Chapter #7
Harry Ron and Hermione trudged into the great hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table. Ron sighed.
"Man I'm tired." He muttered sleepily.
"Well, if you hadn't stayed up half the night muttering about some girl, I think you would've gotten more sleep." Harry mumbled through a mouthful of toast. Hermione stared at Ron in surprise.
"Oohh, who's the lucky girl Ron?" Hermione asked eagerly. Ron muttered something vaguely like, "Uh, duh nuh." Hermione scowled. Harry grinned awkwardly. Hermione turned to Harry in surprise.
"What?" He asked, cringing slightly.
"You know!" She shot eagerly. Harry scowled lightly, then laughed.
"That's a secret between me, Ron, and the sky."
"Well, humph! Hey, do you still like Cho?" She asked, hoping to catch her friend on a sensitive spot. Harry spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice. Ron started to snigger, and at the other end of the table, Ginny Weasley had turned the color of the Gryffindor flag.
"No!"
"Then who is it?"
"For your information," Harry spat in furious embarrassment, "I'm dating Ginny!"
"Oh! Harry, I'm so happy for you!" Hermione cried. Ron rolled his eyes.
"When Harry came over this summer, Ginny had just like, blossomed or something, and Harry went google- eyed, and chased her down the first night, right after dinner, when they were alone, and he says to her, "Ginny, I loved you since my second year. Will you go out with me?" He asks, and Ginny just broke down. I think it was some weird quirk of destiny, but we caught them necking out in the back yard the next night."
"On your second night?" Hermione asked incredulously. Harry nodded, smiling.
"It was brilliant. Never felt this way in my life." He murmured happily.
"Oh Harry! I'm so happy for you! You Potters must have a knack for attracting red heads eh?" She said cheerfully. Harry nodded.
"Of course, Dad was boiling mad. Nearly strangled Harry." Ron said cheerfully. Fred and George Weasley, who were in their final year at Hogwarts, bounced up beside Ron.
"Here's your time tables. And remember Harry, if Ginny ain't a virgin when we go home, you aren't coming back!" George said cheerfully.
"Or that's what Dad said. Nice to see ya, Hermione. Did you hear the good news?" Fred asked, nodding towards Ginny, who scurried over to them, grinning. Harry pulled his chair further away from the table, and Ginny crawled securely into his lap. Ron snorted into his oatmeal.
"What's gotten into you, Ron?" Hermione asked in surprise. Ginny laughed.
"We have potions on Mondays! Lovely way to start the week, isn't it?" Ron snapped furiously. Harry grinned and tried to answer, but he was occupied with Ginny at the moment.
"Hey, Romeo!" Fred said loudly. Harry pulled away, grinning from ear to ear. Ginny giggled.
"Aww, you guys! Just let me finish, all right?" Harry asked, turning back to Ginny, but Fred and George were literally dragging a very mad Ginny back to her friends, who were muttering jealously. Ron sighed.
"Great. We got Double Potions on Monday! As though one torture session ain't enough!." He muttered. Harry groaned.
"Yeah, then it's transfiguration for the rest of the afternoon."
"What? We have double transfiguration on the first day?" Ron asked. Harry nodded sadly.
"That woman is gonna work our butts off, she will." He said. Hermione grinned.
"Well, lets' get this over with." She said, and the trio started towards the dungeons.
Snape walked between the aisles of the students.
"Now, I'm sure your heads have rotted over the summer running around with other boys and girls, so listen up. Just because you are going through a certain, ah, stage in your young lives, does not mean I'm going to put up with a class full of hormone-infested teenagers." Snape growled. The class glanced at each other. Draco Malfoy sniggered and muttered something to Crabbe and Goyle.
"Ten points from Slytherin, Malfoy. No snickering in class." Snape barked. Malfoy jumped and stared at Snape in shock.
"But." He began. Snape sighed.
"Fifteen points."
"That's not fair!"
"Twenty, now keep your mouth shut or it will be fifty." Snape replied coolly.
