Disclaimer-J.K Rowlings owns all of the characters Hogwarts and everything else in this fic. I own the plot.



Turmoil at Hogwarts



Chapter 3-The announcement



Ginny woke up the next morning feeling very tired, which wasn't a big surprise because she had only gotten three or four hours of sleep the night before. She got ready and made her way down to breakfast. Ginny was about halfway done with her food when Dumbledore stood up. The students in the Great Hall quieted down and Dumbledore began to speak. "As you know there has been great conflict between the houses. This is unacceptable for a school as that is as prestigious as Hogwarts is. Your classmates should be your friends not your enemies. They should be there to help you when you have a problem to fix. The time you spend here at Hogwarts should leave you with pleasant memories and stories, not with rivalries and resentfulness. The only way we can achieve anything is to learn to work with other people, which means that you students have to settle your differences. The other professors and I feel that you can not get along together without being helped out by us professors. So, none of you students will be allowed to go home over Christmas break. Your parents have been notified and have signed permission slips. The reason that you will not be going home for Christmas is because you will be split into groups and your group will be staying together in a different city or town for one month. The groups are composed of students from each of the houses. Each group will contain seven students. Forth through Seventh Year students will be staying in groups together and First through Third Year students will be staying together. You will have to learn to work together during this month and hopefully you will be making new friends. The groups will be posted outside of the Great Hall and you will receive a letter that further explains this excursion during your first hour class."

After Dumbledore was done speaking he sat down in his chair and began speaking to all of the other professors.

Ginny who was sitting by Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly finished her breakfast. When they were all done eating the four Gryffindors walked outside of the Great Hall to look at the list of groups. There was a very large group of people looking at the lists so it took a few minutes for them to push their way to the front of the crowd.

Ginny was not very pleased when she saw the other people in her group. Well, one person in particular.

"Oh no, My group is absolutely terrible!" Hermione said.

"Can't be as bad as my group!" Harry said.

"No, I think mine's the worst of all," Ron said.

"Let's compare people in our groups," said Ginny. "I know that I have the worst group of all."

"I've got Vincent Crabbe-Slytherin, George Weasley, who will keep me sane, Katie Bell, Mandy Brocklehurst..." Harry said.

"Who's Mandy Brocklehurst?" Ron asked.

"She's that really snobby girl from Ravenclaw. You know, the one who is never wrong." Hermione said.

"Oh yah, I know who your talking about. She's not that bad," Ron said.

"You just think she's pretty," Hermione said.

"Anyway," said Harry, "I also have Hannah Abott- Hufflepuff, and Millicent Bulstrode-Slytherin." Harry finished.

"Eww, Vincent Crabbe and Millicent Bulstrode! I feel sorry for you!" Hermione said.

"I've got Roger Davies- Ravenclaw, Fred Weasley, Justin Finch-Fletchley-Hufflepuff, Alicia Spinett, Padma Patil-Ravenclaw, and Pansy Parkinson-Slytherin." Hermione said.

"Pansy Parkinson, have fun, Herm!" Ron said.

"Well, who's in your group, Ron?" Harry asked.

"I've got Gregory Goyle-Slytherin, Parvati Patil, Cho Chang-Ravenclaw..." Ron said.

"You've got Cho in your group? That's not fair! I wish that I could switch you groups." Harry interrupted.

"Sorry Harry. Anyway, I also have Angelina Johnson, Ernie Macmillon-Hufflepuff, and Colin Creavy in my group. Do you still want to trade me groups, Harry?" Ron said.

"Uh, I don't know. I don't think I could put up with Colin for a whole month, even if Cho was in my group. You have been quiet, Ginny. Who's in your group?" Harry asked.

"Seamus Finnigan, Lee Jordan, Lavender Brown, Susan Bones-Hufflepuff, Terry Boot-Ravenclaw, and Draco Malfoy-Slytherin," Ginny said sounding unenthusiastic.

"It'll be okay Ginny, you will only be staying for a month and there wil be other people staying with you," Hermione said trying to sound reassuring.

"We'll have Seamus and Lee make sure that Draco Malfoy stays away from you. They will make sure that you're okay. Don't worry about him, Ginny. Everything is going to turn out just fine," Ron said.

"Well, I guess if Lee and Seamus are going to stay in the same house as me, I won't have anything to worry about," Ginny said and gave the others a small smile. "Besides, I can take care of myself. I won't let him mess with me." Then Ginny looked down at her watch. "Oh,no!" She said. "I'm going to be late for potions!"

"You better run Ginny, you don't want to get detention with Snape," Harry said.

Ginny took off running down the hall but took the time to yell over her shoulder, "See you guys at lunch!"

Ginny didn't arrive late to Snape's class, which was a very fortunate thing because Snape was in a very foul mood. She took a seat next to Colin Creavy and pulled out her potions book.

Snape walked around the classroom and handed every student a piece of paper. When he was through handing out the papers he said, "Professor Dumbledore told me to pass these letters out to all of you students and the rest of the class time we have we will spend discussing them. Start reading the letters now."

Ginny looked at the note that was on her desk. It said

Dear Miss Ginny Weasley,

On December 22 you and the other six students in your group will be traveling by floo powder to a house near Dublin, Ireland. While at the house you will have to learn to work together with your group. Every few days a teacher will come by to see how well your group is doing and they will give you a grade. Your group will be supervised by a witch or wizard that will be staying with you while you are in Dublin. They will be able to award and take away points from your house.

