A/N: Okay, I'm going to do partly my own thing, partly going along with the book on this stuff. So if some of this sounds out of place, such as only have the three classes on Monday, it's not you, it's me. Because I'm weird and had to mix things up. Please enjoy.
Ah Monday, the first day to begin lessons. Hotaru got her schedule and found that she had Astronomy first thing that day, with Griffindor too. In fact, all her classes for that day would be shared with Griffindor. How odd.
"Uuuuugh, can you believe we have to get stuck with Gryffindor?!" The girl named Pansy Parkingson asked Hotaru with much disgust.
"Are they really that bad?" Hotaru asked softly. When Pansy gave her a very undignified look she said, "Well, the ones I met were rather nice."
"You've got to be kidding." Pansy said giving her a disgusted look, "How in the world did you get into Slytherin."
"It was a close call actually. The hat got confused." Hotaru said, still with her sweet soft voice.
"I believe someone considered me at the peak of Slytherin minus complete maliciousness, and yet I don't believe that all Gryffindors are bad." Kioko said walking up to them.
Pansy's eyes widened and she scuffled away without another word.
"People know better than to go head to head with me in a verbal battle nowadays." Kioko explained. "I wonder what the new Astronomy teacher is like. She's farley pretty, but that doesn't say much." She said.
"I think you'll like her. She's witty and smart, a little like you I guess, and strong willed. Very strong willed." Hotaru said.
Kioko snickered a bit, "Sounds like me. Wait, you know her?" She asked.
"Yeah, remember when I was telling you about her? Glandria Sapphire is her name, arranged the way the English would say it." Hotaru told her.
"Oh right, you'll have to excuse me, I can be a bit slow at times. Though you didn't actually say she was a Professor so you'll have to give me credit." She said. "Ah, Harry Potter, we were just talking about you a while ago. And when I say talking I mean a colorful version of 'bug off' directed towards Pansy Parkingson." She said turning to Harry, who was accompanied with Ron and Hermione.
"Hi Harry, how have you been?" Hotaru asked smiling pleasantly.
"Fine, I guess." Harry replied awkwardly.
Ron then busted out, "How the heck did a sweet girl like you get into Slytherin?!" He demanded.
Hotaru was a bit surprised but Kioko replied for her, "Just because some of us are gits, *couchMalfoycouch* doesn't mean we all are. You can tell I've been hanging around British too long after I start using their swear words." Kioko said, to Ron and then back to Hotaru.
Hotaru shrugged and then answered Ron, "Actually, it was a bit of a tie. The Sorting Hat didn't really know which house to put me in."
"You should have asked it to put you into Gryffindor." He said.
"Ahem, Slytherin here. I personally think being surrounded by something that represents a blood bath is just a bit unnerving. How can you stand all that red?" She asked.
Ron glared at her and she glared right back, but Kioko was the more intimidating of the two, as well as more strong willed, so she won the contest and Ron backed away. "It doesn't matter really." Hotaru said, "We're here to learn, not to compete."
"My sentiments exactly!" Kioko exclaimed. "Oh there's the class bell. Come on, let's go to Astronomy. I want to meet that friend of yours." She said dragging Hotaru on to the class. "Well, come on!" She said when the other three didn't follow them.
Awkwardly, the group went on to their first class.
********
"Good morning students, I am Professor Sapphire, as you all well know. Though because this title really doesn't roll off the tongue, you may refer to me as Miss Sapphire, Professor Glandria, or Sensei. I know most of you don't quite see Astronomy as being particularly necessary, but trust me, it is. The Stars hold secrets within their patterns, secrets line the universe, waiting to be unlocked. Some should never be told, others are needed for life. This Astronomy class will be a bit different from what you all are use to. Instead of merely mapping the stars, we are going to learn the meaning behind their light. I imagine we will all find something useful that we didn't know before, and I also believe that all of us might learn a bit more about ourselves as well." She said. "Yes Mister Malfoy?" She asked.
