Yet again, I apologise for the distinct lack of chapters over the last couple of months. College is getting more hectic, and I'm finding precious little time to write. I hope you'll forgive me. I have a couple of chapters planned out, but it's difficult to find the time to type them up. Please keep looking for more new chapters. They might be slow to appear, but they will be here eventually.

Chapter 16: Howlers and Pixies

At breakfast the next morning, Padma sat munching on a slice of toast as she read her copy of the Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2), which she had propped up against a jug of pumpkin juice. Terry, on the other hand, merely stared deep into his porridge. He was desperately trying to avoid the mutinous glares that Lisa was giving him now and again from halfway down the table.

Padma turned a page and looked up from her book, smiling at Terry across the table.

"It'll be fine in the end," she said soothingly.

"No it won't," Terry said, sloshing milk into his bowl. "They're going to hate me forever." He looked seriously at Padma. "I didn't mean to tease Mandy like that. But Potter's just a second year like the rest of us. He's nothing special."

"That's not what Mandy thinks," Padma said.

"I know that now," Terry muttered. "It's just typical that a Gryffindor would get all of the attention. We Ravenclaws are just brains with legs to everyone else. We…"

"Don't blame this on inter-house rivalries," Padma said. "You're just trying to avoid the fact that a part of you would really like to be famous and that…"

Padma didn't get a chance to finish what she was saying. Suddenly the Great Hall was filled with a shrill, piercing voice. Three quarters of the students turned in their seats, craning their necks.

"I wonder who's got a Howler," Padma mused.

"…Stealing the car, I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd expelled you, you wait 'til I get hold of you…don't suppose you stopped to think what your father and I went through when we saw it had gone…"

"It's Weasley!" Terry said. He seemed to have perked up at the sound of someone else's misery.

"…Letter from Dumbledore last night, I thought your father would die of shame, we didn't bring you up to behave like this, you and Harry could both have died…"

Padma glanced down the table to where Mandy and Lisa were sitting; Mandy was sitting bolt upright in her seat, staring over to the Gryffindor where Harry was sitting. Lisa glanced over at Terry, making it perfectly clear that if he made any comment, she would hex him. Terry noticed this and pressed his lips together.

The Howler was still in full flow.

"…Absolutely disgusted, your father's facing an enquiry at work, it's entirely your fault and if you put another toe out of line we'll bring you straight back home!"

Padma watched as Ron emerged from behind the table, his face as red as the setting sun. A few people laughed and normal conversation returned to the Great Hall once more. Padma turned back to her book as Professor Flitwick walked along beside the Ravenclaw table, distributing the timetables.

"I can't believe the two of them actually flew a car to school!" Padma said after she received her timetable. Terry's expression showed that he had no desire to hear anything more about Harry and Ron. "Double Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms," she commented brightly, quickly changing the subject.

Terry pulled a face.

"Fantastic! I really wanted Lockhart on my first day back!"

Padma smiled and put her book into her bag.

"Come on then. We may as well get to Transfiguration early."

Terry nodded and gathered up his things, following Padma out of the Great Hall. As he passed by Lisa and Mandy, he got two very different reactions from the girls; Mandy stared resolutely at her cereal but Lisa watched him pass, her eyes narrowed.

Padma and Terry trooped up to the Transfiguration classroom, Terry unnaturally quiet, and when they sat down in their usual seats, he opened his textbook and read in silence. Professor McGonagall entered the room and smiled shortly at the two Ravenclaws, turning to clear her desk with her wand. Once the rest of the Ravenclaws arrived she waved her wand, causing writing to appear on the blackboard.

"Good morning class," she said curtly, "and welcome to second year Transfiguration. This year we will be starting to learn about Transfiguring animals into inanimate objects. We will start small today, with beetles into buttons. Turn to page ten in your textbooks and copy down the theory and technique required for the spell."

The Ravenclaws got started at once. Padma quickly scanned down the page and started to write, her quill bobbing as she went. She paused, noticing that Terry wasn't writing anything down.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a whisper.

"They hate me," he said morosely.

Padma rolled her eyes and put down her quill.

"Listen, Terry," she said seriously, "Lisa and Mandy may hate you now, but they won't forever. Just pull yourself together!" She paused, pretending to examine her book as Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk. "You can't spend all of your time moping around!"

