-Chapter Three-
Hogwarts Express...Cancelled.
Hermione had been invited to eat dinner at the Weasley's house that evening, but turned down the offer politely, and went home.
When she got there, her Mum and Dad were gone. They had left a note, stating their whereabouts. Hermione went up to her room, to find Draco Malfoy was sitting on her bed.
'Draco!' she yelled, slightly taken aback by his presence at her house. 'What are you doing here?'
'It's Hogwarts,' he said quietly, 'the Hogwarts Express can't run. The Ministry is searching Platform 9 and ¾, all thanks to my Father, I might add, so I came to inform you of the situation.' Hermione sat down on the bed beside Draco.
'How are we going to get there, then?' she asked.
'We'll be in carriages, flown by unicorns,' he sighed. 'Bloddy odd fashion in which to arrive there.' Draco took Hermione's hands in his own, and kissed them.
'Hey...how did you get here?' Hermione asked.
'I'm smart,' Draco smirked. Hermione looked into his grey-blue eyes, and she melted.
'God, whenever I look at you at you, I want to kiss you,' she said.
Well, why resist temptation? I hear it can take minutes off your life,' he whispered. Hermione put her arms around his neck; Draco put his around her waist, and he kissed her for a moment before just hugging her tightly.
'I'm afraid I have to go,' he said quietly in her ear. 'I'll pick you up here tomorrow morning. Will you be ready, if I'm here at 10 o'clock?'
'Yes, I will,' Hermione said softly. Just then, an owl flew in through the window. It was Draco's Burrowing Owl, Luthar. It dropped a letter on his lap, then flew off. Hermione leaned over his shoulder.
'I wonder who it's from?' she said, as he tore it open. It was from Pansy Parkinson; a fifth-year Slytherin girl who had a not-so-secret crush on Draco. It said:
Draco,
How are you? It's me, Pansy!
Would you care to escort me to
School tomorrow? I'd just love
Showing up with someone as
Handsome as you! Please
Write back with your answer!
Love, Pansy
'Oh, Lord,' he drawled. 'I wouldn't be caught dead with her! She's a slimy prat that hates you,' he added hastily, 'and anyone who hates you is one of my enemies.
'Draco, what are you going to say to her?' Hermione asked.
'Watch, and you'll see....' Draco whispered. 'Do you mind if I borrow one of your quills?'
'Not at all,' she replied. Hermione went over to her desk, snatched up some parchment, a quill and an ink bottle, and handed them to Draco. He began to write:
Dear Ms Parkinson,
I am so sorry to inform you that Mr Malfoy
Will be too busy escorting someone else to
Hogwarts tomorrow. Perhaps if your July
Of 2035 is all right, he could escor you then,
As he highly doubts you will graduate for
Quite some time.
Sincerely,
Margaret Peterson, Mr Malfoy's Personal Secretary
Address for sending: 564 Melonberry Crescent
Department of Dating Psychology
C/O Draco Malfoy
Hermione giggled furiously at this.
'Well, good night, Hermione,' Draco said soothingly. 'I'll see you tomorrow morning.'
'Good night, Draco,' Hermione answered.
Draco staggered to his feet, and hopped out the window, blowing a kiss at her.
*
Back at the Weasley's, Harry was having a very strange dream...
'Wormtail...Come closer...' said a cold, souless voice.
'Yes, Lord Voldemort?' asked a rather high-pitched voice. 'What is it that you are needing?'
'Wormtail, have you any idea what day this is?' Voldemort breathed, in that same ice cold voice as before.
'Y-yes, my Lord,' squeaked Wormtail. 'It is August 29, my Lord.'
'Exactly...' Voldemort whispered in an arrogant tone. 'Have you not forgotten our little agreement?'
'No, Master, of course not!' the servant said nervously.
'Well then, you should remember quite clearly that we agreed to get back what was ours in the beginning...' the cold voice spat malevolently. 'Go and get back what is ours! Bring-me-the-GEM!' he roared. Voldemort's booming voice echoed off the walls in such a way that it made Wormtail shudder.
'A-and the b-b-boy, sir?' Wormtail stammered. 'What shall I do with him?'
'I believe the Endormia curse should do it,' Voldemort answered, with a hint of what sounded like satisfaction, and the burning of vengeance in his voice.
'Yes, Lord, but...what does that curse do?' Wormtail nervously questioned.
'You IMBOCILE!' shouted Voldemort maliciously. 'It freezes your body, then makes your brain swell so that it soon after combusts!'
