AN- Well the next chapter is here... I think something is wrong with me. My writing ability (assuming I had any to begin with) has been slowly fading lately. So has my creativity...WAH! I don't like this! Well, complaining won't help and writing more might not either, but at least writing is somewhat productive, and (hopefully) entertaining for you, my audience....*Shades is greeted by Total Silence as a tumble weed rolls by*
*Ahem* Anywho, back to things that might actually matter.
IMPORTANT:
From now on, anything inside these things < >, is what someone is thinking.
Bye!
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Hagrid had a small log cabin near the edge of the woods. Or at least it was a small cabin relative to the size of its occupant. The doorway was about nine or ten feet high and the logs that had been used wouldn't have looked out of place standing upright next to a redwood. Everything about the house was on a similar scale except for the knocker, which looked out of place only halfway up the door. Ron and Harry wouldn't have been able to reach it if it had been where it was supposed to.
With a bit of effort (the knocker may have been at the height of a normal one but it's size was still proportionate to the rest of the cabin), Ron was able to lift the knocker and drop it, making a noise like a small bomb going off.
Ron and Harry could hear a dog barking and scratching at the door and a moment later the door opened a crack and Hagrid's face looked out.
' Ah, Harry!' Hagrid grinned. ' Gimmie a moment and I'll be right there.'
He closed the door and Ron and Harry heard sounds of a struggle before Hagrid opened the door wide and let them in. He was holding back an EXTREMELY large black boarhound, which seemed desperate to reach the two strangers. Ron looked rather pale as he took in the size of the dog.
Hagrid must have seen the look on Ron's face as he turned to shut the door, still holding onto the dog.
' Don' worry about ol' Fang here. He's mostly all bark.' Hagrid reassured the two. Unfortunately, Hagrid's way of reassuring them of their safety was to let go of the dog's collar.
Ron took a quick step back as he saw Hagrid let go of the dog, and it was a good thing that he did. If he hadn't he might have ended up with the dog standing on top of him. As soon as Hagrid had let go of the collar, Fang had leaped at Ron's chest. As it was Ron was pushed against the wall and looked like he was about to scream until Fang started trying to lick his face.
' Oh! Uhg, geroff!' Ron cried out, looking thoroughly disgusted with his predicament.
' Fang! Down!' Hagrid snapped at the dog.
Through the whole event Harry's face hadn't even twitched, but he was having a hell of a time keeping his laughter in. Harry didn't think he could have kept from laughing if he hadn't known how easily Ron would have been offended or gotten angry.
' Huh.' Hagrid grunted, looking puzzled. ' Fang doesn't usually take ter anyone right away. He must really like you!'
Remembering that Hagrid and Ron hadn't met each other yet, Harry stepped forward and introduced the two.
' Hagrid, this is Ron Weasley. Ron, this is Rubeus Hagrid.' Harry said as Hagrid tried not to pull Ron's arm off as they shook hands. ' You don't mind that I brought Ron along do you, Hagrid?'
' 'Course not, Harry. A friend of yours is a friend of mine.' Hagrid beamed. It seemed to Harry that Fang's reaction to Ron had made a good impression on Hagrid, and Ron looked grateful to Hagrid for removing Fang's tongue from his face and handing him a towel.
' So how was the first week at Hogwarts you two?'
Almost before Hagrid had finished his question Ron leaped into an explanation of their classes and how hard they were, with Harry filling in gaps and giving his own opinions of the Professors.
As Hagrid and Ron were talking about Ron's brother Charlie, who was now working with dragons, Harry noticed a clipping from the Daily Prophet.
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that had been searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
' Hagrid!' Harry exclaimed. ' That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might have been happening while we were there!'
Hagrid only grunted, not meeting Harry's eyes, and offered him another rock cake (which were aptly named considering Hagrid's cooking ability).
Harry frowned, wondering why Hagrid had avoided looking Harry in the eyes, or at least the glasses. He re-read the article as Hagrid and Ron resumed their conversation about how to deal with muggles and dragons.
The article had said that the vault that was searched had been emptied earlier that day. Hagrid had, in a sense, emptied the vault when he had removed the dirty looking package. He wondered if the thieves had been after whatever had been in the package.
As Ron and Harry walked back up to the castle, for dinner, they skipped the rock cakes that they had hidden in their pockets, across the lake. Harry wanted to believe that he was being silly thinking so hard about a tiny package like that, but silly or not Harry just couldn't get the thought out of his head that Hagrid had been acting odd about it.
After dinner, Ron and Harry returned to their common room to find the majority of the first year Gryffindor student body clustered around a piece of parchment that had been tagged up on the bulletin board.
Until Ron and Harry read the paper, they had been thankful that they had very few classes with the Slytherins. At first sight of the paper Ron had grinned.
' All right! Flying lessons! - Not that I really need them of course.'
' Of course you don't Ron, but you might want to finish reading before you cheer.' Harry commented dryly. ' We're partnered with the Slytherins.'
' What?!' Ron yelped, whipping around to read the rest of the notice, then groaning when he saw that it was true. ' Well this aught to be fun.' he concluded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ron was certainly not looking forward to Thursday, when the flying lessons would be held. Harry on the other hand showed some enthusiasm, which meant he was extremely excited as he tended to show only a little of what he felt (yet another effect of having been raised by pigs- I mean the Dursleys! [AN- Sorry all pigs. I didn't mean to offend.]).
Of course, when a person is looking forward to something, time tends to crawl by for them. Harry was no exception. By the time Wednesday evening rolled around, Harry had taken to bouncing his knees up and down under the table when he did homework. Although Ron hadn't known Harry very LONG, he certainly knew Harry quite well. Ron knew that if Harry was so anxious he was bouncing his knees, then most people, in the same situation, would be wearing a hole in the floor as they paced back and forth.
' Harry! Simmer!' Ron finally snapped in exasperation, after Harry melted the third needle in a row while the two were brushing up for a practical transfiguration quiz the next day.
