Disclaimer: I still don't own this. I am very sad about that and will now go cry instead of posting the next chapter.
Author's Note: Hey, I'm still working on this. I swear I am, even if it seems like I'm abandoning it coughFORTRESSOFSHADOWScough Uh-huh, well, here's the next chapter, I would have posted sooner but I wanted it to be a longer chapter so here it is (2000 words!). Important note: I am going away. I'm off to go white water rafting with the fam for 3 days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). No computer access while on the trip. I don't know how I'll survive. Hopefully my email box will be flooded with reviews when I get back (hint, hint) and I can be motivated to update all my stories again.
Replies:
PhiloNysh—Thanks so much!
Drusilla W. L. Tonks—(40) Yup, have to keep Harry miserable. Otherwise he just isn't Harry. (30) Yeah, mistletoe. Will any boy ever understand girls? (22) Thanks! That's just typical Ron isn't it? I swear I'm not sure how they managed to stay in Divination. Maybe Trelawny got Dumbledore to talk them into it. I'm not sure. (20) Thanks. Neville is one of my favorite characters. He has been for ages. (10) Thanks. Luna is one of my other favorite characters. I was going to take intro to psychology next year as my elective but I had a schedule conflict so I can't take it 'til senior year. (1) Thanks.
Athena Dumbledore—Thanks!
Me222—Glad you're back. I took a break for a while too and was writing Peter Pan stuff. Thanks. It's hard to find a Draco and Harry almost friends story; in most stories either they're trying to kill each other, end up being long lost brothers (no evidence for that), or are snogging each other senseless (again, no evidence). Thanks.
I'm not the weakest link—Thanks
MissPadfoot003—Grounded again? Hee, I've never been grounded. I just get my reading privileges taken away. It's not like I bother going anywhere most of the time. I'm trying to speed stuff up with the story and make things happen. The stuff with the 5 of them in the room dragged on for ages.
Happynutcase—Thanks. Got it, when (IF) I am famous I shall remember the happy nutcase who reviewed Harry Potter 6. :::grin::: I might have a shot if I could stick with any of my original stories. The only problem is that Harry Potter is so much more fun to write than my other stories. Artemis Fowl disclaimer? Oops. I'll have to go back and fix that.
Fawkesfreak—Thanks. I'm going to update Fortress of Shadows. I've got to go back, do a little rereading, and figure out where it's going. I might not end up working on it until Monday because my last final this week is on Friday and that gets over at 9:30, I'll be watching Prisoner of Azkaban at 9:45 (I bribed my brother to show up early and save me a seat), and then I'm off to go white water rafting with the fam for 3 days. No computer access while on the trip. I don't know how I'll survive.
Easilyamused—Thanks!
Iceflower—I can't remember what he said, but I just took my Chemistry final today, so I never have to have his class again. I'm so happy, I got a 102% on it. I didn't think it'd do that well. There were 57 questions, but he only counted it out of 50, so even though I missed 6 I still got more than a 100%! Sorry, really hyper right now. I like Artemis Fowl a lot. My Artemis Fowl stories have been a little deserted lately and I haven't worked much on the pictures for them either. Oh well, hopefully I'll be posting some new Harry Potter Pictures soon. I've got 2 of them that I just finished drawing. I love Lord of the Rings. It's so awesome. Thanks agagin.
HYPERdingdong39—Thanks. UPLARS stands for Uber-Platonic Lily And Remus Snippets. My latest series. :-)
Jennyroseangel—Thanks. I don't know if she was listening in or not. She is kinda creepy like that. I'm not sure anybody knows how much she really hears…
Michaela—Thanks. I'm inspiring somebody? Cool!
Hrei-siesn—Thanks for being honest. I know that chapter wasn't my best work. I just had to find some way to get them out of there. It was driving me absolutely up the wall because I couldn't make anything else happen until they left. I hope this chapter is better.
Dnd4ever—Thanks
Athenakitty—How much longer for what? Their punishments? Who knows? Probably about a week, but it could be longer. I'm seriously considering having somebody drop Draco on his head. It's not like he doesn't deserve it.
Padfootgurl—Thanks. Yeah, I'm actually kinda hyper right now too. I always seem to be hyper when it comes time to write these replies. Hmmmmmm…
Zesuit—Probably not completely. They might get close, and then one of them does something to ruin it. Hmm that'd be interesting. Now I've got to see if I can work it in. Thanks!
Volleypickle16—Thanks!
Chapter 70: New Arrangement
Harry and Ron followed the other boys into the boys' dormitory. When they were all inside, the door locked and shut behind them. Candles illuminated the space. There were just over a dozen beds with a trunk at the end of each, and that was all. This was a hallway, but it'd been sealed off to turn it into a dormitory. A door at the end led to a bathroom and shower stalls.