'Er-yes! Of course, of course, my Lord!' Wormtail shivered, lots of increased panic in the back of his throat when he spoke.
'Now, off with you, scum...' he replied, in a somewhat more calm voice than before. 'Go....Go and destroy Harry Potter's mind!'
*
Harry suddenly awoke, his face draped with cold sweat.. Stared around, noticing everything was blurred, put on his glasses, and looked at the clock.
'Quarter to six...Might as will give up sleeping, and head downstairs,' he thought. Harry stared over into the face of Ron; he was talking in his sleep again, this time the words sounding more like, 'Malfoy, you slimy git! I'll smack you so hard that-' but then he rolled over and started snoring.
Harry went downstairs to see if anyone was up. Percy, who was already fully-dressed, was at the kitchen table, reading a copy of the Daily Prophet.
'Oh!' he said, 'hello, Harry. Have a good sleep?'
'Hi, Percy,' Harry replied sleepily. 'Yes, I had a good sleep...except for this weird dream...'
Percy looked up at Harry, looking slightly concerned. 'What was it about, praytell?'
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ron, Ginny, Fred and George came bounding down the stairs at that exact moment.
''Mornin'!' Ron beamed. Then he noticed Harry's worried expression. 'What's wrong, Harry?' he asked.
'I need to talk to you...' mouthed Harry, 'privately, right now.'
'OK,' said Ron; his brow was furrowed in a somewhat quizzical way. Ron led Harry up the steps, into his bedroom, and shut the door.
'Listen, Ron, I had this weird dream about Voldemort-'
'Don't say his name!' Ron shuddered.
'Right...sorry,' frowned Harry apologetically. 'Anyway, You-Know-Who said he wanted to get back what was his in the beginning...Something about a gem, I think,' he added.
'Hm...' said Ron. He scrunched up his face, and scratched his head, apparently thinking rather hard about this. 'Was anybody else there?'
'Yeah, Peter Pettigrew was,' replied Harry. 'Then Vol-er, He Who Must Not be Named (Ron sighed with relief that he didn't say his name) said he was going to put the Endormia curse on me!'
'Blimey!' shouted Ron. 'That's serioudly nasty, that curse.'
'Boys! Hurry up and get dressed, before your breakfast gets cold!' yelled Mrs Weasley.
'Yes, Mom-'
'-Yes, Mrs Weasley.'
*
Hermione was sitting in front of a mirror, drying her hair with a "blow dryer" (what Muggles use after they wash their hair).
Since Hermionne was younger, her hair had changed a lot. For one thing, it was no longer bushy; it had gone thin and smoothe. For another thing, it was now a mohaugony-colour, instead of a dirty blonde mixed in with a light brown.
'Mum, Dad, my friend is going to be here soon to pick me up, so I guess I'll say good-bye to you now,' Hermione stated. She went up to her parents, and gave them each a hug.
When she went upstairs, Draco was outside her window. Afterall, it's not like he knew how to use a doorbell.
'Ready up there, Herms?' Draco called.
'Yeah, I'll be down in a minute!' she responded.
When she got outside, a light green carriage with to beautiful, white unicorns, was waiting for her.
'Allow me,' Draco bowed, opening the door for her.
'Thank you,' Hermione said politely as she stepped inside.
Once the carriage had started going higher, they spotted some others in the sky, flying to Hogwarts, too.
'How long will it take to get to Hogwarts?' she asked Draco.
'I reckon about five hours,' he replied. 'Hey, want a drink?'
'Sure,' Hermione smiled. Draco pushed a button on the ceiling of the carriage, and two bottles of butterbeer came out.
'Pretty neat, eh?' he grinned.
Hermione just nodded; she was too busy sipping on butterbeer to say much at the moment, on fear of spilling it.
'Oh,' said Draco suddenly, 'I got you something. Consider it a "going back to school" gift.' He took out a tiny, black box from a pocket in his robes, and placed it in her hands.
Hermione opened the box up. Inside was a beautiful, sapphire necklace! 'Oh my gosh! Draco, thank-you so much!' Draco just smiled at her.
'I'm glad you like it.'
Hermione threw her arms around him, and smothered Draco with kisses.
When she finished, Draco placed the delicate chain around her neck.
'I can't imagine how much this must have cost you,' Hermione said.
'Don't worry about it, Hon,' he smiled gently. Hermione snuggled up against his shoulder; Draco put his arm around her. BANG!
