Harry Potter and the Messengers of Sorrow Ch-8
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Can you find the spelling mistake in this chapter? If you spot it, e-mail us at cassyandkammi@writeme.com
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(We know, it sounds lame, but it was the best that we could think of.)
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The disappearance of Professor Trelawney spread through Hogwarts like wildfire. Harry didn't want to admit it, but he kind of missed the miserable old bat, as Hermione called her. But what was even worse was the substitute. She was and extremely old witch, with short white hair and false teeth. Harry didn't know, of course, that she had false teeth until they popped out in the middle of class. Even stranger was her name. On the day she came, she introduced herself to us as Esther. Seamus tried to call her Professor Esther, but she calmly told him to drop the professor part.
Everyone was happy about Professor Trelawney being gone, except for Lavender and Parvati. (Naturally.) They complained and whined, complained and whined. They even went to Professor Dumbledore and demanded that Professor Trelawney came back. Dumbledore had to explain that he didn't make, as he said, "Sibyll" disappear. He had no idea how she had vanished.
Harry thought that Ron was the most excited about Professor Trelawney being gone. He loved Divination now, even though the substitute was even worse than the regular teacher.
"Hey, at least she's not predicting your death every class," Ron pointed out every time Harry tried to talk to him about Esther. Harry privately agreed, even though he did not say so to Ron.
At mealtimes, everyone would talk about Divination. Not the class, but the teacher. Most everyone at the Gryffindor table was in Divination, except for Hermione and a few others. Hermione just sat at the edge of the table, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, honestly!" she would cry. "She's just a teacher!"
"I never thought I'd hear Hermione say "she's just a teacher" about a teacher before," Ron whispered to Harry one afternoon during lunch. Harry nodded.
"Hermione, should I take Divination when I'm a third year?" Gracie asked Hermione.
"NO!" Hermione cried, at the same time Lavender said, "YES!" They glared at each other.
"Uh-oh!" Ron muttered. Gracie was looking from Hermione, to Lavender, then back to Hermione again.
"I don't want to take Divination, Lavender," Gracie said quietly to her sister. Lavender looked furious. Then she smiled gleefully.
"Why?" she inquired.
"Why what?" Gracie scratched her nose.
"Why do you not want to take Divination?"
"Ah, well, that's a very good question, Lavender," Gracie sputtered nervously. "You know, it's so good of a question, that I can't answer it!" Gracie started to run away from the table, but Lavender grabbed the end of her robes.
"WHY Gracie?" she asked firmly.
"'Cause Hermione said not to," she mumbled.
"Don't listen to HER, Gracie. I'm your sister; we're family. We should take the same classes." Lavender put her arm around Gracie's shoulders. Gracie shrugged it off.
"Hermione is nicer to me than you are," she pointed out. Lavender smirked.
"Hermione is a fake," she said loudly.
"Hey!" Ron cried, standing up.
"Shut up, Weasel," Lavender retorted.
Hermione walked over to Gracie and knelt down beside her so that she was at Gracie's eye level.
"Come on, Gracie," she said, "Let's go back to the common room."
"No way!" Lavender tugged on Gracie's arm. Hermione frowned, then smiled.
"All right, then," she said cheerfully. She whispered something in Gracie's ear, then walked back to her spot at the end of the table.
The rest of lunch went along normally until the very end. Hermione was watching Lavender lecture Gracie on what classes to take. It was obvious that Gracie wasn't listening. She was staring off into space. Then, she suddenly turned so she was facing Hermione, who nodded ever so slowly. Gracie slowly wrenched her wrist out of Lavender's strong grip and reached for something on the table. Lavender was talking so much that she didn't even notice. She then looked at Hermione, who nodded again.
"Hey, Hermione!" Ron yelled, waving his hand in front of Hermione's face. "Wake-up!" Hermione shoved Ron's hand away and started to smile. Ron followed Hermione's gaze and burst out laughing. He nudged Harry and pointed to Lavender. Harry also started to laugh. Soon, the entire Gryffindor table was laughing.
"What?" Lavender was yelling furiously. "What?" Everyone just kept on laughing. Lavender had no clue what was going on until she started feeling around her neck and finally got to her head.
"Ugh!" she cried. She brought her hands down from her hair and wiped them on Parvati's napkin. "I hate pumpkin pie!"