Harry and Ron scowled at each other. If Snape took away points from Slytherin, surely he would gladly take away as much points from Gryffindor as he could. Hermione frowned. Snape, taking points away from Slytherin? It was very strange. Snape sat down, rubbing the area above his temples. His eyes lingered around Harry, then he looked directly at Hermione, and his face paled. Hermione felt the color drain from her face as they stared at each other. Ron glanced at Harry, his eyebrows raised. Harry shrugged in confusion. Snape trembled, his eyes wide in surprise. Then he got up and strode over to Hermione, peering into her cauldron.
"Granger," His voice was tight with tension. "Stay after class. We need to discuss your work." The rest of potions passed uneventfully, not counting Neville managing to turn Harrys' hair blood red.
"S, s, s sorry Harry!" Neville stammered, blushing. Snape scowled.
"Longbottom! The potion is suppose to boost your energy, not turn Potters' hair red!" Neville's face paled.
"I didn't mean to!' He cried.
"Um, yeah, I think it's kinda neat." Harry said quickly.
"Oh yes Potter. It's just beautiful." Snape growled, rolling his eyes. Harry blushed. "Ten points from Gryffindor. And don't let it happen again!" The class piled out, muttering about Snapes' bad attitude. Hermione approached Snapes' desk uncertainly. The man rubbed his head again.
"Granger, while you were with Death Eaters, did you run into someone that shouldn't be around anymore?" Snape asked slowly. Hermione was taken aback. Did Snape suspect something? Did he know James was alive?
"No, Professor Snape, nobody but Death Eaters." She replied quietly.
"I don't believe you." He said simply. Hermione blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"Encounter any person that you had feelings for?"
"That's really quite personal, Professor Snape!" She cried. Snape sighed.
"You may go, and when you feel like telling me the truth, just come down to my office."
"Okay." She said breathlessly, and raced out the door. Hermione rounded a corner and raced after Ron and Harry. The two were sitting at the Great Hall, eating lunch. Harry sighed in frustration suddenly.
"Hermione, you're keeping something from us! What is it?" He asked quietly. Hermione sighed.
"It's nothing, really."
"Tell us!"
"Harry! I can't!" She gasped.
"Why not?" Ron pressed. Hermione whimpered.
"I can't!" She said again.
"Hermione!" Harry said, his voice raised slightly. Just then an owl landed in front of her. Hermione untied it and read it. The handwriting was neat and elegant.
Dear Hermione,
I hate to bug you, but I have to tell you something. Could you come over to the womping willow on Friday night? I'd really appreciate it.
Sincerely, James Potter
Hermione grinned. She was really curious. What did James want? She thought he would forget about her after she got to Hogwarts. She folded the letter and put it in her bag.
"Who is it from?" Ron asked.
"None of your business."
"Is it from Krum?"
"Ron, me and Krum are over." Hermione scowled and took out a piece of paper. She wrote,
Dear, I can't write your name as my friends are bending over my shoulders and reading this.
Yeah, I can do that. It's fine. I'll see you then.
From Hermione
She tied it to the owl, and it took flight. Ron glared at her.
"It's a boy, isn't it?" He demanded.
"Ron, it's none of your buisness! Leave it, okay?" Hermione snarled. Ron muttered something and they walked towards the transfiguration classroom, ready to work their butts off.
" You know," Harry said as they sat in their spots. "It's really not bugging me that much. I mean, why worry?"
"Because, he could be a Death Eater that she's dating.!" Ron replied. Harry grinned.
"Yeah, but it doesn't really matter, Ron. We're pretty safe right here at Hogwarts, right?"
"Mr. Potter!" Harry looked up and blushed. Professor Mcgonagall was sitting at her desk, frowning. The students gave their full attention.
"Now, we are going to study animagi this year more in depth. Can somebody tell me, what involves becoming an animagus?" Mcgonagall asked. Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Of course, if you're going to be an animagus, you have to register, or you'll be an illegal one." Hermione stated.
"Excellent. Anything else? Yes, Mr. Potter?" Mcgonagall asked, surprised that Harry was contributing. Harry grinned awkwardly.
"You have to choose the animal that resembles you most, or it will be harder, say, if you picked an animal randomly, it would be harder. So you have to research and find what animal suites you most." He said slowly. Hermione stared at him in surprise.
