HARRY POTTER AND THE MARK OF GRYFFINDOR

By Geena

Chapter 6: The Underground Express

"Huh ?"

Harry and Ron looked dazed.

"Who are we going to ask for which favour ?"

Hermione rushed off towards the castle, smiling to them over her shoulder.

"I'll tell you all about it later, I need to organise a few things first."

"I hate it when she does that. I bet she's gone straight to the library. As if that's going to be of any use right now." Ron sulked.

Harry didn't say anything, he was as much in the dark as Ron, but he did notice that Hermione was definitely NOT going to the library. If he had to make a guess, he'd probably say she was heading for the owlery.

They didn't see Hermione for the rest of the day, partly because they had Divination and it wasn't on her curriculum.

That evening, back in Gryffindor common room, Ron had other things to question her about.

"Why is your name on the list for the Quidditch trials ? I thought you hated flying ?" Ron asked her.

She sighed deeply and beckoned the both of them to move closer so she could whisper.

"Neville wanted to participate, but he was afraid he'd make a fool of himself and get laughed at. I felt sorry for him, so, knowing my – ahem – troubles with flying, I thought he might relax a bit if he knew someone else was going to look an even bigger fool."

"Very noble of you, but why are you trying out as a beater ?"

"Eh, well, I didn't really know what to choose, so I just closed my eyes and pointed at one of the three vacant positions and beater it was."

"Aren't you afraid ?" Harry asked, a bit worried.

Hermione smirked. "I'm a Gryffindor, aren't I ?"

*

The next morning Harry and Ron tried to lure some more information out of Hermione about the favour that would help Bill and Charlie, but she didn't let anything slip.

"I'll tell you when the time is right." She said, firmly.

They were all a bit restless by the time they got to Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was the last class before a Hogsmeade weekend. Professor Palmer didn't seem to notice however and from the beginning of the lesson, she asked Harry and Hermione to come forward.

"Now I know you all have studied how to set up protective wards in Charms. Once you've set up a ward, around your house for example, it will be impossible for other wizards to enter it without your permission. However, part of Dark Magic specialises to overrule such charms."

Each and every one of the students instantly forgot all about Hogsmeade. It looked like it was going to be another very interesting DADA lesson.

Harry and Hermione stood in front of their fellow students. Professor Palmer smiled at them and turned her attention to Harry first.

"Harry, will you cast the most powerful warding charm you know on yourself, please ?"

Harry concentrated very hard. He was a little nervous, all of a sudden afraid he wouldn't remember the right incantation. Hermione was so much better at it than he was.

He was about to tell the Professor just that, when it came to him.

"Defendo Corpus". Harry said when he pointed his wand at himself.

Professor Palmer looked pleased.

"You can all see for yourself that nothing significant has changed in Harry's appearance. Indeed, wards are never visible, but I'm sure Professor Flitwick has told you all about that. What I want to focus on right now, is breaking through the wards. Hermione, be my guest."

She nodded at Hermione, signalling her to proceed. Harry felt his stomach turn. It was alright for Professor Palmer to say nothing could get through the ward, but maybe she didn't know Hermione that well. It was only her first year at Hogwarts after all. His inner voice ordered his legs not to tremble and he courageously held his head up high, ready for whatever was about to happen.

He needn't have worried.

No matter what spell Hermione tried, and she did throw what seemed like an entire arsenal at him, it was all in vain. The only thing that happened was a faint blue light surrounding him, as if he was standing in a giant bubble, when her spell hit his ward.

Finally Professor Palmer decided they had seen enough.

"I trust you understand by now that no ordinary magic can break through a ward. True, there are more complicated wards than the one Harry used and wards CAN be tricked, but as a general rule, magic is not supposed to break through a ward."

The entire class held their breath. Something big was about to happen, they could tell. Hermione was allowed to go and sit down again, but Harry remained in front of the class.

"Now, what I'm about to show you, is merely an example. Should you ever see something like what you're about to see now, you better go and look for a powerful wizard, because only Dark Magic can attempt and succeed to break through a ward."

She pointed her wand at Harry and mumbled a long string of unintelligible words.

Everyone in the classroom gasped when they saw the blue sparks shooting from Harry's bubble. It was like lightning trying to break through a force field and all of them were sure they would never forget this sight.

She stopped after all students had got a clear view of what was happening, just when the bubble was on the verge of collapsing.

"Now; I don't think I have to remind you not to try this at home ?" She quirked an eyebrow as if she wanted to challenge one of them to repeat what she just did.

"As if we wanted to try anything like that !" Ron exclaimed once they had been dismissed.

"Honestly she's getting weirder every day. Goodness Harry, she could have killed you in there !"

