Chapter 26 - A grievous error

Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Great Hall soon afterwards and made their way towards the DADA classroom. Hermione was still distant, and Ron and Harry had decided to just ignore her, figuring it was some girly problem that they didn't want to know about.

They reached the classroom and sat down at their usual seats. Professor Helsing had not yet arrived, so Harry took out his book and started reading a chapter that he hadn't finished going through the night before. Ron looked confused from Harry to Hermione and rubbed his eyes, as if worried that he was dreaming. It seemed to him that his two friends had switched places.

Professor Helsing entered the classroom soon afterwards and Hermione snapped out of her daze once again as the professor gave the instructions for the test. She explained that the tests were to be completed in half an hour, and the rest of the time would be used for a normal lesson.

She handed them all the test papers, then cast a spell on each student which isolated them into large, blue bubbles.

"The moment that you either finish the exam or the time is up, the bubble will disappear and I will come to collect your papers. You may start now" Professor Helsing said, after she had finished with the last student and walked back to her desk.

Harry opened the paper and read through a few of the questions. He grinned as he began answering, realising that he needn't have studied so hard after all, as he already knew the answers. He finished the paper quickly and was shocked to find that he was the first to finish. Even Hermione was still frantically scribbling answers on the page.

The blue bubble disappeared and Professor Helsing came over to take his work. She handed him another parchment that had a reading assignment that they were supposed to do that lesson on it. Harry went to work on that while waiting for his friends to finish the test.

Hermione finished soon afterwards, and then other students in the class finished theirs. After the half hour was up, Professor Helsing collected the papers from everyone else and handed them all the reading task, before going back to her desk. She conquered a cup of tea to sip while marking the papers.

As Harry was reading about the ethics of duelling, he thought he heard Hermione mutter something under her breath, but when he looked up, she looked as if she was fully intent on the reading task. He shrugged, thinking that he must have been hearing things and went back to his work.

A few minutes later, as Professor Helsing was taking a sip of her tea, she dropped the cup, making spitting noises and scowling. The cup broke as it hit the stone floor and she bent over the remnants, putting her finger into the tea and then raising the finger to her nose to sniff at it. Harry looked around at the others, wondering whether Professor Helsing was going crazy. Judging by their expressions, Harry was sure that they were thinking along the same lines.

Professor Helsing straightened then, and turned an icy glare onto the students that would have made Snape cringe if he were to see it. She slowly walked past each desk in the room, eyeing each student carefully, before walking back to the front of the room.

She turned her attention back to the students, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring down at them.

"Someone in this room has transfigured my tea" Professor Helsing said in steely voice.

There were a few murmurs and whispers coming from the back of the class that were quickly silenced by a glare from Professor Helsing.

"Rest assured I am aware of the identity of the perpetrator and I urge them to come forward now and reduce their punishment."

The students looked at each other, but no one said anything. Professor Helsing's expression hardened.

"No?" She asked in a soft voice. "Very well. Class is dismissed for today. Read chapters 3 and 4 of your textbook before next lesson."

With that, she sat back at her desk and continued marking the papers. The students began to pack their books. Before they made their way to the door, Helsing spoke again.

"Mr Potter, Mr Longbottom and Miss Granger, could you please stay behind" She said, not looking up from the papers she was marking.

Hermione visibly paled. Neville was shaking as he put his bag back onto the desk. Harry merely shrugged at Ron, before turning back to face the teacher.

Once all the other students had left, Professor Helsing got up and faced the three remaining students. She walked over to Neville first.

Hermione couldn't make out what they were saying, but a few moments later, Neville left the room with a grin on his face. Professor Helsing then turned to Harry.

"Now then Mr Potter. In the next few weeks, the defence against the dark arts classes will be changed and many won't be taking the subject anymore. But with the threat of dark wizards at the moment, Professor Dumbledore thought it would be best to run the D.A group again this year. The teachers are quite busy at the moment with arrangements for the tournament and such, and therefore I would like to know if you would like to run the group again this year?" she said.

