Divinations and Discussions
Harry didn't have any time to discuss Vegeta or Professor Daikon's eating habits on the way to Divinations. The class was held at the top of one of the furthest towers, and they had cut it rather close at lunch. They found themselves running up the stairs and rushing up the silver ladder through the trapdoor.
Professor Trelawney's classroom hadn't changed at all over the summer. It was still unpleasantly warm due to the fire constantly burning in the fireplace, which in turn heated up a copper kettle that was filled with some sort of incense. The incense gave the room a heavy perfume scent that sometimes made Harry feel like sneezing. It would have been a little nicer in the room if the windows could be opened, but they were shut tight, with heavy curtains drawn across them.
Everyone else in the class was already there when Ron and Harry arrived, so they quickly made their way to one of the empty round tables and settled into the overstuffed chairs.
Professor Trelawney hadn't changed at all either, and she still reminded Harry of a silver insect. She was a thin, pale woman who wore an enormous number of bracelets and necklaces, which rattled when she walked. Some students were known to joke that if she didn't wear all that jewelry, she would blow away with a strong wind. The thick glasses she wore made her eyes look almost unrealistically large.
"It's good to see you all again. I'm only sorry that it couldn't be under more pleasant circumstances," she greeted the class. "But, I'm afraid, this year will be a most unpleasant one for many of you."
Ron looked at Harry, rolling his eyes. Trelawney was known for always predicting the worst. Several students hung to her every word, but rarely were her predictions true. Only the year before, she had predicted Harry was going to die in the same year. He was still alive, but her biggest admirers seemed to forget that.
"Yes," she continued, nodding sadly. "I see a year of many hardships ahead." She suddenly looked over at Harry and Ron and shook her head, her eyes filled with sorrow and sadness, as they often seemed to be when looking at Harry. "You should both take the time to appreciate the ones you hold dear, for one of them will be gone by the time this school year has ended."
Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown looked over at them and shook their heads sadly. Harry knew what they were thinking; something would happen to Hermione.
"At least she's not predicting your death," Ron whispered, when Trelawney moved her attention to Dean Thomas, to let him know that he could expect to be seriously injured before the month was over.
"Small comfort," Harry whispered back. "Now everyone is going to be staring at Hermione and shaking their heads."
Ron grinned. "That's not so bad. She doesn't like Professor Trelawney; she won't take it seriously at all. Besides, Hermione isn't the only person around we both like. The twins are here, and don't forget Goku."
A scene from Hagrid's class earlier, replayed instantly in Harry's mind. When Goku was blasted by Vegeta. He shivered slightly and stopped smiling. I wonder if- He shook his head, before the thought could fully form. There was no point in getting upset about Professor Trelawney, her record at predicting the future was pretty pathetic.
Then again, there was the time last year where she had gone into a trance state and made the prediction that Voldemort was rising again. Even Dumbledore agreed it was genuine, once Harry had told him about it. However, that was just once, and she hadn't seemed to fall in any trances today.
Once she had given out her predictions of misfortune for the coming year (at least today's version) she gave all of them a complicated chart and had them begin to plot the exact alignment of all the planets at their birth. She kept coming over to Harry and Ron while they were attempting to figure theirs out.
"Oh dear," she said softly, as she looked down at Harry's chart. "As you can clearly see, Saturn was in the pinnacle of power at your birth," she nodded as well, as if just saying the words was not enough. "It explains so much."
"Like what?" Harry asked, more because he felt it was expected of him, than an inborn desire to know the answer.
She waved her hand in the air in a languid fashion. "Your dark hair, the tragedy that follows so closely to you. It's so easy to see, you have had such a difficult life, and while I wish I could say that time will make it all easier, I would be amiss in doing so. Life will always be a series of tragedies for you, Mr. Potter."
With that cheerful news, she moved over to Seamus and began explaining to him that Jupiter had the most influence on him.
"Ooh, a life filled with tragedy," Ron whispered. "You're doomed."
Harry looked over at Ron's chart. "Where was Saturn when you were born?"
"Hiding behind Uranus," Ron replied promptly. He looked over Harry's chart. "Oh, the moon was half-full. That means you're only a half-wit."
Harry suppressed his snickers, knowing if Professor Trelawney heard, she would not be pleased. She expected everyone to take her class very seriously. Of course, that meant that almost anything anyone said was extremely funny. "Stop it," he whispered.
Ron grinned, but went back to working on his chart.
