Chapter Five---Return to Hogwarts
September 1st dawned as a cold, cloudy day. The summer inhabitants of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place hurried around the house, grabbing their trunks and other necessary items for the upcoming school year. Luna nearly lost it when she realized she had lost her diary. Ron finally found it to save Luna from going into hysterics. It was the first time Harry had seen Luna demonstrating such emotion. Then again, a diary was a really good place for a person with two dead parents to express their feelings.
They finally made it out of the house and went up to the street where Tonks was waiting for them, in the guise of a handsome young man. When Ginny had asked her if she knew anyone like that, Tonks merely laughed and said it was the look of an old boyfriend she'd had in school.
The clock read ten-fifty when they reached the station.
"Now, all of you, be careful and don't do anything dumb this year," Mr. Weasley said, looking at the trio carefully, "be on your guard. This is a war. You all are potential soldiers. Be careful and don't go looking for trouble…"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded, Ron with an imperceptible roll of his eyes.
"That applies to you too, Ginny. I want you to stay around your older brother and don't go anywhere alone," he added.
"Okay, Dad," she said.
They went through the barrier, Ginny first. After dropping off their trunks in the luggage compartment, the trio began looking for a compartment to sit down in. Ginny had immediately headed off to sit with her new boyfriend Michael Corner.
"Hey, wait a minute, where's Luna?" asked Ron.
"I thought she was right behind us," Hermione said, looking puzzled.
Harry shrugged, "She's probably all right. She probably doesn't want to be baby-sitted everywhere by us."
"Good point," Ron said, "I wonder where Neville is. Think we should go find him and sit with him?"
"Sure."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione began looking for Neville Longbottom, a much-maligned and often clumsy person whom had nevertheless proven himself to be a very good wizard in the Department of Mysteries. Harry had found that he trusted Neville almost as much as his two best friends and Neville was definitely not one to betray that trust.
They finally found him sitting in a compartment with Luna. Neither was talking.
"Hey guys," Ron said, sliding into a seat next to Luna.
"Hey," they replied.
"Ron, we have to go to the prefects' compartment," Hermione reminded him.
Ron grimaced, but didn't say anything. He followed Hermione out the door.
"So how was your summer, Neville?"
"All right," he said, shrugging, "my grandmother was really upset when I told her that I had broken my father's wand. She approved of us going in there, though."
He didn't bother to ask Harry how his summer had been.
Luna was still silent, staring out the window. An awkward silence fell over the compartment. Harry silently wondered why he felt so uncomfortable. Neville was his friend and so was Luna. Why was it so bloody awkward?
After nearly fifteen minutes, in which Harry silently read two chapters in Quidditch Through the Ages, Ron and Hermione reentered the compartment, both looking slightly frazzled.
"Malfoy's vicious today," Ron announced grimly, "he already got a couple of the newbie prefects to cry."
Harry raised his eyebrows. Well, he couldn't blame Malfoy for being in a bad mood. His family had no honor left in the wizarding community, and that was something the Malfoys had always prided on.
"Serves him right," Luna said, before returning to her previous silence.
Ron looked questioningly at her, but she was humming some unknown tune and didn't say anything. He looked at Neville and Harry who shrugged.
"Malfoy certainly did look smug about something though," Hermione said, biting her lip, "it was as if he knew something we didn't. He kept saying stuff like, 'At least I know the dark secrets of my friends…' It was really weird. Ron and I shook him off after a while, but it was really getting kind of annoying."
Harry's face betrayed nothing, but his insides were churning. Malfoy had seen him at Knockturn Alley. If he told Ron or Hermione…what could he say to Ron? To Hermione? He would have to admit that he had lied to them. They would not like that, especially Hermione.
"Who knows? He probably just wants you guys to turn on each other," Neville said wisely, "besides, why listen to him? He's an idiot and everybody in this room is worth twelve of him."
Hermione nodded vigorously, before her eyes turned back to Harry. He seemed rather quiet…and pensive. It was as if he had something on his mind. She wasn't sure what, but it definitely seemed to be bothering him.
"Well, if it isn't the latest members of the poor house," a sneering voice said.
They all looked up and saw Malfoy, with his two cronies standing on either side of him.
"Well, if it isn't the idiot whose father was in jail," Ron replied scathingly.
"At least he got out," Malfoy said, with his eyebrows raised, "he's got more brains than your father at least."
