Author's Notes: I realize there's a slight canonical error here…you see, with the date system I had going here, September the 1st took place on a Friday. Seeing as the next day (the first day of classes) in the books is referred to as a Monday, I sort of had to invent a weekend in between. Hope this doesn't cause any problems or make people come after me with torches and pitchforks. It doesn't really affect the story, so live with it.
Congrats to new FU member Aneko Kohana, and thanks to Aeterna for her amazing (gasp!) poem.
I know there's a debate over whether Hermione is currently almost 15 or almost 16…personally I always thought it was almost 15, because that's how things tend to work in the school system here in crazy Canada. But whatever, almost 15 she shall remain for the purposes of this fic, and we shall have to agree to disagree.
As for the much-asked question of whether Ron and Hermione will "get together" at the end of Sorceress Diaries, here is the answer:
I dunno yet.
^_^
Monday, 4 September
5:24 p.m.
I'm afraid I was right in my last entry - this has had to be one of the worst first days of school ever. And it's such a shame, because I was so looking forward to my fifth year; but with the twins' idiocy, Harry's attitude, Ron's cluelessness, Lavender's and Seamus's ignorance, Snape's unfairness, and that Umbridge woman, it isn't looking good.
First of all, the twins put up a ridiculous sign on the bulletin board this morning...they're going to try to trick the first-years into being testers for their little experiments. Of course, Ron seemed positively alarmed when I told him we had to do something about it. Harry didn't really care either way because he was in one of his moods this morning. Apparently Seamus' attitude is a lot like Lavender's, and things in the boys' dormitory haven't exactly been peachy.
"Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who," Ron supplied when Harry said nothing, and only sulked.
I sighed. "Yes, Lavender thinks so too."
"Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not I'm a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?" snapped Harry loudly.
"No, I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually. And it would be quite nice if you stopped jumping down our throats, Harry, because in case you haven't noticed, Ron and I are on your side," I replied.
Harry stared at the ground. "Sorry," he murmured.
"That's quite all right. Don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the last end-of-term feast?"
The two of them looked at me blankly. I sighed, and repeated what Dumbledore told us about You-Know-Who's gift for spreading enmity and discord, etc.
Ron looked at me in admiration. Or maybe it was astonishment. Who can tell with him? "How do you remember all that?"
Same way I remember every stupid thing you say so that I can write it in here. "I listen, Ron," I said out loud, rolling my eyes.
After trying (and failing) to convince Harry and Ron that a bit of inter-house unity wouldn't hurt, we went down to breakfast. There was nothing in the Daily Prophet about Harry or Dumbledore or anyone, but no news is good news, so at least that was a good sign. Oh, and on the way to History of Magic, Ron mentioned that he's been thinking about becoming an Auror! I think it's wonderful that he's setting such high career goals for himself...Aurors are the elite, after all, and it's a very dangerous and demanding job. Harry agreed that being an Auror would be cool as well. Of course, he'd make an excellent Auror, seeing as he's probably fought more Dark wizards than all of the lazy idiots – except Kingsley and Tonks, of course – at the Ministry put together. But when the boys asked me what I wanted to do after Hogwarts, I didn't really have an answer. Which reminds me that I have to start setting career goals for myself this year. I would love to take S.P.E.W. further, of course...but continuing on...
History of Magic was dull, as usual, but that doesn't mean that Ron and Harry should sleep through it. I threatened to not let them use my notes this year, but I really don't want them to fail, which is what would indefinitely happen if I didn't give them my notes.
Then out in the courtyard during break, who should come up to Harry but Cho Chang? And who should completely ruin Harry's chances but Ron? He practically jumped down Cho's throat about some stupid Quidditch team, and she left. He is so tactless...it's obvious Harry fancies her. Or perhaps Ron hasn't noticed. He has a gift for being oblivious to these kinds of things, after all.
Potions was disappointing; I thought that perhaps Snape would be a bit better this year...you know, with him being in the Order and all...but he was completely awful and unfair to Harry and Neville, as usual. Perhaps he has to keep up the charade for sake of appearances; after all, if Snape suddenly started favoring Harry over Malfoy, it would be as good as wearing a giant badge that says, "I'm a proud member of the Order of the Phoenix!" Or something of the like.
"Poisonous toadstools never change their spots," said Ron wisely at lunch. "Anyway, I've always thought Dumbledore was cracked to trust Snape. Where's the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?"
"I think Dumbledore's probably got plenty of evidence, even if he doesn't share it with you, Ron," I retorted, annoyed.
"Oh shut up, the pair of you," interrupted Harry. Ron and I both froze mid-argument. "Can't you give it a rest? You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad." And with that, he got up and moodily stomped out of the Great Hall. Ron and I slowly turned to stare at each other again. His cheeks were sort of red.
"Well – that was just - " I began, offended.
"We're not – not always having a go at each other - " muttered Ron defensively.
"Of course we're not..."
"He's just grumpy..."
"Totally uncalled for..."
We both lapsed into silence and stared at our plates.
