Part 9
The next day Harry woke up to a beautiful morning (the mother of all oxymorons). He went down to breakfast with Ron, all the time thinking about last night. Why had Dumbledore avoided him? He obviously saw the Marauder's Map being Summoned. At breakfast Harry kept looking suspiciously at the High Table, to maybe get a clue about Dumbledore's queer behavior. Dumbledore, however, acted as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Harry wondered if Dumbledore would be in the same room tonight. It was his best bet, since he wanted some questions answered, like why he left the Mirror of Erised lying around, if it was supposed to help protect the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. He also wanted to know why he was eating only peaches for breakfast (A/N: sorry, I was listening to "Peaches" by PUSA when I wrote this).
As night came, Harry was engaged in various activities including helping Fred and George harass Percy, playing Wizard Chess, toasting marshmallows, etc. to notice that he should leave soon if he wanted to meet Dumbledore in that room.
"well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow."
He went up stairs to his dormitory. He went to his trunk and pulled out the Marauder's Map (A/N: remember? He took it after he uncovered the truth about Peter). He checked to see if anyone was in the room with him. The only people who knew about the Invisibility Cloak was Ron and Hermione, to whom he sent an owl after he received it. when he saw that he was alone, he dug into his trunk, and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak. He wrapped it around himself and walked out of the common room. He walked down the corridors until he found the room with a suite of armor outside of it. When he walked in the first thing he saw was the Mirror. He looked around a bit and when he saw that Dumbledore wasn't visible, he closed the door and locked it. Then he took out the Map and scanned it. He looked around the room for Dumbledore, but he couldn't find him. He looked around the Map for a sign of Dumbledore, and found him in his office, pacing, and stroking Fawcks the phinex. Harry wondered why Dumbledore didn't come to the room. He supposed maybe he would move the Mirror tomorrow, but that still didn't explain why Dumbledore isn't here. but then he thought that Dumbledore isn't so stupid and that he probably concluded that Harry knew about the Mirror. On his way to bed, Harry thought that Dumbledore was probably right in not coming to that room, for his own reasons. Harry hadn't tolled anyone about his "nighttime strolls". Not even Ron or Hermione.
The next few days passed by slowly. On New-Year's eve Harry was sitting in front of the fire, thinking. Midnight was approaching, and Harry's thoughts turned to Hermione. Usually, when he thought about her, he was filled with a longing to be with her. But recently, when he thought about her, he didn't feel anything. He just thought about her as a friend, not anything more. Then, as the clock struck twelve, the truth hit Harry. He was not in love with Hermione anymore (A/N: sorry, H/H shippers, but it's important for the rest of the story).
The night before classes began, everyone who left the castle for the holiday, came back. As Harry expected (and I'm sure we all did), Hermione had done some research over vacation, and came back with a sufficient amount of information about vegetarianism (A/N: YAY!!!!!!!). she lectured them for what seamed like hours about the new organization she started, CSAD (Community for Saving Animals in Danger), and how she planned to overthrow the barbaric way of eating meat.
"you know, most people think that animals are being treated well, but they really aren't! for instance, calves are kept in stalls so small that they cant even turn around! And also chickens are starved for a few days, so when they are being fed again, they lay bigger eggs! And that isn't everything. But even just that, don't you think it's cruel?!?!?!?" (A/N: I am NOT making this up! Animals really are treated this way.)
While Hermione was talking, Harry turned to Ron and said "you owe me five Galleons. She came up with a vendetta against eating meat." Ron groaned.
"Listen, Hermione, not that I don't agree with you, but I think we should go to bed. You don't want to be late for class tomorrow, right?" Harry said, cutting Hermione off in mid-sentience. "wha-? Oh… yeah… right…" stammered Hermione.
The next day in classes, Hermione kept passing them notes about why it's better to be a vegetarian. The were along the lines of: "eating meat is disgusting, especially when you know how it's made." "they starve chickens. STARVE THEM! so that they can lay bigger eggs." Etc.
Harry was getting interested in what Hermione was saying. Then at lunch one day, he was about to take a bite out of a hamburger, but stopped when it was half-way to his mouth. He took a minute to look at it. It really did look disgusting. And then he thought about what it was made of. That thought made him nauseous, so he stopped. It was as if it just occurred to him how cruel it was to eat meat. He put the hamburger down, and loaded his plate with salad (A/N: YUM! Take that, meat eaters!). Hermione wasn't even eating. She was too busy trying to convince people that they should not eat meat.
