A/N: I have lent my copy of /Order of the Phoenix/ to a friend and haven't
gotten it back yet. It is at least half a year since I last read OOTP, so
my memory might be a bit sluggish. If I have spelt something wrong or mixed
up the facts, please report it in your reviews so I can alter the mistakes.
And many thanks to Greenleef99, Charmed-103, Lady Lily and James Potter, InfinitThought, Kyntor, and PrincessSkywalkerOrgana! I must say it was upon reading your reviews some previous days ago that encouraged me to start continuing this piece of fanfiction.
In order to express my gratitude and shame for 'disappearing' three months to my dear readers, I present you 10 full pages of my latest update!
Chapter 15
Missing Malfoy
Harry woke up refreshed and energetic the next morning. He lay on the bed, arms crossed behind his head, recalling yesterday's feast.
...................................................................Flashback.................................................................................................................
"Oh for Merlin's sake just put them all in Hufflepuff and let's get on with the feast!" Ron mumbled miserably, "I hate the Sorting. It always drags on and on and on."
"Be patient, Ron. It's almost over now. Just two more students." Hermione comforted him.
"Mmm..." Ron replied illegibly.
"And it's Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat called out for Jack Murlstone, the last student for sorting. The Ravenclaw table applauded politely, greeting the new first year to their group.
"Ah yes, I know many of you are ready eat a hippogriff or two. However, I wish to speak a few words before you dig in our feast." The Headmaster announced, "This year, we will have a new staff member with us, although she is presently unable to attend this feast, still let us welcome Professor Tustrith! As you might have guessed now, Professor Tustrith is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Hopefully, you will all have interesting classes under her supervisions and teachings."
"Yes, yes, Professor Tustrith's the new DADA teacher, we get the point. Let's start eating! I'm not going to survive to meet the new professor." Ron groaned, but not soft enough to escape Dumbledore's ears.
Chuckling, the Headmaster said, "Yes, yes, I find myself agreeing with Mr. Weasley here. I shall announce the usual routine restrictions and so on after the feast."
"YES!" Ron almost yelled in triumph as their golden plates piled up high with chicken, ham, bread rolls, mash potatoes, and many other mouth- watering foods.
"Tuck in."
....................................................................................End of Flashback..........................................................................................
Harry remembered at the end Dumbledore had again warned them of how they were still in dark times and keeping united was of utmost importance. Also, he announced Harry's Defense Association as a legal club and encouraged other students to take parts in it in hope of learning more Defense in case of time needs.
His happiness to be back 'home' had dropped a notch at the mention of it, again recalling his little group of DA members' duel in the Ministry of Magic. Gritting his teeth, he had expelled this image from his head and tried to focus on his food.
Yawning and stretching widely, he got out of bed to wake up Ron who was still pleasantly snoring away. Dean, Neville and Seamus must have all already awakened, for they were nowhere to be seen in the boy's room.
"Wake up sleepyhead. We're gonna miss breakfast." Harry said, shaking the sleeping figure by the shoulders.
"urrmphh..uhnn" Ron muttered, screwing his eyebrows, before turning over on his side, facing away from Harry.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed. The figure in bed hardly responded.
Well Weasley, you brought this up yourself, Harry thought, smirking evilly. "Sonorus" he muttered quietly whilst pointing his wand to his throat. Harry crept silently down by the red head's ears, trying to make as less noise as possibly when his knees hit the floor. Taking a deep breath, he yelled loudly into his friend's ears, "RONALD WEASLEY YOU WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!"
/Wham/. Ron jumped so high that his bed whole bed vibrated violently. Harry moved away from the bed, just in time before Ron rolled out of bed and slumped ungracefully onto the floor. Shaking his head and massaging his ears, Ron glared at his friend, "What do you think you're doing, Potter?"
"It was only a friendly morning call, Weasley." Harry said, grinning ear to ear.
"Friendly my arse." Ron mumbled grumpily under his breath, while pulling on his school robes. "You're going to pay for this Harry Potter."
Chuckling, Harry walked out of the room, "I'll meet you in the common room. Be quick, or that morning call would be spent in vain. Don't want to miss breakfast, don't you?" He said, calling back through the door.
In the common room, Hermione was already sitting in one of the couches waiting for them. "Morning." She greeted Harry brightly. "Was that a commotion upstairs?" She asked.
"Naw, it was only a friendly morning call." Harry answered. "A rather...difficult one at that." He added. Hermione grinned knowingly.
