Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm sorry about how long it has taken me to update. College has been hectic, leaving me little time to write. And then…exams started. Anyone in college knows how that goes. But I'm back now, on break and working hard. Thanks so much to Nitya and Kalie reading this over and pointing out every single tiny mistake. Don't know where I'd be without you two. Finally, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Courtney, one of my faithful Wonky readers who celebrated her first PK anniversary last month. Happy Anniversary Courtney (even if this present is extremely late)!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SQUIBS AND SQUABBLES
Classes started again before Harry knew it, and he could tell that they were about to get a lot harder by the look Professor McGonagall was giving everyone when they entered her classroom on Monday.
"Well, I hope you all got enough rest over the holiday, because now it is time for some serious work. Your N.E.W.T.s will be upon you faster than you know it-your sixth year will be gone within a blink of an eye. We may have given you a bit of a reprieve last term, but all that will change. You must be prepared.
"With that, we will begin human transfiguration today," she announced and then waved her wand, causing scrolls of parchment to appear on everyone's desks. "But first, a little pop quiz."
The class groaned. "A pop quiz on the first day back?" Seamus complained loudly.
"That's right, Mr. Finnigan, and if you don't like it, you can leave-forever," McGonagall said. Seamus gulped. "Now, you will have a half-hour…begin now!"
When the bell rang, Harry and Ron stumbled out of the classroom, Hermione walking serenely behind them. "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Ron gaped. "You're bloody mad!"
"Hermione, we don't have your brains," Harry said.
"I can't help it that you two don't use yours properly," Hermione said with a shrug. "The results should be interesting."
"Yeah, as in 'dismal.'" Ron groaned.
Hermione scowled. "I, for one, did not get a 'D.' If that's what you got, then it's your own fault."
"Our fault?" Ron scoffed. "It's bloody McGonagall's fault if we-"
"Will you two just shut up?" Harry snapped, irritated. "If we failed, we failed-end of story."
Ron frowned, as did Hermione. "Sorry, Harry," they both replied sheepishly.
"Hey," Dean said, catching up to the group with Seamus at his side, "that pop quiz in McGonagall's class was sure something, wasn't it?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned towards Harry as Ron began to complain with Dean and Seamus. "We're still meeting in the library, right?"
"Yeah. I want to get that Transfiguration essay done," Harry replied.
"Especially before your Occlumency lesson," Hermione reminded him.
He frowned. "I'm not going."
She stopped and a first year nearly ran right into her from behind. "What do you mean, you're not going?"
"I mean exactly what I said. I'm not going," Harry said.
"Why not?"
"I reckon I don't need it anymore, if I can't see what Voldemort sees anymore," replied Harry.
"Oh, Harry, you can't be serious!" Hermione groaned.
"Yeah, I am."
"Harry-no, you can't!"
"Why not? It's apparent I can do it," Harry said.
"I can't believe you're doing this. Please reconsider," Hermione pleaded.
"There's little point in arguing with me, Hermione. I've made up my mind," Harry said and continued walking, forcing Hermione to follow him.
"But Harry-"
"No buts, Hermione. I'm done," Harry said firmly and sped up so that he could catch Ron, Dean, and Seamus, leaving Hermione looking very put-out.
That afternoon, Hermione put Ron between herself and Harry when they sat down in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Ron gave her a puzzled look, but then shrugged.
Professor Lupin walked into the class, but he was not holding an animal's cage like he was prone to do. Harry and Ron eyed each other curiously. Learning about dark creatures had been a lot of fun-was Lupin stopping?
"What do you think is going on?" Ron whispered.
"I dunno," Harry replied.
"Books away and wands out," Lupin said briskly, taking his place at the front of the class.
An overall feeling of thrilling excitement washed over the class. Harry happily put his book away and waited for Lupin's next instructions.
"We are done with dark creatures," Lupin announced. "Now it is time to start learning how to defend yourself properly. It is time to learn some of the more difficult defensive spells magic has to offer. Today, we will be learning the Patronus Charm. Now, I know some of you already know how to conjure a Patronus thanks to Harry and the D.A. but I don't believe any of you, except for Harry, have ever used it against a real dementor." There was a collective gasp as many began jumping to conclusions. "I'm not going to pit you against a dementor," Lupin said calmly. "We shall instead practice on a boggart, but that will be for next week when I find one.
