"Now, don't forget to write. I want to know all about your year," Molly said to Ron. It was the start of school, and they were on platform 9 ¾. The twins had already darted off and boarded the train, but Ron wasn't quick enough, and was now trapped. Harry was standing by his friend, as a show of support.
"And let us know if any girl catches your eye" Arthur elbowed Ron with a wink.
"Oh, yes, do. And if you come across any muggle first years who appear especially lost during the course of your prefect duties, give me their names so that I can send them some baked goods. A good apple pie or some rock cakes will cheer them up."
Ron rolled his eyes, "I will mom. Bye now. Bye dad!" and made his escape. As he and Harry made their way down the train looking for an empty compartment, he sighed. "Great. Only my mom would give out chores to do while I'm away at Hogwarts."
"What chores?"
"You heard her - I have to look for 'especially lost' firsties and report them to her. If I don't give her at least a couple of names, I'll hear about it over Christmas break." There didn't appear to be any empty compartments. "Oh, there's Luna!" Ron pulled open the compartment door and the two boys slid in.
"Hey Luna, How was your summer?" Harry asked, sitting down next to the blond Ravenclaw.
Luna looked up, puzzled, "Do I know you?"
"Um, yeah, it's me, Harry," Harry stuttered awkwardly.
"Sorry. The name doesn't ring a bell" She went back to reading the Quibbler. Harry Looked at Ron. Ron looked at Harry.
"Uhm…"
Luna lowered her paper and peered at Harry, "did you want something?"
"Um, no?"
Luna raised the paper again, like a blast door from from the Star Wars movie. The atmosphere in the carriage was rather uncomfortable.
"I just remembered - all the prefects have to go up to the front carriage. I'll see you at school!" Ron said too brightly and slid out of the compartment. The two remaining teens sat in silence for a moment. Several other students peered in, and one even opened the door, but on seeing Harry, they all backed out and kept on going.
"Luna?" Harry tried again. There was no response. 'Did something happen to her over the summer? Did she get obliviated or something? Or maybe some of her weird creatures really do exist. What did she call them.. ' "Um, Luna did Racksputs.." was as far as Harry got before Luna interrupted with a "Gesundheit"
"Hey, Harry!" a voice called out as the door opened again.
"Neville!" 'thank Merlin' "Take a seat - I think we're about to get under way." The rest of the trip the two boys made fun of the Chudley Cannons (in part because Harry had just learned that Ron, beyond all reason, actually liked the team). When Neville wasn't looking, Harry stole glances at Luna, but the distracted blond continued reading her paper. Once she was finished, she peered out the window. When Neville tried to include her in the conversation, she just held up her hand.
"Don't bother, Nev. She's in a mood" Harry added, "So.. are you still dating Susan?"
"No, we broke up a couple of weeks ago. It's not that big a deal - we didn't really have anything to talk about."
"Oh." Harry paused considering how to rephrase his question, "So, do you happen to know if Susan is any relation to Amelia Bones?"
"I think she's her aunt. She works in law enforcement. Why? Did you run into her at the trial?"
"Yeah, she was at the second trial, and a good thing too!" As Harry spoke, Luna perked up and tilted her head away from the window so that she could hear better. "Remember the Evil Toads I told you about? She replaced one of them, and put the fear of.. something into one of the others. Otherwise they would have sent me to live with some Death Eaters, and I'd be pushing up daisies" Harry shuddered. Luna twitched, before resting her head back down on the window.
*Meta*Meta*
"What the hell are those?" Harry boggled. The Hogwarts Express had pulled into Hogsmead station. As the First Years were led away by Hagrid to the waiting boats, the upper years had made their way to the self propelled flying coaches. Except they apparently weren't self propelled: standing between the traces were rotting horses.
"What are what?" asked Neville, looking confused, "Did they change the carriages or something?"
"Or something - can't you see the zombie horses - excuse me, zombie WINGED horses - that are pulling them?"
"Dude, are you ok? I think you're seeing things" 'either that, or you spent too much time with Luna' Neville left that part unspoken.
At which point the blond girl in question walked by, "welcome to my world" she chirped, and kept on walking.
'Oh, shit. Luna did something to me. Now I'm hallucinating.' Harry ran after Luna, "Luna, I'm sorry for whatever I did to you, but…" She stepped up into a carriage and closed the door. Harry stood there, dumbfounded. He desperately wanted Luna to undo whatever she had done to him, but there were three other girls in the carriage already, and he would look like a complete dork standing there pleading for who knows what. The other students walked by, carefully pretending not to see Harry while stepping around him.
It was there that Goyle found Harry, "Oy, Potter, that carriage is full. Come sit me and Hannah."
"But…" Harry glanced at the zombie horse, 'Maybe if I pretend it's not there, it will go away.' "Ok, I guess" Harry and the happy couple got into an empty carriage. "So.. how was your summer?"
"Oh, it was wonderful," smiled Hannah, "Greg came by almost everyday. And he took me out to the muggle cinema. Have you ever been? It's really wonderful. I didn't know muggle had such amazing things. Though the selection of junk food there was horrifying! So the next time we went, I brought some cookies and carrot sticks."
Goyle nodded with a big smile, "Yeah, I'm on a diet." Harry gave the Slytherin another look: apparently, he was just starting it, since he hadn't yet lost any weight. Not that Goyle noticed - his attention was firmly planted on Hannah, who in turn spent most of her time looking at him, and holding his (ample) arm.
Harry also smiled, though his was more sickly, 'I hope I'm still hallucinating'. He desperately looked around for somebody else to invite into the carriage to break up the weirdness, but nobody was close by. Finally, his eyes caught something outside, "Hey, Neville! Over here!"
The slightly dumpy fifth year climbed in, and the conversation turned to more normal topics, like school, sports and teachers. 'Thank Merlin.'
