~*~ Thnx to any readers out there! I would really appreciate it if you would review my Fic, when you can. It means a lot to me! Criticism is good for me! That way I know how to make this story more enjoyable for you! ^_^ But, please, don't be too harsh… As once said by another author on here: "Constructive flames are welcome, it's the only way I can grow. But no pointless bonfires please, because I, like everyone else, will just ignore them"…well, that's exactly how I feel about my Fic and you Reviews! So yeah… Anyhoo… Enjoy! ~*~
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Harry took his seat, between Hermione and Ron, in the back of Snape's class. "What did Sirius say?" Ron asked. Harry finished pulling out his Potions Books and turned to face him. "I'm going to meet him after class… maybe he knows something about this crest thing…" he said quietly, as Hailey and Hermionie listened carefully. Snape wrote the ingredients for their potion on the board. They were supposed to be making a giggling potion today, and they would test it at the end of class. Harry copied down his ingredients and got started. He added lacewings, dragon liver, newts-tail extract, and beetle eyes to his already bubbling concoction. He looked down the table to where Hailey was sitting. She was an exceptionally good potion maker; almost as good as Hermionie. They sat brewing their Giggling Potions for most of the class, and everything was going great, until it came time to test them. Snape got the classes attention and announced that it was time to test it. Now the class was filling small vials of their potions. When Snape called your name, it was your turn to test your potion. However, instead of going from the top of the attendance list, he went from the bottom. That way he could see how the Potters potions turned out.
When it got to Harry, he removed the lid, took a deep breath and downed it in one gulp. At first nothing happened, when quite suddenly, he began to giggle uncontrollably. Before Harry, Ron had gone. His potion turned out quite well; except for the occasional puff of pink smoke that would emit from his ears, he to was giggling uncontrollably. It was Hailey's turn now, and she didn't seem the least bit nervous. She swallowed the liquid and waited for the effect. A high-pitched giggle, as if she had sucked on helium, sounded in the room. Snape was beside himself with near rage. He glared at them with malice. Eventually they got through most of the class, and were now at the L's. When Neville's name was called, he whimpered with fright, praying that something would happen, and he wouldn't have to test his potion. However, that wish never came true. He swallowed his potion quickly, willing this moment to be over. He awaited the giggles hopefully, nut they never came. There was a gasp from Lavender Brown as she saw Neville's face. He was turning a pinkish-purple shade, and his cheeks were swelling rapidly. He waved his arms in panic. Snape watched, mildly amused. He lazily waved his wand and Neville's head was back to its regular size. He was still a funny color, and Harry had a feeling that Snape hadn't fixed, just for the fun of it. The Slytherins in the room that hadn't taken their potions yet, were double up with laughter as the poor Gryffindor sat back down, more embarrassed than before. Hermionie's turn came round, and unsurprisingly, her potion worked perfectly.
They had finally reached the last person in the class, when the bell rang. "Alright then… I'll meet you guys down in the Great Hall. I won't be long, talking to Sirius. I just want to ask him a few things…" Harry said, and with that they separated in the corridor, and Harry headed back up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The door was closed when he got there. He knocked lightly on the door, and Sirius's voice could be heard. "Come in!" he called. Harry opened the door and stuck his head in. "Hi…" he said as he came into the room fully. He walked up to the front of the classroom, and leant against one of the desks. "Just give me a minute. I'm just finishing marking this essay." He read for a few more minutes, wrote a mark at the end of the paper, and looked up to Harry. "So, you wanted to talk to me about something?" he asked. Harry nodded. "Well, I was wondering if you knew anything about a crest of some sort. Maybe something that I should or would know about…" he watched as Sirius scratched his chin in thought. "Hmmm… I can honestly say, I don't know…" he said finally. Harry slumped his shoulders, sighed, and held his face in his hands. "Why's it so important?" Sirius asked him. "What? Oh, it's nothing. I'm just a bit frustrated, that's all…" he looked out the window at the grounds. "Well, thanks anyway Sirius…" Harry said gloomily, as he stood up and started towards the door. "I'll let you know if I think of anything, OK?" Sirius called after his retreating back. Harry nodded and closed the door behind him. He walked slowly back to Gryffindor tower to drop of his bag, before going back downstairs to the Great Hall…
The days passed by, and Harry still hadn't figured it out. He was completely befuddled by the Professors angry outburst, about some crest he had no recollection of. The thought of it was nagging at the back of his mind, like some irritating pest that wouldn't go away. But it was wiped from his mind, as the castle prepared for a day of Halloween festivities. There was excitement in the air, as there usually was on any holiday. Harry was having quite a day; he hardly had any homework for the weekend, except for a potions essay on Giggling serum for Snape, and a star chart for Professor Trelawney. OK, so he did have some homework, but it wasn't much, compared to the usual stacks that he'd get on a regular basis. It was always like this near a holiday, or a special occasion. No one minded of course; the teachers were obviously resentful against it, but they figured that they might as well not even bother, when everyone was so eager for fun or time off. Harry sat in the Great Hall with his friends. They were playing games and having an all-around good time. George and Hailey, however, were bickering about who would win the World Cup. It was down to the final four teams: Ireland, Scotland, Bulgaria, and Russia (England had made it extremely far but, unfortunately lost in their last match against Ireland). Hailey was rooting for Scotland, and thought that the odds of them winning were fairly high. George thought otherwise. He was rooting for Ireland and thought that they had a better chance at winning, taking into consideration, the way they had completely trampled England. In the end, they made a Ten Galleon bet, on which team would win. And if they were both wrong, they'd split it Five Galleons each. Harry and Ron were listening to them, with keen interest. But they were torn away from the entertaining squabble when Hermione asked them for help. She was playing a game of chess with Dean. She had gotten her Queen in a complicated position and was trying to figure out how to escape, when she resulted in asking the chess master, Ron. He had played nearly every Gryffindor in their year, and so far, was unbeaten. He helped her out, and in almost no time at all Dean had cornered her again. He eventually did win the game and she decided that she had played enough chess for one day. It was almost time for the Halloween Feast. More people started to enter the Hall, and soon enough, they were all digging into a delicious meal.
Full and tired, Harry, Hailey, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of Gryffindor House all made their way back up to their Tower. Some stayed in the common room to talk and linger for a while, but most of them, including Harry and his friends, went straight to bed. Harry changed into his Pajamas, as did the other boys. They all climbed into bed, except for Ron. He simply fell forward onto his bed, bouncing slightly off the mattress. The second his head hit the pillow, his muffled snores could be heard. The boys followed suit, and eventually, were all sleeping soundly. No strange dreams haunted Harry's thoughts that night as he slept peacefully, for which he was quite thankful. Harry woke that morning and, unsuccessfully tried to wake Ron. In the end, he ambushed him with pillows, effectively waking him up. "What'd you do that for?" Ron said groggily as he sat up in his bed. "We were supposed to go down to the pitch this morning, to go flying!" Harry said as began to dress. A light seemed to click on in Ron's head and he was suddenly wide-awake. They got their brooms and headed downstairs. They were almost through the portrait hole, when someone called out for them, from behind. "Harry! Wait!" It was Hailey. She was waving a piece of parchment around in her hand as she ran towards her. "What's wrong?" he asked her as he stepped back into the common room. "Oh! Nothing, nothing… But Hedwig just brought a letter from Sirius. He thinks he might know something about that crest…" she said. Harry was extremely happy to know this. "Oh, that's great!" he said, "But, Ron and I were gonna go out Flying for a while… We can go talk to Sirius afterwards, OK?" Hailey nodded and said bye.
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