The Gryffindors were very somber in Care of Magical Creatures the following day. The Slytherins on the other hand, couldn't be happier. Hagrid was gone. And Draco Malfoy was the happiest of them all.
Suddenly, Fleur came running out onto the field. It seemed as though her usual magnificent appearance had been forgotten over her extremely taxing weekend. Dark circles had formed under her blue eyes, her long blond hair was yanked back into a messy ponytail and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked exhausted.
"Hello, students. I'm sure zat you have all heard about ze Hagrid zituaition. The drazards are in their boxes sleeping. Go…take care of them or whatever it is zat you would like. If you don't mind, I have much work to do. Oh, and Hagrid left in his notes that all zat they eat is ze Muizley berries. Zare are buckets of zis berries over there. Please only work with your azzigned partner." Letting out a huge sigh, she rummaged through her silk bag and pulled out some papers, getting to work while sitting under a nearby tree.
Draco swaggered over to Hermione. She immediately narrowed her eyes.
"Can I help you?" She said darkly.
When Draco replied, it was in a very quiet voice. But Ron and Harry could still hear him.
"All those Mudblood deaths making you a little nervous, Granger? Think you might be next? I think you will be. And I can hardly wait."
Ron leaped at Malfoy with a roar of anger. Usually Hermione just let Malfoy's insults not bother her, but apparently this had been one to many. Hermione had whipped out her wand and cursed Malfoy with a nose-breaking curse, and Malfoy howled with pain. Harry was desperately trying to pull Ron and Hermione away as Fleur was marching over.
When Fleur reached them, Harry had finally dragged Malfoy away. Ron was still shaking with anger, and Hermione was glaring at Malfoy, stuffing her wand back in her robes.
"WHAT IS ZE MEANING OF ZIS!!???" Fleur shrieked.
Draco was lying on the ground, clutching his bloody nose and bruised arm, whimpering. All the other Gryffindors and Slytherins had gathered around and were watching nervously.
"You didn't hear what he said to her." Ron hissed.
"He deserved it, you don't know-" Hermione began.
"All I know, Miss Granger and Mizter Weasley, is zat both of you should be in serious trouble. How could you do zis? Don't you think zat I have enough on my mind? Right now, I am too busy with my work and I do not fully know the situation, so I'm letting you off with only thirty points from ze house you belong to. But if either of you put another toe of ze line, it will be cause for immediate suspension. Is zat understood?"
They both nodded.
"Now, someone assist Mizter Malfoy up to ze hospital ward and all of you get back to work."
Crabbe and Goyle each put an arm under Malfoy's shoulders and picked him up as if he weighed nothing at all. Malfoy looked back at Hermione, still clutching his nose.
"I'll get you for this, Granger." He hissed as they carried him away.
Hermione looked a little shocked with herself.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Hermione. He has no right to say something like that to you." Ron said, his face red with anger.
"You two can't pull stuff like that now. Not at a time like this. We all know Malfoy hates us all so you can't let things like that get to you." Harry said quietly to them.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just…I'm so tired of him saying things like that to me." Hermione now looked guilty, looking off in the distance as Malfoy was entering the castle.
"Let's go get our drazards." Harry suggested, deciding it was best to change the subject. Ron was looking at him angrily, and he didn't want to start anything.
Harry started to walk over to the crates, and saw that Pansy was already holding it, petting it gently. As soon as she saw Harry, she stopped.
"Why don't you tell your friends to leave Draco alone?" She hissed.
"Why don't you tell Draco to stop being such a-" Harry began, but was cut off by a loud voice.
"NEVILLE!" His exasperated partner exclaimed as he dropped all their berries and stepped on them.
Neville's whole face went red. He fumbled around, trying to pick up the berries he hadn't smashed.
Harry watched with a furrowed brow. How could someone with such capable parents be so terrible at everything?
At the end of class, Draco came back with a huge bandage on his nose. He looked extremely ridiculous. Ron just grinned at Hermione smugly, but she was looking at Draco with something close to sympathy. Apparently her conscience was bothering her. She walked over to him, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
"Look, Draco, I'm really sorry."
To her surprise, he didn't look angry at all. He was smiling widely.
"That's all right, Hermione."
But there was something very strange about Malfoy's voice that made Hermione extremely suspicious.
"See you later." He said with another huge grin.
She watched him go, mouth wide open.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked, looking at Draco's back as he was leaving.
Harry joined them.
"Hermione, what did you say?" He asked, shocked.
"I just-I just apologized."
They all looked at each other and burst out laughing, shaking their heads.
"What a nutter." Ron laughed as they walked off to Potions class.
During Potions, they worked on antidotes. It was rather dull, but Harry was too busy watching Professor Capstone to really notice. He was still writing on a piece of parchment, his brow furrowed.
"Ah, I've done it!" Hermione said suddenly, breaking Harry's train of thought.
She was looking happily as her antidote turned the poison to a clear, watery substance.
"Good grief, Hermione, that was one of the hardest in the book!" Ron looked at her with amazement.
Her cheeks turned pink, but she was still very obviously pleased with herself.
Ron looked at Harry, who was still watching Professor Capstone's quill zooming across the parchment.
"Still no idea what he's up to?" Ron asked Harry.
"I have no idea. But it's really bothering me." Harry said quietly.
Harry finally just decided to not think about it anymore. He needed to do well in this class. He could always figure out what was going on with Professor Capstone later. Concentrating on his antidotes, the class bell rang before he knew it and it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
As the three were walking to class, they passed Angelina Johnson.
"Harry-Quidditch practice tonight. Game against Slytherin's coming up in a few weeks, and they are determined to beat us. Be there at 7:00."
