severus. I have some thinking to do," he said gravely sitting down whilst Snape left the room.
Harry walked beside his friends chatting amicably as they went down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was only when he spotted three only-too-familiar backs ahead of them that he realized they must be having these lessons with the Gryffindors. Thomas was talking animatedly to Ron and Hermione, who were listening enraptured. Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start.
"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson coming up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" For one nasty moment, Harry thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing in there.
"Everyone gather around the fence here!" he called. "That's it — make sure you can see — now, first' thing you'll want to do is open year books —"
"How?" said Draco coldly.
"Eh?" said Hagrid.
"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips. Harry's was the most unique, being a simple brown book that he managed to open normally.
"Hasn' — hasn' anyone been able to open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen. The class all shook their heads apart from Harry.
"I managed," he admitted quietly.
"Yeh see. Young 'arry o'er 'were managed," said Hagrid happily. "How d'ya do it lad?"
"I ripped the cover off with a knife," replied Harry cheerfully and Hagrid shrunk back a bit concerned.
"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid moving on, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look —" He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.
"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco said. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"
"I — I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.
"Oh, tremendously funny!" said Rigel. "I wonder why we didn't think of that! Maybe because the book was trying to bite our heads off!"
"Shut up, Rigel," said Harry quietly. Hagrid was looking downcast and Harry wanted Hagrid's first lesson to be a success.
"Right' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "so — so you've got yer books and'... an'... now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go and' get 'em. Hang on..." He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight.
"And this class is already ruined," complained Daphne.
"Shut up you stupid bint!" shouted Ron angrily.
"What did you just say, Weasley?" asked Harry, backed by all the Slytherins apart from Daphne, the former having to restrain the latter from attacking Ron.
"You heard me right!" shouted Ron but that was as far as he got before he collapsed on the floor holding his crotch. Everyone looked towards Harry who shrugged and put his wand back into its holster.
"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock and distracting them from the scuffle. Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Harry had ever seen.
They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures. "Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.
"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beautiful, aren' they?" Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the Hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.
"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if ye wan' ter come a bit nearer..." No one seemed to want to, not even Thomas, Ron and Hermione thought Harry couldn't blame them.
"Now, first' thing yeh gotta know about' Hippogriffs' is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."
"Yeh always wait for the Hippogriff to make the first move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, you're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt." "Right — who wants to go first?"
Most of the class backed farther away in answer. The Hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like being tethered like this. "No one?" said Hagrid, with a pleading look. "Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then — let's see how ya get on with Buckbeak."
Harry looked around him and noticed that everyone apart from him had taken a few steps back making Hagrid think he had volunteered. "Traitors," he muttered before accepting the outcome.
Hagrid untied one of the chains, pulled the gray Hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Hermione's eyes were narrowed maliciously. "Easy now, Harry," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not to blink... Hippogriffs don't' trust ye if ye blink too much..."
Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Harry with one fierce orange eye. "That's it," said Hagrid. "That's it, Harry... Now, bow." Harry didn't feel much like exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak, but he did as he was told. He gave a short bow and then looked up. The Hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him. It didn't move.
"Ah," said Hagrid, sounding worried. "Right — back away, now, Harry, easy does it —" But then, to Harry's enormous surprise, the Hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow. "Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right — yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"
Feeling that a better reward would have been to back away, Harry moved slowly toward the Hippogriff and reached out toward it. He patted the beak several times and the Hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as though enjoying it. The class broke into applause for everyone's surprise even Thomas all except for Ron and Hermione, who were looking deeply disappointed. Suddenly, the hippogriff's eyes widened and it pulled its front leg back and struck Harry on the arm leaving a deep gash that oozed blood.
Harry stumbled back, his arm numb from what was most likely shock. "Shit," he managed to utter before he collapsed on the floor.
"I'm taking him to the hospital wing!" said Hagrid loudly, picking up the unconscious Harry and walking off hurriedly with him. Everyone followed Hagrid, be it Gryffindor or Slytherin with Harry's friends at the front casting charms to stop the blood flow.
Harry opened his eyes slowly, coming to the hospital wing where he lay. He lay on a bed, the entire left sleeve of his shirt had been torn, and his robes were draped on the end of his hospital bed.
"What happened?" he managed to groan out.
"How are you feeling?" asked Daphne concerned, ignoring his question. She was sitting by his side and the rest of his friends were crowded around the bed.
"Like my arm got put through a shredder," Harry said. "How bad was it?"
"Not good," said Daphne. "After the incident, Hagrid carried you into the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey said that the claw hit your brachial artery and you lost a lot of blood. If Hagrid had been even a little late, you would have bled out."
"I guess it's lucky he was around," Harry coughed out.
