Chapter 7
Muffins and Lucky Charms
A note to everyone…
Ok I know there are mistakes in this one, well at least I think so but Im not sure, however if u do find one, tell me !!! (please)
Anyway, hope ya keep on reading cause things are going to warm up from now on !!!
Hehehe
PLEASE REVIEW !!!!!
"Talking muffin!" Mereline screamed, dropping the muffin onto the floor. Everyone jumped, except for Fred and George, who were both grinning wickedly. Harry gaped at the muffin on the floor. Bewildered, he looked up and caught Fred's eye. Fred winked at him. Many students who heard her scream were laughing at the sight of Mereline.
Looking at Mereline in an odd way, Ron retrieved the muffin from underneath the table.
"Keep it away from me!!" Mereline shrieked, clutching a napkin in her hands.
"You must be seeing things!" Hermione said determinedly, looking a bit annoyed. Hermione had spelt water all over her robes in surprise when Mereline screamed.
"Honestly, a talking muffin…" Hermione grumbled, snatching the muffin out of Ron's hands. She gave Mereline an angry look.
The muffin turned it's 'head' to face Hermione. She gaped at it in horror.
"Hello…" it said once again. Hermione screamed. Everyone stared at her and then at the muffin. Ginny looked over Hermione and gasped in surprise.
"How cute!!" Ginny gushed, taking the muffin out of Hermione's shaking hands. The muffin 'smiled' and looked up at her.
"Cute?!?" Hermione and Mereline cried together in disbelief.
"How can that thing be cute?" Ron asked, obviously disgusted at its supposed cuteness.
George cleared his throat loudly and grinned.
Ron looked at him with a bit of suspicion, but then it dawned on him.
"You didn't…" he gasped, but George interrupted.
"We would gladly like to present-"
"A new and terrific invention made by us-" Fred said beaming.
"The absolutely magnificent, talking muffin!" George announced with a flourish.
"Only two knuts each" Fred added, "Guaranteed to scare girls and umm Percy…"
"You made this?" Ron awed in admiration, "Absolutely brilliant!"
Mereline looked like she couldn't believe her ears, "And I was going to eat that!!" she said in dismay. Suddenly, the muffin jumped out of Ginny's hands, and landed in Mereline's lap. She looked down at it in horror.
"Muffins are good for you," it cried in its punified voice, "Eat me, eat me!!"
"Eww," Mereline shrieked, "Does this muffin have some kind of death wish?"
While everyone was focused on the muffin, Fred and George pulled Harry aside.
"We'd just like to thank you Harry," Fred started, "We wouldn't be doing all this without your help…"
"Seriously, we wouldn't make it this far without you…" George said looking teary.
"It's ok, nothing really," Harry said grinning, "The muffins a good one, got any others?"
"Of course!" Fred cried looking insulted, "We didn't spend all summer making just that one… let's just say the money was wisely spent."
"And of course, Percy, our own personal guinea pig, was good too," George grinned, "Ah, so many memories…"
"I must say the Quirky Tails one was priceless…" Fred smiled as he recalled, "Penelope surely did have a fright…"
"Nearly had a heart attack I say…"
Harry laughed. He would have paid good money to see the look on Percy's face that day.
Harry was about to say something when a loud wailing turned his attention else where.
"Oh no!" Mereline gasped, "Please don't cry, I was only joking… "
"Please don't cry…" Mereline pleaded the muffin.
To everyone's utter amazement, the muffin started to cry real tears. Two pearly tears rolled down its 'face'.
"Why won't she eat me?" the muffin wailed in tears. In now started to tremble.
"I wonder…" Hermione mumbled under her breath, "Who would want to eat a talking muffin?"
The muffin heard her, and started to cry even harder. Harry couldn't help but think that the muffin awfully resembled the house elves, Dobby and Winky. The muffin's cries sound almost the same as Winky's.
Some students started to notice the muffin's loud cries, and were standing up to see where the noise was coming from. A few teachers were also looking around to see where the noise was coming from.
"Be quiet will you?" Mereline hissed, "I'm already in trouble…"
The muffin wailed even louder.
"How do you make it stop?!" Harry shouted with his hands over his ears, "We'll all be in trouble if it doesn't stop soon…"
Out of desperation, Ron clamped his hand around the muffins 'mouth'. The muffin, clearly annoyed, opened its 'mouth' and bit Ron's hand.