"Sorry," Ron muttered. This was the second apology I've ever gotten from him. And this one was an outright apology!
"Me too," I said. "But really...I don't think we...we're not always fighting."
"I know...we're just..." Ron shrugged, at a loss for words. "That's just..."
"Us." The word came out of my mouth before I had even thought about it. I probably turned a brilliant shade of red. Ron's ears certainly did.
"Yeah," Ron agreed. A goofy kind of smile slowly started forming on his face, but then he knocked his spoon to the ground with his elbow and had to dive under the table to retrieve it. When he re-emerged, his ears were back to their normal colour, and I had composed myself.
"It would be nice if Harry would stop taking out his temper on us, though," I said with a sigh.
Ron shrugged. "He's..."
"I know. I understand. But we're on his side, and he's making it extremely difficult for us to be on his side by keeping on like this," I said matter-of-factly.
The lunch bell rang soon after that, and I headed to Arithmancy while Ron joined Harry in Divination. Thank goodness for Arithmancy; it was the only enjoyable class I had today. We have these independent study assignments which we have to work on by ourselves all year, with checkpoints throughout this term. It seems like a load of work but I got a really interesting topic – the ancient Greeks and their contribution to Magic Numbers Theory – and I'm really excited about it. I know most people aren't starting for awhile but perhaps I'll go down to the library after dinner...
But the most eventful class today was, undoubtedly, Defense Against the Dark Arts.
One of the first things out of that horrible woman's mouth was, "Wands away." The class groaned; apparently everyone thinks a lesson can only be interesting if we're performing magic, but personally I don't mind a theory-centered lesson once and awhile. Once and awhile.
After telling us that we are "far below the standard the Ministry would expect to see in our OWL year", she made us copy down the following course aims:
1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can be legally used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
She then assigned us a chapter to read (which proves that she is not only lazy, but also incompetent in the subject – any teacher who lets the text teach for them is, in my experience) and sat down.
I don't know if anyone else did, but the first thing I noticed was that there was nothing about using defensive magic in her outline. So, I raised my hand. Now, in my experience, when a student raises their hand, it means that they either have a question, or they would like to answer a question. Since Umbridge had not asked a question, it would imply that I had a question for her. Now, normally, teachers promptly respond to a raised hand and answer any questions. But apparently, Ministry-approved teachers ignore their students. I kept my hand in the air for at least five minutes, staring her down. Slowly, the rest of the class stopped doing the reading (which was dreadfully dull; I read it that night before the first day of school, when I couldn't sleep, and it actually put me back to sleep) and started watching me. When everyone had abandoned reading in favour of watching me attempt to get her attention, Umbridge finally relented.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked, as if she hadn't spent the last five minutes purposefully avoiding looking at me.
"Not about the chapter, no," I said.
"Well we're reading just now. If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class," she said, smiling sickeningly.
"I've got a query about your course aims," I persisted.
Umbridge raised her eyebrows and asked what my name was. "Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear."
"Well, I don't. There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."
Dead silence.
"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge said after a few seconds. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
"We're not going to use magic?" Ron exclaimed.
This prompted outrage from various members of the class, including Harry, Dean, and even Parvarti. Umbridge not only insulted our intelligences; she also managed to insult Hogwarts, Dumbledore, and Professor Lupin. She actually called him an "extremely dangerous half-breed"! The nerve of that woman! Basically, the first time we will be allowed to perform defensive magic is at our exam. Apparently, if we've "studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why we should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions". That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!
Predictably, Harry snapped.
"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry demanded hotly.
"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world."
"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"
"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."
"Oh yeah?" Harry said loudly. I exchanged looks with Ron; Harry looked as if he was going to explode.
"Harry..." I said softly. I don't think he heard me. Or, he ignored me.
"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?" Umbridge asked sweetly.
"Hmm, let's think," Harry said in a sarcastic voice. "Maybe...Lord Voldemort?"
Several people gasped, and Neville almost fell off his stool. Really, we shouldn't be afraid of a name like that...but I flinched too, a little. It's not right...I have to try harder...fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself...
Umbridge promptly took ten points from Gryffindor. "Now, let me make a few things quite plain," she said in a steely tone unlike the sickly sweet one she had been using up until then. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead - "
"He wasn't dead, but yeah, he's returned," Harry interrupted.
Umbridge snapped at Harry again, and then continued. "As I was saying, this is a lie."
"It is not a lie!" Harry exploded. "I saw him, I fought him!"
Umbridge slapped Harry with detention. "The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend."
So now she wants us to go and snitch to her if anyone around school is telling the truth. Ron gave a fervent, warning look to everyone in the classroom when Umbridge turned around to return to her desk, as if to tell them that if anyone does snitch to her, they'll have to answer to him. Which I thought was quite brave for someone who doesn't even want to stand up to his own older brothers.
