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Chapter 3
I smiled at Harry as Hermione and I walked down the stairs ready to go eat breakfast.
Harry didn't smile back, he was to busy glaring after Seamus, who just took a speedy exit out of the portrait hole.
"Does he think he'll turn into a nutter if he stays in a room with me too long?" Harry asked loudly.
Hermione and I froze as we got closer to Harry, he was angry. Very angry, and when Harry gets very angry... he has to go and ruin everyone else's day, by snapping at us and being loud and rude.
" Don't worry about it Harry," Dean muttered, hoisting his schoolbag onto his shoulder. " He's just...." But apparently he was unable to say exactly what Seamus was, and after a slightly awkward pause followed him out of the room.
Ron gave Harry a ' it's-his-problem-not-yours look, but Harry wasn't consoled.
I felt really bad for Harry. How much more of this was he going to have to go through.
" What just happened..." I asked warily as I took in Harry's angry features.
We all walked out of the common room and began walking toward the great hall.
" Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who," Said Ron crisply.
Hermione and I sighed and shared a look.
" Yes, Lavender thinks so too." Hermione said gloomily.
" Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not I'm a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?" Harry said loudly.
" No," Hermione said trying to look calm, " I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you actually. And it wouold be quite nice if you stopped jumping down our throats, Harry, because if you haven't noticed, we're on your side."
There was a short pause and Harry said in a low but crisp voice " Sorry."
" That's quite alright." Hermione said with dignity, then she shook her head. " Don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the end-of-term feast last year?"
I nodded while Ron and Harry stared at her blankly.
" You know...." I said to the boys. " About my father? He had said ' His gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. we can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust...'"
Hermione nodded looking impressed with me. " Exactly." She said proudly.
" How do you remember stuff like that?" asked Ron, looking at us in admiration.
" We listen, Ron." Hermione said in a duh tone.
" So do I, but I still couldn't tell you exactly what..." Ron started.
" THE POINT...." Hermione pressed on loudly " is that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who's only been back two months, and we've started fighting among ourselves. We must stand together... be united...."
" If that means we're supposed to get matey with the Slytherins, fat chance." Ron retorted.
" Well, I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-House unity." Said Hermione crossly.
I nodded my head in agreement.
We had reached the foot of the marble staircase. A line of fourth year Ravenclaws was crossing the entrance hall; they caught sight of Harry and hurried to form a tighter group, as though frightened he might attack stragglers.
" Yeah, we really ought to be trying to make friends with people like that," Harry said sarcastically.
We followed the Ravenclaws into the great hall, my friends looked instinctively at the staff table hoping to see Hagrid.
" Dumbledore didn't even mention how long that Grubbly-Plank woman's staying," Harry said sounding irritated as we sat down at the Gryffindor table.
" Like I told you last night." I said to them in a quiet tone " Dumbledore doesn't want to draw attention to his absence"
" How do you mean, draw attention to it?" Said Ron half laughing " How couold we not notice?"
Before I could answer, a tall black girl with long, braided hair had marched up to us.
" Hi, Angelina." I said smiling up at her.
"Hi." She said briskly " Good summer?"
Without waiting for an answer she went on " Listen, I've been made Gryffindor quidditch captain"
" Nice one." Harry said grinning at her.
I suspected that Angelina's pep talks won't be as long as Oliver's had been, which could only be an improvement.
" Yeah, well, we need a new Kepper now Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in."
" Ok." I said.
She smiled at Harry and I and departed.
" I'd forgotten Wood had left." said Hermione vaguely as she buttered some toast. " I suppose that will make quite a difference to the team?"
" I s'pose," Harry said pulling some toast toward him. " he was a good keeper."
" Still, it won't hurt to have some new blood, will it? said Ron blushing.
With a whoosh, we could hear the morning post being delivered.
I saw my owl, Hamilton, flying toward me and he dropped a letter on my plate. I looked at it and saw it was from my mom. I smiled but put it in my bag, I'll read it later. She's probably just checking up on me.
Hamilton jumped onto my shoulder and nipped at my ear affectionately. I chuckled and gave him a small bit of toast. He hooted happily before taking off again.
I smiled after him as I heard a thunk. I looked over to see that Hermione had gotten the daily propehet. It had landed loudly on her plate.
She put a knut into the owls pouch and worked to open the daily prophet.
" Why are you still getting that for?" Harry said irritably " I'm not bothering.... load of rubbish."
I ignored Harry's attitude and started to eat some bacon and eggs.
" It's best to know what the enemy is saying." Hermione said darkly as she hid herself behind the paper.