*Meta*Meta*
"And I would like to remind all students that the Forbidden Forest is, indeed forbidden." Dumbledore was just winding up his usual start-of-term feast remarks when there was a pointed "herm, herm".
Harry had been zoning out, playing with his / Voldemort's wand with one hand while supporting his head with the other. Over the course of the summer, he had come to accept it as just a tool, not some sort of curse item that would make him turn evil. And it was cool looking. Harry sighed as he waited for the talking to be over so he could get to the important part of the start-of-term feast. Namely, the eating. That and he was still a little concerned about whatever was going on with Luna. But since she was avoiding him, and he hadn't had any more hallucinations, he figured it could wait until after he ate.
"Herm, herm" Harry looked up to see the pink toad from his hearing interrupt Dumbledore. "Ah, yes, Professor Umbridge would like to say a few words."
"Hem-Hem... Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. I would like to correct some misconceptions before all you young people go off to your separate classes" Harry wracked his memory for why she was there 'that's right - Dumbledore said she's going to teach DADA'. "Some people have been spreading rumors of all sorts. and that leads to panic. In the future, we will concentrate on what is tried and true. We will maintain that which must be maintained. Most of all, calm and decorum. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of a vital importance. Although each headmaster has brought something new to this... historic school, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be... prohibited!" All of this was pronounced in a high pitched, fluting voice that became increasing more difficult to listen to the longer that she spoke.
"Did she say what I think she said?" asked a female voice from his left. Harry jerked up and looked over in surprise. "Hermione? What are you doing here?"
The severe young witch sighed, "Honestly, Harry how oblivious can you get? I've been sitting here for the past ten minutes!" and apparently stewing for at least eight of them, when the only person at Hogwarts that (she had thought) was her friend blew her off.
"Sorry, I was falling asleep" Harry replied sheepishly, "I thought you were at Beauxbatons?"
"Well, I," Hermione started in a whisper, but apparently it wasn't quiet enough, as one of the Prefects leaned across the table and shushed. The two teens quieted while Her Pinkness finished speaking.
Once the food was summoned, Hermione continued, "I graduated Beauxbatons, contingent on me finishing up DADA. That was the only class that I was taking at grade level, you see. The others I was three years ahead in." despite her attempt at nonchalance, her pride in her accomplishments was quite obvious.
"Yeah, but why here?" Harry wolfed a bite of bread pudding, "Mind, not that I'm complaining - it's good to see a friendly face." Harry was an island unto himself - no other Ravenclaws were sitting next to him. Terry and his clique were at the far end of the table. Though honestly, Harry didn't mind so much - it was quieter this way.
Hermione picked at her asparagus, "I want to take my OWLs, so that I can get a job in Britain. I can prep for those more easily here than in France. Besides, if I get a Ministry position, I'm probably going to be working with Hogwarts alumni, so it makes sense to get to know them now." She took a dainty bite, "Were you paying attention to Prof. Umbridge said?"
"Uhm, not really?" Harry ripped into his chicken. "Did I miss something?"
"I'm not certain. But it sounded like she wanted to scale back the curriculum."
"Well, it's only in the one class" Harry shrugged. He liked DADA, but he never had high expectations of the class.
"Yes, but that's the one class I am here for!" Sighed Hermione. She fiddled with her glass of pumpkin juice, "Harry.. what you said last year.. Is You-Know-Who back?"
Harry froze and glanced at the other students around them, but they were engrossed in their own conversations, "Yeah, It's true."
Hermione nodded, and gave a sigh, as if accepting something she had hoped to avoid, "But doesn't that mean we should be cramming more into DADA? Because, you know.. because maybe, somebody might have to defend themselves, form a troll or a Death Eater or something." Hermione was uncomfortable with the idea of fighting. She would rather 'The Authorities' handled any problem. But sometimes, a troll cornered you in the girls bathroom, and you had to be prepared.
"Well, maybe she meant that she would go back to teaching DADA the old fashioned way, because I have to tell you, except for last year, DADA has been pretty useless. First two years, the professors didn't actually teach anything, and third year, professor Lupin was sick so often that we spent more time reviewing than learning new material. And last year, we had a Death Eater for a teacher" Harry scowled.
Hermione put a hand on Harry's arm to reassure him, "Maybe you're right. we will see tomorrow - We have DADA second period."
Harry glanced at his schedule "Hey, I have a free first period!" 'I can get some training in before class'. Then something else jumped out at Harry - all of his classes were at grade level - no remedial charm, no tutoring. 'Huh. when did that happen?'
*Meta*Meta*
"Hey, Ron - you want to hit the dojo before class tomorrow? I have a free first thing." The feast was winding down, and Harry had taken the opportunity to drop in at the Gryffindor table.
"Uhm, sorry, no. I have class" Ron glanced up at Seamus and Lee Jordan nervously. The two boys sitting opposite him were watching Harry, looking uncomfortable, "Look, I gotta go". Ron stood up and made his way for the door leading to the Gryffindor dorms. Seamus and Lee quickly followed.
'Huh. Wonder what's going on in his head.' Harry headed back the the 'Claw table, nonplussed. 'After the summer, I thought we were friends. Oh, well, there's always Neville.'
*Meta*Meta*
While Harry did a couple of preliminary stretches in the dojo, he was somewhat surprised to see Neville walk in. "Hey, can you show me some of the stuff from over the summer?"
"Sure, as long as I can use you as a practice dummy for the material that I'm working on."
"That's a deal!" Neville beamed.
The two boys went at it. Harry was pleasantly surprised at how much Neville remembered, 'He's a lot faster learner than Ron' "Sink down - you're stance is too high - ok that's good. Now, I want to you to punch at me, and I'm going to defend myself and take you down to the ground."