He nodded, telling Angelina good-bye.
"Oh, right, that reminds me-how is Viktor, Hermione?" Ron said out of the blue.
"Fine." She said shortly and strangely passively.
"Is Bulgaria is just vonderful this time of year, Herm-o-ninny?" Ron said in an impressively accurate impression.
"Shut up, Ron!" She snapped, "Their Quidditch team is so busy that he won't be able to make it to Hogsmeade any other weekend. He probably even won't have time to write. So no need to get all-oh, however you get whenever I mention Viktor."
"So he can't write anymore? Isn't that a shame, Harry?" Ron said slightly under his breath.
But Hermione heard him.
"Ron, enough! Give it a rest, all right? Let's not start this again." Hermione cheeks were flushing red.
Harry could always sense when an argument was coming.
"Er-here we are! I wonder what we're doing in Defense Against Dark Arts." Harry said very quickly.
Hermione and Ron didn't say a word or look at each other as they entered the classroom. Professor Lupin looked tired himself. He rubbed his eyes as the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors seated themselves. The tables were just arranged where only two could sit together.
Hermione went to sit with Neville, but Ron stopped her.
"Oh, no Hermione. I'm fine. I can sit with someone else." And looking smug and very proud of himself, Ron went and sat with Mandy Brocklehurst.
Hermione gritted her teeth.
"That's fine, Ron. Go right ahead." She put a tight smile on her face and sat down next to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. This got so old after awhile.
Thankfully, Professor Lupin started class.
"Hello, everyone. We're having a class on vampires today. What they are, how to fight them, you get the idea. And since there is no possible way I can bring a vampire into class," there was nervous laughter, "I just brought this."
He pulled a sheet off the table, revealing garlic, stakes, crucifixes, vials of perfectly clear water, and almost every other vampire-fighting cliché Harry had ever heard of.
"Yes, Muggles know of these defenses. But they don't believe in them. Because they don't believe in vampires. But they do exist and this is how you fight them."
Professor Lupin went on to explain all the different ways to fight them. Harry wasn't really listening. Dudley had watched horror movies his entire childhood, he had heard all this before.
He was sleepy himself. Putting his head down on his desk nonchalantly, Harry closed his eyes. His last image he saw was Hermione looking at him disapprovingly.
But then he was somewhere else entirely. Standing in a very familiar room with a fireplace and snake curled up at the hearth. Voldemort was pacing the room wildly while addressing a man Harry couldn't see. He was hidden behind the armchair, but Harry distinctly heard a man crying.
"You have an opportunity every day you're at that damn school! Wormtail could've finished this assignment already, but no, you begged for it. You're already on your second chance. And, mark my words, you will not receive a third. Oh, and just a reminder to help you remember to get to work- Crucio!!"
Harry heard a terrible screaming. His forehead was splitting in half, he was screaming with the unseen man. Then, with a thump, Harry was awake again.
He opened his eyes to see Ron and Hermione looking at him, half concerned, half exasperated.
"Another dream, Harry?" Ron asked, grinning sympathetically.
The whole class had gathered around by now. Harry was lying flat on his back, one hand still on his throbbing forehead. He felt a hot feeling covering his face as his cheeks burned red.
"Harry, why don't you visit the nurse?" Lupin watched him knowingly and worried.
"Yes. Yes, the nurse. I'll-I'll just be going." Harry got up quickly and hurried out of the room.
Once he reached the hallway, he looked around to make sure no one was in sight, and leaned wearily up against the wall. He felt exhausted, as if he had just been through some terrible ordeal. And his scar felt like someone was holding a lit match to it. Harry took a few deep breaths and then regained control of himself. He started to make his way down to the Madam Pomfrey's ward.
As he turned the corner, he bumped right into Ginny.
"Harry! Hi! Haven't seen you around lately! What are you doing out of class?" She was talking very fast and flustered.
"Just about to ask you the same question."
"Oh, well, Professor McGonagall wanted me to run these mince pies down to the kitchens. We've just spent the whole class transforming mice into mince pies and it seemed a shame to let them go to waste. Now, what are you doing?"
"I-I'm not feeling too well." Harry said quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. What's the matter?"
"Headache." Harry was hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.
"Oh. Right. Those kind of headaches." She said knowingly.
"Yeah. See you around, Ginny." Harry felt like he was being rather abrupt, but the pain in his scar was making him feel dizzy.
"Right then! Bye, Harry! Hope you feel better. And if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm always around." Ginny gave him a huge smile and headed for the kitchens.
Harry smiled despite his pain, and then hurried towards the ward. He was finally there. He told Madam Pomfrey he had a headache, and she, having experience with Harry, ordered him to a bed.
But he was in no mood to sleep. He sat with an ice pack on his head, mulling over the dream he had just had. He heard the bell ringing that signaled it was time for dinner. He finally convinced Madam Pomfrey to let him leave, and started towards the Great Hall.
On his way down, he suddenly bumped into a very shifty looking Malfoy.
"Potter! Watch where you're going!" He yelled, putting something that looked like a book hastily under his robes.
"Oh, good cover. Bet you're not up to anything." Harry said sarcastically, walking past Malfoy.
But he had to admit he was rather curious why Malfoy was acting so strangely. He would have to ask Ron and Hermione about it. Right after he told them about his dream.
Spotting them sitting at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, he started to hurry over. Just then, he bumped into a rather short, very pretty someone. Cho Chang. This seemed to happen quite often.
"Hey, Harry." She said, obviously distracted.
Harry decided to act as aloof as possible. He was tired of her thinking he was so in love with her. No matter how true it was.