"So, to start us out, we need to know the incantation. Harry, what's the incantation?"
"Expecto Patronum," Harry replied.
"Exactly. Harry here knows how to conjure a Patronus quite well-a true corporeal Patronus." Malfoy glowered at Harry from the other side of the room. "So, Harry, would you like to show us how it's done?" Lupin asked.
"Er-okay," Harry said, getting up and going to the front of the class. He looked around at the faces, some that held interest and some (those of the Slytherins) that held distaste.
"Just take us through what you do when conjuring a Patronus, Harry," Lupin said.
Harry nodded. "First, I think of a happy thought." He thought of his birthday party, where he had felt so elated. He raised his wand. "Then, I cry out the incantation. Expecto Patronum!" Suddenly, a huge silver stag burst from his wand and cantered around the classroom.
"Very good. Thank you, Harry," Lupin said, eyeing the large silver stag. Harry returned back to his seat and waited for further instructions from Professor Lupin. "So, as Harry said, the first thing you need to do is to think of something that makes you feel happy. Now, it can't be any old happy thought. It must be something that makes you truly happy. So, let's begin, shall we? Think of a time where you were extremely happy."
Next to Harry, Ron shut his eyes tightly. Eventually, a grin spread across his face. Hermione was biting her bottom lip. Malfoy, Harry saw, was drumming his fingers on his desk, a bored look on his face.
"Everyone have their happy thought?" Lupin asked. Several people nodded. "Okay, who would like to go first?" Hermione raised her hand, causing Lupin to smile. "Alright, Miss Granger, stand up and go ahead when you're ready."
Hermione stood up and raised her wand. She inhaled deeply and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" Slowly, a silver otter escaped from her wand and floated in front of her.
"Well done!" Professor Lupin said, beaming. "A corporeal Patronus! Ten points for Gryffindor." Hermione smiled and sat down as the otter faded away. "Who's next?" Lupin asked.
Neville raised his hand, which shocked Harry. Neville was never one to openly participate in practical Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, but perhaps because of his time in the D.A., he felt more comfortable.
He stood up, his face screwed up in concentration. "Expecto Patronum!" he said and a non-descript silver something shot out from the tip of his wand. The Slytherins laughed, Malfoy the loudest of them all. Neville went red and sat back down.
"Very good, Neville," Lupin said and then turned sharply towards the laughing Slytherins. "You don't have to create a corporeal Patronus to get the job done, so you lot can quit laughing. In fact," he said as Malfoy continued to laugh, "Mr. Malfoy, why don't you give it a try?"
Malfoy blanched and his chuckles ceased. He jumped up, his wand out, and then, with a haughty smirk, said, "Expecto Patronum." Silver wisps floated hazily up from his wand tip. The Gryffindors roared in laughter.
Lupin could barely hide his grin. "Think of a happier thought and try harder next time, Mr. Malfoy. Next!"
*****
That evening, Harry sat with Hermione in the library, parchment and Transfiguration books strewn all over the table. Hermione was being extremely quiet, which unnerved Harry greatly. He was used to her giving him helpful tips on how to search through books faster to gather information. They usually bantered while they studied, something that Harry had greatly appreciated. It had kept him from becoming bored with their studying, but now Hermione was not speaking to him, and he found he was losing focus on the passage he was reading in his Transfiguration book.
"Argh! This is impossible!" Harry growled finally.
Hermione stopped jotting down notes and looked up at him. "How so?" she asked. "Isn't the information in the book?"
"No, not that," Harry said exasperatedly. "I'm talking about us. So I'm not going to Occlumency, big deal! Is that really a reason not to talk to me anymore?"
"Don't be thick, Harry. If I weren't talking to you, would I be speaking right now?" Hermione asked.
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Smartass," he muttered.
"Better than a dumbass," she retorted, laughing when Harry's jaw dropped.
"You-you-"
Hermione giggled. "Yes I did. Don't look so shocked. You act as though I'm completely innocent."
"You mean to tell me you're not?" Harry asked with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. "Look, when it comes to Occlumency, I wish that you would go, but I can't force you."
