Many of you are concerned about Ron and so I will explain what I'm doing with him- as little as I possibly can. While I respect and can even go as far as admire those who like and can properly characterize Ron, I readily admit that I am not one of those writers. I don't like Ron and even worse, I cannot relate to him in any way shape or form. If I could relate to him then I could characterize him properly, or even better, I wouldn't dislike him. Since I can't if I did keep him as a main character I would end up making him incredibly ooc and end up bashing him which would make many of you, my beloved readers, angry with me, the writer, and it would make me feel guilty. I don't want Ron fans angry with me and I do not want to feel guilty, therefore Ron will be relegated to the position of a minor character so he is not unduly abused. I do not own Harry Potter in any way shape or form.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So, what class do we have next?" Ron asked when they finished their meal. Harry had to admit that he probably wouldn't have done very well if he had skipped lunch since he seemed to be constantly hungry lately but after looking at Hermione he didn't say such a thing out loud. The lunch would have been even more than just the energy that he gained from eating if Ron had managed to pull himself away from his food long enough to say anything but he had not and so Harry had yet to managed to really talk to the red head and ask him about the state of the rat. Hermione's state of annoyance continued to dissuade him from mentioning the rat to Ron.
"Defense with Lockhart." Hermione answered primly as they made their way through the courtyard. Harry noticed something out of the corner of his eye and almost before he had time to realize what had happened, the trio were ambushed by Colin Creevy. The mousey haired boy was looking up at Harry with an expression of such adoration that he reminded the slightly older wizard of Dobby.
"Hi Harry, I dunno if you remember me-" Colin began nervously, his camera shaking in his hands.
"Colin Creevy, right? You're one of the new Gryffindor first years?" Harry interrupted, really not wanting to deal with the camera happy boy at the moment but maybe, just maybe he could avoid the mess with Malfoy and Lockhart just a little longer. Colin smiled brightly and nodded.
"Yes, yes, that's me!" Colin chirped as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, "And I was wondering, if maybe I could take a picture of you? Just to prove to my dad that I met you! I know-" Again Harry interrupted him before he could go on in his fan worship,
"You can have the picture Colin, but only if you, Hermione, Luna, Neville and Ron are in it and I can get a copy. I got a photo album last year and I'd like to add a picture with all my friends. Then I'll take a picture of you doing some magic. I'm sure your dad would rather have a picture of you than of someone he doesn't know." Colin's eyes grew so wide that Harry was afraid that they would pop out.
"F-friends? Really?" Colin squeaked and then with a speed that Harry didn't expect from the younger boy, Colin had gathered Luna, Hermione, Neville and Ron and pushed them into where he wanted them for the picture. He pulled Harry next to himself in the center of the picture and in a moment Harry couldn't see anything because of the bright flash from Colin's camera.
"My turn," Harry said, grabbing the camera from the other first year that Colin had quickly bullied into taking the picture before the younger boy could beg for another picture. Colin looked nervous as he took out his wand but a very loud, windargium leviosa later and a textbook, donated by Hermione, was floating in the air and Harry quickly snapped a few pictures and then Hermione caught the book and Colin released the spell and she took the camera back from Harry and handed it to the star struck first year.
"I'd like a copy of the picture too Colin, we'll have to talk about it later though. We'll all be late for class if we don't get going now." Hermione announced and Colin nodded and scampered away with the other first years.
"So we really have to go to this class?" Harry murmured to Hermione as Ron trailed behind them.
"Yes, we do. Professor McGonagall might be suspicious because of that display in transfiguration which, while educational, was beyond the abilities of an average second year, or even a slightly above average second year. Acting normal, in class at least, will deter further unwanted attention. If we're lucky then Professor McGonagall will write off the button act as an anomaly, so long as we do not act above the level of a second year."
"What are you two talking about?" Ron demanded as he finally caught up to the two friends. He grabbed Harry's wrist, and the bracelet, in an attempt to slow the two of them down. Harry's eyes widened briefly and he glanced down at the bracelet but it did nothing.