"What I don't understand," began Rigel, "is why the hippogriff attacked you. You did exactly what Hagrid said- you bowed, stroked it yet it still attacked you. Why?"
Harry shifted nervously as much as he could physically manage in his bed, but unluckily for him Daphne saw that. "What did you do?" she asked, giving him a deathly scare.
Harry opened his right fist which had remained clenched all this time revealing a singular gray feather. "What is that?" asked Draco, taking the feather from him and examining it in the light.
"A hippogriff feather," said Harry nervously. "I plucked it off of Buckbeak when I was petting him."
"Are you insane?" shouted Daphne. "Do you have any idea what could have happened, and what I just went through? What were you thinking?" she cried lightly, punching him in anger.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," placated Harry calmingly. "I just wanted Hagrid gone. He's a nice guy, but he sucks as a teacher. For Merlin's sake, he didn't even do his OWLS, never mind his NEWTS."
"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Draco. "Now it looks like a wayward hippogriff attack under Hagrid's supervision and you can have him fired! You could even send him to Azkaban, if you want."
"I'm not cruel Draco," said Harry. "It was partly my fault, so I'll just have him fired but he can stay on as gamekeeper, and he can have the hippogriff as a pet. Besides, all I wanted was an actually competent teacher."
"Fine," agreed Daphne. "But if you put yourself in unnecessary danger like that again I swear I will-"
"Yes, yes I'll be more careful," interjected Harry. "I can't imagine how you'd survive without me."
Harry and his friends walked into their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry's arm having healed fully since the Creatures lesson. Hagrid had been fired the same day though he'd been kept as gamekeeper and had kept the hippogriff as a pet, and the new teacher, Professor Grubbly-Plank, was much more competent.
They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and talked quietly amongst themselves. Remus shuffled the papers he had been marking around, rearranging them exactly how he wanted and then stood up to address the class.
"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands." A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before, unless you count the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.
"Right then," said Remus, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me." Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Remus out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.
Peeves didn't look up until Remus was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song. "Loony, loopy Remus," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Remus, loony, loopy Remus —"
Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Remus to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling. "I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get into his brooms."
Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Remus's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Professor Remus gave a small sigh and took out his wand.
"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely." He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves. With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.
"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.
"Thank you, Dean," said Remus, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?" They set off again, the class looking at Remus with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please," said Remus, opening it and standing back.
The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth.
As Remus came in and closed the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Remus. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Remus, but this class contains 3 of the most incompetent Gryffindors I've had the misfortune to lay my eyes upon." His eyes lingered over the faces of Thomas, Ron and Hermione and they flushed red.
"I'm sure they'll be fine, Severus," said Remus smiling. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.
"Now, then," said Remus, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Remus went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Nothing to worry about," said Remus calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there." Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Remus a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Remus. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"
Hermione put up her hand. "It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Remus, and Hermione looked around smugly. "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us fear.
"This means," said Remus, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
"Since there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be," Harry answered confidently.
"Precisely," said Remus, and Hermione put her hand down, glaring at Harry. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. "We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" said the class together.
"Good," said Remus. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. Now, I'll need a volunteer," he said looking over the crowd of students. "Ronald, come on up."
"Right, Ron," said Remus when Ron had stepped forward. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" Ron's lips moved, but no noise came out. "I didn't catch that, Ron, sorry," said Remus cheerfully.
Ron looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Spiders," he said deathly quietly.
"Understandable really," said Remus kindly. "Now, I want you to make it comical. I want you to imagine taking its legs off, so that it rolls around. Can you do that for me?" he asked and Ron nodded. "Now, when I open the wardrobe, a spider will come out. I want you to say Riddikulus and imagine the spider's legs flying off."
The wardrobe wobbled more violently. "If Ron is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Remus. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."
The room went quiet.
"Everyone ready?" said Professor Remus. "Ron, we're going to back away," said Professor Remus. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward... Everyone back, now, so Ron can get a clear shot —"
They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Ron alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.
"On the count of three, Ron," said Remus, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three —now!" A jet of sparks shot from the end of Remus's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open.
A giant 10 foot tall spider walked out of the wardrobe and several people screamed in terror. Ron backed away in fright but raised his wand nevertheless. Before he could get any words out of his mouth, the spider roared at him and he fainted.
Remus flicked his wand and the boggart flew backwards into the wardrobe. "It's fine that you couldn't do it on your first try, Ron," he assured Ron, whom he had just rennervated. "Let's see if someone else can do it. Hermione, what about you?"
