Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters are the property of JK Rowling
and associates. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
CHAPTER TWO
"Why do you let him get to you like that, Harry?"
Harry had just informed Hermione of the events in Snape's office. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, eating lunch.
"You should have just..."
"I know what I should have done, Hermione," Harry snapped, an annoyed frown creasing his forehead, as he reached across the table and picked up a bread roll. "But it's a bit late now, isn't it?"
Harry's hands shook as he buttered the bread; anger still seething through him. It was completely unfair the way Snape victimised him. He'd never made a secret of his dislike for Harry, but recently his bullying had reached a new level of ferocity.
Hermione pouted and turned her attention back to the Daily Prophet newspaper, which was lying open on the table infront of her. She was reading an article about a new Magical Amendment, which forbade the sale of Salamander Tongues without a license, due to a recent upsurge in illegal potion sales containing that particular ingredient.
Harry chewed ferociously on his bread roll, before sighing and looking over at Hermione again.
"Look, I'm sorry that I snapped at you, alright?" He shook his hair out of his eyes and removed his glasses, wiping them on the sleeve of his robes. "Snape just makes me so angry. It's completely unfair."
Hermione nodded. "I do understand, Harry. But losing your temper with him won't get you anywhere, apart from in deep trouble. You should try talking to Professor McGonagall or somebody about it; he shouldn't be allowed to punish you for no reason, just because of some old grudge against your Dad."
"Yeah, well," Harry muttered, returning his glasses to his nose and pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "He's just a git, isn't he?"
They sat in silence for a few minutes, while Hermione continued to flick through the Daily Prophet, finishing the article on Salamander Tongues and skipping over a large section in the middle of the paper, devoted to Magical Makeup Tips for the Modern Day Witch-On-The-Go.
Harry smiled at Seamus and Neville as they seated themselves opposite and began to pile food onto their plates. Then he looked over at Hermione.
"Where's Ron? Shouldn't he be here, piling food into his mouth with both hands, right about now?"
Hermione didn't crack a smile, although Seamus laughed loudly, displaying the half chewed remains of the chicken leg in his mouth to the entire Gryffindor table.
"That's disgusting," Hermione frowned, shaking her head reprovingly at Seamus, who just winked at her in response, before answering Harry's enquiry about Ron. "He's up in the Owlery, seeing if Pig's come back yet."
Pig was Ron's tiny pet owl – Ron had sent him off with a letter six days ago, and the creature hadn't been seen since.
"Ron's getting rather concerned about him," Hermione continued. "It's been six days now. Do you know he even accused Crookshanks of eating him!" she tutted, rolling her eyes. "It's Scabbers all over again."
Harry glared at Hermione as she mentioned Ron's former pet rat, which had turned out to be a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew, who had been responsible for betraying Harry's parents to Voldemort. Hermione, realising too late what she had said, clapped a hand to her mouth and smiled bashfully at Harry.
"Harry, I'm sorry..I...I didn't think."
Harry looked down at the table and muttered a "Don't worry about it," under his breath.
There was an awkward moment, as Hermione exchanged uncomfortable looks with Neville and Seamus across the table, while Harry stared blankly down at the empty plate infront of him. However, the tension was broken by the arrival of Ron, who collapsed down in the seat next to Hermione and, true to form, immediately began to heap food onto his plate.
"He's not there," Ron reported, devouring a large chunk of Stewed Pumpkin Pie with one mouthful. "Bloody bird. More trouble than he's worth, I'm telling you." But Harry and Hermione could tell that Ron was beginning to get concerned about the owl's mysterious disappearance. "How many detentions did that old slimeball give you this time?" Ron asked Harry, piling another fork high with Stewed Pumpkin Pie and carrots.
"None actually," Harry replied dully, causing Ron, Seamus and Neville to gape at him in surprise. "But I did lose fifty points from Gryffindor," he continued, earning sighs of disappointment from them all. "Fifty points! And I didn't even do anything wrong."
