A/N: Since Oliver Wood (the former Quiddich captain) graduated from Hogwarts already, I made Fred the Quiddich captain (I chose one of the Weasleys b/c I liked them) and Dean Thomas the other beater so the Gryffindor team is like this:
Fred Weasley- Captain
George Weasley/Dean Thomas- Beaters
Katie Bell/Alicia Spinnet/Angelina Johnson- Chasers
Harry Potter- Seeker
Comments to my reviews:
harrypotterfan – I will try to make the chapters longer to your request. :)
John Black- thank you!
Fairydust816- no, they won't get too many howlers, but something else happens that's possibly worse than a howler. And also, very good observation.
Shdurrani- I think you won't be too surprised, or maybe you will.
Shannon- keep up the good job with writing and thank you for your compliments
KCFU- please don't give some of the things away. LoL.
Cheryl- romance will blossom soon, and not just with Harry.
Hihi- I'm hurrying! lol
Bon- maybe you should give Ginny some opportunity. You never know….
Shanna Banana- my first reviewer! Yay! And thanks!
Chapter 6- Another Disappointment for Snape
Harry and Ron sat eating breakfast in the Great Hall all by themselves. Most people ignored them. Hermione had her 'Hogwarts, a History' book propped up against a pumpkin juice jug; every once in awhile, she'll say something to Ron, but still angry at Harry ("how can you do something like this, Harry?!") refused to talk to him and gave him the silent treatment. She thought it was good punishment that most people imagined Harry invisible.
Ginny, sitting at a far end of the table with her friend Doris, was shyly pushing her bacon around. Every few minutes, she would look at Harry with a sad expression and then a feeling of anger. How could Harry do such a thing? He didn't seem like the type to get into this kind of trouble. Yet deep in her heart she knew she missed him.
She was now fourteen and just one year made a huge difference in her maturity. She didn't do embarrassing things when talking to Harry anymore (like putting her elbow in butter or blushing furiously and running away). She actually had the courage to strike up casual conversations with him. Harry became attracted to her, really noticing her for the first time, and he asked her if she would like to go to the next Hogsmeade visit with him. She said yes as her heart skipped a beat.
Well, Hogsmeade was fun and the chocolate frogs Harry bought Ginny made her feel very appreciated. She thought that Harry was truly the perfect boy, the boy she will end up loving. How could she have guessed that Harry, the brave 6th year that didn't let fame go to his head, easy to talk to, and had a great personality, do something as to impregnate a girl? In a relationship that just lasted two weeks?
On another side of the Gryffindor table, Fred and George were sitting close together…..each on a side of Katie Bell, who was feeling very nervous. She didn't want this tension of fighting over her, but yet, when asked to choose, replied, "I really don't know. I like you two both."
Fred and George waited.
"You two are both funny, can't we just all be friends without anyone dating?"
But George insisted at Katie being "friends" with both is like cheating one of them and then Fred said, "Yeah, you know she'll be closer to me." And they both started arguing and poor Katie escaped, running off the hallway.
This morning, George had buttered Katie's bread for her, and then Fred poured her a glass of milk. They were both being extremely nice to Katie, but had tightness beyond any before toward their twin. No one could remember a time when Fred and George were this angry with each other and fought over the same girl. Their friend, Lee Jordan, had trouble taking sides and this morning, sat a few seats away.
A flutter of owls overhead signaled mail time, and Harry scanned the owls, hoping maybe some very fast delivery had a response from Mrs. Weasley or Sirius already. As nervous as he was, he had hope that they might write some kind words. The past few days had people calling him rude names and since Ginny was in Gryffindor, no one in his own house liked him very much. Ron comforted Ginny for awhile, but she was still very angry with Harry.
Ron, to Harry's relief, believed that Harry didn't know about Cho's pregnancy until after his break-up with her and stuck by Harry's side…..the lone and only friend. Malfoy was enjoying the shame Harry was suffering and at every chance he got, said something smart about it.
No one was being nearly as cruel to Cho, even though she, too, was being called names like, "Slut" or "Whore." Harry supposed that it was because he, on one hand, had escaped trouble many times, and had a good reputation (especially his escapes from Voldemort). Now, he had done something nobody would think he would do….the-boy-who-lived did so many noble things!
