Chapter 4: Classes, Quarrels, Quidditch, and Close Calls
The next morning Harry, Ron, Amanda, and Hermione entered the Great Hall looking around for a sign of their new Defense teacher, but found nothing. They shrugged, settling themselves in for breakfast.
Midway through their meal, a burst of flame appeared over Harry and a note fell into his lap. Curious glances targeted Harry as he picked it up and read it.
"Whasit Harry?" Ron asked with a mouthful of porridge. Hermione clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes at him.
"A note from Dumbledore. He wants me to come to his office after breakfast." Harry shrugged.
Harry slowed his pace, eating slower than Hermione and Amanda, delaying his meeting with the headmaster. Harry was sure it was about continuing his Occlumency lessons, or perhaps about beginning Legilimency lessons like they had discussed before the last school year ended.
"Come in, Harry." Albus Dumbledore's voice called through his office door. "Welcome back. I trust your first night back was enjoyable?"
"Aside from Peeves, yes." Harry replied, taking a seat across from him. Fawkes the Phoenix trilled loudly and moved from his perch to Harry's shoulder.
"It seems you have acquired a new friend. Fawkes has never shown as much interest in anyone aside from us." The aged headmaster chuckled. "You must be wondering why I asked you to come." Harry nodded. "I am interested in a dream you've been having. I've been told that you've been having it since Christmas and that when you have this dream, you get a very high fever."
Harry sighed, he didn't think the dream was related to Voldemort, but he knew it was important, he also knew he wouldn't be leaving until he told Dumbledore about it. "I don't think I can describe it. Can a Pensieve record dreams?" Dumbledore nodded and moved to get his Pensieve. Harry touched his wand to his temple and pulled the dream out. After depositing it in the basin, he stirred the memories with his wand, locating his dream before touching it with a finger. Dumbledore did the same.
Tall gray mountains surrounded a peaceful valley. A dense forest lay to the north, a lake to the south, great grassy plains to the west, and a soggy marsh to the east.
Beautiful music permeated the air. More than one song mixed together to form a passionate, calming, somewhat depressing melody. All of his courage swelled within him, as well as an intense sensual desire and an insane despair.
Someone was nearby, someone or something. Power radiated off the figure. "Who are you? Why have you come?" a voice called in Harry's mind.
Harry found himself in the forest, a familiar fragment of the beautiful song he heard before came from all around. A voice called out in an unintelligible language, seconds later a fire surrounded Harry, consuming him, though he didn't cry out in pain.
Harry and Dumbledore arrived back in the headmaster's office. Dumbledore offered a hand to help Harry off the floor. "Well, Mr. Potter, I'll think on what this means. You may go on to class. I believe you have Potions now?" He handed Harry his schedule and a note to give Professor Snape. Harry
"How nice, Mr. Potter has finally decided to grace us with his presence." Snape's icy voice dripped with venomous hatred. "Detention, Potter, for disrupting my class."
"Sorry, Professor, but I don't think you can do that." Harry said, brandishing his note from Professor Dumbledore. What now, you greasy git? He thought, dropping his Occlumency shield so that the Potions Master would pick up his thoughts. Snape read the note, glared and sneered at Harry.
"Fine, take your seat." He spat at Harry. Harry took his place between Hermione and Amanda.
"Today we will be starting an extremely complicated potion that few even dare to attempt. It is called the Drought of Death. It will put the drinker into a near death state for twenty-four hours. Improper brewing will kill the drinker. Too much mandrake root will kill, as will too little Bicorn horn, so perfection is required. Most of you are capable of doing this right, others…" His gaze drifted to Harry, "should finish their wills. The instructions are on the board. You have one hour."
Harry glared at his professor and set to work brewing the potion.
The day improved greatly after Potions. Care of Magical Creatures was a great class, Hagrid said they were going to study Veela first, and had asked someone to speak with the class about them. Harry was shocked to see Fleur Delacour exiting Hagrid's hut. Fleur spotted Harry staring at her and walked up to him.
"'Arry! Eet ees good to see you! 'Ow 'ave you been?" she said, kissing his cheek. "Gabrielle asks about you, eet seems you 'ave made a great eempression on 'er." She said in a thick French accent. The men in the class shot him death glares. Amanda did the same.
"Hello Fleur, how have you been? I haven't seen you since…" He trailed off.