' I know you're looking forward to the flying lessons tomorrow, but failing the trans quiz tomorrow won't get you on a broom any sooner. I don't understand how the idea of learning to fly a broom can be getting to you so much. I mean, it'll be your first time, right?'
Harry nodded.
' Well then it probably won't be much fun on the first day. For the most part, people have to spend a whole day just getting the broom to float if it's their first time.' Ron told Harry. ' You KNOW Malfoy'll make fun of you if you can't make the broom float, even if it IS your first time.'
' Think about it Ron. This will be my first time ever flying.' Harry said with a light in his eyes that betrayed his calm expression and tone. ' It isn't that big a deal to you because you've been able to do it all your life, but can you imagine how a person that was born crippled, would feel if they were suddenly told that they would be able to walk?'
' Hmmm, I guess so, but aren't you being a LITTLE melodramatic?'
' Heh. Probably.' Harry said with a hint of a grin.
' Well whatever. We've gotta concentrate on learning to reverse our transfigurations now, otherwise we'll be too busy making up for failing the quiz to learn to fly.' Ron said with exasperation again. ' Besides, you can't go to the library and read "Quidditch Through The Ages" until we've got the reversal down pat.' Ron finished, sounding rather sneaky.
THAT seemed to get through Harry. He closed his eyes for a moment, and concentrated on his breathing. Then, with a flick of his wand, Harry turned his five silver needles back into the matches they started out as. After getting Ron to close his mouth, which had been hanging open, Harry showed him how to hold his wand properly to get the right wand motions, and after Ron was able to turn all of his needles back into matches.
' So just remember to keep your index finger in that position and you shouldn't have any trouble. Now I'm going to the library. I know I can't learn to fly from a book, but maybe I can learn enough to keep from making a fool of myself tomorrow.' Harry said as he got up and went out the portrait hole.
Ron was going to challenge one of the fifth years to a game of chess; beating Harry in every game just wasn't enough of a match, he had said. After he won the game (in theory) he was going to go to bed early, complaining that all the studying was tiring him out. So Harry left to make his way to the library by himself. It was the first time that he had gone wandering in the halls after curfew without Ron.
Fortunately Harry could remember almost all of the secret passages that the twins had shown Ron and him, so he was able to avoid being caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris. Whenever he thought he heard one of them coming he quickly ducked into the nearest secret passage and was a few corridors away before whomever he happened to hear went past where he had been the moment before. Unfortunately, for Harry, Peeves wasn't hindered by mere walls, so Harry had to rely on his hearing Peeves coming in time for him to hide. By the time Harry finally made it to the library he was breathing slightly hard and he heaved a sigh of relief. There had been some close calls with Peeves, but Harry had managed to make it to the library without being caught.
Harry walked quietly up to the doors leading into the library. He tried the handle, but it was locked. He had been expecting as much of course, but he had remembered a fairly simple unlocking charm that he had read about during the summer, and had practiced it earlier in the day.
' Alohomora.' Harry said softly.
As soon as he said the spell, the handle on the door clicked and the door started to swing open. Unfortunately it started to make a horrible screeching sound as if the hinges were complaining about being used after curfew.
Panicking, Harry gasped and said the first thing that came to mind. ' Quietus!'
Harry slapped his forehead, amazed at his own stupidity.
<Did I honestly expect the door to stop squeaking because I told it to be quiet?> Harry thought to himself before he realized that that was exactly what had happened. <Well that's new.> Harry thought. <I'll have to look that up when I'm finished looking for Quidditch books.>
The door had swung open halfway, so Harry slipped through and pulled it shut carefully behind him. He half expected it to start squeaking again, but it didn't. In fact Harry didn't even hear it click when he locked it again from the inside. He didn't want Filch to find the door unlocked and decide to investigate.
As carefully as Harry walked, he didn't know the layout of the library very well so he bumped into several shelves before getting fed up enough to risk using his wand to light his way.
' Lumos.' Harry muttered, and the tip of his wand blazed. Unfortunately, the light was much too bright. ' Nox!' he whispered hastily.
Harry had been rather tense after the surprise at the door, and had been expecting Filch to burst in at any moment. He calmed himself down by counting four beats of his heart for every breath. Once his heart was beating at it's normal pace, he tried again.
' Lumos.' he hissed, this time focusing on making just a small light. It worked this time and his wand emitted a soft white glow.
While he had been doing this Harry had been looking down at his wand, so when he looked up into the pale, transparent face of Lady Scrive, he swung his fist straight at her nose in an instinctive reaction to being surprised while he was so tense. She was the ghost of the first Hogwarts librarian, so fortunately the reflex did nothing but surprise her.
Harry had met her during his first few days at Hogwarts, and after she learned how much he enjoyed reading, they had become good friends. Harry hoped she was feeling friendly enough towards him at the moment to forgive his reaction and refrain from reporting him to Filch.
Lady Scrive didn't look very angry, or even annoyed. She only looked shocked for a moment, and then her look turned to puzzlement.
' Is something wrong, Harry?' she asked looking at once both concerned and puzzled by his behaviour. ' Don't worry.' She said, correctly interpreting the look on Harry's face. ' I know you didn't mean to do that, but IS there something wrong? This is the first time you've so much as flinched when I've surprised you.'
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't seem to be about to hand Harry over to Filch.
' Well, yes- but then, this is also the first time I've come here after curfew.'
' Ah yes. CURfew.' the Lady spat in an exasperated tone. ' I keep meaning to talk to Albus about that. I'm sure it's very necessary and all, but I think that, in the case of students requiring the use of the library, there should be a little lenience. Don't you think so, Harry? I take it that the curfew is the reason you are suddenly so jumpy?'
' Yes, it is. And I do agree. About the curfew I mean, but I think that the headmaster would worry about students wandering the halls and simply saying that they were headed to the library as an excuse if they were caught.'