Neville threw a punch - a solid jab, and Harry slid off to the side and parried it past him, as his other hand lashed out to pin Neville's second arm to his body before he could throw a punch with it. As Neville recovered, he got a palm to the face followed by a light jab to the kidney.
Neither hit hurt, as Harry pulled them, but they made Neville turn sideways, so Harry continued the motion, twisting Neville's face like a light-bulb as he pushed on his side. Neville dropped like a sack of potatoes. Harry followed him down and and mimed a strike to his left eye, followed by a jab to the throat. He then leaped back and slid ten feet away, slapping his side.
Neville rolled over and stood up.
"You ok?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Ok, then let's do that again, but a little faster.:"
*Meta*Meta*
"This year, we will begin to learn transfiguration that does not rely on any of the Laws of Similarity. But not to worry," Mcgonagall gave a small smile to her students to put them at their ease, "we will take a few classes to build up to that level: the first item will be somewhat of a review. We will transfigure a dinner plate into an owl. You will find the materials on your desks. Proceed at your own pace."
McGonagall then wandered the class as the students all concentrated on the large piece of pottery on the desk in front of them.
"That looks good, Terrance. but smooth out the motion - your shoulders are too tense.
Padma, a little lens intense - you want an owl that can move, not a statue of an owl.
"Harry…" sigh "You need to visualize the transformation."
"I do visualize it" Harry lowered his wand, almost slamming it into the edge of the desk in frustration. "Maybe it's this wand.." He looked at the large yew wand that he had taken from Voldemort.
"The wand is fine. Acquiring a wand by force of arms, while a somewhat obsolete technique, is a functional way to bond the wand to yourself. No, Harry the problem is within you. You need to believe that you can transform the plate. See it in your minds eye."
"All I see is a plate."
"Mmm. That is a problem some wizards have - a too literal view of the world. And a difficult block it is to overcome. Take a break. Relax. Try to view the world in a more 'playful' fashion."
Harry's brain froze. The idea of the severe transfiguration professor telling him to be more 'playful' just was not something that he could process. 'Well, she wasn't always an old, dried up prune. At one point she must have been a young witch' The image of a teenage McGonagall in a two piece bathing suit popped into his minds eye. And promptly transfigured into the old, dried up McGonagall in the same two piece. 'Too much visualization!' He felt his gorge rise.
"Uhm, may I be excused to go to the loo?" Harry fled.
*Meta*Meta*
"Can you believe those buffoons?" Hermione steamed as she caught up to Harry later that morning. Harry looked around, trying to determine which buffoons Hermione was referring to - there were so many possibilities.
"Um, no?"
"They put up these posters asking for volunteers to test their joke products. They're going to get expelled!" Hermione pointed to the offending advertisement.
"Oh, the Weasleys twins!" Harry smiled, relieved to have solved the riddle of the buffoons. "They're actually not so bad, once you get used to their sense of humor. I lived with the Weasleys for a couple of weeks this summer."
"But they are putting up posters asking people to volunteer to break school rules! What kind of idiots are they?"
"Well, that's why they are in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw, but they really are very good inventors - I doubt Dumbledore will do anything bad to them." Harry tried to come up with something else to say. He had never been a good conversationalist, but Hermione was one of the few people who were willing to talk to him, so he wanted to keep her friendship. Maybe a non-verbal approach might work "Do you want me to carry some of that?" He pointed to the huge stack of books jutting from her book-bag.
"Um, ah, no. we're almost there" she stammered, blushing. They were approaching the DADA classroom, so there really was no point. Just then, the door opened and the fourth year Ravenclaws streamed out. Including Luna.
Luna paused when she saw Harry. Her eyes flickered to Hermione before she leaned over and pronounced, "Oh, hi, Hermione! You're in for a treat in Defense!" and she skipped off.
"I thought you two were dating?" Hermione asked, puzzled at Luna's behavior.
"No, I think we're just friends, though Luna is odd enough so it's hard to tell sometimes." Harry shrugged noncommittally, trying to distance himself from the confusion that was Luna.
Harry, Hermione and the rest of the fifth year 'Claws made their way into the DADA classroom, to find it decked out with little round tables, each one will a doily in the middle.
"Hem, herm. Good morning class. As you can see, we will be doing things a little differently in my class. You can put your wands away, we won't be needing them. We will spend most of our time delving into Defense Theory, and discussing it in small groups."
Harry rolled his eyes. He resigned himself to another useless year. He took a seat next to Hermione at an open table.
But apparently not everybody had. "Professor Umbridge, if You-Know-Who really IS back, shouldn't we spend more time on the practical applications of defense?" asked Hermione, her hand in the air.
"Herm, herm. Next time, please wait to be called on, miss…" The toad looked down at a class register, "Granger. And there is no need to spread panic with baseless rumors. The Ministry is investigating these ridiculous allegations, but at this time there is no evidence to support them. Now, class please turn to page 6 and read the first chapter on the Blood Taint, and how it is spread by creatures such as Werewolves and Vampires. Once you are done, I would like you to discuss amongst yourselves. At the end of class, each group will present their ideas."
Harry opened the book and glanced at the first chapter. He, like most of the other Ravenclaws, had already read the first chapter. It talked about how Lycanthrope and Vampirism weakened a wizards magic, and traced the effects to the 'Blood Taint' that caused both conditions.
"This is tripe!" whispered Hermione. "The book makes it out like Vampirism and Lycanthrope are part of the same disease, but there is no proof for it: Vampires never create werewolves and vice versa!"
"Hem, Hem!" The toad interrupted, "Discussion will be in the second part of the class. Right now I would like you to read the book."
Terry raised his hand, "Professor Umbridge, our group has already finished the chapter, so we would..."
