Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J. K. Rowling, not me.
Dumbledore Answers Harry - Chapter 20 - A Halloween to Remember
Dumbledore then introduced the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher - Professor Grubbly-Plank, and then dismissed the students to their dorm.* All the other teachers from last year were still there.** Finally, wishing them all a goodnight, the headmaster dismissed the students.
In their first Care of Magical Creatures class, Professor Grubbly-Plank introduced them to a very friendly leprechaun and told them about their special disappearing gold. Theodore Nott wasn't paying attention and Harry saw him, Crabbe, and Goyle pocket a few handfuls of the leprechaun's gold during the lesson. The next day he heard a rumor that those three had accused other Slytherins of robbing them in the middle of the night and gotten into fights, earning detentions.
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On Thursday morning the Daily Prophet carried a story about a family that had been tortured into insanity by Death Eaters. Neville seemed especially shaken up by that article. That was the day they had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the term. Professor Lupin, who had started during the previous year, had his third-years face a dark creature that was causing a wardrobe in the staff room to wobble around.
"Now, can anyone guess what is inside that wardrobe?"
Both Hermione's and Harry's hands shot up in the air.
"Mr. Potter?"
"Er, is it a Boggart?" he asked, remembering what he'd read about a few months before. He, along with Hermione and Ginny, were reading ahead in their Defense books, hoping to take the D.A.D.A. O.W.L.s early. He and Hermione hoped to take them at the end of the year and were about half-way through the fourth-year books.
Lupin smiled at Harry. "Yes indeed it is. Five points to Gryffindor. Does anyone know what a Boggart does?" Looking around to only see the same two hands in the air, Moony called on, "Miss Granger?"
"The Boggart becomes whatever the person facing it fears the most."
"Another five points. Now the way to defeat a Boggart is very simple. You just have to force it to take on a shape that amuses you." He went on to explain the charm and called on Neville to try first.
The Boggart was released, and out came a Death Eater in full apparel. Half of the class started running away while those that were in Potter's Army pulled out their wands. Although Neville was visibly shaking at the person pointing a wand at him, he managed to keep his head. Neville shouted, "Riddikulus," and suddenly the evil warrior was clad in his grandmother's wardrobe, including the vulture-hat. After a moment, the class realized that the face of the Death Eater was none other than Severus Snape's.
The class went well after that, although Harry was a bit confused as to why Remus hadn't allowed him to face the Boggart. After speaking to Hermione about it, they concluded what his Boggart probably would have been. All the panic that a normal Death Eater caused was nothing compared to what Voldemort himself would have done.
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The next few weeks passed by uneventfully. In the first week, Potter's Army had to break up a few skirmishes, but not many. For some unexplained reason Theodore Nott's pants would catch on fire every few days at the most inopportune times, such as in class. Harry was enjoying practicing with his fire element. Finally both Ron and Neville said they were ready to find out if they could control any elements.
Harry prepared the unused classroom that Dumbledore allowed him to use, and Ron went first. As he said the incantation, nothing happened.
"What?" Ron exclaimed as his face turned red. "I must have said it wrong or Harry must not have said it right! If Ginny can control one, so can I!"
"Ron," said Harry, "Ginny's ability has nothing to do with you. There are very few elemental magicians out there. I know I did my part right. I've done it more than once. You can try again, but it sounded like you did it right to me."
"Fine." Ron then sat down and tried again. Nothing happened. "I guess that's something else I can't do," he said with his head hung down as he left the classroom.
Neville, who'd been there but remained silent, walked up to Harry. "If Ron can't even do it, I probably won't be able to either. Maybe I should just…"
"You memorized the spell, right?" interrupted Harry.
"Well, yeah."
"Then what harm will there be in trying?"
Putting his head down and dragging his feet, Neville made his way silently to where Ron had been sitting minutes ago.
As Neville began, the candle lit, surprising them both. He continued watching the other elements move, showing that he would be able to control one of them. When it came to the point where his power was revealed, the dirt moved, showing that he could control, "Earth!"
"Congratulations, Neville," said Harry sincerely before instructing him in the proper exercises for him to learn control of his element.