"Come on, you two practically ignored me all during lunch and you asked Neville of all people to help you in herbology and now you two keep walking so bloody fast that I can barely keep up with you, much less talk to you." Ron growled as he physically pulled his friends to a full stop. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances and Hermione spoke first,
"We're sorry Ron, it's just that I was worried that I hadn't reviewed my herbology enough and you know that Neville has a knack for it and well, you were pulled in that other group instead."
"And besides, you never really talk during lunch, you're too busy eating and we wouldn't have wanted to distract you from that." Harry added dryly.
"As to walking quickly, we're about to be late!" Hermione added, a scowl on her face, and she broke away from Ron, grabbed Harry's hand and pulled the green eyed boy with her to the classroom. There the two of them immediately grabbed the first empty seats they came across, which happened to be in the very back of the class and began to pile their textbooks around them in a way to block themselves from the sight of the teacher. Ron, still looking unhappy, took a seat next to Hermione and Harry motioned fro Neville to sit next to him. Smiling, the still shy boy took the seat and followed Harry and Hermione's example and began to pile his books around him in an attempt to both avoid having to look at the so called `teacher' and to try to avoid the blonde man's attention.
Other students, mostly girls, led by Parvati and Lavender, pushed their way to the front. There was a brief tussle over one of the `choice' seats that could have been very interesting, and gave Harry the brief hope that it would disrupt things enough to stop the class, but it was settled just as Lockhart burst opened the door and appeared in what he probably thought was a dramatic fashion. Purple smoke billowed behind him and he grinned brightly. Harry could have sworn that the man's teeth actually sparkled for a brief moment, as if they had been covered in glitter.
He looked around at them, still smiling brightly though it faded just a bit when he noted several students whispering. He cleared his throat very loudly and most of the students stopped talking. Lockhart reached forward and grabbed Lavender's copy of Travel with Trolls, causing Lavender to squeal ever so slightly. He held it up so they could see his smiling portrait.
"Me," he said, as if they couldn't see it, and he winked. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class,"
"Which is an honor only, not for anything important." Hermione whispered to him and Harry smiled.
"Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League," Lockhart went on and Harry rolled his eyes,
"Why not an actual member?" he whispered to Hermione who smiled slightly,
"You know, you're an official member." Harry blinked,
"I am?" Hermione nodded,
"You were made a member after you defeated Voldemort the first time and a senior member when you saved the philosopher's stone despite being the youngest member in the league's history." Hermione murmured. Harry frowned, wondering how the league had heard about the thing with Quirrel. He was about to ask more about that and about the league but both of them started slightly when they heard a few weak laughs and a cough that sounded almost like a laugh and they looked at Lockhart.
"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books- well done." Both Harry and Hermione smirked and Harry looked over the titles of his books, not a single one of them had anything to do with Lockhart and neither did Hermione's.
"I thought we'd start today with a little quiz." Ron groaned loudly, "Nothing to worry about, just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in…"
He handed out the scrolls of parchment and then he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes, starting, now!"
Harry looked at his paper. He had completely forgotten anything having to do with this stupid quiz.
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? Whatever helps him look lighter on film.
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? To figure out how Snape makes his cape billow
What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?
I would say tricking the wizarding world but since pretty much anyone can do that I suppose it would have to say his greatest achievement would be the number of times he's managed to mention his Witch's Weekly award in a single conversation. I'm sure that any other wizard couldn't have done the same.
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite animal? Anything that can be trained to constantly spew his praise
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's animagus form? If I thought he was capable of such a feat of magic then I'd say a peacock
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's advice to young celebrities? To let him hang out with you if you're more famous than him
What is the most important thing to remember when facing a Dark creature? If you manage to defeat the bloody thing, stay away from Gilderoy Lockhart afterwards
Has Gilderoy Lockhart ever suffered from any illnesses? If stupidity is an illness then yes
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's Favorite Spell? Any spell he doesn't mess up
Where was Gilderoy Lockhart born? In a barn
How many people did Gilderoy Lockhart save during the encounter with the Ghoul? He saved people?!