"Well, young man!" Her Pinkness replied in annoyance at the audacity of this student to interrupt her carefully scripted class. "Please read more carefully. Remember, you are Reading for Ideas!"
The class of scholars-to-be looked bewildered as they were told so do something that they had been doing since before first year. Some reread the material, while others started to read ahead. Harry just leaned over the desk and started to doodle in his book. After a painful twenty minutes, Umbridge opened the class for discussion, at which point Hermione's hand shot up. "Professor, The Blood Taint theory espoused by this book lacks any empirical evidence to support it. And I was.."
SLAM! Professor Umbridge brought a book down on her table, "I will not have your theories undermining this class, little girl! Detention, Miss Granger! See me after class!"
*Meta*Meta*
After dinner, Harry got in a spot of training and then went up to the 'Claw common room to get started on his potions homework - Snape didn't believe in wasting time: first day of class, and he had already assigned a full load of homework. It was almost ten before he was done, and the common room was full of students chatting or playing cards. Harry glanced around "Hey, Padma - have you seen Hermione?"
The Indian girl looked up, and debated whether to reply, before saying, "I think she's still down in detention."
"Huh. That's a long detention." Padma just shrugged, turning back to her book.
Harry pulled out his Defense book and started reading ahead. As ten thirty rolled past, most of the students headed up for bed under the urging of the painting of a matronly witch..
Harry resolutely ignored them. By eleven, the painting was deeply engrossed in her knitting, and even the upperclassmen had gone upstairs, except for one couple who were talking intently by the fire.
Finally, Hermione arrived, looking haggard.
"Hermione? Are you ok?" Harry went over to the bushy haired girl in concern. He put his hand out to steady her, just in case.
"I'm fine, just tired," she smiled wanly, stepping around Harry's arm and fled upstairs to the girls dorms.
*Meta*Meta*
It was sunny, bright day, with green trees all around the cottage.
"Here, eat this" Cedric thrust a shiny red apple at Harry. Harry took it tentatively. "Go on. It's good for you. Your relatives don't feed you right, so you need the vitamins."
Harry nodded and took a bite. the second the apple touched his mouth, he felt sleepy and started to sway. 'Mustn't fall asleep!' Harry forced his eyes to stay open. It was a huge struggle - first one eye would close, and he would force it open, only to discover that the other had closed.
"Get in!" demanded Cedric, pointing at a cat carrier. The giant hole in his chest was sucking all the color out of the world.
"But, I won't fit!" replied Harry.
"I don't care. I promised Voldemort that I would bring you to him!" Cedric grabbed Harry and jammed his head into the cat carrier. Harry fought back, but slowly more and more of him was shoved into the claustrophobic confines.
Harry jerked awake in a cold sweat. 'This one was all me.' He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the top of his bed. it was the middle of the night, and still fully dark. 'I have nightmares about Cedric betraying me and take me to Voldemort. How come I don't have any about killing him?' Guilt began to gnaw away harry.
After tossing and turning for a good while, He finally got up with a sigh, 'I might as well read. sleep isn't happening'
*Meta*Meta*
The next day, Harry didn't see Hermione at breakfast, which was not that surprising, as all she had that morning was OWL review and then a seventh year Arithromancy seminar that she was auditing.
"Hey, Harry - I haven't seen you at SPEW." Harry looked up to see Lavender. She had a bunch of signs about the first SPEW meeting of the year.
"Ahm.." Harry didn't want to say that the only reason he even joined was to hang out with Parvati. Especially since that whole thing had ended up bombing badly. "I don't think that would be a good idea. You know, being associated with me right now." 'though come to think of it, it's kind of nice that Lavender still wants me to come.'
Lavender cocked her head as she considered "I guess you're right. Thank you for staying away." and she walked off quickly.
Harry shook his head in bemusement, 'She's dumber than Parvati. And I'm still not certain what I saw in THAT ditz.' He threw his napkin onto his plate and made his way to class.
As Harry made his way out to the Herbology greenhouse, his mind drifted back to Hermione. something had seemed off about her, 'she looked .. rumpled - She's usually a neat freak, with her hair pulled into a bun.'
"Harry. Earth to Harry" Harry looked up. Neville was holding out twine and stakes, "We need to tie up the the Engorgantus Cucurbita - they are getting too heavy for the vines."
"Yeah, ok" Harry grabbed the proffered tools and went to work with Neville, "Can you believe DADA this year?" Neville continued talking as he gently teased the gourds into place so that Harry could tie them to the support stakes., "Umbridge claims she wants us to discuss defense theories. She even has us sitting at round tables. All of which is ok, but she then spent all of class walking around and if anybody actually started to question any idea from the text she shut them down and even took away house points. How can you have a discussion if you aren't allowed to disagree?"
"Yeah, I know. And when the new girl, Hermione, challenged her and showed that she was full of it, Umbridge had her in detention for half the night, and Hermione looked really frazzled when she came back."
"Frazzled how?" asked Neville
"I don't know - I was trying to figure it out just now." Harry said forcefully, in exasperation. The green gourd that he was tying up to a stake swelled to twice it's size and turned yellow
"Shh!" don't startle it!" whispered Neville. He started crooning a lullaby to the squash.
Harry put an extra scoop of dirt into the pot that they were working with. "I think.. you know how she's always meticulously dressed, not even a strand of hair out of place? Well, she looked frizzy when she came back."
"Maybe she was just cleaning the classroom without her wand, or something," Neville quoted a popular Detention pastime that many professors inflicted on erring students (at this point, the Weasley twins were experts – their cleaning skills would put Molly to shame.).
Harry glanced at Neville, "Hey, Nev.. Thanks for not treating me like some sort of pariah, like the rest of the school."
Neville gave self deprecating shrug, "I wouldn't do that, you're my friend."