"Well, thank you," Harry said. "I'd appreciate an end to the nagging."
"I nag because I care," Hermione said indignantly before a grin spread across her face.
"Nice way of showing it," Harry teased. "Now, I'm trying to find another thing a human can transfigure themselves into."
"What have you covered so far?"
"Animals, as in an Animagus, and plants," Harry replied.
"Could I, if I so chose, turn my head into a tea kettle?" she asked him.
"Yeah, but why would you?"
"I'm being hypothetical. So, what's a tea kettle?"
"An-er-object?"
"What type of object?"
"Inanimate?"
"Exactly. There's your answer," Hermione said, beaming at him.
He smiled. "You know, Hermione, you could be a good teacher too."
She laughed. "So, do you think you can finish your essay now?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"You're welcome. We should get back to Gryffindor Tower now before Madam Pince kicks us out," she said.
"Right. Let's go." They got up and left as Madam Pince was swooping around the library, telling people to leave. "D'you think the other teachers will pile on the homework as much as McGonagall did?"
"Of course," Hermione replied. "I'm expecting essays from all of my classes this week, although I am surprised at how easy Professor Lupin's is."
"Isn't a Lethifold the other creature that the Patronus Charm drives away?" Harry asked her as they walked through the corridors.
"Yes. It's funny-we're studying charms and hexes and stuff and yet we're still learning about Dark creatures. Lupin is an excellent teacher. I hope he stays next year," Hermione said, pulling back a tapestry so they could walk up the stairs behind it.
"Yeah, me too."
They continued walking, muttered the password to the Fat Lady when they got to the portrait hole, and entered the common room.
"Oi! You two! Where've you been?" came Ron's voice through the crowd of Gryffindors.
"In the library, doing what you didn't want to do yet," Hermione said scathingly as she and Harry pushed their way through the Gryffindors.
"Glad I didn't," Ron said. "You two missed it."
"Missed what?"
"Filch."
At that moment Harry noticed exactly how excited his fellow Gryffindors seemed to be. "Filch?" Hermione was saying. "What's he got to do with anything?"
"You two missed it," Ron repeated. "About fifteen minutes after dinner in the Charms corridor. That bloke, the Auror-Crow-had Filch up against the wall while that Frost was interrogating him about some knife they found in his office."
"Knife?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, a knife. But Filch kept howling that he uses it as a letter opener or something," Ron said. "I think that they think he killed that Hufflepuff girl!"
"But she was only a first year," Hermione said. "She couldn't have possibly have done anything to make Filch want to kill her. I mean, if Filch ever wanted to kill anybody it would have been Fred and George. You'd think he'd be in a much better mood these days seeing as they're gone."
"Maybe Filch finally snapped and went bonkers," Ron said, shrugging. "He's wanted to hang us all by our thumbs for years now. It wouldn't surprise me in the least."
But a thought had just occurred to Harry. "Say Ron-was Kingsley there?"
"Kingsley? Well, not originally. He arrived with Snape and McGonagall just after Dumbledore arrived to break it all up. Dumbledore looked quite upset. Asked Frost and Crow to accompany him and Kingsley to his office."
"Well there you go," Hermione said. "Sounds like Dumbledore doesn't believe it was Filch."
"Yeah but think about it, Hermione. He's hated the lot of us for ages," Ron said.
"It doesn't mean he's going to kill us," Hermione snapped back.
"You sure? I saw him the other day muttering that he wanted Umbridge back so he could whip anyone who dared to drag in dirt on his precious floor. Maybe he finally wanted to pay somebody back."
"But why a first year girl?" Hermione asked, skepticism in her voice.
"I dunno. Let's think about what we know about her, okay? A Hufflepuff-we know that Filch favors Slytherins-and-erm-"
"That's all we know," Hermione said. "Great deduction there, Ron."
"She was also a Muggle-born," Harry replied softly, thinking hard. Ron jumped on this information.
"Aha! That's right! Filch is a Squib. Maybe he's mad because Muggle-borns, those with no wizarding background, can do magic while he, someone with wizarding background, can't."
Hermione regarded Ron in awe for a moment before saying, "You know, Ron, you actually just made sense there."