"How can we learn something about ourselves through stars?" He asked.
"Because, Malfoy, like it or not the universe is much bigger than earth. Our futures have been woven out for us, the paths we choose are only one of many, and each set out a new tangle of threads and possible choices." She said.
Just how far is she going to go with this? Hotaru wondered.
"How do stars know what I'm going to do?" Asked Malfoy, undignified.
"They don't, they merely know what will happen when you do such. Whether it be small or big." She said.
"Sound's like Divination to me." Said another Slytherin.
"In a way it is, I'm not saying that you will see anything in the stars, some people just can't, I'm only saying that you might. Now, before we begin is there any more questions?" When no one had anything she pulled out a crystal globe. "Hotaru-chan, will you please turn the room into a map?" She asked.
Hotaru nodded and them made her way up to the desk. She put her hands around the globe and concentrated her power to help her feel the stars. The room suddenly became dark, suddenly the image of a galaxy spread throughout the room, students found stars beside their heads and right in front of their faces. Glandria moved over to the bright star in the middle. "This is called Stagerus Zero Star, Center of the Galexy and the largest star of them all."
A chorus of 'wow's came up from the classroom, the sight was beautiful. The stars glittered with different colors, and they moved smoothly around the room, the only thing illuminating the room.
Hotaru stayed with the small globe floating above her hands to keep the image there while Galexia started pointing out planets and constellations. "Hotaru, please focus in on the earth's solar system." Glandria said.
Hotaru did so and an image of the sun was now in the center, though the light from it was severely dulled to keep the students from going blind. "Most of you know this system. Here's Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter. The innar planets. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The outer planets. Now, can anyone tell me how many moons are on Mercury?" She asked.
Kioko and Hermione both rose their hands into the air. "Miss Night?" Galexia asked.
"Mercury has no moons." She answered.
"Good 2 points to Slytherin, now Miss Hermione, tell us how many moons are on Venus." She said.
"None." Hermione answered.
"Good, 2 points to Gryffindor. Now, because everyone knows how many moons are on earth, Draco Malfoy, why don't you tell us how many major moons are on Mars." Galexia said.
"Um…" Draco trailed off.
"Miss Night?" Glandria asked.
"There are two moons on mars." Kioko answered.
"1 point to Slytherin. And their names Mr. Weazley?" Galexia asked.
"Er," Hotaru saw Hermione whisper something into his ear. "Phobo and Deimo." He said. Hermione smacked her head.
"That's Phobos and Deimos, Mr. Weazley." She said. "How many major moons are on Jupiter Miss Parkingson?" She asked.
"Um…10?" She guessed.
"Wrong, go ahead Miss Night?" Glandria said.
"There are 27." She said.
"Good, one point to Slytherin, and their names?"
"Um, Metis, Adrestea, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Themisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Iocast, Praxidike, Harpalyke, Anake, Isonoe, Erinome, Taygete, Chlandene, Carme, Pasiphae, Kalyke, Magaclite, Sinope, and…Callirrhoe!" Kioko said, having to second guess some of them.
"Good! 10 points to Slytherin. Which is the biggest moon?" She asked. "Hermione?"
"Ganymede." Hermione answered.
"5 Points to Gryffindor. Hotaru, will you tell us how many moons are on Saturn and their names?" She asked.
"There are 18 moons on Saturn, and their names are Pan, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Rhea (A/N: that's my name that's my name!!!), Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Phoebe." Hotaru told them.
"5 points to Slytherin. Mr. Potter, what's the largest moon on Saturn?" She asked.
"Um…Titan?" it made sense, titan usually meant big.
"2 points to Gryffindor!" Glandria exclaimed. What? He got it right?! "Now if you would, how many main moons are there on Uranus?" She asked.
"Er," he looked to Hermione who shrugged, then to Kioko who was mouthing something. "Um, 21?" He asked.
"Correct, but I was asking for major moons, there are only 20 of these. 5 points to Gryffindor for the extra answer." She said. "Now, Miss Granger can you tell us the names of the 20 major moons?" She asked.