Harry and Ron looked for their trunks, and Ron swapped places with Dylan so that he could be next to Harry. Similar swaps (and some outright takeovers) were occurring all over the room, and the end result was that all three of the Slytherins ended up in beds next to each other since no one wanted to be near them. Honestly, what if one of those bloody Pureblood elitist snobs tried to smother them with a pillow and kill them or something while they were asleep? Harry was sure that this was not what Dumbledore wanted, but that was just too bad. Harry, Ron, and the guys on either side of them thought about setting up a watch force against the Slytherins, but they were too tired and decided to just go to bed. Besides, the Slytherins were outnumbered. There were only 3 of them.
Harry looked through his trunk. At this point, Harry wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore had confiscated some of his things. Thankfully, nothing had been touched. His robes and everything else were just piled into his trunk. The map, invisibility cloak, and mirror were at the bottom where he'd left them. He carefully concealed them so no one else would find them. He decided that when this was all over and he was allowed to use his wand again, he was going to find out how to create a hidden compartment and keep that stuff in it.
Everyone was changing into their pajamas and Harry did the same and fell asleep.
Harry woke up and realized that the dorm was more noisy than usual. Several people were snoring; even Neville couldn't make a racket like that. And there were a lot of voices. Harry sat up and put his glasses back on. The first thing he noticed was that there were no curtains around his bed. Then he noticed that there were way too many beds in the room.
The worst of the snoring seemed to be coming from one of the beds in the corner. Harry saw that that's where Malfoy was still asleep. He was snoring like a mountain troll.
He saw that most of the other people were getting up and getting ready and supposed he ought to do the same. After all that time in that cube of a room with Luna, Terry, Ernie, and Malfoy, Harry needed a shower. He grabbed clothes out of his trunk and went into the bathroom. There were 5 shower stalls, 3 sinks, and 3 toilet stalls. Harry went in one and took his shower. He got dressed before coming out and saw lots of people at the sink. Some were brushing their teeth, others were combing their hair in the mirror. Draco was at the mirror now, brushing his hair until it was nice and shiny.
Harry towel-dried his hair and brushed his teeth, ignoring Draco. He went back to dormitory and found Ron waiting. "Let's go. Hermione's probably waiting," Ron said.
"Yeah. Do you think we need any books?"
"We're going to breakfast. It's not like usual when it's 3 day long trip from the dormitory to class. We're not allowed to leave this area."
"Right."
Hermione was in their new common room and the three of them went into the hall for breakfast. Hermione was in a foul mood and it took some prying to get her to admit why.
"Parkinson said that I snore," Hermione whispered furiously.
"You can't be worse than Malfoy. I swear he was louder than the Hogwarts Express," Ron said, trying to make Hermione feel better.
Hermione only looked madder. "The point is I don't snore. If I did, Ginny would have told me. Right, Ginny?" she said turning to Ron's sister.
Ginny looked a little nervous. "Just a little, Hermione. Not loud or anything."
"Why didn't you tell me this before? I probably could have found a spell that would fix it. Now who knows when I'll be allowed to leave here and go to the library!" fumed Hermione.
"It's not that big a deal, Herms," Harry said, putting some bacon on his plate.
"It's a big deal that no one told me before. I thought you were all me friends," she said angrily.
Ron rolled his eyes at her. "Hermione, we are your friends. But honestly, how are Harry and I supposed to know that you snore?"
"That's not the point," Hermione snapped. She ignored them all for the rest of the meal.
Harry noticed a sign on the wall that said, "When you have finished eating, remain in your seats." Also on the wall was the portrait of Sir Cadogan. "Look what nut job is back," Harry muttered to Ron, gesturing at the portrait.
"Not him again!" moaned Ron.
They watched as Sir Cadogan tried to mount his horse and fell down. Several times.
Terry came over and sat on Harry's other side. "Morning."
"Morning." They both left off the "good" part of "good morning" knowing that it probably would not be a very good day.
By nine o'clock everyone had eaten and was waiting inside the dining room. Professor Flitwick came in. "The teachers have divided our free time into teaching you. These are your new schedules," he said, passing out parchment. "This only covers this week, but depending on your actions, and the actions of the rest of the school that time can be expanded indefinitely. Some of the times may be a little odd, but since you will not be with the rest of your class, the teachers had to fit you in when they could."
Harry looked at his schedule. Today he had Charms from 12:00-12:45; Potions 4:15-5:00; and Transfiguration would be 9:00-9:45. He took a glance at his overall schedule.
MONDAY
Charms 12:00-12:45 p.m.
Potions 4:15-5:00 p.m.
Transfiguration 9:00-9:45 p.m.
TUESDAY
Defense 6:15-7:00 a.m.
Herbology 10:15-11:00 a.m.
Divination 8:20-9:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Transfiguration 7:00-7:45 a.m.
Charms 3:15-4:00 p.m.
Creatures 5:45-6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Herbology 8:30-9:15
Potions 9:30-10:15
Defense 11:15-12:00 a.m.
FRIDAY
Creatures 2:15-3:00 p.m.
Divination 4:00-4:45 p.m
Discussion 5:15-6:00 p.m.
Terry asked, looking over at Harry's schedule, "How did you get into Divination, anyway?"
