Harry Potter and the Curse of the Gypsy

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you like the story, it hit a snag and slowed down for awhile but now it's right back on track! I hope you like it, and be sure to review, read my other works, and please e- mail me at megx87@yahoo.com with any questions, comments, requests to read your masterpiece, or whatever. I'd love to hear from you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I own only Cory Johnson and the plot. Bah.

Chapter Thirteen

It took only a few days for all of Hogwarts to become aware of the feud that was taking place in Gryffindor house. They pressed through the halls in groups, staying far away from one another as they made their ways through the halls.

The Hufflepuffs, most of whom felt a kindred spirit in Neville Longbottom, took Harry's side of the matter, whereas the Ravenclaw's took Ron's side, because though they deemed friends important enough, they opted for the approach that Ron must be forgiven, because of his history, and Harry didn't seem to be thinking of that at all.

The Slytherins, being the Slytherins, did not care to take either side, and took great pleasure in the dispute and did whatever it was in their power to keep it going. The Hogwarts teachers were beginning to find classes exasperating. The Gryffindors sat at either side of the room, shooting each other dark glares, and at least every other period found they had to repair some curse sent forth by the other side.

Harry was aware of the dark looks he was getting and was doing everything in his power to ignore him. Often his allies would encircle both him and Neville, in fear that one of his enemies would send an odd hex his way and leave him for the worse. Neville's nerves had him on edge, and he began startling at the slightest noise, and turning white whenever somebody called out, "Stupid Squib!"

"Are you...are you going to make it?" Harry said one day, quite nervously, as Neville sat silently at his side on Harry's side of the Gryffindor common room.

Neville nodded quickly. "Yeah...don't get worried, or anything. I...well, this is getting to me, but I can stand it... I wouldn't want to end this all, because I think you're right, Harry."

"Well...thanks, I guess." Harry stepped away and sat himself down at an empty table. He looked down at his Astrology notes and stared at the runes he was supposed to be studying...and had no idea where to begin. He glanced quickly at Hermione, debating on whether he might ask her help, despite the fact that she was on Ron's side, but felt his blood boil when he spotted her sitting next to Ron, laughing gaily.

"Need help?" Harry turned and glanced up. Cory smiled down at him, pushing a black curl out of her eyes.

"You any good at Astrology?" Harry said reluctantly.

"I'm a gypsy...of course I am." She sat down and looked at the ancient runes scattered across his parchment. "You've got Jupiter wrong, Harry. It isn't that close to Saturn, and Neptune is much closer to the earth."

"Oh...okay." He glanced back at his notes and picked up his quill to correct his mistakes. "Are you having any luck with the shield charm?" he said quickly. Cory shook her head.

"No. I just don't seem to get the hang of that type of thing, and my transfiguration work is horrible. I tried to turn a vase of flowers into a painting yesterday...well, it came out a painting all right, but it was three dogs playing poker, not roses."

Harry snorted. "That...well, that just sounds really funny. Did any of the dogs have flowers for heads?"

"No, but the St. Bernard had a pansy for a tail, and the Doberman was covered in petals." Harry laughed, shaking his head. "Do these runes look all right, now?"

Cory glanced at them and smiled. "Yep, pretty good." She spread her own work out on the table and looked at it. "And this is my transfiguration stuff. Do you have any idea what the most important thing to remember when doing human transfiguration is?"

"None at all." Harry sighed. "Guess we better consult our books."

Both he and Cory turned to the chapter on human transfiguration. "Why don't you take the first section and I can take the second?"

Cory nodded as she began reading. "Are we doing just color and shape right now, or are we getting to actual transformation yet?" she asked after a long moment.

"Just color and shape. McGonagall said we aren't allowed to do the other until next year."

"Well, if that's the case, then I think the answer is on page 396. You see, where it talks about visualizing what you are going to do beforehand?" Harry looked at it and nodded.

"Yeah...that looks right. Thanks." They began their essays in silence. They continued talking for the rest of the night. Finally, Harry yawned and stood. "I guess I'd better get back to my room." He muttered. "Good night." As he started for the nearest doorway, he remembered the reason he had decided to come to the common room tonight and moaned inwardly.

"Erm...everybody?" he said loudly. Only his side of the room looked his way. "Hey, listen up!" he shouted. A few from Ron's side turned and sneered.

"What do you want?" Parvati said darkly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Just listen a moment, will you? Quidditch practice begins Saturday morning at six. Be there...or you're cut from the team." He turned and began walking away.