Terry turned his head towards Padma, his eyes scanning her face for a moment. He smiled weakly and nodded before picking up his quill.

"You're right," he said finally. "Thanks, Padma."

The rest of the lesson passed without incident. By the end of the lesson, Padma had a small pile of shiny buttons on the desk in front of her. Terry had managed to Transfigure a couple, but now he was trying to catch one of them and narrowly avoided squashing it with his elbow. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Homework is to read all of chapter one and make notes on animal to inanimate object Transfiguration!" she cried over the scraping of chairs.

Padma and Terry walked out of the Transfiguration classroom and headed to Defence Against the Dark Arts, pushing their way through the thronging crowds of students. When they reached the classroom, they found the door closed and the Ravenclaws lined up outside. Morag and Su seemed to be talking about Lockhart.

"He's done so many amazing things!" Su exclaimed, clutching a copy of Gadding With Ghouls to her chest.

"I know!" Morag said. "Did you get your books signed in the summer at Flourish and Blotts?"

Su shook her head.

"Do you think he'll sign them after the lesson?"

"Oh, I hope so!" Morag said breathlessly.

Padma smiled and pulled her bag up higher on her shoulder. Michael Corner arrived and leant up against the wall, grinning at the two giggling girls.

"You don't fancy that great, smiling fool, do you?" he asked.

Morag glared at him, looking scandalous, but said nothing. Instead she blushed and turned back to talk to Su. Michael looked triumphant and turned to Padma.

"Do you have a thing for Lockhart?"

"No I do not!" Padma said, fighting back the urge to laugh. She folded her arms across her chest. "My sister does, but that's not the point, is it? I don't think much of Lockhart. His books don't particularly give me much faith in his abilities."

Terry nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think that Gilderoy Lockhart is…"

"A dashingly handsome fellow with a great magical talent?"

Terry snorted through his nose and turned, coming face to face with Lockhart who was wearing turquoise robes and a self-important smile. Padma covered her mouth with a hand to stop herself from laughing out loud, and Anthony was staring at Terry with a look of horror on his face. Terry forced an expression of disgust into a smile.

"Yes, Professor," he said meekly.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, which last year had been decorated with diagrams and skeletons of Dark creatures, was now filled with paintings of Lockhart. From every corner of the room, Gilderoy Lockhart was waving and smiling at the pupils. Padma took out her books and quill and tried to ignore the pictures. It was very difficult when the real thing was standing at the front of the classroom.

"As you should all know, I am Gilderoy Lockhart; Order of Merlin, third class," he began in a clear, carrying voice, "Honourary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and," he paused for effect, "five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming Smile Award. But I don't often mention that."

He flashed the class one of his award-winning smiles. Next to Padma, Terry was breathing heavily through his nose.

"Of course he doesn't!" he muttered sarcastically.

"Well, enough about me," Lockhart said cheerfully. "I thought that we'd start with a small test, just to see how much you've picked up from reading my books, of course." He handed out sheets of parchment to the Ravenclaws. "You may begin."

Padma, quill poised, scanned the parchment. The test contained nothing more than questions about Lockhart and his travels, as well as several on his personal qualities and ambitions.

"So much for 'enough about me'!" Terry muttered.

Feeling utterly disgusted at the wizard's vanity, Padma grudgingly began to write down the answers as she recalled them from his books.

After the parchment had been collected in, Lockhart set about marking them, shaking his head and making disappointed noises every so often.

"Tut tut!" he said. "You really should have read my collective works more carefully!" The Ravenclaws looked scandalous at the fact that he was criticising their reading ability. "But, on a whole, you did a fair job. Miss MacDougal and Miss Li; you both got excellent marks! You were the only two in the class to know that I received my first award at the age of twenty two. It was, of course, for my smile."

He winked at Morag and Su, who dissolved into fits of giggles as he handed back the papers.

"Now we will continue with something a bit different," he announced, returning to his desk.

"It's about time," Padma muttered.

Terry managed to change his laughter into a hacking cough, while Mandy and Su glared at him. Padma grinned at Terry. Lockhart seemed oblivious and picked up a covered cage from behind his desk. It was covered in a sheet and, now and again, rattled menacingly.