"Um, some of them." Hermione said. "Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Crssida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, and…Puck. That's all I know." She said.
"2 points to Gryffindor. Miss Night will you name the rest?" She asked.
"Certainly. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Caliban, Stephano, Sycorax, Prospero, and Setebos." Kioko said.
"2 points to Slytherin. Can anyone other than Miss Night, Miss Granger, and Miss Tomo tell me how many of the major moons are on Neptune ?" Glandria asked.
"There are 8, 11 in all." Said, of all people, Nevil Longbottom.
"Good, good, 3 points to Gryffindor. And their names for another 5 points Mr. Longbottom?" Glandria asked.
"Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, and Nereid." Nevil answered, surprising almost everyone in the class.
"Thank you Mr. Longbottom! 5 points to Gryffindor. Who can tell me how many moons are on Pluto and their names?" She asked, "Besides you two." She said when Kioko and Hermione raised their hands. Kioko just put her hand back and smirked while Hermione looked a bit put out. "Anyone?" Glandria asked when no one raised their hand. "Miss Tomo will you?" She asked sighing.
"There's only one moon on Pluto and its name is Charon." Hotaru said.
"2 points to Slytherin. For today we'll study the moons of Mars, but be warned, for we will be studying Jupiter's moons next." Glandria said, a dark, almost evil, look in her eye when she said that. Some snickered at her humor and others moaned at the magnitude of moons on Jupiter. "And I mean the lesser moons as well." She said darkly.
"NOOOO!!!!" Some yelled, though they were mostly Gryffindors getting into the humor.
"Here are the slips of paper on Phobos and Deimos, some of you will be happy to know that I added the mythology behind their names to spice it up a bit. Put these away for now. The rest of the class will be dedicated to making a map of the stars like Miss Tomo. If you'll each pull out the crystal globes in your desk we can get started. Hotaru will you help me?" Glandria asked.
"Hai." Hotaru nodded, putting up her globe and the map disappeared. The lights came back on and Hotaru went over to help Kioko while Glandria chose the person closest to her.
******
Journal entry (I don't feel like counting anymore): I think Galexia meant Astronomy to end up like a competition. Everyone was really getting into it, rooting for their house's representative, aka: Kioko or Hermione. I bet she'll have a good deal of students memorizing her slips of paper just so they can get their house points, she dished them out like candy according to Kioko.
Interestingly enough, Kioko was the best using the globes, I merely had to explain to her how to do it and she caught right on. Which is a bit odd, but maybe she's just very talented. She seems to be, and she knew more about Astronomy than even Hermione. Nevil was a tough case, but he did well. Though I think the fact that I was a Slytherin and I was being nice to him might have confused him enough that it got in the way of his learning. Several other students got it, others couldn't and I had to go on while they kept trying. Draco Malfoy was particularly difficult, thought that was more his fault personally than it was physically. For some reason he just kept trying to egg me on, get me irritated. But I'm very good at masking my thoughts so I continued to appear sweet and calm while he tried to insult almost everything I was. It made for a very interesting show as Kioko put it.
Oh drat, the free time Glandria gave us is up. Good thing this book automatically recorded the class or I might not have gotten around to my thoughts on the matter.
"How'd you get your pen to write in the same language of the book?" Asked Kioko as Hotaru made the pen fall back onto the pages and she shut the book.
"I'm really not sure. It just does. I think the book is magic that way because it belonged to my Grandmother." Though that still didn't explain why it had Saturn's symbol on it. Could her Grandmother have been a Saturn Noble in the Silver Millennium too?
"You're real grandmother?" Kioko asked, Hotaru nodded. "Ah, I see. Come on, let's get on to potions before we're late." She said, they picked up their things and started on, "Though Snape won't do anything about it even if we are, he favors his own house. It's a bit convenient and annoying at the same time. You'll se what I mean." She said when they came to the door. "Though because I don't much like a select few of Gryffindors, okay I don't like a lot of them so sue me! Anyway, it's not that annoying, rather amusing actually and…I'm rambling again aren't I? Sorry, you'll have to excuse me for I do that a lot." She said as they entered the classroom.