"Excellent. Very good indeed, Mr. Potter. I have no clue how you know that, as that was what we would be studying today, so ten points to Gryffindor." Mcgonagall replied in surprise. "Now, all of you pick up a book, and let's get to work." The three got a big book.
"That was really good, Harry." Ron said, impressed. Harry shrugged.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Potter, do you know what that animal that suites you is called?" Mcgonagall asked. Harry nodded.
"It's your Phenotype." He said with a grin. Mcgonagall nodded.
"You have your fathers' talent and your mothers' intelligence." She said with a small smile. Harry shrugged again and the three set to work. Twenty minutes later Ron sighed.
"Great. I'm a red fox." He muttered quietly. Hermione grinned.
"I'm an eagle." She replied. Harry shook his head.
"I'm an, ern, wow, I'm a mustang! A wild horse, cool." Harry murmured. Hermione nodded and read about her phenotype. It said,
The Eagle. Magnificent, you know you are smart, yet you are unaware of your natural beauty. You were born to fly, why prefer to crawl through your life? You think of consequences before you take action.
Harry peered at the page and read out loud,
The mustang. Clever, powerful, and loyal, mind, only to those whom you deeply trust. You value friendship far more than you value yourself. You are defiant. Nobody tells you where to stand. You are a true leader.
Ron grinned, and read under red fox,
The Red Fox, you are sly, and you don't mind making other people sad if you can feel better. You know you are not that popular, but you wish people would notice you.
"Hey, that sounds like you, Ron!" Harry murmured. Ron nodded. Hermione giggled.
"I like that. Nobody tells you where to stand. That sounds a lot like you, Harry!" She replied.
"Hmm, unaware of your natural beauty, eh?" Harry said cheerfully. Hermione shrugged.
"Now that you have your phenotypes, you will study that animal. And in potions next Monday you will make a potion to pre- transform you into your animal." Mcgonagall said, and the class left. It had taken all afternoon for that class, and they were all tired.
"Well, that wasn't very hard now, was it?" Ron muttered. Harry grinned.
"Sure Ron, sure."
End Of Chapter
Harry Ron and Hermione trudged into the great hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table. Ron sighed.
"Man I'm tired." He muttered sleepily.
"Well, if you hadn't stayed up half the night muttering about some girl, I think you would've gotten more sleep." Harry mumbled through a mouthful of toast. Hermione stared at Ron in surprise.
"Oohh, who's the lucky girl Ron?" Hermione asked eagerly. Ron muttered something vaguely like, "Uh, duh nuh." Hermione scowled. Harry grinned awkwardly. Hermione turned to Harry in surprise.
"What?" He asked, cringing slightly.
"You know!" She shot eagerly. Harry scowled lightly, then laughed.
"That's a secret between me, Ron, and the sky."
"Well, humph! Hey, do you still like Cho?" She asked, hoping to catch her friend on a sensitive spot. Harry spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice. Ron started to snigger, and at the other end of the table, Ginny Weasley had turned the color of the Gryffindor flag.
"No!"
"Then who is it?"
"For your information," Harry spat in furious embarrassment, "I'm dating Ginny!"
"Oh! Harry, I'm so happy for you!" Hermione cried. Ron rolled his eyes.
"When Harry came over this summer, Ginny had just like, blossomed or something, and Harry went google- eyed, and chased her down the first night, right after dinner, when they were alone, and he says to her, "Ginny, I loved you since my second year. Will you go out with me?" He asks, and Ginny just broke down. I think it was some weird quirk of destiny, but we caught them necking out in the back yard the next night."
"On your second night?" Hermione asked incredulously. Harry nodded, smiling.
"It was brilliant. Never felt this way in my life." He murmured happily.
"Oh Harry! I'm so happy for you! You Potters must have a knack for attracting red heads eh?" She said cheerfully. Harry nodded.
"Of course, Dad was boiling mad. Nearly strangled Harry." Ron said cheerfully. Fred and George Weasley, who were in their final year at Hogwarts, bounced up beside Ron.
"Here's your time tables. And remember Harry, if Ginny ain't a virgin when we go home, you aren't coming back!" George said cheerfully.