"Oui, ze Triwizard Tournament ended razzer… badly, yes?" her eyes darted to the ground as she remembered Cedric Diggory. "I see zat zee leetle boy has grown up!" she winked at him, changing the subject. "Gabrielle will be so disappointed. She wanted you to be ze same boy zat pulled 'er from ze lake."
Harry blushed; the other boys still looked as if they were trying to kill him with their eyes. "Oh, 'ave you spoken wiz Viktor Krum, 'Arry? 'E said 'e was going to be teaching Defense Against ze Dark Arts 'ere." Harry shook his head. "Oh, shall we continue with ze lesson, zen?" Hagrid nodded, smiling at Harry.
Harry, Amanda, Ron, and Hermione sat in the common room doing their homework. Hagrid had asked for eight inches on Veela, telling them that Fleur would be helping him grade the papers. Amanda had just written a line and threw her quill down.
"Harry, how do you know that woman?" She asked, the other three looked up at her.
"Hmm? What woman?" Harry asked, genuinely confused.
"Fleur, mate…" Ron said with a glazed look on his face. "How many women have you been kissed by today?" Hermione stomped on Ron's foot, both for the glazed expression and the comment about the kiss. Amanda shot her a grateful look that only another woman would understand.
"Since fourth year. She was the Triwizard champion from Beauxbatons. I saved her sister from the lake during the second task." Harry replied, "Isn't she dating Bill, Ron?"
"Yeah, I think so. Actually, I think mum was talking about a wedding. Maybe they're engaged?" he thought aloud, scratching his nose with his quill.
"Does she make a habit of kissing you?" Amanda asked, keeping her voice neutral.
"Not really. When Ron and I pulled Gabrielle out of the lake she kissed us both on the cheek, then she did it again today. Why?" Harry asked, growing suspicious at all the questions
"No reason, I was just curious." She said, picking her quill up and writing again. Harry shrugged at Ron and both of them continued writing.
"Hmmm, Viktor Krum is going to be teaching us Defense?" Harry thought aloud. "Coming from Durmstrang, that might be a good thing."
"Yeah, he should be here tomorrow." Hermione said without thinking, immediately regretting it as Ron stiffened.
"So, Vicky is coming tomorrow? I suppose you knew who our teacher was supposed to be all along, didn't you?" Ron demanded, his ears glowing red.
"Yes, I did. Viktor told me he was coming and that he wanted to see me. He even asked if we were still together, Ron. Would you like to know what I told him? I told him that I love you and that if I have my way that we'll always be together!" Hermione slammed her book shut and ran upstairs to her dorm.
"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, staring at the staircase.
"Well, mate, I think it might have something to do with Fleur and Viktor." Harry laughed. "You've been jealous over Krum since he took Hermione to the Yule Ball, and I seem to remember that you made a complete arse out of yourself by asking Fleur to the very same ball."
"Yeah, well you did the same with Cho…" Ron shot back.
"Yes, but I had to have a date. I was a Champion."
"So was Fleur."
"So was Viktor"
"Krum is famous, he could have had any girl in school!"
"I'm famous too but we had to get desperation dates!"
"Hey, Potter! I'm not a desperation date!" Parvati Patil called from across the common room. Dean Thomas agreed with her, as she was using him as a chair.
"Yeah, Harry, your loss was my gain, though." Dean smiled. Harry shrugged.
Amanda was laughing at the heated exchange. "Aw, poor widdle Hawwy couldn't get a date?" She asked, laughing.
"In case you haven't noticed, Mandy, I'm not exactly great with women." Harry replied, shaking his head.
Amanda mumbled something and turned to go to the girl's dorms to join Hermione.
That weekend was perfect for Quidditch tryouts, and since Ron and Harry had placed a notice in the common room the night they returned, they weren't disappointed by the turnout. Twelve people showed up, and since they only needed two Chasers and a pair of Beaters, they had their pick of the lot.
"Everyone trying out for Chaser follow me!" Ron shouted, tapping their only Chaser, Euan Abercrombie, on the shoulder to get him follow as well. Amanda and four other people followed him.
"Beaters, come with me." Harry said, grabbing the Beater's bats and walking to the opposite end of the pitch. He noticed that a small girl wasn't following. "What are you trying out for?" He asked, walking back to her.
"Seeker." She squeaked, knowing that the Co-captain before her was the team's Seeker.
"Hmmm, come with me. I'll be gone next year, and I don't want you lot to lose because you don't have a decent replacement for me." He smiled as the girl's face lit up.
