In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people favourite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of slytherin had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin.
"Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy would say in a loud whisper as
Professor Lupin passed. "He dresses like our old house-elf."
But no one else cared that Professor Lupin's robes were patched and
frayed. His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After
boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures that lurked
wherever there had been bloodshed: in the dungeons of castles and the
potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten
lost. From Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy water-dwellers that
looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting
waders in their ponds.
Renevia was as happy with all of her classes even Snape seem to not hate her as much as he hate other Gryffindor.
The story of the boggart assuming Snape'sshape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had traveled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn't seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.
Harry was also growing to dread the hours he spent in Professor
Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lopsided shapes and symbols, trying to ignore the way Professor Trelawney's enormous eyes filled with tears every time she looked at him. Renevia just sighed whenever she notices it. She couldn't 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 Harry, as though he were on his deathbed.
Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his
confidence. 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. Renevia sometimes would slid in a bar of chocolates in his pockets , she thought it will make him better. Professor Lupin and her both are chocolates lovers will sometimes share some with each other.
"Why would anyone bother looking after them?" said Ron, after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the flobberworms' slimy throats.
At the start of October, however, Harry had something else to occupy him,
something so enjoyable it more than made up for his unsatisfactory classes.
The Quidditch season was approaching, and Oliver Wood, Captain of the
Gryffindor team, called a meeting one Thursday evening to discuss tactics for
the new season.
There were seven people on a Quidditch team: three Chasers, whose job it
was to score goals by putting the Quaffle through one of the fifty-foot-high hoops at each end of the field; two Beaters, who
were equipped with heavy bats to repel the Bludgers , a Keeper, who defended thegoalposts, and the Seeker, who had the hardest job of all, that of catching the Golden Snitch, a tiny, winged, walnut-sized ball, whose capture ended the game and earned the Seeker's team an extra one hundred and fifty points.
Oliver Wood was a burly seventeen-year-old, now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. There was a quiet sort of desperation in his voice as he addressed his six fellow team members in the chilly locker rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch field.
"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.
"Gryffindor hasn't won for seven years now. Okay, so we've had the worst
luck in the world - injuries - then the tournament getting called off last
year. . . ." Wood swallowed, as though the memory still brought a lump to his
throat. "But we also know we've got the best - ruddy - team - in - the -
school," he said, punching a fist into his other hand, the old manic glint back
in his eye.
"We've got three superb Chasers."
Wood pointed at Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell.
"We've got two unbeatable Beaters."
"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," said Fred and George Weasley
together, pretending to blush.
"And we've got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!" Wood
rumbled, glaring at Harry with a kind of furious pride. "And me," he added as
an afterthought.
"We think you're very good too, Oliver," said George.
"Spanking good Keeper," said Fred.
"The point is," Wood went on, resuming his pacing, "the Quidditch Cup
should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined
the team, I've thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven't got it, and this
year's the last chance we'll get to finally see our name on the thing. . . ."
Wood spoke so dejectedly that even Fred and George looked sympathetic.
"Oliver, this year's our year," said Fred.
"We'll do it, Oliver!" said Angelina.
"Definitely," said Harry.
Full of determination, the team started training sessions, three evenings a
week. The weather was getting colder and wetter, the nights darker, but no
amount of mud, wind, or rain could tarnish Harry's wonderful vision of
finally winning the huge, silver Quidditch Cup.
Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room one evening after training,
cold and stiff but pleased with the way practice had gone, to find the room
buzzing excitedly.
"What's happened?" he asked Ron, Hermione and Renevia who were sitting in three of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for
Astronomy.
"First Hogsmeade weekend," said Ron, pointing at a notice that had
appeared on the battered old bulletin board. "End of October. Halloween."
"Excellent," said Fred, who had followed Harry through the portrait hole.
"I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets." he said ruffling Renevia head which he received a light slap on his hand.
Harry threw himself into a chair beside Ron, his high spirits ebbing away.
Renevia seemed to read his mind.
"Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," she said.
"They're bound
to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already." added Hermione who sat beside her. Renevia just silently shook her head at her.