Ron opened his mouth to retort before the words sunk in. Suddenly he gave her a dazed look and said, "I did?"
Hermione nodded. "But it still doesn't mean anything. I don't know. This is all very confusing."
"I think it's time we went to visit Moaning Myrtle, don't you think?" Harry asked.
"You know I hate visiting her, but alright," Ron muttered.
"I'm patrolling tomorrow night," Hermione said. "You and Ron can go with me underneath the invisibility cloak."
Harry grinned. "Tomorrow night it is then."
*****
The school buzzed with gossip the next day. Filch was nowhere to be seen. Harry heard Malfoy joking with Crabbe and Goyle about it in the entrance hall that evening.
"The useless fool is probably holed up in his office, clutching that ugly cat to his chest."
For once, Harry actually found something Malfoy said funny, although he did not laugh. He was too focused on sneaking out of the common room later on that night when Hermione went on patrol. It had been quite awhile since Harry had last snuck out with the invisibility cloak and he hoped that it still would cover both Ron and himself. They weren't as short as they used to be.
Before he knew it, it was nine o'clock, and Harry and Ron were covering themselves with the invisibility cloak and heading down to the common room. Both of them had to bend their knees so that the cloak would cover their feet as they walked.
Hermione was standing at a table, adjusting her prefect's badge. As Harry and Ron passed her on their way to the portrait hole, Harry gently touched her arm, letting her know that they were there. Then, with a nonchalant look on her face, she went to the portrait hole and pushed the portrait open, letting Harry and Ron out first before following. They walked down the corridor in silence until they turned the corner, where Ron whispered, "Let's be quick, okay?"
"Come on," Harry whispered.
They traveled down to the floor where Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was. They were just about to turn a corner to the corridor where the bathroom was at when a voice called out, "What are you doing?"
The three of them turned around to see Mara Frost striding towards them, eyeing Hermione. Harry grabbed Ron and pulled him back against the wall.
"I'm patrolling," Hermione replied.
"Patrolling?"
"Yes. I'm a prefect and I'm on duty tonight," Hermione explained. "I'm just making my rounds."
Frost scowled. "I know you're a prefect. You shouldn't be down around here. You're very close to a crime scene. Go away."
Hermione looked highly affronted, but she walked away all the same. Ron made to follow her, but Harry held him back and shook his head underneath the cloak. Frost stood by for a few more moments, scowling fiercely, before turning and walking away.
Ron waited until her footfalls diminished before speaking. "We have to go get Hermione," he said.
"Just wait a minute," Harry said quietly, listening hard. A moment later, he heard someone walking their way. Suddenly, Hermione turned a corner and was walking back towards them.
"Harry? Ron? Still here?" she whispered.
"Right here, Hermione," Harry replied. "Let's go."
They continued walking until they reached the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Ron suddenly murmured, "Please let us be quick. Moaning Myrtle really does annoy me."
"You're such a nice guy, Ron," Hermione muttered and pushed open the door to reveal something none of them were expecting.
"What are you lot doing here?" Ron blurted.
Hunter, Dylan, and Ally jumped and spun around. "Hermione!" Dylan exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"Why did I just hear Ron's voice?" Hunter asked.
"Because," Harry said, pulling the cloak off of himself and Ron, causing the three first years to jump, "we're here too."
"Holy-"
"What are you three doing here?" Hermione asked again.
"How did you two-" Dylan asked before Ally said, "That's an invisibility cloak!"
"Yeah, it is," Ron said, eyeing them darkly. "Why the bloody hell are you here? Don't make me put you lot in detention."
"We're searching for clues," Dylan said.
"Clues?" said Ron incredulously.
"Yeah, clues," Dylan said.
"We're trying to see if Filch really did stab June to death," Ally said.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Hermione asked, watching the three of them with great interest.
"Well, we knew that June had been murdered-" Hunter began.
"-And when those Aurors started to yell at Filch about a knife in his office-" Dylan continued.
"-We figured that she had been stabbed and that he was their leading suspect," Ally finished.
"But how did you two know to come here to search for clues?" Hermione asked.
"We overheard that Crow bloke talking to that Frost lady," Hunter said. "He said, 'I think I know who killed that girl in that ghost's bathroom.' Ally told us that a ghost lives here."
