CHAPTER 10

CLASSES BEGIN

Harry woke up the next morning forgetting why he was so stressed. Then he remembered last night.

"Ugh!" He groaned and covered himself with his blankets. He just couldn't handle this anymore.

But today was a new day. It was also the start of his new classes of 5th year. Maybe the drama and pressure of school will help Harry forget about his own problems.

When Harry finally forced himself up, he found that his other bunkmates: Dean, Seamus, and Neville, have already gotten ready. Ron was still sound asleep. Well, actually not 'sound', he was snoring a bit loud.

Harry sighed and got dressed. He made sure he had all his books and parchment. Hermione would kill him if he came unprepared.

After he got his robes on, Harry attempted to wake up Ron. It didn't work. He shook him, yelled in his ear. Nothing. All he got form him was, "5 more minutes, Mum."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not your Mum! Get your lazy arse up!"

Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, Ron stirred. He rubbed his eyes, "Bloody hell, what time is it?"

"Almost 7:30." Harry replied.

"What! How come you didn't wake me up?"

Harry chose not to answer that. "Just get ready, would you? We have to meet Hermione downstairs for breakfast."

That got him running.

Once Ron got dressed, the 2 boys headed downstairs. They saw Hermione talking to Lavender and Parvati. Hermione looked very annoyed, although the 2 girls were very good friends with her, she could not stand them and their girly lip gloss and gossip talk.

When Hermione saw Ron and Harry, she sighed with relief and said, "Sorry got to go!" and rushed to her best friends.

"Morning, boys." She said.

They smiled, "Hey, Hermione." Said Ron.

"Ready for breakfast?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and they headed toward the Great Hall.

As they were walking, Harry asked, "Hey Hermione? What were Lavender and Parvati talking about?"

Hermione shrugged, "I'm not sure, they heard something about a Ball, I think."

"A Ball? Like the Yule Ball we had?"

"Yep."

"Oh, great." Ron said, "That went well last year."

"It's probably not even true," Hermione assured, "You know them and their rumors."

"I hope you're right."

Xxxxx

When the trio entered the Great Hall, they immediately sat down.

They Hall was very noisy until Dumbledore stood.

He smiled, "Hello students. Welcome to our first day of our new year. Your classes will also begin today. I hope you will have a productive year. Thank you."

As soon as Dumbledore stepped down, the Hall was no longer silent.

Harry picked up some toast and started to eat. He tried very hard not to think about anything with Voldemort. He remembered what Dumbledore said about no one getting into Hogwarts uninvited.

But… what if someone did invite him? Or there was a spy or-

STOP!

Harry yelled in his head. He had to force himself not to think about that. There's no point for worrying himself.

He shook away the thought and turned to Ron and Hermione who were sitting to the left of him. But, of course, they were bickering about something. Harry wasn't surprised when he saw that no other students were paying attention to them. Everyone was so use to the arguing, they never even asked.

So instead, he turned to his right, where Dean and Seamus were sitting. They were talking about Quidditch and Harry decided to join in.

Xxxxx

After breakfast, Harry and Ron went to their first class: Divination.

"Great," Ron said as they were taking their seats, "Professor Looney again."

Harry sighed, "I know. Why didn't we just drop the class like Hermione?"

Before Ron could answer, Professor Trelawney walked in. She was wearing a very old, ripped tan coat and her hair look like it's been eaten by a Hippogriff.

"Hello, children," Trelawney said, with her ghostly voice, "I am glad you are here for 5th year Divination."

The rest of class was quite a blur. Trelawney was talking about the usual; palm reading, fortune potions, Harry's death. Nothing different.

Finally, after the period was over, Ron and Harry ran out the room.

"Blimey," Harry said.

"Tell me about it," said Ron, "She really does not have a life."

Harry nodded and the boys went to meet Hermione for their next class.

Xxxxx

The hours passed for the trio until, at last, it was their final class: Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats.

