Harry and Hermione had just reached the most direct path to the dormitories, until they heard a happy voice, Peeves' voice.
Peeves came hurrying towards Harry and Hermione which were both perfectly invisible, not one of them made a voice. But Harry had sort of a funny feeling, something scratching his nose, he was going to sneeze, but thanks to Hermione, she held her hand over his mouth. Harry thanked her after that. But Peeves heard this little noise, he turned around, looked, but he didn't see anyone.
"Oi, out with it, who's there?" he asked in a trembling voice. "Is it the great Bloody Baron sir?" Harry and Hermione always knew that the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, could be invisible at will. They also knew that the only person that was able to control Peeves was the Bloody Baron. Harry once used this trick, to get Peeves out of the way, some years ago.
"Who...who...who is it?" asked Peeves, very scared.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione, under the cloak, were thinking of someway to get past Peeves without him sensing any movement. Harry had an idea, but Hermione didn't much prefer it. Carefully, he raised his wand, and pointed it towards a statue several meters ahead of him, and with one wave, it fell down, causing a lot of annoying noise. Peeves was totally freaked out. He was rising in the air, thinking that something might be after him.
"MR FILCH, MR FILCH, MR FILCH...COME HERE QUICKLY, INTRUDER!" screamed Peeves. Harry and Hermione quickly moved away, and climbed the staircase. Then, far away behind them, they heard Filch coming along with his precious cat, Mrs. Norris.
"What do ya want you stinking trouble maker? Better be something worth comin' here or I'll call the headmaster," grunted Mr. Filch angrily.
"I heard some sort of voice Filch, and then, seconds later, I heard that statue falling down, there, look at the broken pieces," he pointed towards the silver statue of a little witch that was broken on the ground.
"Ah for God sake, calling me up here just for this," said Filch, very lazily. "Off with ya Peeves. Off with ya now. Go on, go before I call the headmaster, go!"
Peeves immediately flew away, heading towards the Entrance Hall. Filch was approaching the broken statue now with Mrs. Norris, and tried as hard as he can to lift it up. He took the broken pieces and put them in the hole in the head of the little witch statue. He was patting Mrs. Norris.
"I shall tell the headmaster about this tomorrow, I bet ya anything it was Peeves who did this," by that he meant breaking the statue.
"Pathetic squib," whispered Harry under the cloak.
Harry and Hermione giggled, then went near the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Been sneaking out of the castle you two?" asked the Fat Lady.
"Peace," whispered Harry at once.
"Fine," replied the Fat Lady, and both of them entered.
"Goodnight Harry," said Hermione, climbing up the stairs. Harry was right behind her.
"Night," he replied, and went to bed.

Next morning, Harry woke up with full energy, ready to start the day. He still laughed about the incident last night. The way Filch was mad about Peeves, sending him away, the usual threatening of calling the headmaster.
His first lesson of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts, Gryffindor and Slytherin sixth years.