' I suppose so. In my day a headmaster wouldn't have to worry about that type of thing...' she started, then her cheeks turned a bit silvery, which Harry assumed was a ghost's way of blushing. '...but then I'm sure I've bored you with the whole ' we respected our elders in our day' speech, plenty of times before. If only more students were like you Harry.' she said with an edge to her voice that conveyed some disappointment with the present generation of students.
Now it was Harry's turn to blush, although his expression had returned to its usual mask, through which few emotions were allowed to escape. Fortunately the Lady continued before Harry started trying to stammer his thanks (he had never had much experience with compliments so they tended to catch him off guard).
' Well I know you well enough to know that you didn't simply come here for a social visit, as much as I would enjoy that. What are you researching today? Or rather tonight?' the Lady asked, her expression changing from a friendly one to a business like one.
That was one of the things that Harry liked so much about the Lady. Once she got to work, she was all business. Harry was a little nervous to ask about Quiditch, since he thought she might not be too happy about anything that took a student's attention away from studies.
' Well, of course you know that the Gryffindors and Slytherins have never *really* umm- seen eye to eye?' Harry ventured.
The Lady had a light of understanding in her eyes. ' You may not know this, Harry, but I actually *do* know what goes on outside of the library.' Harry blushed again, having been thinking that she probably didn't. ' So I know about the flying lessons that you have with the Slytherins tomorrow. I suppose that you think I'll disapprove of you looking up books on flying because I might disapprove of Quiditch?'
Harry nodded his head, not meeting her eyes. Again she seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Ghosts couldn't read minds Harry knew, since their minds were on a different sort of plane than that of wizards, but the Lady often did a pretty good job of appearing to read the minds of the other students. That she was now doing the same with Harry unnerved him to no end. He *hated* being predictable. He had learned in school that being predictable meant that Dudley and his gang would know where to find you and what you might do to get out of a situation, which would have meant a lot more pain for Harry.
' Well I know you are in Gryffindor, and I know that Malfoy will undoubtedly take great delight in verbally abusing you if you happen to make any mistakes at your flying lessons tomorrow. So in order to avoid him becoming any more obnoxious than he already is I will help you find whatever books might be useful. However, I want you to understand that I'm helping you for two reasons only. One- because I know that you are a good person who would not do the same as Malfoy in his situation and you are my friend. Two- because the Slytherins have become quite conceited over the years since I was in that house.' the Lady explained.
For once, surprise showed on Harry's face. ' You- you were in Slytherin?' Harry asked, incredulous.
' Is it so hard to believe? One of the first reasons that you came to my attention was that I have never seen you judge someone by whatever rumours you hear about them. Even your apparent dislike of you-know-who stems from fact. Contrary to popular belief, Slytherins were not always considered evil in any way at all.' she said. ' In fact, although Salazar and Godric had vastly different views on what made a good wizard, they were quite good friends. Much like you and Mr. Ron Weasley.'
' Hmm. I suppose I *was* starting to let other people's opinions guide my own. Sorry if I've offended you.' Harry said apologetically. ' So do you think that there's any way that I could learn enough from books to keep from looking like a fool tomorrow?'
The Lady laughed lightly and said ' Harry, I think that you would have to work very hard indeed in order to look like a fool. (Harry almost blushed again at this) But whether or not you learn enough to keep people like *Malfoy* from making fun of you is another question all together.'
Harry and the Lady spent a good hour going around the library looking for books that might be helpful to Harry, and then another three or four hours after that reading the books and using a table Harry transfigured into a broomstick to learn the correct grip (the broom was a regular one and couldn't fly).
Harry didn't know when he fell asleep, but he suddenly woke to a terrible chill in his head. He had fallen asleep on ' Quiditch Through The Ages' and Lady Scrive had placed her hand on- or rather *in* Harry's head to wake him. It was still dark in the library, but a glance at the moon through the window told Harry that he had better get back to his bed soon or else he wouldn't be much good for anything at all the next day.
Harry replaced all of the books, with some help from Lady Scrive to find the proper places, and then headed back to his common room, after saying thanks to the Lady.
As tired as he was Harry forgot to be as cautious as he should have, and it almost proved to be his undoing. He never ran into Filch, but he did meet up with Peeves.
He was shuffling down the charms corridor when Peeves popped out of a Professor's office cackling wildly, until he spotted Harry.
' Well now. What have we here?' Peeves chuckled. ' Ohhh. Now isn't *this* a treat for ol' Peevsies? None other than the *famous* Harry Potter!'
Harry knew that if Peeves were to call Filch, Harry would never be allowed to go to the flying lessons the next day. He tried to think if he had seen that Peeves had any weaknesses, like vampires and garlic, but he didn't come up with anything but the Bloody Baron, who Harry hadn't seen since he got to the library so that was no good... or *was* it? Thinking quickly, Harry came up with a desperate plan.
' Quick Peeves! You'd better make yourself scarce. I saw the Bloody baron and he was heading this way!' Harry said widening his eyes and speaking in a harsh whisper. ' I'll stay here and wait.'
Peeves' manner changed quickly from nasty to a little frightened, but a bit suspicious at the same time.
' And why would *you*, a student, want to help me?' Peeves asked with narrowed eyes.
' Well, ' Harry started, trying to think something up as fast as he could. ' Your pranks are always funny and help me forget about people like *Snape*.'
All of this was true. Okay, so Harry had seen the Baron when Harry was heading *to* the library in the first place, but it was still true.
Peeves though about it for a moment, then did something Harry had never thought to see him do. He *thanked* Harry. And was quite polite about it as well.
Harry stood in the corridor for a moment after Peeves had left thinking about what had just happened. Most of the Gryffindors, as well as Harry, had thought that Peeves, and all other poltergeists were unable to be anything but pranksters. If Peeves was capable of thanking Harry, then perhaps he would be able to be more than just an annoyance. Perhaps even a friend.
<Well, > Harry thought. <Let's not take this 'benefit of the doubt' thing *too* far.>
After waiting a short while like he had said he would, Harry went on to his common room, climbed through the portrait hole and went up to his bed falling asleep almost before his head hit his pillow. For once he was able to ignore what he considered, excessive softness.