"I wonder who the new Professor is." Hermione said. They boys shrugged.

"Professor Bickins, I think." Dean answered; he and Seamus were sitting a row in front of them.

"Bickins?" Ron asked. "Weird name."

Dean shrugged, "I saw him walking the halls, he looked alright."

Just as Dean said that, Professor Bickins came through the doors. He looked like decent fellow. He was wearing a green shirt and cargo pants; not exactly wizarding clothes. He looked like he was in his late 30s, there was some gray in his hair. He also had very friendly blue eyes. If Harry didn't know any better, he would thought Bickins were a muggle.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he apologized as he was rushing to his desk, "I had to pull a student out of… well never mind that. I am Professor Bickins the new D.A.D.A teacher. Now, I understand the previous wizards who have taught this course had been fired or whatever, but I am here now and I will teach you young kids the best I will."

Professor Bickins smiled and Harry thought this was an ok teacher.

"Now," Bickins continued, "Onto the lesson. The Dark Arts is very dangerous magic, forbidden- "

Draco Malfoy, from the top row, sneered.

Bickins peered up and raised his eyebrows, "What is the problem Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco scoffed, "This is stupid."

"What is?"

"This class. There is no way to beat Dark Arts so what's the point of reading about it, eh?"

Harry was waiting for Professor to blow off on Malfoy, but instead, he just smiled. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is not something you read about, Mr. Malfoy, it is something you do." He paused then looked at Draco, "And also Mr. Malfoy, I don't like smart alecks, so unless you want to keep up with this attitude and lose points for Syltherin, I suggest you keep your mouth to a minimum."

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but closed it.

Harry grinned and turned to Ron, who whispered, "I love him!"

"Anyway," Bickins continued, "Back to the Dark Arts…"

Xxxxx

"He is the coolest teacher ever!" Ron said as he, Harry and Hermione were exiting the D.A.D.A classroom.

Hermione nodded, "I have to admit, he is very interesting."

"Interesting?" Ron said, "He's amazing!"

"Calm down there, Ron," Harry joked, "I think he is married."

Ron rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean! The way he turned on Malfoy?"

"That was pretty awesome."

The next few hours the trio hung out in Common Room until it was time for supper. They headed toward the Great Hall.

As they sat down, Ron said, "I'm starving."

"No surprise there." Hermione muttered.

Ron glared at her and Harry laughed. He just realized he went almost a whole day without thinking about… everything else. This is good, Harry thought, no need stressing myself, right?

Just as Harry was about to grab a sandwich, Dumbledore stood up and the Hall grew quiet.

With twinkling eyes, Dumbledore smiled and said, "Hello, students. I hope your first day went well. I'm sorry about the interruption but I would like to announce something. Because of the success of last year's Yule Ball, Hogwarts is proudly presenting a Winter Ball."

He paused because girls were screaming and 'yaying' very loud, while the boys were slouched in their seats, waiting to dig in.

After it all died down, the Headmaster continued, "I know it is only September and the Ball is in December, but we would just like to prepare all of you. Also, all years are required to come. More details will be available in the next few weeks. Thank you."

Through the whole dinner, all Harry heard about left and right was the Ball.

"Oh my god! What am I going to wear?"

"I still have to get my dress robes!"

"Who am I going to ask?"

Harry couldn't take it. None of the boys could really. They were just sulking in their chairs, eating, while the girls were going crazy.

"Harry? Could you pass the salt?" Hermione asked.

He nodded. Thank Merlin Hermione isn't one of those screaming girls, Harry thought.

"So, mate," Ron said, "You thinking about asking someone to that Ball?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. How about you? You gonna ask-" He jerked his to Hermione, who was talking to Ginny.

Ron flushed and said, "Um, could you pass the, uh, spaghetti?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on, mate! You can do it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do."

"Harry, can you just pass the spaghetti?"

Harry sighed.