"Cho. Nice to see you." He said very shortly, and stepped past her immediately.
She looked a little surprised, but soon went back to whatever she was thinking about.
When he reached his spot at the Gryffindor table, Ron looked up, concerned.
"Are you all right? What happened in your dream?"
Harry started to fill them in on everything that had happened and they stayed up very late that night discussing who could possibly be the person who Voldemort was talking to.
The next few weeks passed very quickly. Work had started to pile up on the fifth years. All the teachers seemed to be very adamant about preparing them for the ever-looming O.W.L.s.
Harry woke up late on Monday morning. He, Hermione and Ron had stayed up all last night trying to figure out a paper they had to write for Transfiguration. Hermione had tried to help them, but even she was a little confused. Finally, just as the sun was coming up, they had all gone to bed.
Harry wondered if Ron had already gone down to breakfast. He looked over at his bed. Ron was still sleeping soundly, looking very peaceful. Everyone else in their room was down at breakfast, and Harry heard no noise from the common room.
Suddenly, he heard someone thundering up the staircase. Ron woke up with a start, mumbling about Quidditch. Harry watched the entrance to the room curiously. He was shocked when Hermione dashed in, holding the Daily Prophet in her hand. Ron was now fully awake.
"Hermione, for the last time, you can't come up here!" He said, rubbing his eyes.
"Shut up, Ron, this is important! Well, we all overslept, and so I wasn't down at the Great Hall when my Daily Prophet came, so this owl brought it up to me and take a look at the first page!" Hermione looked horrified.
Harry took the paper from Hermione, and looked at the first page. His jaw dropped. Ron joined him and clapped a hand over his mouth.
Azkaban Prisoner Release-You-Know-Who Suspected
Staff Writer Jezebel Worlai
On Sunday night, a very shocking event took place, one unprecedented in its dangerous implications. The Azkaban prison was still being guarded by the infamous dementors when suddenly, the dementor guards began to release the prisoners. May the Daily Prophet remind its readers that the prisoners at Azkaban are only the worst Dark wizards of all time, ones that committed the most horrendous crimes known in the wizarding world. Most of them are faithful supporters of You-Know-Who. And the dementors began to release every single one of them. All of the prisoners escaped with the dementors by boat. They have not reached a destination yet and now one really knows exactly where they are. But they could reach land at any time. And You-Know-Who will have many of his most dangerous supporters returned to him. The reason for this sudden action by the Dementors is not known for certain, but it seems rather obvious that You-Know-Who is behind it. This Daily Prophet reporter hopes that all wizards and witches will be very careful as this You-Know-Who situation takes on an even more dangerous tone.
When Harry and Ron finished reading the article, they looked at Hermione, shocked.
"This is…terrible." Harry said quietly.
"I hope Dad and Mum are all right. Who knows what's going to happen with all the Death Eaters and killers having free run of wherever they'd like?" Ron looked very worried.
"I'm sure everyone's safe at Hogwarts, what with Dumbledore and all, but the second you step outside of the school…" Hermione shivered.
"Well, who knows we're even safe here, Hermione? Remember Harry's dream? There's someone here, someone just as dangerous as all those Azkaban prisoners." Ron reminded her.
"What are we going to do?" Hermione said quietly.
None of the three had an answer.
All of Hogwarts was an uproar over what had happened with Azkaban. Everyone was worried about their families and friends back at home. It was the constant topic of discussion in almost every spare moment between classes.
On Tuesday morning in Transfiguration, even Professor McGongall seemed a little distracted. She didn't give them hardly any homework, just sat at her desk and graded their papers, letting them talk. It was very unlike her, but no one minded.
The Slytherins didn't seem very upset about everything that had happened at Azkaban. Some seemed downright giddy. Draco Malfoy was laughing about something with Pansy. They were sitting right next to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron was watching them with narrowed eyes.
"Acting all happy during a time like this." He whispered to Harry and Hermione angrily.
"Ron, it's Draco. Of course he's happy. All his dad's old friends are finally out of Azkaban." Hermione replied, a little louder than she meant to.
Draco stopped talking, looking over at them.
"What did you say, Granger?" He hissed.
"You heard me, Draco." She replied coldly.
"Oh, just you wait, Granger. You'll get what's coming to you." He said so only they could hear him.
Pansy smiled smugly. She and Draco looked at each other with very malicious grins. Then they returned to what they were talking about in low voices.
"Hermione, he's making me really nervous." Ron said quietly.
"I know what you mean. I forgot tell both of you about something-" Harry proceeded to tell them about when he had seen Draco with the book.
"What on earth is he up to?" Hermione said a little nervously.
Just then, Professor McGongall spoke.
"All right, all of you, I've finished grading your papers. I must say I'm a little disappointed. I expected better work from all of you, especially as fifth years-"
"Professor, all of our other teachers are loading us down with homework as well! I've been so busy I've hardly slept at all in weeks!" Parvati suddenly said.
There were murmurs of agreement.
"Miss Patil, one more word and I'll take five points from Gryffindor! All of you are going to have to work hard this year, make no mistake. I know all of you are busy. But it is my duty as a teacher-"
She was interrupted again by none other than Dumbledore. She looked at him curiously as he stood in the doorway, looking concerned.
"Minerva, you're needed right away in the staff room. Students, all return to your common rooms immediately."
All the Gryffindors and Slytherins picked up their bags and left, all wondering what was going on.
"You know, we could find out what was going on. We've listened to staff meetings before." Ron suggested quietly.
Harry had no objections. Hermione looked torn. She still hated breaking rules, but she wanted to find out just as much as they did what was going on.