I was quite angry by this point as well. My fists were clenched and my hands were shaking slightly. But nothing compared to the look of fury on Harry's face. I loathed Umbridge almost as much as he did by that point, but I knew that if Harry lost his temper, it wouldn't just mean detention. Anything Harry says to Umbridge is going to get back to Fudge.
Nonetheless, Harry leaped out of his seat, eyes blazing.
"Harry, no!" I whispered, tugging at his sleeve. He yanked it away.
"So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry demanded, voice shaking. The entire class seemed to breathe in sharply at the same time.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge replied in a clipped voice.
"It was murder. Voldemort killed him, and you know it." Harry was visibly shaking by this point. Seamus was staring at Harry in horror or fascination, I couldn't tell which. Lavender was covering her eyes, as if afraid that Voldemort would appear in the classroom when Harry spoke his name. Which is ridiculous, since she claims to believe that Harry's lying and Voldemort isn't back at all.
There was dead silence again, and then Umbridge sweetly said, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."
Harry kicked his chair to the side and marched up to her desk furiously. Umbridge wrote something on a piece of parchment and gave it to Harry, saying something to him softly. Harry snatched the piece of parchment out of her hand and strode out of the classroom without a backwards glance at the rest of us. He slammed the door on his way out. Everyone stared at the door.
"You will all return to the reading," Umbridge said in her "sweet" voice. No one objected; silently, everyone returned to staring blankly at the first page of their texts. When the bell rang, no one said a word until we were out in the hall, at which point I'm sure the story started spreading like wildfire.
"Where do you think she sent Harry?" asked Ron in a low, awe-stricken voice as soon as we were away from the rest of the class.
"It doesn't matter, it's not as if Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall would expel him for what he said...it was the truth...but he has to be careful! What was he thinking, saying those things to her?" I said anxiously as we headed back to the common room. "It's only going to get back to Fudge..."
"Harry's mad," Ron agreed. "Mad, but brilliant," he added with a hint of admiration. "Did you see the look on Umbridge's face? Blimey."
I frowned. "Well, yes, it was quite brave of him," I admitted. "But now Harry has detention, Umbridge is going to go back to the Ministry and tell them that Harry's still 'spreading fibs about Dark wizards', and the entire school is going to be talking about this within the hour."
"Harry'll love that," Ron said grimly, glancing at a group of fourth-years, huddled together and whispering as we entered the portrait hole. They stopped when we glared at them.
"I guarantee Lavender and Parvarti are down in the Great Hall right now, telling anything that moves about what happened," I said. And they must be; they're not up here in the dormitory, and I didn't see them in the common room. I haven't seen Harry since the incident, so I have no idea where he was sent or what happened. He's probably back by now, though; I'm going down to the common room to check, it's time to go down to dinner anyway.
10:39 p.m.
Argh! The twins make me so mad sometimes – they're in their final year and they waste their time and energy creating completely useless jokes and pranks! I can't stop them from testing the stupid things on themselves but when they start giving them to first-years they have gone too far.
Oh, and I'd like to take this opportunity to, in writing, thank Ron for all his support. (Sarcasm).
I'm not going to let Fred and George feed Nosebleed Nougats and whatever else they come up with to the poor first-years. They may think that they're above prefects and the school system and everyone else at Hogwarts, but I told them that I'm not going to stand for it. They thought it was very funny at first, Hermione the prefect attempting to discipline the great Weasley twins, ho, ho, what a laugh. But I got them in the end.
I threatened to write to their mother.
"You wouldn't," George said, horrified.
"Oh yes, I would," I replied firmly. I left the astounded-looking twins and tried to return to my homework, but it was no good, I couldn't concentrate. I told Ron and Harry that I was heading to bed, but first I took out two of the hats I knit last night and left them on the table for the house-elves.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?" Ron asked, looking at me as if I were crazy.
"They're hats for the house-elves." I explained the purpose of the hats to him and Harry. They should really be supportive, seeing as they're secretary and treasurer of S.P.E.W.
"You're leaving out hats for the house-elves?" said Ron slowly. "And you're covering them up with rubbish first?"
"Yes," I said, glaring at him and daring him to oppose me.
"That's not on! You're trying to trick them into picking up hats!" Ron said furiously. "You're setting them free when they might not want to be free!"
"Of course they want to be free! Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!" I snapped, and then stomped up to the dormitory. Lavender and Parvarti still aren't here; I suppose they're still out telling everyone about how Harry's a maniac. Dinner was awful tonight – gossip should be outlawed. At least Harry didn't get in trouble with Professor McGonagall.
Weekly Goals
1. Do not allow Weasley twins to continue exposing first-year students to untested products which could be hazardous to their healths, with or without Ron's help.
2. Do not allow Harry to lose his temper like that again.
3. Do not allow rumours about Harry to run rampant throughout school.
4. Do not allow Ron to deter me from setting house-elves free. Continue improving upon knitting skills.
5. Do not allow Umbridge's lack of teaching skills and Ministry-approved curriculum to impact my mark on the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. Figure out another way to gain Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge and practice defensive spells.
6. Begin Arithmancy independent study assignment.
