thanks Niarbeldoon - you're the best! awesome slytherinking, you hate fanfics too. Yay! GirlofSummer!
The feast was excellent. I wasn't paying attention during the sorting; I only clapped when everyone else around me did. I noticed Harry was absent again, but Hermione as well. Then I saw them. Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall, followed by Harry and Hermione. They came over and sat down on either side of Ron (he had saved them seats). I was sitting across from Ron, between Neville and Colin Creevey. I noticed people turning to look at Harry as he sat down.
"What happened?" Ron muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
Harry opened his mouth, but stopped, his gaze focused elsewhere. I followed his stare to Dumbledore, who was standing up at the teacher's table.
"Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore said. He was smiling, which always made him look fuller of energy than he was before. "Before you get befuddled by our excellent feast, I have a few words to say. Our school will be playing host to some dementors this upcoming year, who will be standing guard at all the school entrances. I would make it clear that dementors are not to be fooled by any device. They are not accustomed to showing mercy, or listening to explanations. I would advise you to steer clear of them, and by no means do anything that would upset them." He looked around, and added, "The professors and I have put the prefects, and Heads in control to make sure no one irritates a dementor. Anyway, enough of that. I am pleased to introduce you to the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher – Professor Lupin!"
There was some applause, but I jerked to alert at his name, and clapped loudly.
"And, also, our old Care of Magical Creatures teacher has decided to retire, and I am happy to welcome to the post, our gamekeeper, and new professor – Professor Hagrid!"
It sounded strange hearing the words 'professor' and 'Hagrid' used in the same sentence, let alone together. I clapped hard nonetheless. I wasn't going to have him this year, but next year, if all went as planned, I would. All the Gryffindors clapped hard, especially Ron, Hermione, and most of all, Harry.
"Who else would've assigned us a biting book?" Ron shouted to Harry, trying to be heard above the applause.
Ron had had a terrible time with that book. I remembered him wrestling in to the floor at the inn. He had ripped a shirt, cut his hands, and gotten several scratches on his face. Finally, Fred and George had intervened and gotten it tied with a piece of rope, borrowed from the night maid.
The clapping had stopped, and Professor Dumbledore had stood up again. "Now we have those matters finished with, I only have a few more words to say, 'Let the feast begin'!"
The food was delicious, at least the little amount I ate. The dementor had had a bad effect on me, and the chocolate, though doing its job, did not leave me fully recovered.
"Ginny?" my friend, Mia Perkins, looked at me. "Something wrong?" I nodded, and reached for the chocolate cake.
"Oh... the dementors?" Mia asked. I nodded again. I bit into the chocolate cake. When I had first had some on the train glowing warmth had spread through my body, now slight warmth was all I felt. It was still relaxing.
"So, excited for this year? New D.A.D.A. teacher, he ought to be better than that old idiot. I really have no idea why all my friends fell for him, after all, that's why I became your friend; you weren't infatuated with him! Should be a bit more relaxed, since we don't have an 'Heir of Slytherin' running around setting a monster on muggle-borns. Do you know what happened to that anyway?" Mia asked nonchalantly, taking some chicken.
"Um, no, I have no idea," I lied. Maybe, when I got to know her better I'd tell her the truth.
I walked down to breakfast early the next day. After I had gotten my schedule, and sat down, Mia walked in. I waved her over. "New course schedules," I said, handing her an extra schedule. "Exciting, aren't they.
"Oh, gosh, Ginny, look!" exclaimed Mia. "We have the WORST schedule today! First, Transfiguration - thats fine, its just the ammount of homework -, then History of Magic – maybe we can do transfiguration homework then – and then DOUBLE POTIONS!"
"Help us, save us, help us, save us!" I said fervently.
"I know... potions..." Mia wrinkled her nose in disgust, and reached for a piece of toast.
"Hi Ginny!" I looked up. It was Colin.
"Hey Colin!" I grinned. "How was your summer?" he asked. Mia looked on with mild interest. She took a bite of her toast.
"Great, Egypt was awesome! The charms the Egyptian wizards put on the tombs were absolutely wicked!" I said, ecstatic.
"That's wonderful!" Colin said, also excited. "I didn't do much. Just explained about everything to my brother Dennis. But, I have to go say hi to some of my other friends. Later!"
Colin hurried over to the end of the Gryffindor table and sat down. I was turning back to Mia, when I noticed someone that completely tore my attention away. Harry was walking straight toward me. I could feel my face turning hot, so I looked down, and at Mia. She was grinning. I quickly picked up a piece of toast and buttered it. The bench bent and I felt someone sit down on my side. I looked up. Harry was sitting next to me! I quickly composed myself, and was about to say 'hi' when I noticed that he was sitting next to George. He was talking to George too. And there was about a foot of room between to two of us. Of course, I overlooked this factor.
"Third year course schedules, Harry. Ron. Hermione," George said passing them out. Then seeing the look on Harry and Ron's faces, he said "wait, what's up?"
"Malfoy," Ron gritted his teeth.
"Little git," George said calmly, as if they were talking about the weather, and not a 13-year-old pretending to faint with terror, as an imitation of Harry, and smirking whenever one of them looked their way. "He sure wasn't so full of himself last night. He, Crabbe, and Goyle came running into our compartment, didn't they, Fred?"
Fred nodded in agreement. "Almost wet themselves."
"I didn't feel very happy either," George continued. "Terrible feeling they give you those dementors."
"Turn you all cold, don't they?
"None of you passed out, did you?" Harry asked more a rhetorical question than a direct one.
Fred and George looked at each other. "Don't worry about it, Harry. Dad went to Azkaban – for the ministry – and came back all shaking. He said he never wanted to go there again. 'Happiness is lacking when dementors are,' thats what he said."
"See how cocky Malfoy is after the first Quidditch match. First match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin," Fred said. "I swear, that's everyone's favorite match to attend!"
A/N: The 'help us, save us' comment by Ginny originated with my friend Nicole. Nicole is in my class at school, and the core of the comedy. Nicole is awesome, and hilarious, she often makes up comments that last for a long time. "Meano", "Specialness" and "help us,save us" are just some. what an awesome person!
slytherinphoenix7
i'm desperate for reviews guys!