After breakfast, he, Hermione and Ron marched off to the classroom. Ron was still reading the Daily Prophet Mrs. Weasley sent him.
"Careful not to trip Ron," said Harry.
"What? Oh...right,"
They entered the classroom. Hermione and Ron sat on either side of their fellow Gryffindor sixth year, Neville Longbottom. Harry went to the front of the class.
"Good morning everyone," he said happily.
"Morning," replied most of the class, of course, not including Malfoy's gang of Slytherins.
"Well, today, we shall start something new, that could come in handy when a curse is being directed to you," started Harry and grabbed his wand. "The Shield Charm."
Everyone seemed quite intrigued by this statement. Many of the Gryffindors who were members of the DA last year, remembered Harry talking about the Shield Charm several times.
"Right," started Harry, "first we'll do it without the use of the wand. Ah, the incantation of course. Everyone reply after me. Protego,"
"Protego," came the voices of students from every corner of the class.
"Excellent, and now, let me explain how this works. The shield charm is supposed to form some sort of layer or barrier between you and the enemy, just like...for those who know, the Patronus charm," Everyone was listening carefully now. The members of the DA had already practiced Patronus charms last year, although there weren't any dementors present, they enjoyed the silvery shadow that came out of their wands whenever they pronounced 'expecto patronum'.
"At the beginning, it may seem sort of tough for you, but then, don't worry, you'll perform perfectly fine after you master it," said Harry, smiling at every face in the class. Malfoy was yawning; he didn't seem to be interested in the lesson. Harry's eyes flew from the Gryffindors to the Slytherins and fell on the yawning Malfoy.
"Draco, up here please," said Harry earnestly.
"What?" asked Malfoy, his mouth wide open.
"I asked you to come up here please," replied Harry strictly.
Malfoy got up, shot Harry some angry looks, and approached the class. Malfoy was waiting for Harry to keep on talking.
"Now, I'll demonstrate how this is done. Draco here will help me with it. He will stun me, with the spell we practiced a month ago, stupefy. Then, watch closely what happens," Harry turned his face to Malfoy. "Ready?"
Malfoy nodded. Immediately, he raised his wand, pointed it to Harry, and cried loudly 'stupefy'.
Harry was quick too. Within fractions of a second, he cried out loud 'Protego'. At once, some sort of silvery translucent shield appeared out of thin air. The jet red light hit the shield and bounced back. Malfoy was fast in bending his head low, avoiding being stunned. The jet red light hit a vase, and broke it.
"See everyone?" asked Harry. The class was amazed by his perfect performance.
"Now, the reverse. Draco will be defending himself using the shield charm," proclaimed Harry clearly. "Oh, don't worry about that. Hermione, could you fix it please?" Harry asked Hermione to repair the broken vase.
"Reparo," said Hermione quickly, and the broken pieces put themselves back together. The vase was there again, fine as new.
"Thanks," said Harry, and turned his head to Malfoy, "ready now?"
Malfoy grinned and nodded.
"Right, stupefy," a jet red light zoomed came out of Harry's wand and zoomed towards Malfoy.
"Protego," he cried aloud. It worked too, the light bounced off the shield and returned to Harry.
"Deletrius," muttered Harry quickly, and the stunning spell vanished with a wisp of smoke.
"Excellent work Draco. Five points to Slytherin, I hope you get even better next time" Malfoy's grin widened, he raised his eyebrows higher that they almost reached his hair, and he raised his head higher. The whole class was clapping and applauding, even Hermione and Ron, who perfectly hated and despised Malfoy more than anything, except perhaps Voldemort. Malfoy returned to his seat, joining Crabbe and Goyle.
"Now, as we only have thirty six minutes to the end of the class, I was planning to put you in pairs to try the shield charm yourselves. However, I don't think you're ready yet. And remember it's for your own good if you practice it. As for now, I changed the plan. Everyone, kindly open your copy of ' Force Your Way through the Dark Paths', and turn to page forty two, the beginning of chapter six. Please read the chapter carefully, and for homework, list the main important points you've learned about. And for those who want bonus points, summarize the next chapter," explained Harry. He knew of course that Hermione would do anything for more and more points.
Obediently, everyone in the class opened their books to chapter six and started reading. Neville shrieked, and looked worried.
"It's allright Neville, don't freak out. I know the chapter's a bit long, but you'll be able to finish reading it and you'll be able to do the homework, even with a bit of help," Neville was a little embarrassed, he nodded, and began to read.

At last the bell rang, and everyone quickly got out of their seats, heading towards the door.
"Oh," yelled Harry, "Gryffindors, please meet me at five o'clock in the common room. There's something important I wish to talk to you about." Several Gryffindors nodded and disappeared through the door.
"Harry, what do you want us for?" asked Ron.
"You'll see," said Harry, "you're due in Divination. Go Ron, I have a class coming now."
"See you," said Ron, and marched off. Hermione was already at her Arithmancy class.