"My father might be the next Minister of Magic," Ron said, smirking at the look of horror on Malfoys' face. He evidently hadn't known that.
"Yeah, didn't you know?" Neville added, "They're having elections in two weeks on whether to kick Fudge out of office. If you vote 'yes' on that part, you can vote for a new candidate to step in. Ron's dad's leading the informal polling, even though the Prophet isn't reporting that."
Malfoy looked murderous, "Well, if Weasley makes Minister, it'll be a hell of a lot easier for us to take England."
"Don't be too sure of that!" Harry said angrily.
"What, are you gonna use some of those curse books you got in Knockturn Alley on us?" Malfoy said, grinning at Harry's look of surprise.
"WHAT?" Hermione shouted.
"Yes, it's true, Mudblood. A week ago I met Potter in Knockturn Alley…according to one of my friends, he was buying curse books on how to inflict pain legally. What hypocrisy, eh Potter?"
Harry couldn't say anything. Malfoy was telling the truth. If Hermione or Ron searched his trunk, they'd find them, because Samsung's invisibility spell had worn off.
"Get out of here, Malfoy," he snarled.
"As you wish," Malfoy said, bowing sarcastically.
Harry slammed the door shut behind them and angrily turned to face them.
"Harry?" Hermione said in a soft voice.
"What?" he said angrily.
"Why were you----"
"It's for Bellatrix Lestrange," he said coldly, "and whenever I find her, I'm going to inflict every painful spell I can on her."
Neville, he noticed, had changed his reaction from one of surprise and inquiry to one of agreement.
"But Harry," Hermione said reasonably, "that's sinking to their levels. That's being no better than they are."
"Dammit, I don't care!" Harry exploded, "My godfather died because of her! SHE LAUGHED ABOUT IT! I'M GOING TO KILL HER IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOU AND RON ORDERING ME AROUND----"
"Leave me out of this," Ron said, "I'm on your side on this one."
"Isn't that surprising?" Hermione asked scathingly, "You're always on Harry's side----always----remember two years ago, when you had a fight with Harry? You were jealous of him and you know what, you should be. He can actually formulate his own opinions. You just do whatever he says----"
Ron roared like a lion. Harry broke out of his rage to watch almost surreally as Ron angrily grabbed Hermione's shoulders and started shaking her.
"Shut up, okay?! You're such a goddamn know-it-all! You think you know everything, but you don't! Otherwise you wouldn't have been taken out so easily by Dolohov. Some help you were in the Department of Mysteries, eh?"
Hermione grabbed one of Ron's arms and pushed him away, "I think I vaguely remember Luna telling me that you weren't of much use either----you got taken out by some weirdo spell and acted like you were high for the rest of the time."
"Get the hell out of here," spat Ron, "you don't belong here. Why don't you go hang out with some Ravenclaw nerds? I'm sure you'll be able to hook up with those geeks…maybe you'll even score a date from Terry Boot! And then you can have sex with that----"
Hermione slapped Ron across the face, hard. Neville, Harry saw, was watching frightfully and edging away from them. Luna's face remained serene, but he had noticed her eyes went wide when Hermione slapped Ron.
"Don't you dare make such insinuations about me, you disgraceful, worthless----"
She suddenly turned on Harry, "I'm leaving this compartment----you two idiots don't seem to understand common sense! I've had enough of arguing with you pair of fools---Harry, you're sinking to their level and you know it. Ron, I've just had enough of you."
Harry watched, stunned, as Hermione turned on her heel and stomped out of the room.
"Wow," Neville whispered.
Ron was staring angrily at the spot where she had been, "Damn whore…thinks she can slap me around…she's gonna have another think coming to her…"
Luna suddenly looked up sharply, "She's right, you know. Neither of you is making much sense right now…and it was wrong of you to start shaking her."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Great, now the crazy woman's against us too."
Harry was startled to see the tears in Luna's eyes as she stood up, "I am not crazy, Ronald. I may have different views and opinions than you, but I am not crazy."
Luna walked out of the compartment as well, wiping her face furiously.
"What, are you going to start next on us?" Ron asked scornfully to Neville.
Harry looked, expecting Neville to say nothing. Neville wasn't the sort to pick fights. But he was in for a surprise.
"They're right, okay? You guys are both acting stupid, degrading, and just plain nasty. Instead of insulting Malfoy so much, maybe you should look in the mirror."
And with that, Neville walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Damn fools," Ron said angrily, "who the hell do they think they are?"