"Ow!" Ron immediately let go. Two tiny holes scarred his hand. Hermione gasped.
"Since when do muffins have teeth?" he grumbled, nursing his hand. The muffin looked triumphed.
"At least it shut up now," Harry said relieved. But as soon as he said that, the muffin began bawling again.
"Make it shut up!" Ron yelled at Fred and George, "You made it!"
"Mereline has to eat it!" Fred grinned, "It's the only way!" George snickered.
"What!?" Mereline practically shrieked in fury, "There is no way I am touching that thing, let alone eat it!"
"Eat it quickly!" Harry bellowed shoving the muffin into her lap, "Before it gets us all in detention!"
Professor McGonagall had stood up and was now searching the Ravenclaw table.
"Quick!" Hermione gasped, "They've almost noticed us-"
Mereline looked down at the sobbing muffin. It was now making a large pool of water on her robes.
"Eat it!" Ron hissed. Professor McGonagall was almost at their table.
Desperately, Mereline shoved the crying muffin into her witch's hat and then stuffed the whole thing in her pocket. The wailing did not stop, but it was muffled.
Everyone sighed of relief. Professor McGonagall looked surprised and suspicious as the continuous wails finally stopped but she went back to the front table.
"Phew," Ron said in relief, "That was close…" That said it for all of them.
"Isn't there any other way to make it shut up?" Mereline asked George hopefully.
"Nope, sorry to disappoint…" George said as Mereline's face fell, "Eating it is the only way..."
"Cheers!" they waved together as they turned to go back to their place.
. Fred and George laughed as they left.
"What are you going to do with that thing?" Hermione frowned pointing to the bulge in Mereline's pocket, "Surely you're not going to leave it there!"
"I am and I will," Mereline huffed, "It will be there til it rots!"
Harry then noticed that the hall was beginning to quiet down. The dishes in front of them disappeared. Before long, the whole hall was completely quiet. Dumbledore stood up to dismiss them.
"Now that you're all well fed, you may go back to your common rooms and have a nice well deserved rest for the start of classes tomorrow," Dumbledore grinned, "I forgot to mention before that quidditch will resume this year, tryouts will start soon, for those who wish to be one of the team, and I believe Gryffindor and Hufflepuff need new captains."
He beamed down at the four houses, "Have a nice first day back, and prefects please lead your houses to your common rooms…"
"That means you Hermione," Harry smiled. Hermione had gotten out of her seat and was just standing there. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Oh, right," Hermione realized. She immediately took charge.
"All first year Gryffindor's please follow me!" she yelled above the noise level. "And you too Mereline," she added with a false looking smile. Harry had a feeling that Hermione didn't like Mereline and he wondered why that was so. Her attitude towards Mereline sure had changed. He reminded himself to ask her about it later. Mereline seemed nice to Harry and he was sure that Ron thought the same thing.
Hermione led all the Gryffindor's up to the common room. She gave everyone a little tour of Hogwarts, pointing out classrooms and the Owlery as they passed by them.
"This is the Transfiguration room, and there's the Owlery," Hermione pointed out, "And be careful when you're using the stairs, they change and move…"
Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Hey Ron," Harry whispered, looking around to see if anyone was listening in.
"Yeh?" Ron whispered back in reply.
"What do you think I should do with the ball? Should I show it to McGonagall or something?" Ron thought for a moment.
"I guess you better, if you don't do it now, Hermione will make you anyway," Ron said,
"She'll go nuts!" Harry chuckled.
They reached the entrance to the common room then, and Ron and Harry said no more. The fat pink lady welcomed them.
"Password?" she asked importantly.
"SilverSickles," Hermione said. The painting nodded and swung herself open. They all clambered inside and stood in the middle of the room. The first years looked around in delight.
"This is the Gryffindor common room," Hermione began.
"Duh," Ron murmured. Harry laughed quietly. Hermione glared at them. Harry stopped laughing.
"The common room can be used at any time, just don't forget the password, it changes every week or so," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "The dormitories are upstairs, girls on the left, and boys on the right… Have a good night."
