"I can`t believe my ears!" Professer McGonnagal yelled terrifyingly
as Harry and Hermione just sat in the chairs in the musuem lobby in
silence. "This behavior is unacceptable! You are supposed to be
representing our school, and you`ve gone and done something unthinkably
foolish. I know you two are infamous for always making trouble together and
you`re always running off to have fun, but even so I was just shocked to
hear these kind of complaints about you. I`m completely humiliated that
students from this school - and from your house, nonetheless - were doing
that kind of activity in a place you weren`t even supposed to be."
"Oh. I think I see now," Harry said. "You think *that`s* what we were doing in that storage room?"
Hermione gasped, realizing what was going on. "Oh no, Professor. That`s not what it was at all. Harry and I don`t sneak around and do stuff like that."
"And I suppose that`s why you were in there alone. Tell me, what exactly had you ditched your red-headed accomplice for? Playing hide-and- seek, I`m sure."
Harry sighed hopelessly, growing more angry with Ron by the minute for hiding and weazeling out of getting punished along with his friends. However, he knew it was his and Hermione`s fault. Ron had only been in there to try and stop them from getting in trouble in the first place.
"Never mind," McGonnagall said. "I don`t want to know your explanation for such ridiculous actions. Fortunately the painting you destroyed can be repaired with a spell. But thanks to you, Hogwarts will never be permitted to come here again. For this I am taking one hundred points from Gryffindor. You both will be sent back to the school immediately. Professer Flitwick will escort you back to the hotel and see that you`re sent away on a bus. I`ll send an owl ahead so that someone will be waiting to collect you and take you straight to Dumbledore."
They were both pretty quiet the whole walk home. Hermione couldn`t think of any reason why she should be blaming Harry, even though that was usually the case when they got in trouble, and therefore stayed silent in a way that was most surrendering to their punishment. Professer Flitwick didn`t scold them as he was walking in the lead. In fact, Harry wondered if he didn`t even know what they had done wrong and was just volunteering so he could get out of the museum and maybe enjoy a drink in the hotel bar when they got back.
Harry didn`t have much to pack. He had already put his pajamas and clothes from the day before back in his bag, and only had to recollect his toiletries. With the weight of Hermione`s bag in mind along with how many cosmetic items an average teenage girl needs to haul with her wherever she goes, Harry calculated he had ten more minutes to waste while Hermione finished getting her stuff together and used the time to clean up some cups and other garbage that remained from the party last night.
When they got downstairs Professer Flitwick had already summoned a bus and it was waiting outside for them, and in no time they were riding back to Hogwarts. And so their punishment was not nearly as bad as Professer McGonnagal seemed to have thought it would be. They really hadn`t missed anything since they had already seen the museum, and even though the other students would probably be going somewhere cool for lunch, Hermione and Harry were probably too tired to enjoy it. The beds on the bus were also much more comfortable than the seats on the Hogwarts train. Not to mention that it was completely ridiculous that they be sent home this late in the trip, with not even three hours of the experience remaining.
The train`s conductor was very friendly and soon after they had left the hotel he served them hot chocolate with their lunch on a cart, a small but generous meal of vegetable soup and nut bread. After that he sat up front reading a book and they were ignored for a while. They fell asleep on the same bed, awkardly sprawled in completely opposite directions. After a very long time Harry was poked in the shoulder by the conductor until he woke up, and he found that all his blood had run to his head because he`d fallen asleep with it hanging backwards slightly off the edge of the bed, and that Hermione`s head was on his stomach. He also found that they had reached the lake that surrounded and it was time to get off.
By now they were rested and in easily humored moods, and could exchange laughing smiles as they were taken across the lake with Madam Hooch. Their situation was actually very funny when they thought about it; they could almost hear Fred and George miles away on the train laughing about them right now. Admittedly it was a little embarassing that they were going to talk to Dumbledore about something like this. But Professor Dumbledore was easily one of the most friendly life forms Harry knew, and he failed to see how going to see him could ever be considered a punishment.
