Harry and Hermione were excused to leave to the ministry of magic for training classes, and to see if there were any important discoveries from Ginny's locker. Both Harry and Hermione had courses together, except for one that they had chosen. Harry had picked FBI training, while Hermione chose driver's ed.
Harry spent the next two hours learning techniques like searching for fingerprints and DNA. He also learned self defense skills and how to break down a door if he needed to. Hermione learned the rules of the road, and because of how fast she was learning, she walked out with her license by the time the two hours were up (she had already gotten her permit during the summer with her parents). Harry had a few more FBI courses to finish before he could take driver's ed and get his license. When they were through, both of them discussed their classes as they headed down to where Tonks and Lupin were.
"I can't believe we can't get attached to anyone while we're doing this," said Hermione. "Do they expect us to have no social life?"
"You agreed to this," said Harry. "Besides, you have to admit, a scholarship to the collage of our choice is really great."
"Yes, it really is, Harry, but don't you see that now we won't have anything consistent in our lives anymore, we'll be moving around a lot. I mean, I do love this opportunity, but don't you think it'll be hard?"
"All the good things are, Hermione. And plus, I can finally get away from the Dursleys."
"I'll miss staying at home all the time. I may even miss getting grounded." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Well, you know I could go talk to Lupin, see if I can get him to ground you." She laughed and nudged him.
Tonks held the soda straw up closer and squinted. "Some sort of crystalling deposits have been placed in both ends," she said, handing it to Lupin. He placed it under a microscope and got a closer look, when out of the corner of his eye he saw two figures in black try to sneak by. He poked his head up and smirked at Harry and Hermione.
"Well," he said, getting their attention. "Don't you two look lovely." They were both wearing black shirts and pants, along with some equipment used for spying.
"We were just coming to ask you," said Hermione, looking innocent.
"Funny," said Lupin. "It looked like you were heading right out the door."
"Some of the Hufflepuffs said they can hear the ghost at night right after dinner," said Harry. Hermione held up a digital recorder.
"We wanted to put a digital recorder in the forbidden wing since it's right underneath the Hufflepuff house," said Hermione. Lupin nodded and Tonks smirked.
"I'll get right on it and get back to you in a couple of hours," he said. Both Harry and Hermione sighed.
"We knew you were going to say that," said Harry. "The Hufflepuffs said that they heard the ghost between the hours of six and nine. Like, right now."
Lupin glanced at his watch, and Hermione turned to Tonks.
"Please, Tonks?" she pleaded.
"I'm not falling for the face," said Tonks. Lupin glanced at her.
"You mean you're not... falling for the face again."
Hermione stared at her, and Tonks sighed.
"Oh, fine," she said. Lupin reached over and handed Hermione the car keys. "Here are the keys to the car," he said. "I'll owl Snape and let him know you're coming. Be smart and back each other up." Hermione nodded and Harry smiled.
"Thankyou sir," he said as they turned to leave.
"Wait!" called Tonks. She handed Hermione a blue disk. "The disk only runs for twelve hours. You're going to have to replace it regularly." They waved and left out the door. Lupin held the straw up to Max again. Max sniffed it and walked off.
"Look," he muttered. "He doesn't react to this, but he reacts to the fifty." Max walked over to Tonks and started his usual wining ruetine to get a treat.
"Max," said Tonks. "Max, what are you telling me?" she asked as she reached for the treats.
"He's saying call Algeron," said Lupin as he headed to the back for the phone.
As Hermione got into the driver's seat and buckled up, Harry sat down, but glanced at her. "Hey," he said. "How about I drive?"
"You don't get your license for another two weeks," she said as she placed the key in the ignition.
"Dear FBI training course,
Even though I am trained in driving, waiting until I've had my permit for a certain amount of time is an unpleasant rule. Fighting, self defense, and FBI skills are not to be belittled," He quoted, making Hermione snicker.
"Well since you chose FBI training over driver's ed, now you can beat up the car, and I can drive it," she said, and with that, Harry buckled up and they pulled out.
Hermione led Harry to the forbidden wing, and they thuroughly serched the empty rooms and halls. Harry's wand light hit something and he smirked. It was a chair with an old toy robot that had a Halloween mask on it and a black cloak. Underneath it was a sign that said, "Stay Out!" in red paint, making it look like blood.
"There's your ghost," he said to Hermione.
"But what hit me?" she asked. Harry glanced back at an old scaffolding, and a large hollow pipe (not very heavy) laying tipped over on the ground.
"You fell on this," he said, pointing to the back of the scaffolding. "Which knocked the scaffolding and made this pipe fall on your head. It's FBI deductive reasoning."
"That was a correspondence course," she said, rolling her eyes. "Let's just find a spot for the recorder."
"Here," he said, pointing to a hole that had been knocked into the wall. It was just the right size. He placed the recorder in, and Hermione muttered a spell that would make it work.
"There," she said. "Let's go. Or would you like to check for fingerprints, Mr. FBI?"
"No," he said shaking his head. "Kids pull pranks all the time. Fingerprints won't do any good. So, Hermione, do you have a thing for Blake?" She turned red.
"I barely know him," she said. "We're here to do a job, okay?"
"You know, for one moment I thought you were a regular teenaged girl with crushes and boys you'd die for."
"Sorry to disappoint."
They walked down the hall, and headed to the stairs when they heard a sort of dull rumble. They stopped and listened. The rumble gradually turned to the sound of voices chanting something. Hermione's blood turned cold, and she turned back with Harry, looking around to find where the sound was coming from. Harry stopped by a vent and listened in.
"It's coming from here," he said. Hermione leaned in and they listened for a while.
"It's gone," she whispered. They turned and headed for the stairs again. Hermione glanced at the door and saw a face was pressed up against the glass. She screamed and Harry grabbed her.
"What? What is it?" he asked.
"There's someone down there!" she cried. Harry glanced and noticed whatever it was pulling back and running off. It was too dark to determine the face. They ran after it and outside of the school where it disappeared altogether.
"Where'd he go?" asked Harry. They heard a rustled near a fence, and they hurried in to a door to the old school boiler room.
"The door's jammed," said Hermione after trying to open it. Harry moved her aside.
"Let me try. This is an old FBI technique." He raised his foot and pounded it on the door, and lept back with a cry of pain. Hermione laughed.
"Oh wow," she laughed. "Can you teach me that?"
"Shut up. I'm going to find something to unjam it." Hermione stayed where she was and looked around. She looked up and saw the shadow of someone crouched on all fours on the fence behind her (there was a dumpster behind the fence). Turning around quickly with a yelp, her light landed in Malfoy's face, who was crouched on the dumpster like a cat.
"Hush!" he hissed. "You trying to wake the dead?" Harry came back after hearing Hermione and looked up at Malfoy.
"I understand that's your job," shot back Hermione.
"All black clothes, sneaking around at night," said Malfoy. "Looks to me like you're trying to sneak into someone else's business. I wouldn't do that."
"Well you see," started Harry. "The funny thing is she heard a-" but Malfoy had jumped down and was gone on his broom.
(A/N: One... two... Abel's coming for you... Three... four... better lock the door... Five... six... get a crucifix... Seven... eight... better stay up late... Nine... ten... never sleep again...
Or something like that. Hehehe. Yeah, I've got too much free time. Please review!)