The two sat down beside each other, behind them Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down. "Before we begin today's lesson," Snape said as he swept over to his desk, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next june you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape and 'acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my…displeasure." He said, his gaze lingered on Nevil and Hotaru could have sworn she heard the poor boy gulp. "After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape went on. "I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying good-bye."
Hotaru saw a wave of hatred pass from both Snape and Harry as they exchanged 'I look forward to it' looks with each other.
"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned, If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." Snape looked acceptingly at Kioko, who's lip was curling up into a smirk.
"Gods know I need this potion." She whispered to Hotaru, who had to suppress a giggle.
"The ingredients and method are on the blackboard, you will find everything you need in the store cupboard. You have an hour and a half….Start." Snape told them.
Hotaru found potions to be a lot like cooking, only if she let something slip the consequences might be more dire. Her book had taken the notes she needed for her and she started measuring. "No, that's too much." She said glancing at Kioko's spoon. "You need to level it off just a bit more." She said.
"Woops, thanks for catching me." Kioko said, shaking her head as if to clear a daze. Not surprising, some of the ingredients were making Hotaru a bit sleepy as well.
With only a few minutes left to go, Hotaru found that her potion was emitting a silver vapor that seemed to make it easier for her to breath, it kind of relaxed her a bit. Kioko's cauldron was doing the same. Well, that was a good sign.
"A silver vapor should now be rising from your potion." Snape called.
Hotaru looked around, her heart sank when she saw that so many others had nothing close. Hermione's was doing the same as theirs, and Draco's was close, though it was more white than silver.
"Very nice Miss Night, and you Miss Tomo, I would have never expected such excellence from a late comer. 20 points to Slytherin for each of you." He then moved to Hermione, finding it just as Kioko and Hotaru's was. He then moved on to Harry without saying anything about it. "Potter, What is this suppose to be?" He asked. Some collection of other Slytherins snickered.
"The Draught of Peace," Harry said, though he was a bit tense.
"Tell me Potter, can you read?" He asked.
Draco Malfoy busted out laughing, but for some reason he stopped abruptly when Hotaru gave him a sharp look.
"Yes I can," Harry said.
"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."
"'Add powdered moonstone, stir three times, counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore.'" He said.
"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter? *pause* I beg your pardon?"
"No," Harry said more loudly, "I forgot the hellebore…"
"I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesco." Hotaru saw the gray smoke disappear from Harry's Cauldron, as well as the potion. "Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing." Said Snape, "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday." Hotaru raised her hand, "Yes Miss Tomo?" He asked.
"You forgot to give Gryffindor 20 points too." She said, everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and look at her, even Kioko looked like she was crazy. When Snape made no reply she went on, insistent upon Hermione's right. "Hermione had a perfect potion too, shouldn't she be awarded house points as well?" She asked.
It could have been something about the way she said it, or maybe the confusion and innocence in her eyes that seemed to cast a spell to end all spells. Whatever it was, it had to be more powerful than Avada Kedavra for it made Snape do the Unthinkable. "20 points to Gryffindor." The entire class looked like they were about to have heart attacks.
There was a moment of silence, most didn't know who to stare at in unbelief, Snape for giving Gryffindor the points, or Hotaru for actually getting him to do it. There was a crash and everyone looked to see what had interrupted their moments of shock and confusion. Draco Malfoy had just dropped his flagon and was still alternating between staring in disbelief at Hotaru and then Snape.
Hotaru, however, was utterly confused at what everyone was so shocked about. After all, it was only fare that Gryffindor got points as well. Right?
Kioko was the first to break out of her stupor. "Oh come on people, it's not that surprising." She said, everyone stared at her, "Well it isn't, we have sweet and innocent over here who somehow managed to get into Slytherin." She said motioning to Hotaru.