It seemed to take forever, but finally class ended. Unfortunately, a wise crack from Ron to Lavender, which Professor Trelawney overheard, earned them a huge amount of homework. This put Ron in a bad mood, which Harry decided not to make worse by pointing out it was mostly his fault. Ron already knew, why make it worse?
"She's a pain," Ron grumbled as they made their way towards the Great Hall, where students were already gathering for dinner. Hermione was already sitting down, looking at one of her books when they finally managed to get inside.
"How was Divinations?" she asked, brightly.
"Don't ask," was Harry's advice. Ron just shrugged and continued to look upset.
"You should drop it and take something useful," she suggested. "Arithmancy is really good. I've learned so much from Professor Vector."
Ron just shook his head.
Dinner was well underway when Goku and Vegeta both came into the Great Hall. Goku was beaming happily, Vegeta looked annoyed. "That was kinda fun, wasn't it?" Goku was saying to him. "You're lucky though. You won't have to take extra classes for long, you know more than I do. Boy, does dinner smell good!"
"It was not fun," Vegeta growled. "And in the future, Kakarotto, I would appreciate it if you just left me alone." He turned and stormed over to the Slytherin table. Even though there were never chairs assigned at the table, Vegeta had sat at the same place every time. Today, Malcolm Baddock was sitting there. When he saw Vegeta coming closer, he turned pale and quickly rose from the chair, grabbing his plate, and moving down several seats. Vegeta nodded curtly, and sat down and the newly vacated place, grabbed an empty plate, and began filling it.
"Vegeta, you keep forgetting, my name is Goku!" Goku called after him. If he was disturbed by Vegeta's rudeness, he didn't show it, but instead bounded over to the table and happily slid into the seat they had saved for him. "Hi guys!"
Hermione, Harry, and Ron greeted him. "What was that all about?" Ron added to his greeting and nodding to indicate Vegeta.
"Oh, he's upset," Goku said, with a shrug then lowered his voice slightly. "I'm really starting to think he doesn't like me."
Ron and Harry looked at each other quickly, trying not to laugh. Then, they turned their attention back to Goku. "What happened in the class?" Harry asked
"Well, we had catch up for Tranfigurations, today," Goku said, his mouth tripping a bit on the unfamiliar word. "The first thing Professor McGonagall did was turn a book into a bunny rabbit, which was neat. But she said we wouldn't learn that stuff till much later."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Ron said, remembering their first year, when she had turned her desk into a pig. "But what happened with Vegeta?"
"I'm getting to that," Goku said, as he started grabbing serving plates and filling up his own plate. "Boy am I starved. Anyway, oh look, chicken! I'll bet it won't be as good as your mom's, Ron, but it still looks wonderful. I'm so hungry." He reached for the plate of roasted chicken and started piling it onto his plate. "Anyways, so she had us work on turning a matchstick into a needle first. Vegeta did pretty good with that. He made a really sharp needle, except that it didn't have an eye, which I think is important if you want to sew."
Harry and Ron nodded. Hermione looked a bit impatient, but Ron gave her a look and shook her head. They had learned over the summer that Goku told a story his way, and rushing him wasn't always the best thing to do.
"Were you able to do it?" Harry asked, remembering his first Transfigurations class, where he barely managed to make his matchstick turn silver, never mind into an entire needle.
"Not really," Goku said, "But I did turn the matchstick into a tree."
"A what?" Hermione asked, looking startled.
"A tree," Goku repeated. "It wasn't a huge tree, but it was a tree. I thought Professor McGonagall would be upset, but she wasn't. She didn't give me full credit, but she almost seemed impressed. She said she'd never seen a student do that. Vegeta wasn't happy."
"How could you have turned a matchstick into a tree?" Hermione asked.
Goku shrugged. "I don't know; I just did it. It was like my wand didn't want me to make a needle, it wanted me to make a tree instead, so I did."
"Why wasn't Vegeta happy?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Goku admitted, reaching for the potatoes and gravy. "I think because Professor McGonagall wasn't upset. He told me I was an idiot, and Professor McGonagall told him that wasn't nice and took five points from Slytherin."
Ron and Harry looked at each other and grinned. "That would explain it then," Ron said.
Goku shook his head. "I don't think so. 'Cause after that, my tree caught fire and Vegeta was able to do this spell thingy that put out the tree real quickly. I guess it still had more matchstick in it than I thought. Anyway, so the Professor gave him ten points for Slytherin. Besides that, Professor McGonagall told him he's more caught up than I am, so he's only going to have to take extra classes for a couple weeks. I'm going to be stuck with them until next year, probably. So I don't get why he's upset. I think he's just naturally grumpy." He looked down at his plate, which was about ready to topple over with food, then back at Harry and Ron with an expression of total longing. "Can I eat now? Please? I'm starved!"