"I think we should stop thinking she's evil. Just because she's the DADA-teacher doesn't mean she's got a hidden agenda." Harry reasoned.

"Yeah, besides, this lesson was really useful. Especially with all this bad stuff happening recently. They can't expect us to graduate without knowing what's out there waiting for us." Hermione continued.

They left the subject as it was and had an early night. Hermione seemed to be a bit preoccupied and they only got a faint 'goodnight' from her.

The next morning, she was absolutely bursting with energy, urging them to finish their breakfast so they could get to Hogsmeade early.

"Easy easy. You don't want us to choke on our sausages, do you ?" Ron remarked.

Harry had never seen her so impatient to go to Hogsmeade and after his first cup of coffee, it occurred to him.

"It's about that thing you were organizing, isn't ?" Harry smiled. "You're going to tell us when we get to Hogsmeade."

Hermione beamed up at him.

"Then why didn't you just say so ?!" Ron dragged Harry with him from the table, quickly stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth.

They were probably the first students to arrive in Hogsmeade, considering the early hour. The magical town seemed to be still asleep and both Honeydukes and Zonko's were closed.

Hermione steered them in the direction of the Three Broomsticks.

"Isn't it a bit early for Butterbear ?" Ron mumbled, but Harry felt too exited to respond. He felt something important was about to happen, or maybe it was just Hermione's tension rubbing off on him.

"Before we go in, I want to ask both of you to stay calm and let me do the talking. Oh, and Harry, I'm really, really sorry about this, but it seemed to be the only way." Hermione said and then she opened the door and walked in.

Ron looked like he was about to demand an explanation, but then Harry stepped into the Pub and all his questions were answered when he saw the only other customer present.

"Her!" He had almost shouted, the astonishment temporarily blocking his mind from the only apparent reason for her being there.

Hermione motioned them to sit down with her and they hesitantly did so.

"Thank you for coming here on such short notice." She began.

"I must say I was very surprised to hear from you, asking me to come here of all places. But, I guess …" She shot a nervous glance in Harry's direction and if he hadn't been there and seen it with his very own eyes, Harry would have never believed Rita Skeeter could look so humble and afraid. Was she afraid of him ? Or Hermione ?

"I apologise for not going into details in my letter, but I'm sure your meeting with Dumbledore has cleared up a few things." Hermione continued.

"Dumbledore was here ?" Harry asked, while Ron was still busy gaping at the former reporter.

"Yes, since I'm no longer allowed to enter Hogwarts' grounds he came to talk to me here yesterday evening. He was quite clear of what he wanted from me. As I understand it, it was all your plan ?" She nodded at Hermione.

"Can we finally know what that plan is. Please ?" Ron had regained enough of his composure to form a meaningful sentence.

"I thought that would be clear by now." Hermione looked at the boys and with a sigh she concluded some more explaining was in order.

"You remember Bill and Charlie telling us how Dumbledore wanted the wizarding world to know about what happened in The Leaky Cauldron ? Well, it got me thinking. This probably isn't the first and won't be the last incident the Ministry tries to cover up. All the official newspapers and radio stations are controlled by the Ministry, so there's only one way to reach the entire community."

"A clandestine newspaper." Rita jumped in.

"Oh." Harry could see now why Hermione had contacted Rita Skeeter. At the end of last term, Hermione had captured Rita Skeeter in her animagus form and only agreed to free her if she promised not to write for another year. Therefore, she had lost her job at the Daily Prophet. She was free to devote as much time as was needed and she possessed the necessary skill and slyness to pull off such a stunt.

"What gives us the assurance you won't write idle gossip and create a panic ?" Ron asked suspicious, not ready to trust a former enemy as quickly as Hermione and Dumbledore seemed to be.

"I-I had a lot of time to think about the bad things that came from the stuff I wrote last year. I – I never meant to hurt you Harry." She looked pleadingly.

"I never imagined …" It was almost surreal to see her so subdued, the change was spectacular, but being locked in a glass jar for more than a month would be therapeutic, if not traumatising to say the least.

"When Dumbledore told me about the plan, I was instantly drawn to it. It … it made me remember all the reasons why I wanted to be a reporter for. I want to inform the people. Make sure everyone knows what's going on. They have a right to. To the truth. I WILL write the truth and nothing but the truth. Only if Dumbledore feels it's necessary to soften a few things in order not to create a panic I will adjust my writing."

The change in her was remarkable. The fire in her eyes as she spoke about spreading the truth among the wizarding world was inspiring and Harry could indeed catch a glimpse of a young Rita Skeeter, full of ideals, ready to change the world, spreading the news.

And he found himself believing her. Instinctively he knew she was sincere. He gave her a weak smile. The happiness it put in her eyes made him grin wider.

"There's one more thing." Hermione added. "Actually, it's the reason why I wanted you to meet us. Dumbledore could have explained all the rest."

"Yes ?"

Ron and Harry were wondering what else was troubling Hermione, but then they knew.

"Have you ever heard of a Jessica Palmer ? She's our new DADA teacher, in her mid-thirties. We believe she was a Gryffindor, but there's no record of her. That's to say, her yearbook is missing from the Library and we just thought it was a little odd. Maybe if you could ask around a bit ?"

Harry held his breath while Rita thought deeply.

"I don't recall ever hearing that name, so she certainly wasn't a known Death Eater, if that's what's troubling you. I'll ask around, but I won't promise anything."

They were obviously disappointed, but afterwards Hermione said she didn't really expect Rita to know her.

"I thought it was worth a try."

The rest of the day, Harry and Ron showered Hermione with all the sweets she could eat, claiming she was the smartest witch alive.

"As if we didn't already know." Harry added.

Hermione glowered, she had feared that her friends wouldn't like the involvement of Rita Skeeter. Ron said he wasn't fond of the idea, but if Dumbledore was willing to keep an eye on her …

"You certainly have been busy these past days. Going as far as to involve the Headmaster in your scheming!" Ron couldn't stop voicing his awe.

"Oh, being a Prefect does help when you want the Headmaster to cooperate." She said nonchalantly.

They eagerly awaited the first edition of the 'Underground Express' as named by Dumbledore.

The next Monday, during breakfast, a large flock of owls invaded the Great Hall, each carrying a whole stack of parchments.

Every student received a single piece of parchment, containing only one article, titled:

"MINISTRY COVER UP IN DEATH EATER RAID ON LEAKY CAULDRON"

The article was a minute representation of the events in the previous week, without mentioning the names of those involved.

It concluded with some words of advice, telling the public not to worry all too much, there were top-Aurors working on the case, but to stay alert nevertheless. Also, an appeal was made to report anything out of the ordinary.

The article created quite a stir among the students, but much to Harry's relief, no one seemed to panic. A quick glance at the Head Table showed him the teachers probably had all been aware of what today's mail would bring. He felt Snape's piercing stare on him and turned his head around to meet it. There was no expression in the deep dark pools, as usual, but his lips were curled in amusement and Harry thought it was the best he had looked in ages.

The Underground Express was much talked about during the day and between all the exited chatter, it was almost impossible for the trio to talk privately.

Finally, near the end of the day, they were able to assess the impact of the first issue.

"Did you notice ? Even the Slytherins looked baffled. That means Malfoy didn't know this was coming either." Hermione said.

"Huh. I think there's lots of things Malfoy doesn't know of. He just pretends he knows, hoping it will make him look important." Ron spat. He was still upset about Malfoy hexing him earlier that day right before Potions, leaving him with purple spots in his face all through the lesson because Snape refused to let him go to the Infirmary.

Harry's attention had wandered off when he noticed a white moving spot closing in on them.

"Hey, I think … No, it IS Hedwig!" He exclaimed, opening the window to let her in.

"She has a letter ! From Snuffles!" Ron, equally as exited as his friend, hauled the bird inside.

"Look at the size of it! That's more than just a letter." Hermione remarked.

"We need to read it somewhere private." Harry said, pointing at the number of students that were heading their way.

"Come along, I know an old classroom at the fourth floor. Nobody ever goes there."

Hermione lead the way upstairs, the boys trailing her in silence, Harry clinging to the package in his hands.

Ron kept looking over his shoulder as if he was expecting somebody to follow them.

Harry had the odd feeling they were not alone as well, but Hermione seemed to know where she was going.

When they got to the fourth floor, they walked past what looked like a series of abandoned laboratories, to reach an open door at the end of the passage.

Hermione slowed down as she was about to enter, letting the boys catch up with her.

Right before they went through the doorway they came to an abrupt halt.

A major shock paralysed Harry's movements, the lack of sounds telling him his friends were experiencing a similar situation. His eyes were practically popping out of his head, his mouth had dropped what felt like ten feet and he felt a blush creeping up his cheeks as he, Hermione and Ron, stared in unison at the unreal scene in front of them.

In there, in the cold and dusty classroom, were their Potions and DADA teachers, clinging onto each other for dear life, engaged in what could only be described as a passionate kiss.

Hermione was the first to recover from the shock and pulled them away from the room, speeding up as the distance between them and their professors grew larger.

In the end they were running as fast as they could, as if the devil was on their heels and Professor McGonagall, who once again saw the trio swirl past her, contemplated whether there was something wrong with the air in the fifth year dormitories.