When he was about to enter the doorway, he heard Ron shout out to him and turned, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?" he said, ignoring the fact that he had just repeated Parvati's own sentence.

Ron sneered. "Not to talk to you. I was just wondering if the genius Quidditch captain had figured out how he's going to get his keeper a broom?"

Harry sighed. "McGonagall owled your dad. He said he was going to send over Charlie's old broom as quickly as he could."

Ron got a strange look on his face. "That...Charlie's broom? But...but..."

"It's a broom Ron." Harry said darkly. "And unless you want off the team, you're going to use it whether you like it or not."

He ignored Ron and turned back, entering the doorway with the password in his mind. He felt the now familiar revolution and stumbled back into the hall that led to his room. Walking tiredly, he entered, laying down on his bed and sinking in. It had taken him a week to unpack, as he hadn't had any time to do so until the night before, but now that he had, it was beginning to look like home, so much more than the Dursley's ever had.

An old desk that Dumbledore had sent for Harry to do his work was covered in his books, and already had an ink stain on its surface. The closet was filled with his clothes, all perfectly clean, as Harry had found that throwing his dirty clothes in the hamper resulted in their automatic cleaning and return to their hanger. The bookshelf held whatever books he wasn't using, which were scarce. He imagined Hermione would already have filled up the entire thing and had room left over.

His copies of Hermione's rule-breakers book and Ron's chess and Chudley Cannons books were hidden, though he hadn't had the heart to throw any of those books away. Instead he had put them on the bottom shelf and covered them with a few odd possessions.

His father's old chest was proudly displayed in the center of the shelf, and he had hung the invisibility cloak on a nail that protruded from the wall. The drawings he had found, the ones of Harry's mother, he had put on the topmost part of the shelf, and the prominently put the Marauder's Map on the next shelf.

After a moment of looking at his surroundings, Harry was jolted from his study by a knock at his door. He padded over and wearily looked through the small window in the center of the door. Dumbledore stood on the other side, smiling. Harry slowly opened to door, feeling himself turn red

"Erm...hello, Professor." Dumbledore nodded.

"Hello, Harry. I see you've taken to the room?"

Harry nodded faintly. "Well, yes, I guess. Would you...would you like to come in?"

"Thank you, Harry." Dumbledore strode in and went over to the fire to sit in one of the large, comfortable chairs. He looked around at everything. "I remember this place well. These were my quarters before I became headmaster."

Harry looked at Dumbledore in shock before he took the other chair. "Really? Is that why everything has Gryffindor on it?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry before chuckling softly. "Of course. A really big supporter of the house I was head of. Of course, I can't be biased, now that I'm headmaster...but you know, I'd forgotten that scarlet and gold really are my favorite colors."

Smiling, Harry leaned back. "I come here tonight to ask you a question, Harry."

Moaning inwardly, Harry felt his pleasure fade. "What...what kind of question?"

Dumbledore laughed. "Don't look so nervous, Harry. I just was wondering...would you like to visit Sirius and Remus for Christmas?"

He looked at Dumbledore dumbly. "I...what? You mean...I can actually spend the holidays there? Just us?"

"Of course. I don't do this just for your benefit, Harry, you must understand. Most of the students are leaving Hogwarts for the holidays, and many of the teachers are going to be working for me. I myself won't be here...I have matters to take care of. Shortly, I won't be allowing any of the students to spend the holidays here this year. And I did not think you wanted to return to the Dursleys..."

"Of course not!" Harry said quickly. Dumbledore raised his brow and Harry flushed red. "Not...not that I would mind, much...I'd just much rather get to spend the time with Sirius and Remus."

"All right." Said Dumbledore cheerfully. "So the matter is settled." He stood to leave before turning back to Harry. "Oh, and try to sleep tonight, won't you? Your exhaustion is beginning to show."

Harry, who had barely slept in the past two days, stared at Dumbledore as he left. 'How did he know?' Harry thought mildly.

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Harry sat down next to Cory in the History of Magic classroom. It was their first class back since Binns' hasty departure, and the Gryffindors had never been fighting more than they were now. The room was visibly divided into two parts, with Harry and Ron sitting straight across from one another.

"Have you seen the new teacher?" he asked quietly. Cory shook her head.

"No, I haven't. I've heard she's never taught before. Should be interesting."

They quieted as they heard the door to the classroom open. A woman of around twenty walked quickly into the room, smiling cheerfully. Large spectacles covered her eyes, and her black hair was arranged into a loose bun at the back of her head, which was quite messy. More than a little of the hair had fallen back into her face. She carried several large books and let them fall onto the table as she turned to face the class.