When Madam Hooch led them to the door of Dumbledore`s office, she told them, "He already has gotten word that you`re coming. You will each go in separately and then go back to your dormitories *on your own*," she emphasized.
Harry almost said sarcastically, "Damn, I was really looking forward to going back *with* her and getting it on again." In fact, this bit of dialogue was echoing in his mind to never be said as Madam Hooch opened the door and Hermione went in. Then they were soon both gone and he could only stand outside waiting.
After only three minutes or so Hermione came back out, and her expression told Harry that the water was safe to get in. There wasn`t much else to say, and they had just spent the last five hours alone to talk anyway, so she just said she`d see him later and walked away to go back to her room.
When he went inside the office he found Dumbledore scratching quite happily in some kind of book with his quill, and he looked up and gestured for Harry to sit down.
There was a moment of drawn-out silence as he finished the sentence he was on and then finally stopped to talk to Harry.
"Well," he said. "I guess you`re expecting me to be a nice guy as usual and not have the heart to accuse you of doing anything heinously wrong or even being at fault for your actions."
This bewildered Harry just a little so that he took a while to answer. "Well. Yes. I mean...that is what seems to always happen."
Dumbledore sighed. "And I suppose they`re expecting me to scold you, point out the errors or your ways, explain in detail how I believe you should be punished in additional ways than those Professor McGonnagal has already stated, blah blah blah, as if anyone else in this entire building is not capable of doing that themselves."
Harry smiled. Then he had to ask, "Um...Professor Dumbledore, Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Do you...even know what Hermione and I did?"
"Well, let`s see. I believe I know the nature of my students. At least the ones who have been here for six years and the ones among them who seem to get in trouble a lot. At least enough to gather my own assumed truth from the supposed truth. And Miss Granger did indeed confirm my assumptions to be true."
"What did she tell you?"
"Not to worry, not to worry. I understand how these dating things work. And I think I can recognize which couples are the kind that go into closets to settle something out of earshot of the public, and which are the kind that go into closets to do...other things."
Harry laughed. Suddenly Snape`s words about Dumbledore being senile didn`t hold as much truth to them.
"Hm. But you know, you really remind me of your mother and father when they were your age," Dumbledore said. "It was exactly the same. They were friends from the beginning of their schooling here, and then around your age they quickly became the most popular couple in the school."
"Yeah. Well. I guess it`s just that hormonal age, you know," Harry said, shrugging.
Dumbledore laughed. "Oh, believe me. 'That hormonal age' just makes people think they feel things for people they just met. But feelings that develop with time are the most true of any. You know..." He grinned for a moment. "Every year I am able to pick out the students that will eventually be married. Your mother and father were easy. I saw them in line to be sorted; Lily was crying because the Hogwarts Express had lost track of her luggage somehow and she was scared to death of handling her first day at school, having come from a muggle family and not understanding anything. James was standing next to her, and he ripped a page from his Charms textbook for her to dry her eyes on and told her everything was going to be fine. Thought nothing of it."
Harry was silent, amazed both by his story and by the very idea that Dumbledore was suggesting that he and Hermione were undoubtably going to end up married some day. "Marriage," he said thoughtfully. "Oddly enough, I haven`t yet even thought that far into my future. All I ever worry about is getting through every year of school alive."
Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Don`t worry. You`ll make it." Then he paused, and added, "Just be sure your enemies don`t know where your heart lies."
With that mysterious comment, Dumbledore picked up his quill pen again and said, "Off with you, Harry. I`m sure you`ve got better things to do."
Harry had Dumbledore`s words lingering on his mind in a somewhat paralyzing way as he walked slowly back to his dormitory. On the way he passed a stairway where a couple Slytherins were sitting, obviously belonging to the group that had gotten sent home for the nice new body art that had resulted in failure to meet curfew. He recognized one of them as Kaliban "Kinky" Ceradick, the somewhat ring leader of the seventh year Slytherin students. As soon as they spotted him they laughed.
