Chapter 6
Lessons didn't improve over the next couple of weeks. Malfoy continually got Harry into trouble during Defence Against the Dark Arts class and he got detention every other lesson. His worst punishment had to be writing up all of Malfoy's notes which had ink spilled all over them. Malfoy sat and watched him as he hurriedly wrote out all his notes again with this evil grin across he face, and always pointing out every mistake Harry made. Harry just wanted to reach for his wand and get Malfoy but he had to control himself.
After one Defence Against the Hark Arts lesson, Harry was trying to hurry away before Malfoy said something to enrage him further. But he just couldn't get away fast enough and he could hear Malfoy taunting him.
"Oi Potter! Maybe next lesson you can write up my Transfiguration notes," Malfoy joked.
"I'm surprised you can pronounce it let alone have notes on it," Harry quipped back still continuing to walk away from the situation. Malfoy laughed along with his cronies.
"I'm surprised no-one has called the police on you, for hanging out with mudbloods like Granger," Malfoy retorted. Harry had simply had enough, and he stopped in his tracks.
"Don't Harry, just leave it," Ron warned his friend, but Malfoy had crossed a line. Harry turned and headed towards Malfoy, who looked unthreatened. Harry raised his wand to Malfoys face, who was still smiling. Malfoy knew that he couldn't use his magic against him or he would be in serious trouble, and Harry kniw it too. Harry put his wand away,
"Good boy. Now go on your little way, you can't touch me" Malfoy teased.
"Oh, I think I can," and Harry punched Malfoy with all of his strength sending Malfoy flying backwards and hit the floor hard and covered his face with his hands.
"Did that surprise you?" Harry taunted the moaning Malfoy while shaking his hand in pain. Crabbe and Goyle went for Harry but Evi stepped in between them, preventing the, She looked at them and they stepped down, despite the fact that they were twice her size.
"Mr Malfoy, I suggest you go to Madame Pomfreys to check you haven't broken anything," she said as she gave him a hand up off the floor, "and I wouldn't mention how you got the injury either, if you want to keep that precious reputation of yours," she added. Crabbe anf Goyle led Malfoy off to Madame Pomfrey and Harry turned to join his friends and get to History of Magic class.
"Mr Potter, where do you think you are going?" she called to him.
"Well…Professor," he stated.
"I don't think so. I crave an audience with you. NOW!" she said and then turned and walked away leaving Harry no coice but to follow.
"Tell Professor Flitwick where I am," Harry asked Ron.
"I will. If I can stay awake that long," Ron told him and he and Hermione headed off towards Flitwicks class.
Harry had to run to keep up with Evi as she made her way to a secluded part of the school grounds. Suddenly she stopped in a small opening surrounded by trees on three sides and s stone wall on the other.
"What were you playing at Harry?" she asked turning to him.
"Sorry Miss," Harry said with his head hung in shame.
"Firstly, stop with the 'miss', that's why I brought you out here," and she took out a packet of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one. "Oh, and so I can smoke. Dumbledore won't let me smoke in the school as it's a bad example to the impressionable students," she explained as she sat on a huge light coloured rock in the middle of the clearing. Harry looked at the ground, which was covered in cigarette butts.
"Come here often?" Harry asked still looking at the ground. Evi looked at what he was looking at and laughed.
"Every so often," she laughed. Harry came and sat beside her on the rock. "Harry, you must learn to control your temper," she told him. "Draco Malfoys greatest achievement would be to get Harry Potter expelled from Hogwarts. Don't rise to it."
I couldn't help it," Harry admitted. "He keeps getting me into trouble and he will get me expelled, so I might as well get a little bit of revenge in before I'm forced to leave."
"Harry just because Professor of Grim gives you detention because of Draco, doesn't mean the rest of us teachers can't see the injustice. We can't contradict her on her classes and methods of punishment. Harry, listen to me. Many people, like Goliard, don't like the fame you have for doing nothing, while they don't have anything to show for all their achievements. In a way, Draco is jealous of you."
"Malfoy?"
Yes, Malfoy. You are loved for who your family is and he despised for the same reason."
"But he is just the same as them," Harry pointed out.
"True. But like he has a choice." Harry looked at Evi, who seemed to be somewhere far away.
"Evi?"
"Don't suppose Draco mentioned he had an older brother?" Harry shook his head. "He was in the same year as me. He was…a very different Malfoy. He didn't believe in all the Mudblood shit that his father fed him. How could he if he was dating me, with a muggle mother."
"No wonder I've never heard of him. Lucius must be very ashamed of him," Harry commented.