Cho found comfort with her two friends, Maggie and Denise, but with everyone else, they either felt sympathy for her and hatred toward Harry (which she didn't want, she was planning on marrying him after all) or they felt that she seduced Harry from Ginny. Both options weren't very comforting.
To Harry's disappoint, no owls arrived for him. Ron, however, received a letter from his mother sternly scolding him of how she knew that he didn't tell them about Fred and George's newest inventions. Very recently, Mrs. Weasley found all the toilets in the house exploding at random times of the day, and even though Ron didn't have anything to do with it, he received a scolding from her for not preventing Fred and George's mischief. She told him to be thankful he didn't receive a howler instead.
Ron looked at Harry with a surprised expression. "I didn't know they were making exploding toilet charms! I knew it had something to do with explosions, but toilets?"
Harry shrugged. "Well, they're not on the best terms now."
They both looked over at Fred and George. Fred had received a red colored envelope…..a howler. His face turned pale as he looked at it.
"Ah! Mum's howler to him! Wonder what it says." Ron grinned. "Funny…George doesn't look too worried."
Harry looked with interest, and remembered the awful time during second year when Mrs. Weasley sent Ron a howler and how embarrassed Ron felt.
They watched Fred open the envelope, but something strange happened. The envelope didn't explode with Mrs. Weasley's voice yelling at him. Instead, a huge mouth erupted from it and a wet tongue came out, dripped spit over Fred's head.
The mouth opened and in a large, clear voice, it stated, in George's voice, "KATIE BELL IS MINE!"
Then it blew a raspberry to Fred, dripping loads of saliva and vanished with a pop.
As low and blue as Harry felt that morning, he couldn't help laughing with the rest of the students as they watched this.
The next few seconds happened very quickly. Fred, dripping with spit from the large mouth, grabbed George by the neck and aimed a punch that was caught by McGonagall's hand.
"Honestly! Weasley and Weasley! Again!" She said in a shrill voice and using the same wrist binding charm, held them both by ears and marched to her office. The Great Hall had a roar of laughter and exciting chattering.
"That was a brilliant classic!" Dean Thomas said. "A fake howler!"
It took quite a while to settle everyone down. Harry and Ron were laughing hard, they accidentally spilled the pumpkin juice jug Hermione had propped her book upon. She, too, couldn't help giggling.
"Ha, that was funny, wasn't it, Potter?" a cold, familiar voice said in Harry's ear.
Professor Snape.
"Come with me, Potter, to my office." He said.
What did he do, now? Ron gave Harry a confused shrug as Harry followed Snape into his office.
"Well, Mr. Potter, I have ears." Snape started. "It seems that you have impregnated a girl. A prefect no less. What do you have to say about that?"
'It took Snape this long to find out?' was Harry's first thought. Snape continued, "Well, about a hundred school rules have been broken. Such a close relationship with another student resulting to a child is most definitely forbidden. And I suppose you two sneaked around in the middle of the night? Another rule broken. And now, the famous, 'good' Harry Potter has knocked a girl up! What will everyone say?" His lips curled up to a grin.
The door opened and Professor McGonagall entered. "Severus, I need you to make me a potion of…..oh, Harry! I'm sorry, I thought you….." her eyebrows frowned. "Harry are you in trouble again? Honestly, this is not the best time."
Snape was looking very happy. "Harry here, has impregnated a girl." He explained.
"Oh, I know, Severus." McGonagall replied. "Cho Chang, sixth year Ravenclaw."
Snape looked surprised. "Well…..we'll have to expel Harry, wouldn't we? We simply cannot allow such behavior from a student----"
"Severus, Professor Dumbledore have already taken care of everything. Harry is going to remain here at school. He didn't break any school rules…..I don't think having a child is against it….although it is NOT promoted. But, Harry is to finish his schooling here and from what I've heard, a wedding is being discussed?" Professor McGonagall turned to Harry.
"Yes, Professor." Harry answered.