Harry scowled and looked over at the Slytherin table, where he could make out Draco Malfoy talking animatedly to Theodore Nott, a lanky sixth year, who constantly had an illfavoured look. Malfoy was grinning and talking very quickly, but Harry was too far away to hear what he was saying. He turned back to the Gryffindor table and broke the rest of the bad news.
"And he's banned me from Quidditch,"
"What?"
Katie Bell had just sat down next to Seamus. They'd been going out with each other for almost three months now, ever since they'd met up over the summer holidays and Seamus had finally worked up the nerve to tell her that he liked her.
"You've been banned from Quidditch?"
Harry nodded morosely and took another swig of his pumpkin juice. "By Snape. And it was all Malfoy's fault."
He tossed another annoyed glare towards the Slytherin table, before turning back to face Katie.
"Two months."
Katie shook her head and frowned, her pretty face lined with thought.
"I'm going to go and tell Alicia," she said, getting to her feet and giving Seamus a quick pat on the shoulder. "She'll be furious." And then she disappeared back out of the Great Hall, muttering under her breath, "Malfoy, that scheming, jumped up little ferret......"
Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks, before they both turned their attention to Harry.
"Two months?" Ron said dully, dropping his fork down onto the table and pushing his plate away from him, even though he'd eaten less than half of his lunch. "But that means...." He counted on his fingers, ticking off the weeks left to go until their match against Slytherin, then he gaped at Harry. "That means you'll miss the match against Slytherin!"
Harry nodded weakly. "I know."
"That's why he's doing it!" Ron said loudly, slamming his fist down on the table, causing Hermione's goblet of Pumpkin juice to wobble dangerously. "Snape. He knows that Slytherin are bound to lose the match, so he's put you out of action."
Hermione shook her head and gave Ron a doubtful look. "I don't know, Ron. I mean, we all know that Snape's terribly biased in favour of Slytherin, but do you really think he'd go to all this trouble just to make sure they win one game of Quidditch? Despite what most people seem to think, Quidditch is not the be all and end all."
She might has well have been speaking Greek, for all the notice anybody took of her. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, clearing saying 'she's mental', almost as though he had spoken the words out loud. Harry surpressed a grin and tried to nod seriously at Hermione, unfortunately without much success. Hermione just sighed and turned her attention back to the Daily Prophet, which was still open on the table infront of her.
"Trust me, Harry, Snape's doing it because he knows you're bound to get to the snitch before Malfoy!" Ron's eyes narrowed as he said Draco's name. His rivalry with Draco Malfoy was almost as bad as Harry's. "After all, all you did was threaten to shove potion down his throat. It's not exactly bad enough to get a two month ban from Quidditch, is it?"
Without taking her eyes off of the newspaper, Hermione interrupted. "No it's not, but screaming at your Professor and calling him pathetic, is."
Ron's eyes widened, and he looked at Harry with an awed expression.
"You yelled at him?"
Harry nodded.
"And did you really call him pathetic?"
Harry nodded again.
"Cool."
Hermione immediately looked up at Ron. "No it's not 'cool, Ron!" she said hotly. "Harry could have been expelled."
Ron shrugged his shoulders and picked up his fork again. "Yeah, I suppose. But he wasn't, was he?"
Hermione pursed her lips, displaying her obvious disapproval of Ron's flippant attitude. "That doesn't make it right."
But Ron wasn't going to be drawn into an argument about it now – not while there was lunch to be eaten. He just sighed loudly and plunged his fork into his Pumpkin Pie. Harry looked down at the empty plate infront of him. He just wasn't hungry. Two months Quidditch ban. Two months! And not only that, but Snape was going to be talking to Dumbledore about him. Harry had failed to include this piece of information to the others. Surely he wouldn't really be expelled though? Snape didn't wield that much influence over Dumbledore, to convince him to expel Harry. Did he?