"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," said Ron. "Ask
McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for
ages -"
"Ron!" said Hermione. "Harry's supposed to stay in school -"
"He can't be the only third year left behind," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall,
go on, Harry -"
"Yeah, I think I will,' said Harry, making up his mind.
Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but at that moment Crookshanks
leapt lightly onto her lap. A large, dead spider was dangling from his mouth.
"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" said Ron, scowling.
"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" said Hermione.
Renevia who love Crookshanks also patting him and said," you should catch a bigger prey, Crookshanks, a brown and fat prey, the older it is the better!" This cause Ron to glare at her.
Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed insolently
on Ron.
"Just keep him over there, that's all," said Ron irritably, turning back to his
star chart. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag."
Harry yawned. He really wanted to go to bed, but he still had his own star
chart to complete. He pulled his bag toward him, took out parchment, ink, and quill, and started work.
"You can copy mine, if you like," said Ron, labeling his last star with a
flourish and shoving the chart toward Harry.
Hermione, who disapproved of copying, pursed her lips but didn't say
anything. Crookshanks was still staring unblinkingly at Ron, flicking the end
of his bushy tail. Then, without warning, he pounced.
"OY!" Ron roared, seizing his bag as Crookshanks sank four sets of claws
deeply into it and began tearing ferociously. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID
ANIMAL!"
Ron tried to pull the bag away from Crookshanks, but Crookshanks clung
on, spitting and slashing.
"Ron, don't hurt him!" squealed Hermione and Renevia; the whole common room was
watching; Ron whirled the bag around, Crookshanks still clinging to it, and
Scabbers came flying out of the top -
"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks freed himself from the
remnants of the bag, sprang over the table, and chased after the terrified
Scabbers.
George Weasley made a lunge for Crookshanks but missed; Scabbers
streaked through twenty pairs of legs and shot beneath an old chest of
drawers. Crookshanks skidded to a halt, crouched low on his bandy legs, and
started making furious swipes beneath it with his front paw.
Ron and Hermione hurried over; But Renevia was faster and she grabbed Crookshanks around the middle and heaved him away; Ron threw himself onto his stomach and,with great difficulty, pulled Scabbers out by the tail.
"Look at him!" he said furiously to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front
of her. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"
"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" said Hermione, her voice
shaking. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"
"There's something funny about that animal!" said Ron, who was trying to
persuade a frantically wiggling Scabbers back into his pocket. "It heard me
say that Scabbers was in my bag!"
"Oh, what rubbish," said Hermione impatiently.
"Yeah, that's rubbish, Ron-,"said Renevia who stood a metre away from both of them with the fluffy thing on her hands.
"Crookshanks could smell
him, Ron, how else d'you think -" said Hermione
"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" said Ron, ignoring the people around
him, who were starting to giggle. "And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!"
"He just old-!"said Renevia who seemed to not want to be excluded from the arguing and she hate that fact the Peter Pettigrew still alive.
Ron ignored both of them and marched through the common room and out of sight up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
Ron was still in a bad mood with Hermione next day compared to Renevia He barely talked to her all through Herbology, even though he, Harry, Renevia and Hermione were working together on the same puffapod.
"How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as they stripped fat pink pods
from the plants and emptied the shining beans into a wooden pail.
"He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking," said Ron angrily, missing
the pail and scattering beans over the greenhouse floor.
"Careful, Weasley, careful!" cried Professor Sprout as the beans burst into
bloom before their very eyes.
They had Transfiguration next. Renevia and the trio joined the line outside the class but they were distracted, however, by a disturbance at the front of the line.
Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. Parvati had her arm around her and
was explaining something to Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who werelooking very serious.
"What's the matter, Lavender?" said Hermione anxiously as she, Renevia, Harry, and Ron went to join the group.
"She got a letter from home this morning," Parvati whispered.
"It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox."
"Oh," said Hermione, "I'm sorry, Lavender."
"I should have known!" said Lavender tragically. "You know what day it
is?"
"Er -"
"The sixteenth of October! 'That thing you're dreading, it will happen on
the sixteenth of October!' Remember? She was right, she was right!"
The whole class was gathered around Lavender now. Seamus shook his
head seriously. Hermione hesitated; then she said, "You - you were dreading
Binky being killed by a fox?"