"So you see, Severus, everything is taken care of. Harry and Cho have written to their parents?" Professor McGonagall looked at Harry, who nodded very quickly.
"Come, Potter, breakfast is just over and you have your classes. Your studies are not to slip."
Snape looked as if Christmas had been cancelled.
His mouth was hung open with disbelief as every time Harry has slipped out of trouble. "B-but having a child at Hogwarts!"
"Severus, in a few moments, the Ravenclaws will be wondering where their potions master have gone."
***
Harry had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid that morning. Ron asked, "What did Snape want?"
"To expel me. As always, but McGonagall, in a strange way, arrived in time to save me." Harry said, and explained what happened.
"Ha!" Ron said. "It's no surprise Snape wants to find every way possible for you to be in trouble!"
Harry was worried, however. "I heard Professor McGonagall mention that he had Ravenclaw this morning. I hope he's not going to treat Cho like he does to me."
Certainly, Cho was so upset that she didn't need any one else to be cruel to her.
Hagrid had a huge sheet over something large and lumpy and stood in front of the class.
"A'right! Settle down now, settle now. Got a real treat for yeh today! Everyone gather 'round!" Hagrid said, happy with great excitement.
Everyone hushed and was looking curiously (some frightened) and the huge thing the sheet covered.
"Look at this! Cooroodles!" Hagrid said, his face grinning as he took the sheet off. In a large cage, several, round what appeared to be purple lumps moved slowly over a bed of cabbage leaves.
Everyone stared.
"Uh….what do they do?" Ron asked.
"Well, firs' thing is, yeh all gotta be tender and careful when handlin' 'em." Hagrid said, walking over to the cage and taking out a cooroodle. It had a small green face that could flatten itself in its purple body and turn purple to camouflage, but at Hagrid's touch, a small green face appeared. "Useful fer gardens! Make yeh soil nice 'nd soft and after jus' an 'our or so. Worms are 'ttracted to this soil like Stickfigs!"
"And what are you growing, Hagrid?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Hagrid pretended he didn't hear this question. "Alrigh' there Harry? Everyone grab a cooroodle gen'ly and kinda rock 'em….like this, and then clean 'em off and walk 'em for a bit o' exercise."
Everyone went over to take a cooroodle. The cooroodles were no bigger than your fist, and as Harry and Ron cleaned them off, the cooroodles' green faces began to show.
"What do you reckon he's growing?" Ron asked.
"Knowing Hagrid, something for a bigger animal." Harry answered, grinning.
"ARGGGGGG!!!!" a scream was heard sharply. Ron and Harry turned to see Seamus Finnigan with a cooroodle on his finger and doing what seemed to be a mad jig. He was shaking his hand up and down and soon, a redness spread from his hand to his arm.
Hagrid rushed over and took the cooroodle off. "Uh…fergot to mention tha' they don' like ter be touched on the face. Causes a great bite, but nothin' to worry 'bout." He sent Seamus up to Madam Pomfrey with a reddish purple arm.
Harry and Ron looked at this little green face and felt suddenly frightened. Hagrid walked over to Harry and Ron after handling this.
"Harry, 'eard yeh, uh…got yehself in a bit 'o trouble, is it true?" Hagrid asked quietly.
Harry felt his cheeks turn into a shade of pink. "Yes, Hagrid."
Hagrid looked at Harry. "Bet yeh feel bad 'bout it, huh? Nobody treatin' yeh the same?"
Harry was concentrating on his cooroodle so he couldn't face Hagrid. "Yeah, but I don't blame them. I don't exactly have the best reputation around."
Hagrid put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Well, yeh can always come ter me. I'll be glad ter 'elp yeh out, yeh know. I know what it's like ter 'ave everyone treatin' you like this….ignorin' yeh. Me 'nd me third year 'ere….." Hagrid had been expelled his third year for a false crime. Harry and Ron found out during their second year that Hagrid was actually innocent.
Harry smiled gratefully. "Thanks Hagrid, I'm glad you're still my friend."
" 'Course I am! Yeh'll make a good dad, Harry, I'll be proud. And Cho can come ter me if she needs anything. Any friend o' Harry's a friend o' mine!" Hagrid lowered his voice even more. "Yeh gonna marry her?"
