Gaunt ~ Book 2

Twelve~Gaunt

a/n: Same reminder as usual, I'm combining J.K. Rowling's work with my own. Hope you enjoy!

"And then the car sent us and our trunks and stuff flying out of the car!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Marvolo were sitting by the lake the next day where Harry and Ron were explaining why they had missed the sorting the previous day.

"Then the car left! Just like that!" said Ro, eyes wide. "Then we went up to the school with our stuff and we found out it was the middle of the sorting. Then we realized Snape was gone and we thought we might be ill or maybe he left or maybe —"

"Wait, Snape wasn't there?" Hermione asked. "I didn't notice."

"Yeah, he wasn't at dinner," said Marvolo. "Malfoy kept saying he hoped Snape didn't get sacked."

"Yeah that's what we thought too," said Harry.

"But he's still here!" Ron groaned. "He snuck up on us and took us to his office. Turns out we were in the Evening Prophet!"

"You were in the paper?" gasped Hermione.

"You didn't tell me that last night!"

"Sorry," said Harry.

"Flying Ford Anglia Mystifies Muggles," said Ron. "I've never been in the paper before . . ."

"Turns out six or seven Muggles saw us," Harry said.

"Six or seven!" Hermione hissed. "What were you thinking?!" 

"We didn't mean to be seen!" Ron protested. "The Muggles just decided to look up!"

"Anyways," said Harry, cutting Hermione off, "we found out that the tree we hit was called the Whomping Willow and it was planted here years ago. Then he got McGonagall. Then, Dumbledore came!"

"And Dumbledore was like 'McGonagall gets to decide their fates, Snape because she is their head of house'" said Ron. "And we were like 'we'll go get our stuff' and Dumbledore was like 'you aren't expelled' and then he and Snape left."

"Then McGonagall said she would let it slide but sent a letter to our families!" Harry added. "So, here we are."

"That was really irresponsible of you two!" said Hermione scoldingly. "Did you even think of maybe sending an owl?"

"Yeah, that's what McGonagall said," Ron said glumly.

The next day when the owls flew into the great hall, Marvolo spotted Ron's family owl; Errol. Marvolo watched his clumsy descent to where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. Malfoy's eagle-owl landed next to him, almost knocking Marvolo's breakfast over. Malfoy pulled the box of candy off the owl's leg gloatingly, making sure everyone could see. Then, someone started yelling.

"— STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET A HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —"

Mrs. Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler (Marvolo found out what it was called when Malfoy whispered "Someone's got a Howler!" in his ear) and Marvolo saw Ron sink low into his chair, making only his crimson forehead visible.

"— LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE DIED —"

Harry was looking like he couldn't hear the voice that made the entire great hall look in his direction.

"— ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOUR STRAIGHT HOME."

A ringing silence fell. Malfoy was muffling a laugh and Crabbe and Goyle were smiling stupidly. The silence did not last long, the heads of houses were passing out schedules. When Marvolo received his from Snape, he saw that there was a small smile on his face.

A couple hours later, Marvolo slipped into Defense Against the Dark Arts. Before he could reach Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Malfoy grabbed Marvolo's wrist and dragged him up to the front.

"I need to see this up close," Malfoy whispered in Marvolo's ear as he pulled him into a seat.

When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville Longbottom's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.

"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award — but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books — well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about — just to check how well you read them, how much you've taken in —"

When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes — start — now!"

Marvolo looked down at the paper and read:

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

What, in your opinion, it's Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:

    54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.

"Tut, tut — hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year of the Yeti. And a few of you need to read. Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully — I clearly state in chapter twelve 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 another roguish wink. Malfoy turned to Marvolo and mouthed "Harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples?" Then he pulled a face and whispered an accurate impression of Lockhart;

"Hardly any of you remembered my favorite color,"

". . . but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hare-care potions — good girl! In fact" — he flipped her paper over — "full marks! Where is Miss. Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand.