As Ginny arrived for lunch and found a seat at the table, she stifled a yawn. She didn't know how Hermione got up so early every morning, especially on days she used the Time-Turner to add extra hours.

Ginny had unintentionally pushed her into using it twice already that morning, but at least Hermione didn't have any overlapping classes that day which would require her to use it again. Neither of them had mentioned the encounter when they'd seen each other at breakfast.

When her friends came in for lunch, their scowls told her their morning classes had not gone well.

They joined her at the table, and related how Malfoy had made a nuisance of himself in Potions. Besides making a big deal of his supposed injury, he had bragged to Harry that his father was going to get Hagrid fired over the incident.

Okay, time to nip this in the bud.

They already had Sirius Black to deal with, the unknown threat posed by the new Defense teacher, Riddle still out there somewhere, in some form… Even with a Time-Turner, there just wasn't enough time in the day to deal with Malfoy.

Ginny picked up an orange and weighed it in her hand, but then remembered Malfoy's bizarre obsession with apples. Why not throw his absurd little affectation back in his face?

She exchanged the orange for an apple, and stood. "Oi! Malfoy!"

When Malfoy turned to look at her, his startled expression had just begun to turn into a sneer when she hurled the apple right at his head.

She'd been hoping to provoke him into using his 'injured' arm, but he managed to catch the apple with his other hand.

Malfoy stared at her in disbelief, then looked down at the fruit in his hand. His face turned almost as red as the apple, and he jumped to his feet and started ripping off bandages.

He can't possibly be this stupid, she thought, until he used the arm he'd just freed to throw the apple back at her.

Ginny had a moment to ponder whether she should catch it or see what consequences he might face if it hit her, but then Harry's hand shot up and plucked the apple out of the air.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet, as did Crabbe and Goyle. Fred and George stood as well, which prompted Derrick and Bole–the Slytherin beaters–to rise. Other members of both Quidditch teams began shifting in their places, until Snape came stalking down from the head table.

"Everyone back in your seats," he snarled. "Now!" He swept his glare over them until they complied.

"Weasley!" he snapped. "Are you suffering from some personal deficiency today, or merely displaying the usual Gryffindor lack of couth."

The Slytherins gave appreciative snickers.

"Actually, Professor Snape, I was helping Draco with his recovery." As she answered, she kept her eyes focused on his nose. She'd heard too many stories about Snape's mysterious way of knowing what people had been up to for her to dismiss the possibility he was using Legilimency.

Also, with a beak like his, fixing her eyes on it might make him self-conscious and throw him off.

"That's a lie!" Malfoy shouted, before a warning glance from Snape silenced him.

Snape turned back to her. "Indeed, Miss Weasley, perhaps you would like to share with everyone what form of medical treatment you felt was worth disrupting their mealtime for."

Ginny looked around at everyone in the Great Hall watching her. Snape hoped to embarrass her by making her the center of attention. Meanwhile, McGonagall had come up beside him, and was also waiting for her answer with a look of disapproval.

Right, Ginny decided. May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

She took a deep breath. "Well, sir, I heard Draco came late to your class, and was having terrible trouble with the work once he got there, and, well…"

She paused for a beat to display her best nervous lip-biting, then went on with an earnest look she'd copied from Hermione. "Getting an education at Hogwarts is such a privilege, and I hate to see anyone wasting the opportunity. Fortunately, I suspected Draco's problem might be more mental than physical. Not that I'm suggesting malingering, mind you–just that he might be a bit delicate, due to his coddled upbringing."

"You shut your mouth, Weasley!" Malfoy yelled.

"Mr Malfoy!" McGonagall snapped, silencing him.

"Anyway," Ginny hurried to finish, "now that everyone has seen he's in perfect health, we can put all that behind us, and he can resume his proper education. I'm sure he'll thank me one day." She ended with a sweet smile at Malfoy.

Laughter and snide comments at Malfoy's expense started to drift around the room, and even Snape couldn't direct his scowl everywhere at once to stop them.

"The day a Malfoy thanks one of you wretched–" Draco began.

"Enough!" Snape cut him off. He'd realized his error in underestimating Ginny's audacity, and looked livid over it.

"Detention tonight," he snapped at her. "And ten points from Gryffindor. In the future, you will attend to your own education, and leave the other students to your teachers and Madam Pomfrey. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly, sir."

McGonagall added, "And Mr Malfoy's punishment, Professor Snape?"

"What? Weasley attacked him!"

"With an apple. I do hope this trauma won't require further medical treatment, Mr Malfoy."

This brought further snickers, and Malfoy responded with a sullen, "No, Professor."

Snape sputtered, "We cannot overlook her outrageous behavior."

"Of course not. Throwing food will not be tolerated." She gave Ginny a stern look.

Ginny gave a contrite nod. "Yes, Professor."

"Not from any student," McGonagall continued. "Mr Malfoy will be joining me for detention tonight. And ten points, I believe it was, from Slytherin."

