THE EIGHTH YEAR
CHAPTER 6
Sunday, Monday
By: hermioneeeeeee
Hermione was tired and her body was still sore from last night. She knew that she and Draco had missed breakfast but she didn't care. She opened an eye to see a blob of red hair in front of her.
"Hello! You're awake now. Good." Ginny said. Draco lifted his head off of Hermione's side. Hermione and Draco untangled themselves from each other and got up.
"You guys are such a cute couple." Ginny stated with a smile. They walked to their separate dormitories to change into clean clothes. When they came back, the other prefects, besides Hannah, were waiting for them with some news.
"We talked to Professor McGonagall. Ron is suspended and Hannah is no longer prefect." Astoria said.
"Who is?" Hermione asked.
"Professor McGonagall made an exception for the boy, girl prefect rule. Seeing as there are no other Hufflepuff girls, Justin Finch-Fletchley is the other prefect." Blaise explained.
"Alright." Draco said.
"We've all decided that we aren't going to talk to Hannah anymore. I mean, Ron is family so I kind of have to speak to him but Mum is really mad that he's at home and told me that she was already raging at him." Ginny said. Seeing as it was a nice day, they all decided to wake a walk around the Black Lake and talk. When they were in the corridor, however, they saw an angry Hannah.
"Where are you going?" Blaise asked.
"Home. I'm leaving Hogwarts; everybody keeps saying mean things behind my back and it's awful. Besides, we aren't learning anything useful in class. Eighth year turned out to be a redo of seventh year except with no Death Eaters and a lot less people. Guess you'll never have to deal with me again." Hannah fumed.
"Hannah, wait. This won't change your mind but, I liked having you as a friend. You are a nice person and I understand that jealousy can change a person a lot." Hermione said gently, surprising herself and her friends.
"I'm still leaving but, thank you." Hannah said, giving Hermione a slight smile and leaving to go pack her bags.
"What was that all about?" Draco asked.
"I just didn't want to leave things like that." Hermione said. The others nodded and smiled at her. They walked back to the common room to enjoy the rest of their Sunday afternoon.
It was Monday today and the eighth years were all in Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had never had a permanent Defense Against the Dark Arts but, Hogwarts had finally gotten a teacher. Professor Allando was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts. It seemed that he really did know what he was doing and was a skilled and fair teacher. Professor Allando was actually making it fun, as well. He would never be like Remus Lupin but, he would be good.
"I assume that all of you are already fairly skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Therefore, we will not study from books. We will learn with practical exercises and I have the perfect way to assess your knowledge. Not with a test! But with a trial. You will enter the Forbidden Forest in pairs and take on the course! You will also spend the night in there so you will need to look at spells which could aid you in this challenge. Yes, you can choose partners and both of you are required to defeat the obstacles. I will know if one of you works more than the other. You will be assessed individually even though you will be going through the course in twos. ANy questions?" Professor Allando said enthusiastically.
"Do we have to do it?" Terry said.
"Why would you want to miss it?" Professor Allando asked.
"If you're afraid that you might, um, die?" Terry squeaked.
"Ah! Forgot to mention that! If you think that you cannot complete the rest of the course, you need only to use the spell 'Perriculum' to send up a signal that you are in peril. You will be sent back to the start and will not be continuing the course." Professor Allando answered. Terry nodded.
"Are we being timed?" Astoria asked.
"Yes and no. You are going to be timed to get your score within your pair but, the real grade does not include the time. Your individual grade only is if you defeat the obstacles and with what spells you use." Professor Allando replied.
"When we go to sleep, what if we're eaten by one of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest?" Ernie asked.
"You must cast the spells to protect yourself, Mr. Macmillan. If you do not know these spells, I suggest you study them before the trial which is on October 1st." Professor Allando said.
"Go! You are dismissed." he said and the 12 eighth years left the classroom.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Ginny exclaimed. The group started talking about partners and, seeing as Hannah had left and Ron was still suspended, there had to be six pairs. By the end of the walk to Herbology, the pairs were Hermione & Draco, Ginny & Harry, Astoria & Ernie, Luna & Neville, Blaise & Justin, and Terry & Anthony.
"I feel like a loner. We don't have enough girls in this year! Draco, can I have Hermione?" Blaise whined when he figured out that he was the only one in their group of friends without a date.
"No! And don't try anything stupid like Weasel did. You'll just get yourself expelled and I kind of like having you as a friend." Draco said.
"I won't. I promise I won't be a Weasel." Blaise promised. Ginny loved her brother but, sometimes he was just a bad person. The twelve of them were at Herbology now and saw a happy Professor Sprout.
"Good afternoon! Now, we're going to be using Mandrakes, Venomous Tentacula, and Devil's Snare today. You will be in groups of four and will each work at that station to destroy that plant. Off you go! I trust you all remember this." Professor Sprout said. It was nice that the teachers all expected them to know these things and they didn't need to teach them step by step. Hermione got into a group with Ginny, Luna, and Astoria; Draco was with Neville, Blaise, and Harry; and Justin, Terry, Anthony, and Ernie were a group.
"Let's start with the Mandrakes." Hermione suggested. The girls walked over and began to transplant the screaming plants. They all had their earmuffs on but, Astoria fainted out of nowhere and Hermione cast a quick cushioning charm and Astoria hit the ground with a light thud. They finished transplanting the Mandrakes and by then, Astoria had recovered and was up to help with the Venomous Tentacula. It wasn't too hard, all that it took was a fast Lumos spell and then on too the Devil's Snare that Hermione had saved Harry and Ron from all of those years ago. The girls were trapped in the Devil's Snare. Ginny, not remembering that you had to be still, was fighting the tendrils and shaking around.
"Ginny! You need to relax! Trust me!" Hermione yelled from the bottom. Ginny did and came out of the Devil's Snare. Luna and Astoria popped out afterwards and fell safely onto the floor.
"LUMOS SOLEM!" Hermione yelled and the Devil's Snare disappeared. They climbed up back into the Herbology Greenhouse and had finished their stations.