Chapter Eleven: Hogsmeade
'Great,' Ron muttered, for about the fifteenth time in five minutes, 'I don't know what scares me more, that we know something is trying to kill us- ' 'Or that he managed to hurt Hagrid even when he was thwarted.' Hermione completed, half conversing and half noting down what Kilmorie was explaining on the Patronus Charm. 'Don't call it 'he',' Harry cut in, 'It's not human, I don't want to think of it that way.' Hermione looked as if she would argue, but then nodded and continued noting down Kilmorie's words. 'I don't want to be thinking like that when I have to fight it.' 'Fight it?' Ron hissed incredulously, 'are you crazy?' 'Ron,' Harry replied tersely, 'when was the last time I managed to avoid fighting someone - or something?' 'Good point,' Ron conceded, his face still troubled. 'Thank you Mr. Weasley,' Kilmorie replied, 'I do like to think I make the occasional worthwhile comment in my class. Would you care to expand on the finer subtleties of the Patronus Charm?' Under his stern gaze, Ron muttered something under his breath and returned to scratching notes with his quill. Harry lifted his when Kilmorie took the quill from him instead. 'Enough writing Harry, you already know this charm - and I'd like to demonstrate if you'd care.' Harry opened his mouth to object, but then noticed most of the class were focused on him, while trying to keep writing of course. Nodding his assent, Harry followed Kilmorie to the front of the room, then waited while the Professor went to the cupboard nestled in the corner. 'I've been told you've had experience with Boggarts, just do enough to incapacitate it Harry - they've been avoiding Hogwarts for a couple of years now.' He added the last part with a wry grin that was reflected by most of the class, all remembered Lupin's fascination with the creature and how to defeat it. With a nod to Harry, Kilmorie unlocked the door, releasing his grip on the doors. Nothing happened. Slowly, so slowly that it was barely noticeable, the door began to open, a soft golden glow spilling out from within. Abruptly the lights in the classroom flickered out, every candle extinguished, apart from the one now seen hovering in the doorway of the cupboard. Even as Harry's confusion began to grow into suspicion, he saw the shadows around him begin to shift and spun to see the Boggart, or rather the Cambirer it had become, rise up, a steel blade arcing towards him. Silver flashed in front of his vision, and he saw the knife caught on another in front of him. With a grunt of effort Kilmorie threw the demon backwards as he parried the stab. With a quick spin he replaced his own dagger in its arm sheath, then drew a sword from beneath his cloak with unexpected speed. Striding forward, he parried aside the Boggart's second swing, then drove the sword into its shoulder, pinning it to the wall. 'Everyone out! Now!' he roared, using his free hand to wrestle the dagger away from the Boggart. Harry stood stunned for a second, but a tug from Ron had him leaving with the rest of the class. As they left, Harry saw Kilmorie step back and the Boggart shift, but he didn't see into what form. 'What was that?' Seamus asked, not directing the question at Harry but hoping that he would give an answer. Harry could only shake his head dumbfounded, and as the class filtered around the corridor, he was aware of the space the others unconsciously placed around him once more. 'That was a Cambirer, wasn't it?' Hermione whispered, her voice not carrying to the others. 'Yes,' Harry said, 'I wasn't thinking, I should have realised - what other form would the Boggart take?' 'I suppose it could have been Kilmorie,' Ron quipped, 'he looked angry as hell when he realised what the Boggart was.' 'What's really odd though,' Hermione continued as Harry nodded silently, 'is that he had exactly the right things to deal with it.' 'Nah,' Ron dismissed her idea easily, 'Dumbledore told Harry that Kilmorie had been brought in because of the Cambirer - of course he'd have the weapons to deal with it. And it was quite impressive as well, the way he did.' 'It was like he knew what it was going to do,' Harry added, but even as he did so something was tugging at his thoughts. Dismissing it, he leant against the wall of the corridor, letting the coolness of the stone ease his tension. After a few seconds he let a smile onto his face, and commented to Ron, 'Bet that makes you feel a bit better though?'