"Trelawny said that I 'defied the odds, gods, and fate' by staying alive so long. She practically begged Dumbledore to make me take the class. The truth is, I didn't even get an A on my O.W.L. for her class. I think I got a P. Or maybe it was T…" he mused.
"What's it mean here by 'Discussion'?" asked Ron.
"I don't know."
"Look at when we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts. I can't believe this. Six in the morning and midnight."
"I bet she did that just to torture us. You know that?"
"Probably did."
Professor Flitwick started talking again, "All your classes will be conducted in this room. When you are not in class, you may in your common or in your dormitories."
"Why are our classes only half as long as they usually are?" asked Hermione, after raising her hand.
"Because, with only about 8 of you in each class, each teacher can give you more individual attention and you can get through your lessons more quickly. Fifth years, please get your Charms books and return, I've brought you wands. Lunch will be served at eleven. Everyone else, dismissed."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took over one of the large armchairs. Hermione sat comfortably on the seat, while Ron and Harry each took an arm (by now she had forgiven them for the snoring comments). They sat for a few minutes, bored out of their minds and not really feeling like talking. Then Ron spotted a deck of cards on one of the tables across the room. "Anybody up for a game of poker?" he asked, getting up and getting the cards.
"I'm in," Harry offered.
"Me too," said Terry, hearing Ron's suggestion.
The other Ravenclaw Prefect, Padma Patil, got up, "I'll join."
"I suppose I will too," Hermione said grudgingly.
"What are we going to use to bet with?" asked Ernie, sitting down in an empty spot in the circle that was forming around Hermione's chair.
Hermione took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and started folding it and tearing it into pieces. When she had 30 of them, she passed five out to each person.
"We need more than that," Ernie said.
"Fine." Hermione shredded another piece of parchment and soon everyone had 10 pieces. Let's play."
Ron shuffled the cards. "Alright, but I'm the dealer."
By the time the 5th years came out of their Charms lesson, they'd gone through several rounds of the game and Hermione had about 20 pieces of paper in front of her.
Padma wasn't far behind her with 17.
Ron had teamed up and had together 12.
Harry had 9 and was grateful not to be in last place.
Ernie was dead last with only 3 pieces. He just didn't know how to keep a straight face when he looked at his cards.
When the fifth years came out, there was only about 15 minutes before lunch was supposed to start.
"Why are we eating at eleven? I'm not even hungry yet," Hermione said.
"I'm starved," Ron said, shuffling the cards again.
Ginny, coming over, retorted, "You're always hungry, Ron. You're like a bottomless pit."
"So?" he asked, dealing out the last of the cards.
"Deal me in," Ginny said, sitting next to Hermione.
"No, sorry I already dealt all the cards," he told her.
"You just don't want me to play."
After lunch (brought by Dobby and another House-Elf) the sixth years had Charms. Professor Flitwick had come back. Dobby had dismissed the fifth and seventh years while they waited for Flitwick, and now Flitwick was ready to give the lessons. He had the container holding their wands, but didn't let them take their wands out until after they'd gone through the lesson and were ready to test their hearing charms. The charms enhanced hearing so that you could hear a pin drop from the other side of the room even with 3 people talking.
Some people tried to sneak their wands out of the room, but Professor Flitwick caught all of them and managed to get all the wands back inside the spell-proofed container.
When the lesson was over, Professor Flitwick packed up his things and Professor McGonagall came in for the NEWT Transfiguration class for the seventh years.
Harry asked her, as the rest of the 6 years were filing out, "How long do we have to stay here?"
"Until you have all learned to behaving properly. The other teachers and I are ashamed of your actions."
"What did I do?"
"Your actions as a whole class and a school, though I'm sure you caused your own mischief as well. Grow up, and perhaps all of you will be treated as adults. Until then, think of your stay here as an extended time out." Minerva realized that she immediately regretted tell him to "grow up" considering he had to deal with so many more adult things than the other children his age, but the truth was he did need to act more mature sometimes.
"Can you at least get a message to the D.A. and the Gryffindor Quidditch team for me?" he asked.
"Just this once," she said irritably.
"Tell the team—"
"Mr. Potter, the Hogwarts Quidditch season has been canceled. No practice will be permitted."
"Oh. I forgot." He bit his lip. "Tell Neville that he should keep running the D.A. meetings." Neville! That gave him an idea. "Er, tell him to look in the mirror every once in a while."
"Mirror?" she asked, a little bewildered.
"Please?"
"Alright, Mr. Potter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have classes to teach and you have some lessons to learn. I want you to go out there and at least try to get along with the Slytherins."
Harry realized they probably weren't supposed to be sending messages to the rest of the castle and decided not to press his luck. He gave a nod and left. The mirror. It might just work.
What did you think? I had the schedule in a lovely little chart, but it undid the whole thing when I uploaded it. Oh well. You know the drill. In all likelyhood I won't be posting again until Monday. Hopefully I'll have a chapter ready by then.