How did Gilderoy Lockhart defeat the Gladstone Ghoul? Sorry, missed that
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's recommendation for preventing hair-mussing when facing ghouls? Shave yourself bald
What was the charm used to defeat the Wagga Wagga werewolf in Wandering with Werewolves? Nothing
What has Gilderoy Lockhart found to be the best use of the Homorphous Charm? I don't know what Lockhart uses it for but the homorphous charm is usually used to change the shapes of things like a piece of fruit into a fairly realistic likeness of a male appendage, like an arm or a head…
What is the best way to deal with a werewolf on a rampage? Run away and climb the nearest tree
How was Gilderoy Lockhart able to defeat the Werewolf in Hand-to-Hand combat? This is a joke, right?
What was the secret weapon Gilderoy Lockhart used to defeat the Yeti? He used "The Force"
How did Gilderoy Lockhart track down the terrible Yeti? He followed the signs until he got to the classroom where students were studying the Yeti's remains to further the progress of magical zoology without damaging a living specimen
How does Gilderoy Lockhart recommend keeping a perfect manicure when facing a Yeti? I don't know, Lavender or Parvati probably would though
What Spell did Gilderoy Lockhart use to gain access to the Banshee's lair? He tried looking it up in the phone directory and when that didn't work he followed the guy who was going to defeat the banshee
How did Gilderoy Lockhart defeat the Bandon Banshee's right-hand minion? Since banshees are solitary creatures who generally would rather scratch out their eyes then spend copious amounts of time around anything living then I have to ask what minion this would be
How did Gilderoy Lockhart defeat the Bandon Banshee? He asked her out and she left
In Voyages with Vampires, how did Gilderoy Lockhart defeat the Leader of the Vampires?
What curse did Gilderoy Lockhart cure the Transylvanian villagers from? His presence
How does Gilderoy Lockhart recommend keeping your robes wrinkle-free during a confrontation with a Vampire? Soil yourself, that'll keep your robes from wrinkling and the smell will annoy the vampires
How many lives has Gilderoy Lockhart saved in his adventures? Again, he saved people?!
When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be? His birthday was probably a Monday and an ideal gift would definitely be a mirror
Just as Harry finished the quiz, time was up and Lockhart walked around to collect the quizzes and then began to rifle through them in front of the class. Harry smirked slightly when he saw the idiot pause at one paper and turn pale for a moment and then go red. He was willing to bet quite a bit that Lockhart was looking at his quiz. For just a moment the fake looked positively murderous as he scanned the class but didn't seem to be able to find the black haired savior of the wizarding world. He went back to rifling through the papers and cleared his throat,
"Tut, tut- hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I said so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully- I clearly stated in chapter 12 that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples- though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey."
He gave them what he probably thought was a roguish wink. Harry was ignoring him, trying to figure out instead where the rat had gone and what to do with it once he had him. Hermione wasn't paying attention either. She was too busy drawing up a new study schedule- she knew she'd have to change virtually everything if she was going to be able to actually learn anything from defense as well as keep her mind challenged in the other classes.
Ron and Neville were both staying at Lockhart with disbelief over their faces while Seams Finnigan and Dean Thomas looked only a few seconds away from bursting into laughter. Lavender and Parvati were staring at Lockhart with rapt attention. Both jumped slightly when Lockhart mentioned Lavender's name.
"…but Miss Lavender Brown knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care products, good girl! In fact," he flipped her paper over, "full marks! Where is Miss Lavender Brown?" Harry glanced over at Hermione, who was busy drawing up her new schedule, and whispered,
"Why didn't you get the perfect marks?" he asked and Hermione shrugged.
"I'm quite certain I did but he must have seen Lavender's paper first." Their attention was dragged back to the blonde fool as he pulled a curtain away from the cage on his desk and announced dramatically,
"Freshly caught Cornish pixies!" They stared at him and Seamus gave a snort of laughter that no one could have mistaken for anything even resembling a noise of fear.