Harry woke up instinctively the next morning when he felt someone standing over him. He tried to keep his breathing slow and normal as he opened his eyes a bit. He took note of where everything was. Ron was still in bed and so was Neville, but Seamus Finnigan was standing over him while Dean and several others watched. Seamus had a bucket in his hands and was tipping it over top of Harry. Harry snapped his eyes open and sat up in order to avoid the water, but his sudden movement had startled Seamus who hopped back, causing most of the water to spill over his own robes.
' Man, so do you guys ever give up?' Harry asked looking around at the group of laughing students. Even Seamus was laughing at himself, and as infectious as the laughter was, Harry soon found himself grinning while all the others laughed.
' Well, ' Seamus started, still chuckling slightly and ringing out his robes. ' we know you always put that sound alarm on your bed that you got Flitwick to teach you, so we developed a way to detect it. We noticed this morning that it wasn't there, and since Ron wasn't awake to warn you... well it *looked* like the perfect opportunity to finally get you.'
' Tell me again why you think that you need to catch me off guard and pull some prank on me?' Harry asked still shaking his head and smiling a bit.
' Well since Fred and George tried to get you once and failed, we figured that if *we* could get you, then we'd be one step closer to being good as them.' Dean explained.
At this point, Ron, who had been listening since they all started to laugh, snorted derisively. ' You *do know* that there is *no* way you can ever match my brothers don't you?' he said. ' And besides, they only tried to get Harry once, because they had run out of anyone else to prank. *They* could probably get him if they really wanted to. No offence Harry.'
' None taken, of course.' Harry replied. He then headed to the boys' washrooms to get ready for the day.
Ron had a difficult job of keeping Harry under control all day as Harry was quite excited about learning to fly. He was still worried about looking like an idiot of course, but the prospect of learning to fly was simply too much for Harry to think about it *and* worry about how he might look. He was so happy about it that he almost started laughing out loud with the rest of the class at the rude picture Peeves had drawn of Prof. Snape on a wall in the Great Hall, and Harry was widely known for his lack of expression. People loved to say that, if he were ever hit by a tickling charm, he'd probably just smile and continue on as if nothing had happened. No one ever tried to test the theory though; they were still not used to "The-Boy-Who-Lived" telling them to treat him like an average person.
It certainly didn't help matters that Harry was most clearly *not* an average person. Aside from having survived the killing curse, and aside from everything that went along with it, Harry was quite unique in the school. Besides his lack of expression, Harry was the only person at school that had mirror-plated glasses. The Dursleys had bought them for Harry so that teachers would stop commenting on all his black eyes (the black eyes were courtesy of Dudley, but Vernon and Petunia pretended not to know this). At first Harry hadn't liked them, but he had grown used to them, and then had grown to love the fact that they hid his eyes. Harry had always believed that your eyes gave away too much of what you were thinking, and having his eyes hidden had helped him avoid many punishments at the Dursleys. It seemed that not being able to see a person's eye put the other person off balance.
Ron found it odd though, that Hermione was the only one that was able to stop Harry from bouncing around and talking non-stop about flying and Quiditch (it even got so bad that RON didn't want to hear anymore about Quiditch for at least a day). All Hermione had done to calm Harry down was to tell him that his incessant tapping was keeping her from focusing on her potion.
After potions class, Ron asked him about this, but Harry had no idea why Hermione's words had affected him so much more than Ron's. He only knew that one moment he was perfectly fine, if a bit over-excited, and the next moment he felt a little sick. Ron had been a bit hurt that Harry had appeared to listen more to Hermione, who Ron still didn't get on with too well, than to Ron who was Harry's best friend.
After the first potions class, when Ron had actually seemed to tolerate Hermione, Harry had thought that things would start to improve. He was *quite* wrong. The way Hermione had acted towards Ron, and vice versa, during the first potions class, seemed to have been a one-time thing. Both seemed to be unusually hostile towards each other. Harry often found himself acting as mediator, and by the end of the second potions class, Neville had started working with Harry to keep the two from killing each other, showing much more confidence than usual from him.
(AN- In case anyone noticed that Harry's potions class has moved in its schedule, it's because their classes aren't in the same order every week. I don't think that it really goes against the books, but even if it does... SO WHAT?!! My whole story goes against the books!)
As potions class ended and the Gryffindors left on their separate ways for transfiguration, Ron and Hermione shot each other glares, and Ron turned away. Then Hermione smiled a little uncertainly at Harry. Almost as though she wanted to apologise for the way she had been treating Harry's best friend. Then she turned and was gone through a stairway hidden behind a suit of armour.
As she left Harry felt a strange twist in his stomach and felt a bit short of breath. Figuring that he must be hungry, he asked Ron if he knew where the kitchen was.
Rolling his eyes Ron said ' Maybe you'll listen to me next time I tell you to eat more at breakfast. And that you're excited about learning to fly is NOT an excuse to miss most of breakfast!' Ron finished, adding the last part as Harry opened his mouth to protest. ' Besides which, I have no idea where the kitchens are and even if I did, we don't have time. We have to get to class and practise for the test today.'
At this, Harry let his mouth hang open in fake shock. ' Who are you and what have you done with Ron?' he finally asked. ' I mean was it just me, or did *the* RON WEASLEY, just say that we needed to STUDY?!!!'
Ron grinned and scratched the back of his head. ^_^ ' Well- only because it's a *practical* test!' he said defensively.
' Well maybe *you* need to study, but I just need some food.' Harry muttered. The feeling in his stomach was starting to subside though, so he and Ron left for the transfiguration classroom, once again arriving before anyone but Hermione.
For once, though, Hermione *didn't* have her head in a book when Ron and Harry arrived. Instead, she had her wand out, and was waving it at several toothpicks. A moment later the toothpicks turned into egg shaped balls made of metal with a wood-like grain. Hermione huffed in annoyance, but Ron only snorted derisively when he noticed her problem and then did a double take.