Eventually she put the paper down and said simply "Nothing...Nothing about you, or Dumbledore.. or anything for that matter."
Proffessor McGonagall was now passing around schedules.
" Look at today!" Ron groaned after McGonagall handed him his schedule.
McGonagall handed me mine and I looked down at the schedule. I had switched from Divination to Arithmancy...I coulndn't take another class in Divination anymore.... that class drove me mad. So now Hermione and I have Arthimancy and poor Ron and Harry are stuck with Trelawny.
" History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Againts the Dark Arts... Binns, Snape, Trelawny, and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish Fred and George would hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted..."
" Do my ears decieve me?" Fred said, arriving with with George and squeezing onto the bench beside Harry. " Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive off lessons?"
" Look what I've got today!" Said Ron grumpily as he handed his schedule to Fred. " That's the worst Monday I've ever seen!"
" Fair point, little bro," Said Fred scanning the column " You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like."
" Why's it cheap?" Ron asked suspiciously
" Because you'll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we haven't got an antidote yet," Said George helping himself to a kipper.
" Cheers." Said Ron moodily pocketing his schedule " but I think I'll take the lessons."
" Speaking of you skiving snackboxes," said Hermione eyeing Fred and George beadily. " You can't advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notice board!"
" Says who?" said George looking astonished.
" Says Ava, and Ron."
" Leave me out of it." Ron said hastily.
Hermione glared at him and the twins sniggered.
" You'll change your mind soon enough Hermione." Said Fred" You're starting your fifth year, you'll be begging us for a Snackbox before long."
" And why is that?" asked Hermione.
"It's O.W.L year, Hermione." I answered her.
"So?" She asked
"So you've got your exams coming up, haven't you? The teachers will be keeping your noses so hard to that grindstone they'll be rubbed raw." Said George with satisfaction.
" Half of our year had minor breakdowns coming up to O.W.L's" said Fred happily " Tears and tanturms.... Patricia Stimpson kept coming over faint...."
" Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember? " Asked George reminiscently.
"Oh yeah." Fred smiled.
" Anyway." I said to Hermione " Fifth year is supposed to be a nightmare of a year."
" Well... only if you care about exam results anyway." Fred corrected
" Later, fifthies." Fred and George said together as they stood up and walked away.
" Oh yeah... it is bound to be a hard year. O.W.L.s are really important, affect the jobs you can apply for and everything. We get career advice too, later this year, Bill told me. So you can choose what N.E.W.T.s you want to do next year." Ron said.
" D'you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?" Hary asked us as we got up and made our way to our History of Magic classroom.
" Not really," I answered truthfully " I have utterly no clue."
" Not really... well... except maybe..." Ron said.
" What?" Harry encouraged
" An Auror" Said Ron in an offhand tone.
" Yeah it would." Harry said fervently.
"But they're like the elite, you've got to be really good. What about you Hermione?" Ron asked.
" I don't know. I'm with Ava...I have no clue what I want to do...I just know I want to do something worthwhile." Hermione said.
" An Auror's worthwhile!" Harry argued.
" Yes it is, but it's not the only worthwhile thing" Said Hermione " I mean if I could take S.P.E.W a little further..."
Harry, Ron and I rolled our eyes. Hermione refuses to except that House elves love to work.
We entered Professor Binns classroom feeling unexcited. His class was by common concent the most boring subject ever devised by Wizard-kind. Professor Binns, our ghost teacher, had a wheezy, droning voice that was almost guaranteed to cause severe drowsiness within ten minutes.He always lectured without pausing while we took notes, or rather, gazed sleepily into space.
Hermione and I seemed to be the only ones that took notes in this class. The only reason that Ron and Harry scraped passes in this class was because they borrowed our notes.
Today we had to suffer three-quarters of an hour's droning on the subject of giant wars. This subject might have been interesting if it was another person teaching it, but with Binn's extremely bored tone and uninterested manner of speaking....he made it next to impossible to enjoy this class.
I spent the remaining part of the class trying my hardest to not go into a stupor. I tried hard to take notes and I was proud to see that it payed off. By the end of class I had about two pages worth of notes.
" Do you guys ever pay attention! You have to at least try to take notes!" Hermione said giving the boys filthy looks as we left class.
" We do try... it's not our fault that Binn's is unbearingly boring." Ron said.
" Ava scrapes by just fine... if she and I can do it, so can you." Hermione retorted.
" You two are genius's though!! You can make yourself take notes... Mr Binn's voice has so much power to make people fall asleep... that I won't be surprised if sandman gets jealous!" Harry said.