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Lavender would not speak to anyone but Parvati and the teachers for two weeks after the pumpkin pie incident. She was especially mad at Gracie and Hermione.
"They had no right to do that to me," Harry heard Lavender tell Parvati one day on their way to Charms. "I never did anything that mean to them."
But Harry had other things on his mind other than the Lavender/Gracie/Hermione fight. He had received a small piece of parchment in the hallway the other day. Before he could see who had given it to him, they had walked away. Harry had waited until that night in his dormitory to open the note. It had said this:
Harry,
Could you ensure that you can be alone in the trophy room tomorrow night at midnight? There is something that you need to know.
Signed,
F/-
Harry had no idea who "F/-" was, so he was hesitant to go to the trophy room. He recalled the first time he made a nightly visit there; he almost got caught by Filch! But there was something tugging in the back of his brain, something that said that this note was extremely important, and that he shouldn't miss it. But even so, Harry decided to tell Ron and Hermione about the note.
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"Oh, Harry! What if it's from You Know Who?" Hermione shrieked as soon as Harry had told her and Ron about the mysterious letter.
Ron raised his eyebrows. "I don't reckon You Know Who would send Harry a letter that said, 'Can you ensure that you can be alone, and that there is something you need to know?' I mean, that's kind of obvious."
"I don't think he should go," Hermione said stiffly.
"Well, I think he should," Ron shot back.
"Well, you have no common sense," Hermione replied calmly.
"NO COMMON SENSE!?" Ron jumped up from his chair. Hermione did, too. They glared at each other.
"Uh, guys?" Harry said timidly. "It's okay. I'm going to go."
"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Hermione cried.
"But, I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak," Harry whispered, looking around to make sure that no one else heard his last sentence. Hermione's eyebrow furrowed, then she nodded her approval and headed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.
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Lucius Malfoy walked quietly into Azkaban, his eyes looming over the prisoners. He was looking for a certain couple. Ah! There they were. The Lestranges. Lucius scurried over to their cell.
"Isabelle!" he whispered. A middle-aged woman stood up and slowly made her way over to where Lucius stood. She looked tired and beaten. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her loose, dirty clothing hung off her frail frame. The Dark Mark burned black on her pale forearm. She rubbed her eyes and stared at Mr. Malfoy in disbelief.
"Lucius?" she croaked. Lucius nodded.
"Oh my goodness! Lucius! You're here! At last. We've been waiting for so long." Mrs. Lestrange was beside herself with relief and happiness. "Rupert! Wake up!" Isabelle nudged her husband. He woke with a start.
"Must… go… back… to… master…" Rupert Lestrange murmured. His wife kicked him lightly in his side. He groaned.
"He has dreams about returning to our master often," Isabelle explained to Lucius. She turned back to her husband.
"Rupert, Lucius is here. He will take us back to our master." Mrs. Lestrange leaned over and shook her husband on the arm. He groaned again. Mrs. Lestrange shrugged, and turned back to Lucius.
"Rupert has been ever so happy ever since the dementors left. It was kind of funny, watching them leave. A person in a black cloak came and said something to one of them, and they all just left. But not until they checked all the cells to make sure that the doors were locked securely. Now, everyone in Azkaban has to wait until someone lets them out. You can open these doors from the outside, but not from the inside. Pull that handle, Lucius, and let us be free again." Mrs. Lestrange looked at her old friend. Lucius nodded and unlocked the door. Mrs. Lestrange leaped over and smiled at Mr. Malfoy warmly.
"Ah, Isabelle! It's so good to see you again," Lucius whispered, smiling back.
"How is Narcissa?" Isabelle questioned. Lucius smiled fondly, picturing his beautiful wife in his head.
"She is doing well, Isabelle. She can't wait to see you," Lucius replied. Mrs. Lestrange grinned again and walked over to her husband and shook him again.
"Ru-pert!" Mrs. Lestrange finally pulled her husband up into a sitting position by his shoulders. "Look who it is."
Mr. Lestrange slowly fluttered his eyes open. "Wha?" he murmured. Mrs. Lestrange giggled and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. His eyes grew wide. He turned to his wife.
"Really?" he cried. Mrs. Lestrange nodded happily. "I'm up!" Mr. Lestrange shouted gleefully. "We're going home!"
Lucius smirked and led his two fellow Death Eaters quickly out of Azkaban.
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The next night…………….
"Hurry up, Fred! We've got to go now, or we're going to miss him!"
"Shut up, George. I'm ready."
"You don't need to comb your hair to go on nightly visits."
"Well, if Filch catches us, at least I'll look nice. Unlike some other people I know."
"Oh, shush up and follow me."
"Fine."
If anyone had been in the hallway at that time, they would have heard two boys arguing furiously and them see them appear behind the big portrait of the fat lady. But, unfortunately for Misters Fred and George Weasley, someone did see them. It was someone that they would have preferred not to be seen by.
But, the Weasley boys did not see this person, so they continued walking toward their destination- the trophy room.
The twins arrived at the trophy room as the giant grandfather clock in the corner chimed the twelfth hour… midnight. The boys exchanged their relief.
"Good, we're hear on time."
"I'm glad that he didn't get here before us."
"That would have caused some problems. He might have thought then that the note had been from… you know."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Where is he?"
"I dunno."
"Here I am. Are you looking for me?" A new voice spoke. Harry Potter stepped out from nowhere.
The twins swiveled around. "Yes, Harry. We sent you that note." Fred Weasley said.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because, you see, well…" George looked at Fred nervously.
"It's okay. I won't tell anyone." Harry assured them.
"Harry, WE DID NOT STEAL THAT HAT!" Fred shouted.
"Shhhhhhh!" George and Harry whispered in unison.
"You'll wake everyone up," Harry added.
"Oh," Fred said, "well, you believe us… right?"
Harry looked around the room and leaned in towards the twins. "Give me some proof."
Fred and George exchanged nervous glances. "All right, then," Fred cleared his throat. "George?" Fred looked at his twin expectantly. George scowled and started speaking.
"Remember when we were wrestling with Draco Malfoy on the train?"
"Yeeess…" Harry stuttered.
"Well, Draco stole our Canary Cream," Fred explained.
"He what?" Harry cried.
"Shhhh!" George put his finger to his lips and looked around nervously. "He stole our Canary Cream."
"How do you know this?" Harry whispered hesitantly. "I want you to prove it."
"Well,' Fred began," we were walking into the Great Hall when we saw Draco and those two guys that he always hangs around with walk the opposite way. Then, we felt into our pockets and the Cream was gone."
Harry stared at Fred and George with a mixture of pity and disbelief. "Why should I believe you?"
Fred and George grinned, and George took something out of his pocket. "We took a picture."
Harry took the picture from George and stared at it. It showed Malfoy sneaking away from the Great Hall, beckoning for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him. Then, it showed the three of them vanish behind the corner.
"Okay, okay." Harry said, exasperated. "I believe you now. But, why did you choose me to come meet you? Why not Ron or somebody?"
"Well, Ron wouldn't believe us." George said. "We couldn't choose a family member, because they would not believe us no matter what. But, we also wanted someone who knew us well, too. We immediately thought of you and Lee Jordan. But, we finally decided on you."
"Why?" Harry inquired.
Fred smiled mischievously. "Harry, if Lee Jordan got caught one more time sneaking out of the Gryffindor Tower, he would be expelled." Harry grinned. "And," Fred continued, nudging Harry, "you have that Invisibility Cloak." Fred motioned to George and they started to leave.
"WAIT!" Harry cried. Fred and George turned, both still smiling smugly. "How do you know about my invisibility cloak?"
George laughed. "Oh, we have our ways. Believe me, Harry, we have our ways."
Extremely unlucky for Fred, George, and Harry, Severus Snape intended to tell everything that he had just seen and heard to Professor Dumbledore.
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"Ron, hurry up you dork!" Hermione yelled up the staircase to the boys' dormitories. "We're going to miss breakfast!" She turned to Harry, who was sprawled across one of the chairs. "What does he do up there?"
Harry shrugged. "Who knows?"
Thump, thump, thump! Ron came scampering down the stairs. He paused when he got to the bottom.
"Hermione?" He asked timidly.
"What?" Hermione replied absently.
"What's a dork?"
Hermione looked at Harry and they burst out laughing. They laughed all the way down to the Great Hall. Ron was tagging along behind them.
"What?" he kept saying over and over again. "What?" But Hermione and Harry were laughing to hard to answer and they only stopped when they reached the Great Hall. There was a bunch of people crowded around what looked to be a sign. Ron stood of his tiptoes to read it.