"Do you think Filch murdered June?" Dylan asked.
"We don't know," Harry replied, "and it's not up to you lot to find out."
"Yeah, so go back to Gryffindor Tower," Ron said.
"Then why are you here?" Hunter asked. "It's not up to you lot to find out who killed June either. What are you here for?"
"Nothing that concerns you," Ron spat.
Harry frowned. "Look, you want the truth, right?" The three of them nodded. "Well, you're right, she was stabbed. We're here to see if the Aurors missed something. I don't think Filch murdered anyone. I think a more powerful force has. A force that I'm familiar with. So we're here to find proof of that. Trust me, it's nothing you want to get into."
"Why not?" Hunter asked.
Harry stared at him for a moment before asking, "How much do you want to be part of a war?"
Ally's eyes went wide. "The war against You-Know-Who?"
Harry nodded. "Four years ago, someone Ron, Hermione, and I know very well was possessed by Voldemort and opened the Chamber of Secrets, letting loose a basilisk that petrified Hermione and three others, not to mention Nearly Headless Nick and Mrs. Norris. So it is possible for Voldemort to somehow be among us. I'm hoping it's not true."
Ally, looking horrorstruck, turned to a pondering Hermione. "Do you think it's true, Hermione? Is somebody here being possessed?"
Hermione remained silent for a moment before murmuring, "It is very possible. Harry, didn't Voldemort possess you in the Ministry of Magic last summer?"
"Yes, when he tried to get Dumbledore to kill me," Harry replied. Beside him, Ron was looking just as horrorstruck as Ally.
"It's plausible. The wards around this school are impossible to penetrate, but somehow I wouldn't put it past Voldemort to figure out a way," Hermione said. "I mean, he possessed someone when in the form of a memory in a diary, did he not?"
"And he did come back to life," Ron added in a wavering voice.
Harry nodded. "It's possible. Do you three see what we could be up against?"
Hunter was frowning. "I want to help though."
"Stand united against him," Hermione said. "Don't show him any weakness. He feeds on it."
"Is that all I can do?" Hunter asked darkly.
"Hunter…" Ally warned quietly.
"I want to kill them!" he screamed. "I want to kill those wankers who killed my dad!"
He walked forward and looked into Hunter's eyes. "That anger-that desire to destroy someone-is exactly what Voldemort wants. You're playing right into his hands, like some puppet."
Hunter shoved him as hard as he could, forcing Harry to step back several feet. "I'm not his puppet!"
"Then learn to cope! If I learned how, I'm sure you can too," Harry said.
Hunter scowled. "Let's leave them to it," he spat while heading towards the door. Dylan and Ally eyed him warily before following.
"I hope you three find what you're looking for," Ally said and closed the door.
Harry sighed. "Okay Hermione, do you know any spells to x-ray this place?"
"X-ray?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"It's a Muggle thing," Hermione said simply. "So, you want to scan the bathroom?"
"Yes. Can we?"
"Well, there is a spell I know that causes the wand to shine black light…you know, that stuff that Muggle forensics investigators use," Hermione told them.
"Great. Let's do that," Harry said. "But won't we need goggles?"
Hermione searched around. Then, she plucked the prefect's badge off of her robes and muttered a spell, transfiguring it into a pair of orange goggles. "Ron, give me your badge." Ron took his off and handed it to Hermione. With a wave of her wand, Ron's badge turned into a pair of orange goggles too. "Harry, your glasses." Harry took them off and handed them to Hermione, who tapped them with her wand. Suddenly, they transformed into a third pair of orange goggles. "There we go," she said, handing back his glasses.
"Excellent. Now, what's the spell?" Harry asked.
Hermione slipped on her goggles, Harry and Ron following suit. Then, with a flick of her wand, all of the lights went out. "Lumos Niger," Hermione murmured and suddenly a bleak light shined from the tip of Hermione's wand.
Harry and Ron looked at each other in the light, shrugged, and also murmured, "Lumos Niger."
"Okay, let's split up," Harry said. "Search around for anything that looks peculiar."
"Right," Ron murmured and walked away.
It didn't take long for any of them to find something. The moment Harry took a step, he heard Hermione gasp behind him. "Harry-Ron, come here!" she cried frantically.