"Minerva!"

"Severus, while Miss Weasley's behavior was unacceptable, the incident should have ended there. We cannot allow retaliation to go unpunished, lest it lead to escalation."

Ginny had to acknowledge the truth of that. She would like nothing better than to escalate things with Malfoy, but decided McGonagall would not appreciate her voicing the sentiment.

Snape fumed, but said nothing more as he shot one last scowl at Ginny, then spun away and swept out of the room, cloak swirling behind him.

McGonagall pursed her lips and subjected Ginny and Malfoy each to a sour parting look of her own, then returned to the head table.

Ginny looked around. Most of the Gryffindors were gazing upon her with awe, though Hermione looked conflicted.

Ginny told her, "Education is very important, you know."

Hermione frowned, but didn't argue.

~*~

At dinner that evening, Harry was brooding over the Defense lesson they'd just had on Boggarts. Or rather, over Lupin stepping in to prevent him from confronting one.

"You didn't miss out on much," Ginny told him.

"He let you do it? What was it for you?"

"Dementor."

"That's what mine would have been!"

She blinked at the intensity of his response.

"Sorry," he said, in a more subdued voice. "Lupin thinks I can't cut it because of how I reacted on the train. He just doesn't want to say it."

"Could be worse," Ron put in. "Snape could be teaching the class. He wouldn't bother to be polite."

Harry shook his head. "I'm sure it's just a matter of time until he finds out and decides to have a go at me. Until everyone finds out and starts thinking I'm a coward."

Ginny reacted with a startled laugh.

Harry turned to her in surprise. His face showed a flicker of hurt, before going blank. He looked away.

Ginny grabbed his arm with both hands and said, "Sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. The idea is just so absurd." She turned to Ron. "Does he really not know how people see him?"

Ron said, "Leave it, Ginny. He doesn't like to talk about that stuff."

"No, he needs to hear this. Harry, no one will never see you as a coward. Some might hate you because they were on the wrong side in the last war, or fear you because they think they'll have to face you in the next one, but nobody will ever think they can just dismiss you."

Harry said, "That's not even me you're talking about. Whatever happened that night to end the war, it's become this whole big legend that has nothing to do with me."

"Okay, then what about everything you've done in the last two years since you came back to us? You fought a Basilisk with a sword. What sort of coward does that?"

He shrugged. "I didn't have a choice."

"You could have chosen to do nothing and leave me down there."

"No. I couldn't."

"Well no, you couldn't, but someone less brave could."

Hermione said, "You're doing all this stewing over what Professor Lupin might think, when you haven't even asked him."

"You should go talk to him," Ginny said, then grimaced. "I have detention with Mr Happy Face, but Hermione or Ron can go with you."

"You shouldn't refer to a teacher like that," Hermione told her.

"Fine. Professor Happy Face."

Hermione shook her head, and turned to Harry. "We'll ask to speak with Professor Lupin right after dinner then?"

"If I do go talk to him, I don't need a babysitter."

"It's the Defense teacher," Ginny said. "Of course you can't go by yourself."

"Why?"

"The curse."

He looked at her blankly.

She shot her brother an annoyed look. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Ron."

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped. "Language."

Ron scowled at Ginny. "What's your problem?"

"Don't you ever explain anything important to them?"

"So Defense teachers only last one year. Big deal."

"And how did that work out the last two years? You can't think of anything happening with the last two teachers that was kind of a big deal?"

"Lockhart wasn't out to get Harry. He was mentoring him on how to be famous or something. He was planning to run away until we made him come to the Chamber with us."

"Where he tried to curse you both."

"Even so, most get booted for incompetence."

"Yes, but Lupin knows what he's doing–enough to protect us on the train, anyway."

"There you go. He protected Harry. If he was out to get him, he could have let the Dementor do the work for him."

"I still don't like it. Lupin being competent is a bad sign. It means he's going to be trouble in some other way, even if we can't see how yet."

"Maybe they'll catch him in a broom closet with a seventh-year."

"Ron!" Hermione objected, scandalized.

"You think Lockhart didn't get offers, the way all the girls were drooling over him?" He smirked as he added, "In fact, I recall someone drawing little hearts on her timetable next to his class times."

Harry ignored the argument this kicked off, and leaned closer to Ginny. "What was it like? You know, facing one of those things again. Or a copy, at least."

"Not as bad as the real thing." She lowered her voice. "Even if Lupin hadn't just finished explaining it wasn't real, I have experience seeing through illusions meant to terrify me. I'm sure you would have done fine too."

"Thanks."

Hermione broke off her argument with Ron and said, "I was thinking, I didn't get to try it either–"

Harry said, "Yeah, because you were in line behind me."

"Anyway, I need to be able to handle a Boggart in case we're tested on it. I don't know if Ginny's right about the curse, but I wouldn't mind some moral support either way. Come with me?"

"Why are you asking him and not me?" Ron demanded to know, earning an annoyed look from Hermione.