"Well, even Ron blew me off, and I spent half the summer living with him and his family!"
Neville sighed, "Ron.. Ron's a nice guy, and he's a hard worker, but he's not as smart as his older brothers. So he's a little insecure. He just scared that people won't like him if word gets out that he's friends with you."
"So much for Gryffindor courage" scowled Harry.
"Yeah, well… Some things are scarier than others. I bet he would have no problem facing down a Death Eater."
Harry snorted in amusement at the image. "Maybe." Harry continued to work silently for a few minutes, "So, what are you scared of?"
"Gran" Neville replied without hesitation, making Harry smile. "How about you?"
Harry paused. So many, many things in his life made him uncomfortable or embarrassed or nervous in some fashion. But which of these negative feelings was fear? "I have no idea" Harry answered honestly. After some deliberation, he added, "Maybe I should find out, though." Was being embarrassed by what your friends did the same as being scared of the Death Eaters?
*Meta*Meta*
"Hey, Draco…" Harry walked into 'Draco's' classroom. As usual, almost all the desks were pushed off to one side, except for the ones that the boys were using as seats. Currently the only ones present were Draco and Crabbe.
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco scowled and looked away.
"I thought that we could make a fresh start, you know, hang out like we used to." Harry steeled himself, "I know we got into some fights last spring, but I don't even remember why. It was probably something stupid. So… friends?"
"That'll be the day" snorted Crabbe.
Draco looked down at something on the desk in front of him "Go away Potter." he said, sounding defeated, "Nothing is the same anymore." Draco pulled out a cigarette and lit it, without looking up at Harry.
Harry stood and looked at his former friend before turning and walking back out of the classroom.
*Meta*Meta*
"So who can tell me what the Luxor accords were?" chirped Umbridge in her gratingly high voice. Harry hunkered down, hoping not to be called on. Not that he didn't know the answer - it was right there in the book, but that woman annoyed him to the point he was certain that he would mouth off and get into trouble. He glanced at Hermione, who was seated next to him at their round table. She also sat hunched over, a hunted expression on her face.
And that was WHY he disliked Umbridge. BAD teachers he could deal with. This was DADA after all. But Hermione was usually so poised and confident, to see her like this was painful. She was way too bossy, but Hermione and Neville were the only students that would so much as talk to him, so that made her one of his best friends by default. Harry had tried talking to her a couple of times about the detention, but she had just brushed him off, saying it wasn't that big a deal.
"Yes, Simon?"
"The Luxor accord banned the use of the Unforgivables in 1783."
"Very good Simon. And Mr Potter, can you tell us what that means for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
Harry glanced down at the book open on the table in front of him. The paragraph that he was being asked to parrot back in this 'discussion' session was very clear "After the Luxor accords, the use of the unforgivables became extremely rare, so that the average citizen no longer needed to learn how to defend against them." Harry read straight from the book in a monotone. "But Professor Umbridge, That only applies to regular situations. The Death Eaters DO use the unforgivables."
"10 points from Ravenclaw. You-Know-Who was defeated long ago, and his followers are no threat to wizarding Britain."
"Then who was it that cast Crucio on me?" Harry demanded.
"Detention, Potter!" roared the pink toad.
Harry just jutted out his chin and glared back at the toad. 'Maybe now I'll find out what happened to Hermione.'
*Meta*Meta*
Harry had class the rest of the day, so he had no chance to dwell on his upcoming detention with 'that horrible woman' (as Hermione referred to her). When evening rolled around, he grabbed a quick dinner and went up to the DADA classroom.
"Come to my office" Umbridge led Harry to the back of the classroom and into the office behind it. "Sit down Mr. Potter." Umbridge herself took a seat behind a dainty desk. It had several pieces of parchment on one corner, and otherwise was empty save for a number of chachkas. The office was remarkably empty as well, with paintings of cats hanging on the walls and a few more souvenirs on the sparsely filled shelves.
"Mr. Potter, I will not have you spreading fear and discontent in the student body with your wild rumors and stories."
"But.." began Harry, starting to rise from his seat.
"Sit back down, and do not interrupt while I am speaking, please. If there was any chance that a dark wizard was out attacking people, the Minister of Magic would have taken the appropriate measures." Dolores gave a him sickly sweet smile that looked very out of place on her toad face, "Can I have your word that you won't make any of these ridiculous assertions again?"
Harry paused, 'I can get out of detention! but..' "What, so you can claim I killed Cedric because I went crazy or something? I liked Cedric! He attacked me. I don't know if he was secretly a Death Eater, or under the Imperius, but the reason Cedric is dead is because of Voldemort!"
"Tut, tut, mister Potter" Umbridge shook her head in disappointment, "Now, I would like you to write 'I will not spread filthy lies' 1000 times."
"Oh, ok" Harry was relieved. it would be monotonous, but otherwise not too bad. He had been dreading something far worse. He pulled out a pen and took the proffered roll of parchment when Umbridge leaned forward, "Not with that pen, this one." She held opened a small pen case and handed him the contents.
Harry shrugged and began to write.
'I will not spread filthy lies'
'I will not spread filthy lies'
'I will not spread filthy lies'
His chest began to itch. He rubbed at it absently as he wrote. By the time he had reached fifty lines, the itch was maddening. "Um, Professor, may I be excused to go to the bathroom?"
"I think you can do better than that, Mr. Potter." She replied scornfully, "your potty break can wait until you have managed at least 200 lines."
As Harry wrote, the itching got worse and worse. He gritted his teeth and continued to write, to show the fat toad that he wasn't some slacker. His chest was burning by the time he reached 500 lines. He jumped up and raced to the bathroom. Once there, he pulled up his robe to see what was wrong.