Ron prowled over to the back of the room while Hermione stepped forward smugly, her wand already out. She nodded to Remus who flicked his wand and the wardrobe's doors opened. McGonagall came out with an unusually stern look on her face. "Miss Granger!" she snapped. "You have failed your test and I hereby expel you from Hogwarts!"
Hermione stepped back nervously, her face pale aware that everyone was laughing at her. "R — r — riddikulus! " she managed to squeak.
There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; she turned small and was dressed like a clown. There was a roar of laughter but Hermione rushed to the back of the classroom very embarrassed. Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Remus shouted, "Parvati! Forward!" Parvati walked forward, her face set.
McGonagall rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising —
"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
"Seamus!" roared Professor Remus. Seamus darted past Parvati. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face — a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Harry's head stand on end —
"Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.
Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then —crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before —crack! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball.
Meanwhile, Harry walked over to Remus and pulled him aside for a moment. "Should I miss out?" he asked. "It's probably going to turn into Voldemort killing grandmother and I don't want to spook anyone."
"Yes, I think that would be best," Remus agreed and he went back to teaching the class.
"It's confusing!" shouted Remus. "We're getting there! Dean!" Dean hurried forward. Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.
"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean. There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.
"Excellent! Thomas, you next!" he shouted but before Thomas could step forward, Harry was flown in front of him unexpectedly and came face to face with the boggart.
The boggarts paused and it morphed into a tall, slim figure dressed in tattered robes. It had a pale bald head and no nose with blood red eyes. Several people screamed at the sight of Lord Voldemort and someone even fainted, the boggart Voldemort pulled his wand out and pointed it at another figure which appeared and looked like Dorea potter and he was about to cast the killing curse. Before Remus could step in front of Harry, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the boggart.
"Riddikulus!" he shouted, yet nothing happened. Then suddenly Dorea Potter disappeared and Voldemort shrunk down until he was but a meter tall and lacy women's clothes morphed into his body and there was a great shout of laughter. "Riddikulus!" Harry said again and Voldemort shrunk down even further until it disappeared with a poof.
"Excellent!" cried Professor Remus as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Harry. Well done, everyone... Let me see... five points for every person to tackle the Boggart — ten for Harry because he did it twice... and I'll be taking 50 points from you Miss Granger."
"But I didn't do anything," said Hermione.
"I saw you hexing Harry into the path of the boggart. You'll be following me to Professor McGonagall's office," he said grimly.
"B-bu-"
"No buts," he interjected, shutting her up. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson," he said, turning back to the class that was watching them two. "Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."
"What in the name of Merlin were you thinking?" asked McGonagall once Lupin had explained the situation to her. She and Remus were sitting facing Hermione Granger, both of their faces grim and set with anger. Her voice was but a whisper but Hermione could sense the anger that was radiating off her in waves of fury.
"Professor I-" began Hermione.
"Do you have any idea what the consequences of your actions could have been?" She stood and began pacing around the room deep in thought. Dumbledore had forbidden her at the start of the 2nd year when they had learned about the car incident from ever suspending or expelling Thomas Potter, Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley. She didn't know what was going on in the headmaster's mind but it wouldn't stop her from giving her the harshest punishment she could.
"What is your obsession with Hadrian Potter? That boy is one of the best students in the school, and despite him being a tad cheeky at times, he is very well behaved yet you seem to think him the devil!" cried McGonagall and Hermione shrunk lower in her chair. "It isn't enough that you constantly come tattling about him to me for every single time he even breathes, but you also hex him into the path of a boggart?"
"Would you like to know why he wasn't taking part Miss Granger?" asked Lupin, speaking to her for the first time since they had entered McGonagall's office. Hermione nodded nervously. "He knew that it could change to Lord Voldemort dueling his Grandmother," and at this both McGonagall and Hermione flinched, and he asked me to let him pass so the rest of his classmates wouldn't get scared. He did not do it to save himself of embarrassment, or because he thought he could not but so that your peers would not be terrified by Voldemort appearing in the classroom."
"Something has to be done Miss Granger," breathed McGonagall harshly. "Remus, a word outside if you will?" she asked and Remus got up to follow her out of the room. They shut the door behind themselves leaving Hermione alone in the office. She couldn't hear them through the door which made the waiting even more tense. "Your punishment has been decided," said McGonagall walking back into the office along with Remus a few minutes later. Hermione stayed quiet, trying to not get into any more trouble.
"Your time turner, Miss Granger," said McGonagall, holding out her hand.
"But Professor! I need it to get-"
"Your time turner, Miss Granger," she repeated her voice becoming colder. Hermione unclasped the time turner from her neck and handed it to McGonagall silently. "I don't know how you managed to convince Professor Dumbledore to let you have one in the first place but it was clearly an oversight on his part."
"But Professor, how will I get to all my classes then?"