Time will be spent with each person in your group and you will have to perform household tasks together. Homework will still be assigned during this trip and you will take tests on what you have learned when you return to Hogwarts.

These are the other six members of your group.

Susan Bones-Hufflepuff

Terry Boot-Ravenclaw

Lavender Brown-Gryffindor

Seamus Finnagin-Gryffindor

Lee Jordan-Gryffindor

Draco Malfoy-Slytherin

You will be leaving at 7:30 a.m. on the 22 of December. A list of supplies is located at the bottom of this page.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress



List of Supplies

Plain work robes

Casual Robes

Dress robes

Winter cloak

Pointed black hat

all of your school books

wand

cauldron

telescope



Ginny looked around the room when she was finished reading her letter. None of the other students looked very happy about what their letters said. She saw that Colin was done reading his letter so she whispered, "Hey Colin, where are you going to stay?"

"I'll be staying in Manchester, England. Where are you staying?" Colin asked.

"Dublin, Ireland," she replied.

"Quiet students," Snape said sternly. "Are there any questions?" Snape spent the remainder of the hour answering questions. Ginny only halfheartedly listened to him because she spent most of the time trying to convince herself that she wouldn't have to see Draco very much and she could spend the majority of her time getting to know the other five members of the group better. After the end of class Ginny went and sat in the Gryffindor common room and was soon joined by Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Harry asked, "So where are you going to be staying at?"

"Dublin, Ireland," Ginny said.

"I'm going to Glasgon, Scotland," Harry said.

"I'll be in Manchester, England," Ron said.

"I know," said Ginny, "Colin told me."

"Where are you going, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Paris, France." Hermione said. "I really like it in France. I'm starting to get kind of excited about this trip."

"I'm not," Ginny said flatly.

Just then Seamus Finnigan walked up. "I'm glad you're in my group, Ginny." He said. "Have you ever been to Ireland before?"

"No, I haven't. Is it pretty?" Ginny asked.

"Oh yes, everything is green and flowers grow all over the place. Too bad you are going to see it in the winter though. It's not as pretty as it is in the summer." Seamus said.

"Ginny is a little bit worried about Malfoy, "Ron told Seamus.

"You don't have to worry about him. I'll make sure he doesn't try to mess with you." Seamus kindly said in a way that one of her brothers would talk to her.

"Thanks Seamus," Ginny said, "but I think that I can take care of him pretty well on my own. If he tries to mess with me, I might be forced to punch him again.

"I didn't know you hit him, Ginny. When did that happen?" Hermione asked.

"When we were serving our detention. I felt kind of bad after I hit him though. I've never really punched anyone before," Ginny said.

"I'm sure he deserved it," Seamus said.

"I guess you're right," Ginny said. "I'll see you guys later. I'm going to go upstairs to start deciding what I'm going to take to Ireland."

"That sounds like a good idea, Ginny." Hermione said, "I'm going to go start packing too."

"Bye Harry. Bye Ron. Bye Seamus. Bye Hermione." Ginny said.

"See you at dinner," Harry said.

Ginny walked up to her dorm room and was relieved to find it empty. She didn't fell like talking to anyone, which was the main reason why she left the common room. She wanted to just sit and think for a while. Spending a whole month with Draco Malfoy didn't seem like a very appealing trip. But Ginny was determined to have fun despite the fact that Draco Malfoy was going. She was hoping that Terry Boot and Susan Bones were nice people because she hd never talked to them before. Maybe she would become good friends with them. The prospect of making new friends cheered Ginny up a little bit. She had always enjoyed meeting new people even though at times she could be a little bit shy. Plus, if Ireland is as pretty as Seamus said, she would love staying there. The trip was becoming less unbearable to her the more she thought about it.

"I'm not going to let Draco Malfoy ruin this for me," Ginny thought aloud. "And maybe, he's not as bad as I think. No, that just going too far."

Ginny began pacing her bags with a newfound excitement.

A/N-I finally got this chapter finished. Sorry it took so long, I've had a very busy week. I tried to make this chapter long and to me it feels like I wrote too much. Please tell me what you think. I think that this is one of the worst chapters I've ever written, but that's just my opinion. Please R/R, I love getting reviews.



Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter two.

Summer Thyme, when I read your review it cracked me up. I never thought of anger management classes. Maybe I should work that into my story. J/K!

Saphire, I am so glad I convinced you to review, here's the next chapter. So how do you like it?

Aurora Riddle, I tried to make this chapter longer just for you, but I don't think that I did a very good job at. Oh, well I tried.

Draco's Princess, now you know what the letters say. Sorry I didn't write really, really fast. I had a busy week.

Rosandra May, sorry that you don't get many reviews. I'll review your story if you want me to, since you were kind enough to review mine.

Krissy, I hope that you like my idea on what the letters said.

Steph1, I tried to write more this time and I'm glad you like my story.

Lavender James, it seems like to me I kind of took away some the confidence that Ginny had. I could think of any other way to write this chapter. But, I promise that I'll make her more confident in the upcoming chapters.

May, well they haven't got together yet, but be patient and you'll find out how they do end up getting together.