*
CHAPTER TWO
"Why do you let him get to you like that, Harry?"
Harry had just informed Hermione of the events in Snape's office. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, eating lunch.
"You should have just..."
"I know what I should have done, Hermione," Harry snapped, an annoyed frown creasing his forehead, as he reached across the table and picked up a bread roll. "But it's a bit late now, isn't it?"
Harry's hands shook as he buttered the bread; anger still seething through him. It was completely unfair the way Snape victimised him. He'd never made a secret of his dislike for Harry, but recently his bullying had reached a new level of ferocity.
Hermione pouted and turned her attention back to the Daily Prophet newspaper, which was lying open on the table infront of her. She was reading an article about a new Magical Amendment, which forbade the sale of Salamander Tongues without a license, due to a recent upsurge in illegal potion sales containing that particular ingredient.
Harry chewed ferociously on his bread roll, before sighing and looking over at Hermione again.
"Look, I'm sorry that I snapped at you, alright?" He shook his hair out of his eyes and removed his glasses, wiping them on the sleeve of his robes. "Snape just makes me so angry. It's completely unfair."
Hermione nodded. "I do understand, Harry. But losing your temper with him won't get you anywhere, apart from in deep trouble. You should try talking to Professor McGonagall or somebody about it; he shouldn't be allowed to punish you for no reason, just because of some old grudge against your Dad."
"Yeah, well," Harry muttered, returning his glasses to his nose and pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "He's just a git, isn't he?"
They sat in silence for a few minutes, while Hermione continued to flick through the Daily Prophet, finishing the article on Salamander Tongues and skipping over a large section in the middle of the paper, devoted to Magical Makeup Tips for the Modern Day Witch-On-The-Go.
Harry smiled at Seamus and Neville as they seated themselves opposite and began to pile food onto their plates. Then he looked over at Hermione.
"Where's Ron? Shouldn't he be here, piling food into his mouth with both hands, right about now?"
Hermione didn't crack a smile, although Seamus laughed loudly, displaying the half chewed remains of the chicken leg in his mouth to the entire Gryffindor table.
"That's disgusting," Hermione frowned, shaking her head reprovingly at Seamus, who just winked at her in response, before answering Harry's enquiry about Ron. "He's up in the Owlery, seeing if Pig's come back yet."
Pig was Ron's tiny pet owl – Ron had sent him off with a letter six days ago, and the creature hadn't been seen since.
"Ron's getting rather concerned about him," Hermione continued. "It's been six days now. Do you know he even accused Crookshanks of eating him!" she tutted, rolling her eyes. "It's Scabbers all over again."
Harry glared at Hermione as she mentioned Ron's former pet rat, which had turned out to be a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew, who had been responsible for betraying Harry's parents to Voldemort. Hermione, realising too late what she had said, clapped a hand to her mouth and smiled bashfully at Harry.
"Harry, I'm sorry..I...I didn't think."
Harry looked down at the table and muttered a "Don't worry about it," under his breath.
There was an awkward moment, as Hermione exchanged uncomfortable looks with Neville and Seamus across the table, while Harry stared blankly down at the empty plate infront of him. However, the tension was broken by the arrival of Ron, who collapsed down in the seat next to Hermione and, true to form, immediately began to heap food onto his plate.
"He's not there," Ron reported, devouring a large chunk of Stewed Pumpkin Pie with one mouthful. "Bloody bird. More trouble than he's worth, I'm telling you." But Harry and Hermione could tell that Ron was beginning to get concerned about the owl's mysterious disappearance. "How many detentions did that old slimeball give you this time?" Ron asked Harry, piling another fork high with Stewed Pumpkin Pie and carrots.
"None actually," Harry replied dully, causing Ron, Seamus and Neville to gape at him in surprise. "But I did lose fifty points from Gryffindor," he continued, earning sighs of disappointment from them all. "Fifty points! And I didn't even do anything wrong."
