Author's Notes: Good news, everyone! I managed to make it to October before the end of this year! Huzzah!

I randomly got inspiration very late at night and wrote this chapter in about an hour. Yay!

Congrats to new FU member theoneunderthebed!

Ellla8, Hermione's studying thing was totally my method of studying! I wrote that chapter in the midst of exams, during those 5 minute study breaks, lol.  I'm glad I got to reach out and share the study method's wondrousness with others through my fic. Rock on.

Queen of Zan, I greatly enjoyed your review and the non-anonymous sponsors it was brought to me by.

Spellotape: Because you're worth it.

Enjoy the chapter, kids, I really like how this one turned out.

Recently edited to fix all the times I called Parvati "Parvarti", and to fix the fact that Umbridge is eating "soup soup". Thanks for pointing that out, guys! Heh, soup-soup.

Monday, 2 October

12:01 p.m.

I've just got a letter from Mum:

Dear Hermione,

Sorry we haven't written in a while, darling; Daddy had a brief crisis last week when one of his patients chipped his tooth on a very stale and very hard scone, and I've been busy remodeling the house. Your new bed came in last week and it looks lovely in your room! We know you're probably very excited to sleep in it when you come home this Christmas, but we've decided to book that skiing vacation we were talking about for the first week of Christmas vacation. What do you think, darling? Dad promises he won't do anything embarrassing like run into a tree again, as this time he plans to learn how to stop.

Oh, I thought you'd be interested to know that Emma Crick was suspended from school yesterday. Apparently body piercings are against the dress code, as are shirts that would reveal any body piercings, especially those in the navel area, and Emma refused to remove it, so she was suspended for a week. Mrs. Crick says that rebellion against authority is a healthy and normal part of every teenager's development and that Emma is on the road to self-actualization. I'm sure she's right and this is just a phase for Emma. Dad says Emma is on the road to something else which I will not write because it was a rude and vulgar thing to say.

How are Ron, Harry, Ginny, and your other friends? We hope you're all doing well in school, but remember not to get too upset if your marks aren't quite as high as they were in previous years; remember now that you have Prefect duties on your plate, too! You'll make us proud as long as you try your best, sweetheart. Hope your little study group goes well, and enjoy your weekend in Hogsmeade! (Why is everything there named after hogs? Really, they're quite vile animals.)

Love from, Mum and Dad

P.S. Dad wants to know if you're still writing to Viktor, and if so, he wants me to tell you not to send Viktor any pictures of yourself because he saw a movie on the telly the other day about a man who took pictures of the teenage girl who lived next door and made a shrine out of them and it was 'all very disturbing'.

P.P.S. Remember that we never listen to Daddy's advice regarding boys, darling, especially if the advice is caused by a made-for-TV movie.

New bed, hurrah! Ski trip, hurrah! Emma Crick suspended for her belly-button piercing…ha!

12:36 p.m.

I just slipped over to the Hufflepuff table to speak to Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott about our meeting in Hogsmeade. I had spoken to Ernie about it earlier at our Prefect's meeting on Saturday and he seemed very interested in it.

"Are you still interested in meeting this weekend, Ernie?" I asked in a hushed voice as I sat between him and Hannah.

"Of course," Ernie said immediately, in a very loud voice. "I think it's a brilliant idea, we students banding together - "

"Ernie, keep your voice down," I whispered fiercely, casting a quick glance up at the Head Table. Umbridge was slowly eating her soup, her beady eyes darting around the room occasionally.

" - to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, seeing as we're learning nothing from a teacher that can only be described as lazy and useless - "

"Ernie!" I hissed.

" – it's disgraceful that the Ministry of Magic is actually preventing us from learning spells at this critical period, with You-Know-Who's return - "

"Ernie!" Hannah and I both tried desperately.

" – and I'm sure many people want to hear what Harry has to say, especially about his encounter with You-Know-Who last year and what he did to counteract - "

Hannah finally kicked him under the table.