"Sure," Harry said.
"Thanks!" Goku tore into his dinner as if he hadn't eaten in a week, rather than just a few hours ago.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were finished well before Goku, so they left the table earlier. As they were leaving the hall, Ron remembered their conversation from lunch. "Let's find a place where we can talk," he suggested.
They went up to the Gryffindor common room. A few of their classmates were gathered, but for the most part, the room was quiet. They found three overstuffed chairs over by the fireplace and sat down. "So, what did you want to tell us?" Hermione asked, softly.
"Yeah," Ron added. "What did you over-hear?"
Harry looked around carefully. Lee Jordan was playing a card game Dean Thomas and Lavender Brown. They were obviously engrossed in the game. The only other folks in the room were the twins, who had greeted them, but were also watching the game. Harry nodded, and then explained to his friends what he had overheard outside the train, about Vegeta and his "Father."
"Huh?" Ron said, when he finished. "So Vegeta claimed that he and Crabbe's uncle weren't related at all?"
Harry nodded. "And Crabbe's uncle didn't disagree at all. In fact, he said he couldn't have been prouder of Vegeta if he had been his blood. Vegeta didn't seem happy with that idea, either."
Ron whistled. "That's kinda weird."
"You can't use the telly card unless you have an electricity card in use," Jordan suddenly said in a loud voice, which interrupted them for a moment.
"Why not?" Lavender asked, frowning.
"Because a tellys won't run without electricity," Fred explained. "Take it back and play an electricity card this turn. Next turn you can play the telly card."
Harry looked over at the table for a brief moment. He could see an image of a small TV floating in front of Lavender, but it looked dark. She took a card in her hand, which made the TV disappear, and put it off to the side, then selected another card and put it down in front of her. A blue, crackling light rose from the card. Harry shook his head, temporarily forgetting what he was doing. "What is that?" he asked.
Ron looked over to the table, and then shook his head. "They're playing Muggles, The Unaware. It's a card game someone invented that got real popular over the summer, I guess. Fred and George play it sometimes."
Hermione looked over herself, briefly, then back to Harry. "It is rather odd that Vegeta is posing as Crabbe's uncle's son, but maybe there is a good reason for it."
"Like what?" Harry asked.
Hermione shrugged. "I haven't really thought of that, but there must be a reason. Maybe both of Vegeta's parents were killed, and maybe Vincent's uncle was a good friend of his family. And maybe Vegeta's father is a Muggle... You know how the Slytherins and that whole group are about 'mixing blood.' Maybe Crabbe figured Vegeta would have an easier time, since his parents are both dead, posing as his own son by blood. You said he said he was really proud of Vegeta. That would imply he has some sort of affection for him."
Ron snorted. "That is one of the wildest stories I've ever heard."
Harry frowned. "I don't know, Hermione. I sort of got the feeling that Crabbe's uncle was... afraid of Vegeta. I don't know why. He's still just a kid."
"A pretty powerful kid," Ron reminded him. "And he's not stupid, if he's catching up to missing three years so easily."
"He could have been tutored at home," Hermione pointed out. "If one of his parents were a wizard or witch, they might have been teaching him. And that thing he did today with Goku was powerful, no doubt about that. I just wish I knew what spell it was. You're right about him being smart though, he's in my Arithmancy class too, and you'd never know this was his first year at Hogwarts by how he acted in class today. He was even able to answer some of the professor's questions easily."
"That's why you're fascinated with him!" Ron said, "For once, there might be someone in this school who's as smart as you! He's your competition!"
Hermione gave Ron a look that could have curdled cream. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped. "I'm not fascinated with him."
Ron laughed and fell into an exaggerated, but fairly good imitation of Hermione. "Oh, stop it!" he said, in an unnaturally high voice. "Quit saying mean things about poor Vegeta. The boy just lost his mother! Besides, he's soooo smart!"
Hermione's eyes narrowed into steely slits and her nostrils flared, but she said nothing.
Harry unwisely chuckled at Ron's imitation, but also decided to help her out. "She made the comments about us being hard on him at lunch," he reminded Ron. "Before she took Arithmancy. Since Care of Magical Creatures was a total disaster, I doubt she could tell he was brilliant from that class alone, and that was the only class we had with him."