"Because," Harry explained, "she wants me to go, but thinks the best way to get me to agree is by making it sound like I'm backing her up, rather than the other way around. She's using a Muggle technique called 'psychology' to manipulate me."

Ginny leaned against him and draped an arm over his shoulders. "It's like she thinks you're reluctant to take action on your own behalf, though you're always ready to go charging off to save someone else. Crazy, right?"

"Where could I have gotten such an idea?" Hermione mused.

Harry said, "Alright, alright. I'll go." Before Ginny could say it, he added, "And I'll bring a witness."

Hermione gave a nod of approval, then wondered, "Why don't they move the class to a different classroom, if the current one has a curse on it?"

Ginny said, "They've tried. It's not the classroom, it's the position."

"You can put a curse on a job?"

"Seems like that's what happened."

"In class, we've always cast magic on concrete objects. A job title is an abstraction. It doesn't have the same sort of reality."

Ginny and Ron exchanged puzzled looks. Ginny said, "A job is a well-defined thing that everyone agrees on. What else would it need to make it real?"

Hermione said, "I guess. It's strange though, the way magic can apparently act upon social constructions."

She turned to Harry for support, but he shrugged and observed, "Everything magic does would seem strange to Muggles."

"I'm not explaining this right." Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of another example. "In Arithmancy, we're learning about the magical properties of different numbers. Did someone curse the number thirteen to make it unlucky?"

Ginny said, "I don't think so, but I guess it could have happened a long time ago."

Hermione addressed Harry. "Don't you see why even the possibility is so odd? Muggles have technology for doing a lot of the things you can do with magic, like starting a fire or flying or whatever. But there's no scientific principle that would let you affect a job position or a number or anything abstract like that."

"Okay," Harry said. "I see the difference now. I guess I never expected magic to have rules about what it would work on."

"I suppose not. I've tried thinking of different branches of magic as being extensions of Muggle sciences, but I keep finding things that don't fit."

Ginny suggested, "Maybe it's easier to work with things you can see and touch? That might be why they teach us that first."

"Maybe. I'll need to research this."

"Here we go," muttered Ron.

"It wouldn't hurt you to take an interest in the theoretical side of magic, Ronald. It might help you decide what career you'd like to pursue."

"What career? That's years away!"

Ginny stood up. "As much fun as this debate promises to be, I've got to head to detention with the human Cheering Charm." She winked at Hermione. "Sorry, Professor Cheering Charm."

Hermione frowned, but then brightened and said, "And Harry and I have our own visit to a teacher to make!"

~*~

In a quiet corner of the common room later that evening, Harry was in a much better mood after his visit to Professor Lupin.

It turned out Lupin hadn't doubted Harry's ability to face the Boggart. Rather, he'd wanted to spare the rest of the class from seeing it take on the appearance of Voldemort–the form he'd expected it to manifest for Harry.

Lupin had gone on to explain that a Dementor's power came from evoking a person's worst memories, and Harry probably had worse memories than most students on the train. Although the thought was a depressing one, Harry felt relieved Lupin didn't think his reaction was due to weakness.

Harry was also feeling new optimism due to Lupin agreeing to teach him the Patronus Charm, and even to allow his friends to join him, if they wished.

After accompanying Harry to see Lupin, Hermione had gone to the library to research the topic of concrete versus abstract magic. When she returned to the common room, she announced her readiness to present preliminary findings.

Ron mumbled something unenthusiastic, while Ginny offered no opinion.

Hermione turned to Harry. "You want to hear this, don't you Harry?"

Harry looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione. "Er, I guess you never can tell what might come in handy at some point. You have a pretty good instinct for these things."

Ron gave him a betrayed look, but raised no further objections.

"Great!" Hermione declared. "Though a lot of what I found was rather speculative," she qualified, wrinkling her nose.

Ron perked up. "Meaning you don't have much to say, then?"

She ignored this. "The general consensus is that working with concrete objects is easier, as Ginny guessed. It's not clear if this is a feature of magic itself, or if it's just easier for the person performing a spell to focus on something solid and well-defined. I suppose there's not much difference in practice, since magic doesn't go around casting itself." She trailed off, her eyes taking on a distant look.

"Uh, Hermione? Were you done?" Harry asked.

"Hmm? No, I haven't told you the best part. It turns out that when working with abstractions, a symbolic object is often used to anchor the magic." Hermione looked at them expectantly. "Don't you see? If we could find the anchor, maybe we could break the curse on the Defense position!"

Harry said, "I like the thought of not ending every year with the Defense teacher pointing a wand at me, but don't you think Dumbledore has tried?"

Hermione deflated. "Well, sure, but maybe we could think of someplace he hasn't looked?"

"It's a good idea, Hermione," Ginny said. "In the meantime, we have to assume the curse applies to Lupin. Promise me you won't ever go to your lessons with him by yourself, Harry?"

Harry agreed, and they all decided to call it a night.