"Well, not necessarily by a fox," said Lavender, looking up at Hermione
with streaming eyes, "but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't I?"
"Oh," said Hermione. She paused again. Then -
"Was Binky an old rabbit?"
"N-no!" sobbed Lavender. "H-he was only a baby!"
Parvati tightened her arm around Lavender's shoulders.
"But then, why would you dread him dyin-" said Hermione but stopped when Renevia put her hand on Hermione's mouth .
Parvati glared at Hermione.
"Well, look at it logically," said Hermione, turning to the rest of the group and slowly removed Renevia's hand .
"I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he? Lavender just got the news
today" - Lavender wailed loudly - "and she can't have been dreading it,
because it's come as a real shock -"
"Don't mind Hermione, Lavender," said Ron loudly, "she doesn't think
other people's pets matter very much."
"Ron!!" said Renevia who slightly annoyed with the fact Ron still protecting the old ratty man.
Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at that moment, which
was perhaps lucky; Hermione and Ron were looking daggers at each other,
and when they got into class, they seated themselves on either side of Harry
and didn't talk to each other for the whole class. Renevia took others seat besides Hermione.
Harry still hadn't decided what he was going to say to Professor McGonagall when the bell rang at the end of the lesson, but it was she who
brought up the subject of Hogsmeade first.
"One moment, please!" she called as the class made to leave. "As you're all
in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"
Neville put up his hand.
"Please, Professor, I - I think I've lost -"
"Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom," said Professor
McGonagall.
"She seemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may
leave."
"Ask her now," Ron hissed at Harry.
"Oh, but -" Hermione began.
"Go for it, Harry," said Ron stubbornly.
Harry waited for the rest of the class to disappear, then headed nervously
for Professor McGonagall's desk.
Then a few moments later, Renevia could see his face was more gloomy than before, she sighed .
There was nothing to be done. Ron called Professor McGonagall a lot of
names that greatly annoyed Hermione; Hermione assumed an "all-for-thebest" expression that made Ron even angrier, and Harry had to endure everyone in the class talking loudly and happily about what they were going
to do first, once they got into Hogsmeade.
"There's always the feast," said Ron, in an effort to cheer Harry up. "You
know, the Halloween feast, in the evening."
"Yeah," said Harry gloomily, "great."
"Harry, cheer up please..," said Renevia who besides him.
He gave her an assuring smile and nodded.
The Halloween feast was always good, but it would taste a lot better if he
was coming to it after a day in Hogsmeade with everyone else. Nothing
anyone said made him feel any better about being left behind. Dean Thomas,
who was good with a quill, had offered to forge Uncle Vernon's signature on
the form, but as Harry had already told Professor McGonagall he hadn't had it
signed, that was no good. Ron halfheartedly suggested the Invisibility Cloak and Renevia nodded in agreement but Hermione stamped on that one, reminding Ron and her what Dumbledore had told them about the dementors being able to see through them. Percy had what were possibly the least helpful words of comfort.
"They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you, Harry, it's not all
it's cracked up to be," he said seriously.
"All right, the sweetshop's rather
good, and Zonko's Joke Shop's frankly dangerous, and yes, the Shrieking
Shack's always worth a visit, but really, Harry, apart from that, you're not
missing anything." Renevia glared at him.
On Halloween morning, Remevia awoke with the rest and went down to
breakfast, It was the first trip to Hogsmeade. Renevia had her form signed up by her parents before she even gotten to Hogwarts. She could noticed that Harry depressed about it, though doing his best to act normally.
"We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione,
looking desperately sorry for him.
"Yeah, loads," said Ron. He and Hermione had finally forgotten their
squabble about Crookshanks in the face of Harry's disappointment.
"And Something good might happen if you can't go,"said Renevia, lightly patted him at his shoulders.
"Don't worry about me," said Harry, in what he hoped was an offhand
voice, "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time."
He accompanied them to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was
standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering
suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out
who shouldn't be going.
"Staying here, Potter?" shouted Malfoy, who was standing in line with
Crabbe and Goyle. "Scared of passing the dementors?"
After a while , those three bid him goodbye before leaving to the village.
