As October rolled along, the one thing that was more exciting than their Defence Against the Dark Arts classes was the prospect of the first Hogsmeade visit at the end of the month. The Third Years were full of excitement as they faced this new expansion of their freedom, signalling that they had truly reached a mature age. The older students kept telling them about how great it was to get away from the castle, though Harry didn't understand that sentiment given how amazing said castle was. Perhaps that was coming from the perspective of his Muggle experiences. It was quite something to overshadow the Halloween feast, but the trip was doing just that. And, knowing that he could experience it with his friends because his uncle had begrudgingly signed the permission form, put a large smile on Harry's face. So much so that he got a questioning look from Matthew as they sat in the Gryffindor common room.

"Are you okay?" he asked, waving a hand in front of Harry's face to snap him back to reality. "Your eyes sort of…glazed over. I was worried for a second that we were having a repeat performance of first year, when Voldemort reared his ugly head."

"No, no," Harry assured him. "I was just thinking about how great it's going to be, going to Hogsmeade. Diagon Alley has always fascinated me but this is a proper wizarding community. I want to see how it works and how different it is to the towns I've been to in the Muggle world. Not that I've been to many."

"Well, that's a relief. I was about to get my wand out, but you were just happily daydreaming. I've heard good things about Hogsmeade. I suppose it lives up to the reputation and the shops are varied, so you can't complain too much."

Harry frowned. "Have you been before?"

"Only once or twice, but I suppose it's changed quite a bit since then. It'll be nice to see what's different. I can't say no to a sweet shop either."

"Has anyone ever told you that the majority of the things you say make absolutely no sense?"

"Repeatedly. You and Hermione do it a lot, and yet you both still stick around."

Harry shook his head in amusement, before he started to consider what Lupin had spoken about. There hadn't been much of an opportunity to bring up that first lesson with the Boggart, not that it was a conversation that Harry really wanted to have. Boys didn't willingly talk about their emotions, at least according to his Uncle Vernon. Asking Matthew about what had happened was going to be extremely awkward, Harry had no doubt about that, but the professor had instructed them that shared fears lost their ability to hurt you quite as much.

"Matthew…when you just asked if I'm okay…can I ask you the same question?"

His friend, who had gone back to reading his book as the conversation had seemingly died down, took his glasses off slowly as his expression turned perplexed. "I have to say I'm not following, which is a rather new experience for me, if I do say so myself."

Harry understood his tactic, using humour to deflect. He had the inkling that Matthew knew precisely what he was referring to. "When we had to face the Boggart…it turned into you. Do you want to…maybe…talk about that?"

"Ah." There was a pregnant pause as Matthew mulled over his options. "Is there anything really to talk about?"

Harry wasn't going to be shrugged off so easily. "I think so."

"We all have our fears, most of which we can't really understand. The mind works in mysterious ways."

"But what did it mean? You can't be scared of yourself, surely!"

"It'd make looking in the mirror a horrible ordeal, wouldn't it?" Matthew quipped far too breezily for Harry's liking. "No, I'm not scared of myself. As you saw, I also found it perfectly easy to make fun of myself, so I don't think there's too much to worry about."

"Only if you're absolutely certain about that."

"I am. I'd tell you if I was in trouble or something. It was just a strange event. The boggart tapped into something that I've dealt with a while ago. Nothing to concern you."

"Just because it's in the past, that doesn't mean you can't talk about it if you need to. If you've moved past it, then surely you can talk about it more easily."

"I said I've dealt with it. That doesn't mean I've moved past it."

Harry had no idea what that meant. As usual, his words weren't making any sense, the very accusation he'd just made. Matthew was living up to his reputation. All Harry wanted to do was continue this line of questioning, hoping to ease him into answering in more detail (or actual detail, for that matter). But he caught Hermione approaching in the corner of his eye and he consigned himself to defeat for the time being. Matthew, for one, looked mightily relieved at her arrival. Harry was growing annoyed that he kept getting away with not saying anything of real substance.

Their returning friend dropped her new book bag heavily on the table between them, settling onto the sofa next to Matthew with a heavy sigh. As she leant her head back in tired fashion, Harry was sure that he caught a glimmer of gold around her neck, though she was soon back in an upright position, obscuring whatever he thought he had seen. They looked expectantly at her as she got herself comfortable, wondering what could have brought about such a reaction from the girl who was normally very happy to be stuck in the working week.