Written in large letters across his chest was 'I will not spread filthy lies' in his own handwriting. it looked like he had been tattooed, or more likely, branded. "What the heck? What do I do?" Once he stopped writing, the pain went away, but the letters still itched abominably. And the the process of writing was getting more and more painful. Harry wasn't certain if you could handle 500 more lines. "I'll be damned before I let that toad win." He put his robe back on and stormed back into the DADA office. He dropped down into his chair started writing again, gritting his teeth against the pain.
It was almost midnight when Harry Potter staggered into the Ravenclaw Common-room. He was emotionally wrung out from inflicting pain on himself, and his chest itched so much that he walked hunched over, so that his robe wouldn't rub against it.
"Um, Hi." A small voice called out as he headed for the boys dorms. Hermione put down her book and got up from the chair by the fire. Other than her, the room empty, and all of the lights (except from the fire) had been turned off. She tentatively approached the Boy Who Itched. "Are you ok?"
Harry waved and plastered a fake smile on. "Yeah. I'm fine." As he started for the stairs, Hermione grabbed his sleeve, "St. Mungo's Gort-root ointment helps." Hermione said quickly, holding out a jar, "Here, I have some left."
Harry stopped, "DId that woman make you write lines?" asked Harry, "And did they appear elsewhere on your body?"
Hermione nodded and tapped her chest, blushing furiously. Harry didn't know what to say. He took the ointment. "Thanks." As he started up the stairs, he turned back to Hermione. "Thanks for waiting up for me."
"Just returning the favor."
Harry stood there for a moment, and then turned around and went back down stairs. "This.. This isn't ok. WE should do something." He sat back down in the easy chair.
"What can we do? She's a teacher." To Hermione, teachers were an absolute authority, not to be questioned, except on intellectual grounds.
"Maybe we could start a study group? I bet a lot of people are fed up with Umbridge. We never learned that much in DADA, but she's positively intent on making us UN-learn what little we do know! And with You-Know-Who - Voldemort - out there, we should learn how to cast defense spells."
Hermione flinched slightly as Harry said the name, "Don't bring him up - a lot of people don't believe that he's actually back, despite what Dumbledore said, and mentioning You-Know-Who will only alienate them." Hermione rubbed her chin, "But some of the Ravenclaws will show up to a Defense study session just because they want to actually learn something." Hermione paused to think the idea through. The idea of getting revenge on the Luddite Professor by learning forbidden knowledge appealed to her. "So what are we going to study?"
"I thought you could come with something."
"Me?" Hermione's voice rose, "I.. I "
"But you've already graduated from Beauxbatons, and your brilliant - smarter than any of the other Ravenclaws our year. Who else would do?"
"I've never done anything like this - I have never felt comfortable in front of so many people."
"But you hung out with Fleur, who's the center of attention wherever she goes."
"But that was FLEUR. I never had to deal with it!" Wailed Hermione.
"I'll help. Anything you need."
Hermione looked at Harry. "I… ok. But it's late - let me think about it and I'll let you know tomorrow morning if I can do it." Harry positively beamed. He leaned over and gave her a quick one armed shoulder hug
Hermione blushed so hard she almost glowed.
*Meta*Meta*
Harry was on tenterhooks all the following morning - this was the first project that Harry had really ever gotten into. And he wasn't certain why. It was a combination of wanting to get back at Umbridge and learning how to defend himself with a wand. Ever since last year, studying with Professor Loew, Harry had begun to feel that he could fend of an attacker better with his bare hands then with magic. But after the graveyard… Harry wasn't certain if that was enough.
He never wanted to feel that powerless again.
Harry was finishing up his eggs and toast when Hermione sat down next to him. "ok."
"Ok?"
"Yes, I'll do it" Hermione acknowledged, smiling wanly.
"Great!" Harry beamed at Hermione, "You're the best!" Other students at the Ravenclaw table watched in bemusement. "So, have you got a curriculum?"
Harry's enthusiasm was infectious, and soon Hermione was smiling back as she tucked a stray stand of hair back behind her ear, "Yeah, I was thinking we could research spell chains - it's a way of getting spells off faster. Apparently dualists often use them." 'Why won''t that hair stay put.' she brushed it back again compulsively.
Harry shrugged, "I've never heard of them."
"All the more reason to go over them." Hermione replied sagely. Maybe she COULD do this. Maybe if she was seen as the teacher, they would would respect her. "And I also took out a OWL DADA study guide, and we can work off of that."
"Uhm.." Terry leaned over tentatively, almost against his will, and asked, "What are you guys going on about?"
"Hermione is going to be running a Defense study group, to you know, catch up on material that we might need for our OWLs and such…"
Terry sat back and looked thoughtful, "Count me in. I'll talk to a few others and see who's interested. Where are you meeting?"
"We can grab one of the classrooms on the third floor - they never took down the expansion from hosting the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students last year." Hermione offered. Several other 'Claws who had been pretending not not to listen in nodded. At the same time, Luna finished her orange juice and walked off.
*Meta*Meta*
"Silencio" Harry cast.
"You suck, Potter" Simon replied.
"Shit."
"Language, Harry, just relax and try again. Flitwick commented as he walked by. They were in the Charms classroom, and all of the Ravenclaws were paired off and practicing the silencing charm. Simon had been paired (against his will) with Harry - the détente that the two boys had shared last year had faded, and Simon was back to sneering at Harry.
"Ok, you try." Harry steeled himself.
"Silencio" Simon cast. Nothing seemed to happen. "pst, doofus, say, something!" Simon hissed.
'I am not a doofus.' Harry replied, or tried to. No sound came out.