"You won't have heard of him. He's dead." She took a long drag from her cigarette. "Lucius had him killed. He was ruining the family reputation." Harry could tell she was trying very hard to hold back the tears. "Draco has no choice. Either be the way his father wants, or be dead. He and Crispin were close and now, if he even mentions Crispin's name, Lucius beats him." She seemed to shake herself out of the memory.
"I know Draco can be a little shit sometimes, but reacting to it makes Draco seem like the victim, not you. You can go back to whatever class you are now late for."
"Thank you Evi," Harry said as he made his way towards the edge of the clearing and back into the dense brush.
"Oh Harry, if you really think he deserves a punch, use the base of your hand and thrust it upwards into his face. Not only will it break his nose, but bring tears to his eyes," she instructed. Harry laughed and walked off with that image in his mind.
Harry had not moved three steps when Snape appeared from the brush and seemed more shocked than Harry at seeing him there.
"What are you doing here Potter?" Snape said annoyed.
It's OK Sev, I was just talking to him. Get back to class Harry."
Harry didn't wait to hear Snapes answer and ran into the brush. Something was still bothering Harry about their relationship, so he spied on them through the bushes. Snape made his way over to Evi who was still seated on the rock. Harry was concerned – Evi alone with Snape; that can't be good. But she was laughing and offering a cigarette to Snape who seemed happy to accept. Fearing he would be seen or heard, Harry finally made is way back to school and back to Flitwicks class.
It was getting close to Hermione's birthday and still Harry didn't know what he wanted to do for it. One night in the common room, Harry and Ron sat apart from Hermione, who was doing some research for Arithmancy, and discussed Hermione's birthday.
"She never told me when her birthday was. I feel really bad that I've never got anything for her. It's too late to buy her a present now, so what could we do?" Ron said.
"I don't know? We could buy her a box of chocolates." Harry suggested.
"Pathetic!" It was Ginny standing behind them. "That's the best you can come up with, chocolates!"
"Well, what do you suggest?" Ron asked.
"Do something special for her, you don't have to have bought her anything, just do something. You could arrange to have a meal with her or something." This seemed perfect to Harry, a real treat for Hermione.
"But how could we arrange it? Not like any of the teachers will help." Ron said rather saddened.
"There is one teacher who would love to help." Harry said with Ron and Ginny following him out of the common room and down the stairs.
On their way down they spotted Professor Grimalkin walking down the stairs in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. All three pressed against the wall so they weren't seen and once she had gone into the corridor and out of sight, they continued their way down.
Harry stopped outside a wooden door on the right hand side of the 1st floor corridor and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal Evi looking at Harry and the others rather strangely.
"What are you doing here? Students aren't allowed out of their common rooms at this time of night." She asked while yawning.
"We need your help, is it alright if we come in?" Harry politely asked. She opened the door further and agreed for them to enter. Her room was very much like her classroom, with a television, CD player and a big soft sofa in the middle. She asked them to sit.
"Evi, I was hoping you could help us. All of us want to do something special for Hermione's birthday and we were hoping that you would help us arrange a special meal for her on her birthday." He stopped hoping for a response, but she remained silent, so he continued. "I know I shouldn't ask but we have no where else to turn and…" Evi cut in.
"Harry, you've won me over. If you want we can go over details later, just stay behind next lesson and we will discuss it. But you really should get back to bed before people realise you're missing." She got up and walked towards the door and ushered them out. They all felt really pleased about their plan but had to remember to keep it a secret from Hermione.
The next morning at breakfast they we sitting at the table enjoying their full English breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages, toast, and tomatoes when Dumbledore rose and spoke to the school.
"Last night, one of our 5th year students went missing. According to her friends, she went off late last night for a walk and did not return. This is very serious and anyone who might know anything about it, please see the head of your house. I must remind students that you are not allowed to wander the corridors at night and from now on, all students must be in their common rooms by eight o clock every night." Harry, Ron and Ginny all looked at each other, they had not seen any students out of bed when they were out, only Professor Grimalkin.
Ginny and Hermione walked out of the Great Hall together with Ron and Harry trailing behind.
"Harry, we didn't see anyone apart from Professor Grimalkin. Harry, what if she had something to do with it? She wouldn't be the first Defence against the Dark Arts teacher to go bad. Should we tell McGonagall that we saw her?" Ron said.
"If we tell McGonagall that we saw her, we will be admitting that we were out of bed and probably be in more trouble. Let's hope Evi won't say anything." Harry said worried. The teachers stepped up their supervision of the students and Harry, Ron and Ginny had no chance to talk over Hermione's birthday. They weren't even sure if it was still on with everything going on, Evi might cancel it for safety reasons.