Harry turned and shined his light down on what Hermione was looking at and saw exactly what put a terrified sound in her voice. The image on the floor stabbed his heart with fear.
"What is-bloody hell!" Ron yelped, staring down at the faint image of a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth. "Merlin," he whispered faintly, "the Dark Mark."
Hermione gulped. "This proves it. There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts."
*****
"The question is, who and why?" Harry said the next day as they were walking across the grounds towards Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. "Why did they kill a first year, of all people?"
"Because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time?" Ron suggested.
"Or because she was Muggle-born," Hermione said quietly. "Death Eaters do hate Muggle-borns."
Both Harry and Ron frowned. Harry could only imagine what was going through her head. On sheer instinct, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Ron frowned again.
Hagrid was standing outside of his hut with Fang at his side, whimpering. There were several small crates beside them. "Gather 'round!" Hagrid called happily as the class approached. "I got summat special fer yeh!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione each gave each other worried glances. Not far ahead of them, Malfoy said in a quavering voice, "They're not Blast-Ended Skrewts again, are they?"
"No, no," Hagrid said with a chuckle. "It's a project fer yeh all this term. Come on, gather 'round!"
Harry let go of Hermione as they stepped closer, Ron right with them. Finally they stopped just in front of Hagrid, who was smiling. "In these here crates are some kneazles. Who can tell me about kneazles?"
Hermione, unsurprisingly, raised her hand. "A kneazle is a cat-like creature that can detect suspicious people. Kneazles have been known to make excellent pets for witches and wizards though."
Hagrid nodded. "Right. I've got a bunch of them and this term yer project is to breed them!" he said happily.
"Breed!" Malfoy said incredulously. "You can't be serious!"
"Well-er-yeah," Hagrid said. "So-er-yeh're going to need partners. "So, pair up with someone of the opposite gender."
Both Harry and Ron instinctively moved toward Hermione. All three of them looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. "Ron! Parvati 'ere needs a partner!" Hagrid called.
Ron went red. Beyond him, Harry could see Parvati scowl. "Right. Well, have fun," Ron said before turning and joining Parvati.
"Everyone got a partner?" Hagrid asked. "Okay, take one crate marked 'M' and another marked 'F.' That's fer 'male' and 'female.'"
"Gee, like we couldn't figure that out," Malfoy said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson, who laughed shrilly.
Harry and Hermione walked over to the crates and picked up the appropriate ones. "Okay, got yer kneazles? Good. Now, I've got pens set up near the ol' pumpkin patch. That's where they'll be staying. So, go claim a pen and take yer kneazles over to it and put 'em in. Fer this class, we'll be watchin' as they become accustomed to each other," Hagrid said.
Harry and Hermione, along with the rest of the class, carried their crates behind Hagrid's hut where his pumpkin patch, now covered with snow, usually stood. Next to it were at least a dozen pens.
"This ought to be an interesting project," Hermione said as she opened her crate and pulled her kneazle out. Harry proceeded to do the same thing with his crate. "Do you think we should name them?"
"Name them?" he asked as they placed their kneazles in the pen. "Er-if you want to."
"How about Eros and Psyche?" she asked, grinning.
"Sure," Harry muttered.
Hermione laughed. "You've never heard the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche, have you?"
"No, but why don't you tell me while we watch these two," Harry suggested, causing Hermione to grin again.
*****
A few days later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were approached by several people, including Luna, Zacharias Smith, Ernie Macmillan, Sinead Cassidy, and Terry Boot. All of them wanted to know when the next D.A. meeting was.
"This upcoming week," Harry told Sinead in the corridor before lunch on Saturday. "Probably Wednesday."
"Do you need help letting everybody know? I can make flyers and hang them up," she said enthusiastically.
"Er-okay," Harry replied, blinking.
"Great! See you later, Harry!" she said happily, and practically bounced down the marble staircase.
Ron joined him. "Hyper one, isn't she?"
Harry nodded. "More than Colin and Dennis Creevey combined."
Ron shuddered. "Quidditch practice Tuesday?"
"Yeah. Time to prepare for Hufflepuff."
"Great! I've been dying to get back on my broom," Ron said happily.