"It's done!" she proclaimed triumphantly, and they waited for a moment more for her to elaborate. She gave them a look as if she expected them to be following, disappointed that they weren't understanding. "I've officially removed Divination from my timetable. I couldn't handle one more moment in that stupid tower."

Harry was confused. Why were both his friends always acting so strangely? "But…I thought you'd done that ages ago! You were ready to quit after the first lesson, weren't you? It's been weeks since then. Why have you been suffering through it?"

"Well, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, didn't I?" she answered as if it were obvious. "For all I knew, she could have just been putting on a performance for the first lesson, to draw the students in. And I've never quit a class I've started before. I wanted to be really sure that this was the decision I wanted to make. I don't exactly want it to tarnish my academic reputation, although Professor McGonagall was all too understanding towards why I would want to abandon that subject."

Matthew wore a deep frown as he listened to her. "Hold on…so you've still been going to your Divination lessons these past few weeks? How? That's not possible! Surely you've been with us when those classes were taking place. Unless I'm going prematurely senile…"

"Don't be silly, Matthew. I can't be in two places at once. And I thought I'd already told you that the…complications with my timetable were sorted out straight away." She shook her head at his insistence that something wasn't right. "Anyway, that doesn't matter now because I'm free. I already feel so much better that I won't have to hear about all the gruesome ways I'm going to die. Honestly, that woman concocted a new demise for me every week, which doesn't make sense. How can someone die multiple times?"

"I wouldn't have put up with it," Harry said. "I already have people constantly reminding me of how lucky I am that I didn't die a decade ago. I don't need someone else giving me a running commentary."

Hermione gave him a sympathetic look. "But do you know what the annoying thing about it was? When I went to tell Professor Trelawney that I'd no longer be turning up, do you know what she told me? That she knew I was going to make that decision!" She let out an annoyed noise that was borderline animalistic in its fury. "She doesn't even try to hide how much of a fraud she is, pretending to have foreseen events that have already happened."

Matthew began to chuckle but he stopped as soon as he saw the glare she was giving him. "You have to give her some credit for not giving up with the pretence. I couldn't keep up a lie for that long."

"I don't have to give her anything anymore because I'm no longer one of her poor, delusional students. But enough about that. I don't want to talk about her because then I'll believe that I still have to put up with her. You looked like you were talking as I came into the common room. Anything interesting that you want to include me in?" She gave them a hopeful look. She hated the thought of the two of them leaving her out of something, mainly because she'd experienced that far too much growing up. It would hurt even more if it was done by the two people she'd grown closest to.

Harry was about to answer, hoping to force the conversation back onto Matthew, when his friend beat him to it. "We were just discussing the trip to Hogsmeade. Harry's very excited about it, as everyone else seems to be, as if they've been trapped in the school for years rather than a month."

"So you're still planning on going, Harry?"

He was taken aback by the question. He'd never have anticipated such a response. "Why wouldn't I be? I have the permission slip. That was the one thing I was dreading getting when the letter first came, but Matthew helped distract my Uncle Vernon long enough for him not to care about what means it took to get rid of me."

Hermione was biting her lip, a recurring trait she sometimes fell back on when she had to deal with something uncomfortable. "It's just, with the reports about Sirius Black and the warning that Arthur Weasley gave you, I thought you might have considered it wise to stay in the castle for the time being. I'm just thinking about you being safe."

"I can't hide away forever. I want to make the most of this world. I've been trapped away for eleven years. I'm not going to let some stranger stop me from being free."

"It's not some stranger," Hermione pressed, urgently wishing for him to see where she was coming from. "It's a renowned murderer who seems to have an obsession about you. You wouldn't be locking yourself away forever. Just until he's caught."

"And if he isn't caught? What then? How long do I put my life on hold on the off chance that Black wants to get to me?"

"We'll stay at Hogwarts with you instead of going to Hogsmeade…to keep you company…to make it feel better than it actually is."

"Will we?" Matthew asked dubiously, the first he was hearing about this idea.

" Yes ," she hissed, brokering no argument. "It's probably the best choice for us to make anyway. The Daily Prophet was reporting the other day that he was spotted by a Muggle not too far from here. He could be waiting for the Hogsmeade trip to strike."

"I wouldn't want you to be left behind with me," Harry said. "If there was a situation where I had to stay, I'd still want you to enjoy yourselves. But we're not in that situation. McGonagall accepted my form and she'd be one of the first to tell me not to go."

"As bad as the dementors are, they will be there during the trip," Matthew sagely pointed out. "Even if Black managed to get past them once, he'll be hesitant to do it again. If I'd just escaped from a maximum security prison, breathing fresh air for the first time in twelve years, the last thing I'd want to do is risk going back. That's also not mentioning the fact that Harry will be out in the open, surrounded by other students. Black won't be able to get near him without being spotted."

"And what if he does manage to do that? What if he doesn't care about going back to Azkaban as long as he succeeds in harming Harry…or…or…the more severe possibility?"

"Then me and you will send him back to kingdom come."

"I think you're more confident about doing that and succeeding than I am."

"That's the difference between us two. If you had anywhere near the same level of belief that I have in myself, and you for that matter, you'd be unstoppable. And you're fairly close to that already."

She shook her head, not wishing to listen to the compliment. He had started being nice to her recently. Not that he'd ever not been nice. This was just… overly nice, like he was trying to make up for something. She could guess that it had something to do with whatever lay inside the book he'd given her. With her busy schedule and piles of work, she hadn't been able to give it as much time as she would have liked. Even so, Hermione had got through five chapters of the infernal thing and was still none the wiser as to why he'd made such a big deal about it. It made the slight change in his personality even more infuriating.

"Get out you stupid animal!" someone shouted from upstairs and they jerked at the sudden exclamation. A blur of ginger fur could just be seen racing down the steps and Hermione stood up, picking up Crookshanks and cooing softly at him. A boy with the same colour hair as the kneazle was soon following its path, coming to a juddering halt when he saw the trio waiting for him. Ron Weasley, however, didn't seem to acknowledge the look of indignation on Hermione's face at the treatment of her now hissing pet. Nor did he appear to care that both Matthew and Harry and joined their friend at the sign of commotion. Ron's face simply contorted into a look of abject anger.

"Will you control your stupid cat?" he yelled, drawing further attention from the Gryffindor masses. "It was in our dorm room! Why would it even think to go in there? If I hadn't been there, it would have eaten Scabbers!"

Harry knew all too well who Scabbers was. The feeble looking rat had been with Ron since their first year at Hogwarts. It was now safely stowed away in Ron's top pocket, its tiny head poking out as if it were surveying whether the coast was clear. Crookshanks let out a low growl and the rodent hid away again. With one arm tucked underneath the large cat, Hermione's spare hand was firmly on her hip.

"Oh for goodness sake!" she complained. "What would you expect from a cat and a mouse? For them to form a friendship? You can't blame Crookshanks for following the behaviour that's expected of him."

"This was more than that! There's something about that cat. It has it in for Scabbers, I can just tell. As soon as I opened the door to check up on him, that thing raced inside and made a beeline straight for him. He's skin and bones as it is! He'd have no chance against that monster."

Hermione gasped. "Crookshanks is not a monster!" She covered her animal's ears as if it could understand what they were saying. With how intelligent it had shown itself to be, Harry wouldn't have been too surprised if it could. "He would have just smelt Scabbers! That's all. I can't believe you'd think such a lovely being would have a vendetta against your rat."

"Oh, of course you're insulting me now. It isn't enough that you're encouraging your cat to murder my pet. You have to make it sound as if you're better than me, as usual. I thought you might have moved past that phase by now."

"Watch your tongue, Weasley," Matthew butted in warningly. "There's no need to have a big argument over this."

"Why am I not surprised?" He looked at Hermione. "Do you always let him speak for you? Is it some sort of funny deal you've got going on? If I was you, I'd think he didn't believe I couldn't fight my own battles. Pathetic, really."

Hermione was ready to defend herself, her hand now balled into an angry fist. Matthew looked fit to pounce as quickly as Crookshanks with how furious his expression was. And still Ron didn't notice that he was digging himself into a pretty large hole. Not until a new voice entered the conversation.

" Ron !" Ginny Weasley hissed as she stomped over to the scene. "Stop making a fool out of yourself and shut your mouth for once!"

Her brother looked aghast that his own blood was turning against him too. "You're seriously taking their side? What sort of a sister are you?"

"The sort of sister who wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the girl you're currently shouting at. You should be thanking her everyday, not treating her like this. All this, just because your rat got scared."

"You won't be defending her when that cat takes the final swing at Scabbers. He's the family pet!"

"Oh, please. He hasn't done anything of note for at least five years. It might be a mercy if Crookshanks did that. Now stop making a fool of yourself and go. Unless you think you can take on the three most renowned students in this House." Ginny folded her arms in challenge. "Go on, I'd actually like to see you try."

Ron hesitated, thought about saying something, grumbled a few choice words under his breath, and then stomped away. Hermione was finally able to put Crookshanks down, who jumped up onto the sofa and curled up into a ball as if nothing had happened. Harry and Matthew copied the action now that the drama had come to a premature end, whilst Hermione gave Ginny a grateful smile.

"Thanks for helping out with your brother," she said. "To be honest, I can't really remember the last time I spoke to him for as long as that. I do feel slightly bad. Crookshanks shouldn't have been there in the first place."

"That might be my fault," Matthew interrupted. "He sometimes likes to come into the dorm. Maybe he thinks that the beds are more comfortable. But I've gotten some cat treats, which he must have smelt."

"You got cat treats? For my cat?"

"Only for when he comes to say hi. I've got a way with animals. The kitchen was all too happy to whip them up for me."

Hermione shook her head in equal parts disbelief and amusement. Matthew made less and less sense with each passing day, and she was sure he preferred it that way. Ginny, meanwhile, looked to be growing awkward. After all, this was the person who had saved her. And they'd barely spoken since, apart from when Hermione had thanked her for her impromptu birthday present.

"If Ron gives you any more trouble like that, just give me a shout. I know how best to deal with his moods. If that's how I repay you for what you did for me, then I think that's a bargain."

"But…I didn't…" Hermione sputtered, coming to a defeated stop. She knew there was no use in protesting. She was going to have to get revenge on Harry for how he had managed to give her all the plaudits from what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. "Thank you. I'll probably take you up on that offer."

Ginny grinned and walked away, allowing Hermione to slump back into her seat. She spotted Matthew grinning at her. "What?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"It's just that Ron Weasley thought I was your defender or something. Well, I reckon there's someone else who wants to fight me for that privilege."

xxxxxxxxxx

Harry was very happy indeed that he'd been able to go to Hogsmeade, thanks to Vernon's signature and Hermione finally swallowing her concerns. Walking past an ever grumpy-looking Filch and past the school gates had been exhilarating, even with the sight of dementors floating in the sky in the near distance. The trio had wandered down together, making the most of the chilly sunshine on that Halloween morning. Despite Hogwarts being decorated with its usual fanfare for the holiday, the Highland scenery was something on another level. They were forced to wear hats and gloves to fight off the cold and yet Harry barely felt it, so happy he was to be exploring a new part of this world he'd been thrown into.

They hadn't gone to Honeydukes straight away, mainly because the majority of students had headed there immediately, wanting a fix of sugar as all children wanted. Instead, they visited the Shrieking Shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade since Harry had been curious as to how something could get such an awful and intimidating name. Matthew had been far from impressed, pondering out loud why wizards would be scared of an abandoned house supposedly being haunted, when ghosts were happily wandering the corridors of Hogwarts as if it were perfectly normal. Hermione, of course, had an explanation revolving around how superstition didn't have to make sense and Harry had to agree. It was just another example of the wizarding world being nonsensical, and he loved it for it.

Zonko's joke shop was absolutely bonkers and Harry wasn't surprised to find that the Weasley twins spent the majority of their time in there. Surprisingly, he hadn't been that interested in the contraptions, besides a passing curiosity as to how they worked. He wasn't a massive fan of pranks, probably because he had been on the wrong end of them for the majority of his life. Hermione had turned her nose up at an assortment of sweets designed to get you out of class; the thought of purposefully missing a lesson was sacrilege to her. Matthew, on the other hand, got a good chuckle out of a quill that would try to tickle you if you tried to write with it. Even Hermione had smirked at his infectious, childish behaviour.

Every place they went in had something to amaze Harry. The post office, which should have been completely boring, had hundreds of owls in colour coded sections depending on how fast you wanted your mail delivered. Harry had no doubt that Hedwig could out-fly them anyway. Hermione adored Dervish and Banges, the magical equipment shop, and it took them both dragging her out of the store to prevent her from buying everything inside. Harry couldn't fathom how or why she'd need so many different types of quills, but he wasn't about to challenge her on it. Honeydukes, when it was eventually quiet enough for them to fit inside, was basically Nirvana. Each shelf was packed with such a varied array of sweets and chocolate that Harry could have been in there for days and he would have still found something new to try. Matthew, notorious for his sweet tooth, was literally like a kid in a sweet shop, even convincing Hermione to try one of everything and 'live a little'. He was all too happy to pay for the exploits, and Harry found himself wondering how he was able to afford so much. Matthew had always said that he didn't have any need for money; perhaps he was in the same boat as Harry in that sense.

They'd been lucky enough to find a spare booth in the Three Broomsticks, practically racing another group of students when it had become vacant. Harry had shot the losing Hufflepuffs a triumphant smirk and Hermione had prodded him on the arm, pointing out that they were carrying bags from Zonkos and reminding him that he didn't want to become a target because he was a sore winner. They shared tankards of hot butterbeer that staved off the biting cold outside, that were so delectable and sweet that Harry thought he could drink nothing else but that. Frankly, Harry didn't want to leave Hogsmeade because they were having such a great time. It felt like what they would do once school was over, living their lives in a magical community, still being by one another's side. He hadn't brought up those hopes, fearful that he would scare them away. He didn't want to appear too clingy after all.

It was strange for the Halloween feast not to be the highlight of the day, but it almost seemed anticlimactic in comparison to their trip. The food was delicious as ever and, despite them gorging themselves on chocolate all day, they were still able to manage two servings. The Hogwarts ghosts, who were definitely not as imposing as whatever lay within the Shrieking Shack, put on a performance towards the end of the night, flying in synchronisation like Harry had seen swimmers do once on the television. Harry found himself occasionally looking towards Professor Lupin, who was looking rather worse for wear, and he couldn't help but think of the potion Snape had given him.

Matthew seemed to sense his thoughts, something he tended to be good at. "If Snape wanted to poison him, as you suspect, then he wouldn't have done it in front of you. And, if he were that cocky, then I'd hazard a guess that Lupin would no longer be with us right now."

As they walked back to Gryffindor Tower after the feast had concluded, Hermione was following the same sort of argument. "Honestly, I know you don't like Professor Snape but he wouldn't kill someone, especially not another member of the faculty."

"I don't know about that," Harry said. "The way they were talking, there was an animosity there, like they knew each other fairly well."

"What we do know," Matthew interrupted with a groan, "is that I am absolutely stuffed after all the food I've eaten today. I shouldn't have let you convince me to eat all that chocolate." He grinned at Hermione's aghast look, who was wanting to remind him that it had definitely been the other way around. "What I need is my armchair, where I can fall asleep next to the fire."

"Like a cat?" Hermione proposed with a smirk. "You're just as bad as Crookshanks."

"And yet you actively picked to keep Crookshanks. What does that say about how you feel towards me, hmm?"

She was about to scold him for his quite frankly scandalous insinuations but became distracted by the crowd forming by the portrait hole. Percy Weasley barged past everyone, trying to figure out what was going on. As the crowd dispersed to let him move, the trio were able to spot what was wrong. The Fat Lady was missing from her painting, which had been slashed so violently that pieces of fabric were littering the floor. Percy, ashen-faced, called for the headmaster immediately, who eventually arrived with McGonagall, Snape and Lupin in tow.

Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore a lot during the early parts of the year. He seemed more serious in his expression, although that might have just been because of the situation they were facing. With a search party created to find the Fat Lady, the Gryffindors were sent to the Great Hall to sleep for the night, since they were practically locked out of the Tower. Not to mention that it was now a potential crime scene. The long tables were vanished expertly by Dumbledore, replaced with sleeping bags for them all. He asked them to sleep but that became impossible as soon as Peeves the Poltergeist came flying in through the walls, shouting as loudly as possible that Sirius Black was the culprit. After that, no one could sleep. The excited chatter was almost deafening.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Hermione asked as they dragged a few sleeping bags into the corner of the Hall for some relative privacy.

"Dumbledore seemed to think so," Harry answered. "And, I know Peeves likes to cause trouble, but I don't even think he would make this up. Not with the amount of trouble he could get into."

"Do you reckon Black is still in the castle then?"

"We wouldn't be here if Dumbledore didn't think that," Matthew pointed out. "If this is true, then your prediction came true, Hermione. Black used the Hogsmeade weekend to attack. He just didn't choose to attack us."

"Why not? Why would he choose to go to the Gryffindor common room?"

Matthew inadvertently glanced in Harry's direction, who sighed at the implications. "Perhaps he thought Harry wouldn't be going on the trip and realised he would be isolated today."

"But why would he even think that?" Harry argued. "Surely he can't know about the Dursleys and how it was strange for them to do one nice thing for me."

"I really don't know, Harry. But there's more to this story than we've been told, I can practically taste it. How would he have gotten into Hogwarts in the first place? Couldn't apparate, couldn't just walk in unassisted. The wards around the castle would prevent that. Unless he had help…on the inside."