"Yes?" Lockhart smiled at Seamus who had covered his mouth with his hands. Dean spoke up for his friend,
"Well, they're not very dangerous, are they?" Dean pointed out, a grin on his own face.
"Don't be so sure!" Lockhart announced, waggling a finger at both of the boys who scowled in return. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be." Hermione frowned and Harry rolled his eyes but he had his wand out, vaguely remembering how irritating these pixies had been the first time the idiot had released them.
"Right then." Lockhart said loudly and the pixies began to jump around even more, "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage. Harry ducked and pulled Hermione down with him. Ron glanced at where they were but before he could comment on his friends' strange behavior he got a face full of pixies as the blue creatures shot from the cage with such speed they looked like a blast of water. The Weasley boy jumped away from his desk as he tried to swat the pixies away but they continued to swarm around him as the rest caused mischief around the rest of the class. Some shot through the back window, covering the desks, and Neville, with broken glass. Two pixies grabbed Seamus by the ears and lifted him in the air. The rest grabbed splashed ink all around, tore pictures from the walls, destroyed books, threw things out the smashed window; within minutes the rest of the class had followed Harry, Hermione and Neville's example except for Ron who was still being tormented by the pixies who seemed enamored with his hair and Seamus who was hanging by his shirt on the iron chandelier.
"Come on now, round them up, round them up! They're only pixies!" Lockhart shouted and several pixies seemed to take offense at that, or that's what Harry chose to believe when three pixies took that moment to up end a bottle of lavender ink on top of the man's golden head. He screamed and ran out of the room, the three pixies chasing after him and the rest of the class hot on his heels, eager to try to get away from the terrible pixies.
"This is ridiculous!" Hermione growled and she took out her wand and shot a freezing charm at the nearest group of pixies who were covered in ink and dancing on one of the Lockhart books.
"I warned you," Harry muttered as he followed her actions and stuffed the frozen pixies into the empty cage. Other pixies tried to come to the frozen pixies rescue and were in turn frozen by Neville who looked somewhat shocked and a little pleased that he had managed to perform the charm.
"Good job Neville," Hermione said absently as she caught another set of pixies, "keep it up." Neville beamed and continued to help the two of them catch pixies until the cage was almost as full as it had been at the beginning of the class. All that were missing were the pixies who had chased after Lockhart and the ones that had gone through the window at the beginning.
"They'll probably escape into the forest." Hermione sighed as they left the classroom.
"At least we got out early. Now you can show me that new book Hermione." Harry pointed out and Hermione smiled.
"We'll catch up with you later Neville." Hermione called as she pulled Harry towards the stairs and up to the seventh floor.
As they made their way to the room of requirement, they passed Ron who had finally managed to get rid of his pixie fans.
"Oi! Where do you two think you're going? Hermione you've still got to help me out with my potions paper and Harry, I need you to come with me to the quidditch pitch. None of the chaser will help me out so you're the next best thing!"
"I'm a seeker Ron, I just catch things. I don't throw them." Harry replied as Hermione glared at Ron.
"And I never agreed to do anything about your potions paper which, I noticed on the train, is far shorter than what Professor Snape required."
"First off Hermione, that's why I'm asking for your help. Second off, Harry your dad was a chaser, and you're all I got right now!"
"Ron, the paper is due tomorrow!" Hermione hissed at the red head who was ignoring her in favor of trying to persuade Harry to help him.
"Fine!" Harry hissed, ignoring the betrayed look that Hermione shot at him.
"Great!" Ron smiled brightly and something occurred to Harry.
"Ron, where's Scabbers? I haven't seen him since last year." Harry asked as casually as he could.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? Mum made me give him to Ginny and Ginny gave him to Looney Lovegood, dunno what she did with him." Ron answered as he walked away, missing Harry's disappointed groan.
-->