* * *
After the scare with the Boggart, Harry found his ease returning, and the routine of Hogwarts soon settled him down nicely. The next few weeks became busier and busier as Halloween approached for the Gryffindors, especially for Harry, Ron and Hermione. With Quidditch practice taking up lots of time, even for Ron, Harry found himself helping with preparations for the feast as well to make up for Ron's absences at times. Despite this, they still signed up to go into Hogsmeade for the first time, or in Harry's case, the second. Once again it seemed that half of Gryffindor tower also wanted to take part, Harry was grateful that some of the younger years couldn't go with them. For one thing it meant Colin was staying behind with his brother Dennis, both of whom were only a few steps away from forming the 'Harry Potter Fan Club' Ron had teased him about. Inevitably, the afternoon before they went in meant Double Potions with the Slytherins was what Harry had to face, as well as the possibility of running into Draco in Hogsmeade as well. However, the lesson didn't turn out to be as bad as Harry had though, despite Snape's usual unpleasantness towards him and of course, Neville. He was just about to criticise Neville's boiled slugs when the unexpected surprise occurred, only a few people didn't find it amusing. With astonishing strength, the door flew open and Jenks ran through, a white blur against the dark surface behind him. With equally astounding speed, another blur followed him, a blur which resolved into Mrs. Norris as she bounced off a table leg in her pursuit. 'Get her away from me Severus!' Jenks yelled, now running along and around potions equipment on the desktops. His normally sour face showed amusement, but Snape ended the chase by brusquely grabbing Mrs. Norris as she ran by his ankles, lifting her up in a spitting ball of rage. Crossing the room quickly, he put her down outside and shut the door before she could sneak back in. 'Honestly,' Jenks muttered, 'women.' Then he notice half the class staring at him with narrower eyes then they had been doing a second before hand. 'What?'
* * *
The tale of Jenks and Mrs. Norris had circulated the Three Broomsticks at least twelve times when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered, just in time to see Hagrid's animated recounting of it. Seeing them enter, he grinned at Harry and waved his hand, now bandage-free and without any sign of scarring. While Ron and Hermione went to order drinks, Harry went over to Hagrid. 'Y'alright there Harry?' he asked, mead on his breath explaining the slight slur. 'I was jus' tellin' Professor McGonagall about Jenks's adventure in yeh class.' 'For the seventh time,' she added, shooting Harry one of her rare amused glances. 'Ready for the match on Saturday?' 'Yes,' Harry replied, 'the teams good and we've finished all our new training moves.' 'I know the team is ready,' McGonagall replied, her eyes showing concern, 'I meant, are you ready?' Harry knew then that she was worried about his reactions, the first team they were playing was Hufflepuff. Images of Cedric, and the match they had played against each other sprung into his mind, but he quickly pushed them aside, putting a smile on his face. 'It'll be a bit difficult,' he said honestly, 'but I'll be able to cope.' Satisfied with this, McGonagall tilted her head to where Ron and Hermione sat, a third Butterbeer waiting for Harry beside them. With a smile and nod to Hagrid, Harry left the table and joined his friends. They spent the afternoon chatting, pulling another table to theirs as they were joined by other Gryffindors until half the pub was occupied by them. Eventually they began to drift back to the castle as evening approached, and pretty soon only Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, Dean, Neville and Ginny remained. Sliding around the table, Harry found himself sitting next to Dean, who was looking downcast compared to everyone else. 'Looking forward to tomorrow?' Harry asked wryly as Dean swirled the remains of his Butterbeer around his mug. 'Yeah,' he replied, 'and no. Know what I mean?' 'Sounds like me, four years ago.' Harry commented, remembering back to the night before his first ever Quidditch match. 'And that turned out fine.' Dean snorted into his drink, 'Yeah, between that nutcase taking control of your broom and you nearly choking yourself on the Snitch!' 'Minor details,' Harry replied airily, as if they had been of no consequence. 'Anyway, there's no reason to jinx a Keeper that I can think of?' 'Give it time,' Dean replied gloomily, 'You should have seen the look Malfoy and his cronies were giving me earlier.' 'Forget them, just get some sleep tonight and we'll go win tomorrow, that'll give them something to think about.'