'What was that?!' Hermione shrieked out of surprise.
Draco, wide-eyed, peered through one of the windows of the carriage. 'Urgh, it's just the Weasley twins setting off some Filibuster Fireworks,' he snared.
'Hmph! I wouldn't be surprised if they got suspended someday!' Hermione snorted.
'You're so cute when you're angry,' Draco grinned seductively. Hermione leant up, and left a warm kiss on his cheek. Hermione and Draco were just about to kiss once more, when something bright red pelted through one of the windows, and hit Hermione right in the back.
'Ouch!' she whined. Draco looked out the window to see who had done it; it was Pansy Parkinson, and she looked rather proud of herself.
'Idiot...' he muttered. Draco took out his wand. 'Move aside, Herms.' He pointed the wand at the window where the blast came from, and said 'Einlanzer!' A screen of magic-proof glass appeared.
'That moron hurt me...' Hermione whispered.
'Here, let's take a look,' he said. Hermione turned her back to him; a rather large hole was in her robes, followed my a cut that was bleeding. 'Wow, she must have really wanted you away from me.'
'I think she must have tried to put the Cruciatus curse on me,' Hermione said bitterly. 'Is the cut pretty bad?'
'Well, you're bleeding,' Draco said uncertainly. He took something out of his robes' pocket; it was his handkerchief. He cleaned the cut carefully, then put a piece of "Spello Reviving Gause" ontop. 'Repairo!' In a quick flash, her robes were repaired.
'Thank you, Draco,' Hermione whispered.
'You're very welcome,' he answered. 'Oh! The carriage is landing. Are we there already?
'Yep. Oh, here, use this.' Hermione handded him a comb. 'Your hair's a mess.'
'Have you looked in a mirror? Yours is the same,' Draco commented.
'Now, I need to make a deal with you,' Hermione said briskly.
'What is it, Hon?' Draco asked. 'Is something wrong?'
'Of course not!' said Hermione shrilly, putting a hand on his arm. 'It's just that Harry and Ron need to be convinced that we still hate each other, so you have to play the part properly.'
'Well, I spent three and a half years doing that,' he said hesitantly. 'I'll be able to do it easily.'
So when they got out of the carriage, they immediately began pretending to despise each other.
Harry and Ron hurried over to Hermione.
'What are you doing with that slimy git?!' spat Ron viciously, pointing a finger at Draco.
'Well, if you must know, we were both late arriving, and there was only one carriage left, so Malfoy and I had to sit together,' she glared.
'Well, hurry up, Hermione,' Harry said, 'or we're going to be late for the feast!'
'Yeah, and I'm starving!' Ron said, patting his stomach.
'All righ', Harry?' asked a booming voice.
'Hagrid!' Harry, Ron and Hermione beamed. Draco merely yawned, and checked his watch.
'Wow, Granger,' sneered Malfoy, 'your friend, Weasel, managed to keep a straight face when you showed up. Usually, he's in fits of blushing when he sees you!'
Ron reached for his wand, but Hagrid stopped him.
'Now, now, Ron,' he said, maintaining his restrain by Ron's shoulder, 'jus' ignor 'im.'
*
When the sorting (in which first-years are sorted into their houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) was over, everyone sat down at their house tables. Everyone was beginning to talk excitedly, but all went quiet when Dumbledore began to speak.
'I have a few things I wish to say,' he beamed around at everyone. 'First of all, I would all like you to welcome Professor Mynistrelle, who will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts.'
There was some applause, and then they all quieted again when Dumbledore held up his hand to stop them. 'As always, I would like to welcome all of the first-year students. I hope you enjoy it here at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Also, as I always point out at the beginning of the year, the third floor corridor is forbidden to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. This also goes for the Forbidden Forest; no one is allowed in there.
'Before I begin the feast, Madam Hooch would like to announce something.'
Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee and the flying teacher, stood up from her chair along the staff table.
'Due to circumstances in which involve Diagon Alley,' she began, 'not all of our Quidditch Players have safe brooms. Therefore, I am afraid that Quidditch will be cancelled for this year.'
Fred and George Weasley were in a fit of anger. This was the second year running that Quidditch wasn't to be played. Fred and George were two of the beaters, in which they protect the other players from getting hit with bludgers (tempermentally fierce balls, which try to knock you off your broomstick).
'Thank you, Madam Hooch,' Dumbledore smiled. 'Now, let the feast begin!'