"What?" Hotaru asked, confused now more than ever.
"See?! Point proven." She said, going back to her cauldron and putting some of into her flagon while emptying the rest into a small bottle that had to be magical for it somehow managed to hold the rest of her potion. "Put the rest of yours in here if you would Hotaru." She said. As Hotaru made her own flagon and then started pouring the potion into the bottle everyone else shook themselves and was getting around to doing the same thing. While she was doing that Kioko marked their names onto their flagons and then took them up to the desk.
When Hotaru was finished Hermione tapped her shoulder, "Here, you can have the rest of my potion too." She said. Hotaru handed her the flagon and she took out her wand. The contents of her cauldron seemed to defy gravity in a stream of its liquid as she caste a spell to make it swiftly go into the bottle. She then handed it back to Hotaru.
"Thanks." She said politely.
"Are you crazy?!" Malfoy hissed after he stalked over to Hotaru.
"No." Hotaru said calmly, "Are you?" She asked.
"No. You're helping Gryffindors." He said, as if trying to talk sense into a 10 year old who just wasn't going to listen.
"I see no problem with it." Hotaru said, without a hint of anger in her voice (She was already numbing to Malfoy's antics). "Like I said before, Malfoy, I'm not going to disown my friends just because of some silly house prejudice. I'll see you in DADA." She said, picking up her book as well as Kioko's things and then going to meet Kioko at the door. She unconsciously put her book into her robes, aka, putting it in her sub-space pocket, and she then handed Kioko her case.
"Thanks, but where are you're things?" She asked.
"Sub-space." Hotaru said, without even thinking.
Kioko's eyes widened and she suddenly looked like a child at Christmas. "Y-you can use one?" She asked breathlessly. Hotaru didn't know what to do but nod. "Would you teach me how to use it?" She asked hopefully.
"I guess s—" Before Hotaru could finished her word she was suddenly embraced.
"I love you!!!" She exclaimed.
"I don't think anyone can handle much more of these surprises, please keep in character Kioko." Harry begged as they all made their way down the hall.
"Oh, sorry." Kioko said, she released Hotaru and smoothed herself out. Looking normal again she entered the classroom.
Hotaru was strongly reminded of a toad whenever she looked at Umbridge, and while she sat down next to Kioko she couldn't help but hope the frog wasn't in the mood for firefly.
********
Journal Entry, after classes: And I thought DADA would be interesting, and so did Kioko from the sounds of it. The only interesting thing that happened was Hermione's rebellion. I have to say I quite agree with her, if I'm wanting to be an Auror (I found out how it's said!) I can't be reading some dumb book on defensive magic theory. I need more defensive and offensive spells.
And then there was something that Harry said when Umbridge asked who would attack children like ourselves.
"Hmm, let's think…" Said Harry, sarcastically. I could tell he was about to throw himself into a rage, but I never expected what came out of his mouth. "maybe, Lord Voldemort?" Even I stared at him open-mouthed. I hadn't expected him to say anything, I thought he'd be a bit smarter than to say anything. But I guess when people are angry they can't control themselves.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter." Professor Umbridge said. "Now let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead—"
"He wasn't dead, but yea he's returned!" Harry said angrily. I was still shocked and I gave him a 'are you stupid?' look, trying to tell him to silence himself with my eyes. But it didn't seem to be working.
"Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," Umbrige said in one breath without even looking at him. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It is NOT a lie!" Harry thundered, "I saw him, I fought him!" I was speechless. My heart was beating, no pounding, in my chest. I felt like I was looking at a ghost, but he was alive, he, a mortal, had fought Voldemort, who was said to have achieved immortality, and lived. It was almost unbelievable.
"Hotaru? Hotaru?!" Kioko hissed quietly, but I ignored her and continued listening to the conversation intently.
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge said triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock . My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'." She said. But it wasn't the end.