"Or that's what Dad said. Nice to see ya, Hermione. Did you hear the good news?" Fred asked, nodding towards Ginny, who scurried over to them, grinning. Harry pulled his chair further away from the table, and Ginny crawled securely into his lap. Ron snorted into his oatmeal.
"What's gotten into you, Ron?" Hermione asked in surprise. Ginny laughed.
"We have potions on Mondays! Lovely way to start the week, isn't it?" Ron snapped furiously. Harry grinned and tried to answer, but he was occupied with Ginny at the moment.
"Hey, Romeo!" Fred said loudly. Harry pulled away, grinning from ear to ear. Ginny giggled.
"Aww, you guys! Just let me finish, all right?" Harry asked, turning back to Ginny, but Fred and George were literally dragging a very mad Ginny back to her friends, who were muttering jealously. Ron sighed.
"Great. We got Double Potions on Monday! As though one torture session ain't enough!." He muttered. Harry groaned.
"Yeah, then it's transfiguration for the rest of the afternoon."
"What? We have double transfiguration on the first day?" Ron asked. Harry nodded sadly.
"That woman is gonna work our butts off, she will." He said. Hermione grinned.
"Well, lets' get this over with." She said, and the trio started towards the dungeons.
Snape walked between the aisles of the students.
"Now, I'm sure your heads have rotted over the summer running around with other boys and girls, so listen up. Just because you are going through a certain, ah, stage in your young lives, does not mean I'm going to put up with a class full of hormone-infested teenagers." Snape growled. The class glanced at each other. Draco Malfoy sniggered and muttered something to Crabbe and Goyle.
"Ten points from Slytherin, Malfoy. No snickering in class." Snape barked. Malfoy jumped and stared at Snape in shock.
"But." He began. Snape sighed.
"Fifteen points."
"That's not fair!"
"Twenty, now keep your mouth shut or it will be fifty." Snape replied coolly.
Harry and Ron scowled at each other. If Snape took away points from Slytherin, surely he would gladly take away as much points from Gryffindor as he could. Hermione frowned. Snape, taking points away from Slytherin? It was very strange. Snape sat down, rubbing the area above his temples. His eyes lingered around Harry, then he looked directly at Hermione, and his face paled. Hermione felt the color drain from her face as they stared at each other. Ron glanced at Harry, his eyebrows raised. Harry shrugged in confusion. Snape trembled, his eyes wide in surprise. Then he got up and strode over to Hermione, peering into her cauldron.
"Granger," His voice was tight with tension. "Stay after class. We need to discuss your work." The rest of potions passed uneventfully, not counting Neville managing to turn Harrys' hair blood red.
"S, s, s sorry Harry!" Neville stammered, blushing. Snape scowled.
"Longbottom! The potion is suppose to boost your energy, not turn Potters' hair red!" Neville's face paled.
"I didn't mean to!' He cried.
"Um, yeah, I think it's kinda neat." Harry said quickly.
"Oh yes Potter. It's just beautiful." Snape growled, rolling his eyes. Harry blushed. "Ten points from Gryffindor. And don't let it happen again!" The class piled out, muttering about Snapes' bad attitude. Hermione approached Snapes' desk uncertainly. The man rubbed his head again.
"Granger, while you were with Death Eaters, did you run into someone that shouldn't be around anymore?" Snape asked slowly. Hermione was taken aback. Did Snape suspect something? Did he know James was alive?
"No, Professor Snape, nobody but Death Eaters." She replied quietly.
"I don't believe you." He said simply. Hermione blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"Encounter any person that you had feelings for?"
"That's really quite personal, Professor Snape!" She cried. Snape sighed.
"You may go, and when you feel like telling me the truth, just come down to my office."
"Okay." She said breathlessly, and raced out the door. Hermione rounded a corner and raced after Ron and Harry. The two were sitting at the Great Hall, eating lunch. Harry sighed in frustration suddenly.
"Hermione, you're keeping something from us! What is it?" He asked quietly. Hermione sighed.
"It's nothing, really."
"Tell us!"
"Harry! I can't!" She gasped.
"Why not?" Ron pressed. Hermione whimpered.