"Finite Incantatem. Good job, Simon. Harry, get a drink of water and relax. Jut jab out the wand at the same time as you pronounce the spell. That's it - together. " Flitwick watched Harry try again, this time successfully. 'Harry has made huge improvements since last year. Even with linear spells like this, he was only able to get them to go half the time. Now, having a spell fail is more the exception than the rule.' "Very good. Practice a few more times, but it looks like you both have it."
Harry was having a hard time concentrating on the class. That evening was the defense study session. Even though Hermione was nominally leading the study group, he was still really nervous. He didn't want the group to fail. He didn't want HERMIONE to fail. 'If this doesn't work out, she's going to be so upset' Hermione seemed a little… delicate that way. She wasn't used to failing. or being told that she was worthless.
"Potter! Say something so I can tell if my spell worked." Simon was exasperated. 'Why did Flitwick assign me to work with Potter. I don't want to work with him, and he obviously doesn't want to have anything to do with me either.'
*Meta*Meta*
Later that evening, Hermione spoke to the group of a dozen 'Claws that showed up to the study group, "I want to mostly concentrate on preparing for the OWLs," She held up the 'Official Ministry of Magic Study Guide for OWL exams' that she was using as her syllabus, "but I also want to learn some practical dueling skills" She held up a second book - 'The IWC Dueling Manual, CLVII'. "I have made copies of chapter one of the Guide so that you can read up on the material, and next time we meet we can discuss anything that we don't understand. But for now, lets look at casting spell chains. That's a technique used by duelers where the end of one spell leads right into their next spell, so that there is no break in their spell casting. We can try that with Lumos and Wingardium Leviosa. Here, let me demonstrate."
For the next quarter hour, the students practiced seamlessly flowing from one spell to the next without slurring any of the wand motions or getting the words out of sync with the motions.
"It's not possible to get the first spell finished right before starting the second," complained Padma, "you end up producing a weak Lumos because the wand tip doesn't stop at the end of the spell."
"So pause for a fraction of a second before continuing on to the second," explained Terry. His spell chain was working very well. He had even started putting in some other spells, "The trick is finding spells that can flow one into the next. We should come up with a couple of good ones that we can memorize"
"Yeah, I guess. As long as the spells work together well," added Harry. "It doesn't matter how well you can cast a spell chain if it doesn't do anything useful." The spell chains reminded him a lot of Kumites the Professor Loew had taught him. And Sensei Loew had been careful to always remind Harry that the Kumites were just training, that as he became more advanced, that he would need to be able to flow like that with ANY move, and that the best way to to get to that point was to practice coming up with his own combination..
Hermione glanced at her watch. "Let's call it a day. We'll meet again on Thursday, and start on the real work".
"Uhm, that brings up the question - how often are we going to meet?" This was from one of the fourth years.
"I was thinking twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have a lot of material to cover." Hermione patted her books. Most of the fifth year 'Claws nodded in agreement, but the younger students looked skeptical.
*Meta*Meta*
After lunch the following day, Harry was sitting by the lake, his potions homework on his lap. Not that he was actually concentrating on that: Harry had his wand in hand, and his eyes glazed as he tried to think of spells that would work in a chain. And that would be effective in defense.
"Hey, Harry." The Boy Who Lived started, to find Neville sitting next to him. "Oh, good. You Ravenclaws have the same Potions homework that we do. Can you give me a hand with question two? I am completely blanking on on it. I am not even certain what Snape is asking."
"Sure. I have some time until my next class" The two boys got down to work. Working together, the two boys started to make some progress, which was good, since Harry had been having a hard time concentrating on Potions, and Neville, as always had no clue. It was really amazing to Harry how somebody as smart as Neville could be so bad at something as simple as Potions. While the class wasn't Harry's favorite, Neville at some basic level just didn't get it. Why switching directions when stirring made a difference, why some ingredients had to be heated, while others had to be kneaded in the hand. But Harry had the same sort of problem in Herbology, so they made a good team.
"But WHY does sniffing the Roomi Tubers before you drop them into the cauldron make a difference? They smell bad." whined Neville.
"Yes, but if you don't sniff them, the smell won't be as potent, and that's the key part of the Roomis. It's no different than your singing lullabies to the Cucurbitas, but not to the Rosmarinus Officious"
"But that makes sense - Rosemary plants don't LIKE lullabies! They are a hard rock sort of plant." Neville sighed and leaned back, rubbing his neck, "speaking of not making any sense, do you know that the last couple of days, Luna has been hanging out in our Common Room, draping herself over Michael Corner?"
"Are they going out?" Harry wasn't certain how he felt about that. Obviously Luna could do whatever she wanted, and he was fine with that, but on the other hand, it felt.. odd. Like having a door slammed in his face.
"I don't think so. Michael looks sort of uncomfortable with her, which is understandable - she's being weirder than usual. Last night, she was was literally laying along the top of the couch that Michael was sitting on. Like a cat, or something."
"That's Luna for you" Harry smiled in bemusement.
*Meta*Meta*
"Harry, are you ready for the study session?" Hermione asked as they sat at dinner. She had trouble sitting still, and kept picking up her glass of water and putting it back down.
"Hermione, it'll be fine. You're just leading a study group." Hermione was dressed in a formal robe and had her hair pulled back into a bun that was so tight that Harry was surprised not to hear it screaming. And she had carefully applied makeup that made her look several years older.
"I just want to make a good impression." she took a sip of water, "I've never been the leader of anything like this before." She took another sip.
"Why are you stressing out about it _now_, you already HAD one meeting."
"But that was just an orientation. Those don't count. Now, I have to teach something" Hermione took another sip of water.
Harry wolfed the last bit of his food and stood up. "Come on, lets go - you're not eating anything anyways, and if you keep drinking like that, you'll spend the whole time in the loo."
"Harry!" Hermione colored in embarrassment.
"Besides, the study group was my idea, so if it doesn't work out, you can just blame me." Harry lead the way.