Harry shrugged, "I don't know why Hermione got so upset about me looking at some curse books. And I didn't really expect Neville and Luna to leave so abruptly either."
Ron also shrugged, "Ah, who cares? I guess it's just me and you now…just like it was on our first train here."
"Yeah."
The rest of train ride passed by agonizingly slow. They had a large lunch, talked about Quidditch, but Harry silently found that he was missing Hermione. And Neville. Even Luna. Ron didn't seem to be showing any remorse, but the last two hours of their train ride passed in silence.
Finally, they were able to get off and saw Hagrid's looming form yelling out, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Hiya, Harry!"
"Hey Hagrid," Harry said quietly.
"Where's Hermione?" he asked, squinting at the pair of them.
Harry simply shrugged and knew from the look on Hagrid's face that he would talk to them about it later. Ron and Harry got onto the carriage, Ron still looking wonderingly at the front, wishing he could see the thestrals. There carriage was empty, save for a couple of Hufflepuffs, Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones.
"Hey Harry!" they chorused.
"Hey," he replied.
"Where's Hermione?" asked Susan, frowning.
They shrugged. Ernie and Susan shared a look, but Harry couldn't read it.
"Are we still having the D.A.?" asked Ernie.
"Yep," Harry said, "once a week, I think."
"Cool," said Susan, "do you know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be?"
Even though he did know, Harry simply shrugged. In his opinion, Kingsley Shacklebolt was going to be a great teacher. In particular, he couldn't wait until the private lessons.
The carriage pulled up in front of the school and the two Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs got out, heading towards the front entrance. They exchanged good-byes as they headed to their separate tables in the Great Hall.
"It's good to be back," Ron said, happily looking around.
"Tell me about it."
Harry noticed with a slightly sad eye that Hermione and Neville sat as far as they could get from Harry and Ron. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. What if Hermione and Neville were more than just friends? Who cares? It's not like you like her or anything, he reminded himself. And that was a comforting thought to him.
He looked up to the front of the room, his eyes falling on Albus Dumbledore. For the first time in two months, he felt a little bit more secure. Suddenly he remembered his talk with Dumbledore at the end of last year. Dumbledore wasn't perfect and he did make mistakes. Hell, he had made the one that had cost Sirius his life.
"Welcome, welcome! I'm glad to see that you have all returned for another year at Hogwarts…let us commence with the Sorting!"
Harry watched disinterestedly as people began being Sorted into their respective houses.
"Wish we could cut the junk and get straight to the food," Ron said, tapping his foot impatiently.
Harry nodded vigorously. The Sorting, which had been interesting when he was in it, had lost a lot of its luster in his eyes. The song this year was a boring, typical one, unlike the weird warning issued by the hat last year.
"Think that means we're gonna have a pleasant year?" Ron asked.
"I doubt it."
Finally "Yarmouth, Kevin!" was Sorted into Hufflepuff and the Sorting was over. Dumbledore stood up.
"I'm sure you all are very hungry, so I am not going to waste your time with the words of an old man. Tuck in."
Food magically appeared on the plates and Harry helped himself to large portions of roast chicken and mashed potatoes. Ron, he saw, was stuffing his face with drumsticks. He secretly glanced at Hermione and saw her chatting with Neville merrily, eating her food more gently than Ron was (Harry ducked to avoid a flying piece of meat from Ron's mouth). Harry suddenly felt a pang of annoyance and jealousy. Hermione was not supposed to be laughing and talking with other people. She was supposed to be with him and Ron, laughing at their jokes, not Neville's.
Ron saw where Harry's eyes were looking and snorted derisively, "Forget her. She'll come crawling back sooner or later. You still don't like her, do you?"
"I don't think so," Harry replied, "I don't even think I ever did."
"Good."
After several treacle tarts, Harry's stomach felt like it was going to explode. Wouldn't that be a blessing for Voldemort, he thought absent-mindedly. As the last of the desserts cleared away from the table, Dumbledore stood up.
"Before you head off to the comforts of your dormitories, I would like to say a few words. First, as always, Mr. Filch has a list of items that are not to be in this school, and not following these rules can result in detentions. Second, as many of you know, the Minister has acknowledged the return of Lord Voldemort. I would like to remind you to be ever vigilant and unite together, as a house divided against itself cannot stand. That was a phrase uttered by a Muggle American President, and there is truth to what he says. If we bicker and fight amongst the houses, we make ourselves vulnerable to attacks by the Dark Lord and his minions. And lastly, I'd like to introduce to you our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Kingsley Shacklebolt."