"I am getting to that," McGonagall said, her eyes narrowing. "It was also an oversight to let you study all of the electives. Choose 2 or 3 subjects to drop. Now," she added.
Hermione looked at her pleadingly but only received a harsh stare in response. "Divination and muggle studies," she murmured eventually, her head dropping down.
"Very well," said McGonagall. "Now, for the rest of your punishment-"
Hermione's head shot up and her eyes widened. "That wasn't enough!" she gasped out.
"Definitely not. Now, as much as it pains me to do this, 200 points will be deducted from Gryffindor and you will have a month's detention with Mr Filch. Further on, you will have no chance of becoming a prefect or head girl, and you are banned from Hogsmeade for the indefinite future. If your behavior improves this ban may be lifted. Finally, you will have no further communication with Hadrian Potter otherwise you will face suspension or an expulsion." McGonagall was lying about this part but it was the only way she could think that Hermione Granger would actually understand. "Is that clear?"
"Yes Professor," said Hermione in a small voice.
"You can go now," said McGonagall and Hermione ran out of the room in a rush hiding her soft sobs.
"What did she say to Hermione?" asked Thomas when Hermione walked into the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione didn't respond, flushing red as every single person swiveled from where they sat to stare at her, the news of what she had done having traveled through Gryffindor. She grabbed Ron and Thomas by the arms and led them to their room, since boys weren't allowed in the girls' dormitories.
"Why did you bring us here?" asked Ron confusedly as Hermione plopped them on the bed. Hermione lifted her hands from her face to reveal red eyes like she had been crying and her normally curly hair was even worse.
"Hermione," gasped Thomas at the state of her. What had happened in McGonagall's office to turn her from the innocent girl he knew into that. "What happened in McGonagall's office?" he asked, voicing the question in his head.
"I'm in detention for a month with Filch and I lost 200 points!" she cried. "I'm banned from Hogsmeade for the entire year, and I'll never become a prefect or Head Girl! And on top of that, I had to drop muggle studies and divination!" she wailed.
"It was probably for the best though," joked Ron. "You're horrible at divination!"
Hermione glared at him and he cowered. "And the worst part is that it wasn't even my fault! It was that stupid twit called Hadrian-goddam-Potter who got me into this!" she yelled, her sadness having turned into anger.
"Ok, I feel bad for you and you should not have gotten that harsh punishment but it was not my brother's fault," protested Thomas.
"Me! How was it my fault?"
"You were the one that pushed him into the way of the boggart and you're asking how it's his fault?" asked Thomas. "I thought you were meant to be the smart one."
"Mate," said Ron standing up to stop Hermione from hexing his best friend, "Why in Merlin's name are you siding with your brother? Did you forget he got Hagrid fired?"
"He got Hagrid fired because Hagrid couldn't control Buckbeak! And he could have got Hagrid sent to Azkaban, if you'd rather have that." Thomas's hand reached for his wand slowly, sensing that something bad was going to happen.
"Are you mad? He probably did something to Buckbeak that made it attack him!"
"All 3 of us were there, Ron! He did everything Hagrid asked him to and then suddenly Buckbeak attacks Harry for no reason. Buckbeak's lucky Harry didn't have him beheaded."
"I thought you were meant to be my friend!" cried Hermione. "But you're siding with your brother instead of us!"
"I'm not bloody siding with him," shouted Thomas. "All I'm saying is that he's not the one at fault! You were the one that hexed him into the way of the boggart, so don't try to pin the blame on him."
"Famous Thomas Potter," snapped Ron bringing Hermione away so that the two of them were faced off against Thomas. "Couldn't bear staying with us just because we're not famous, and as soon as your brother gets a little bit of attention you ditch him for us!" Ron was spewing spittle towards Thomas who had raised his hand to protect himself from it; he was shocked his best friend had suddenly turned so horrible. "Why don't you go and hang around him instead of us?"
"Know what! I will!" Thomas turned around and began to walk away but a fist caught him in the side of the head and he tumbled to the ground. "What are you doing?"
"You deserved it," spat Ron while Hermione glared at him.
Thomas pulled out his wand and flicked it upwards, thinking 'levicorpus' in his head. Ron was suddenly hoisted by the ankle into mid air, his trousers falling down slightly to reveal bright pink boxers. "And you deserved this," said Thomas, leaving him hoisted in the air and walking out the room, ignoring Hermione who quietly sobbed.
Review please.
Chapter 27 sneak peak
Here In Wizengamot during the end of the September body of wizengamot.
"Any other announcements to be made, my lords?" asked Dumbledore at last.
Theodore Nott Sr put up his staff.
Chapter 27 will be up soon any guesses what will happen?