***
At first, Harry was confused at where he was. He woke up looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling when he then realized he was at Hogwarts. A few remainments of a disturbing dream frazzled his mind. The more he tried to remember the dream, the more he seemed to forget about it. Harry did, however, remember that his dream contained a warning, a warning not to do something. The voice sounded familiar, even though he couldn't put his finger on whose it was. Harry thought hard about it, but soon, the dream and almost disappeared. He shook the last pieces of his dream off as he got up to start his day.
Before leaving the boy's dormitories with Ron, Harry remembered to grab the black ball. He decided that he should see Professor McGonagall after breakfast. Burying the ball deep into his pocket, he sat down at the Gryffindor table, joining Mereline and Hermione. Harry noticed that Malfoy had not turned up for breakfast. He smiled at that very thought.
"Hey!" Hermione smiled brightly, seeming a bit glad to see them, "I've got both of your time table's right here, just let me get them for you…" She busied herself with a folder.
"Mornin' Mereline," Harry said. She smiled in reply. Mereline opened her mouth to say something…
"Here they are," Hermione interrupted, "They've given us a surprise subject this year, each one of us gets a randomly chosen class to take…I've got 'Muggles and Us', how about you two?"
Harry quickly scanned over his time table, "I've got that too."
"I've got… ," Ron said slowly, "Defenses… What on earth is that?"
Hermione shrugged.
"What about you, Mereline?" Harry asked.
"I've got the same as Ron…" she said reading her time table.
Harry grinned and nudged Ron. Ron glared at him.
"We have 'defense against the dark arts' first!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed, "I wonder who our teacher would be?"
"I hope it's not Snape," Ron said making a face, "I would quit if he is, having him for two subjects would be hell…"
"It's not Snape," Hermione said automatically.
"How do you know?" Harry asked. Harry hoped that he didn't have Snape, having him for Potions is bad enough.
"Honestly, don't you listen to what Dumbledore says?" Hermione sighed, "The D.A.D.A teacher is a she."
"So?" Ron said. Hermione smacked her forehead.
"Well, the last time I saw Snape, he was a he, not a she…"
"Let's hope so anyway," Harry grinned. Everyone laughed.
Harry suddenly felt a flutter of wings above him. Two letters dropped from somewhere above Harry and landed on Harry's breakfast. Hedwig landed on his shoulders and hooted happily. Harry smiled and ruffled Hedwig's feathers and gave her a piece of toast. She flew off.
"Ew…" Mereline commented as Harry took the slightly egg covered letters out of his plate. Harry grimaced and tried to wipe the stains off the best as he could. He squinted at the first letter.
"It's from Hagrid," Harry exclaimed as he read the messy scrawl of writing.
"Who's Hagrid?" Mereline asked curiously. Hermione frowned.
"He's the game keeper at Hogwarts," Ron explained, "He's a good sort… Come on Harry tell us what it says…"
"Hagrid wants us to see him today, as soon as classes finish," Harry said not taking his eyes off the letter, "Wonder what he wants?"
"Must be important if he wants to see us that soon!" Ron said.
Opening the second letter, Harry turned serious.
"It's from Snuffles…" Harry said, eyeing Mereline. Mereline looked confused.
"He's my cousin…" he lied quickly, hinting it to Hermione and Ron. He didn't want Mereline to know about Sirius; Harry didn't completely trust her yet. He'll have to show the letter to Hermione and Ron later when Mereline isn't around.
Mereline finished her remains of her breakfast and stood up, "I have to see Professor McGonagall about my detention now, I sure do hope she doesn't write to my parents about this…" She looked worried.
Harry then realized that he needed to go see Professor McGonagall too.
"I'll go with you," Harry said quickly. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Ron stared.
"I need to see Professor McGonagall about something…" Harry said hastily, kicking Ron underneath the table.
"Oh, ok," Mereline said, "I'll wait till you finish that." She pointed at Harry's eggs.
"No, it's ok," Harry said standing up, "I don't want to finish those off anyway…" Especially if a letter was dropped in it, Harry though to himself.
Professor McGonagall looked up as Harry and Mereline entered her office.
She took out her glasses and put them on, "Is there something wrong?" she asked. She pushed a half empty plate away from her desk.
"I'm just here about my detention, professor," Mereline said, her eyes looking around the room.
