Harry Potter is not mine.
Chapter 15- Consequences of a joyride
"RONALD WEASLEY HOW DARE YOU!"
The red envelope burst open and Mrs. Weasley's voice started screaming at Ron.
"... STEALING THE CAR! I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU. I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT WE PARENTS WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT HAD GONE ..."
Harry did his best to plug his ears. He'd gotten an angry letter from Remus which no doubt would have sounded as bad as Ron's, but thankfully his dad never raised his voice. He didn't have to. He could make you feel small with a look or with his choice of words. So Remus hadn't made his letter a Howler.
"... 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 HAVE DIED. POOR REMUS HAS BEEN JUST AS WORRIED AS US!"
Harry sank even lower in his seat.
"... ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"
Then everything fell silent and the envelope burst into flames. A few of the students laughed, and others were murmuring. Harry and Ron were just glad it was over, and Harry couldn't help feeling guilty. The Weasleys had always done so much for him and his dad, and now Mr. Weasley was facing an inquisition. But since they had to hurry to class, there wasn't time to dwell on it. When they got to the greenhouse they saw Lockhart telling Professor Sprout how to doctor the Whomping Willow, which had several branches broken thanks to Ron and Harry crashing the car into it the night before. Harry found it hard to feel too badly about the tree though since it had tried to kill them and had snapped Ron's wand clean in half.
Lockhart latched onto Harry as soon as he saw him. Giving him a lecture about not being too enthusiastic about becoming famous. As if I'm the one who needs that lecture, Harry thought. And couldn't this git stop talking abut how famous he was or winning the most charming smile award? Thankfully since Harry had to hurry to class the lecture was relatively short, and although Harry usually wasn't interested in Herbology, this lesson wasn't bad. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were put with a boy none of them had met before by the name of Justin Finch-Fletchly. He seemed friendly enough, but he seemed to be as enthralled by Lockhart as everyone else.
"That Lockhart's something, isn't he? Awfully brave chap. Have you read his books? I'd have died of fear if I'd been cornered in a telephone box by a werewolf, but he stayed cool and - zap - just fantastic."
Harry had nothing against Justin, but he still found himself opening his mouth to remind Justin that werewolves were ordinary people most of the time, but before he could Justin changed the topic to the muggle school he was supposed to attend before he found out he was a wizard. They had to put their earmuffs on again in a moment anyway since they were repotting mandrakes.
The rest of the classes were a little rougher then Harry had expected for the first day of lessons, but Lockhart's class was absolutely a joke. The first thing they had to do was take a quiz with questions like "What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?" and "What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?" Hermione was the only one who'd gotten every question right. Things looked like they might get better when Lockhart pulled out a cage. Although Harry had no liking for Lockhart, he had to admit he was curious. What could be in there? A small Acromantula? An erkling? Lockhart pulled the cover off and…
"Cornish pixies?" Seamus asked laughing.
"Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies. Let's see what you make of them."
He opened the cage door, and there was an explosion of electric blue as the pixies dashed out of the cage and proceeded to destroy everything in sight. Pictures were torn, windows were broken, and the dragon skeleton that hung from the ceiling came crashing to the ground. To his credit Lockhart did try using a spell on them- which might or might not have helped if the pixies wouldn't have grabbed his wand and tossed it out the window while he was saying it- before he fled the room. The bell rang and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left to catch them and get them back in their cages. Neville would have helped, but first they had to get him down from the chandelier the pixies had hung him on.
When they finally shoved the last pixie back in the cage, Ron couldn't resist asking "What do you think of Lockhart now, Hermione?" He'd noticed earlier that she'd outlined all of Lockhart's lessons in little hearts.
"He just wanted to give us a practical lesson."
"Hermione, I've had practical lessons, and that wasn't one of them.
All in all, it wasn't the beginning of the school year Harry had expected, between Lockhart's lessons and a first year, Colin Creevy, taking pictures of Harry at every opportunity. Quidditch practice started that weekend, and it was a good thing Harry loved Quidditch. Oliver Wood decided to get the team up and to the locker room before it was even light out. They finally reached the Quidditch field after well over an hour of going over new tactics at he same time the Slytherin team showed up.
"I booked the pitch for today," Oliver said in exasperation. Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, held out a piece of paper signed by professor Snape giving the Slytherins permission to use the pitch to train their new seeker. Harry had an awful feeling that he knew who the seeker was, and sure enough, Draco Malfoy stepped out on the pitch. Just then Harry noticed the Slytherins were all holding very new, very expensive looking brooms.
"What did your dad do Malfoy? Buy new brooms for the entire team?"
"As a matter of fact, he did. These will wipe up the floor with that old thing of yours."
Harry knew Remus would have bought him a new broom in a heartbeat, even though he couldn't afford it, but Harry loved having his first dad's old broom.
"This broom has won lots of games before."
"How many years ago."
"That doesn't matter."
Ron, Hermione, and Neville came onto the pitch just in time to overhear.
"At least nobody on our team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent," Hermione said angrily.
"Who asked you, you filthy little mud blood?"
Everyone seemed enraged at the use of that word, but especially Harry and Ron since they were friends with her. However, Ron was the only one to actually try hexing him. Just as Ron raised his wand Harry realized, too late, what trying to hex someone with a broken wand could do. A jet of light hit Ron in the stomach, and the next thing they knew he was coughing up slugs. While the Slytherins were laughing and Colin was busy snapping pictures of the whole thing, Harry and Hermione helped Ron to Hagrid's house. What a way to end the first week back. And to top it off he still had to serve detention for the stunt with the flying car, answering fan mail for Lockhart.
Dear Dad,
Sorry again about taking the car. I know it was really stupid of me, and thanks for not sending me a howler the way Mrs. Weasley did to Ron. I ended up having to serve detention with Lockhart for it. The strangest thing happened during detention. I know it sounds crazy, but while I was answering his fan mail I heard a voice. It wasn't any of the ghosts or Peeves, and Lockhart said he didn't hear anything. Of course most of the time he never hears anything except himself talking, but still, it was spooky. Do you have any idea what it could have been?
Other than that, the only other news is that Malfoy's the Slytherin seeker now. That doesn't worry me much, but he called Hermione that really foul name for muggleborns when she told him the Gryffindor team doesn't need fancy new brooms to win. Poor Ron went to her defense but ended up hexing himself with his own wand since he broke it when we hit the Whomping Willow. He's fine now, but I sure hope he can get a new wand soon.
Love, Harry
Now that had Remus puzzled. What voice could Harry possibly hear that others couldn't? Could Harry have just been tired and imagined it? Or was Harry right about Lockhart just being too focused on himself to notice? It was definitely unnerving to say the least. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices wasn't a good sign.
He was glad to hear that Harry wasn't letting Malfoy get him down, though of course he felt sorry for Hermione. He knew which name Harry meant, and it wasn't one used in polite society. There wasn't anything he could really do to prevent it at this point, but he was sure Harry would beat him in Quidditch and deflate that ego a bit. As pleasant as that thought was, he couldn't help thinking of Dobby's warning again. Was that voice the danger, and was it planning to hurt his cub even now?