Hogwarts Express...Cancelled.
Hermione had been invited to eat dinner at the Weasley's house that evening, but turned down the offer politely, and went home.
When she got there, her Mum and Dad were gone. They had left a note, stating their whereabouts. Hermione went up to her room, to find Draco Malfoy was sitting on her bed.
'Draco!' she yelled, slightly taken aback by his presence at her house. 'What are you doing here?'
'It's Hogwarts,' he said quietly, 'the Hogwarts Express can't run. The Ministry is searching Platform 9 and ¾, all thanks to my Father, I might add, so I came to inform you of the situation.' Hermione sat down on the bed beside Draco.
'How are we going to get there, then?' she asked.
'We'll be in carriages, flown by unicorns,' he sighed. 'Bloddy odd fashion in which to arrive there.' Draco took Hermione's hands in his own, and kissed them.
'Hey...how did you get here?' Hermione asked.
'I'm smart,' Draco smirked. Hermione looked into his grey-blue eyes, and she melted.
'God, whenever I look at you at you, I want to kiss you,' she said.
Well, why resist temptation? I hear it can take minutes off your life,' he whispered. Hermione put her arms around his neck; Draco put his around her waist, and he kissed her for a moment before just hugging her tightly.
'I'm afraid I have to go,' he said quietly in her ear. 'I'll pick you up here tomorrow morning. Will you be ready, if I'm here at 10 o'clock?'
'Yes, I will,' Hermione said softly. Just then, an owl flew in through the window. It was Draco's Burrowing Owl, Luthar. It dropped a letter on his lap, then flew off. Hermione leaned over his shoulder.
'I wonder who it's from?' she said, as he tore it open. It was from Pansy Parkinson; a fifth-year Slytherin girl who had a not-so-secret crush on Draco. It said:
Draco,
How are you? It's me, Pansy!
Would you care to escort me to
School tomorrow? I'd just love
Showing up with someone as
Handsome as you! Please
Write back with your answer!
Love, Pansy
'Oh, Lord,' he drawled. 'I wouldn't be caught dead with her! She's a slimy prat that hates you,' he added hastily, 'and anyone who hates you is one of my enemies.
'Draco, what are you going to say to her?' Hermione asked.
'Watch, and you'll see....' Draco whispered. 'Do you mind if I borrow one of your quills?'
'Not at all,' she replied. Hermione went over to her desk, snatched up some parchment, a quill and an ink bottle, and handed them to Draco. He began to write:
Dear Ms Parkinson,
I am so sorry to inform you that Mr Malfoy
Will be too busy escorting someone else to
Hogwarts tomorrow. Perhaps if your July
Of 2035 is all right, he could escor you then,
As he highly doubts you will graduate for
Quite some time.
Sincerely,
Margaret Peterson, Mr Malfoy's Personal Secretary
Address for sending: 564 Melonberry Crescent
Department of Dating Psychology
C/O Draco Malfoy
Hermione giggled furiously at this.
'Well, good night, Hermione,' Draco said soothingly. 'I'll see you tomorrow morning.'
'Good night, Draco,' Hermione answered.
Draco staggered to his feet, and hopped out the window, blowing a kiss at her.
*
Back at the Weasley's, Harry was having a very strange dream...
'Wormtail...Come closer...' said a cold, souless voice.
'Yes, Lord Voldemort?' asked a rather high-pitched voice. 'What is it that you are needing?'
'Wormtail, have you any idea what day this is?' Voldemort breathed, in that same ice cold voice as before.
'Y-yes, my Lord,' squeaked Wormtail. 'It is August 29, my Lord.'
'Exactly...' Voldemort whispered in an arrogant tone. 'Have you not forgotten our little agreement?'
'No, Master, of course not!' the servant said nervously.
'Well then, you should remember quite clearly that we agreed to get back what was ours in the beginning...' the cold voice spat malevolently. 'Go and get back what is ours! Bring-me-the-GEM!' he roared. Voldemort's booming voice echoed off the walls in such a way that it made Wormtail shudder.
'A-and the b-b-boy, sir?' Wormtail stammered. 'What shall I do with him?'
'I believe the Endormia curse should do it,' Voldemort answered, with a hint of what sounded like satisfaction, and the burning of vengeance in his voice.
'Yes, Lord, but...what does that curse do?' Wormtail nervously questioned.
'You IMBOCILE!' shouted Voldemort maliciously. 'It freezes your body, then makes your brain swell so that it soon after combusts!'