"Fine. What should we do?" She said under her breath.
Harry realized that they couldn't exactly sneak into the closet again. All the teachers were probably already in the staff room.
"Fred and George told me there's a classroom right next to the staffroom that no one uses. It has a door that goes straight to the staff room. We could probably hear what was going on through that."
"Sounds good to me." Harry said quietly, marveling at how useful Fred and George had always proved to be.
They quickly turned a corner, separating themselves from the group of students. Thankfully, everyone seemed too caught up in their own conversations to notice them. Quickly going down the hall, they finally reached the hallway that held the staff room. After a very close call with Filch, who was headed to the meeting, they got into the classroom undetected.
True to Fred and George's word, there was a door leading into the staff room. And you could hear every word that was spoken through it. Harry got down on his knees, looking through the small keyhole. Closing one eye, he could see what was going on as well.
"They're all sitting down. Dumbledore's up at the front and he looks really upset." Harry told them, and grew silent when they could all hear Dumbledore speaking, though in a slightly muffled voice.
"All of you probably do not know why I called this meeting. But you do probably know where Professor Snape has been. And he has provided me with some information I feel must be passed along to you."
Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly exchanged excited glances and got even closer to the door, so not to miss a word.
"For those of you who do not know, Severus returned to Voldemort this summer, pledging his loyalty while really working against him and giving me valuable information. We have been corresponding all summer and recently, Severus discovered some very interesting information. He tells me that there is a traitor among us. He does not know who, but has heard Voldemort himself speaking of his "servant at Hogwarts." Yes, one of the staff at Hogwarts is really on Voldemort's side. I tell you this not to alarm you, but to prepare you. I want none of the students told of this. Just be careful, all of you, and report anything unusual to me. That is all." Dumbledore left the room, his arms hanging wearily at his side.
The whole staff of Hogwarts was completely silent. They were all looking at each other, with mixed levels of suspicion. None of them spoke for a long while. Neither did Harry, Ron or Hermione. It was very strange to think that one of the teachers or staff they had known for so long and had no reason not to trust were working for Voldemort.
"Zis never would have happened at Beauxbatons." Fleur said, breaking the silence as she stomped out of the room.
Harry turned to his friends, looking away from the scene through the keyhole.
"So that's where Snape is. I hate to say this, but that's really brave of him." Harry told them quietly.
Ron snorted.
"Probably really is working for You-Know-Who and just told Dumbledore all this crap to get everyone stirred up." Ron said passionately.
"Ron, when are you going to realize that Snape isn't evil? He's just rather…mean." Hermione finished lamely.
"Hermione, you can't trust anyone that's working for You-Know-Who!!"
"Under false pretenses, Ron! He's working for Voldemort to help us! He's risking his life!"
Their hushed voices were steadily growing in volume.
"Shut up, you two! Do you want to get caught?" Harry hissed.
He looked through the keyhole, panicked. Had any of the teachers heard them? As he looked through, he suddenly cried out with alarm. A beady, golden eye was looking right back at him. It was only Mrs. Norris, but now all of the staff had looked towards the door.
"RUN!!" Harry whispered, and they all took off at a breakneck speed.
Dashing out of the room, they ran as fast as they could for the Gryffindor common room. Some of the teachers had come out into the hall to see who had been listening. Luckily, all three of them had rounded the corner before anyone came out and they weren't seen.
When they reached the common room, Harry hastily gave the Fat Lady the password and they practically dived into the common room. Every Gryffindor attending Hogwarts looked up at them curiously.
There was a moment where the only sound was Harry, Ron and Hermione's heavy breathing as they leaned up against the wall, exhausted.
"And where have you three been?" Fred asked, looking amused and impressed.
"Er…bathroom?" Hermione said hopefully.
This was met with skeptical laughs and then everyone went back to what they were doing.
Harry rounded on the two of them.
"What is up with you two? You nearly got us expelled!" He asked angrily.
Ron and Hermione determinedly avoided looking at each other.
Angelina Johnson approached them suddenly, ending the awkward silence.
"Harry-Quidditch practice tonight. The game against Slytherin's on Thursday. And they're out for blood. Slytherin's tired of getting beat by us four years in a row, and even though we still have a better team, they play a lot dirtier. Be ready to go out there and play better than you ever have. Oh, and tell Christine, will you?"
"Sure." Harry felt a little nervous.
As Angelina left, Harry realized he hadn't talked to Christine in awhile. He spotted her sitting by the window, talking to a girl he didn't recognize.
"I'll be right back. Don't kill each other while I'm gone." Harry said, not really joking as he left Ron and Hermione.
He walked up to Christine, and she looked very happy to see him.
"Harry, it's been awhile." She said, smiling warmly.
"Yeah, I know. The fifth years have had so much homework lately. Well, anyway, I'm supposed to tell you-we have Quidditch practice tonight. Game against Slytherin this Thursday, and they'll kill us all before they lose to Gryffindor again."
"Great. Sounds like fun." Christine said, paling slightly.
"No kidding. See you tonight, Christine." Harry smiled, walking back to find Ron and Hermione sitting on a couch and not talking.
"It's nearly time for Charms class. I wonder if we're supposed to go or just stay here." Hermione commented when Harry sat down.
"I've just thought-what if the traitor was Professor Flitwick?" Ron said to Harry, grinning.
The thought of the extremely small teacher attempting anything evil was a very funny thought. Even Hermione laughed despite herself.
"He'd go for Neville first. Save himself from flying into the air every lesson." Harry laughed.
"Well, he'd still have Ron for that." Hermione laughed.