Two hours later, Ron asked the Chasers to land and flew over to join Harry. "I've picked, have you?" the redhead asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Harry asked the Beaters to join the Chasers on the ground and flew down to join them.
"Right, our new Chasers are Amanda White and Dennis Creevey." Ron announced. "The rest of you can try out next year since Amanda is a seventh year." he added at the disappointed faces.
Harry stepped forward. "Our Beaters are Seamus and Dean. The rest of you can try out again next year, since they'll be gone."
"Right, now that that's over, let's go eat something." Ron said, rubbing his stomach.
"I'll be in later, mate." Harry turned and got back on his broom, signaling for the small girl who wanted to be Seeker to do the same. "We've got one that wants to be Seeker."
Amanda stayed and watched Harry put the girl through the ringer. She was quite good and could possibly rival Harry with time and training. After a while they landed. Harry took the Snitch from her and placed it back in the crate with the other balls. Picking up the team roster Ron had left behind, she watched as Harry wrote "Natalie McDonald" beside his own name.
The seventh year Gryffindors were all in the N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so they were the only House that wasn't paired with another for the class. When they entered the classroom on Monday, Viktor Krum smiled and waved at Hermione, infuriating Ron. He and Hermione were still having a huge row over Krum and Ron wasn't in the mood for this.
Leaning over, Harry whispered in Amanda's ear. "This should be interesting." Amanda shivered and giggled as he said it.
"Can any of you conjure a Patronus?" Krum asked in his Bulgarian accent. The class had been members of the DA since their fifth year, with the exception of Amanda and a few others, so most of the class raised their hands. "A corporeal Patronus?" Krum clarified. A few hands went down. "Harry, if you vill?"
"Sure, Expecto Patronum!" Prongs burst forth from Harry's wand. Krum nodded and Harry sat back down. Amanda's eyes were bulging.
"Harry, that's a very advanced spell! How did you learn that?" She asked, not trying to hide her amazement.
"Moony taught me in my third year." He replied, shrugging. "Then I taught everyone else."
Seconds later several corporeal Patronuses were floating lazily around the room. Amanda goggled at Harry again. "Can you teach me?" she asked, hugging Harry when he nodded.
Hermione and Ron could be found snogging in the common room that evening, thereby ending their row. Harry and Amanda had to escape, so Harry took her to the Room of Requirement under the invisibility cloak. As they arrived, Amanda smirked at him.
"An Invisibility cloak, Potter? Am I to believe that you didn't sneak into my room over the summer under this thing?" Her smile belied her tone of voice. "Very useful, I'd say…"
Harry blushed. "You know I haven't been in your room. Besides, if I had fallen asleep on the couch, you would have been there with me. Don't deny it, you know it's true." Harry laughed at her blush. Payback…
Amanda and Harry never got around to practicing the Patronus Charm. They spent their time talking about the summer that they spent together, and each admitted having feelings for the other, though neither had admitted it in words that would have tipped the other off.
They finally made their way back to Gryffindor Tower well past two. Both were sleepy and nearly tripping over themselves as they walked. As they neared the portrait hole, footsteps echoing from ahead of them made them freeze. Harry pulled Amanda to the wall, pulling her into himself face to face, his hand on her lower back to prevent her from falling out into the corridor and exposing them. Both seemed to notice the intimacy of their situation, as they turned crimson.
"I heard footsteps! Show yourself!" Argus Filch said from in front of them. "Accursed kids! If I could still whip you while you hanged from your ankles in the dungeons you wouldn't do this."
Amanda shot Harry a fearful look. He tightened his grip on her, trying to reassure her that they would be fine if they didn't move. Eventually Filch moved on, grumbling about the school going downhill. The two late-night adventurers scrambled for the portrait hole and entered, laughing when they reached the common room.
"That was close, Harry."
"Yeah, next time we should take the map…"
"Next time? What makes you so sure that I'll be wandering about after hours with you again? Wait… What map?"
Harry shrugged, "Just a hunch." He smiled. "I have a map that shows everyone in the school and where they are. Moony, my dad, Sirius, and Wormtail made it when they were here."
Amanda smiled. "And you didn't bring it tonight?"
"Nope, I thought if I didn't that I might end up with you pressed against me. Hey, I could be a Seer." He teased.
"Yeah, yeah. Good night, Harry." She said, kissing his cheek. "Don't let your head get too big, now."