A few minutes later, a slightly ruffled looking Ron entered the common room. "Morning, Hermione. Breakfast. Let's go already." He said. Together, the trio headed downstairs for breakfast.
As they sat down to the Gryffindor table, Harry noticed the sixth and seventh year Slytherins were all huddled together, discussing something in a hushed manner. Every now and then, one of them would twist their head around, as if checking for eavesdroppers. Harry suddenly noticed that the infamous Draco Malfoy wasn't among them. After more inspection, he realized Malfoy was actually nowhere to be found. Weird. This is really weird, he thought.
Harry poked Ron with his elbow, "do you see anything queer with the Slytherins this year?" Ron, mouth still stuffed full of scrambled eggs and bacon, looked up. Harry could see Ron staring at their table, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Malfoy's not here." He stated, though a bit illegibly because of the food in his mouth.
"What do you think happened to him?" Harry inquired.
Ron shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe he got transferred to Durmstrang?"
On Ron's other side, Hermione spoke up, "but it seems that /only/ Malfoy is missing. The others are still here. Even Crabbe and Goyle. I mean, those two would at least follow him if he were transferred to another school."
"What school would want /those/ two thick-headed apes?" Ron said.
"Malfoy was already missing on the train. I noticed his absent of usual assaults on our way here, but didn't think of it much. I was taking my time enjoying the rather peaceful ride. Do you think something sinister has happened to him? However unlikely it would seem." Said Harry.
"Hmm......" was Hermione's reply as she laid her head in her hands, brows furrowed, and deep in thought.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, here are your schedules." Professor McGonagall interrupt their thoughts, said, handing out their schedule of the year. Hermione accepted them with eager anticipation, while Ron was handling it as if it were a bomb that would explode any minute.
"Double Transfiguration and History of Magic in the morning, and double Charms and Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. What a day! And DADA's not until Wednesday!" Ron groaned into his piece of parchment.
"I certainly hope Professor Tutrith wouldn't turn out to be another Lockhart, or worse, Umbridge." Hermione said. The boys nodded vigorously in reply. "Oh Merlin I hope not. But it's not that bad now, since we still have DA to really improve our skills." Ron said, while poking Harry in the ribs.
Harry looked down into his own piece of schedule. "Almost the same, only that I've got my private Animagus lesson in place for Care of Magical Creatures. I dropped it, since it's no use in assisting me into the Auror's Program. I hope Hagrid wouldn't be too sad." He said.
"I'm sure Hagrid will understand, Harry." Hermione said reassuringly.
"Yeah, I think he will." He replied with a sigh.
"Aww, cheer up, mate. We can still visit him during the weekends. As long as he doesn't pull us into the forest to meet /Grawpy/ I'll go. And consider yourself lucky. I simply shudder, thinking what hideous monster awaits us in class." Ron said while screwing up his face, pretending to look disgusted.
"Ron's right, Harry. I do think we should visit him more frequently this year, as we had been neglecting to do so last year, with everything on your back and all." Hermione added with concern.
Harry nodded in reply. "Let's head for Transfiguration. I wouldn't dream of how many points McGonagall will deduct us for being late on our first class of the year." That said, the trio treaded off towards the Transfiguration classroom.
On their way, the three Gryffindors met up with Dean and Seamus. They seemed very enthusiastic about something as they practically bounced over to greet the trio. "Oy Harry, guess what? Malfoy has gone missing! Fancy that!" Seamus said.
"Yeah, I noticed his absence from the Slytherin table. Maybe he was plucked out of school by his father." Harry said with slight uncertainty, still not understanding what was so special about the situation. Like he cared about the brat's welfare, Harry thought.
"No, he's not just missing from school. He was—" Dean broke off. Motioning his hands, signaling the trio to huddle closer, the grinning boy said in almost a whisper, "he was reported missing from home! We overheard the Slytherins discussing this over breakfast. Extenable Ears." Smirking, Dean pulled two identical skin-colored strings from his robes. " You want to thank your brothers for this. Big loads of help, these are." He said, patting them fondly.
"Imagine," Seamus cut in, "the pompous Malfoy heir reported missing, by none other than Narcissa Malfoy! I'd say, Malfoy senior's just probably coming up with an excuse to keep his son out of school to let him enter You- Know-Who's rank. I mean, anyways, with your father being convicted and all that, who would have the face to come to school?"