'Great,' Ron muttered, for about the fifteenth time in five minutes, 'I don't know what scares me more, that we know something is trying to kill us- ' 'Or that he managed to hurt Hagrid even when he was thwarted.' Hermione completed, half conversing and half noting down what Kilmorie was explaining on the Patronus Charm. 'Don't call it 'he',' Harry cut in, 'It's not human, I don't want to think of it that way.' Hermione looked as if she would argue, but then nodded and continued noting down Kilmorie's words. 'I don't want to be thinking like that when I have to fight it.' 'Fight it?' Ron hissed incredulously, 'are you crazy?' 'Ron,' Harry replied tersely, 'when was the last time I managed to avoid fighting someone - or something?' 'Good point,' Ron conceded, his face still troubled. 'Thank you Mr. Weasley,' Kilmorie replied, 'I do like to think I make the occasional worthwhile comment in my class. Would you care to expand on the finer subtleties of the Patronus Charm?' Under his stern gaze, Ron muttered something under his breath and returned to scratching notes with his quill. Harry lifted his when Kilmorie took the quill from him instead. 'Enough writing Harry, you already know this charm - and I'd like to demonstrate if you'd care.' Harry opened his mouth to object, but then noticed most of the class were focused on him, while trying to keep writing of course. Nodding his assent, Harry followed Kilmorie to the front of the room, then waited while the Professor went to the cupboard nestled in the corner. 'I've been told you've had experience with Boggarts, just do enough to incapacitate it Harry - they've been avoiding Hogwarts for a couple of years now.' He added the last part with a wry grin that was reflected by most of the class, all remembered Lupin's fascination with the creature and how to defeat it. With a nod to Harry, Kilmorie unlocked the door, releasing his grip on the doors. Nothing happened. Slowly, so slowly that it was barely noticeable, the door began to open, a soft golden glow spilling out from within. Abruptly the lights in the classroom flickered out, every candle extinguished, apart from the one now seen hovering in the doorway of the cupboard. Even as Harry's confusion began to grow into suspicion, he saw the shadows around him begin to shift and spun to see the Boggart, or rather the Cambirer it had become, rise up, a steel blade arcing towards him. Silver flashed in front of his vision, and he saw the knife caught on another in front of him. With a grunt of effort Kilmorie threw the demon backwards as he parried the stab. With a quick spin he replaced his own dagger in its arm sheath, then drew a sword from beneath his cloak with unexpected speed. Striding forward, he parried aside the Boggart's second swing, then drove the sword into its shoulder, pinning it to the wall. 'Everyone out! Now!' he roared, using his free hand to wrestle the dagger away from the Boggart. Harry stood stunned for a second, but a tug from Ron had him leaving with the rest of the class. As they left, Harry saw Kilmorie step back and the Boggart shift, but he didn't see into what form. 'What was that?' Seamus asked, not directing the question at Harry but hoping that he would give an answer. Harry could only shake his head dumbfounded, and as the class filtered around the corridor, he was aware of the space the others unconsciously placed around him once more. 'That was a Cambirer, wasn't it?' Hermione whispered, her voice not carrying to the others. 'Yes,' Harry said, 'I wasn't thinking, I should have realised - what other form would the Boggart take?' 'I suppose it could have been Kilmorie,' Ron quipped, 'he looked angry as hell when he realised what the Boggart was.' 'What's really odd though,' Hermione continued as Harry nodded silently, 'is that he had exactly the right things to deal with it.' 'Nah,' Ron dismissed her idea easily, 'Dumbledore told Harry that Kilmorie had been brought in because of the Cambirer - of course he'd have the weapons to deal with it. And it was quite impressive as well, the way he did.' 'It was like he knew what it was going to do,' Harry added, but even as he did so something was tugging at his thoughts. Dismissing it, he leant against the wall of the corridor, letting the coolness of the stone ease his tension. After a few seconds he let a smile onto his face, and commented to Ron, 'Bet that makes you feel a bit better though?'