"Ow," Ernie muttered, rubbing his shin.

"The more people the better, Ernie, but we don't want to go around publicly promoting the meeting, especially when she's around," I whispered pointedly, nodding at Umbridge.

"Oh," said Ernie, slightly less enthusiastic. "Would this…would this be against school rules?"

"Of course not, I've checked," I assured him. "But I don't think it's a good idea to go around advertising it either, if you know what I mean."

"Ah. Of course," Ernie nodded solemnly.

"You say Potter's going to talk to everyone?" said the blonde boy sitting across from us. I believe his name is Zachary or Zacharias or something.

"Is eavesdropping a hobby of yours, Zach?" Hannah demanded.

The boy rolled his eyes. "The entire Great Hall could hear Ernie. So what's happening this weekend?"

I told him; he seemed very interested, and the more people the better. Ernie promised to pass the message on to Justin, and Hannah said she'd mention it to a few of the other Hufflepuff girls. So that's quite a few people now – Ron spoke to the twins, Lee, and the Gryffindor Quidditch girls, who are all coming for sure; Dean, Neville (I didn't even approach Seamus), the Creevey brothers, Parvati, her sister, and Lavender all promised me they'd be there; Ginny said she would bring Michael and a few of his friends (she asked Luna Lovegood as well…oh well, as I said before, the more people the better…I suppose…);  I think I may even talk to Cho Chang about it, since she seems to be so interested in Harry all of the sudden. I saw her in the loos this morning, but she was sort of crying, so I didn't exactly think it was a good time to broach the subject. Mum always tells me it's good to cry and let your feelings out, but I have a feeling that if one were to cry as much as Cho tends to, it would seriously hamper any attempts at achieving emotional satisfaction.

We're going to have a bigger turnout than I expected, which is wonderful, but it also causes some problems. Firstly, I don't think Harry expects quite this many people to come…but who knows, some of them might not show up. Also, I don't think that twenty-something students having a meeting in the Three Broomsticks will be very surreptitious, so we'll have to find someplace else to have it. There's the Hog's Head, of course…but it seems a bit…dodgy. I'm fairly sure students are allowed though. I'll ask Professor Flitwick about it in Charms.

Another problem is secrecy. I know Ernie only means well, but he does have the tendency to blab. Not to mention that I'm not 100% sure we can trust some of the people who are coming. How are we going to ensure no one goes running to Umbridge after the meeting? I think I'll write to Viktor later (perhaps I'll include numerous photos of me for his shrine…sarcasm…) to see what he thinks.

Ron just told me to stop writing because it's really annoying while he's trying to eat, so I'm writing in here some more just to spite him. Listen to that sound of quill scratching against parchment, Ron, isn't it annoying? Oh bollocks, now he wants to know what I'm writing…and what this book is…

7:28 p.m.

Points To Discuss At The Meeting This Weekend:

1. Purpose of the study group.

2. Harry is not a raving lunatic.

3. Times/frequency of meetings (once or twice a week?).

4. Location of meetings (???).

5. Confidentiality.

Points Not To Discuss At The Meeting:

1. Harry is a raving lunatic.

2. Cedric Diggory and/or the events of last year.

3. Hair, nails, or anything else Parvati and Lavender may decide to start chattering about halfway through the meeting.

4. Any topics Luna Lovegood may start.

Well, it's good to have that in writing. I'd better make final revisions to my Transfiguration essay before bed, and maybe encourage Ron and Harry to think about starting theirs.

Weekly Goals

1. Figure out a way to keep people from blabbing about this weekend's meeting or any other meetings thereafter.

2. Figure out where we could hold any other meetings thereafter.

3. Write back to Mum and Dad.

4. Write to Emma Crick congratulating her on her healthy teenage rebellion against authority. Ha ha ha…okay, maybe not.

5. Stop writing in journal in public, as certain red-heads become vaguely suspicious of it.

6. Arithmancy independent study assignment