"What you in for, Potter?" Kinky asked him.
Harry was too tired. "Intercourse in public."
"Oh. I think I see now," Harry said. "You think *that`s* what we were doing in that storage room?"
Hermione gasped, realizing what was going on. "Oh no, Professor. That`s not what it was at all. Harry and I don`t sneak around and do stuff like that."
"And I suppose that`s why you were in there alone. Tell me, what exactly had you ditched your red-headed accomplice for? Playing hide-and- seek, I`m sure."
Harry sighed hopelessly, growing more angry with Ron by the minute for hiding and weazeling out of getting punished along with his friends. However, he knew it was his and Hermione`s fault. Ron had only been in there to try and stop them from getting in trouble in the first place.
"Never mind," McGonnagall said. "I don`t want to know your explanation for such ridiculous actions. Fortunately the painting you destroyed can be repaired with a spell. But thanks to you, Hogwarts will never be permitted to come here again. For this I am taking one hundred points from Gryffindor. You both will be sent back to the school immediately. Professer Flitwick will escort you back to the hotel and see that you`re sent away on a bus. I`ll send an owl ahead so that someone will be waiting to collect you and take you straight to Dumbledore."
They were both pretty quiet the whole walk home. Hermione couldn`t think of any reason why she should be blaming Harry, even though that was usually the case when they got in trouble, and therefore stayed silent in a way that was most surrendering to their punishment. Professer Flitwick didn`t scold them as he was walking in the lead. In fact, Harry wondered if he didn`t even know what they had done wrong and was just volunteering so he could get out of the museum and maybe enjoy a drink in the hotel bar when they got back.
Harry didn`t have much to pack. He had already put his pajamas and clothes from the day before back in his bag, and only had to recollect his toiletries. With the weight of Hermione`s bag in mind along with how many cosmetic items an average teenage girl needs to haul with her wherever she goes, Harry calculated he had ten more minutes to waste while Hermione finished getting her stuff together and used the time to clean up some cups and other garbage that remained from the party last night.
When they got downstairs Professer Flitwick had already summoned a bus and it was waiting outside for them, and in no time they were riding back to Hogwarts. And so their punishment was not nearly as bad as Professer McGonnagal seemed to have thought it would be. They really hadn`t missed anything since they had already seen the museum, and even though the other students would probably be going somewhere cool for lunch, Hermione and Harry were probably too tired to enjoy it. The beds on the bus were also much more comfortable than the seats on the Hogwarts train. Not to mention that it was completely ridiculous that they be sent home this late in the trip, with not even three hours of the experience remaining.
The train`s conductor was very friendly and soon after they had left the hotel he served them hot chocolate with their lunch on a cart, a small but generous meal of vegetable soup and nut bread. After that he sat up front reading a book and they were ignored for a while. They fell asleep on the same bed, awkardly sprawled in completely opposite directions. After a very long time Harry was poked in the shoulder by the conductor until he woke up, and he found that all his blood had run to his head because he`d fallen asleep with it hanging backwards slightly off the edge of the bed, and that Hermione`s head was on his stomach. He also found that they had reached the lake that surrounded and it was time to get off.
By now they were rested and in easily humored moods, and could exchange laughing smiles as they were taken across the lake with Madam Hooch. Their situation was actually very funny when they thought about it; they could almost hear Fred and George miles away on the train laughing about them right now. Admittedly it was a little embarassing that they were going to talk to Dumbledore about something like this. But Professor Dumbledore was easily one of the most friendly life forms Harry knew, and he failed to see how going to see him could ever be considered a punishment.
When Madam Hooch led them to the door of Dumbledore`s office, she told them, "He already has gotten word that you`re coming. You will each go in separately and then go back to your dormitories *on your own*," she emphasized.