Harry nodded and said with a confident voice. "I wouldn't leave her with this Hagrid, I just can't."
Hagrid beamed. "Good fer yeh Harry! That's teh right thing ter do! Knew yeh wouldn' leave teh girl."
Harry felt good about something he did for the first time in days.
* * *
Harry wanted to start making things right. He had to stop feeling sorry about what happened and just face it. He knew that Cho was extremely distressed and he should be there for her. The first thing Harry did at lunch was give Cho a note he had written during the History of Magic class.
The note read:
Cho, I hope you're alright with everything that has happened. I know things are not easy right now, but I'm here if you need anything. Within a few weeks, gossip should die down. We have a lot of things to discuss. How about meeting me in the library during afternoon break? And don't worry, everything will be all right in the end.
Yours truly,
Harry
Cho read the note and gave Harry a smile as Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table. He smiled back. He looked at Ginny at the end of the table and wished that Ginny would forgive him. If she knew how sorry he was for everything that has happened, maybe she would talk to him again. But Ginny was so upset she refused to listen to anything he said. She cried for a long time when she first received the news and although she and Harry never officially broke up together, they both knew it happened.
"Ron, I didn't mean to hurt your sister, honestly, I didn't." Harry apologized again.
"It's not your fault, Harry, I know you couldn't help what happened. You have a lot of things to worry about now, and Ginny will understand soon. She just really liked you, and….well, at least you only went out for a week before you broke up." Ron said, eating his baked potato.
"I liked her too, a lot, but I cannot be with her anymore. And it's not right anyway. I'm going to marry Cho, Ron." Harry announced.
Ron nearly choked on a piece on potato. "MARRY? I knew you two discussed being parents, but…."
"Ron, think about it! I can't just let her raise the child alone!"
"Well….."
"And it wouldn't look too good if I was going out with someone else while Cho is raising up my son or daughter, would it?" Harry said. He had said 'son' and 'daughter' for the first time in reference to being his. He was stunned at these words.
Ron sighed. "You're right Harry, it wouldn't be fair. And it's the lawful thing to do. Just imagine Cho's parents' reaction if you didn't marry her!"
"I don't want to, Ron, and I like Cho. People used to have arranged marriages in Dumbledore's time, didn't they? And most of them fell in love later. Maybe that'll happen. But Cho and I only broke up because of…..certain circumstances that we couldn't figure out, and we thought that if we kept on going out these strange…..things will continue….." Harry broke off, not waiting to say more than necessary.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked curiously.
Debating over this in his head, Harry decided to tell Ron about not remembering anything after the dates with Cho.
"WEIRD!" Ron exclaimed. "So you don't even remember doing it?"
Harry shook his head.
"So you didn't break up because you didn't like each other?"
"Well, that too, but mostly because it was so strange not remembering….."
"Well, Harry, you should've told me sooner!" Hermione's voice came in and she squeezed herself between Ron and Harry. "I thought you would've done it on purpose! At least you're innocent of it now."
Harry said, "I tried to tell you Hermione, but you just never li----"
"Anyway," Hermione continued on. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon with the HufflePuffs. I hope Professor LeBlanc does not go over silly things like how to make curly hair straight in a swish again."
Ron looked like his birthday had come early. "I love Defense Against the Dark Arts!" he said.
"Because you like Professor LeBlanc that's why."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Said Ron, his voice a little higher than usual.
"Well, Ron Weasley, I would've thought you would like someone for their personality, like being smart for instance, instead of someone who dwelled on covering up a pimple all the time." And with this, Hermione opened up a book and began to read with great concentration.
"You would think that she likes meeee." Ron said in a whisper to Harry.
* * *
Ron and Harry took seats in Defense Against the Dark Arts eagerly. Harry noticed that all the boys were very enthusiastic and all the girls (except Hermione) were discussing the new spell on hair straightening excitedly.
A few minutes later, Harry's mouth dropped open. The most gorgeous female he ever saw entered the classroom.
"We've discussed it," Justin Finch-Fletchley whispered to Harry. "Maybe she's like Fleur, part Veela!"