"I can't!" She said again.
"Hermione!" Harry said, his voice raised slightly. Just then an owl landed in front of her. Hermione untied it and read it. The handwriting was neat and elegant.
Dear Hermione,
I hate to bug you, but I have to tell you something. Could you come over to the womping willow on Friday night? I'd really appreciate it.
Sincerely, James Potter
Hermione grinned. She was really curious. What did James want? She thought he would forget about her after she got to Hogwarts. She folded the letter and put it in her bag.
"Who is it from?" Ron asked.
"None of your business."
"Is it from Krum?"
"Ron, me and Krum are over." Hermione scowled and took out a piece of paper. She wrote,
Dear, I can't write your name as my friends are bending over my shoulders and reading this.
Yeah, I can do that. It's fine. I'll see you then.
From Hermione
She tied it to the owl, and it took flight. Ron glared at her.
"It's a boy, isn't it?" He demanded.
"Ron, it's none of your buisness! Leave it, okay?" Hermione snarled. Ron muttered something and they walked towards the transfiguration classroom, ready to work their butts off.
" You know," Harry said as they sat in their spots. "It's really not bugging me that much. I mean, why worry?"
"Because, he could be a Death Eater that she's dating.!" Ron replied. Harry grinned.
"Yeah, but it doesn't really matter, Ron. We're pretty safe right here at Hogwarts, right?"
"Mr. Potter!" Harry looked up and blushed. Professor Mcgonagall was sitting at her desk, frowning. The students gave their full attention.
"Now, we are going to study animagi this year more in depth. Can somebody tell me, what involves becoming an animagus?" Mcgonagall asked. Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Of course, if you're going to be an animagus, you have to register, or you'll be an illegal one." Hermione stated.
"Excellent. Anything else? Yes, Mr. Potter?" Mcgonagall asked, surprised that Harry was contributing. Harry grinned awkwardly.
"You have to choose the animal that resembles you most, or it will be harder, say, if you picked an animal randomly, it would be harder. So you have to research and find what animal suites you most." He said slowly. Hermione stared at him in surprise.
"Excellent. Very good indeed, Mr. Potter. I have no clue how you know that, as that was what we would be studying today, so ten points to Gryffindor." Mcgonagall replied in surprise. "Now, all of you pick up a book, and let's get to work." The three got a big book.
"That was really good, Harry." Ron said, impressed. Harry shrugged.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Potter, do you know what that animal that suites you is called?" Mcgonagall asked. Harry nodded.
"It's your Phenotype." He said with a grin. Mcgonagall nodded.
"You have your fathers' talent and your mothers' intelligence." She said with a small smile. Harry shrugged again and the three set to work. Twenty minutes later Ron sighed.
"Great. I'm a red fox." He muttered quietly. Hermione grinned.
"I'm an eagle." She replied. Harry shook his head.
"I'm an, ern, wow, I'm a mustang! A wild horse, cool." Harry murmured. Hermione nodded and read about her phenotype. It said,
The Eagle. Magnificent, you know you are smart, yet you are unaware of your natural beauty. You were born to fly, why prefer to crawl through your life? You think of consequences before you take action.
Harry peered at the page and read out loud,
The mustang. Clever, powerful, and loyal, mind, only to those whom you deeply trust. You value friendship far more than you value yourself. You are defiant. Nobody tells you where to stand. You are a true leader.
Ron grinned, and read under red fox,
The Red Fox, you are sly, and you don't mind making other people sad if you can feel better. You know you are not that popular, but you wish people would notice you.
"Hey, that sounds like you, Ron!" Harry murmured. Ron nodded. Hermione giggled.
"I like that. Nobody tells you where to stand. That sounds a lot like you, Harry!" She replied.
"Hmm, unaware of your natural beauty, eh?" Harry said cheerfully. Hermione shrugged.
"Now that you have your phenotypes, you will study that animal. And in potions next Monday you will make a potion to pre- transform you into your animal." Mcgonagall said, and the class left. It had taken all afternoon for that class, and they were all tired.
"Well, that wasn't very hard now, was it?" Ron muttered. Harry grinned.
"Sure Ron, sure."
End Of Chapter
