Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- Chapter 13
"Would everyone please partner off?" Harry looked at his two best friends. He wasn't too eager about partnering with Hermione, though. He felt that duelling her would lead to many bruises. Hermione seemed to know that the guys wanted to be together so she stepped up to Neville, who was without partner. Harry secretly thought that was good idea. Hermione would know what to do if Neville suddenly expelled great balls of fire at her. Hermione could teach Neville more than anyone else in their group could.
Their "group" consisted of all the year fours and year fives. The teacher supervising their group was Professor McGonagall. Harry hid a smirk as he saw the year two's and the year three's cowering away from the tall form of Professor Snape. Professor Flitwick was helping Snape because the year two's and three's were least experienced of the grades in the Duelling Club, they were Group 1. Professor Lupin was watching the years six and seven who were Group 3. The whole programme was being run, mainly, by Lupin, though. He would explain to all years what the Club was, how to properly hold your wand when duelling, what to be aware of, how to stand when starting and how to signal when giving up. The other teachers, though, would tell the people in their groups exactly what kind of spells they would be using on each other. The spells depended on their experience.
Professor McGonagall waited until they were all partnered off then told them to work on disarming their opponents to see what they remembered from the Duelling Club with Lockhart. The spell was too easy and soon, everyone in Group 2, as they were called, had been disarmed and had disarmed their partner at least once. Except, of course Neville. Hermione, in demonstration, had disarmed him three times. Neville had managed to get as far as making Hermione's wand wobble. After five minutes with Neville Professor McGonagall gave up and instructed the class to use their knowledge, from what they had learned in school, to practice using them on their partners. As Harry successfully blocked a leg locker curse from Ron he noticed that Professor Dumbledore was in the Great Hall too. Dumbledore was surveying the groups to see how it was going. His eyes landed on Harry and Arabella, who stood beside him, nudged him. Harry's brief hesitation caused Ron to hit him with a tickling charm and McGonagall rebuked Harry for not paying attention. Harry got back at Ron with a charm to make him start dancing. Meanwhile, Hermione had managed to curse Neville so many times that he was sprouting little green hairs out the top of his head, he was, like Ron, dancing around the Hall, singing and his skin was glowing bright pink. People all over the Hall stopped to look at Neville, Hermione wanted to counter-curse them off him, but Professor McGonagall told him the experience would teach him to work harder at his spells.
By the end of the first day of the Duelling Club everyone was leaving with bumps and bruises and charmed hair, etc. Quite a few ended up at Mme Pomfrey's, because of bad spells, etc. Harry was groaning because Ron had "Wingardium Leviosa"'d Harry high into the air, then dropped him when his concentration was broken. Hermione was apologising profusely to Neville who tried to tell her that it was his own ignorance that put him in that position.
* * *
The next morning, none of the Duelling Club member's wanted to get up. Harry and Ron especially. Their first lesson was Divination.
Harry and Ron cautiously approached the trapdoor on the ceiling, leading to Professor Trelawney's (sp.?) room. Every year since starting that class, Harry's death had been predicted in more than one form. He was not looking forward to this lesson. She would study him and give that piteous look and look at him as though he was about to drop dead in front of her.
Harry and Ron took their usual seats in the corner and sat on the puffy seats. There was a smell of lavender and the room was dark, smoky and hot. Harry could feel his eyes closing already and the class hadn't even started! As Trelawney made her appearance Harry felt an odd feeling. She began addressing the class, but Harry couldn't hear the words. He felt like he was falling into oblivion. Suddenly he heard a male voice, he had the feeling the voice was talking to him, but he couldn't make out the words. Was it English? He wondered. He heard screaming, growling, talking, hissing, then silence. Harry glanced up. The whole Divination class was staring at him. Harry looked at Ron who looked curiously back.
"My poor dear. I sense unrest in your soul. Won't you please let me see your hands. I will use you as an example. We are, after all, doing palmistry in depth this year." Harry's mind was whirling with confusion and he barely acknowledged her. He started when she took his left hand and began studying it.
"Ah, I see." She mused out loud, "oh my! Goodness me! You poor thing! How noble!" She finally dropped his hand after those little exclamations and gasps. Harry looked back at her uninterestedly, eager to think about what had just happened. Had he fallen asleep? No, he had been awake. His thoughts were broken by Lavender, who asked what Professor Trelawney had seen in a trembling voice. Harry looked at Ron, who rolled his eyes.
"My dears. Those lines are not good at all! Your lifelines are short, indicating an early death. The criss-crossing indicates that you will die trying to protect someone you hold dear." Professor Trelawney looked at Harry with wide, worried eyes. Harry sighed impatiently.
"Can we get on with the class?" He asked irritably. Trelawney looked slightly surprised then gave him a knowing look.
"I know it's hard to face reality, dear. But if you ever need someone to talk to about your fate I'm always here." Ron coughed loudly and she turned back to the class. When they began checking out each other's "futures" Harry whispered to Ron what had happened before Professor Trelawney "predicted" his future. Ron looked worried and whispered back that they should tell Hermione A.S.A.P.
Throughout the rest of the day Harry couldn't stop wondering what had happened. Had he been dreaming? He had already ruled that out. Had he been hallucinating? Hermione and Ron said "definitely no". They told him that it was probably nothing, but they said this with such worried looks in their eyes that Harry found it hard to believe them.