Harry stood up and I turned back to him. "Harry," I tried, "no!" but nothing I did seemed to work.
"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice was shaking in his anger.
"Please stop Harry." I pleaded.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge said coldly. I felt my heart start jumping and plummeting back into my stomach.
"It was murder." Harry said, I saw him shaking in rage. Nothing I did was going to calm him and I knew it. "Voldemort killed him and you know it."
"Come here, Mr. Potter dear." She said with a falsely girlish voice.
It was as I watched Harry walk to Umbridge's desk that I suddenly realized I had a head ache, but it wasn't just any head ache. I started connecting dots and recognized it as major hate waves, emitting from Kioko. I turned to find her straight faced, yet she had Umbridge fixed in her gaze. Oh how she was hating Umbridge right now.
"But, Professor!" I said raising my hand.
"Yes Miss Tomo?" She asked, turning to me with a sweet smile on her face.
"What if, what if it's true? I mean, the only thing that's every really assured is death, and even that can be delayed, stopped completely even. If Voldemort's really back, and he attacks while we aren't prepared, that will leave us a more open and defenseless victim." She said.
"And I repeat, do you expect to get attacked in my classroom?" Umbridge asked, though because of the way I said it she had less venom.
"I'm saying that we should expect the unexpected. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, it never is. It's only common sense as well as human instinct to suspect the worst." I said. Harry looked at me, a little surprised as well as the rest of the class, even Kioko.
"Well, that was a very invigorating speech Miss Tomo, your wisdom goes far beyond your years. But please, don't be scared of this little ordeal. Let the Ministry handle things sweetie." She said.
"I'm not afraid." Hotaru said softly, "Just cautious." She added.
"A good trait to have, but there's nothing to be cautious about other than how much time you spend on things other than your homework. Now, Mr. Potter, dear, take this to Professor McGonagall." She said, handing Harry a piece of paper. But Harry didn't seem quite as upset. As he passed by me we exchanged knowing looks. I then turned back to the book and started skimming the pages, memorizing the words and storing them in the back of my mind sub-consciously while also thinking of the past events.
I found, courtesy of Kioko, that Monday was supposedly the easy day. We were using our quick pens to communicate swiftly with each other, and pretending that we were taking notes with them and reading over each others notes in the process, they were in Kana characters so no one could. Though we had already finished the chapters at the time. Well, anyways, we'd have a lot more all other days, but Monday was set aside to kind of keep the students a bit relaxed. So this was our last class of the day. Thankfully, I didn't think I could stand any more emotional strain, though my acting was helping me keep my cool on the inside. I knew I'd need some of that Draught of Peace to calm my nerves enough to get to sleep that night.
Kioko and I got our homework done farely early and were able to just hang around the library for some extra studying. That's where I am now. It's just as well I guess. I need the peace and quiet. And maybe I won't get it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are walking up to us and I imagine a nice long, rather stressing conversation is in store.
Hotaru closed her book with the quick pen in it and looked up at Harry, who looked like he had something to say but didn't really know how to put it.
"Say it, just, say it." Kioko egged him on.
"Um, thanks for…for…" he trailed off. "Believing me." He said.
Hotaru nodded.
"Honestly! I don't know how you could say a word without getting furious like Harry! 'Let the ministry handle it', pah!!!" Kioko exclaimed, forcing herself to be quiet. "That, that frog of a professor just, ugh, I need some potion." She said, taking her magic blue bottle out of her robes and sipping it. "Ah, that's much better." She said. "Want some?" She asked Harry, handing it to him.
"She's scared." Hotaru said. Harry nearly chocked on his sip.
"What do you mean 'she's scared'!?" Harry demanded. Kioko swiftly took the bottle back as the potion took effect and he couldn't be upset anymore.