-
When Harry and Neville arrived in the common room, it was to find Ron sulking as Hermione and Ginny were talking to him. Harry noticed Ron look at Neville's delighted face and quickly turn away with a look of disgust. When they were close enough, Neville whispered, "I'm an Earth elemental!" excitedly. Ron got up and walked away while the girls were congratulating the excited teenager.
Ron didn't speak to them for a few days, but eventually stopped acting angry after being hexed by his sister.
-
Time kept on moving quickly, and by October there had been no serious problems in the halls, so Harry had his `army' reduce their patrols, but not eliminate them. He had a feeling that they would be necessary. Before they knew it, Halloween had arrived, and with it Harry's first trip to Hogsmeade. It also happened to be his and Hermione's first date. Ron was going to hang out with Seamus and Dean.
At breakfast, Harry asked Ginny, "Is there anything at all we can get you in the village?"
"No," she said glumly.
"How about some candy?" suggested Hermione.
"Okay," said the redhead without much enthusiasm.
"Are you sure you're alright with this? With me and Hermione dating?"
She looked up at them and put on her happiest face. "I'm fine with it. Maybe I'd be happier if I were the one going instead of Hermione, but I'll be alright. Have a good time. I expect at least ten chocolate frogs, six boxes of…oh, never mind. I'll write you a list." She then pulled out a quill, ink, and parchment. "And don't forget to go to Zonko's too!" She wrote down items from that store as well.
At the same time, a few tables over, Theodore Nott was grinning to himself about his plans.
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A few hours later, Harry and Hermione were drinking their first butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks. They had shopped at several stores, including Zonko's, Honeydukes, and of course the bookstore. Harry had taken his special trunk with him, and so all the bags had been placed inside it and then the trunk was shrunk down and put in Harry's pocket. Hermione was carrying a bouquet of red roses Harry had bought her.
"It's amazing how many people want to look at the Shrieking Shack," said Harry with a smile.
"If they only knew the truth," agreed his date.
"Now that we've got our shopping done, what do you want to do?"
"Maybe hang around with my boyfriend. Do you realize this is the longest that we've been alone?"
He grinned at her. "I guess so. Do you want to go exploring a bit? Sirius told me that there's a cave somewhere around here."
As they walked out of the village proper, carrying a bag with four extra bottles of butterbeer, they didn't notice Nott ditch Crabbe and Goyle to head back to the school.
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After about an hour, the young couple found the cave they were looking for and cautiously walked inside to find it empty. Hermione performed a few charms to make the ground comfortable and the cave warm. They sat down against the wall, with her leaning her head on Harry's shoulder.
"We should have brought a blanket to sit on," said Harry.
"This is fine, Harry. We can scourgify our clothes later. I'm really comfortable here."
Harry suddenly found himself feeling nervous, wondering what he should do. He managed to put his right arm around Hermione. She gently took that hand in hers as it draped over her right shoulder.
"This is, er, nice. Um, is that a new perfume you're wearing?" he asked shyly as he noticed the aroma.
Blushing, she replied, "Yes, I, er, wear it for special occasions."
"It smells really pretty. Um, did I mention how nice you look today? It's good to see you without those Hogwarts robes. I mean, er, you look good in the Hogwarts robes too. It's just…"
She giggled to herself at her boyfriend's anxiety. "Thank you, Harry. You look very nice, too."
He blushed and turned his head away from her, trying to hide how red his face was. "Thanks," he managed to say. He wondered to himself how he'd managed to spend a year hanging out with her and Ginny without getting tongue-tied.
"If you really think I look nice, why are you looking away from me?" asked Hermione, knowing that he was blushing.
"Y-you do look…pretty," he managed as he turned his red face toward hers. She was biting her lower lip as she looked at his lips. He gulped audibly as the thought, `she wants me to kiss her,' crossed his mind. At the same time, he slightly smiled. He gazed at her lips and decided that Hermione had cast a much-too-powerful heating charm as he felt himself begin to sweat.
Gulping once more, he leaned his head over toward hers as he puckered up his lips. His heart was beating so fast he was afraid it would break out of his chest. He noticed that she'd shut her eyes and licked her lips. He remembered hearing about people bumping their noses, so he put his left hand on her cheek and leaned in, touching his lips to hers.