"Yeah. Probably teaching him really sinister Dark Arts, things that you wouldn't want to learn under Dumbledore's nose." Dean said, "He'll probably even be getting the Dark Mark soon. You never know, don't—"
Just then the bell rang, signaling the start of the first period. Professor McGonagall entered promptly in her usual stern and no-nonsense self. The class began with the Professor's lecture on their OWL results, analyzing and concluding the class average. Then she launched into a detailed speech on everyone that is sitting in this class have entered the NEWT levels, proving they are able in this branch of magic, since the class have been reduced to half of last years, and warned them that they will be confronting harder and more complex transformations this year, such as human transformations, part human transformations, object-to-complex organisms transformations, and object ensouling, etc.
"There shall be no messing around in my class. Anyone who fails to do so will be expelled immediately. As this class progresses into the year, many of you may encounter problems on your spell work or homework assignments. When this happens, please don't hesitate to ask me after class, as I will be happy of assistance. If you don't ask and let the problems build up, you will find yourself in a very messing start in next year's classes, in which you will be using every basic technique, hard or easy, you have learned over the years. If you do not secure a sturdy foundation, I'm afraid you will taste a rather 'bitter end' in your final NEWT test. "
During Professor McGonagall's lecture, Harry tried hard to pay attention to her words, as he wanted a new fresh start of the year. However, he found himself slipping in and out of her words.
Malfoy's missing from home. His mother reported it. That made sense since Malfoy Senior was a wanted criminal in the Magical World. But—
"Today we will start on a brief introduction on object-to-organism transformation. The concept we will be focusing on this kind of transformation is to add a temporary made-up magical signature to the object. As you all should remember, we have already done simple organism-to- object transformations in our past studies, such as turning beetles into buttons. Now, we will—"
Was it that simple? The whole situation seemed quite fishy to Harry. What if it really was more complex? What if Draco Malfoy disappeared on his own account? What if he ran away from home? Now that's saying something! Why would the spoiled brat run away from home? Potter you are truly losing your mind. What do you care about Malfoy? It's not that he has ever been decent to you, why are you suddenly worrying of his welfare?
"Mr. Potter?"
Harry jerked from his 'ludicrous' thoughts upon hearing the stern Transfiguration Professor calling his name, as if someone poured cold water down his head and he was suddenly back in reality. "Yes, Professor?"
"Mr. Potter please pay attention in class. It is important that you stay focused in class, as you will find yourself left behind. Please keep your 'ponderings' until after class." McGonagall said.
"Yes Professor." Harry replied, feeling slightly ashamed.
"Now as I was saying—" The professor after giving Harry a stern nod, continued on her lecture.
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Harry was certainly glad that his morning classes were over. History of Magic droned on as usual. It still astonished Harry that after five years, the ghost professor still couldn't call his name right. Surprisingly, despite the boring lecture Professor Binns gave on the /Legal Systems of the Ancient Egyptian Wizarding Council/, Harry managed to take down most of the important points of the topic without putting another thought into Malfoy's mysterious disappearance. He had vowed that he would put studying on the top of his priority list before the year started, and he wasn't about to break that vow any soon, even if it meant paying attention to useless history facts.
"Can you imagine that? Two essays on the first day of school! And we've still got potions left! I'd bet my lunch Snape wouldn't let us off without homework!" Ron groaned while sinking onto the dining bench for lunch.
"Just like Professor McGonagall said, our NEWTs are coming and we need to start preparing for them." Hermione stated manner-of-factly.
"NEWTs! NEWTS! That's not for another YEAR, Hermione. We've just started sixth year and now we're already worrying over are NEWTs!" Ron cried out.
"Well I don't care about you, Ronald Weasley, but at least /I/ have high expectations of myself." Hermione said coldly.
"I at least understand to enjoy the finer things in life." Ron retaliated.
Hermione didn't reply, but Harry could tell she was positively fuming as she was rapidly stuffing her shepherd pie vigorously into her mouth. Harry sighed into his food, feeling his appetite waning. He hated when his friends started to bicker for the most minor reasons. Hadn't they promised him they'll /try/ to stop snapping at each other, even if it was for his sake? They weren't even trying, Harry thought angrily. It's the first day of school and they're already at each other's neck! Merlin, when could they just stop, and open their eyes!
Just then, Ginny casually sat down across Harry. "Hey, how was your day? Snape is simply going to breath fire over us this year! OWLs, OWLs, homework and more OWLs! I am /not/ going to live through fifth year." She said, setting her bags down on the bench beside her. Upon hearing no reply to her exclamations, she inspected the somber trio, eyes narrowing. Apparently she realized just what had happened, and gave Harry a significant glance. Without another word spoken, she settled down to lunch contently, though without sending an occasional glance Harry's way. The four Gryffindor's lunch continued in silence.