~*~
A/N- There! Another part and a long one! I hope all of you liked it! Please review and I'll be posting more stuff soon.
Suddenly, Fleur came running out onto the field. It seemed as though her usual magnificent appearance had been forgotten over her extremely taxing weekend. Dark circles had formed under her blue eyes, her long blond hair was yanked back into a messy ponytail and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked exhausted.
"Hello, students. I'm sure zat you have all heard about ze Hagrid zituaition. The drazards are in their boxes sleeping. Go…take care of them or whatever it is zat you would like. If you don't mind, I have much work to do. Oh, and Hagrid left in his notes that all zat they eat is ze Muizley berries. Zare are buckets of zis berries over there. Please only work with your azzigned partner." Letting out a huge sigh, she rummaged through her silk bag and pulled out some papers, getting to work while sitting under a nearby tree.
Draco swaggered over to Hermione. She immediately narrowed her eyes.
"Can I help you?" She said darkly.
When Draco replied, it was in a very quiet voice. But Ron and Harry could still hear him.
"All those Mudblood deaths making you a little nervous, Granger? Think you might be next? I think you will be. And I can hardly wait."
Ron leaped at Malfoy with a roar of anger. Usually Hermione just let Malfoy's insults not bother her, but apparently this had been one to many. Hermione had whipped out her wand and cursed Malfoy with a nose-breaking curse, and Malfoy howled with pain. Harry was desperately trying to pull Ron and Hermione away as Fleur was marching over.
When Fleur reached them, Harry had finally dragged Malfoy away. Ron was still shaking with anger, and Hermione was glaring at Malfoy, stuffing her wand back in her robes.
"WHAT IS ZE MEANING OF ZIS!!???" Fleur shrieked.
Draco was lying on the ground, clutching his bloody nose and bruised arm, whimpering. All the other Gryffindors and Slytherins had gathered around and were watching nervously.
"You didn't hear what he said to her." Ron hissed.
"He deserved it, you don't know-" Hermione began.
"All I know, Miss Granger and Mizter Weasley, is zat both of you should be in serious trouble. How could you do zis? Don't you think zat I have enough on my mind? Right now, I am too busy with my work and I do not fully know the situation, so I'm letting you off with only thirty points from ze house you belong to. But if either of you put another toe of ze line, it will be cause for immediate suspension. Is zat understood?"
They both nodded.
"Now, someone assist Mizter Malfoy up to ze hospital ward and all of you get back to work."
Crabbe and Goyle each put an arm under Malfoy's shoulders and picked him up as if he weighed nothing at all. Malfoy looked back at Hermione, still clutching his nose.
"I'll get you for this, Granger." He hissed as they carried him away.
Hermione looked a little shocked with herself.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Hermione. He has no right to say something like that to you." Ron said, his face red with anger.
"You two can't pull stuff like that now. Not at a time like this. We all know Malfoy hates us all so you can't let things like that get to you." Harry said quietly to them.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just…I'm so tired of him saying things like that to me." Hermione now looked guilty, looking off in the distance as Malfoy was entering the castle.
"Let's go get our drazards." Harry suggested, deciding it was best to change the subject. Ron was looking at him angrily, and he didn't want to start anything.
Harry started to walk over to the crates, and saw that Pansy was already holding it, petting it gently. As soon as she saw Harry, she stopped.
"Why don't you tell your friends to leave Draco alone?" She hissed.
"Why don't you tell Draco to stop being such a-" Harry began, but was cut off by a loud voice.
"NEVILLE!" His exasperated partner exclaimed as he dropped all their berries and stepped on them.
Neville's whole face went red. He fumbled around, trying to pick up the berries he hadn't smashed.
Harry watched with a furrowed brow. How could someone with such capable parents be so terrible at everything?
At the end of class, Draco came back with a huge bandage on his nose. He looked extremely ridiculous. Ron just grinned at Hermione smugly, but she was looking at Draco with something close to sympathy. Apparently her conscience was bothering her. She walked over to him, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
"Look, Draco, I'm really sorry."
To her surprise, he didn't look angry at all. He was smiling widely.
"That's all right, Hermione."
But there was something very strange about Malfoy's voice that made Hermione extremely suspicious.
"See you later." He said with another huge grin.
She watched him go, mouth wide open.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked, looking at Draco's back as he was leaving.
Harry joined them.
"Hermione, what did you say?" He asked, shocked.
"I just-I just apologized."
They all looked at each other and burst out laughing, shaking their heads.
"What a nutter." Ron laughed as they walked off to Potions class.
During Potions, they worked on antidotes. It was rather dull, but Harry was too busy watching Professor Capstone to really notice. He was still writing on a piece of parchment, his brow furrowed.
"Ah, I've done it!" Hermione said suddenly, breaking Harry's train of thought.
She was looking happily as her antidote turned the poison to a clear, watery substance.
"Good grief, Hermione, that was one of the hardest in the book!" Ron looked at her with amazement.
Her cheeks turned pink, but she was still very obviously pleased with herself.
Ron looked at Harry, who was still watching Professor Capstone's quill zooming across the parchment.
"Still no idea what he's up to?" Ron asked Harry.
"I have no idea. But it's really bothering me." Harry said quietly.
Harry finally just decided to not think about it anymore. He needed to do well in this class. He could always figure out what was going on with Professor Capstone later. Concentrating on his antidotes, the class bell rang before he knew it and it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
As the three were walking to class, they passed Angelina Johnson.
"Harry-Quidditch practice tonight. Game against Slytherin's coming up in a few weeks, and they are determined to beat us. Be there at 7:00."
He nodded, telling Angelina good-bye.