It only lasted a few seconds, but he'd never forget the sensations that went through his body during those few seconds. He decided at that moment that he very much liked kissing. As they parted, he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, even though he knew his face was red. He noticed she was doing the same thing.
They sipped on butterbeer for awhile and talked about various things. Finally, Harry cleared his throat. "Do you, er, think we should be heading back to school?"
"Um, yeah." He got up and then helped her. They continued holding hands as they left the cave. She was holding the flowers in her free hand.
"That was…nice," said Harry timidly.
"Yes, it was. We should do that more often." She then kissed him on the cheek.
-
When they got back into town (after kissing a few more times), they found that no kids were there.
"It must be later than I thought," said Harry.
"I hope we're not in trouble."
They hurried to find one carriage apparently waiting for them. "I do hope we're not banned from Hogsmeade now!" At this point Hermione was really worried.
They didn't see anyone when they entered the castle. "I wonder what's going on."
The Great Hall was closed up. "We can't have missed the feast. It was still light outside. I wish I'd worn a watch!"
"Me too. I guess we should go to Gryffindor Tower."
"This is giving me the creeps," said Hermione with a worried expression. "I've never seen the school this empty."
"Me neither." They both pulled out their wands, ready for anything.
"There you are!" came a voice from around the corner. Both Harry and Hermione jumped in fright as they pointed their wands in the direction of the voice.
"Stop! It's me. Professor McGonagall."
They both breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you, Professor," said Harry.
"We haven't seen anybody since we entered the castle, and were afraid that something…"
"Something has happened. Mr. Filch and his cat were attacked. The cat, Mrs. Norris, is dead. Mr. Filch is petrified, and we can't revive him. The only way we know of requires mandrakes. Unfortunately, the ones that your class grew last year were sold. Madam Pomfrey is attempting to procure some more. In any case, all the students have been sent to their dormitories, and will have their own private Halloween Feasts there."
"That's where we were headed," said Harry with a neutral expression. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about this attack. He wished that Filch and his cat would leave, not get attacked.
"I'm headed there as well. The heads of house are joining the students. You two were the last Gryffindors that I haven't accounted for. An announcement was made in Hogsmeade for everyone to return. Why didn't you come back then?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and slightly blushed. Harry spoke. "We, er, weren't exactly in the village. We, um, went exploring and...er…"
"I get the picture, Mr. Potter," she said, looking between their blushing faces and the roses. "I'm afraid that this won't look good for you. You're the only students without an alibi that can be verified by anyone besides yourselves." She took a deep breath. "However, attacking Mr. Filch is not what I suspect you of."
-
A few minutes later, the door to the Gryffindor common room opened, revealing McGonagall, Granger, and Potter. Harry gasped as he saw that the room had been rearranged to have a few long tables in it instead of the couches. Everyone was already eating. They saw two empty chairs between Ginny and Ron, who'd looked relieved when they entered. Hermione quickly went up to her dorm to put her flowers there and returned to the table.
She sat in the empty space between Ginny and Harry (Ron was on Harry's other side). Ginny whispered, "Where were you?"
"Outside of Hogsmeade," said Hermione blushing slightly.
"You were kissing," said Ginny with a smirk. She'd made up her mind not to make Harry and Hermione feel guilty about dating, but she would tease them.
"Er…um…yes. What happened? Professor McGonagall said Mrs. Norris was killed and Mr. Filch is petrified."
"Yeah. They were found near Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The floor was flooded, probably from one of her tantrums. Anyway, they were both lying on the floor, and there was this message written in blood on the wall. `The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir Beware.'"
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Please review. Thank you to those who have.
The diary isn't required to open the chamber. I think that Voldemort would have used the chamber after he returned if the basilisk hadn't been killed.
*Hagrid's name wasn't cleared because the `Chamber business' did not occur, therefore he couldn't teach. Besides, truthfully Hagrid's love of dangerous creatures made him a less-than-perfect professor.
**Professor Lupin hasn't taught a full year yet, so the curse on the DADA teaching position hasn't gotten him…yet.
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