Harry sighed. This was going to be a long day.
And many thanks to Greenleef99, Charmed-103, Lady Lily and James Potter, InfinitThought, Kyntor, and PrincessSkywalkerOrgana! I must say it was upon reading your reviews some previous days ago that encouraged me to start continuing this piece of fanfiction.
In order to express my gratitude and shame for 'disappearing' three months to my dear readers, I present you 10 full pages of my latest update!
Chapter 15
Missing Malfoy
Harry woke up refreshed and energetic the next morning. He lay on the bed, arms crossed behind his head, recalling yesterday's feast.
...................................................................Flashback.................................................................................................................
"Oh for Merlin's sake just put them all in Hufflepuff and let's get on with the feast!" Ron mumbled miserably, "I hate the Sorting. It always drags on and on and on."
"Be patient, Ron. It's almost over now. Just two more students." Hermione comforted him.
"Mmm..." Ron replied illegibly.
"And it's Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat called out for Jack Murlstone, the last student for sorting. The Ravenclaw table applauded politely, greeting the new first year to their group.
"Ah yes, I know many of you are ready eat a hippogriff or two. However, I wish to speak a few words before you dig in our feast." The Headmaster announced, "This year, we will have a new staff member with us, although she is presently unable to attend this feast, still let us welcome Professor Tustrith! As you might have guessed now, Professor Tustrith is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Hopefully, you will all have interesting classes under her supervisions and teachings."
"Yes, yes, Professor Tustrith's the new DADA teacher, we get the point. Let's start eating! I'm not going to survive to meet the new professor." Ron groaned, but not soft enough to escape Dumbledore's ears.
Chuckling, the Headmaster said, "Yes, yes, I find myself agreeing with Mr. Weasley here. I shall announce the usual routine restrictions and so on after the feast."
"YES!" Ron almost yelled in triumph as their golden plates piled up high with chicken, ham, bread rolls, mash potatoes, and many other mouth- watering foods.
"Tuck in."
....................................................................................End of Flashback..........................................................................................
Harry remembered at the end Dumbledore had again warned them of how they were still in dark times and keeping united was of utmost importance. Also, he announced Harry's Defense Association as a legal club and encouraged other students to take parts in it in hope of learning more Defense in case of time needs.
His happiness to be back 'home' had dropped a notch at the mention of it, again recalling his little group of DA members' duel in the Ministry of Magic. Gritting his teeth, he had expelled this image from his head and tried to focus on his food.
Yawning and stretching widely, he got out of bed to wake up Ron who was still pleasantly snoring away. Dean, Neville and Seamus must have all already awakened, for they were nowhere to be seen in the boy's room.
"Wake up sleepyhead. We're gonna miss breakfast." Harry said, shaking the sleeping figure by the shoulders.
"urrmphh..uhnn" Ron muttered, screwing his eyebrows, before turning over on his side, facing away from Harry.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed. The figure in bed hardly responded.
Well Weasley, you brought this up yourself, Harry thought, smirking evilly. "Sonorus" he muttered quietly whilst pointing his wand to his throat. Harry crept silently down by the red head's ears, trying to make as less noise as possibly when his knees hit the floor. Taking a deep breath, he yelled loudly into his friend's ears, "RONALD WEASLEY YOU WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!"
/Wham/. Ron jumped so high that his bed whole bed vibrated violently. Harry moved away from the bed, just in time before Ron rolled out of bed and slumped ungracefully onto the floor. Shaking his head and massaging his ears, Ron glared at his friend, "What do you think you're doing, Potter?"
"It was only a friendly morning call, Weasley." Harry said, grinning ear to ear.
"Friendly my arse." Ron mumbled grumpily under his breath, while pulling on his school robes. "You're going to pay for this Harry Potter."
Chuckling, Harry walked out of the room, "I'll meet you in the common room. Be quick, or that morning call would be spent in vain. Don't want to miss breakfast, don't you?" He said, calling back through the door.
In the common room, Hermione was already sitting in one of the couches waiting for them. "Morning." She greeted Harry brightly. "Was that a commotion upstairs?" She asked.
"Naw, it was only a friendly morning call." Harry answered. "A rather...difficult one at that." He added. Hermione grinned knowingly.
A few minutes later, a slightly ruffled looking Ron entered the common room. "Morning, Hermione. Breakfast. Let's go already." He said. Together, the trio headed downstairs for breakfast.
