Harry and the Pirates
Chapter 26
Sorting Things Out
by Technomad
When they got to school, the second-years and first-years separated. Luna looked up at Hagrid, who smiled down at her. "Hullo, Mr. Hagrid. It's nice to see you again. I enjoyed it when you came to visit us."
Hagrid smiled down at the little blonde. "An' hello to you, Miss Luna. I see you've made some friends." Sure enough, Dudley was right behind her, along with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ginny was hanging back, suddenly a bit shy at the sight of such a large person. "Good to see you four again. Did y' have a good time over the summer?"
"Oh, we did," Harry replied, with a smile. "Dudley and I went back to Thailand, and Hermione got to visit us!"
Hagrid's bushy eyebrows went up, and Hermione chimed in. "I had a wonderful time, and met ever so many interesting people! Foreign travel is so educational!" Harry, Hermione and Dudley shared a secret grin. "Educational" was probably one word for a visit to Roanapur…but not the one Harry would have chosen!
Ginny and Luna were soon in a boat, with another girl and an enthusiastic blond boy who was eagerly pointing a camera at everything in sight. Along with the other firsties, they were soon sailing across the lake toward Hogwarts, as Harry, Ron, Dudley and Hermione got into a carriage pulled by a couple of weird-looking horse-like creatures with bats' wings.
"Harry," whispered Dudley, "what are those things?"
"Beats me, Dudley," Harry whispered back. "Weird, aren't they?"
"What are you two talking about?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Those things pulling the carriage. Can't you see them?" Dudley pointed.
"What things pulling the carriage?" Hermione turned and peered forward. "I don't see anything!"
"They look like horses, Hermione. Black, starved-looking horses, but with big bat wings." Harry explained.
"Those sound like thestrals!" Ron interjected. "I think I remember hearing that Hagrid has a herd of them. They eat meat, and can only be seen by people who've seen death!"
Hermione and Ron stared at Harry and Dudley, round-eyed. Hermione finally broke the silence. "You two are from Roanapur, aren't you? That would explain how you can see them!" Harry and Dudley nodded. They had seen people killed before, more than once. Ron stared at them as though his two friends had grown a second head apiece. For a second, Harry envied Ron his innocence, then he remembered that he wouldn't have traded his experience in Roanapur for the world.
Once they were settled in their seats at the Slytherin table, the four friends watched as the firsties were herded in by Professor McGonagall. Ron grinned and gave a thumbs-up, and Harry, Hermione and Dudley smiled, as Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood came past. Ginny gave them a tremulous smile, and Luna beamed back at them.
The Sorting seemed to take a long while, but eventually McGonagall called: "Lovegood, Luna!" and Luna stepped up to the stool with enough aplomb to make it look like being Sorted was something she did several times a week. Harry, Ron and Dudley smiled at how the big old hat covered her face.
Her Sorting took longer than most; several times, the Hat seemed to be about to announce something, only to pause and wait a little while longer. Finally, the verdict was in: "SLYTHERIN!" Along with the rest of the table, except, Harry was interested to note, Draco Malfoy and his cohorts, Harry applauded as Luna took off the hat, put it gently on the stool, gave it an affectionate pat, and walked over to join her new Housemates. Dudley moved over on the bench, and she sat down beside him, snuggling up to him as he put his arm around her protectively.
Harry looked down the table, at Draco Malfoy. The blond pureblood looked like he'd bitten into an apple to find himself faced with half a worm, after he'd swallowed his bite. The sight warmed Harry's heart. He knew about how deeply Draco's father had been involved with the Death Eaters, and he felt like he owed the Malfoys in general some serious payback.
Then Harry looked up at Professor Snape, at the faculty table. Professor Snape was looking very surprised, as though he hadn't anticipated getting Luna as one of his Snakes. Then he looked thoughtful.
On the Sorting went, until at last, the call went out: "Weasley, Ginevra!" Ginny stepped forward, smoothing her robes as she sat down on the stool and put the Sorting Hat on. Harry looked toward the Gryffindor table, and then at Ron. All of Ginny's brothers were intent on their baby sister's Sorting. Fred and George were silently urging the Hat to put the last Weasley into Gryffindor, and Percy, while he seemed to be cool and calm, was tapping the table with his fingertips. Meanwhile Ron was holding his breath.
Finally, the Hat called: "SLYTHERIN!" Ron jumped up and whooped with glee, while Fred and George looked utterly betrayed, and Percy's eyes went wide. Ginny tore off the Hat, put it on the stool, and raced over into Ron's arms. Harry wasn't quite sure, but he thought she gave Fred and George a triumphant little grin as she passed the Gryffindor table.
"Hi, Ginny! It's good to have you here! Won't this be fun?" Luna asked, as Professor Dumbledore launched into his usual "silly old coot" act, and huge plates of food appeared. Harry was pretty hungry, not having eaten since London, so he tucked on in eagerly.
"Yeah, it will. My mom'll have an eppy when she finds out where I was Sorted, but I've got to stand up and be my own witch. I can't just be 'Mamma's little girl' forever, now can I?" Ginny answered, spearing a chunk of fried chicken. "And besides, Ron made Slytherin sound such fun that I can't wait to get started!" She grinned at Luna, who was still nestled up close to Dudley. "Looks like you've found something fun to do already!"