' Hey, what d'ya know!' Ron whispered to Harry. ' For once she's doing something *totally* wrong!'
Harry raised one eyebrow, in puzzlement, at Ron.
' Well she's not even practicing the right stuff.' Ron explained in response.
' Ron, do you honestly think that she *needs* to practise the stuff that's on our test?' Harry asked dryly. ' She *is* one of the top students in Transfiguration, as well as our entire year.'
' I know.' Ron moped. ' But doesn't it annoy you that she doesn't even seem to have time for anybody. I mean, all she ever does is read and study and do homework. She acts like no one is good enough for her to interupt her reading for.'
Ron and Harry were sitting at their desk by this time and Ron was getting out some matchsticks to practise on while he was talking. Harry, however, noticed Hermione's shoulders had become stiff.
<She must have heard Ron.> Harry thought, and felt bad for her. ' Well have you ever tried talking to her when she's *not* reading? Then you wouldn't *be* interupting her. And for that matter, have you ever tried talking *civilly* to her?'
Ron blushed and got defensive. ' Well you *can't* talk to her when she isn't reading; she's *ALWAYS* reading!'
' She's not right now, and don't tell me you don't want to interupt her preparations for the test because we both know she's just practising next week's work (AN- Next week's work= changing the shape and texture of things still, but more drastically). So why don't you talk to her right now, if it's so important?'
Ron looked a little taken aback for a moment, bofore replying, with a furrowed brow. ' Well I guess it's not really that important. I don't know why I let it bother me. I guess I just feel sorry for her.'
Harry was rather impressed with his friend. It was the first time that he had actually *expressed* a care about someone's feelings, other than Harry, who he was rather protective of. (AN- Sorry Nappa, I just don't seem to do any Ron bashing.)
' Well she doesn't seem to mind not talking to people, as long as she's got a book, so I don't think that you really need to feel sorry for her.' Harry said. He noticed that Hermione's shoulders relaxed after he said this. Somehow though, knowing that he had made Hermione feel better, made Harry's stomach twist again. <Damn! I should have gone to the kitchens after all.> Harry thought, smiling ruefully at Ron's previous inststance that they practise before the test.
Harry and Ron spent a while studying each other's performance and giving each other some helpful advice. Or rather Harry gave Ron advice then Ron watched Harry to see how to do the spell *properly*. A few minutes later, after the rest of the class, and Professor McGonagall, had arrived, Ron was feeling confidant that he would pass the test, and was also feeling quite impressed with Harry. Harry had been able to answer every question that Ron had about the material to be covered in the test; he had also done every single transfiguration perfectly, as long as he kept his mind off the flying lessons that were fast approaching.
Harry on the other hand was not feeling so good. He wouldn't normally have been worried about the test, but today he was having trouble concentrating. He couldn't even calm himself down through meditation. He attributed this to the flying lessons, as he kept finding himself staring at the window, which Hermione sat in front of.
Ron and Harry didn't need to worry. It turned out that all they had to do for the test was to turn a twig into a match and back, then into a needle and back. Everyone did quite well. Even Neville was able to get as far as turning the twig into a needle, but then melted it when he tried to turn it back.
For Ron, lunch always seemed too short, but for Harry the time crawled by.
' Will you stop that, Harry?!' Ron finally snapped when Harry asked to see Ron's watch for the third time in one minute.
Harry had a watch, but since it was powered by electricity, the charms surrounding Hogwarts stopped it from working; he and Ron used Ron's watch instead which was powered by magic.
' If you keep checking the time it's only going to make it seem like it's taking even longer!' Ron said in an exhausted tone.
Harry smiled grimly and said ' You're right.' He rested his forehead on his palms and let out a small sigh.
Two whole minutes later…
' Jeez! I guess I know what to get you for Christmas!' Ron exclaimed. ' And NO, it's STILL not time to go to our last class yet!'
By this time many of the other students had left to spend the rest of their free time doing homework and such, and a small area around Ron and Harry had cleared out as people tried to stay away from Ron's outbursts and Harry's annoying tapping on the table.
Harry finally decided that it was getting ridiculous. He could tell that he was really annoying Ron now, even though Ron WAS known for being easy to annoy. Resting his head in his hands once more, Harry closed his eyes and started breathing deeply. He stayed like that for the rest of lunch.
When lunch ended and Ron tapped Harry on his shoulder to get ready for herbology, which was their last class before the flying lessons, Harry was feeling fine, and not anxious at all.
When he and Ron got to the greenhouses where they had their class with the Slytherins, they found a note on the door telling them that their class had been cancelled as a special delivery had come in for Prof. Sprout that only she could take care of. Further, they were to report to the Quidditch field and wait for Madam Hooch.
When Ron and Harry got to the playing field most of the class had already arrived and were talking in groups, speculating about what Prof. Sprout might have ordered. All of the Slytherins were on one side and the Gryffindors were on the other.
Looking around Harry happened to notice Neville, who was off by himself, scratching his head and looking at a red ball in his hand. He tugged on Ron's robes and nodded towards Neville, then looked pointedly at several Slytherins that were giving Neville some impish looks. Ron glared at the Slytherins.
' What d'ya say we go and say "Hi!" to Neville?' Ron said through clenched teeth, all the while staring at the Slytherins.
They walked over to Neville, who looked startled when Ron tapped the arm that he was holding the ball in.
' What'cha got there, Neville?' Ron asked.
' Oh, hi, Ron! It's a Remembrall that my Gran sent me.' Neville said holding out the ball for them to see.
What Ron and Harry had thought was a red ball turned out to be a glass ball with red smoke inside.
' See, normally the smoke is white, but if you hold it, it'll turn red if you've forgotten something.' Neville explained. ' But it's not really so helpful, because it can only tell you that you've forgotten something, but not what it is that you've forgotten.'
Ron, Neville and Harry talked for a while about the transfiguration test they'd had and other work they had to do, until finally Madam Hooch showed up, with her wand raised and about twenty broomsticks following her.