Harry almost said sarcastically, "Damn, I was really looking forward to going back *with* her and getting it on again." In fact, this bit of dialogue was echoing in his mind to never be said as Madam Hooch opened the door and Hermione went in. Then they were soon both gone and he could only stand outside waiting.
After only three minutes or so Hermione came back out, and her expression told Harry that the water was safe to get in. There wasn`t much else to say, and they had just spent the last five hours alone to talk anyway, so she just said she`d see him later and walked away to go back to her room.
When he went inside the office he found Dumbledore scratching quite happily in some kind of book with his quill, and he looked up and gestured for Harry to sit down.
There was a moment of drawn-out silence as he finished the sentence he was on and then finally stopped to talk to Harry.
"Well," he said. "I guess you`re expecting me to be a nice guy as usual and not have the heart to accuse you of doing anything heinously wrong or even being at fault for your actions."
This bewildered Harry just a little so that he took a while to answer. "Well. Yes. I mean...that is what seems to always happen."
Dumbledore sighed. "And I suppose they`re expecting me to scold you, point out the errors or your ways, explain in detail how I believe you should be punished in additional ways than those Professor McGonnagal has already stated, blah blah blah, as if anyone else in this entire building is not capable of doing that themselves."
Harry smiled. Then he had to ask, "Um...Professor Dumbledore, Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Do you...even know what Hermione and I did?"
"Well, let`s see. I believe I know the nature of my students. At least the ones who have been here for six years and the ones among them who seem to get in trouble a lot. At least enough to gather my own assumed truth from the supposed truth. And Miss Granger did indeed confirm my assumptions to be true."
"What did she tell you?"
"Not to worry, not to worry. I understand how these dating things work. And I think I can recognize which couples are the kind that go into closets to settle something out of earshot of the public, and which are the kind that go into closets to do...other things."
Harry laughed. Suddenly Snape`s words about Dumbledore being senile didn`t hold as much truth to them.
"Hm. But you know, you really remind me of your mother and father when they were your age," Dumbledore said. "It was exactly the same. They were friends from the beginning of their schooling here, and then around your age they quickly became the most popular couple in the school."
"Yeah. Well. I guess it`s just that hormonal age, you know," Harry said, shrugging.
Dumbledore laughed. "Oh, believe me. 'That hormonal age' just makes people think they feel things for people they just met. But feelings that develop with time are the most true of any. You know..." He grinned for a moment. "Every year I am able to pick out the students that will eventually be married. Your mother and father were easy. I saw them in line to be sorted; Lily was crying because the Hogwarts Express had lost track of her luggage somehow and she was scared to death of handling her first day at school, having come from a muggle family and not understanding anything. James was standing next to her, and he ripped a page from his Charms textbook for her to dry her eyes on and told her everything was going to be fine. Thought nothing of it."
Harry was silent, amazed both by his story and by the very idea that Dumbledore was suggesting that he and Hermione were undoubtably going to end up married some day. "Marriage," he said thoughtfully. "Oddly enough, I haven`t yet even thought that far into my future. All I ever worry about is getting through every year of school alive."
Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Don`t worry. You`ll make it." Then he paused, and added, "Just be sure your enemies don`t know where your heart lies."
With that mysterious comment, Dumbledore picked up his quill pen again and said, "Off with you, Harry. I`m sure you`ve got better things to do."
Harry had Dumbledore`s words lingering on his mind in a somewhat paralyzing way as he walked slowly back to his dormitory. On the way he passed a stairway where a couple Slytherins were sitting, obviously belonging to the group that had gotten sent home for the nice new body art that had resulted in failure to meet curfew. He recognized one of them as Kaliban "Kinky" Ceradick, the somewhat ring leader of the seventh year Slytherin students. As soon as they spotted him they laughed.
"What you in for, Potter?" Kinky asked him.
Harry was too tired. "Intercourse in public."