"Hello, everybody!" she said, smiling. "I'm Professor Erica White. I'm to be your new History of Magic professor. I hope you enjoy my company as much as I'm going to enjoy yours." She looked around before settling her gaze on Cory and Harry. "All right, you two...can you tell me where you were when Binns...retired?"

Cory snorted at the term Professor White had used. "Erm, yes...we were about to discuss the founding of Hogwarts, and the events that led to its foundation."

"All right..." she glanced down at the pile of parchment on her desk. "That appears about right. Thank you for being honest..." She sighed. "Okay. I guess...I guess we'll start then. Who can tell me what they know about the Order of the Phoenix?"

Everybody turned...Hermione and Cory raised their hands at the same time. Professor White smiled at Cory. "All right, you. What can you tell me?"

"The Order of the Phoenix consisted of the four founders of Hogwarts and the man they considered their mentor, Maximillian Hogwart, the man they named the school after."

Professor White smiled. "Yes, correct. Thank you Cory. And you, girl...on the other side of the room. Do you know exactly what it was that made the Order so special?"

"Yes." Hermione smiled. "Of course. They all shared wands of phoenix feather, every feather of which came from the same phoenix."

Harry jolted, feeling a hollow in the pit of his chest. His wand...and Voldemort's...if that was true, couldn't it mean...

"Potter, are you listening?" He glanced up at the Professor.

"Yes...I was just thinking. Sorry." She smiled.

"No need to be sorry. I was just making sure you were paying attention. I wouldn't want you to fail the examination, after all."

Harry nodded and paid attention for the rest of the class. To his surprise, he had an enjoyable lesson, despite the continual glares from Ron's side of the classroom. Even Cory seemed impressed with Professor White, and went over to talk with her after class while Harry waited.

"She's great." Cory said, smiling. "I mean, she didn't make that class boring...that's quite the achievement."

They made their way down the hall, talking contentedly. They stood alone at the door to the Gryffindor common room when Cory suddenly paused and turned to him, blushing.

"Harry, you know the Halloween Ball is just in a couple of weeks, and...well, I don't know if you were planning on going with anybody, and was wondering...well, would you like to go with me?"

Harry looked at her numbly, feeling his insides turn to ice. Cory looked at him strangely. "Well?" she said when Harry didn't reply. "I mean, if you don't want to..."

"Of course!" Harry said, suddenly jerked out of his stupor. Cory let out a long breath. "Well, that's good...I mean, I really wanted to go, and...well, you're the only person I think I could go with and actually enjoy myself."

"Okay," he said, "Thanks, I guess."

Cory chuckled. "I was just kidding, Harry. I really do want to go with you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You know, you're hilarious, Cory. Just great."

"I know!" she beamed as she said the password and entered the common room. "Are you coming?"

"I guess not." He said, looking down at his bag. "I have that Potions essay, and I need to pick up a book at the library."

"Oh...okay, then." She smiled. "Bye."

"Bye." He turned away and walked slowly to the library, thinking. A large weight felt like it had just been lifted from his chest. Every day that the ball neared, he had felt a little more anxious. It helped him to have one less thing to worry about.

"Harry!" he heard a shout from behind him. He turned quickly. Cho was jogging towards him, smiling. "Hey Harry." She stopped beside him, smiling.

"Oh, hey Cho." He smiled awkwardly at her, still not completely comfortable in her presence.

"I'm glad I caught you!" she said quickly. "I've been looking all over. You see," she blushed, "I haven't got a date for the ball, and I was kind of wondering..."

"Oh..." Harry turned scarlet. "You...you were going to ask me? I...I didn't know. Cory just asked me, and I said yes..."

Cho froze, giving him an odd look. "Oh." She said quietly. "Then...that's fine, I guess. I still have two weeks."

"Okay. I hope you have a good time." He said. She smiled softly at him.

"I do to. I'll...I'll see you later, okay? Cory's really nice, when you get to know her. I'm glad you're her friend. I know...well, I know a lot of people don't like her."

"Yeah." He said quietly. "See you later." They parted ways and he walked to the library. When he got there, though, he didn't look for the book. Instead he sat at a table and put his head on his hands.

And wondered why he was secretly glad that Cory had asked him first.

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Ahh, angst. What fun! Thanks for the wonderful comments! I can't believe people are actually reading my story! It's marvelous, my darlings.

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