Hermione jogged to catch up, and the pair power walked up to the classroom. "Harry - Thanks for supporting me. It means a lot." Hermione took a deep breath and walked in to the lions den.
The next 45 minutes were somewhat of a let down, at least for Harry. They just sat around and went over OWL prep. Several of the students from younger years snuck out early. The last fifteen minutes they spent working on spell chains.
"I think we're doing something wrong" Terry sighed.
Hermione agreed, "this is so frustrating. We need to ask somebody who actually knows how to cast these." Having to ask for help was a blow to Hermione's self esteem, but she wasn't too proud to admit that there were some things that she just couldn't do all by herself. Like sing a duet, or play Bridge.
"We could ask Flitwick - he's a former dualist." volunteered Harry.
"You're right. I just don't understand why our spells are coming out so weak." Hermione continued to pick at the problem in front of her as the rest of the 'Claws said their goodbyes and took their leave. Soon, it was only Harry and Hermione.
"Hermione - you won't solve this all tonight. Lets head back."
Hermione put her wand away , "Goodness! It's almost curfew - How did it get so late?"
Harry laughed, "When you get going on something, you're scary."
Hermione sent a mock-glare at Harry. As they turned to go, she grabbed Harry's arm. "You really are the best." as they walked back to the Common room, Hermione kept casting sidelong glances at Harry. Finally, as they were almost at the door, she grabbed his arm. "Uhm, Harry… you want to go to Hogsmead with me next weekend?"
Harry's heart lurched up into his throat, 'is she asking… who cares. She's nice, pretty, and cool.' "Yeah, I would love to." As the two teens stood there, looking at each other, smiling stupidly, Harry's mind whirled, 'Is she waiting for me to kiss her? Or would that be too forward? Am I supposed to open the door for her?' Finally Hermione turned, and still smiling, lead the way into the Common Room.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Harry"
Harry forgot all about asking Flitwick about dueling techniques.
*Meta*Meta*
"Hem, Hem" Harry looked up - he and Hermione were sitting at dinner. Technically, they were at the Ravenclaw table, but in reality, they were in a world all their own. Harry glanced over at the head table. The Pink Toad was standing and making an announcement.
"In the past several weeks that I have been a teacher here, I have discovered that Hogwarts is a seething morass of chaos and improper behavior. To that end, I have spoken to the Minister of Magic, and he has appointed me High Inquisitor, in charge of rooting out malcontents and bringing calm and reason and order to this august institution." She took a sip of water and then continued in a self-satisfied tone, "It has come to my attention that there are some students involved in Illegal extracurricular clubs. All student organizations MUST be approved by me. In addition, there has been a high incidents of dangerous pranks in the hallways. None of this is acceptable: This is a school, not a madhouse. To that end, I will be organizing an Inquisitorial Squad that will verify that all students are conforming to all other Hogwarts rules. And any student club, organization or scheduled study group must be approved by me by monday morning or be disbanded. That is all. Have a pleasant evening" She smiled, nodded and sat back down.
Harry glanced at Dumbledore, to see what his reaction was, but the old gentlemen sat quietly, thin lipped, before turning back to his food.
"Is she talking about us?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know. Did you check with her before organizing our group?"
Hermione looked askance at Harry, "Does Her Pinkness strike you as the sort that would tolerate any criticism, even as indirect as us studying materials that are not on her approved list?"
"Um, no. I think she's a control freak, actually."
"She's _some_ sort of freak" muttered Terry darkly, "The study group is over and done now, as are our chances of passing the DADA OWLS."
"Hey, don't give up yet. I'll see if I can think of something," Harry was an expert on rules breaking, so maybe he could find some way around this.
"You may be willing to break the rules, but how many students are going to be willing to risk a detention?" Padma broke in, giving Harry an angry look. But she was usually angry with Harry. He had long ago given on trying to figure out why. "And for what? Maybe the OWLs have been revised to reflect the new curriculum - the Study Guide Hermione is using is from last year."
"Do really think so?" Hermione asked, hopefully.
"Who cares?" interrupted Harry, "the point isn't to pass some stupid test. The point is to be able to defend yourself if You-Know-Who shows up." Harry spoke patiently, but he kept his voice low, so that it wouldn't carry far.
Padma looked away. Terry opened his mouth, and then closed without saying anything. He just shook his head.
"I know you think I'm full of shit. but what if you're wrong?" Harry continued, "What if I'm NOT lying? And a bunch of Death Eaters show up at your door? Then what? Can you afford to take the risk? It could be your life on the line."
Padma stood up, pulling Terry after her, and walked away before Harry could say any more.
Harry sighed, "Well, I guess there's no point in asking Flitwick about dueling"
Hermione silently wrapped her arms around Harry.
*Meta*Meta*
That night, Harry had another nightmare. He saw himself walking around a balding, middle-aged man who was cowering on the floor of what looked like a suburban living room. Several masked Death Eaters stood around the edges, "Saul Neeper." The hissing voice dripped disdain, "You came from a long, distinguished line. Your blood was as pure as they come, yet here you are, married to a muggle. Your children are muggles, and you work as an accountant. You have completely abandoned, no you have BETRAYED the magical world" The circling stopped, and now he pointed his - Harry's - wand at at the trembling man, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I did nothing wrong! I haven't violated the Statutes of Secrecy!" Saul managed to squeak before clamping tight his chinless jaw so that his teeth wouldn't chatter.
"So you haven't violated the Statutes of Secrecy" mocked the hissing voice. "CRUCIO!" Saul Neeper writhed in pain. "Finish him off, and dump the body where it won't be found." He turned and walked away.
"Should we leave the Dark Mark, your lordship?" asked one of the Death Eaters.
"No… Not yet."