"And you Potter?" Professor McGonagall pressed, "This isn't about yesterday is it?"
"No," Harry said a couple of seconds too fast, "I need to talk to you about something."
Professor McGonagall looked suspicious.
"Wait outside Potter, I'll speak to Mereline first."
It turned out that Harry didn't need to wait for very long. A few minutes later, Mereline came out of Professor McGonagall's office.
"Everything alright?" Harry asked Mereline. She nodded happily.
"I'll wait for you," she said as he disappeared into Professor McGonagall's office.
He fumbled for the black ball as he sat down.
"What do you need to talk about?" Professor McGonagall asked kindly.
Harry hesitated.
"Well, on my birthday, I got a parcel," he began. Professor McGonagall turned grave.
"It had no name on it, no note, no card…"
"Continue…" she said firmly looking as though she thought he should get to the point.
"…and when I opened it, I found this in it." Harry said fishing out the ball. He put it out in front of Professor McGonagall.
To Harry's surprise, she smiled.
"Why, I haven't seen these since I was a child!" Professor McGonagall smiled, holding the ball up.
"Uh…professor?" Harry said, confused.
"It's a toy," Professor McGonagall said patting Harry's hands, "Nothing to worry about…"
She leaned back into her chair and absently stared at the ceiling.
"If I remember correctly, it was a lucky charm… yes … had some legend behind it, if a dragon is unleashed from it, you'll have luck for a whole year…"
Harry paled.
"Not true of course, but my, how popular it was in my day; I used to buy several of them and hope I'll get the dragon… too bad this one is empty…" Her voice trailed off.
Suddenly, Professor McGonagall looked at Harry as though she just noticed Harry.
"What are you doing here Potter?" she demanded.
"I was here all along Professor…" Harry said his eyes wide.
Professor McGonagall considered this for a moment or two. Then she remembered.
"Ahem…yes, a toy, just a toy Potter!" she said hastily, "I say you better get to class now…."
Harry stared at her. It's weird to see someone normal one minute and then be totally different the next.
Professor McGonagall shoved the ball in Harry's hands and ushered him out of the room.
"Have a nice day," she said brusquely.
She slammed the door shut.
Muffins and Lucky Charms
A note to everyone…
Ok I know there are mistakes in this one, well at least I think so but Im not sure, however if u do find one, tell me !!! (please)
Anyway, hope ya keep on reading cause things are going to warm up from now on !!!
Hehehe
PLEASE REVIEW !!!!!
"Talking muffin!" Mereline screamed, dropping the muffin onto the floor. Everyone jumped, except for Fred and George, who were both grinning wickedly. Harry gaped at the muffin on the floor. Bewildered, he looked up and caught Fred's eye. Fred winked at him. Many students who heard her scream were laughing at the sight of Mereline.
Looking at Mereline in an odd way, Ron retrieved the muffin from underneath the table.
"Keep it away from me!!" Mereline shrieked, clutching a napkin in her hands.
"You must be seeing things!" Hermione said determinedly, looking a bit annoyed. Hermione had spelt water all over her robes in surprise when Mereline screamed.
"Honestly, a talking muffin…" Hermione grumbled, snatching the muffin out of Ron's hands. She gave Mereline an angry look.
The muffin turned it's 'head' to face Hermione. She gaped at it in horror.
"Hello…" it said once again. Hermione screamed. Everyone stared at her and then at the muffin. Ginny looked over Hermione and gasped in surprise.
"How cute!!" Ginny gushed, taking the muffin out of Hermione's shaking hands. The muffin 'smiled' and looked up at her.
"Cute?!?" Hermione and Mereline cried together in disbelief.
"How can that thing be cute?" Ron asked, obviously disgusted at its supposed cuteness.
George cleared his throat loudly and grinned.
Ron looked at him with a bit of suspicion, but then it dawned on him.
"You didn't…" he gasped, but George interrupted.
"We would gladly like to present-"
"A new and terrific invention made by us-" Fred said beaming.
"The absolutely magnificent, talking muffin!" George announced with a flourish.
"Only two knuts each" Fred added, "Guaranteed to scare girls and umm Percy…"
"You made this?" Ron awed in admiration, "Absolutely brilliant!"