'Er-yes! Of course, of course, my Lord!' Wormtail shivered, lots of increased panic in the back of his throat when he spoke.
'Now, off with you, scum...' he replied, in a somewhat more calm voice than before. 'Go....Go and destroy Harry Potter's mind!'
*
Harry suddenly awoke, his face draped with cold sweat.. Stared around, noticing everything was blurred, put on his glasses, and looked at the clock.
'Quarter to six...Might as will give up sleeping, and head downstairs,' he thought. Harry stared over into the face of Ron; he was talking in his sleep again, this time the words sounding more like, 'Malfoy, you slimy git! I'll smack you so hard that-' but then he rolled over and started snoring.
Harry went downstairs to see if anyone was up. Percy, who was already fully-dressed, was at the kitchen table, reading a copy of the Daily Prophet.
'Oh!' he said, 'hello, Harry. Have a good sleep?'
'Hi, Percy,' Harry replied sleepily. 'Yes, I had a good sleep...except for this weird dream...'
Percy looked up at Harry, looking slightly concerned. 'What was it about, praytell?'
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ron, Ginny, Fred and George came bounding down the stairs at that exact moment.
''Mornin'!' Ron beamed. Then he noticed Harry's worried expression. 'What's wrong, Harry?' he asked.
'I need to talk to you...' mouthed Harry, 'privately, right now.'
'OK,' said Ron; his brow was furrowed in a somewhat quizzical way. Ron led Harry up the steps, into his bedroom, and shut the door.
'Listen, Ron, I had this weird dream about Voldemort-'
'Don't say his name!' Ron shuddered.
'Right...sorry,' frowned Harry apologetically. 'Anyway, You-Know-Who said he wanted to get back what was his in the beginning...Something about a gem, I think,' he added.
'Hm...' said Ron. He scrunched up his face, and scratched his head, apparently thinking rather hard about this. 'Was anybody else there?'
'Yeah, Peter Pettigrew was,' replied Harry. 'Then Vol-er, He Who Must Not be Named (Ron sighed with relief that he didn't say his name) said he was going to put the Endormia curse on me!'
'Blimey!' shouted Ron. 'That's serioudly nasty, that curse.'
'Boys! Hurry up and get dressed, before your breakfast gets cold!' yelled Mrs Weasley.
'Yes, Mom-'
'-Yes, Mrs Weasley.'
*
Hermione was sitting in front of a mirror, drying her hair with a "blow dryer" (what Muggles use after they wash their hair).
Since Hermionne was younger, her hair had changed a lot. For one thing, it was no longer bushy; it had gone thin and smoothe. For another thing, it was now a mohaugony-colour, instead of a dirty blonde mixed in with a light brown.
'Mum, Dad, my friend is going to be here soon to pick me up, so I guess I'll say good-bye to you now,' Hermione stated. She went up to her parents, and gave them each a hug.
When she went upstairs, Draco was outside her window. Afterall, it's not like he knew how to use a doorbell.
'Ready up there, Herms?' Draco called.
'Yeah, I'll be down in a minute!' she responded.
When she got outside, a light green carriage with to beautiful, white unicorns, was waiting for her.
'Allow me,' Draco bowed, opening the door for her.
'Thank you,' Hermione said politely as she stepped inside.
Once the carriage had started going higher, they spotted some others in the sky, flying to Hogwarts, too.
'How long will it take to get to Hogwarts?' she asked Draco.
'I reckon about five hours,' he replied. 'Hey, want a drink?'
'Sure,' Hermione smiled. Draco pushed a button on the ceiling of the carriage, and two bottles of butterbeer came out.
'Pretty neat, eh?' he grinned.
Hermione just nodded; she was too busy sipping on butterbeer to say much at the moment, on fear of spilling it.
'Oh,' said Draco suddenly, 'I got you something. Consider it a "going back to school" gift.' He took out a tiny, black box from a pocket in his robes, and placed it in her hands.
Hermione opened the box up. Inside was a beautiful, sapphire necklace! 'Oh my gosh! Draco, thank-you so much!' Draco just smiled at her.
'I'm glad you like it.'
Hermione threw her arms around him, and smothered Draco with kisses.
When she finished, Draco placed the delicate chain around her neck.
'I can't imagine how much this must have cost you,' Hermione said.
'Don't worry about it, Hon,' he smiled gently. Hermione snuggled up against his shoulder; Draco put his arm around her. BANG!