As they sat down to the Gryffindor table, Harry noticed the sixth and seventh year Slytherins were all huddled together, discussing something in a hushed manner. Every now and then, one of them would twist their head around, as if checking for eavesdroppers. Harry suddenly noticed that the infamous Draco Malfoy wasn't among them. After more inspection, he realized Malfoy was actually nowhere to be found. Weird. This is really weird, he thought.
Harry poked Ron with his elbow, "do you see anything queer with the Slytherins this year?" Ron, mouth still stuffed full of scrambled eggs and bacon, looked up. Harry could see Ron staring at their table, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Malfoy's not here." He stated, though a bit illegibly because of the food in his mouth.
"What do you think happened to him?" Harry inquired.
Ron shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe he got transferred to Durmstrang?"
On Ron's other side, Hermione spoke up, "but it seems that /only/ Malfoy is missing. The others are still here. Even Crabbe and Goyle. I mean, those two would at least follow him if he were transferred to another school."
"What school would want /those/ two thick-headed apes?" Ron said.
"Malfoy was already missing on the train. I noticed his absent of usual assaults on our way here, but didn't think of it much. I was taking my time enjoying the rather peaceful ride. Do you think something sinister has happened to him? However unlikely it would seem." Said Harry.
"Hmm......" was Hermione's reply as she laid her head in her hands, brows furrowed, and deep in thought.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, here are your schedules." Professor McGonagall interrupt their thoughts, said, handing out their schedule of the year. Hermione accepted them with eager anticipation, while Ron was handling it as if it were a bomb that would explode any minute.
"Double Transfiguration and History of Magic in the morning, and double Charms and Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. What a day! And DADA's not until Wednesday!" Ron groaned into his piece of parchment.
"I certainly hope Professor Tutrith wouldn't turn out to be another Lockhart, or worse, Umbridge." Hermione said. The boys nodded vigorously in reply. "Oh Merlin I hope not. But it's not that bad now, since we still have DA to really improve our skills." Ron said, while poking Harry in the ribs.
Harry looked down into his own piece of schedule. "Almost the same, only that I've got my private Animagus lesson in place for Care of Magical Creatures. I dropped it, since it's no use in assisting me into the Auror's Program. I hope Hagrid wouldn't be too sad." He said.
"I'm sure Hagrid will understand, Harry." Hermione said reassuringly.
"Yeah, I think he will." He replied with a sigh.
"Aww, cheer up, mate. We can still visit him during the weekends. As long as he doesn't pull us into the forest to meet /Grawpy/ I'll go. And consider yourself lucky. I simply shudder, thinking what hideous monster awaits us in class." Ron said while screwing up his face, pretending to look disgusted.
"Ron's right, Harry. I do think we should visit him more frequently this year, as we had been neglecting to do so last year, with everything on your back and all." Hermione added with concern.
Harry nodded in reply. "Let's head for Transfiguration. I wouldn't dream of how many points McGonagall will deduct us for being late on our first class of the year." That said, the trio treaded off towards the Transfiguration classroom.
On their way, the three Gryffindors met up with Dean and Seamus. They seemed very enthusiastic about something as they practically bounced over to greet the trio. "Oy Harry, guess what? Malfoy has gone missing! Fancy that!" Seamus said.
"Yeah, I noticed his absence from the Slytherin table. Maybe he was plucked out of school by his father." Harry said with slight uncertainty, still not understanding what was so special about the situation. Like he cared about the brat's welfare, Harry thought.
"No, he's not just missing from school. He was—" Dean broke off. Motioning his hands, signaling the trio to huddle closer, the grinning boy said in almost a whisper, "he was reported missing from home! We overheard the Slytherins discussing this over breakfast. Extenable Ears." Smirking, Dean pulled two identical skin-colored strings from his robes. " You want to thank your brothers for this. Big loads of help, these are." He said, patting them fondly.
"Imagine," Seamus cut in, "the pompous Malfoy heir reported missing, by none other than Narcissa Malfoy! I'd say, Malfoy senior's just probably coming up with an excuse to keep his son out of school to let him enter You- Know-Who's rank. I mean, anyways, with your father being convicted and all that, who would have the face to come to school?"