"Would everyone please partner off?" Harry looked at his two best friends. He wasn't too eager about partnering with Hermione, though. He felt that duelling her would lead to many bruises. Hermione seemed to know that the guys wanted to be together so she stepped up to Neville, who was without partner. Harry secretly thought that was good idea. Hermione would know what to do if Neville suddenly expelled great balls of fire at her. Hermione could teach Neville more than anyone else in their group could.
Their "group" consisted of all the year fours and year fives. The teacher supervising their group was Professor McGonagall. Harry hid a smirk as he saw the year two's and the year three's cowering away from the tall form of Professor Snape. Professor Flitwick was helping Snape because the year two's and three's were least experienced of the grades in the Duelling Club, they were Group 1. Professor Lupin was watching the years six and seven who were Group 3. The whole programme was being run, mainly, by Lupin, though. He would explain to all years what the Club was, how to properly hold your wand when duelling, what to be aware of, how to stand when starting and how to signal when giving up. The other teachers, though, would tell the people in their groups exactly what kind of spells they would be using on each other. The spells depended on their experience.
Professor McGonagall waited until they were all partnered off then told them to work on disarming their opponents to see what they remembered from the Duelling Club with Lockhart. The spell was too easy and soon, everyone in Group 2, as they were called, had been disarmed and had disarmed their partner at least once. Except, of course Neville. Hermione, in demonstration, had disarmed him three times. Neville had managed to get as far as making Hermione's wand wobble. After five minutes with Neville Professor McGonagall gave up and instructed the class to use their knowledge, from what they had learned in school, to practice using them on their partners. As Harry successfully blocked a leg locker curse from Ron he noticed that Professor Dumbledore was in the Great Hall too. Dumbledore was surveying the groups to see how it was going. His eyes landed on Harry and Arabella, who stood beside him, nudged him. Harry's brief hesitation caused Ron to hit him with a tickling charm and McGonagall rebuked Harry for not paying attention. Harry got back at Ron with a charm to make him start dancing. Meanwhile, Hermione had managed to curse Neville so many times that he was sprouting little green hairs out the top of his head, he was, like Ron, dancing around the Hall, singing and his skin was glowing bright pink. People all over the Hall stopped to look at Neville, Hermione wanted to counter-curse them off him, but Professor McGonagall told him the experience would teach him to work harder at his spells.
By the end of the first day of the Duelling Club everyone was leaving with bumps and bruises and charmed hair, etc. Quite a few ended up at Mme Pomfrey's, because of bad spells, etc. Harry was groaning because Ron had "Wingardium Leviosa"'d Harry high into the air, then dropped him when his concentration was broken. Hermione was apologising profusely to Neville who tried to tell her that it was his own ignorance that put him in that position.
* * *
The next morning, none of the Duelling Club member's wanted to get up. Harry and Ron especially. Their first lesson was Divination.
Harry and Ron cautiously approached the trapdoor on the ceiling, leading to Professor Trelawney's (sp.?) room. Every year since starting that class, Harry's death had been predicted in more than one form. He was not looking forward to this lesson. She would study him and give that piteous look and look at him as though he was about to drop dead in front of her.
Harry and Ron took their usual seats in the corner and sat on the puffy seats. There was a smell of lavender and the room was dark, smoky and hot. Harry could feel his eyes closing already and the class hadn't even started! As Trelawney made her appearance Harry felt an odd feeling. She began addressing the class, but Harry couldn't hear the words. He felt like he was falling into oblivion. Suddenly he heard a male voice, he had the feeling the voice was talking to him, but he couldn't make out the words. Was it English? He wondered. He heard screaming, growling, talking, hissing, then silence. Harry glanced up. The whole Divination class was staring at him. Harry looked at Ron who looked curiously back.
"My poor dear. I sense unrest in your soul. Won't you please let me see your hands. I will use you as an example. We are, after all, doing palmistry in depth this year." Harry's mind was whirling with confusion and he barely acknowledged her. He started when she took his left hand and began studying it.
"Ah, I see." She mused out loud, "oh my! Goodness me! You poor thing! How noble!" She finally dropped his hand after those little exclamations and gasps. Harry looked back at her uninterestedly, eager to think about what had just happened. Had he fallen asleep? No, he had been awake. His thoughts were broken by Lavender, who asked what Professor Trelawney had seen in a trembling voice. Harry looked at Ron, who rolled his eyes.
"My dears. Those lines are not good at all! Your lifelines are short, indicating an early death. The criss-crossing indicates that you will die trying to protect someone you hold dear." Professor Trelawney looked at Harry with wide, worried eyes. Harry sighed impatiently.
"Can we get on with the class?" He asked irritably. Trelawney looked slightly surprised then gave him a knowing look.
"I know it's hard to face reality, dear. But if you ever need someone to talk to about your fate I'm always here." Ron coughed loudly and she turned back to the class. When they began checking out each other's "futures" Harry whispered to Ron what had happened before Professor Trelawney "predicted" his future. Ron looked worried and whispered back that they should tell Hermione A.S.A.P.
Throughout the rest of the day Harry couldn't stop wondering what had happened. Had he been dreaming? He had already ruled that out. Had he been hallucinating? Hermione and Ron said "definitely no". They told him that it was probably nothing, but they said this with such worried looks in their eyes that Harry found it hard to believe them.