Hermione looked at Harry with an expression of gratitude.
"Aw, smart people can sniff each other out," Ron said. Hermione glared at him again, with a fiery gaze. Ron gulped and scratched his head. "Okay, okay, I'll stop. I'm just teasing. Blimey, Hermione, lighten up!"
Hermione just sniffed, her arms crossed over her chest. An uncomfortable silence fell over the three of them for a moment, then her arms uncrossed and she stared into the fire for a bit. When she looked back at them, her expression was normal again. "I'm not fascinated with him," she said, carefully. "But I am interested. You have to admit, it's unusual. This is our fourth year at Hogwarts and this is the first time we've ever had someone just transfer here in the middle of our schooling."
"What about Goku?" Ron pointed out.
"That only makes it stranger," Hermione said. "No one for three years, then suddenly, two."
Harry had been wondering about that himself, but since he hadn't drawn any conclusions, he decided it was best not to mention it.
"Goku's different," Ron said. "He wasn't living anywhere near here, it must have taken longer for Hogwarts to realize he had the gift."
"So why didn't a magic school where he's from send an invitation?" Hermione pointed out.
"Because-" Ron began, and then stopped. "I don't know," he admitted. "But geesh, Goku's a good guy. We all like him, don't go thinking he's here for some sinister reason. I mean, Professor Dumbledore brought him to our place himself this summer!"
"I'm not saying there is anything bad about Goku!" Hermione said, shaking her head. "I'm just saying the whole thing is a little unusual."
"Or, maybe we're just making a lot out of nothing," Harry said. "Maybe everything is just a weird coincidence."
"Then why does Vegeta hate Goku so much?" Ron asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Ron, you have to admit, Goku's a bit much. He's a nice kid and I like him, but he's too... Goku at times. He speaks up when everyone else is being quiet. He says exactly what's on his mind no matter what the circumstances. He's like... well; he's kinda like Howard. He means well, but he's a bit too much."
"I think he's fine," Ron muttered. "He's my friend."
"I think he's fine too," Hermione said, sounding a bit exasperated. "But that doesn't mean everyone does. Vegeta is obviously more... controlled, more reserved. I wouldn't be surprised if his parents were very strict with him. Don't speak until spoken to, and all that sort of stuff. And along comes Goku, who is the polar opposite of that. He speaks whenever he feels like it and doesn't care if it's not the 'right time' or not. You have to admit, if you were used to everything being quiet and sedate, someone like Goku could get on your nerves."
Ron frowned; obviously not enjoying thinking that someone might not like Goku. "I guess," he finally said, speaking slowly. "And we'd better drop this, now." He looked towards the entryway.
Harry didn't even have to look, because he could hear Goku's voice. "Hi, everyone!" he called out.
The twins and the card players greeted him. He paused by the table to watch for a moment, looking fascinated at the tiny, translucent objects that were hovering near the players. "Neat," he said, nodding his head, then walked over to where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting.
"Hi!" he greeted them. "Wasn't dinner great?"
They returned his greeting and nodded in agreement. He sat down on the arm of Hermione's chair. "Whatcha doing?"
"Just talking," Ron said, a little too quickly. "About school and stuff."
"Oh," Goku nodded, and then frowned. "Can one of you come with me?"
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.
"To Dumbledore's office," Goku said. "I-I've got some questions, and he told me I could stop by today and ask him, if I wanted to, and I want to."
"Why do you want one of us to go with you?" Ron asked. "You can go yourself."
"Yeah, I know," Goku, said, running his fingers through his hair, and grinning. "But I don't really know where it is... and, well, this school is confusing. Vegeta and I got lost four times coming back from the catch up class. I've got some homework I have to do, and I'll never get a chance to do it if I get lost finding Dumbledore's office. You guys have been here for years, you won't get lost."
Harry grinned, remembering his first year and the many times he had gotten lost trying to get to classes, or even back to the Gryffindor tower. "I'll go with you," he volunteered.
"What about your homework?" Hermione reminded him.
"We won't be forever," Harry said, rising to his feet. "I'll meet you guys back here."
"I'm going to the library," Hermione said. "I want to check something."
"Oh boy!" Ron said, with mock enthusiasm. "I guess we'll meet you guys in the library."
When they got to the gargoyle, Goku scratched his head. "He told me the password... but I can't remember it. Lemme think."
"When did he tell you the password?" Harry asked.
"When I went up and asked him if I could stop by his office later this evening," Goku explained, his brow furrowed as he tried to think of the password as well. "It was right after I ate."
