𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 | 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲.

FINE LINE - THE FAT LADY

In no time at all, Defence Against the Dark Arts quickly became everyone's favourite class. Only Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin's class.

Mavis, despite her encounter with her Boggart, especially liked Professor Lupin's lessons. After moving past Boggarts, she learned about Red Caps which are nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed and Kappas. Kappas were creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

Then there was Potions, Mavis particularly liked the subject, just not the professor who was teaching it and worst of all, Snape was in a very vindictive mood these days. No one had any doubt why.

The story of the Boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had travelled through the school like wildfire. Snape, however, didn't seem to find it funny. Flashing his eyes menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.

Mavis was also growing to dread the hours she spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lop-sided shapes and symbols, trying to ignore the way Professor Trelawney's enormous eyes filled with tears every time she looked at her or Harry. Mavis just couldn't bring herself to like Professor Trelawney, even though she was treated with respect bordering on reverence by many of the class.

Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney's tower room at lunchtimes, and always returned with annoyingly superior looks on their faces, as though they knew things the others didn't. They had also started using hushed voices whenever they spoke to Her and Harry, as though the two were on their deathbed.

When it came to Care of Magical Creatures, nobody seemed to care as much and soon began to lose interest after the action-packed first class. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence, making the class extremely dull. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after Flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence.

At the start of October, however, both Harry and Mavis had something else to occupy them, something so enjoyable it made up for their unsatisfactory classes. The Quidditch season was approaching, and Oliver Wood called a meeting every Thursday evening to discuss tactics for the new season.

There was a quiet sort of desperation in his voice as he addressed his six fellow team members in the chilly changing rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch pitch.

"This is our last chance - my last chance - to win the Quidditch Cup," he told them, striding up and down in front of them. "I'll be leaving at the end of this year. I'll never get another shot at it."