CHAPTER TWO
Harry, Ron, and Hermione raced up the stairs, shouted the password ("Lemon custard!") at the fat lady, and then found themselves in the safety of the Gryffindor Common Room. It was a Saturday, and many students wouldn't be awake for at least another hour, leaving the three of them some time to read through the diary.
Ron pulled the notebook from under his shirt and set it down on a table. Then the three friends just stared at it.
"Maybe I should read it first. By myself. In case he says something about my mother that I don't want you two to hear," Harry suggested.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged. "Fair enough," Ron said.
"Yes," Hermione rejoined. "It is your mother after all. Though we expect you to tell us everything else that's appropriate!"
"Right," Harry nodded. "I'll find out just what my mother did to make Snape hate me so much."
"Did, or didn't do," Ron said playfully, punching Harry in the arm.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed. "That's my mum you're talking about!" Harry had never really known his parents, but he knew there were just some things you didn't say about someone's mother.
Ron and Hermione found something else to read and installed themselves across the Common Room from Harry as he opened Snape's diary.
But to his horror, he was greeted by nothing more than a book of empty pages.
"What?" he exclaimed. "No!"
"What is it?" Hermione asked, walking hastily to Harry.
"All the pages are blank!" he cried out.
"Crikey!" Ron exhaled. "But they had stuff written on them before, didn't they?"
"Yeah, they did," Harry said, in shock, as he flipped once more through the pages, hoping he had just been mistaken. But all of the pages were entirely white. Even the title page was blank. Nothing remained to link this diary to Snape.
"Are you sure you grabbed the right book, Ron?" Hermione wondered. "It could have gotten mixed up with all the others lying around in his office!"
"Yeah, that's the book we were looking at, I'm sure," Ron assured her.
"Snape must have charmed it somehow," Harry insisted. "Something to keep the ink from appearing."
Ron and Harry looked at Hermione. She was as good as a spellbook, anyway. Hermione sighed.
"Well, I suppose he could have written in invisible ink. That would just take an Aparecium spell. It's simple enough to—"
But Hermione didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, as a group of over-eager first years burst from the dormitories en route to breakfast in the Great Hall. It was the first weekend of the school year, and the novelty of living in an enchanted castle still hadn't worn off on them. Nor on any of the other students, certainly. But still, Harry took care to conceal the journal from the other students. He didn't need any more questions or suspicions than there already were..
"Harry, coming to breakfast?" Dennis Creevey, a diminutive second year who, much like his older brother Colin, idolized Harry, demanded exuberantly.
"Um, yeah, Dennis, in a minute," he said, almost indifferently. "I think I should put this upstairs," he said to Ron and Hermione, who nodded and waited for him as he ran up to his dormitory.
In the Great Hall, Ron, Hermione, and Harry sat together at the Gryffindor table, hoping to figure out a way to read the journal. But every time Harry looked up, Snape was staring at him from across the room, the same look of contempt as always on his face. Harry pretended like he hadn't seen him, but all throughout the meals, he could feel Snape's eyes boring into him.
After the students had finished breakfast, Dumbledore tapped on his water glass to signal silence, and a hush fell over the hall. Dumbledore stood up.
"I would like to welcome all of you to the first weekend of the school year, and express the staff's happiness to have all of you here with us this year. This promises to be a most spectacular year for Hogwarts," Dumbledore said in introduction. "Of course, we cannot forget those who are no longer with us." Dumbledore's gaze fell upon Hufflepuff house, whose loss of Cedric Diggory was most painful. "We shall remember Cedric Diggory for his bravery, his compassion, and his concern for his fellow Hogwarts students."
Resounding applause originated in the Hufflepuff table and soon spread to all the others. A resolute look came across Harry's face, as Dumbledore's gaze turned to the Gryffindor table.
"And we must not, of course, forget the bravery of one who is still with us. One who showed not only his ingenuity but also his selflessness in competing in the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye. He could sense that Harry disliked being singled out this way, but still knew that the boy was indeed special. "Now, it is my pleasure to introduce Professor McGonagall, who will give us a word about what's to be of Quidditch this year."
Applause once more rang out in the Hall. After a whole year without it, the Hogwarts students were ready to see some more Quidditch matches.
"Thank you, Headmaster," McGonagall said as she stood up. "This year, I am happy to report that Quidditch will return to Hogwarts, after it was absent for a year in order to accommodate the Triwizard Tournament. New captains have been appointed to replace those who have graduated or…left us under other circumstances, and practices will begin this very week!" More applause. "And, I am happy to announce that the first Quidditch match of the new school year will take place two weeks from today, between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff!"
The Great Hall was positively bursting with applause, but Harry breathed a huge sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to worry about getting ready for a Quidditch match for another three weeks.
As the students filed out of the Great Hall, Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor chaser, stopped Harry in the corridor.
"Hey Potter," she said. "You don't have any problem with me taking over for Wood as captain, do you?"
"No, Angelina, not at all," he said. He was sure she was just as capable as Oliver Wood at leading the team. She only hoped she wouldn't force them to practice for three hours a day, as Wood had made them do the last time there was an important match.
"Ravenclaw playing Hufflepuff means that our first match will be against Slytherin," she told him, "And that means we have to be ready for anything they try to pull on us. Our first practice is tomorrow, after breakfast, down at the Quidditch pitch. And we'll have to find us a goalkeeper to replace Wood, do you have any ideas?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
Angelina nodded thoughtfully to herself.
"Right, I'll keep my eyes open. In the mean time, if you see any of those Weasleys, you tell them about practice, alright?"
"Sure," Harry said. Angelina nodded again and joined her friends as they walked away. Harry set off to find Ron and Hermione, in the hope that they might be able to break the charm on Snape's journal.
"Hello, Harry," a girl's voice said from behind Harry. He spun around and was greeted by Cho Chang, the very pretty Ravenclaw seeker, on whom Harry just happened to have a bit of a crush.
"Oh! Um, hello Cho, how are you?" he said nervously.
"I'm doing well," she said, "considering…" she trailed off, but Harry knew she was thinking about Cedric. "Look, I didn't get the chance to talk to you before the end of school last year, but I just wanted to tell you that I thought what you did at the Triwizard Tournament was very brave, and I really appreciate it." There was such a look of sadness in her eyes that Harry wanted nothing more than to embrace her, but for some reason, he held off.
"Well, I only did what I thought was right. It was what Cedric would have done," he said finally.
"Yes," Cho nodded, her eyes glistening. They stood in silence for a moment. "Well, you better get back. And I have Quidditch practice now," she said to break the awkwardness.
"Yes, perhaps I should. Good luck in the match, Cho," he said.
"Thank you, Harry," she said as she set off for Ravenclaw. Harry sighed deeply and stood still for a moment, watching her go.
"Ahem!" someone loudly cleared her throat. Ron and Hermione were standing opposite him, eyebrows raised.
"Had a good chat, I hope?" Ron asked wickedly. Harry blushed.
"Yes, I'm sure he did," Hermione said quickly and started off ahead of them. "Are you two coming?"
"Yeah, 'course we are," said Ron.
"Well hurry up!" she prompted impatiently.
"What's gotten into her?" Harry asked, puzzled. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ron asked. Harry was still confused.
"No," he said softly, but Ron was already too far ahead of him to hear.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione raced up the stairs, shouted the password ("Lemon custard!") at the fat lady, and then found themselves in the safety of the Gryffindor Common Room. It was a Saturday, and many students wouldn't be awake for at least another hour, leaving the three of them some time to read through the diary.
Ron pulled the notebook from under his shirt and set it down on a table. Then the three friends just stared at it.
"Maybe I should read it first. By myself. In case he says something about my mother that I don't want you two to hear," Harry suggested.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged. "Fair enough," Ron said.
"Yes," Hermione rejoined. "It is your mother after all. Though we expect you to tell us everything else that's appropriate!"
"Right," Harry nodded. "I'll find out just what my mother did to make Snape hate me so much."
"Did, or didn't do," Ron said playfully, punching Harry in the arm.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed. "That's my mum you're talking about!" Harry had never really known his parents, but he knew there were just some things you didn't say about someone's mother.
Ron and Hermione found something else to read and installed themselves across the Common Room from Harry as he opened Snape's diary.
But to his horror, he was greeted by nothing more than a book of empty pages.
"What?" he exclaimed. "No!"
"What is it?" Hermione asked, walking hastily to Harry.
"All the pages are blank!" he cried out.
"Crikey!" Ron exhaled. "But they had stuff written on them before, didn't they?"
"Yeah, they did," Harry said, in shock, as he flipped once more through the pages, hoping he had just been mistaken. But all of the pages were entirely white. Even the title page was blank. Nothing remained to link this diary to Snape.
"Are you sure you grabbed the right book, Ron?" Hermione wondered. "It could have gotten mixed up with all the others lying around in his office!"
"Yeah, that's the book we were looking at, I'm sure," Ron assured her.
"Snape must have charmed it somehow," Harry insisted. "Something to keep the ink from appearing."
Ron and Harry looked at Hermione. She was as good as a spellbook, anyway. Hermione sighed.
"Well, I suppose he could have written in invisible ink. That would just take an Aparecium spell. It's simple enough to—"
But Hermione didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, as a group of over-eager first years burst from the dormitories en route to breakfast in the Great Hall. It was the first weekend of the school year, and the novelty of living in an enchanted castle still hadn't worn off on them. Nor on any of the other students, certainly. But still, Harry took care to conceal the journal from the other students. He didn't need any more questions or suspicions than there already were..
"Harry, coming to breakfast?" Dennis Creevey, a diminutive second year who, much like his older brother Colin, idolized Harry, demanded exuberantly.
"Um, yeah, Dennis, in a minute," he said, almost indifferently. "I think I should put this upstairs," he said to Ron and Hermione, who nodded and waited for him as he ran up to his dormitory.
In the Great Hall, Ron, Hermione, and Harry sat together at the Gryffindor table, hoping to figure out a way to read the journal. But every time Harry looked up, Snape was staring at him from across the room, the same look of contempt as always on his face. Harry pretended like he hadn't seen him, but all throughout the meals, he could feel Snape's eyes boring into him.
After the students had finished breakfast, Dumbledore tapped on his water glass to signal silence, and a hush fell over the hall. Dumbledore stood up.
"I would like to welcome all of you to the first weekend of the school year, and express the staff's happiness to have all of you here with us this year. This promises to be a most spectacular year for Hogwarts," Dumbledore said in introduction. "Of course, we cannot forget those who are no longer with us." Dumbledore's gaze fell upon Hufflepuff house, whose loss of Cedric Diggory was most painful. "We shall remember Cedric Diggory for his bravery, his compassion, and his concern for his fellow Hogwarts students."
Resounding applause originated in the Hufflepuff table and soon spread to all the others. A resolute look came across Harry's face, as Dumbledore's gaze turned to the Gryffindor table.
"And we must not, of course, forget the bravery of one who is still with us. One who showed not only his ingenuity but also his selflessness in competing in the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye. He could sense that Harry disliked being singled out this way, but still knew that the boy was indeed special. "Now, it is my pleasure to introduce Professor McGonagall, who will give us a word about what's to be of Quidditch this year."
Applause once more rang out in the Hall. After a whole year without it, the Hogwarts students were ready to see some more Quidditch matches.
"Thank you, Headmaster," McGonagall said as she stood up. "This year, I am happy to report that Quidditch will return to Hogwarts, after it was absent for a year in order to accommodate the Triwizard Tournament. New captains have been appointed to replace those who have graduated or…left us under other circumstances, and practices will begin this very week!" More applause. "And, I am happy to announce that the first Quidditch match of the new school year will take place two weeks from today, between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff!"
The Great Hall was positively bursting with applause, but Harry breathed a huge sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to worry about getting ready for a Quidditch match for another three weeks.
As the students filed out of the Great Hall, Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor chaser, stopped Harry in the corridor.
"Hey Potter," she said. "You don't have any problem with me taking over for Wood as captain, do you?"
"No, Angelina, not at all," he said. He was sure she was just as capable as Oliver Wood at leading the team. She only hoped she wouldn't force them to practice for three hours a day, as Wood had made them do the last time there was an important match.
"Ravenclaw playing Hufflepuff means that our first match will be against Slytherin," she told him, "And that means we have to be ready for anything they try to pull on us. Our first practice is tomorrow, after breakfast, down at the Quidditch pitch. And we'll have to find us a goalkeeper to replace Wood, do you have any ideas?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
Angelina nodded thoughtfully to herself.
"Right, I'll keep my eyes open. In the mean time, if you see any of those Weasleys, you tell them about practice, alright?"
"Sure," Harry said. Angelina nodded again and joined her friends as they walked away. Harry set off to find Ron and Hermione, in the hope that they might be able to break the charm on Snape's journal.
"Hello, Harry," a girl's voice said from behind Harry. He spun around and was greeted by Cho Chang, the very pretty Ravenclaw seeker, on whom Harry just happened to have a bit of a crush.
"Oh! Um, hello Cho, how are you?" he said nervously.
"I'm doing well," she said, "considering…" she trailed off, but Harry knew she was thinking about Cedric. "Look, I didn't get the chance to talk to you before the end of school last year, but I just wanted to tell you that I thought what you did at the Triwizard Tournament was very brave, and I really appreciate it." There was such a look of sadness in her eyes that Harry wanted nothing more than to embrace her, but for some reason, he held off.
"Well, I only did what I thought was right. It was what Cedric would have done," he said finally.
"Yes," Cho nodded, her eyes glistening. They stood in silence for a moment. "Well, you better get back. And I have Quidditch practice now," she said to break the awkwardness.
"Yes, perhaps I should. Good luck in the match, Cho," he said.
"Thank you, Harry," she said as she set off for Ravenclaw. Harry sighed deeply and stood still for a moment, watching her go.
"Ahem!" someone loudly cleared her throat. Ron and Hermione were standing opposite him, eyebrows raised.
"Had a good chat, I hope?" Ron asked wickedly. Harry blushed.
"Yes, I'm sure he did," Hermione said quickly and started off ahead of them. "Are you two coming?"
"Yeah, 'course we are," said Ron.
"Well hurry up!" she prompted impatiently.
"What's gotten into her?" Harry asked, puzzled. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ron asked. Harry was still confused.
"No," he said softly, but Ron was already too far ahead of him to hear.