'What was that?!' Hermione shrieked out of surprise.
Draco, wide-eyed, peered through one of the windows of the carriage. 'Urgh, it's just the Weasley twins setting off some Filibuster Fireworks,' he snared.
'Hmph! I wouldn't be surprised if they got suspended someday!' Hermione snorted.
'You're so cute when you're angry,' Draco grinned seductively. Hermione leant up, and left a warm kiss on his cheek. Hermione and Draco were just about to kiss once more, when something bright red pelted through one of the windows, and hit Hermione right in the back.
'Ouch!' she whined. Draco looked out the window to see who had done it; it was Pansy Parkinson, and she looked rather proud of herself.
'Idiot...' he muttered. Draco took out his wand. 'Move aside, Herms.' He pointed the wand at the window where the blast came from, and said 'Einlanzer!' A screen of magic-proof glass appeared.
'That moron hurt me...' Hermione whispered.
'Here, let's take a look,' he said. Hermione turned her back to him; a rather large hole was in her robes, followed my a cut that was bleeding. 'Wow, she must have really wanted you away from me.'
'I think she must have tried to put the Cruciatus curse on me,' Hermione said bitterly. 'Is the cut pretty bad?'
'Well, you're bleeding,' Draco said uncertainly. He took something out of his robes' pocket; it was his handkerchief. He cleaned the cut carefully, then put a piece of "Spello Reviving Gause" ontop. 'Repairo!' In a quick flash, her robes were repaired.
'Thank you, Draco,' Hermione whispered.
'You're very welcome,' he answered. 'Oh! The carriage is landing. Are we there already?
'Yep. Oh, here, use this.' Hermione handded him a comb. 'Your hair's a mess.'
'Have you looked in a mirror? Yours is the same,' Draco commented.
'Now, I need to make a deal with you,' Hermione said briskly.
'What is it, Hon?' Draco asked. 'Is something wrong?'
'Of course not!' said Hermione shrilly, putting a hand on his arm. 'It's just that Harry and Ron need to be convinced that we still hate each other, so you have to play the part properly.'
'Well, I spent three and a half years doing that,' he said hesitantly. 'I'll be able to do it easily.'
So when they got out of the carriage, they immediately began pretending to despise each other.
Harry and Ron hurried over to Hermione.
'What are you doing with that slimy git?!' spat Ron viciously, pointing a finger at Draco.
'Well, if you must know, we were both late arriving, and there was only one carriage left, so Malfoy and I had to sit together,' she glared.
'Well, hurry up, Hermione,' Harry said, 'or we're going to be late for the feast!'
'Yeah, and I'm starving!' Ron said, patting his stomach.
'All righ', Harry?' asked a booming voice.
'Hagrid!' Harry, Ron and Hermione beamed. Draco merely yawned, and checked his watch.
'Wow, Granger,' sneered Malfoy, 'your friend, Weasel, managed to keep a straight face when you showed up. Usually, he's in fits of blushing when he sees you!'
Ron reached for his wand, but Hagrid stopped him.
'Now, now, Ron,' he said, maintaining his restrain by Ron's shoulder, 'jus' ignor 'im.'
*
When the sorting (in which first-years are sorted into their houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) was over, everyone sat down at their house tables. Everyone was beginning to talk excitedly, but all went quiet when Dumbledore began to speak.
'I have a few things I wish to say,' he beamed around at everyone. 'First of all, I would all like you to welcome Professor Mynistrelle, who will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts.'
There was some applause, and then they all quieted again when Dumbledore held up his hand to stop them. 'As always, I would like to welcome all of the first-year students. I hope you enjoy it here at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Also, as I always point out at the beginning of the year, the third floor corridor is forbidden to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. This also goes for the Forbidden Forest; no one is allowed in there.
'Before I begin the feast, Madam Hooch would like to announce something.'
Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee and the flying teacher, stood up from her chair along the staff table.
'Due to circumstances in which involve Diagon Alley,' she began, 'not all of our Quidditch Players have safe brooms. Therefore, I am afraid that Quidditch will be cancelled for this year.'
Fred and George Weasley were in a fit of anger. This was the second year running that Quidditch wasn't to be played. Fred and George were two of the beaters, in which they protect the other players from getting hit with bludgers (tempermentally fierce balls, which try to knock you off your broomstick).
'Thank you, Madam Hooch,' Dumbledore smiled. 'Now, let the feast begin!'