Evi kept her word, and sure enough after Muggle Studies, she kept Harry behind and talked to him about the arrangements. Ron was waiting for him outside and made Hermione go on ahead without them, saying she might be late for herbology. As soon as she was out of sight Ron Asked Harry what was said.
"It's all in hand, she's already organised it. All we have to do is keep quiet and turn up at her room at quarter to seven on Hermione's birthday; the rest is up to Evi." Harry was so relieved that everything was going to go right. Since no-one knew about it, no-one like Malfoy could ruin it.
The day of Hermione's birthday finally arrived and Harry couldn't contain his excitement, but it wasn't like Hermione was going to notice she was impatiently awaiting her gift from her parents, which would arrive by Owl Post in the morning. By the time Harry and Ron had woken up, Hermione was already down in the Great Hall seeing if her present had arrived early. Harry and Ron went down early to wish her a happy birthday before the Hall got too crowded. She was sitting on the Gryffindor table with a piece of parchment in her hand. Harry and Ron walked up to her and could see that she had tears running down her face. They sat either side of her and put their arms around her, wondering what had upset her.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" they both asked at the same time.
"This is my parents' present to me; it's a letter from the Ministry of Magic." She handed it to Harry who read it out load.
Dear Miss Hermione Granger,
I would like to congratulate you on your successful application to become the Head of the Young Witches and Wizards Committee. You have been chosen from a possible 20,000 applicants who applied for the position and the board decided, with your magical abilities and personality, that you would be perfect for the job.
As you know, we are just starting a Young Witches Committee and have been looking for over 3 years for young wizards and witches capable of making excellent decisions. As Head of the Committee you will be expected to organise the other members and control meetings to make sure that it doesn't become too hectic. Albus Dumbledore has told us of your ability to keep a cool head when others around are falling apart and we have sources from all your teachers at Hogwarts about your ability and all agree you would be great for the job.
You will be expected to attend the meetings, starting on December 7th, at the ministry's Head Quarters every three months.
Again, congratulations on your success.
Cornelius Fudge
Head of Ministry of Magic.
Hermione burst into tears again when Harry finished reading it out. They didn't understand what was wrong, until she explained.
"There's nothing wrong, I can't believe I got in! Ever since I heard about the committee I've wanted to be part of it, but I never applied. My parents applied for me. This is their special gift to me, they did this for me. I can't believe it!"
"Well, we can!" Harry said still with his arm around her. "You are probably the only person for the job."
"Yeah, Hermione, you know something about everything and like Cornelius said, you are perfect for the job. We are happy for you, this is great. Percy will be dead jealous; I know he applied a couple of years ago." Ron laughed.
"We are so proud of you Hermione. Probably not as much as your parents are but still, proud of you." Hermione gave both the boys a hug and wiped her tears and they all went back up to the common room till it was time to go down to breakfast.
When they went back down to the Great Hall, there was a pile of cards awaiting Hermione. There must have been about 20 cards for her. Ron and Harry were going to give theirs tonight, and these were off mainly people in Gryffindor. They were sitting reading through her cards when Neville came up behind Hermione.
"Ha…Happy Birthday Hermione." He stuttered and shoved a card at her. She took it and before she could say thank you has was gone. She opened it, and inside was a short message.
Happy Birthday Hermione
Love Neville
Hermione smiled. She was so happy; she had never got so many cards. She opened them there were so many names (Lee Jordon, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Lavender Brown) and there was one from Hagrid. Hermione was also amazed to find one from Percy Weasley. She wondered how he would know it was her birthday but them she remembered he worked for the Ministry and he would be told about her appointment and he would be able to find out her birthday. The teachers entered and with them a trophy. The teachers all sat down apart from Dumbledore and McGonagall who looked very happy about something. The Hall went quiet curious what was going on. It was Professor McGonagall who spoke first.
"This morning, Professor Dumbledore and I were informed of a certain achievement of a Hogwarts student. This student has been appointed Head of the Young Witches and Wizards Committee and as the teachers have been informed, today is also her birthday. I would like to invite Hermione Granger up her to receive an award for this great achievement." The whole Hall exploded into applause apart from a small group of Slytherins. Hermione was bright red as she walked up to collect her award. Dumbledore handed her the award and shook her hand and she returned to her seat, and covered up her bright red cheeks. The award was a plaque and inscribed on it was, "Awarded to Miss Hermione Granger after her appointment to Head of the Young Witches and Wizards Committee. Signed Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School."
Her award was put in the trophy cabinet for all to see and Hermione kept going passed for a look at it. Only Malfoy had something bad to say about it, but then again, they didn't expect him to congratulate her.