Luna gave Dudley a beaming smile, heedless of his blush. "I like him. He's nice." Several girls sighed, and Dudley seemed to find something enormously interesting in his plate of food.
OOO
The next morning, the second-year Slytherins were scheduled for Defense Against the Dark Arts first thing. Harry, Ron and Dudley were amused to see their girl classmates frantically primping and preening, doing their best to upgrade their appearances, before class started.
Along with their classmates, they filed on in and took seats. Right on time, Gilderoy Lockhart waltzed in, favoring them all with his big gleaming smile. To Harry, it looked as phony as a wax fruit. The other boys generally didn't seem too impressed, but the girls all sighed.
Lockhart introduced himself, and said that he would start by setting them a quick exam to see how much they knew. When Harry saw the questions, his eyes went very wide. Not a single question covered the Dark Arts, or defense against same; it was all about the great Gilderoy Lockhart. He could answer most of the questions; the books he'd purchased at Flourish and Botts' for this course had proved to be very interesting reading, albeit not quite in the way their author had intended.
When the last student had passed in the exam paper, Lockhart went over them. "Ah, I see that Miss Hermione Granger has read my books very carefully! She got every answer perfectly correct! Take ten points for Slytherin, Miss Granger!" Hermione blushed bright red, and Ron, Harry and Dudley exchanged amused glances. This would afford them endless teasing fodder for later.
"Sheesh, what an egomaniac!" Ron commented quietly, once the class was over. "I swear I've never seen anybody in my life so in love with himself!"
"For once, Weasel, I agree with you," Draco Malfoy drawled. "Have you read his books? They're really heavy on the exploits of 'the great Gilderoy Lockhart' and descriptions of what he was wearing and how much everybody loves him, but light on details of how he did all those amazing things!"
"Are you feeling all right, Draco?" Ron asked. "We're actually agreeing on something!" Harry hid a grin. Ron had a point; for him and Draco Malfoy to be in the same corner was literally unprecedented.
"Look, Weasel, I don't like you, or your family. I'd a thousand times rather you were in Gryffindor where you should be, and I wouldn't have to share a common room or dorm room with you. And that goes for that gang of Muggle-lovers you hang around with," Draco said, suddenly very earnest. "But Defense is important! I don't need to know that Lockhart won the Witch Weekly award for Most Charming Smile five times in a row, or what sort of hair conditioner he uses! What I need to know is how to defend myself! We Malfoys have a lot of enemies!"
Dudley and Harry looked at each other, nonplussed. This was a side of Draco Malfoy's personality they'd never seen before. They didn't notice that the girls had all withdrawn from them in an indignant huddle, and gone on down the corridor with their noses firmly in the air.
That evening, Harry had a bright idea. They had an in-house expert on the Dark Arts at their disposal. Why not make use of him? When he proposed the idea to his male chums, they were enthusiastic. They did not mention anything to Hermione; she and the other Slytherin girls had been rather cold to them all day long, preferring to gather in groups and whisper to each other about Professor Lockhart.
Professor Snape seemed to be rather surprised that he was being called on, but he invited them into his office politely enough. Sitting back behind his desk, which was already piled with essays, lesson plans, and announcements, he asked: "And to what do I owe this unexpected unexpectedness?"
"Please, sir," said Dudley, "we were wondering if Professor Lockhart actually does know much about the Dark Arts."
Snape's eyes went very wide. "Indeed. That is a very interesting question. May I inquire as to what prompts it?"
"Sir," Ron said, "he set us a test on the first day of class. Instead of trying to find out how much we already knew about the Dark Arts and how to fight them, it was all about finding out how much we know about Gilderoy Lockhart!"
"And I read the books he set us, sir," Harry said. "They talk and talk about what Lockhart was wearing, or about how much people love him, but they don't really go into much detail as to how he defeated these Dark creatures."
Snape looked very troubled. "Gentlemen, this places me in a very difficult position. I have repeatedly applied for the position Professor Lockhart now holds, only to be turned down despite high qualifications. In my foolish youth, I was a Death Eater, before thinking better of it." He gave Harry a significant look. "And, Mr. Potter, for the record, that was some time before your parents' murder. However, my background leaves me permanently tainted; one reason I teach here is because many potions manufacturers do not want anybody with even the slightest hint of Death Eater involvement in their employ."
` Now, this was news. Harry had noticed that Snape seemed to be rather more distant to him than to the rest of the Slytherins, but had just chalked it up to a possible personality clash and not let it bother him. The man knew what he was doing in the Potions lab, and Slytherin was a fairly congenial place to live, so he just went his way and let Snape go his. The idea that Snape might, on some level, resent him for causing the downfall of people who had been his friends, even if they'd come to a parting of the ways, was startling.
Snape went on: "Given this situation, even if I have doubts about Professor Lockhart's competence or qualifications, it ill-befits me to say anything. I would be seen as a bitter man trying to bring down a popular hero out of jealousy and spite. However," and Snape's black eyes suddenly gleamed, "if you children are able to prove his incompetence yourselves, preferably in a way that the Board of Governors of this school can accept, then he'll have to go. No matter how often he won the Witch Weekly Most Charming Smile award!"
With that, they were dismissed, and Harry was thinking furiously. Snape had given them all the clues they needed. All they had to do was to gather proof. Slytherin style.
END Chapter 26