Harry tried not to laugh. It was obviously less than an hour, probably a great deal less than an hour since Goku had heard the password, yet he couldn't remember it. "Carmel," he said to the door. "Uhm, taffy, lemon drops..."
"Carmel?" Goku looked at him. "Taffy? Huh?"
The gargoyle didn't move. "Dumbledore usually uses some type of candy for a password," Harry explained. "I was just seeing if I could figure it out."
Goku frowned, then brightened considerably. "Candy, now I remember! Pingu!"
The Gargoyle moved aside, and the wall split. "Pingu?" Harry asked, scratching his head.
Goku nodded. "It's chocolate candy, shaped like little penguins. It's really good." They climbed onto the long, spiral staircase that moved smoothly upward.
"Wow, this is so great!" Goku was looking around in amazement, reminding Harry of the first time he had been here, in his second year. Of course, Harry had been in trouble at the time, or at least thought he was, but he had been quite amazed despite that. Goku, going here on an invitation, was absolutely enthralled.
Professor Dumbledore was not in his office, so Harry sat down to wait. Goku looked around with obvious fascination. "Wow, this place is neat." He saw the sorting hat and ran over. "Hi hat!" He put it on, grinning. "Glad to see me?" A few seconds of silence, then Goku said, "No, I'm fine. I'm happy in Gryffindor, I just wanted to say hi." He kept the hat on and walked around the room, looking at the portraits of former headmasters of Hogwarts, making various comments. "Look at that guy, he's got a funny nose! Oooh, that guy looks strong, I wonder if he was a good fighter?" The portrait of the long-nosed former headmaster frowned as if he thought it was a bit rude of Goku to point out something so obvious and unflattering. The one whose strength was complimented looked quite flattered.
Harry could not hear how the hat responded to Goku's comments, but smiled anyway. He could imagine the hat wondering if Goku was questioning the judgment of putting him into Gryffindor.
Fawkes saw Harry and flew off his perch, coming over to rest near him. Harry reached down and gave him a pet on the head. "Hello, Fawkes."
"Wow, a bird!" Goku came running over and sat down in the chair next to Harry and began stroking Fawkes' back. "He's a big bird. Pretty too."
Harry grinned, remembering the first time he'd seen Fawkes. Getting ready to be reborn again, Fawkes had looked more like a half-plucked turkey than a proud Phoenix. "He's a Phoenix," he told Goku.
"Neat," Goku nodded. "I've heard of Phoenixes, but I've never met one before. Nice birdie." He looked upward to the brim of the sorting hat. "Do you like the bird, Hat?"
Harry could have sworn he heard the hat sigh, but it said nothing out loud. Harry had to suppress a laugh. He could imagine that the hat was quite used to a life of mostly solitude and here was Goku to shake things up.
The door opened, and Professor Dumbledore came in. He looked at Harry and Goku, a bit puzzled for a moment, and then smiled. "Ah, yes, Goku, I told you to drop by. Nice to see you too, Harry."
"Goku didn't know how to get here," Harry said quickly. "So I brought him. If you want, I'll leave."
"That's up to Goku," Dumbledore said, "He's the one with the questions."
"I don't mind if he stays," Goku said, grinning. "I just have a few questions."
Dumbledore nodded. As he walked past them, to his desk, he removed the hat from Goku's head. "I think it might be easier to ask questions without this, don't you?" he asked, as he placed the hat back on the shelf behind his desk and sat down.
Goku shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. I like talking to the hat. It's the first talking hat I ever met. Do you mind if I come here to talk to the hat more? I'd imagine it would get awful boring, just sitting on a shelf waiting once a year to be used."
"I've been known to occasionally talk with the hat," Dumbledore said, with a gleam in his eye. "But I'll tell you what, Goku. If the hat ever wants to talk to you, I'll find you and let you know. Is that all right?"
Goku thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, that sounds fair."
Dumbledore looked towards Harry for a brief moment and winked so quickly, Harry barely caught it. Then he turned his attention back to Goku. "Go ahead, ask your questions."
"What makes the forest dangerous?" Goku asked. "I mean, I've been in lots of forests and stuff and I've never been in any real danger."
"These forests are most likely a bit different than the ones you've been in," Dumbledore said. "And I know you're a lot stronger than most children your age, but the rule is for everyone. I can't break it just for you."
Goku thought about this for a bit, then sighed. "I guess. I'd really love to see it sometime."
"Well, perhaps someday you might," Professor Dumbledore said, looking over at Harry. "I do recall Harry here getting to go there one night as part of a punishment."