"House… Dueling… Contest. Can… no, that's Come… sign up today. See the Head of your house for many… not, that's more… details."
"Ohhhh!" Hermione cried. "I want to sign up!" She grabbed Harry and Ron's wrists and sped off into the Great Hall. "We've got to find McGonagall!"
"Ah, Hermione?" Ron said delicately. "You're cutting off my circulation."
"Right," Hermione replied briskly. "Oh, there's McGonagall. You guys come with me. I want you to sign up, too."
"She's obsessed," Ron muttered to Harry while Hermione dragged them up to Professor McGonagall. She was seated at the end of the staff table chatting with Professor Flitwick. Hermione ran up to her.
"Professor!" she cried.
"Miss Granger, what is it?" Professor McGonagall looked shocked. Hermione dropped Ron and Harry's wrists.
"Professor, I want to sign up for that House Dueling Contest. They do, too." Hermione motioned toward Harry and Ron. They stood behind her, both of them nursing their wrist that Hermione had held.
"Oh, that's all," McGonagall said. "Well, you mean you want to sign up to qualify."
"Qualify?" Hermione questioned.
"Anyone in the school can sign up. They just tell the head of their house. But only two students from each year of each house will actually participate in the contest."
"How do you choose those two people?" Hermione asked. McGonagall smiled. "All of your professors will determine that," she answered.
"I still want to sign up and so do Harry and Ron," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Ron said. "It sounds like fun."
"Okay," Professor McGonagall agreed, writing Hermione and Ron's names on a blank sheet of parchment. "What about Potter?"
"Well," Harry stammered.
"He'll do it." Hermione said. She looked at her best friend. "Right?" she added, giving him a puppy dog look. Harry sighed.
"Come on, Harry," Ron whined.
"Okay, okay. I'll sign up." Harry muttered. Hermione smiled happily as McGonagall added Harry's name to the list.
"When will we find out who the winners are?" Hermione inquired.
"In two days," Professor McGonagall replied. "The sign up deadline is tomorrow."
"Good," Ron muttered. "I hope I win."
"I hope I don't," Harry contradicted. Winning something else is the last thing I want to do," he thought. Especially after the Triwizard Tournament.
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Two days later……
"Guess what we are finding out today?" Hermione cried, bounding into the Gryffindor common room. Everyone looked up at her sleepily. ("Everyone" includes as follows: Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, four first years, Natalie McDonald, three fourth years, Gracie, and the Head Boy, Jason Nartowsky.)
"What?" Harry murmured, his eyes half shut.
"We find out what two people out of the ten Gryffindors in each year won!" Hermione replied happily.
"You mean eight," Dean said, coming in from the boys' dormitories. "Neville and I didn't want to sign up."
"Six," another voice said from the girls' dormitories. It was Kammi Nott. "Cassy and I didn't sign up, either."
"Lavender and Parvati did, though," Seamus said. "I saw their names below Harry's on McGonagall's sign up sheet when I went to sign myself up."
"Where are Lavender and Parvati, anyway?" Cassy Moon asked.
"Who cares?" Hermione and Gracie said in unison.
"They've been acting weird lately," Kammi said slowly. She looked up at Hermione. "Did you hear what they were talking about last night?"
"Yes," Hermione replied curtly. "Unfortunately."
"What were they saying?" Dean said eagerly.
Cassy started to say something, but Hermione covered her mouth up with her hand.
"Nothing important, Dean," Hermione answered.
Harry could smell trouble, so he hastily changed the subject. "The winners will be posted in the Great Hall at eight o' clock. What time is it Ron?" Harry nudged Ron in the stomach.
"Ouch! I mean, ah, seven fifty-five. Whoops, we better go," Ron and Harry stood up and looked at everyone else.
"I'm coming," Hermione said quickly.
"Us, too," Seamus added, pulling Jason to his feet.
Everyone decided to go down except for Neville, Dean, Cassy, Kammi, a first year, and two fourth years. Everyone else ran anxiously down to the Great Hall.
Professor McGonagall was hanging up a big sheet of parchment up on the wall when they got there. There was already a big crowd of people around her. Across the hall, Professor Snape was hanging up the winners for Slytherin. Over to the left was Professor Sprout for Hufflepuff and to the right was Professor Sinistra for Ravenclaw. All of the teachers had a crowd of students swarming around them.