The day went pretty slowly after that and Ron and Harry were getting increasingly excited about the meal that night. In Muggle Studies, Evi was showing them a video about the destruction of the rainforests, in which Hermione was very interested. After the lesson, Evi kept Hermione behind for a few minutes. When Hermione came out, Harry and Ron asked what that was about.
"She wants me to help her organise a campaign in Hogwarts about the rainforest. She wants me to go to see her tonight at seven o clock to get started." Harry and Ron just smiled, as they knew perfectly well what was happening.
At half six, Hermione was sitting in the corner of the Gryffindor common room reading up on rainforests. Harry and Ron had to make the excuse that they both got detention that night and left the common room and made their way towards Evi's room. Ginny had already left when they left. When they got there, the quietly knocked on the door and they were let in. The room had now completely changed. In the middle of the room was a table with four chairs and on the table were candles, a decorated box, and a bottle of something. Hopingly, Harry asked if it was wine.
"Well…yes, but don't tell anyone, Dumbledore will fire me for sure, so, not a word, OK?" Harry thanked her numerous times for doing this for Hermione. Ginny came out from the back, she was wearing this dress which made her look about 5 years older. Ron complimented her on her dress and when Harry did, she went as red as her hair. The clock in the wall struck seven; Hermione should be on her way by now. Harry was nervous, he wanted the night to go prefect for his friend. They all jumped at the knock on the door and all hid, with Harry and Ron behind the statue in the corner, and Ginny behind the sofa against the wall.
Evi answered the door and showed Hermione in. She saw the table, the candles and a present and asked what was going on. They all jumped out from their hiding places and Hermione started to laugh.
"You guys! You shouldn't have gone to any trouble. I'm not worth it." Hermione said still staring at the table.
"Of course you're worth it Hermione." Harry said, "But Ron and I can't take all the credit, this was Ginny's idea." Hermione gave Ginny a huge hug and thanked them all. They all sat at the table, Ron and Harry both wanted to sit next to Hermione, and Harry let him and he sat opposite. Evi served them all evening no matter how many times they all offered to help. There was music, candlelight and food, and along with good company everything was prefect. Hermione really enjoyed her birthday. The present on the table was from Evi and it was some Belgium chocolates, and they were shared between everyone. The meal was lovely and they all had a glass of wine, and were merry. When they finally decided it was time to leave, Evi escorted them to their common room. Hermione was still in amazed that they could organise something like this without her knowing. When they got to the common room, they didn't go to bed till the early hours in the morning; they were making sure Hermione's birthday was the best ever.
It had now been a week since the Hufflepuff girl, now named as Megan Jones, went missing and still there was no sign of her. There were rumours around but nothing conclusive. It was still worrying that no-one has heard from her, not even her parents. The teachers were all very worried about her, and so were the rest of the school. Everyone had their own conclusion to where she was.
"I bet she's run off with an older wizard or something"
"No, I reckon she's on the run from the authorities and she's in hiding somewhere."
The stories became more and more elaborate. It became the only topic at the breakfast table. One morning, a young girl came running into the room and ran up to the teachers table.
"Professor Flitwick, Orla Quirke was not in her bed this morning when we woke up." Ginny and Angeline both looked up when they heard the name. The teachers looked at each other. Dumbledore stood up.
"I want students to return to their common rooms and stay in there until otherwise instructed."
Harry, Ron and Hermione led the Gryffindor house back to the common room. In the common room, Ginny and Angeline looked very worried.
"We knew her; she was a friend of ours. It's not like her to go off like that. She wouldn't have just left the school as she was really looking forward to the Yule ball." Nothing could be said to comfort them as they waited anxiously for some new about what was going on. It was midday before they heard anything. Professor McGonagall walked through the painting and the whole common room went quiet.
"It seems like we have another missing student. The teachers have made a thorough search of the school and it appears that she is not on school grounds. This is very serious as you may already gather. That means two students have disappeared without informing anyone."
"What could have happened to them?" Ginny boldly asked the question everyone was thinking.
"I don't know Miss Weasley. We are unsure what is going on. You are asked to be on your guard from now on." And with that she left a bewildered Gryffindor common room. Something seemed to click something in Hermione's head and she dragged Harry and Ron upstairs into the girls' dormitory.
"Harry, do you remember what Mr Malfoy said to me that day at Diagon Alley? "I must keep on my guard." Harry what if this has something to do with You-Know-Who?" Harry didn't answer her. Although Harry saw her reason of thinking that, he couldn't believe that the school wasn't protected against another attack from Lord Voldermort.