"It is my duty to prepare you for anything that you might encounter outside Hogwarts that is a danger to you," he continued, his voice grave. "Therefore, I show you this!"

With a flourish of his hand, Professor Lockhart drew back the cloth and revealed its contents. Inside, jabbering and rattling the bars, were a number of electric blue pixies. This time, Terry was unable to disguise his laughter. Across the classroom, Padma saw Lisa frown at him.

"What is it, Mr Boot?" Lockhart asked, sounding rather flustered.

But Terry was unable to talk; he was doubled over laughing. Anthony straightened in his chair and answered on Terry's behalf,

"Well, Cornish pixies aren't exactly dangerous, are they Professor?"

"That may well be," Lockhart said briskly, "but they are tricky little blighters. If you're so confident, Mr Goldstein, you'll be able to deal with them yourself, won't you?"

Anthony opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything, Professor Lockhart opened the door of the cage, releasing the pixies. Padma ducked down underneath her desk as one of the creatures swooped at her, snatching up her copy of Gadding with Ghouls and attempting to beat her across the head with it. Screams and shouts filled the classroom as the pixies caused chaos. Peeking over the desk, Padma could see that a couple were flying around Mandy, pulling at her hair, while another was throwing rolls of parchment about the room.

"Nothing to panic about!" Lockhart shouted, attempting to wrestle a photograph of himself away from a couple of determined pixies.

The Ravenclaws grabbed their things and made a dash for the door as Professor Lockhart waved his wand at the two pixies with his photograph. The glass shattered and the Lockhart in the picture cowered behind the frame. Padma pulled out her wand and pulled her bag over her shoulder, ducking a copy of Year with the Yeti.

She waved her wand at a couple of pixies that were throwing quills at Terry. They were blown back by a blast of air.

"Come on, Terry!" Padma said. "Get your bag and let's go!"

He fumbled with the clasp on his bag. Padma rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, dragging him out of the classroom and leaving Lockhart to deal with the pixies himself. After she closed the heavy wooden door, Padma let go of Terry's hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked as they headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.

"I'm fine," Terry said shortly. "But that Lockhart is hopeless! I doubt he'll last out the year if all his lessons are as much of a disaster as that one!"

Padma nodded in agreement. They entered the Great Hall and looked for a place to sit at the Ravenclaw table. Lisa and Mandy were sitting halfway down, at a distance from the rest of the second years, and when Padma and Terry passed, Mandy looked resolutely at her plate. Padma found a couple of seats opposite Luna Lovegood.

"Hi Luna," Padma said, taking a sandwich from a platter. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

Luna looked up, her pale eyes wide, and she pushed her wand behind her ear. Terry winced; he was clearly imagining the first year losing her ear in a freak wand accident.

"It's been very interesting," Luna said finally, "though I think that Professor Sprout was wrong saying that Crumple-Leaved Dog Roses didn't exist. They do; my father went on an expedition once and saw them himself. He couldn't bring any specimens back though. They turn invisible when you get to close, you see."

"I've never heard of them," Padma said honestly. "They sound very interesting, Luna."

"Oh, they are!" Luna said enthusiastically. She smiled dreamily. "People have started calling me Loony Lovegood, you know," she added matter-of-factly.

Padma frowned. She couldn't believe how horrible children could be sometimes. Luna didn't seem to notice this and pulled out her copy of the Quibbler, scratching her nose with the tip of her wand. Terry winced again and turned to Padma.

"Why are you agreeing with her?" he asked through a mouthful of pasty.

"They really do sound interesting, Terry," Padma said. She swilled her pumpkin juice around her goblet. "Why shouldn't I agree with her?"

"Crumple-Leaved Dog Roses don't exist!"

"How do we know that anything exists?" Padma asked him logically. "It can't only be through sight, smell, touch, sound or taste. If we can't sense it, it doesn't mean it's not there."

Terry stared at her. He finally shrugged.

"I suppose you're right," he said. "But I wish that she wouldn't use her wand like that! It's not safe!"

Padma smiled and began to eat. It all felt so natural to be back at Hogwarts. The lessons, the teachers and the students; even the smell of the place. Things could be perfectly normal then completely topsy-turvy the next, she thought, glancing at Luna who was humming softly to herself. But whatever it was like at Hogwarts, she felt as though she was finally back at home.