" How would it be," Hermione asked coldly " If I refused to lend you my notes this year?"
" We'd fail our O.W.L.s" said Ron " If you want that on your conscience, Hermione..."
" Well, you'd deserve it!" She snapped " Don't go switching the blame onto me Ronald Weasley, It's your own fault if you don't pay attention and take notes."
" Hermione...." Ron started.
" Oh don't give me any more rubbish." Hermione snapped.
We had ten minutes of free time before class started, so we went out into the misty courtyard closest to the dungeons and sat down under a heavily dripping balcony. We turned up the collars of our robes against the chilly September air and talked about what Snape was likely to set us in the first lesson of the year. We had got as far as agreeing that it was likely to be somehting extremely difficult, just to catch us off guard after a two-month holiday, when someone walked around the corner toward us.
" Hello, Harry!"
It was Cho Chang.
I looked confusedly up at her as she stared down at Harry with a smile. Ahhh, she has a crush on Harry. I looked between her and Harry and saw Harry blush up at her. Oh so he likes her too?
I felt protectiveness bubble within me. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. Cho was Cedrics girlfriend. Cedric just died. Harry brought Cedrics body back only 3 months ago. How could she possibly be wanting a chance at a guy so soon after her boyfriends death?
I didn't particularly want Harry to go out with her, it would just end in trouble.... and we didn't want anymore trouble.
" Hi." Harry said blushing some more." So did you have a good summer?"
Cho tensed and something seemed to tauten in her face but she said " Oh, it was all right, you know..."
" Is that a tornados badge?" Ron demanded suddenly pointing at the front of Cho's robes, to which a sky blue badge emblazoned with a double golden T was pinned. " You don't support them, do you?"
" Yeah I do." Cho said.
" Have you always supported the team, or just since they started winning the league?" Ron asked with an unnecessarily accusatory tone.
" I've supported them since I was six," Cho said cooly " Anyway, see you Harry."
She walked away. Hermione waited until Cho was out of sight before she rounded on Ron. " You are so tactless!!"
" What? I only asked her if..." Ron started.
" Couldn't you tell she wanted to talk to Harry on her own?" Hermione went on.
" So? She could have done, I wasn't stopping..."
" Why on earth were you attacking her about her Quidditch team for??"
" Attacking? I wasn't attacking her, I was only..." Ron went on.
" Who CARES if she supports the tornados??"
" Oh, come on, half the people you see weearing those badges only bought them last season..."
" But what does it MATTER?" Hermione urged angrily.
" It means they're not real fans, they're just jumping on the bandwagon..." Ron said.
" Oh shut it, the both of you!!!" Harry shouted at them angrily " Could you two stop bickering for at least a minute??? I'm sick of it!!"
With that Harry stood up and walked briskly toward the potions classroom.
" Well, the bell rang.... we may as well follow him." I said dully as I stood up and brushed the water from my robes."
" I hate how he's always snapping at us now, doesn't he realize..." Hermione started.
" No, I don't think he does.... remember what I told you... my fathers practically controlling his emotions. He doesn't feel much but anger anymore. He's like a bomb waiting to go off all the time now." I said.
" I wish You-Know-Who would shove off. Give the poor bloke a break, I want the real Harry back." Ron said as we followed behind Harry into the classroom.
I sat down warily beside Harry, seeing if he would object... he didn't. He didn't even look at me.
" Settle down" said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him." Before we begin today's lesson, I think it would be appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scape an ' Acceptable' in you O.W.L.... or suffer my....displeasure."
His gaze lingered on Neville, who then gulped and slid down in his chair.
" After this year of course, many of you will cease studying with me" Snape went on " I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. potions class, chich means that some of us will certainly be saying good-bye."
His eyes rested on Harry and his lip curled. Harry glared back, I could feel Harry's grim pleasure at the idea that he would be giving up potions next year.
" But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell. " Snape said softly "So whether you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L students."
" Now today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at O.W.L.: the Dracught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing.... The ingredients and method are on the board. You will find everything you need in the storage closet. You have an hour and a half... Start."
Just as my friends and I predicted, Snape couldn't have gave us a more difficult potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and guantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise and then in counterclockwise; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added.
Harry's couldron beside me was issuing an amazing amount of dark gray steam and Ron's was spitting green sparks.
The surface of my potion was a shimmering mist of silver vapor, and as Snape came by he looked down into my couldron without comment before moving forward. Which meant that he could find nothing to criticize.