Kingsley got a big round of applause. Many students who had fathers or mothers working in the Ministry knew that Kingsley was an Auror and a good one.
"Kingsley was an Auror and he is here to help oversee the school," Dumbledore said, and then with a twinkle in his eye, he added, "but I don't foresee him become a High Inquisitor of Hogwarts."
There was laughter around the Great Hall. Dumbledore smiled benignly at them before saying, "Off to bed, now! First years, follow your prefects!"
Harry watched as Ron and Hermione, who were both studiously ignoring the other, gather the first years and begin walking them to the Tower. Harry took the shortcut behind the tapestry and reached the Tower in a few minutes. Not wanting to talk to Hermione, he headed straight up to the dormitory. Neville's covers, he noticed were drawn.
"Hey, Harry, how was your summer?" Dean asked, who was re-sticking his West Ham poster to the wall.
"Okay, I guess. How'd you do on your O.W.L.S.?"
"I got eleven and Seamus got ten. Not too bad. What about you?"
"Thirteen. But I still have to get an extra class. I don't what it is yet."
"Really?" Seamus asked, "Dean and I both got ours. We got stuck with Divination again."
Harry laughed, "I hope I don't get that either. I think that's what Ron got too."
Speaking of Ron, the redhead came into the dormitory, rolling his eyes.
"Bloody first years," he said, flopping onto his bed.
"You're the prefect," Seamus pointed out.
"Yeah, but they're so bloody annoying. They think they're the greatest things to walk through these halls. We sure weren't like that. And they're so short! One of them barely came up to my waist! And Hermione was treating them like they were little angels…"
The four boys laughed and Dean said, "That's a girl for you."
"Yeah," said Harry, lying down on his bed.
"Night, guys," Seamus said.
The lights turned off and Harry soon fell asleep. He had a very strange dream. He was standing in a room, with a torch in his hand and was shooting this green light out of the torch. When he woke up the next morning, he had no memory of it.
***
Harry and Ron strolled into the Great Hall for breakfast, neither wanting to hurry. Classes were starting today. The timetables were being passed out among the tables and Harry grabbed his.
"Hmmm…we got our private lessons with Kingsley on here," Harry said, "look, Defense Against the Dark Arts today!"
"Awesome!" Ron said, "but I've also got Divination."
"I don't," said Harry, looking oddly at his schedule, "look, I've got N.E.W.T. Potions!"
"You didn't qualify!" Ron said, looking closely at Harry's schedule.
"I know…maybe Dumbledore pulled some strings or something. Wait a minute…that means Snape for Potions and Occlumency. This is shaping up to be a great year!" Harry added sarcastically.
"Well, what do you have first?"
"Double Potions, then lunch, then N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts, then my private lesson with Kingsley."
"Okay, I've got Double Divination and then Defense with you. Private lesson as well," Ron said, "I guess we should go to the class."
"Have fun with Trelawney," Harry said, winking at his best friend.
"She's better than Snape," Ron retorted.
Harry found himself silently agreeing as he trudged to the dungeons. Today was Monday, so assuming that Snape was having Occlumency the same day as last year, he might have Snape on the same day twice.
He walked into the Potions room and saw that it was nearly empty. Draco Malfoy and another Slytherin were sitting in a corner of the room, talking quietly amongst themselves. There was another Ravenclaw girl sitting near them. He sat down as far away from Malfoy as he could. Hermione then walked in. She looked around and saw that there were only the two Slytherins, the one Ravenclaw, and Harry also in the class. She sat down a few seats to the right of Harry.
"Well, if it isn't the Dream Team," Snape said, leering at Harry and Hermione, "why are you sitting so far away from each other? Oh, maybe Potter's understood what filth the Mudblood his."
Harry glanced to his right and saw that Hermione's eyes were filling up with silent tears, but she was bravely trying to hold them in. Harry, however, lost his temper.
"Shut up!" Harry shouted.
"What did you say, Potter?" Snape asked in a dangerously silky voice.
Harry could feel Malfoy's sneering eyes on his back, but ignored it. Malfoy wasn't someone he had to worry about.
"I told you to shut up, okay? Leave off all the Mudblood and the Granger insults, all right? She's the smartest witch in the school! Her blood doesn't make any difference! She's going to be a better wizard than you and I'm going to laugh at you when she does that! Pure blood, eh?"