Harry scowled and looked over at the Slytherin table, where he could make out Draco Malfoy talking animatedly to Theodore Nott, a lanky sixth year, who constantly had an illfavoured look. Malfoy was grinning and talking very quickly, but Harry was too far away to hear what he was saying. He turned back to the Gryffindor table and broke the rest of the bad news.
"And he's banned me from Quidditch,"
"What?"
Katie Bell had just sat down next to Seamus. They'd been going out with each other for almost three months now, ever since they'd met up over the summer holidays and Seamus had finally worked up the nerve to tell her that he liked her.
"You've been banned from Quidditch?"
Harry nodded morosely and took another swig of his pumpkin juice. "By Snape. And it was all Malfoy's fault."
He tossed another annoyed glare towards the Slytherin table, before turning back to face Katie.
"Two months."
Katie shook her head and frowned, her pretty face lined with thought.
"I'm going to go and tell Alicia," she said, getting to her feet and giving Seamus a quick pat on the shoulder. "She'll be furious." And then she disappeared back out of the Great Hall, muttering under her breath, "Malfoy, that scheming, jumped up little ferret......"
Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks, before they both turned their attention to Harry.
"Two months?" Ron said dully, dropping his fork down onto the table and pushing his plate away from him, even though he'd eaten less than half of his lunch. "But that means...." He counted on his fingers, ticking off the weeks left to go until their match against Slytherin, then he gaped at Harry. "That means you'll miss the match against Slytherin!"
Harry nodded weakly. "I know."
"That's why he's doing it!" Ron said loudly, slamming his fist down on the table, causing Hermione's goblet of Pumpkin juice to wobble dangerously. "Snape. He knows that Slytherin are bound to lose the match, so he's put you out of action."
Hermione shook her head and gave Ron a doubtful look. "I don't know, Ron. I mean, we all know that Snape's terribly biased in favour of Slytherin, but do you really think he'd go to all this trouble just to make sure they win one game of Quidditch? Despite what most people seem to think, Quidditch is not the be all and end all."
She might has well have been speaking Greek, for all the notice anybody took of her. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, clearing saying 'she's mental', almost as though he had spoken the words out loud. Harry surpressed a grin and tried to nod seriously at Hermione, unfortunately without much success. Hermione just sighed and turned her attention back to the Daily Prophet, which was still open on the table infront of her.
"Trust me, Harry, Snape's doing it because he knows you're bound to get to the snitch before Malfoy!" Ron's eyes narrowed as he said Draco's name. His rivalry with Draco Malfoy was almost as bad as Harry's. "After all, all you did was threaten to shove potion down his throat. It's not exactly bad enough to get a two month ban from Quidditch, is it?"
Without taking her eyes off of the newspaper, Hermione interrupted. "No it's not, but screaming at your Professor and calling him pathetic, is."
Ron's eyes widened, and he looked at Harry with an awed expression.
"You yelled at him?"
Harry nodded.
"And did you really call him pathetic?"
Harry nodded again.
"Cool."
Hermione immediately looked up at Ron. "No it's not 'cool, Ron!" she said hotly. "Harry could have been expelled."
Ron shrugged his shoulders and picked up his fork again. "Yeah, I suppose. But he wasn't, was he?"
Hermione pursed her lips, displaying her obvious disapproval of Ron's flippant attitude. "That doesn't make it right."
But Ron wasn't going to be drawn into an argument about it now – not while there was lunch to be eaten. He just sighed loudly and plunged his fork into his Pumpkin Pie. Harry looked down at the empty plate infront of him. He just wasn't hungry. Two months Quidditch ban. Two months! And not only that, but Snape was going to be talking to Dumbledore about him. Harry had failed to include this piece of information to the others. Surely he wouldn't really be expelled though? Snape didn't wield that much influence over Dumbledore, to convince him to expel Harry. Did he?
*