"It's very natural. The Ministry's scared to. They're all terrified, especially Umbridge. The mere thought of Voldemort actually being alive scares them so much that they'll find any excuse to say that it isn't true. Think about it, it's human nature to try and block out what they don't want to hear, and people don't want to hear that Voldemort's back. So they avoid it whenever possible. That's why they're calling Dumbledor crazy and Harry a lying attention-seeker, because that's the only way around it. If there's any chance whatsoever that it isn't true, it isn't true." Hotaru said calmly. "They even fear his name. So it doubles the effect."
Harry considered her words carefully, while Ron just looked at her confused and Hermione was looking at her, impressed. Kioko, however, wasn't so easily swayed from her own thoughts, "They're still idiots. Scared cowards or not. A wise Ministry worker would suspect everything to be possible at least." She said.
Hotaru wasn't one to argue, she didn't much like conflict. So most of the time she settled for partly agreeing on something that she really didn't. Though Kioko did make a good point, it was just common sense, after all, to analyze every possible aspect. She really didn't believe that the ministry was a pack of idiots, but she nodded her head anyway and let the half-argument drop before it folded out into anything.
"At least you believe me." Harry said sitting down. The other two did so as well.
"Are you two already done with your homework?!" Ron demanded, gaining a "SSSSHHH!" from Madam Pince. "Sorry." He whispered loudly enough for her to hear.
"Yes we are. Would you like some help?" Hotaru asked putting her book away.
"Heck yeah." Ron said, quietly this time. He took out a piece of paper and quill pen and then looked up at Hotaru. "Properties of Moonstone?" he asked.
"It's kind of like silver really," Hotaru began, Harry quickly got out his own parchment and the two started writing as fast as they could while Hermione was reading over her astronomy homework. Kioko went back to her book of charms and the day continued like that.
"Here, let me see what you've written." Hotaru said, they handed her their 'finished' essays. "Good, but you were only writing what I said. They're practically the same. Do it again in your own words and try doing it in a different order. I imagine that if you do it the same way and in words that aren't normally yours Snape will get irritated and say that you copied a book. You don't want to give him another reason to take points away do you?" She asked. They both shook their heads and quickly took their parchments back so that they could refer to them while they rewrote the essay.
"Speaking of Snape…" Hermione said, putting down her paper. "I really don't know what to say…um…" She trailed off.
"I do, how the heck did you get Snape to assign 20 points to Gryffindor?!" He exclaimed.
"SHUSH!!!" Madam Pince hissed.
"Simple," Kioko said, "She's sweet, she's innocent, and it's hard not to do something she directly or indirectly asks you to." She explained making Hotaru blush a bit.
"I'm still having a hard time figuring out how you could be in Slytherin." Ron said.
"Ah-hem." Kioko said, she waved her hand around in a manner that kind of gestured towards herself and looking at him as if expecting him to offer up some sort of compensation for his insult.
"Er, well, I guess not all Slytherins are bad…" he said.
"Thank you." She said, accepting his offering. Probably because she knew it had taken a good deal of him to say that.
"But still, I'd expect you to be in Ravenclaw, or Hufflpuff." He said.
"What? She's not good enough for Gryffindor?!" Kioko said, determined to twist his words into an insult so that he'd have a hard time. No, she did not like Ron, tolerance was such an understatement.
"I didn't say that!" Ron exclaimed.
"I know, it's just so fun to watch you squirm." She said smirking evilly.
"Actually," Hermione interrupted, "What I was shooting for was more along the lines of 'thank you'." She said.
"Though you have to admit, it takes guts to stand up to Snape like that, so I guess she could be a Gryffindor too." Ron added on.
"The hat thought so too, didn't it?" Kioko asked.
Hotaru nodded, "It actually said that I'd do well in any of the houses and got a bit confused." She said.
"Ah ha! A confused hat, that explains it." Ron said, satisfied. "Oh come on, are you going to demand compensation every time I—okay fine. Slytherin's aren't that bad. Some of them." He added to Kioko.
"Ah, a confused Ron. Hotaru already told you that this morning." Kioko said.
"Oh whatever!"
A/N: And Kioko shines in glory again.