Hermione tuned out at this point, too worried about what the teacher could have called her back for to think of anything else. 'There's no way that she could know' Hermione thought to herself, but the thought didn't take away the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Before she knew it, Harry had left and Professor Helsing had turned to her. Professor Helsing smiled at Hermione, but the smile held no warmth. Hermione felt her stomach sink further.

"Miss Granger" Professor Helsing said softly. "Please take a seat. This may take a while"

"I have another class" Hermione replied shakily. Professor Helsing's smile widened.

"I'm afraid this cannot wait. Sit down Miss Granger" she replied, indicating the chair in front of her desk. Hermione reluctantly sat down and faced her professor.

"May I ask you, Miss Granger, why you saw fit to use transfiguration spells during my class?" Professor Helsing asked, looking straight into Hermione's eyes. Hermione paled considerably.

"I... I didn't...."

"Please do not lie to me Miss Granger, it demeans us both. Now either you answer the question here, or we will take this to the headmaster's office" Professor Helsing said.

"I thought you were a vampire, but none of my friends would believe me, so I thought..." Hermione trailed off.

"You thought if you turned my drink to garlic and I reacted to it, that would prove that I was a vampire to your friends?" Professor Helsing offered.

Hermione nodded.

"I know it was a stupid idea..." she started, but Professor Helsing cut her off.

"Yes, it was a stupid idea. Do you have any idea what would have happened if I was a vampire?" she asked.

Hermione stared mutely at her, so she continued.

"The garlic juice that you concocted was so strong, Miss Granger, that had I actually been a vampire, then that one sip would have been enough to kill me" Professor Helsing stated calmly.

Hermione's eyes widened, and she paled further.

"I... I didn't mean..."

"Do you realise that Vampires are under the protection of magical creatures act of 1984, Miss Granger?" Professor Helsing continued.

Hermione shook her head.

"No? Well maybe you should do a little research next time before you foolishly rush into a situation that could have dire consequences" Helsing said scathingly.

Hermione felt a flush of anger at this comment.

"I always research..."

"Obviously not enough" Professor Helsing cut her off again. "If you had researched this instead of satisfying your curiosity straight away, you would have realised that because of the protection of magical creatures act of 1984, the minimum punishment for killing a magical creature protected under that act is 25 years in Azkaban prison. The fact that you acted as you did, thinking that I was a vampire, is enough for me to have you charged with attempted murder and have you in azkaban prison for 15 years."

Professor Helsing's voice had risen towards the end of this discussion and Hermione swayed, feeling extremely dizzy.

Professor Helsing got up abruptly and walked out of the room. She came back a moment later with a vial of potion, which she handed to Hermione. Hermione looked up at her questioningly.

"A calming potion, Miss Granger. I can't have you fainting on me now can I?" she said, sounding tired. Hermione drank the potion and felt a little less queasy. Professor Helsing sat down again on the other side of the desk and ran a hand through her hair. They were silent for a few moments.

"4 weeks detention Miss Granger, on Friday and Saturday nights. You will report here at 8pm on these nights to serve your detention. 100 points will also be taken from Gryffindor, and I want you to do a 12 foot essay on each of the magical creatures protected under the protection of magical creatures act of 1984. 1 essay for each week's detention. Be glad that I am not taking this matter to the headmaster, otherwise you would likely face immediate expulsion and a criminal trial. Now take this, and go to your next class." Professor Helsing said.

Hermione stared at her for a moment, before taking the note that was offered to her and walking back out of the classroom. She turned as she reached the door and saw Professor Helsing with her head in her hands.

"Thankyou Professor" she said softly. Professor Helsing looked up.

"Just don't let it happen again Miss Granger. Prefects are to set an example for the younger students. Your behaviour today has greatly disappointed me" she replied, before getting up and walking through the door behind her to her office.

Hermione left the classroom feeling even worse than she had when Professor Helsing dealt the punishment.