Harry shivered remembering that night. It was his very first year at Hogwarts. That was also the first time he ever saw Voldemort, since the attack that killed his family. He had gone into the woods a second time, this one without being punished, and had almost been killed by giant spiders. He was rather hoping he could avoid the forest for his remaining years at the school.
"However," Dumbledore continued smoothly. "Getting detention is not a goal you should work towards, Goku. I think it would be in your best interests not to attempt to pursue the forests."
"Okay." Goku sighed; looking a little crestfallen, but then smiled. "My next question is that I'd like to know why I can't play Quidditch on the Flying Nimbus? I mean, you folks even use brooms called 'Nimbus' so why can't I play? I know I'd have to try out and all, but if I could make it, I think I'd like to play."
"Quidditch is always played on a broom," Dumbledore said, gently. "There are no exceptions in the rules at all."
"That doesn't seem right!" Goku protested. "Are you sure there's no way I can play?"
"Of course not," Dumbledore said. "Soon enough you'll have flying lessons with Madam Hooch. Learn to fly a broom correctly and you're welcome to try-out for the team. Perhaps next year, if you study hard. Harry was able to join his first year, but Harry is very gifted when it comes to broomstick flying."
Goku sighed. "No bending the rule, huh?"
"No, sorry." Professor Dumbledore's expression was extremely sincere, even if his eyes were twinkling.
"Okay. We'll see if I can learn to fly a broom then." Goku nodded, closing his eyes for a moment, and Harry could almost imagine him making a checkmark on his mental list.
"Any other questions, Goku?"
Goku thought carefully for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. One more."
"What is it?"
"Well, uh," Goku paused, rubbing the back of his head with his palm. "I just want to know, do I have to get lots of action here? Like, if I don't, will I be kicked out?"
Harry turned to stare at him, not having a clue what he was talking about. Professor Dumbledore looked at him as well. "Action?" he repeated.
Goku nodded. "When I was talking to Muten Roshi about coming here, he told me that I really needed to come here, so I could meet lots of girls." He continued rubbing his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "He said I was old enough now that I really needed to start getting some serious action. But, uh, I really don't know what that means. I thought maybe it meant the girls here really knew how to fight, but I've met some of them, and they don't seem like they're fighters."
For a brief moment, Harry really thought Professor Dumbledore was going to burst out laughing. It was taking everything Harry had not to himself, and he knew if Dumbledore even chuckled it would be all over. But Professor Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment instead. When he opened them, his expression was serious. "Ah yes, I've forgotten how Master Roshi is," he said. "He would think that was of great importance."
"Yeah, but is it?" Goku asked. "Is meeting girls and getting action something you have to do in this school? 'Cause if it is, someone is going to have to tell me what it is and how to do it."
Harry quickly raises his hand to his mouth, as if to scratch his lower lip. He turned his head away from Goku and tried to suppress his laughter. He could feel his face turning red and his shoulders shaking. He hoped Goku wouldn't notice and ask.
Professor Dumbledore, however, was much better at containing his own amusement. He didn't look anywhere in Harry's direction, which Harry was really grateful for. He had the feeling if he looked into Professor Dumbledore's eyes, he would lose it entirely.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "No, Goku, 'getting action' is not a requirement for any student of Hogwarts. We expect you to work hard in your studies and learn all that you can. Yes, we expect you to socialize and enjoy the company of all the students, be they male or female, but no one expects or requires you to take it any further than that. Does that answer your questions satisfactorily?"
Goku nodded. Harry felt he had regained enough composure to look back towards Goku and noted he looked very relieved. "Thanks, Professor Dumbledore. I was worried about that."
"Well, worry no more," Dumbledore assured him. "'Getting some action' will not be required of you. Do you have any other questions?"
Goku thought carefully for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, I think that's it."
"Well then," Dumbledore rose, indicating the conversation was over. "I think it's time you both went to the library to join Ron and Hermione. You both have homework and soon it will be time to go to bed."
He walked them to the door, and closed it behind them. Although Harry was pretty sure Dumbledore's office was soundproof, he would have sworn, just before the door clicked shut that he heard the Professor chuckling.
As they rode down the stairs, Goku looked at Harry. "How did he know we were going to meet Ron and Hermione at the library?"
Harry shrugged. "Hermione is almost always at the library," he explained. "And, well, there's something you should know about Dumbledore."
"What?"
Harry grinned. "Sometimes he just knows things."
End of Chapter Nine