The Great Hall was adjourned. Harry saw Ginny and Colin herding the first years to the common room. Harry was glad to see that none of them were afraid of him or anything this year. He walked up the usual path to the Gryffindor common room, but upon arriving, he, once again, realized he didn't know the password. Luckily, Parvati appeared.
"The password is defenestrate," she informed him. The Fat Lady heard her and opened. Harry and Parvati entered. Parvati, claiming she was tired, bade him goodnight with a kiss and headed up the stairs. Harry sat in his favorite armchair and waited for Ron and Hermione to come. When they arrived, Harry asked them what took them so long.
"Oh, the new Head Boy and Girl wanted to speak with us." Hermione said offhandedly. Harry, feeling suspicious, did not stop questioning.
"Who are they?" he asked.
"Edgar Rander from Gryffindor...and Cho."
'Cho?" Harry asked incredulously. Hermione nodded grimly.
"Seemed somewhat cranky, if you ask me." Ron said.
"Well, I know why," Hermione said, flushing. " Me. She cornered me at the end of the meeting. She demanded that I stay away from her. She even wanted me to give up my Prefects badge!"
Harry stood up. "I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!" He declared and headed toward the portrait hole. Hermione ran up to him and stopped him.
"Harry, just do it tomorrow, at least, please!" she asked. Harry nodded and sat back down.
"But tomorrow I will have a talk with her." Ron nodded, and Hermione sighed.
"Well, we best be getting to bed early. Tonight might as well be our last chance to get a full nights sleep until Christmas!" Ron proclaimed. Harry groaned in agreement, while Hermione looked overjoyed.
The next day came by quickly for Harry. Before he knew it, he was sitting in the Great Hall eating kippers.
Professor McGonagall handed out schedules. Harry took his from Parvati. She smiled as he read the first column.
"I was right, wasn't I?" she asked. Harry nodded glumly.
Their first class of the day was Charms. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Parvati entered the Charms classroom to find Professor Flitwick standing on the pile of books as he normally did. They sat in seats with the Hufflepuffs across from them. Professor Flitwick went through the first fifteen minutes lecturing them on NEWTs, just as he had last year for the OWLs. They then spent the class revising every charm they had learnt since first year, from "Wingardium Leviosa!" (In which Ron purposely poked Hermione hard, causing her to levitate Harry instead of the feather. Ron got detention) to "Silenceo!" (Where Ron accidentally poked the frog so hard that it fell off the desk. Luckily, he managed to summon it back before it hit the ground, earning five points for Gryffindor. They got a bunch of homework in Charms. Four inches of parchment on every charm they had learned due the next week.
Their next class, Potions, was the one Harry was dreading most. Luckily all four houses were grouped together, so it wasn't just Slytherins. Padma's old friends, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Lisa Turpin, herded off Parvati.
Snape also spent half the class period lecturing them on NEWTs. Harry was happy to see that, since there were Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, he didn't treat Harry as nasty as he did the previous years. They were brewing the Draught of the Living Dead, and Harry thought, as he handed his vial in, (far from Snape, so he wouldn't break it) that he had done fairly well. Snape assigned them two rolls of parchment over how to tell the difference between real death and the Draught.
Hermione headed off to History of Magic next, while Harry and Ron took refuge in the library.
"D'you realize that we have over twenty essays due in Charms next week, but also two rolls of parchment over that stupid potion due tomorrow!" Ron complained. Harry smiled. It was always fun doing homework with just Ron (Parvati was still with her Ravenclaw friends).
Harry had finished the first roll of parchment for Snape when it was lunchtime. They met up with Hermione, who was complaining of a roll of parchment over Goblin vs. Giant wars. Ron goggled at her.
"Hermione Granger, complaining over homework?" he asked. Harry snickered. He could almost hear the choirs of angels in Ron's head right now.
Hermione finished her History homework during lunch, and still had time to eat afterwards. They then headed off to Transfiguration, where McGonagall also lectured them over NEWTs. They then, like in Charms, went over every spell they had learned, from beetles to buttons, to Vanishing. She then assigned them a roll of parchment discussing the spells learnt in each year until the previous one.
Harry and Hermione then had Herbology. Ron decided to work on his Potions while they "dirtied themselves up" as he called it.
Herbology was much more interesting this year. They started off learning how to cut up a Venomous Tentacula without sustaining serious injuries. They got off with no homework and twenty more points to Gryffindor.
When they arrived back in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ron gleefully informed them that he had finished his Potions homework. Harry shrugged, saying he didn't care.
To no ones surprise, all of the sixth year D.A. students were in the NEWT level Defense class. They took their seats, ready for another day of reading. Professor Quopenare entered the room. He looked at their glum faces and smiled.
"Books away, please," he said, "wands out."