The next day Harry woke up to a beautiful morning (the mother of all oxymorons). He went down to breakfast with Ron, all the time thinking about last night. Why had Dumbledore avoided him? He obviously saw the Marauder's Map being Summoned. At breakfast Harry kept looking suspiciously at the High Table, to maybe get a clue about Dumbledore's queer behavior. Dumbledore, however, acted as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Harry wondered if Dumbledore would be in the same room tonight. It was his best bet, since he wanted some questions answered, like why he left the Mirror of Erised lying around, if it was supposed to help protect the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. He also wanted to know why he was eating only peaches for breakfast (A/N: sorry, I was listening to "Peaches" by PUSA when I wrote this).
As night came, Harry was engaged in various activities including helping Fred and George harass Percy, playing Wizard Chess, toasting marshmallows, etc. to notice that he should leave soon if he wanted to meet Dumbledore in that room.
"well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow."
He went up stairs to his dormitory. He went to his trunk and pulled out the Marauder's Map (A/N: remember? He took it after he uncovered the truth about Peter). He checked to see if anyone was in the room with him. The only people who knew about the Invisibility Cloak was Ron and Hermione, to whom he sent an owl after he received it. when he saw that he was alone, he dug into his trunk, and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak. He wrapped it around himself and walked out of the common room. He walked down the corridors until he found the room with a suite of armor outside of it. When he walked in the first thing he saw was the Mirror. He looked around a bit and when he saw that Dumbledore wasn't visible, he closed the door and locked it. Then he took out the Map and scanned it. He looked around the room for Dumbledore, but he couldn't find him. He looked around the Map for a sign of Dumbledore, and found him in his office, pacing, and stroking Fawcks the phinex. Harry wondered why Dumbledore didn't come to the room. He supposed maybe he would move the Mirror tomorrow, but that still didn't explain why Dumbledore isn't here. but then he thought that Dumbledore isn't so stupid and that he probably concluded that Harry knew about the Mirror. On his way to bed, Harry thought that Dumbledore was probably right in not coming to that room, for his own reasons. Harry hadn't tolled anyone about his "nighttime strolls". Not even Ron or Hermione.
The next few days passed by slowly. On New-Year's eve Harry was sitting in front of the fire, thinking. Midnight was approaching, and Harry's thoughts turned to Hermione. Usually, when he thought about her, he was filled with a longing to be with her. But recently, when he thought about her, he didn't feel anything. He just thought about her as a friend, not anything more. Then, as the clock struck twelve, the truth hit Harry. He was not in love with Hermione anymore (A/N: sorry, H/H shippers, but it's important for the rest of the story).
The night before classes began, everyone who left the castle for the holiday, came back. As Harry expected (and I'm sure we all did), Hermione had done some research over vacation, and came back with a sufficient amount of information about vegetarianism (A/N: YAY!!!!!!!). she lectured them for what seamed like hours about the new organization she started, CSAD (Community for Saving Animals in Danger), and how she planned to overthrow the barbaric way of eating meat.
"you know, most people think that animals are being treated well, but they really aren't! for instance, calves are kept in stalls so small that they cant even turn around! And also chickens are starved for a few days, so when they are being fed again, they lay bigger eggs! And that isn't everything. But even just that, don't you think it's cruel?!?!?!?" (A/N: I am NOT making this up! Animals really are treated this way.)
While Hermione was talking, Harry turned to Ron and said "you owe me five Galleons. She came up with a vendetta against eating meat." Ron groaned.
"Listen, Hermione, not that I don't agree with you, but I think we should go to bed. You don't want to be late for class tomorrow, right?" Harry said, cutting Hermione off in mid-sentience. "wha-? Oh… yeah… right…" stammered Hermione.
The next day in classes, Hermione kept passing them notes about why it's better to be a vegetarian. The were along the lines of: "eating meat is disgusting, especially when you know how it's made." "they starve chickens. STARVE THEM! so that they can lay bigger eggs." Etc.
Harry was getting interested in what Hermione was saying. Then at lunch one day, he was about to take a bite out of a hamburger, but stopped when it was half-way to his mouth. He took a minute to look at it. It really did look disgusting. And then he thought about what it was made of. That thought made him nauseous, so he stopped. It was as if it just occurred to him how cruel it was to eat meat. He put the hamburger down, and loaded his plate with salad (A/N: YUM! Take that, meat eaters!). Hermione wasn't even eating. She was too busy trying to convince people that they should not eat meat.