Once they had finished eating, Luna and Hannah made their way to Care of Magical Creatures while the rest headed towards Defence Against the Dark Arts where they would meet their new professor and Head of House Gryffindor. They chatted happily as they went, the older students often ruffling Astoria's hair, until she left for Transfiguration. Daphne, Hermione and Ginny walked in, greeted the professor and sat together, while they waited for the other students to arrive. Before long, everyone was there and Professor Collins began to talk :
"Welcome everyone, I'm Professor Collins. I used to work as an Auror but since the war... well let's just say we all have problems about that particular time. Merlin knows we all need a laugh, so that's where we'll start our lesson today. Put your books away, get your wands out and Vanish your tables." The young man announced. Once the bustling had stopped, he continued. "Right, so you should be fairly adequate in non-verbal spells by now, so we are going to practice the Tickling jinx. I trust you all know the spell, all you have to do is concentrate. No talking. Also, for extra points, the first student who manages to jinx me gets 20 House points. Off you go."
He had hardly stopped talking when Blaise Zambini of Slytherin attempted the hex on him, but it was easily avoided by the ex-Auror. Ginny and Hermione paired up, while Daphne strode over to Blaise. Hermione was brilliant, but Ginny was feisty, and before long the girls were twirling, ducking and smiling broadly while everyone watched the duel, wide-eyed, including the Professor. While he was watching the pair, he received a tickling jinx from Blaise and erupted into uncontrolled laughter, rolling on the floor with tears streaming down his cheeks. The duelling girls stopped to laugh at the Professor, along with everyone else. Once the jinx had worn off, he slowly and shakily got up, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Oh my, I haven't laughed like that in ages! Who managed to jinx me?"
"Me, sir." Answered Blaise.
"And what would your name be?"
"Blaise Zambini, sir. Slytherin."
"Well 20 points to Slytherin, then, well done! And you two girls, what are your names?"
"Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger, Gryffindor."
"I haven't witnessed a duel like that in years! But then again, I would expect nothing less from Hermione Granger. And I've also heard a lot about you too miss Weasley. 15 points each. Well done. Class dismissed."
The students walked out of the room, smiling and laughing, talking about what a good teacher Professor Collins seemed to be.
That evening, after dinner, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Hannah and Daphne, joined by Blaise, were talking excitedly in the Gryffindor common room. Their Transfiguration teacher was nice. Kind, and not very strict, but his lessons were also quite boring. They had spent the lesson going over what they had already learnt, starting from year one. Now though, the group talked about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend in two weeks. They discussed what they wanted to buy, where they would go, what new prank Zonko's was selling and whether they would try firewhiskey at The Three Broomsticks.
An hour or so into the conversation, Hermione excused herself, saying she needed some air. She walked passed the Fat Lady portrait and sat down outside the common room, sighing heavily. She enjoyed the silence, the light draft that tickled her face as she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. Her peace was, however, interrupted when she heard three voices shout at the same time :
"Stupefy!"
"Diffindo!"
"Crucio!"
In no time at all, she was up and running around the corner of the corridor, mere yards away from the entrance to her common room. She immediately disarmed the three boys before they could run away, taking no notice of Draco Malfoy on the floor, blood oozing from a cut on his arm.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she screamed. Two of the boys cringed but the third raised his chin, showing a Ravenclaw tie.
"He tortured us last year! He deserves this!"
"You STUPID CHILDREN!" by now, the screams had alerted the occupants of the Gryffindor common room, but she payed no notice as twenty or so people watched. "The war is over! Stop trying to bring it back! People died last year! People lost those they loved most! Get over your childish revenge schemes and. Instead learn to forgive you pathetic fools!"
"Hermione!" Ginny warned. Hermione twirled around with fire in her eyes, but once she saw her friends, she blushed.
"Ginny, take these three to Professor Collins. I'll take care of Malfoy." And with that, she crouched over the the blond's body and his arm around her neck, supporting him enough for him to stand. This caused gasps to erupt from behind her and she snapped at them. "Yes, I'm holding Draco Malfoy, get over it!"
"No, Hermione, you're – you're glowing!"
Hermione looked herself over and indeed, her and Draco were glowing a warm yellow. She decided to ignore it for now and focused on getting to Madam Pomfrey, so that she could tend to the limp body she half dragged through the corridor.