Harry exchanged looks with Hermione and Ron. It had been over a year since they had had their wands out during a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Quopenare instructed them to get to the back of the classroom. When they had, Quopenare, with a wave of his wand, pushed all the desks to the side. With another wave of his wand, two platforms appeared in the middle of the classroom.
"Today we are going to be starting a project. The project will be a dueling club. Whoever is in the lead of this club in three weeks will be exemplified from homework until the next term, where we will do the same thing." He waved his wand, and upon the wall appeared a set of brackets. He waved his wand again, and names appeared on the brackets.
"I have randomly paired you up with partners. We will start at the top of each bracket, hence the two platforms, and work our way down. In the end, we will have a championship between the two leaders of the brackets. The winner will be the one who will nott get any homework for the rest of term."
Harry scanned the list and saw that he was paired with a Daphne Greengrass. Harry knew little about this girl, only that she was a Ravenclaw and had come to the school in his third year. Hermione was facing Ernie MacMillian, and Ron was up against Anthony Goldstein.
The first fight in Harry and Hermione's bracket was between Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin. Terry won easily, disarming Lisa three minutes in. Harry felt a surge of pride; Terry had been in the D.A..
"Well done, Boot," Quopenare said. Harry saw Lisa's name crossed out in red and Terry's moved ahead.
After that it was Dean Thomas against Susan Bones. The duel was intense; both had been in the D.A.. In the end, Dean won. He had shot a Stunning Spell and Disarming Spell immediately one-after-another, and she hadn't been able to block both.
Hermione and Ernie were up next. The duel wasn't quite as intense, as Hermione had had more experience. She shot some spells that Harry had never heard of. He assumed she had picked them up in her other classes. In the end, Hermione shot a spell that made Ernie's blond hair grow over his face, blinding him, and she cast the Disarming Spell.
Hannah Abbot and Mandy Brocklehurst were up next. Hannah, who had been in the D.A., defeated Mandy in a matter of minutes, accomplishing this by using the Impediment Jinx and Disarming Spell consecutively.
Harry was up next. Daphne started off with a nice Stunning Spell, but Harry had the Shield Charm up before it was even close. After that, he shot the Stunning Spell, Impediment Jinx, and Disarming charm successively, causing Daphne, who's shield did not work, to be stunned, impedimented, and disarmed.
Harry caught her wand, muttered "Ennerverate," and "Finite". He walked over and helped her up, hanging her wand back to her. She smiled at him, and walked back over to her friends.
The last few battles rounded up, with Parvati, Theodore Nott, and Morag MacDougal coming out as winners. In the second Bracket, Ron won, also Draco Malfoy, whom Harry had not seen yet that day, Lavender Brown, Neville Longbottom, Juliana Moon, and three others whose names escaped Harry.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Parvati went downstairs to dinner without a confrontation from Malfoy. They sat down and ate, discussing their classes. After dinner, Harry noticed Cho leaving.
"Got to go, guys," he said, motioning at Cho. Hermione sighed, and Harry left.
"Hey, Cho!" he called. She turned around and smiled sweetly.
"Hello Harry," she said, blinking her eyebrows fast. Harry ignored this sign of affection.
"What's this I hear about you threatening Hermione?" Harry demanded. Cho flushed.
"Oh yea, I forgot, darling Hermione!" she snarled.
"Hermione's my friend, Cho," Harry corrected. Cho laughed.
"Oh, don't tell me that, Harry Potter. Everyone in Ravenclaw can tell the way you look at her! Its like...getting an O in a Potions NEWT!"
Harry flushed now. "Parvati is my girlfriend, not Hermione. Hermione and I are just friends!"
Cho scoffed. Harry, loosing his temper, raised his wand. Cho looked at him.
"Go on, I dare you," she sneered.
"Rictasempra!" Harry yelled, but diverted his wand. Cho screamed as the curse flew by her. She stood up and pulled out her own wand.
"C'mon, Potter! You couldn't duel to save your skin!"
Harry laughed, "You would think that, wouldn't you?"
"Expelliarmus!" yelled Cho.
"Protego!" Harry blocked her. "Stupefy!"
Cho blocked this. Enraged, Harry shouted. "Legimens!"
Cho's mind opened up. Harry saw a dark field, and an ugly man putting his wand on her arm. Cho screamed, and Harry stopped the spell. He backed away from her. Cho looked scared.
"You-you're a D-," He started, then ran up the stairs. He heard Cho running after him. He stuck his wand behind him and shouted "Impedimenta!"
Cho slowed, and Harry reached Dumbledore's office.
"Canary Cream, Chocolate Frog," he heard Cho getting closer. "Acid Pop! Skiving Snackbox!" finally the gargoyles opened up. Harry raced in and sprinted up the stairs to find Dumbledore talking with a man in the fire.
"Professor!" Harry panted. "Professor, Cho Chang's a Death Eater!"