"Oh, right, that reminds me-how is Viktor, Hermione?" Ron said out of the blue.
"Fine." She said shortly and strangely passively.
"Is Bulgaria is just vonderful this time of year, Herm-o-ninny?" Ron said in an impressively accurate impression.
"Shut up, Ron!" She snapped, "Their Quidditch team is so busy that he won't be able to make it to Hogsmeade any other weekend. He probably even won't have time to write. So no need to get all-oh, however you get whenever I mention Viktor."
"So he can't write anymore? Isn't that a shame, Harry?" Ron said slightly under his breath.
But Hermione heard him.
"Ron, enough! Give it a rest, all right? Let's not start this again." Hermione cheeks were flushing red.
Harry could always sense when an argument was coming.
"Er-here we are! I wonder what we're doing in Defense Against Dark Arts." Harry said very quickly.
Hermione and Ron didn't say a word or look at each other as they entered the classroom. Professor Lupin looked tired himself. He rubbed his eyes as the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors seated themselves. The tables were just arranged where only two could sit together.
Hermione went to sit with Neville, but Ron stopped her.
"Oh, no Hermione. I'm fine. I can sit with someone else." And looking smug and very proud of himself, Ron went and sat with Mandy Brocklehurst.
Hermione gritted her teeth.
"That's fine, Ron. Go right ahead." She put a tight smile on her face and sat down next to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. This got so old after awhile.
Thankfully, Professor Lupin started class.
"Hello, everyone. We're having a class on vampires today. What they are, how to fight them, you get the idea. And since there is no possible way I can bring a vampire into class," there was nervous laughter, "I just brought this."
He pulled a sheet off the table, revealing garlic, stakes, crucifixes, vials of perfectly clear water, and almost every other vampire-fighting cliché Harry had ever heard of.
"Yes, Muggles know of these defenses. But they don't believe in them. Because they don't believe in vampires. But they do exist and this is how you fight them."
Professor Lupin went on to explain all the different ways to fight them. Harry wasn't really listening. Dudley had watched horror movies his entire childhood, he had heard all this before.
He was sleepy himself. Putting his head down on his desk nonchalantly, Harry closed his eyes. His last image he saw was Hermione looking at him disapprovingly.
But then he was somewhere else entirely. Standing in a very familiar room with a fireplace and snake curled up at the hearth. Voldemort was pacing the room wildly while addressing a man Harry couldn't see. He was hidden behind the armchair, but Harry distinctly heard a man crying.
"You have an opportunity every day you're at that damn school! Wormtail could've finished this assignment already, but no, you begged for it. You're already on your second chance. And, mark my words, you will not receive a third. Oh, and just a reminder to help you remember to get to work- Crucio!!"
Harry heard a terrible screaming. His forehead was splitting in half, he was screaming with the unseen man. Then, with a thump, Harry was awake again.
He opened his eyes to see Ron and Hermione looking at him, half concerned, half exasperated.
"Another dream, Harry?" Ron asked, grinning sympathetically.
The whole class had gathered around by now. Harry was lying flat on his back, one hand still on his throbbing forehead. He felt a hot feeling covering his face as his cheeks burned red.
"Harry, why don't you visit the nurse?" Lupin watched him knowingly and worried.
"Yes. Yes, the nurse. I'll-I'll just be going." Harry got up quickly and hurried out of the room.
Once he reached the hallway, he looked around to make sure no one was in sight, and leaned wearily up against the wall. He felt exhausted, as if he had just been through some terrible ordeal. And his scar felt like someone was holding a lit match to it. Harry took a few deep breaths and then regained control of himself. He started to make his way down to the Madam Pomfrey's ward.
As he turned the corner, he bumped right into Ginny.
"Harry! Hi! Haven't seen you around lately! What are you doing out of class?" She was talking very fast and flustered.
"Just about to ask you the same question."
"Oh, well, Professor McGonagall wanted me to run these mince pies down to the kitchens. We've just spent the whole class transforming mice into mince pies and it seemed a shame to let them go to waste. Now, what are you doing?"
"I-I'm not feeling too well." Harry said quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. What's the matter?"
"Headache." Harry was hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.
"Oh. Right. Those kind of headaches." She said knowingly.
"Yeah. See you around, Ginny." Harry felt like he was being rather abrupt, but the pain in his scar was making him feel dizzy.
"Right then! Bye, Harry! Hope you feel better. And if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm always around." Ginny gave him a huge smile and headed for the kitchens.
Harry smiled despite his pain, and then hurried towards the ward. He was finally there. He told Madam Pomfrey he had a headache, and she, having experience with Harry, ordered him to a bed.
But he was in no mood to sleep. He sat with an ice pack on his head, mulling over the dream he had just had. He heard the bell ringing that signaled it was time for dinner. He finally convinced Madam Pomfrey to let him leave, and started towards the Great Hall.
On his way down, he suddenly bumped into a very shifty looking Malfoy.
"Potter! Watch where you're going!" He yelled, putting something that looked like a book hastily under his robes.
"Oh, good cover. Bet you're not up to anything." Harry said sarcastically, walking past Malfoy.
But he had to admit he was rather curious why Malfoy was acting so strangely. He would have to ask Ron and Hermione about it. Right after he told them about his dream.
Spotting them sitting at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, he started to hurry over. Just then, he bumped into a rather short, very pretty someone. Cho Chang. This seemed to happen quite often.
"Hey, Harry." She said, obviously distracted.
Harry decided to act as aloof as possible. He was tired of her thinking he was so in love with her. No matter how true it was.
"Cho. Nice to see you." He said very shortly, and stepped past her immediately.