She walked to the middle of the field, and pointed her wand at the ground, muttering something under her breath. The brooms that had been following her settled to the ground in rows where she had pointed.
As Madam Hooch started walking around to each broom, presumably checking its charms, Hermione walked over to Harry, Neville and Ron. For once she looked worried about something. She started babbling about the different things that she had read about that might help you fly better, and Neville was hanging on her every word. Harry was also listening intently to everything Hermione said; he figured he was listening in case she had read something that he had missed in the library. Ron was just shaking his head and muttering about silly gits that tried to learn to fly from a book.
As much as Harry was actually enjoying listening to Hermione, he had already read everything that she had, and he was starting to agree with Ron; experience was the only way to learn to fly.
' Hermione, calm down.' Harry said gently, putting a hand over hers, which she was wringing. ' You know Ron's right. You really can't learn to fly through theory alone, so what you read in books probably won't be much help until you learn the basics through practice.'
Both Hermione's and Neville faces fell at this. Harry hadn't intended to make them feel bad, of course, and he suddenly felt nauseous seeing Hermione's crushed face.
' Well I don't know what you two are so worried for. It's not like flying a broom is required to graduate, or even just to get around.' Harry said, trying to cheer Hermione up (he figured Neville would always be worried about something). ' Unless you get on the Gryffindor Quidditch team you won't need to fly until you graduate, and by then you'll be allowed to learn to Apparate. Which you can learn from a book.'
When Harry finished, his stomach felt better and Hermione looked happy again, but Harry was starting to worry about something else now. At lunch he had begun to think that he might be sick since he didn't feel hungry after Transfiguration, and just now he had felt sick one moment and fine the next, but he was beginning to think that it might be something else if the feelings could come and go so quickly. Perhaps it was Malfoy using some sort of curse on him; after all, Malfoy had been present each time, so far.
Before Harry could pursue that train of thought, Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and waved all the students to gather around her.
She stood for a moment, studying them with her hawk like eyes. She took note of Neville's pale face, and Hermione biting her bottom lip and wringing her hands.
' Alright!' she finally said, clapping her hands once. ' Everyone line up beside a broom. Come on now, hurry up!'
Everyone rushed to find brooms that didn't look like they were about to fall apart. Harry looked down at his. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles, but it seemed okay otherwise.
' Now, hold your hand out over the middle of your broomstick, and shout, up!' Madam Hooch told them once they were all lined up and had quieted down.
All around Harry everyone was shouting "Up!", but only a few brooms rose off the ground. Most brooms just twitched and lay still, and some, like Neville's, didn't do anything at all.
Thinking of how wonderful it would be to be able to fly high and fast, Harry held out his hand and said ' Up.', in a normal voice.
Almost before he had finished saying it, the broom was in his hand. It hadn't even seemed to move; one moment it was lying on the ground and the next it was in his hand, without any time seeming to have elapsed in between.
Beside him, Ron's broom was in his hand, but seemed like it wanted to fall back to the ground.
Madam Hooch was now going around, shaking her head, and generally having a hard time with getting each broom to obey each student. Harry reached out and tapped Neville on the shoulder. Neville was in front of Harry and was looking pleased that his broom wouldn't fly for him, but also embarrassed about it.
' Hey, Neville.' Harry hissed at him. ' You've got to calm down, and forget about everything else. Don't even worry about getting the broom to fly, alright?'
Of course, Neville looked confused at this advice. ' Don't try to make it fly?' he asked, looking more puzzled than usual.
' Yeah. You're not supposed to make the broom fly. The broom is enchanted to do that, you just need to control when and how it fly's. Just think about how peaceful and calming it would be to float up in the sky.' Harry said in a calming voice.
Neville closed his eyes with his hand still over his broom, which started to twitch. His breathing slowed, and he looked as calm as Harry had ever seen him. Then, without any instruction from Neville, the broom floated gently up to his hand.
' Now what?' Neville asked, with his eyes still tightly shut.
Harry almost smiled then he said ' Now close your hand, and open your eyes.'
Doing as Harry said, Neville gasped and dropped the broom in shock. The broom fell to the ground again, but Neville was still delighted; for once he hadn't been the last to accomplish a difficult task.
' You should be able to get it now.' Harry told him., as someone tapped his shoulder.
His stomach did a little flip when he turned around to see Hermione there, face pink in embarrassment.
' Excuse me, Harry, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you could help me?' she asked. ' I'm afraid you were right. All the books I read only had tips for people that could at least get the broom to float, but I've been having some trouble- and Madam Hooch seems to be taking quite a while… so could you?' she finished, looking rather annoyed at having to ask for help from a student. She never minded asking the professors for help, but she didn't like to admit that she couldn't do something that many other students could.
' Sure!' Harry said, a bit too quickly and a bit too loud. ' I mean, what's the matter?' he continued in a more normal voice.
Hermione explained that she didn't really know what the problem was, but all her broom would do was twitch and roll over, but it couldn't get off the ground.
The two stood on either side of Hermione's broom. ' Okay, now do what you did before.' Harry told Hermione.
She held out both her hands over the broom, and said "Up!" in a commanding tone.
Harry smiled in amusement as the broom's handle jerked up towards one hand and then the other before falling back down.
' First off, are you going to lead your broom with your left hand or your right?' Harry asked, but Hermione only shrugged. ' Okay then, I want you to slap me.'
Hermione's eyes widened. ' But I couldn't do that!' she gasped.
' Don't worry you won't hurt me. I've had worse after all. I mean, Snape's class alone!' Harry joked.
' You really shouldn't talk like that about professors, Harry.' Hermione scolded, but she was trying to hide a smile.
' Well professors shouldn't act like he does, but we're getting off track. Now I don't want you to think at all. This is very important. Just pretend you're really angry, and then try and hit me-' Harry cut off as Hermione swung at him without warning.
Harry easily caught her wrist, being careful not to hurt her. She looked startled that Harry had done this, but also relieved.