"All right, all right," McGonagall said, trying to get through the crowd. "Move aside and I'll post it. Yes, Miss Brown, the judging was fair." Harry looked over beside McGonagall.
"That's where Lavender and Parvati were. They just wanted to get here early." Ron muttered. "They must have gotten up at the crack of dawn."
It was probably true. Lavender and Parvati were at the head of the crowd, right beside the wall.
"Yeah, because Joseph Dowright is way behind them, and he left the common room at five!" Ron added.
Then, it was posted. McGonagall jumped out of the way as students ran toward the wall to see if they had won. As always, Ron was the reader for Harry and Hermione. He stood on his tiptoes to read it.
"Jason was a winner for his year," Ron announced.
"Well, go to the fifth years," Hermione said impatiently.
"Right then. So, ah, oh. Oh, I see. Oh. Well, congratulations, Harry and Hermione." Ron said quietly, and he started running in the opposite direction.
"Ron!" Harry cried. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Congratulations, Harry!" Harry turned around to see Seamus.
"What?" Harry asked.
"You won!" Seamus cried. "You and Hermione! You are the winners for the Gryffindors!"
"We are?" Hermione said in astonishment. "Really?"
"Oh," Harry said, feeling dazed. Hermione stared at him suspiciously.
"Thanks, Seamus," Hermione said. "But we're going to go. I think Harry needs to lie down."
"Okay." Seamus shrugged.
Hermione led Harry out of the Great Hall and into the deserted corridors. She set him down on a chair and stared at him.
"What's the matter with you, Harry?" she cried. "Aren't you excited?"
"No," Harry said flatly.
"Why not?"
"Ron didn't seem too excited. Or did you just not notice?" Harry said icely, glaring at Hermione. "He can't do the contest with us. It won't be any fun without him." Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Are you saying that I'm not any fun?" she said, her voice quivering slightly.
Harry looked at the floor. Hermione spoke again.
"You know Harry, I have no idea how we became friends in the first place."
"Yeah, you just wanted to be friends with the famous Harry Potter!" Harry shot back.
"You just wanted someone to do your homework for you!" Hermione shouted. That was enough for Harry. He stood up and walked over so he was eye to eye with Hermione. He was fuming.
"I've always been a loyal friend!" Harry yelled.
"Well, I think that Malfoy has been right about you all along, Harry!" Hermione screamed. "You're selfish, conceited, spoiled,"
"Spoiled?" Harry shouted. "My parents were murdered when I was one year old and I had to live with maniacs until I was eleven. You call that spoiled?"
"Yes, I call that spoiled!" Hermione shot back.
"Oh yeah?" Harry cried. "Well, you're just a big old know-it-all who has no friends except for Ron and me. If it wasn't for us, you'd be miserable." Hermione laughed.
"Harry, you'd be dead if it wasn't for me."
"Yeah right!"
"The Devil's Snare, Harry. I saved you and Ron. You would have died there if it wasn't for me. I also saved you in the fire room. Remember that?"
"Ron and I saved you from the troll."
"Well, that was because you locked it in with me. It was your duty to save me."
"DUTY!"
"Yes, duty."
"Hermione, Ron hated you at the beginning of our first year. I hated you. Everyone hated you!" Harry shouted, a bundle of fury swelling up inside his chest.
It was all too much for Hermione. She looked Harry straight into his eyes,
slapped him across the face, then walked quickly away.
Harry placed his hand to the spot where Hermione had hit him. It hurt. He ran over to the other side of the hallway, where there was a mirror. He looked at himself. Hermione's hand had left an imprint on his left cheek. He walked back over to the chair and sat down. Part of him wanted to kill Hermione, and the other part wanted to beg for mercy. It was true that Hermione basically did his homework for him. With Quidditch practices, he couldn't survive without her doing homework for him. He slowly walked up to the Gryffindor common room. Without Hermione and Ron, he didn't know how he was going to survive for the rest of the year.
Author's Note: That's it! Please post you comments and reviews! We really want to hear them. This chapter is our longest yet!
~Cassy and Kammi
P.S. Also, e-mail us at cassyandkammi@writeme.com if you find our mistake! (See author's note at the beginning of the story.) Tchao!