Ron, Hermione and Renevia was having fun, they strolled from shops to shops. Renevia get her hand full with different of chocolates flavour, and this cause those two to look at her in shock faces.
"What?"she asked , looking at them .
"Are you sure ,you can finish that?" Said Ron, scanning at her small figure.
"What that supposed to mean? Of course I can!"she huffed in response, and Hermione and Ron bursted out.
"Oh,Rene! You should look at your face just now!" Said Hermione between her tear. She was laughing so hard , causing the people around look at them with questioning look.
"Okay, enough you two-now come on, I can't wait to try a glass of butterbeer,"
Linking her arms with them, they made their way to Broomsticks.
Along their way, they came across with Malfoy and his goons. Renevia just try to ignore him like always.
"Oi, Donovan! Don't want to say hi to you saviour?!" He said, along with laughter from his friends.
Clicked her tongue in annoyed, she grabbed her friends' wrist and walk away from them, Ron was still glaring fixedly at Malfoy while Hermione just follow.
Time flew quickly, they finally reached the common room.
"There you go," said Ron." We got as much as we could carry," a shower of brilliantly sweet pouring into Harry's laps .. It was dusk, and
Ron, Hermione and Renevia had just turned up in the common room, pink-faced from the cold wind and looking as though they'd had the time of their lives.
Ron nudged Harry at Renevia who got her hand full with everything that she could find in Hogsmeade.
"Ta da!!"she said ,dropped all of it on the table, before plopped herself besides Harry.
"Thanks,"said Harry ,picking up a packet of tiny black pepper Imps. "What's Hogsmeade like? where did you go?"
By the sound of it-everywhere, Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, Zonko's Joke shop, into the Three Broomstick for foaming mugs of Hot butterbeer and many places besides.
"The office, Harry! About two hundreds owls ,sitting on shelves, all color-coded depending on how fast you want your letter get there!"
"Honeydukes has got a new kind of fudge, they were giving out free samples, there's a bit , look-"
"Wish we could have brought you some butterbeer, really warm you up-"
"What did you do?" Said Hermione, looking anxious. " Did you get any work done?"
"No," said Harry. "Lupin made a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in-"
They made it to the Halloween feast. The great hall had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candled filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the storm ceiling like brilliant water snakes.
Renevia was one of the student who enjoyed the moment before she remembered something.
Harry, Ron, Renevia and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed with students.
"Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously.
Harry peered over the heads in front of him. The portrait seemed to be
closed.
"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling
importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have
forgotten the password - excuse me, I'm Head Boy -"
Renevia just silently looked at others and bring a hand over her mouth and yawning. The feast ended quite late, she looked at her watch , sighed look how it was always the time she get to sleep and now-sighing again, she move away from the crowd. It was huge commotion and she really didn't appreciate it ,not even slightest , she just need her nap time!
Ohh!! Come on!!
They heard Percy say, in a suddenly
sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."
People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.
"What's going on?" said Ginny, who had just arrived
A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait: Gryffindors squeezed together to let them through. Renevia could see that Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was and didn't take notice of her disappearance. Yawning again she leaned on the stair rail.
"Oh, my-," Hermione said.
The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait,which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered on the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turn his eyes somber, to see Professor McGonagall, Lupin and Snape hurrying toward him.
"We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr Flich at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
Everyone look quite uneasy with what just happen except for her, she just leisurely stare at every painting apart from the one that being a center of attention.
When this gonna end?
In the middle of chaos, she begins to nod off, thinking of Sirius Black. She thinks more about him vaguely, surely does she assumes that Black know how to get himself out from the Hogwarts castle.
But -Does he even eat a proper meal or rest? She snaps awake when she heard-
"You'll be lucky!,"said a cackling voice.
It was peeves the poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looked delighted, as he always did, the sight of wreckage or worry.
"What do you mean, Peeves?"said Dumbledore calmly and Peeves' grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore, instead, he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle.
" Ashamed, your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir ,dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily.
"Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.
"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.
"Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large
bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you
see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own
legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
Renevia just sighed, but well at least she could get her beauty sleep or maybe not too beautiful at all.