* * *
After the scare with the Boggart, Harry found his ease returning, and the routine of Hogwarts soon settled him down nicely. The next few weeks became busier and busier as Halloween approached for the Gryffindors, especially for Harry, Ron and Hermione. With Quidditch practice taking up lots of time, even for Ron, Harry found himself helping with preparations for the feast as well to make up for Ron's absences at times. Despite this, they still signed up to go into Hogsmeade for the first time, or in Harry's case, the second. Once again it seemed that half of Gryffindor tower also wanted to take part, Harry was grateful that some of the younger years couldn't go with them. For one thing it meant Colin was staying behind with his brother Dennis, both of whom were only a few steps away from forming the 'Harry Potter Fan Club' Ron had teased him about. Inevitably, the afternoon before they went in meant Double Potions with the Slytherins was what Harry had to face, as well as the possibility of running into Draco in Hogsmeade as well. However, the lesson didn't turn out to be as bad as Harry had though, despite Snape's usual unpleasantness towards him and of course, Neville. He was just about to criticise Neville's boiled slugs when the unexpected surprise occurred, only a few people didn't find it amusing. With astonishing strength, the door flew open and Jenks ran through, a white blur against the dark surface behind him. With equally astounding speed, another blur followed him, a blur which resolved into Mrs. Norris as she bounced off a table leg in her pursuit. 'Get her away from me Severus!' Jenks yelled, now running along and around potions equipment on the desktops. His normally sour face showed amusement, but Snape ended the chase by brusquely grabbing Mrs. Norris as she ran by his ankles, lifting her up in a spitting ball of rage. Crossing the room quickly, he put her down outside and shut the door before she could sneak back in. 'Honestly,' Jenks muttered, 'women.' Then he notice half the class staring at him with narrower eyes then they had been doing a second before hand. 'What?'
* * *
The tale of Jenks and Mrs. Norris had circulated the Three Broomsticks at least twelve times when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered, just in time to see Hagrid's animated recounting of it. Seeing them enter, he grinned at Harry and waved his hand, now bandage-free and without any sign of scarring. While Ron and Hermione went to order drinks, Harry went over to Hagrid. 'Y'alright there Harry?' he asked, mead on his breath explaining the slight slur. 'I was jus' tellin' Professor McGonagall about Jenks's adventure in yeh class.' 'For the seventh time,' she added, shooting Harry one of her rare amused glances. 'Ready for the match on Saturday?' 'Yes,' Harry replied, 'the teams good and we've finished all our new training moves.' 'I know the team is ready,' McGonagall replied, her eyes showing concern, 'I meant, are you ready?' Harry knew then that she was worried about his reactions, the first team they were playing was Hufflepuff. Images of Cedric, and the match they had played against each other sprung into his mind, but he quickly pushed them aside, putting a smile on his face. 'It'll be a bit difficult,' he said honestly, 'but I'll be able to cope.' Satisfied with this, McGonagall tilted her head to where Ron and Hermione sat, a third Butterbeer waiting for Harry beside them. With a smile and nod to Hagrid, Harry left the table and joined his friends. They spent the afternoon chatting, pulling another table to theirs as they were joined by other Gryffindors until half the pub was occupied by them. Eventually they began to drift back to the castle as evening approached, and pretty soon only Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, Dean, Neville and Ginny remained. Sliding around the table, Harry found himself sitting next to Dean, who was looking downcast compared to everyone else. 'Looking forward to tomorrow?' Harry asked wryly as Dean swirled the remains of his Butterbeer around his mug. 'Yeah,' he replied, 'and no. Know what I mean?' 'Sounds like me, four years ago.' Harry commented, remembering back to the night before his first ever Quidditch match. 'And that turned out fine.' Dean snorted into his drink, 'Yeah, between that nutcase taking control of your broom and you nearly choking yourself on the Snitch!' 'Minor details,' Harry replied airily, as if they had been of no consequence. 'Anyway, there's no reason to jinx a Keeper that I can think of?' 'Give it time,' Dean replied gloomily, 'You should have seen the look Malfoy and his cronies were giving me earlier.' 'Forget them, just get some sleep tonight and we'll go win tomorrow, that'll give them something to think about.'