"Yeah. Probably teaching him really sinister Dark Arts, things that you wouldn't want to learn under Dumbledore's nose." Dean said, "He'll probably even be getting the Dark Mark soon. You never know, don't—"
Just then the bell rang, signaling the start of the first period. Professor McGonagall entered promptly in her usual stern and no-nonsense self. The class began with the Professor's lecture on their OWL results, analyzing and concluding the class average. Then she launched into a detailed speech on everyone that is sitting in this class have entered the NEWT levels, proving they are able in this branch of magic, since the class have been reduced to half of last years, and warned them that they will be confronting harder and more complex transformations this year, such as human transformations, part human transformations, object-to-complex organisms transformations, and object ensouling, etc.
"There shall be no messing around in my class. Anyone who fails to do so will be expelled immediately. As this class progresses into the year, many of you may encounter problems on your spell work or homework assignments. When this happens, please don't hesitate to ask me after class, as I will be happy of assistance. If you don't ask and let the problems build up, you will find yourself in a very messing start in next year's classes, in which you will be using every basic technique, hard or easy, you have learned over the years. If you do not secure a sturdy foundation, I'm afraid you will taste a rather 'bitter end' in your final NEWT test. "
During Professor McGonagall's lecture, Harry tried hard to pay attention to her words, as he wanted a new fresh start of the year. However, he found himself slipping in and out of her words.
Malfoy's missing from home. His mother reported it. That made sense since Malfoy Senior was a wanted criminal in the Magical World. But—
"Today we will start on a brief introduction on object-to-organism transformation. The concept we will be focusing on this kind of transformation is to add a temporary made-up magical signature to the object. As you all should remember, we have already done simple organism-to- object transformations in our past studies, such as turning beetles into buttons. Now, we will—"
Was it that simple? The whole situation seemed quite fishy to Harry. What if it really was more complex? What if Draco Malfoy disappeared on his own account? What if he ran away from home? Now that's saying something! Why would the spoiled brat run away from home? Potter you are truly losing your mind. What do you care about Malfoy? It's not that he has ever been decent to you, why are you suddenly worrying of his welfare?
"Mr. Potter?"
Harry jerked from his 'ludicrous' thoughts upon hearing the stern Transfiguration Professor calling his name, as if someone poured cold water down his head and he was suddenly back in reality. "Yes, Professor?"
"Mr. Potter please pay attention in class. It is important that you stay focused in class, as you will find yourself left behind. Please keep your 'ponderings' until after class." McGonagall said.
"Yes Professor." Harry replied, feeling slightly ashamed.
"Now as I was saying—" The professor after giving Harry a stern nod, continued on her lecture.
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Harry was certainly glad that his morning classes were over. History of Magic droned on as usual. It still astonished Harry that after five years, the ghost professor still couldn't call his name right. Surprisingly, despite the boring lecture Professor Binns gave on the /Legal Systems of the Ancient Egyptian Wizarding Council/, Harry managed to take down most of the important points of the topic without putting another thought into Malfoy's mysterious disappearance. He had vowed that he would put studying on the top of his priority list before the year started, and he wasn't about to break that vow any soon, even if it meant paying attention to useless history facts.
"Can you imagine that? Two essays on the first day of school! And we've still got potions left! I'd bet my lunch Snape wouldn't let us off without homework!" Ron groaned while sinking onto the dining bench for lunch.
"Just like Professor McGonagall said, our NEWTs are coming and we need to start preparing for them." Hermione stated manner-of-factly.
"NEWTs! NEWTS! That's not for another YEAR, Hermione. We've just started sixth year and now we're already worrying over are NEWTs!" Ron cried out.
"Well I don't care about you, Ronald Weasley, but at least /I/ have high expectations of myself." Hermione said coldly.
"I at least understand to enjoy the finer things in life." Ron retaliated.
Hermione didn't reply, but Harry could tell she was positively fuming as she was rapidly stuffing her shepherd pie vigorously into her mouth. Harry sighed into his food, feeling his appetite waning. He hated when his friends started to bicker for the most minor reasons. Hadn't they promised him they'll /try/ to stop snapping at each other, even if it was for his sake? They weren't even trying, Harry thought angrily. It's the first day of school and they're already at each other's neck! Merlin, when could they just stop, and open their eyes!
Just then, Ginny casually sat down across Harry. "Hey, how was your day? Snape is simply going to breath fire over us this year! OWLs, OWLs, homework and more OWLs! I am /not/ going to live through fifth year." She said, setting her bags down on the bench beside her. Upon hearing no reply to her exclamations, she inspected the somber trio, eyes narrowing. Apparently she realized just what had happened, and gave Harry a significant glance. Without another word spoken, she settled down to lunch contently, though without sending an occasional glance Harry's way. The four Gryffindor's lunch continued in silence.
Harry sighed. This was going to be a long day.