How To Annoy A Gryffindor ; harry potter

Step 25: Have the Same Classes

"We have classes! We have classes!" Ember chanted, dancing around the dorm room.

It was definitely too early to be woken up but Ember was a morning person and she always woke the other three up for the first day of classes. Georgia groaned and covered her ears with her pillow, Billie fell off her bed and Pansy threw a pillow — which only narrowly missed Ember.

"Do you have to wake us up?" muttered Billie as she stood up and placed all the pillows and blankets that had fallen with her on her bed.

Ember beamed at Billie, "Yes, of course. New year, fresh start. Get up!"

After a long half-an-hour struggling and shouting, Pansy, Georgia and Billie all followed Ember grumpily down the stairs of the common room. Draco, Cullen and Blaise were all standing there waiting for them.

"Hello, boys," Ember sang happily. "These four took forever to wake up as you can see. Who's ready for breakfast?"

Breakfast was dreary, no one in the group spoke as they were all trying to wake up properly. Professor Snape came to hand out timetables and NEWT classes for everyone. Draco, Blaise, Cullen and Ember were the only four who had gotten the right mark to continue with Potions — even if Slughorn was the teacher. Everyone was alright for Defence though, so at least they all had that class together.

"Inside," Snape commanded when he arrived to Defence Against the Dark Arts just moments after breakfast.

Ember walked in and took a seat next to Georgia because everyone knew that she was naturally good at the subject for some reason. Blaise wasn't too happy about having to sit next to Billie but Ember didn't really care as she grinned at Georgia cheekily.

The room had already reflected Snape's personality, changing to look similar to his office in the dungeons. It was gloomier than usual, as curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. New pictures adorned the walls, many of them showing people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts. Nobody spoke as they settled down, looking around at the shadowy, gruesome pictures.

"I have not asked you to take out your books," said Snape, closing the door and moving to face the class from behind his desk. Ember saw Granger quickly shut her copy of 'Confronting the Faceless' "I wish to speak to you, and I want your fullest attention."

His dark eyes roved over the entire class, looking at the blank faces in front of him.

"You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion, I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.WL. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be more advanced." Snape set off around the edge of the room, speaking now in a lower voice; the class craned their necks to keep him in view.

"The Dark Arts," said Snape, "are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.

"Your defences," said Snape, a little louder, "must, therefore, be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo. These pictures" — he indicated a few of them as he swept past — "give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse" — he waved a hand toward a witch who was clearly shrieking in agony — "feel the Dementor's Kiss" — a wizard lying huddled and blank-eyed, slumped against a wall — "or provoke the aggression of the Inferius" — a bloody mass upon the ground.