' Now, ' Harry said, still holding her hand. ' this is how you want to put your fingers.' He continued, moving her fingers for her into the shape that the most recent book he had read suggested for beginners.
He looked up from her hand to her face, to make sure she got everything he was telling her, just as she looked up as well. Their eyes locked for a moment and Harry's stomach twisted into several knots. They finally snapped out of it, and Harry let go of Hermione's hand, as if it were burning him.
' Uh… I guess you can try it again now.' Harry mumbled, trying not to blush or look away from Hermione.
Hermione seemed to snap out of a trace and said ' Uh- yeah.' Then she held her hand out again, with her other hand by her side.
' Up!' she said, with a much better result. This time the broom handle flew into her hand, but it smacked into it with such force that she cried out in pain and dropped the broom once more.
Her cry had attracted Madam Hooch's attention, and she came running over to see what was wrong. She put a simple numbing spell on Hermione's hand, which was fine except for being a bit sore. Then Madam Hooch had Hermione demonstrate what she had been doing and started working on Hermione's form as she had been with the other students. Harry slipped away from the two and went back to his broom.
Ron and Dean Thomas had both been able to get their brooms to work after a few tries and had been arguing about football verses Quidditch ever since Harry went to help Neville. He listened in amusement for a while until Madam Hooch finished her rounds, commenting to Malfoy that he had been holding his broom wrong all his life, and that she would be surprised if half the stories he told about his flying skills were true. Malfoy's face had gone several shades of red at this while Ron and a few other Gryffindors snickered.
' Listen up everyone!' Madam Hooch called, from the front of the class. ' Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle- three- two-'
But, Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
' Come back, boy!' she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away beneath him, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and -
WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily towards the forbidden forest until Madam Hooch pointed at it with her wand, while still running towards Neville, and shouted " Accio!" The broom stopped floating aimlessly, and started flying straight at Madam Hooch, who was now bent over Neville.
' Grab it when it comes in, will you, Potter?' madam Hooch shot at Harry.
Realizing that she was talking about the broom Harry readied himself to jump on it to keep it from hitting Madam Hooch. Seeing what was happening, the other students backed away from Harry and made sure they weren't standing between the broom and Madam Hooch.
As Harry jumped up and grabbed the broom when it was coming in, Madam Hooch did something to Neville that brought him around, and she helped him to his feet.
' Broken wrist to.' Harry heard Madam Hooch mutter to herself. ' All right, boy, up you get. It's all right, we'll just take a trip to see Madam Pomfrey, and she'll have you fixed up in a jiffy.'
She turned to the rest of the class.
' None of you is to move while I take this boy up to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts faster than you can say "Quidditch"! Come on, dear.'
Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.
No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.
' Did you see his face, the great lump?!'
The other Slytherins joined in.
' Shut up, Malfoy.' Snapped Parvati Patil. (AN- Wahoo! Go Parvati!)
' Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?' said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. ' Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati.'
' Look!' said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. ' It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him.'
The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.
' Give that here, Malfoy.' Harry said quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch, and Harry could sense more than see that Ron was right behind him, silently backing Harry up.
Malfoy smiled nastily.
' I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect - how about - up a tree?'
' Give it here!' Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been entirely untruthful, he could fly well - hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, ' Come and get it, Potter!'
Harry mounted Neville's broom, which he was still holding.
' No!' shouted Hermione. ' You'll get hur- um, Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble.'
For once Harry ignored Hermione's advice. Blood was pounding in his ears. He took off his mirror-plated glasses, since he only needed them for reading and other close-up work, and put them in a secure pocket of his robes. He then kicked hard against the ground and soared upwards. Air rushed through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him. In a rush of fierce joy, he realised he'd found something that he could do without being taught or reading about; in fact, all the reading he had done the night before had gone out of his head in a rush. It was easy, it was wonderful! He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps from the girls (of both houses) on the ground, as well as a "That's my man!" from a cheering Ron.
Harry whipped his broom around to face Malfoy, who looked stunned. Harry himself might have been stunned if he could have seen his face at that moment. Harry's usual mask that hid his emotions was still in place, but his eyes burned with a cold inner fire. They alone expressed Harry's fierce joy of experiencing flight, and ever more fierce anger towards Malfoy.
' Give it here.' Harry called again. ' Or I'll knock you off that broom!'
' Oh, yeah?' said Malfoy lamely, trying to pull himself together, but still looking worried.
Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leant forward slightly and grasped the broom in both hands and it shot towards Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about turn and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.
(AN- I would like to take a moment to thank Nappa for his ideas for this next part. I wouldn't have come up with it if it weren't for him.)
Malfoy now had a determined look about him, and Harry knew, from martial arts tournaments he had visited with Mr. Osakawa, that people who had that look would simply not give up. Harry didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt anyone, even Malfoy, but he wanted - no - he needed to get the Remembrall back. Someone as kind and innocent as Neville didn't deserve to be tormented by the likes of Draco Malfoy.
Down below, Ron was getting worried. He knew Harry well enough to know that he wouldn't let Malfoy get away with the Remembrall, but as much of a natural flier Harry seemed to be Malfoy still had the experience.
Ron uttered a few choice words, causing Hermione to look at him with a scandalized expression.
Feeling he needed to explain himself, Ron said ' Harry's not going to let Malfoy get away with the Remembrall, and Malfoy won't let Harry show him up, so one of them is going to get hurt - bad.'
Looking back up at the two boys facing off above Hermione bit her bottom lip, then made a decision, and pulled out her wand. Pointing it at one of the two, (Ron couldn't tell who she was aiming for) Hermione shouted ' Rictusempra!'
Forty or fifty feet in the air over the class, everything was quiet except for the wind. Both Harry and Draco heard Hermione shout something, but neither could tell what had been said. They didn't dare look away to see what was going on lest they give the other an advantage.
Then, much to Harry's surprise, Draco started to giggle, then he doubled over on his broom and - Harry couldn't believe it - he started to laugh!
At first Harry was worried that Draco would drop the Remembrall, but as it became apparent that Draco had no control over his laughter, Harry became more worried that Draco might fall off his broom. He was half right. Draco slipped off his broom, but managed to hold on with one leg and the hand that didn't have the Remembrall in it. He stopped laughing quite quickly then, and was breathing heavily, his eyes wide. There was a new round of screams from the girls now, and a lot of swearing on the boys' behalf.
Seeing that Malfoy was okay for the moment, Harry pressed his advantage.
' Hand it over Malfoy, and then I'll help you back to the ground.', but mercy was the wrong idea right then.
Malfoy's face turned red in anger as he growled at Harry. ' You want it so bad? Then go catch it!'
With his free hand Malfoy threw the Remembrall at the ground. At the same time Harry shot forward to try and catch it, but saw that Malfoy's sudden motion had caused him to start to lose his grip. Deciding that any life was more important than a Remembrall Harry did two things at once. He changed direction to head for Malfoy, while at the same time he pulled his wand from its holster on the side of his chest. As he closed in on Malfoy, who finally lost his grip completely, he said a spell, at the Remembrall, that he had only read about near the back of his charms text.
' Impedmentia!' he shouted, as he let go with his other hand and swung himself under his broom, holding on to it and guiding it with only his legs.
Even though Harry was only a few feet from Malfoy when he had actually fallen, Harry only caught up with him about twenty feet above the hard grounds of the Quidditch field. Harry made sure his legs were braced and grabbed both of Malfoy's wrists. As soon as he did Malfoy gabbed Harry's as well and Harry levelled off as fast as he dared. If he stopped them too quickly they would lose their grips, and Harry didn't want Malfoy hurt that badly, even if he often said he did.
They were still a good fifteen feet up when they were able to stop. Now that he was safe, Malfoy turned purple in rage and embarrassment. Seeing that no gratitude was forth coming Harry decided that he would do to Malfoy as Malfoy would undoubtedly do to Harry if the situations were reversed. Harry let go with one hand, thanking Mr. Osakawa's insistence that Harry exercise regularly, otherwise he couldn't have held Malfoy with one arm. He reached up with the free arm and steered towards the lake, ignoring Malfoy's swearing and threats.
When they were about fifteen feet out into the lake and ten feet above it, Harry let go of Draco's other wrist and let him slip off. Malfoy thought better of continuing to yell at Harry and used the moments before he hit the water to draw a deep breath.
Having taken care of Malfoy, Harry turned back to where he had last seen the Remembrall. Amazingly it was still thirty feet up and falling quite slowly. Harry hadn't expected the spell to work and assumed he'd done it wrong because, from what he remembered of the charm, it wasn't supposed to last even half as long as it had.
Just as Harry started to fly towards it, the charm finally did wear off, and the ball started falling at a normal rate. Heading on an intercepting course, Harry leaned far forwards and dived. If flying had been wonderful, diving was for Harry what the Chudley Cannons winning the Quidditch cup would be for Ron. As much as Harry would have liked to savour the feeling, both he and the Remembrall were getting uncomfortably close to the ground. Harry rolled under his broom once again, but kept one hand on it this time, and levelled off with his head about two feet from the grass. As he flew by the impact point of the Remembrall, Harry reached out and was able to grab it about a foot before it would have smashed into the ground.
He pulled up and righted himself then stopped and dismounted. All at once he noticed the sounds of cheering as the entire class - minus Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle - rushed towards him. From the time that Harry had taken off until now, he had blocked out all other sounds, the cheering and laughter was a surprise, but what surprised him most was the way everyone suddenly stopped in their tracks and everything got quiet, except for Malfoy's splashing as Crabbe and Goyle tried to pull him from the lake.
' HARRY POTTER!'
Harry pulled his glasses out and put them on as he turned to face what he assumed would be his expulsion, his heart sinking faster than Malfoy had plunged into the water.
' Never - in all my time at Hogwarts -' McGonagall ground out as she stalked towards Harry.
She was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, ' - how dare you - might have broken your neck - '
' It wasn't his fault, Professor -'
' Be quiet, Miss Patil -'
' But Malfoy -'
' That's enough, Mr. Weasley.' McGonagall snapped, becoming impatient. Looking around she noticed Malfoy's absence. ' Speaking of Mr. Malfoy, where is he?' she asked.
Ron was trying to hard not to laugh to answer so it was Hermione who silently pointed behind Professor McGonagall at the spectacle of Malfoy, dripping wet, pulling himself out of the lake and ordering Crabbe and Goyle to leave him alone.
Although McGonagall's face didn't change Harry heard her snort several times and shake as though she was doing her very best to keep from laughing at the sight.
' I assume you have an appropriate explanation for what you were doing out in the lake, Mr. Malfoy?' McGonagall demanded, tapping her foot and glaring at Draco.
Draco looked shocked for a moment, but then his eyes took on a triumphant look and he hid his smirk.
' Well Potter there, dropped me in the lake m'am.' He said, trying his best to look abused and long suffering.
' Oh, he did, did he?' asked McGonagall in a sceptical voice. ' And would you like to explain how he managed to get you up above the water in the first place?'
Draco didn't have an answer for this so he just scowled at the ground in front of his feet and remained silent.
' I thought so, fifty points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy.'
Draco looked up and started to protest, but thought better of it when he saw the look on McGonagall's face.
McGonagall turned to Harry. ' Follow me Potter.'
AN- Hey everybody. I apologise profusely. I know I said that I'd have this part out by New Year's, but… well stuff happens. Stuff like my Grandmother's funeral. She died just before Christmas, and I was a pallbearer at her funeral, so I think I deserve a little forgiveness for this chapter being so late.
Anywho, enough with the gloomy stuff and excuses. I know where I'm going to go with my next chapter, but it'll be longer take longer than even this chapter did due to massive amounts of homework that I have been putting off for FAR too long. But as always, your REVIEWS are what keep me alive and most importantly your advice. Whether it's on the plot of the story or on my writing. So please send me compliments, but criticism is much appreciated!