Harry thought this was a definite possibility. Professor LeBlanc smiled, revealing perfect, straight teeth. "Hello class, I see you're eager to begin today, good!"
For a strange split second, Harry thought she looked familiar, especially when she smiled.
"Today," she said walking to Harry's desk. "We will begin the Dark Arts formally. Can anyone tell me what the curse, 'Commodito Morpheous' is?" She gave Harry another wide smile and her eyes sparkled….Harry saw the blue as if it came straight from the sea.
Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"Yes?" Professor LeBlanc said.
" 'Commodito Morpheous' is a curse used to turn people into objects. When in this form, the person can neither think nor talk and cannot return themselves back into original form unless another person does the countercurse, 'Commodito Reverso'."
"Good, five points to Gryffindor. Now, what are some clues to which you can tell a person is under the 'commodito morpheous' curse?"
Hermione's hand shot up again.
"Yes, Miss. Granger?"
"Markings. Such as if a glasses wearing person is transformed into a vase, the vase will have two round circles in front. And the top of the object is usually the color of the person's hair, like having blonde hair and being turned into a chair will result in a blonde seat."
"Very nicely explained. Now, Harry Potter," Professor LeBlanc smiled at Harry and looked at him with her eyes. Harry thought he had never seen such beautiful eyes…..
"Please, stand up." Professor LeBlanc said. Harry stood. "I'm about to put the 'commodito morpheous' curse on Harry here, and watch carefully to observe markings."
She was still smiling….sly but oh so beautiful…..
She raised her wand and roared, "COMMODITO MORPHEOUS!"
Harry felt very light and then seemed to have blacked out.
Professor LeBlanc had a very satisfactory look on her face and then turned to the class. "See any markings?" She had turned Harry Potter into a pot.
"Hey! I see a scar shape crack!" Dean Thomas said.
"The lid is black!"
"Glasses shapes on the front!"
Professor LeBlanc said, "Good! Very good observations! Now, we wouldn't be turning each other into objects." She laughed. "Oh my dears….no, but I just wanted to show you." And then she turned Harry back.
Harry felt coming out of a daze.
They spent the rest of the class taking notes and then moved on to lipsticks that never ceased to fade for as long as you want with a clever charm.
"For homework, write an essay on several people who were turned into an object with this curse….and never was found until it was too late…..until they had aged past life….." Professor LeBlanc said, and then looked at Harry.
"Thank you for volunteering, Harry." She said and looked at his scar. "I might be able to perform a tricky cover-up over that."
"No thanks, it's fine." Harry replied. He was looking directly at Professor LeBlanc's true blue, very haunting eyes. It was hard to pull away from them.
After class, Harry said casually to Ron, "Wonder how she knew my name, never met me before."
Ron was still dreaming about Professor LeBlanc. "Well you're famous, Harry!"
Harry suddenly remembered his plans to meet Cho. "I have to go meet Cho in the library! See you, Ron!"
Harry ran to the library, anticipating meeting Cho and seeing her again. His heart was beating quickly, and hasn't done so for the past weeks. The last time he felt like this was on his date.
He saw Cho waiting for him when he arrived. He grinned. Cho looked so pretty….she was standing right near a window, in the sunlight….
"Hi Harry," Cho smiled.
"Hello Cho," Harry said, feeling very happy that she was waiting for him and then, without thinking or planning to do this, he bent over and kissed her.
A few feet away from them, someone smiled and thought, 'Everything is going according to plan. The little Potter will be here in a few months, and Harry will then know his true weakness.'
A/N: I took the word commodity and changed it a bit for the curse. Kind of goes in line with 'object' doesn't it? Hehe.
Next chapter: the Chang's howler and perhaps something even worse than that…..? Oh yes, Halloween is coming soon and then at Christmas, I need some ideas for couples at the Yule ball. Who do you think Draco should go with? What about Fred and George? Any suggestions? I have a faint idea of who goes with who (some couples are already planned) but it's not definite yet so any ideas will be more than welcome. I want to write things you guys want to read and have the opportunity to have a say in this story. :)