Mereline looked like she couldn't believe her ears, "And I was going to eat that!!" she said in dismay. Suddenly, the muffin jumped out of Ginny's hands, and landed in Mereline's lap. She looked down at it in horror.
"Muffins are good for you," it cried in its punified voice, "Eat me, eat me!!"
"Eww," Mereline shrieked, "Does this muffin have some kind of death wish?"
While everyone was focused on the muffin, Fred and George pulled Harry aside.
"We'd just like to thank you Harry," Fred started, "We wouldn't be doing all this without your help…"
"Seriously, we wouldn't make it this far without you…" George said looking teary.
"It's ok, nothing really," Harry said grinning, "The muffins a good one, got any others?"
"Of course!" Fred cried looking insulted, "We didn't spend all summer making just that one… let's just say the money was wisely spent."
"And of course, Percy, our own personal guinea pig, was good too," George grinned, "Ah, so many memories…"
"I must say the Quirky Tails one was priceless…" Fred smiled as he recalled, "Penelope surely did have a fright…"
"Nearly had a heart attack I say…"
Harry laughed. He would have paid good money to see the look on Percy's face that day.
Harry was about to say something when a loud wailing turned his attention else where.
"Oh no!" Mereline gasped, "Please don't cry, I was only joking… "
"Please don't cry…" Mereline pleaded the muffin.
To everyone's utter amazement, the muffin started to cry real tears. Two pearly tears rolled down its 'face'.
"Why won't she eat me?" the muffin wailed in tears. In now started to tremble.
"I wonder…" Hermione mumbled under her breath, "Who would want to eat a talking muffin?"
The muffin heard her, and started to cry even harder. Harry couldn't help but think that the muffin awfully resembled the house elves, Dobby and Winky. The muffin's cries sound almost the same as Winky's.
Some students started to notice the muffin's loud cries, and were standing up to see where the noise was coming from. A few teachers were also looking around to see where the noise was coming from.
"Be quiet will you?" Mereline hissed, "I'm already in trouble…"
The muffin wailed even louder.
"How do you make it stop?!" Harry shouted with his hands over his ears, "We'll all be in trouble if it doesn't stop soon…"
Out of desperation, Ron clamped his hand around the muffins 'mouth'. The muffin, clearly annoyed, opened its 'mouth' and bit Ron's hand.
"Ow!" Ron immediately let go. Two tiny holes scarred his hand. Hermione gasped.
"Since when do muffins have teeth?" he grumbled, nursing his hand. The muffin looked triumphed.
"At least it shut up now," Harry said relieved. But as soon as he said that, the muffin began bawling again.
"Make it shut up!" Ron yelled at Fred and George, "You made it!"
"Mereline has to eat it!" Fred grinned, "It's the only way!" George snickered.
"What!?" Mereline practically shrieked in fury, "There is no way I am touching that thing, let alone eat it!"
"Eat it quickly!" Harry bellowed shoving the muffin into her lap, "Before it gets us all in detention!"
Professor McGonagall had stood up and was now searching the Ravenclaw table.
"Quick!" Hermione gasped, "They've almost noticed us-"
Mereline looked down at the sobbing muffin. It was now making a large pool of water on her robes.
"Eat it!" Ron hissed. Professor McGonagall was almost at their table.
Desperately, Mereline shoved the crying muffin into her witch's hat and then stuffed the whole thing in her pocket. The wailing did not stop, but it was muffled.
Everyone sighed of relief. Professor McGonagall looked surprised and suspicious as the continuous wails finally stopped but she went back to the front table.
"Phew," Ron said in relief, "That was close…" That said it for all of them.
"Isn't there any other way to make it shut up?" Mereline asked George hopefully.
"Nope, sorry to disappoint…" George said as Mereline's face fell, "Eating it is the only way..."
"Cheers!" they waved together as they turned to go back to their place.
. Fred and George laughed as they left.
"What are you going to do with that thing?" Hermione frowned pointing to the bulge in Mereline's pocket, "Surely you're not going to leave it there!"
"I am and I will," Mereline huffed, "It will be there til it rots!"
Harry then noticed that the hall was beginning to quiet down. The dishes in front of them disappeared. Before long, the whole hall was completely quiet. Dumbledore stood up to dismiss them.