She looked a little surprised, but soon went back to whatever she was thinking about.
When he reached his spot at the Gryffindor table, Ron looked up, concerned.
"Are you all right? What happened in your dream?"
Harry started to fill them in on everything that had happened and they stayed up very late that night discussing who could possibly be the person who Voldemort was talking to.
The next few weeks passed very quickly. Work had started to pile up on the fifth years. All the teachers seemed to be very adamant about preparing them for the ever-looming O.W.L.s.
Harry woke up late on Monday morning. He, Hermione and Ron had stayed up all last night trying to figure out a paper they had to write for Transfiguration. Hermione had tried to help them, but even she was a little confused. Finally, just as the sun was coming up, they had all gone to bed.
Harry wondered if Ron had already gone down to breakfast. He looked over at his bed. Ron was still sleeping soundly, looking very peaceful. Everyone else in their room was down at breakfast, and Harry heard no noise from the common room.
Suddenly, he heard someone thundering up the staircase. Ron woke up with a start, mumbling about Quidditch. Harry watched the entrance to the room curiously. He was shocked when Hermione dashed in, holding the Daily Prophet in her hand. Ron was now fully awake.
"Hermione, for the last time, you can't come up here!" He said, rubbing his eyes.
"Shut up, Ron, this is important! Well, we all overslept, and so I wasn't down at the Great Hall when my Daily Prophet came, so this owl brought it up to me and take a look at the first page!" Hermione looked horrified.
Harry took the paper from Hermione, and looked at the first page. His jaw dropped. Ron joined him and clapped a hand over his mouth.
Azkaban Prisoner Release-You-Know-Who Suspected
Staff Writer Jezebel Worlai
On Sunday night, a very shocking event took place, one unprecedented in its dangerous implications. The Azkaban prison was still being guarded by the infamous dementors when suddenly, the dementor guards began to release the prisoners. May the Daily Prophet remind its readers that the prisoners at Azkaban are only the worst Dark wizards of all time, ones that committed the most horrendous crimes known in the wizarding world. Most of them are faithful supporters of You-Know-Who. And the dementors began to release every single one of them. All of the prisoners escaped with the dementors by boat. They have not reached a destination yet and now one really knows exactly where they are. But they could reach land at any time. And You-Know-Who will have many of his most dangerous supporters returned to him. The reason for this sudden action by the Dementors is not known for certain, but it seems rather obvious that You-Know-Who is behind it. This Daily Prophet reporter hopes that all wizards and witches will be very careful as this You-Know-Who situation takes on an even more dangerous tone.
When Harry and Ron finished reading the article, they looked at Hermione, shocked.
"This is…terrible." Harry said quietly.
"I hope Dad and Mum are all right. Who knows what's going to happen with all the Death Eaters and killers having free run of wherever they'd like?" Ron looked very worried.
"I'm sure everyone's safe at Hogwarts, what with Dumbledore and all, but the second you step outside of the school…" Hermione shivered.
"Well, who knows we're even safe here, Hermione? Remember Harry's dream? There's someone here, someone just as dangerous as all those Azkaban prisoners." Ron reminded her.
"What are we going to do?" Hermione said quietly.
None of the three had an answer.
All of Hogwarts was an uproar over what had happened with Azkaban. Everyone was worried about their families and friends back at home. It was the constant topic of discussion in almost every spare moment between classes.
On Tuesday morning in Transfiguration, even Professor McGongall seemed a little distracted. She didn't give them hardly any homework, just sat at her desk and graded their papers, letting them talk. It was very unlike her, but no one minded.
The Slytherins didn't seem very upset about everything that had happened at Azkaban. Some seemed downright giddy. Draco Malfoy was laughing about something with Pansy. They were sitting right next to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron was watching them with narrowed eyes.
"Acting all happy during a time like this." He whispered to Harry and Hermione angrily.
"Ron, it's Draco. Of course he's happy. All his dad's old friends are finally out of Azkaban." Hermione replied, a little louder than she meant to.
Draco stopped talking, looking over at them.
"What did you say, Granger?" He hissed.
"You heard me, Draco." She replied coldly.
"Oh, just you wait, Granger. You'll get what's coming to you." He said so only they could hear him.
Pansy smiled smugly. She and Draco looked at each other with very malicious grins. Then they returned to what they were talking about in low voices.
"Hermione, he's making me really nervous." Ron said quietly.
"I know what you mean. I forgot tell both of you about something-" Harry proceeded to tell them about when he had seen Draco with the book.
"What on earth is he up to?" Hermione said a little nervously.
Just then, Professor McGongall spoke.
"All right, all of you, I've finished grading your papers. I must say I'm a little disappointed. I expected better work from all of you, especially as fifth years-"
"Professor, all of our other teachers are loading us down with homework as well! I've been so busy I've hardly slept at all in weeks!" Parvati suddenly said.
There were murmurs of agreement.
"Miss Patil, one more word and I'll take five points from Gryffindor! All of you are going to have to work hard this year, make no mistake. I know all of you are busy. But it is my duty as a teacher-"
She was interrupted again by none other than Dumbledore. She looked at him curiously as he stood in the doorway, looking concerned.
"Minerva, you're needed right away in the staff room. Students, all return to your common rooms immediately."
All the Gryffindors and Slytherins picked up their bags and left, all wondering what was going on.
"You know, we could find out what was going on. We've listened to staff meetings before." Ron suggested quietly.
Harry had no objections. Hermione looked torn. She still hated breaking rules, but she wanted to find out just as much as they did what was going on.
"Fine. What should we do?" She said under her breath.