Snape's black eyes were flashing in a loathing way that Harry had never seen before. He became vaguely aware of the fact that he should probably sit down. He followed this instruction.
"Potter, I think that costs Gryffindor fifty points and you can join me for a week's worth of detentions."
Harry realized that he was going to have to miss his first private lessons with Kingsley, since those were scheduled for Monday and Friday. Snape turned his back on the class for a few seconds, evidently to recompose himself. Harry cautiously turned his eyes to where Hermione was sitting. Her eyes were shining with admiration and she beamed at him. Harry smiled nervously back.
"All right, the first important thing about sixth year N.E.W.T. Potions that you must know is that most of you will fail. This year, I only have one student in my seventh year N.E.W.T. Potions class. I don't expect that trend to stop. Already, you can see that the weak have been weeded out from among us…except for Mr. Potter, of course."
Harry smiled blandly at Snape. He had to keep his cool.
"Mr. Potter had to ah…revert to other methods to get into this class. But no matter, even the Headmaster's urging will not allow you to be in my seventh year class."
Harry continued to keep his bland smile on, but his insides were fuming. Great. More ammunition for Malfoy to use against him.
"Secondly, this year is spent mostly on making your own potion. At the end of the year, you will turn it in, along with the antidote. This will be fifty percent of your exam grade. The other fifty percent will be based on the readings you will have for homework throughout the year. To be in my seventh year class, you must get ninety percent or above."
Harry grimaced. Snape was right. There was no way that he could possibly make a potion that wouldn't get a zero from Snape. And he wasn't creative enough to make a good one, anyway. He was doomed.
"However, you are allowed to work with a partner. I will not choose your partner, but neither shall you," Snape said, "the Sorting Hat will choose."
Harry grimaced. The Sorting Hat would probably decide to put him and Malfoy together to promote "unity" or something.
"Malfoy, you first."
Malfoy confidently swaggered up to the Hat and jammed it on his head.
"Millicent Bulstrode!"
Malfoy, with the grimace evident on his face, walked over to the gigantic Slytherin sixth year. That left the Ravenclaw, Harry, and Hermione.
"Since there's only three of you, you will work in a group of three," Snape said, grimacing, "but, since there is three of you, your standard will be higher and I will grade you harder."
Great, thought Harry. He smiled at Hermione and they both motioned for the Ravenclaw girl to come sit with them.
"Hi, I'm Kalie Lane," she said, smiling. She was pretty and blond.
"Hermione Granger," Hermione said, "and this is the famous Harry Potter."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Don't mind her. She's just happy she's so close to me."
Hermione gave him a fake shove and they both laughed. Kalie laughed even harder.
"You two act like a married couple," she said.
Harry blushed and saw that Hermione's cheeks were tinged with pink as well and they both said, "Er…"
Kalie shrugged, "Don't worry about it. I mean, you must know about the betting that goes on you two."
"What?" squawked Hermione.
Kalie looked puzzled, "You mean you don't? Oh, come on, there's bets on when you'll go out, when you'll kiss, and Zacharias Smith even takes bets on when you guys will lose your virginity to each other."
If it was possible, Harry turned even more crimson, "Well…you see…"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you guys haven't gone out yet," she said, "that's good. I've got you down for the end of sixth year. Kissing I've got you for beginning of seventh year, and losing your virginity, I have you down for the end of the seventh year."
Harry's mind was slowly trying to accumulate all this new information. People had bets on when they were going to go out or kiss? And he felt himself go redder when he thought of the virginity bet.
"That's ridiculous," Hermione said, stating what was in Harry's mind.
Kalie shrugged, "It's true, though. Ernie Macmillan lost twenty Galleons last year, because he said you were going to date on Valentine's Day last year."
Harry felt guilty. Maybe he should refund Ernie. It wasn't his fault…but then again, he thought, it was ridiculous that these people were making bets about his personal lives.
"Rumor has it that Dumbledore himself took up a bet with Zacharias on the virginity thing," she added.
Hermione's face was twisted in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
"No way," Harry said, "I don't believe that."
"It's just rumor," Kalie said.
"Anyway," said Hermione, "let's get to work. What kind of potion do you think we should make?"
"I don't know, why don't we look in these books?"
For the rest of the class, Harry, Hermione, and Kalie looked through their Potions books, making notes and book marking pages. When the bell finally rung, Harry felt like his eyes were going to be cross-eyed if he looked through any more pages.
Harry and Hermione walked out of the class together, but before she could start walking to the Great Hall, Harry spun her around so she would face him.
"Hermione, listen…I'm sorry," he said, "I was being dumb and immature. Can you please forgive me?"
Hermione smiled at him, "Of course, Harry. I don't like that you have those curse books…but I'm not going to do anything about it."
"Thanks, Hermione."
"No problem."
"Er…Hermione? I don't really think that Ron's ready to make peace with you…" Harry said.
"That's okay. When the selfish git wants to make peace, he can do it himself. I certainly am not going to beg for his friendship back."
Just what he needed. To be the middleman between his friends. He knew that Ron would be upset that Harry had made a truce with Hermione and Hermione wouldn't hang out with him if Ron was nearby.
They walked to the Great Hall together, smiling at each other every few feet. Harry felt strange. It was the oddest feeling in the world…he felt like he was in bliss. He tried half-heartedly to shake it off, but it didn't work.
"Harry?" she said.
They were in front of the double doors.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for standing up for me today," Hermione said, "that was really brave of you."
"Don't worry about it," Harry said, "the slimy git deserved it."
Hermione smiled softly at him and put her hand on his shoulder. Harry was about to open his mouth to question what she was doing, but stopped when he saw the expression on Hermione's face.
Before he could stop her, she threw her arms around him in a very awkward hug. Harry uncomfortably hugged her back, very aware of the eager faces looking at them.
"Er…Hermione? Everyone's looking at us."
Hermione seemed to jolt to her senses and she hurriedly took her arms away from Harry's neck.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
They headed into the Great Hall, whispers firing back and forth across behind them. Ron, they saw, was sitting at the Gryffindor Table, saving Harry a seat.
"Hermione? Is it okay if I----"
"Go ahead. I'll sit with Neville," she said and smiled gently at him again before walking over to where Neville was sitting.
"Snape gave me detention for a week," he informed Ron.
"Git."
"Tell me about it. When are we going to have Quidditch Tryouts?"
"I don't know…ask Katie."
Harry scanned around the table but didn't see her, "I'm also going to be missing my lessons with Kingsley."
"Damn, that sucks. Maybe he can give you like an hour-long one on the weekend."
"Yeah, I guess I'll talk to him after class," Harry said.
Ron and Harry walked down the corridors towards their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He noticed that Hermione was walking with Neville, but she gave him a quick smile before they moved ahead of Ron and Harry. Harry noticed that Ron made a face at Hermione's back.
They finally reached the classroom and Harry and Ron got a seat in the front.
"This is going to be awesome," Ron whispered.
"Yeah."
The class was silent as they waited for their new professor. The seats in the front were filled to capacity, with only Malfoy and a few of his cronies sitting in the back. Harry looked around. Most of the class was a member of the D.A. Only Malfoy and his buddies and a few assorted Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had also made it into N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts.
The lights turned out. There were gasps heard around the room and Harry thought he heard a girl scream.
"Silence!" Harry shouted. The class obeyed.
"Lumos," he muttered.
A flickering light came out of his wand and he could clearly see the anxious faces in the class looking back at him.
"This isn't such a big deal," Harry said, mainly aiming his lesson towards the members of the D.A., "you can't lose your heads----"
A cold air seemed to rush into the room. Harry whirled around and gasped. A dementor was gliding towards him. The class was now dreadfully silent. Harry could feel the rushing in his ears----
Think happy thoughts! Harry cast around for a happy thought, but couldn't think of one. He heard Hermione try to cast a Patronus, but all she got was a silver wisp. Harry wasn't surprised. She had produced a corporeal Patronus during the D.A. lessons last year, but conjuring one when a dementor was near you was a whole different level.
The dementor was focusing on him, Harry noticed. It was starting to lower its hood----This can't be happening! Harry's mind panicked.
Finally, his mind found a happy thought. Sirius was alive! Forcing an image of his dead godfather alive and happy into his mind, Harry shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"
A silver stag shot out of his wand and cantered towards the dementor driving it back. The dementor backed away.
"That will be all," he heard a voice say.
Kingsley Shacklebolt walked into the room, smiling. With a flick of his wand, the lights were turned back on. Harry looked closely at the dementor and realized it was really Tonks.
"To----" Harry was about to say, before Hermione clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Thank you for that demonstration, Nymphadora," Kingsley said, smiling at the awestruck and fearful faces of the students.