"Now that you're all well fed, you may go back to your common rooms and have a nice well deserved rest for the start of classes tomorrow," Dumbledore grinned, "I forgot to mention before that quidditch will resume this year, tryouts will start soon, for those who wish to be one of the team, and I believe Gryffindor and Hufflepuff need new captains."
He beamed down at the four houses, "Have a nice first day back, and prefects please lead your houses to your common rooms…"
"That means you Hermione," Harry smiled. Hermione had gotten out of her seat and was just standing there. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Oh, right," Hermione realized. She immediately took charge.
"All first year Gryffindor's please follow me!" she yelled above the noise level. "And you too Mereline," she added with a false looking smile. Harry had a feeling that Hermione didn't like Mereline and he wondered why that was so. Her attitude towards Mereline sure had changed. He reminded himself to ask her about it later. Mereline seemed nice to Harry and he was sure that Ron thought the same thing.
Hermione led all the Gryffindor's up to the common room. She gave everyone a little tour of Hogwarts, pointing out classrooms and the Owlery as they passed by them.
"This is the Transfiguration room, and there's the Owlery," Hermione pointed out, "And be careful when you're using the stairs, they change and move…"
Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Hey Ron," Harry whispered, looking around to see if anyone was listening in.
"Yeh?" Ron whispered back in reply.
"What do you think I should do with the ball? Should I show it to McGonagall or something?" Ron thought for a moment.
"I guess you better, if you don't do it now, Hermione will make you anyway," Ron said,
"She'll go nuts!" Harry chuckled.
They reached the entrance to the common room then, and Ron and Harry said no more. The fat pink lady welcomed them.
"Password?" she asked importantly.
"SilverSickles," Hermione said. The painting nodded and swung herself open. They all clambered inside and stood in the middle of the room. The first years looked around in delight.
"This is the Gryffindor common room," Hermione began.
"Duh," Ron murmured. Harry laughed quietly. Hermione glared at them. Harry stopped laughing.
"The common room can be used at any time, just don't forget the password, it changes every week or so," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "The dormitories are upstairs, girls on the left, and boys on the right… Have a good night."
***
At first, Harry was confused at where he was. He woke up looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling when he then realized he was at Hogwarts. A few remainments of a disturbing dream frazzled his mind. The more he tried to remember the dream, the more he seemed to forget about it. Harry did, however, remember that his dream contained a warning, a warning not to do something. The voice sounded familiar, even though he couldn't put his finger on whose it was. Harry thought hard about it, but soon, the dream and almost disappeared. He shook the last pieces of his dream off as he got up to start his day.
Before leaving the boy's dormitories with Ron, Harry remembered to grab the black ball. He decided that he should see Professor McGonagall after breakfast. Burying the ball deep into his pocket, he sat down at the Gryffindor table, joining Mereline and Hermione. Harry noticed that Malfoy had not turned up for breakfast. He smiled at that very thought.
"Hey!" Hermione smiled brightly, seeming a bit glad to see them, "I've got both of your time table's right here, just let me get them for you…" She busied herself with a folder.
"Mornin' Mereline," Harry said. She smiled in reply. Mereline opened her mouth to say something…
"Here they are," Hermione interrupted, "They've given us a surprise subject this year, each one of us gets a randomly chosen class to take…I've got 'Muggles and Us', how about you two?"
Harry quickly scanned over his time table, "I've got that too."
"I've got… ," Ron said slowly, "Defenses… What on earth is that?"
Hermione shrugged.
"What about you, Mereline?" Harry asked.
"I've got the same as Ron…" she said reading her time table.
Harry grinned and nudged Ron. Ron glared at him.
"We have 'defense against the dark arts' first!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed, "I wonder who our teacher would be?"
"I hope it's not Snape," Ron said making a face, "I would quit if he is, having him for two subjects would be hell…"
"It's not Snape," Hermione said automatically.
"How do you know?" Harry asked. Harry hoped that he didn't have Snape, having him for Potions is bad enough.
"Honestly, don't you listen to what Dumbledore says?" Hermione sighed, "The D.A.D.A teacher is a she."
"So?" Ron said. Hermione smacked her forehead.
"Well, the last time I saw Snape, he was a he, not a she…"
"Let's hope so anyway," Harry grinned. Everyone laughed.
Harry suddenly felt a flutter of wings above him. Two letters dropped from somewhere above Harry and landed on Harry's breakfast. Hedwig landed on his shoulders and hooted happily. Harry smiled and ruffled Hedwig's feathers and gave her a piece of toast. She flew off.
"Ew…" Mereline commented as Harry took the slightly egg covered letters out of his plate. Harry grimaced and tried to wipe the stains off the best as he could. He squinted at the first letter.
"It's from Hagrid," Harry exclaimed as he read the messy scrawl of writing.
"Who's Hagrid?" Mereline asked curiously. Hermione frowned.
"He's the game keeper at Hogwarts," Ron explained, "He's a good sort… Come on Harry tell us what it says…"
"Hagrid wants us to see him today, as soon as classes finish," Harry said not taking his eyes off the letter, "Wonder what he wants?"
"Must be important if he wants to see us that soon!" Ron said.
Opening the second letter, Harry turned serious.
"It's from Snuffles…" Harry said, eyeing Mereline. Mereline looked confused.
"He's my cousin…" he lied quickly, hinting it to Hermione and Ron. He didn't want Mereline to know about Sirius; Harry didn't completely trust her yet. He'll have to show the letter to Hermione and Ron later when Mereline isn't around.
Mereline finished her remains of her breakfast and stood up, "I have to see Professor McGonagall about my detention now, I sure do hope she doesn't write to my parents about this…" She looked worried.
Harry then realized that he needed to go see Professor McGonagall too.
"I'll go with you," Harry said quickly. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Ron stared.
"I need to see Professor McGonagall about something…" Harry said hastily, kicking Ron underneath the table.
"Oh, ok," Mereline said, "I'll wait till you finish that." She pointed at Harry's eggs.
"No, it's ok," Harry said standing up, "I don't want to finish those off anyway…" Especially if a letter was dropped in it, Harry though to himself.
Professor McGonagall looked up as Harry and Mereline entered her office.
She took out her glasses and put them on, "Is there something wrong?" she asked. She pushed a half empty plate away from her desk.
"I'm just here about my detention, professor," Mereline said, her eyes looking around the room.
"And you Potter?" Professor McGonagall pressed, "This isn't about yesterday is it?"
"No," Harry said a couple of seconds too fast, "I need to talk to you about something."
Professor McGonagall looked suspicious.
"Wait outside Potter, I'll speak to Mereline first."
It turned out that Harry didn't need to wait for very long. A few minutes later, Mereline came out of Professor McGonagall's office.
"Everything alright?" Harry asked Mereline. She nodded happily.
"I'll wait for you," she said as he disappeared into Professor McGonagall's office.
He fumbled for the black ball as he sat down.
"What do you need to talk about?" Professor McGonagall asked kindly.
Harry hesitated.
"Well, on my birthday, I got a parcel," he began. Professor McGonagall turned grave.
"It had no name on it, no note, no card…"
"Continue…" she said firmly looking as though she thought he should get to the point.
"…and when I opened it, I found this in it." Harry said fishing out the ball. He put it out in front of Professor McGonagall.
To Harry's surprise, she smiled.
"Why, I haven't seen these since I was a child!" Professor McGonagall smiled, holding the ball up.
"Uh…professor?" Harry said, confused.
"It's a toy," Professor McGonagall said patting Harry's hands, "Nothing to worry about…"
She leaned back into her chair and absently stared at the ceiling.
"If I remember correctly, it was a lucky charm… yes … had some legend behind it, if a dragon is unleashed from it, you'll have luck for a whole year…"
Harry paled.
"Not true of course, but my, how popular it was in my day; I used to buy several of them and hope I'll get the dragon… too bad this one is empty…" Her voice trailed off.
Suddenly, Professor McGonagall looked at Harry as though she just noticed Harry.
"What are you doing here Potter?" she demanded.
"I was here all along Professor…" Harry said his eyes wide.
Professor McGonagall considered this for a moment or two. Then she remembered.
"Ahem…yes, a toy, just a toy Potter!" she said hastily, "I say you better get to class now…."
Harry stared at her. It's weird to see someone normal one minute and then be totally different the next.
Professor McGonagall shoved the ball in Harry's hands and ushered him out of the room.
"Have a nice day," she said brusquely.
She slammed the door shut.