Harry realized that they couldn't exactly sneak into the closet again. All the teachers were probably already in the staff room.
"Fred and George told me there's a classroom right next to the staffroom that no one uses. It has a door that goes straight to the staff room. We could probably hear what was going on through that."
"Sounds good to me." Harry said quietly, marveling at how useful Fred and George had always proved to be.
They quickly turned a corner, separating themselves from the group of students. Thankfully, everyone seemed too caught up in their own conversations to notice them. Quickly going down the hall, they finally reached the hallway that held the staff room. After a very close call with Filch, who was headed to the meeting, they got into the classroom undetected.
True to Fred and George's word, there was a door leading into the staff room. And you could hear every word that was spoken through it. Harry got down on his knees, looking through the small keyhole. Closing one eye, he could see what was going on as well.
"They're all sitting down. Dumbledore's up at the front and he looks really upset." Harry told them, and grew silent when they could all hear Dumbledore speaking, though in a slightly muffled voice.
"All of you probably do not know why I called this meeting. But you do probably know where Professor Snape has been. And he has provided me with some information I feel must be passed along to you."
Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly exchanged excited glances and got even closer to the door, so not to miss a word.
"For those of you who do not know, Severus returned to Voldemort this summer, pledging his loyalty while really working against him and giving me valuable information. We have been corresponding all summer and recently, Severus discovered some very interesting information. He tells me that there is a traitor among us. He does not know who, but has heard Voldemort himself speaking of his "servant at Hogwarts." Yes, one of the staff at Hogwarts is really on Voldemort's side. I tell you this not to alarm you, but to prepare you. I want none of the students told of this. Just be careful, all of you, and report anything unusual to me. That is all." Dumbledore left the room, his arms hanging wearily at his side.
The whole staff of Hogwarts was completely silent. They were all looking at each other, with mixed levels of suspicion. None of them spoke for a long while. Neither did Harry, Ron or Hermione. It was very strange to think that one of the teachers or staff they had known for so long and had no reason not to trust were working for Voldemort.
"Zis never would have happened at Beauxbatons." Fleur said, breaking the silence as she stomped out of the room.
Harry turned to his friends, looking away from the scene through the keyhole.
"So that's where Snape is. I hate to say this, but that's really brave of him." Harry told them quietly.
Ron snorted.
"Probably really is working for You-Know-Who and just told Dumbledore all this crap to get everyone stirred up." Ron said passionately.
"Ron, when are you going to realize that Snape isn't evil? He's just rather…mean." Hermione finished lamely.
"Hermione, you can't trust anyone that's working for You-Know-Who!!"
"Under false pretenses, Ron! He's working for Voldemort to help us! He's risking his life!"
Their hushed voices were steadily growing in volume.
"Shut up, you two! Do you want to get caught?" Harry hissed.
He looked through the keyhole, panicked. Had any of the teachers heard them? As he looked through, he suddenly cried out with alarm. A beady, golden eye was looking right back at him. It was only Mrs. Norris, but now all of the staff had looked towards the door.
"RUN!!" Harry whispered, and they all took off at a breakneck speed.
Dashing out of the room, they ran as fast as they could for the Gryffindor common room. Some of the teachers had come out into the hall to see who had been listening. Luckily, all three of them had rounded the corner before anyone came out and they weren't seen.
When they reached the common room, Harry hastily gave the Fat Lady the password and they practically dived into the common room. Every Gryffindor attending Hogwarts looked up at them curiously.
There was a moment where the only sound was Harry, Ron and Hermione's heavy breathing as they leaned up against the wall, exhausted.
"And where have you three been?" Fred asked, looking amused and impressed.
"Er…bathroom?" Hermione said hopefully.
This was met with skeptical laughs and then everyone went back to what they were doing.
Harry rounded on the two of them.
"What is up with you two? You nearly got us expelled!" He asked angrily.
Ron and Hermione determinedly avoided looking at each other.
Angelina Johnson approached them suddenly, ending the awkward silence.
"Harry-Quidditch practice tonight. The game against Slytherin's on Thursday. And they're out for blood. Slytherin's tired of getting beat by us four years in a row, and even though we still have a better team, they play a lot dirtier. Be ready to go out there and play better than you ever have. Oh, and tell Christine, will you?"
"Sure." Harry felt a little nervous.
As Angelina left, Harry realized he hadn't talked to Christine in awhile. He spotted her sitting by the window, talking to a girl he didn't recognize.
"I'll be right back. Don't kill each other while I'm gone." Harry said, not really joking as he left Ron and Hermione.
He walked up to Christine, and she looked very happy to see him.
"Harry, it's been awhile." She said, smiling warmly.
"Yeah, I know. The fifth years have had so much homework lately. Well, anyway, I'm supposed to tell you-we have Quidditch practice tonight. Game against Slytherin this Thursday, and they'll kill us all before they lose to Gryffindor again."
"Great. Sounds like fun." Christine said, paling slightly.
"No kidding. See you tonight, Christine." Harry smiled, walking back to find Ron and Hermione sitting on a couch and not talking.
"It's nearly time for Charms class. I wonder if we're supposed to go or just stay here." Hermione commented when Harry sat down.
"I've just thought-what if the traitor was Professor Flitwick?" Ron said to Harry, grinning.
The thought of the extremely small teacher attempting anything evil was a very funny thought. Even Hermione laughed despite herself.
"He'd go for Neville first. Save himself from flying into the air every lesson." Harry laughed.
"Well, he'd still have Ron for that." Hermione laughed.
~*~
A/N- There! Another part and a long one! I hope all of you liked it! Please review and I'll be posting more stuff soon.