Ineffable | Harry Potter - George Weasley // COMPLETED

20 | Insufferable Know-It-All

"Dear lady, who did this to you?" Dumbledore asked her.

She cried for a while before finally composing herself. "Eyes like the devil, he's got, and a soul as dark as his name. It's him, headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle! Sirius Black!"

Everyone gasped as the crowd continued to grow larger and larger. "Secure the castle, Mr. Filch." Dumbledore ordered. "The rest of you, to the Great Hall."

As nighttime fell and the beasts outside started to come out into the moonlight, the castle was locked up. All doors were secured and all gates were shut. No one was to sleep in their common rooms as Dumbledore had ordered us to stick together, so with sleeping bags and pillows, we all slept on the floor in one of the large, empty rooms where the teachers could watch over us.

With my head pressed firmly against my pillow and the sleeping bag wrapped around my body, I sighed as the moonlight spilled into the room from the windows.

"I've searched the Astronomy Tower and the Owlery. There's nothing there." I heard Filch's voice as he entered the room.

"Thank you," Dumbledore responded.

"The third floor's clear too, sir."

"Very good."

"I've done the dungeons, too," Snape spoke up. "No sign of Black, nor anywhere else in the castle."

Filch scoffed. "I didn't really expect him to linger."

"Remarkable feat, don't you think?" I listened as Snape spoke. "To enter Hogwarts Castle on one's own...completely undetected?"

"Quite remarkable, yes." Dumbledore agreed as they paced up and down the aisle, keeping a close watch on all of us.

"Any theories on how he managed it?"

"Many. Each as unlikely as the next."

"You may recall...prior to the start of term I'd expressed concerns about your appointment of Professor-"

"Not a single professor inside this castle would help Sirius Black enter it," Dumbledore assured him, and without knowing it, me as well. "I'm quite convinced the castle is safe and I'm more than willing to send the students to their houses."

"What about Potter? Should he be warned?"

"Perhaps. But for now, let him sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud."

Once I heard their footsteps grow quieter, indicating that they were walking away, I peeked across the room at Harry, who had his eyes open as well, and wondered how scary this all must be for him. Every year something new and more dangerous than the last was after him, hunting for his blood.

But in some odd way, it was all connected to You-Know-Who and his obsession to get rid of Harry once and for all.

_______________

As the sun shone through the windows, waking me in an instant, I noticed, as I stood up, that the leaves had fallen from the Whomping Willow tree, meaning only one thing. Snow would be falling soon, and then after that, Christmas. The holidays always seemed to sneak up on us at Hogwarts, but with things such as dementors roaming the grounds, you wouldn't be too concerned with gift-giving and carolling either.

Heading to my first class of the day, which was Dark Arts, I found myself actually looking forward to it. Professor Lupin was actually finding ways to make terrifying spells and monstrous creatures fun. That was, until Snape strode through the doorway that morning, using his wand to shut the blinds on the windows as he made his way to the front of the class.

"Turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four," he told us as he pulled down the projector screen.

Slightly confused, I opened my book anyway. Most students learned on their very first day at Hogwarts that Professor Snape was not one to be messed with or disobeyed. However, Harry wasn't like most students.

"Excuse me, sir," Harry spoke up. "Where's Professor Lupin?"

"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter?" Snape eyed him as he headed down the aisle. "Suffice it to say your professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four."

Turning on the projector, Snape noticed Ron casually flipping through his pages, so with a flick of his wand, he helped get Ron on the same page as everyone else, literally. "'Werewolves?'" Ron read the title of the page.

"But sir, we've just begun learning about red caps and hinkypunks." Hermione turned around to face Snape. "We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks."

"Quiet."

"When did she come in?" Ron turned to Harry and me, noticing a pattern of Hermione just showing up. "Did you see her come in?"

Once the projector was playing, Snape resumed his position at the front of the room. "Now, which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf? No one?" he ignored Hermione's hand. "How disappointing."

"Please, sir." Hermione began to speak anyway. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. The werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."

Chuckling, Draco let out a howl. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Snape grumbled. "That is the second time you've spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Are you incapable of restraining yourself...or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

"He's got a point, you know," Ron admitted.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Snape sighed as Draco passed a letter to Harry in the form of a flying origami bird. "As an antidote to your ignorance, and on my desk, by Monday morning...two rolls of parchment on the werewolf, with particular emphasis on recognizing it."

The entire class groaned, hating extra work just as much as any normal student in a normal school. "Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow." Harry reminded him.

"Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter." Snape placed his hands on Harry's desk and got in his face. "Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page three-hundred and ninety-four. The term 'werewolf' is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon word 'wer,' which means 'man,' and 'wolf.' Werewolf, man-wolf. There are several ways to become a werewolf. They include being given the power of shape-shifting...being bitten by a werewolf-"

As Snape went on and on about werewolves, I found myself, along with the rest of the class, pretty much tuning out completely. If Professor Lupin had been there we probably would have been doing spells to turn someone into a werewolf instead, but no...now we were just looking at pictures and listening to Snape drone on.

It seemed as though Lupin had tainted our learning in a way that anything not hands-on was completely and utterly boring to us now. So, thanks for that, Professor Lupin.