"Nymphadora here is a Metamorphmagus. She can change shape to become anything she wants. She had to work hard to transform into a dementor, but the point was made."
Malfoy raised a shivering hand.
"Yes, Draco?"
"But the cold air---" he managed.
"Simple," Kingsley said, fingering his wand, "I simply cast a spell to send cold air into this room. Some of you might have noticed that you were not thinking dreadful thoughts. But some of you might have remembered horrible times in your lives? Why is this? Tonks isn't a dementor, right? So why would you remember these things?"
The class was silent. Then, Hermione raised her hand.
"Hermione?"
"Is it because our mind reminds us of these things? We recognize the dementor and realize we will be thinking terrible thoughts in our head. So we naturally are thinking of the horrible things that have happened in our lives. Tonks didn't have to conjure the bad thoughts; we did it ourselves."
"Correct. Five points to Gryffindor," Kingsley said, "some of you might have been able to resist that. Good for you. But others of you may have found your worst memories circling in your heads. This is not a bad thing. Most wizards would do the same thing. One thing I hope to do in my teaching is to improve your abilities and lessen your fear enough that you will not be afraid of dementors or anything else that faces you."
"But why did you do that, sir?" a Ravenclaw Harry didn't know asked.
Kingsley smiled, showing his magnificent teeth, "To teach you. Did you notice that only Harry was able to do anything? The rest of you sat there, unable to move, unable to think. I know that some of you were in the D.A. Why didn't you try something, anything? Hermione attempted to cast a Patronus, which she has done before, but she was so paralyzed by her fear that she could not cast it. I am here to help you get rid of that fear. Even Harry, you'd notice, took a while before he did anything. I'm not sure why, but whatever it was, while Harry was struggling, the rest of you just sat there, waiting for him to save you. What if it wasn't Tonks, but a real dementor? What if Harry is incapacitated or can't produce the Patronus? Are you just going to sit there and wait for something? Action, not reaction!"
The class sat in awe, absorbing Kingsley's lessons. Tonks, meanwhile, has disappeared, presumably to go back to the Ministry.
"I know that you all did absolutely nothing last year," he said, which brought grins to the faces of most of the students, "so, since you spent all of last year on books, we're going to spend all of this year using our wands."
Ron and Harry traded smiles.
"First off, pair off into groups of two and find a place in the classroom. Yes, that's it."
Harry and Ron stood up and moved to the side of the classroom. Neville evidently hadn't wanted to be paired with Hermione, so he had partnered with Lavender. Parvati and Hermione were standing next to each other.
"All right," he said, "I want you to do your best attempt at dueling. You must Stun the other person to win. Start."
Harry and Ron faced each other, grinning slightly.
"Furnuncula!" Ron started the action.
Harry dodged it easily and shouted back, "Stupefy!"
Ron couldn't get out of the way fast enough and fell back, Stunned. Harry leaned over and revived him. He pulled him up off the floor and Ron grinned at him. They both knew Harry had had a way too easy victory. Harry looked around at the other battles. Hermione had already finished Parvati off and Neville had taken care of a very surprised Lavender. Malfoy had also won his battle easily. Finally, each pair finished.
"Good," Kingsley said, checking his watch, "now for homework, I want you to describe the duel and anything you could've done differently. I also want you to research a parchment's worth of information about any famous dueling champion."
There were a few groans, but the class picked up its bags to leave. Ron gave Harry the thumbs-up sign and Harry walked up to Kingsley's desk.
"Sir?" Harry asked.
"Yes, what is it, Harry?" Kingsley asked, putting away a few papers.
"I got a week's worth of detentions from Snape, so I'm going to be missing our private lessons today and on Friday. Is there any way we could reschedule?"
Kingsley shook his head, "I'm sorry, Harry, but I'm really busy. Those nights where I teach you are my only free nights. Listen, I'll talk to Professor Snape. Maybe we can defer those two detentions to next week."
Harry nodded happily, "OK, thanks."
Ron was waiting outside for him, "Well?"
"He said he'll talk to Snape about deferring the detentions?"
"Fat chance," Ron said.
"Well…if Dumbledore steps in," Harry said, "I mean, after all, I shouldn't even be in N.E.W.T. Potions; Dumbledore just told Snape to put me in there."
"Lucky you, eh?" Ron asked, but something about the way he said that made Harry think that Ron wasn't entirely happy about Dumbledore's favoritism of Harry.