At last, their final lesson of the day, double Herbology, ended. Harry, Hermione and Ron decided to visit Hagrid, they haven't seen him for a while. They crossed the castle grounds, which were very cold and wet due to the rain that soaked the grounds several hours earlier, heading to Hagrid's hut, which was located near the edge of the Dark Forest.
Harry knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" came the grunting voice of Hagrid.
"It's us," replied Hermione.
"Oh, come in, glad yeh came,"
The door opened, and the trio stepped in. Hagrid offered them some tea to warm them up. Then, they've noticed that the hut was sparking, very shiny. Everything was very well organized, as it never has been lately.
"Hagrid, um...have you been doing a lot of cleaning lately?" asked Ron curiously.
" Yeah, yeh can say that. Just piling me cups on the shelves, and a bit of dusting. Fang helped me though, with a small version of the cleanin'. So, how was your day?" asked Hagrid.
"Fine," replied Harry.
"We had a wonderful practical lesson with Harry, about shield charms," said Hermione.
"Yeah, really great," said Ron quickly.
"Shield charms?" asked Hagrid, "They're quite useful, someday, yeh'll need 'um," The three nodded.
"I've got something to talk about you three. Cockatoodles,"
"Sorry?" asked the three together, looking curious and bewildered.
"Cockatoodles. Fascinating creatures, wait till yeh seem them. We'll be studying them next lesson," said Hagrid, beaming. "They sort a' have the front body of a rooster, and the hind legs of a crocodile."
"That'll look extremely weird, " said Ron, grinning at Harry and Hermione.
"Yeah, yeh can say that. But wait till you see, amazing powers they've got, one is..." but Hagrid was interrupted by Harry. who looked at his watch, it was 4:49.
"Um...Hagrid…sorry.. but we've got to go," said Harry.
"Yeh wanna go already?" asked Hagrid.
"Yeah...we've got a meeting in the common room," explained Hermione.
"Meeting? What sort o' meeting?" asked Hagrid.
"Well,erm..." began Ron, looking nervously at Harry.
"Allright, yeh three go ahead, or yeh'll be late and yeh'll be breaking yer promise," said Hagrid cheerfully. At once, the three got out of their places, waved goodbye to Hagrid and Fang, and got out. They ran difficultly, because they were carrying their heavy bags. Finally, after seven minutes of running, they reached the Fat Lady. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were fighting to catch their breath. Harry spoke the password before the Fat Lady could've even say a word. The door sprang open, and they found the common room filled with students from sixth year.
"Oh, hello, glad we're not late, " said Ron. The three set their bags on an armchair. Ron went to sit beside Dean and Seamus. Hermione sat near Parvati. Harry, in the front, near the fire, began to speak.
"Well, the point of this meeting is...um...well it's October right? And haven't you notice something? The Quidditch season is approaching faster than ever! I wanted to remind you of that,"
Everybody was looking at each other. They totally forgot about this matter.
"Why haven't reminded us about this any earlier Harry?" asked Dean.
"Well, I like you, have forgot about it," replied Harry, Dean nodded. "So, we will reinforce the Quidditch team for Gryffindor, now that Wood, Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Weasley, and Weasley have left, only I remain in the team. So, who would like to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year?"
Hermione raised her hand, so did Ron, so did Neville.
"Cool," said Harry. " Well, have it this way, Hermione will be a chaser, so will Neville, and I'm not sure, but I think Ginny will agree to be one."
Everyone listened carefully.
" Volunteers for beaters?" asked Harry, looking around the group.
For moments, nobody raised their hand. Then, Parvati and Lavender raised their hands.
"Excellent, perfect," complimented Harry, the two girls giggled and lowered their hand, "and, we need a keeper too. Ah, Ron, I forgot you. Would you agree to be the Keeper?"
"Yes," answered Ron happily. "Remember me as the keeper last year?"
"I can remember that allright," said Seamus. "Remember the Slytherins making a song about you, 'Weasley is our King'?"
"Oh shut up," said Ron, laughing quietly. Harry laughed too. Ron blushed a bit.
"Good," said Harry, "and one seeker, me."
Several of the Gryffindors laughed.
"Ok, so let me repeat what just happened. Three chasers, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny, who I'll talk to later. Two beaters, that's Lavender and Parvati. One keeper, that's your Ron. And...one seeker, me."
Everyone nodded gladly.
"Right then, when would you like the training to begin?" asked Harry.
"On Saturday of course," replied Parvati and Lavender together.
"I say let it be Sunday," said Ron.
"Wait a minute, all who agree for the training to begin on Saturday raise there hands,"
Only a few hands were up.
"That's settled, training will begin on Saturday, the earlier the better," said Harry, smiling. Ron was a bit put down and disappointed from his luck, it always happened to him, he got used to it. Then, Harry was reminded of something.
"Who here have their own brooms?" asked Harry.
Hermione, Ron, Parvati, and Lavender raised their hands.
"Right, we'll need to get you a new broom Neville, and one for Ginny. Don't worry, I'll get them for you,"
"No Harry, it's…it's ok.. I have---" began Neville, stuttering.
"It's allright, let's get you the new Comet three hundred, shall we? And for Ginny...what do you say Ron?"
Ron of course was Ginny's sister, he knew what she would prefer.
" I suggest a...well…um…she prefers a Nimbus two thousand and one," answered Ron.
"Ok," said Harry, he knew that the Slytherins' brooms were Nimbus two thousand and one's. "Any more questions?"
The whole group shook their heads.

"Allright, this is settled, welcome aboard to the new Gryffindor Quidditch team you five," said Harry, looking at Hermione, Lavender, Ron, Parvati and Neville.
The entire group laughed.
Suddenly, they turned to look at someone who's just entered, it was Ginny.
"Ginny, Ginny come here," said Ron. Ginny approached the group, not knowing what was going on.
"What? Why are you all gathered here?" she asked curiously, and Hermione explained everything.
"So, will you be a chaser on the team?" asked Harry finally.
"Gladly," replied Ginny.
"Oh, and I thought you might want to have a new broom. How about a Nimbus two thousand and one?" asked Harry.
Ginny beamed at him, it was what she always wished for.
"That'll be fabulous...awesome," said Ginny.
"Oh, wait, I nearly forgot. Who would you want as your captain this year?" asked Harry.
"Well that's obvious, it's going to be you, won't it?" asked Hermione, smiling at him.
"But...well I've been made the leader of the DA last year, I got to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, wouldn't you think of anybody else?"
"Come on Harry, you've always been a great leader and you'll always will be," said Ron.
"Well...fine with me, does anyone reject this?" asked Harry. Nobody nodded.
"Well, this it, the meeting's over everybody," said Harry, " go on and finish off your...well, whatever business each one of you has." He giggled, so did Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.
Harry and Hermione went over the corner to enjoy a short game of Gobstones, Dean Thomas, who was always know for his artistic talent, went over by Seamus and helped draw a picture of Harry, wearing his red Quidditch robes, waving at the audience at the Quidditch Stadium. Ginny and Parvati were playing chess. Ron and Lavender were reviewing each others' Transfiguration homework. Neville was showing a fifth year boy his new plant that Professor Sprout gave him as a gift for his submitting of information during classes.
It was such an amusing afternoon.