"You and me both. Hopefully the weather will cooperate," Harry said.
"I don't care if my entire body is frozen. I want to practice," said Ron as they walked down the stairs. "I don't care if I freeze my bloody ba-"
"Hey you two!" Hermione greeted. She was walking down the stairs behind them. "Just got done with our Herbology essay."
Ron groaned. "Good feelings are gone…I've been reminded of homework."
Harry chuckled. "Then let's go fill your stomach with lots of food, shall we?"
Ron perked up. "Food?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Weasleys," she muttered and marched ahead of them.
*****
The next evening, Ron joined Harry and Hermione in the library as he had to get his Transfiguration essay done. Harry and Hermione were busily working on one of two Potions essays Snape had assigned during the week. Harry was finishing up his first while Hermione was halfway through her second one.
"Teachers are so cruel," Ron muttered as he crossed out a line in his essay.
"Sorry they make your life so tough," Hermione muttered distractedly.
Ron shot her a glare. "Just because we're not geniuses doesn't mean you-"
"Just shut up, Ron. I'm trying to study," she said irritably, which wasn't a big surprise as she and Ron had had a row earlier that day about prefect duties.
Ron grumbled and turned to Harry. "Don't you think the teachers are cruel?"
"Snape is, that's for sure," Harry replied.
Ron shot a triumphant look at Hermione, but she was too busy looking through a book to notice. Ron sighed and went back to work.
Eventually they all finished the essays they were working on and decided to head back up to the common room. Just as they were heading down a corridor on the seventh floor, however, they heard a voice floating from around the corner, a voice that made Harry inwardly groan.
"Since when have you been allowed to post flyers up in the corridors?" came the voice of Mara Frost. "I remember that they are strictly for House notice boards."
"But this is to inform everyone about the next D.A. meeting," came the earnest voice of Sinead Cassidy. Unwittingly, Harry marched forward to defend her, Ron and Hermione right along with him.
"The D.A.? Do you mean that little group Potter put together? The group that defied the Ministries decrees last year?" Frost said sharply.
"Er-I think so. Yes, ma'am," Sinead replied.
"Then I'm afraid that those flyers are extremely forbidden," Frost snapped. "Dispose of them."
"But-but-" Sinead sputtered.
"Do you want me to do it for you?" Frost asked.
"You can't do that," Hermione said as she, Harry, and Ron rounded the corner to see Frost towering over a shaking Sinead. "We're allowed to post flyers around school for clubs and such."
Frost glowered. "Oh really? Since when has that been in effect?"
"Since Dumbledore allowed it in 1980. Teachers and prefects are aware of this, as are students. I'm surprised that you aren't, Miss Frost," Hermione said coolly.
"I left Hogwarts in 1978," Frost spat. "It's a stupid change to the rules. Litters the corridors and promotes stupid club-clubs that promote violence, like your little Defense club."
"Funny, I haven't seen any one of our members dueling in the hallways," Harry said loudly, causing Frost to turn her icy eyes on him.
"That's because you're too incompetent to train them," she retorted harshly.
"How dare you!" Hermione cried, indignant.
"Oh can it, Mudblood," Frost spat vilely, causing Harry, Ron, and Hermione's eyes to go wide. Frost let out a slight scream of frustration. "Fine, put up your damn flyers! See if I bloody care!" With that, she stalked away.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sinead watched her go. Sinead gulped. "Maybe I shouldn't hang any more of these up," she said sadly.
"No, don't let that hag scare you. That's what she wants," Harry said angrily. "Go finish putting the rest of them up." Sinead looked terrified, but she nodded and left all the same.
Hermione was still staring down the corridor where Frost had just been. She looked as angry as she had been the day she slapped Malfoy three years prior for insulting Hagrid. "I should report her," she said in a deadly whisper.
"And provoke her even more?" Ron asked. "I'd rather just stay out of her way. I can't believe she called you a Mudblood."
Hermione frowned. "Neither can I. What did I ever do to her?"
Harry frowned too. He hoped it wasn't for the reason he thought of and he didn't want to voice that thought to Ron or Hermione either. But his mind kept repeating over and over, Because you're my friend. It was a thought that would keep Harry awake later that night long after everyone else had fell asleep.