" Potter, what's this supposed to be?" Snape drawled with a horrible smirk on his face.
I could see the Slytherins look up eagerly. They wanted to see Harry get told off.
"The Drought of Peace." Harry said tensely.
" Tell me, Potter, Can you read?" Snape said in a cold soft voice.
I heard Draco laugh and looked up to glare at him. He caught my glare and tried to muffle his laughter to no avail. I smiled at his lame attempts.
He shot me an aplogetic look and I looked back toward Harry and Snape. Draco was to cute, even when he was being obnoxious.
" Yes, I can!" Harry said clenching his fist. I could feel his anger starting to escalate.
" Read the third line of the instructions for me,Potter." Snape said softly.
"Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore."
" Did you do everything on the third line,Potter." Snape said with a smirk.
"No." Harry said very quietly.
" I beg your pardon."
"NO! I forgot the hellebore!" Harry said loudly.
"I know you did,Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesco."
The contents of Harry's potion vanished.
" Those of you who HAVE managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework is: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and it's uses in potion making, hand it in on Thursday."
I filled my flagon and gave harry a timid smile. He glared at me. I flinched and walked up to the teachers desk with Ron and Hermione.
" Is he doing ok?" Hermione whispered to me as she stole a glance at Harry's frustrated face.
" I wouldn't know... he didn't talk to me." I said sadly.
" Poor bloke." Ron muttered.
" Snape better watch himself." I said seriously " I don't think anyone see's how angry Harry is... his attitude now is mild compared to in here." I pointed to my temple and tapped it.
" I don't even know what to do with him..." Hermione said sadly " I want to help him, but I don't know how... and he bites our heads off when we try to sympathize with him."
" What can we do." I said grimly " It's only going to stop when my father feels like stopping... and I can't see that happing."
I was next to hand my flagon to Snape and he tested it on a mouse.
The mouse stopped squirming in Snapes hand and became calm.
" Wow, Wilson. You made a perfect batch. If you don't mind... I'd like to keep your potion and give it too Madam Pomphrey... she's running low on this." Snape said in an indifferent tone, but I could see a smile in his eyes.
I smiled at him and nodded. I went and brought my cauldron to Snape.
" I'll give you your cauldron back next class. You may go." I left his desk and went over to where Harry was standing; by the door with Ron and Hermione.
We walked off to the great hall since it was lunch. It was a tense silence. The four of us walked stiffly beside each other. You could almost taste the anger coming off of Harry. The anger was so thick you could probably cut through it with a knife.
" That was really unfair." Hermione said trying to be consoling as we sat down at the table and got food." Your potion wasn't nearly as bad as Goyle's, when he put it in his flagon the whole thing shattered and set his robes on fire."
" Yeah, Well," Said Harry angrily " Since when has Snape ever been fair to me??"
None of us answered. He had a point. We all knew that they hated each other from the moment Harry stepped into Hogwarts.
" I did think that he would be a bit better this year," I said sounding a tad bit disappointed " I mean, now that he's in the order and everything."
" Well I on one hand always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where's the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?" Ron said.
I bit my tongue, trying not to speak. Dumbledore had told me all about Snape, how he's plays a role as a spy like I do. He told me that Snape was in love with Harry's mom, and after my dad killed Lily... he went to Dumbledore and switched sides.
I wanted nothing more than to tell them this... but I had promised Dumbledore that no one would know this but Snape, Him, and me.
" I think Dumbledore's got plenty of evidence" I said defensively "Even if he doesn't share it with you, Ron."
"Oh shut up!!" Harry said angrily.
My friends and I looked at Harry feeling extremely offended and angry.
" Can you give it a rest???" He said loudly " You're always having a go at each other, It's driving me mad!!." And abandoning his shepard's pie, he swung his schoolbag back over his shoulder and left us sitting there.
"He's happy he offended us...." I said feeling hurt. " I can feel it.... he thinks we deserve it."
" He's going way to far!" Hermione said sounding stressed " I'm trying to understand how this must be for him, but how can I if he is being so rude all the time! All I want to do now is punch him!"
"Do it, it'll serve him right... maybe if we're lucky... the dark lord with be knocked out of him." Ron said bitterly as he glared at Harry's retreating form.
" It wouldn't work, and you know it." I said sighing as I put some chicken and steak on my plate.
" Ava....does the Order know how to help him? Any Idea at all?" Hermione plead.
" Well, no. But Dumbledore has this bizarre idea that if he stays away from Harry than my father will stay away from Harry. If I may say so...I think that it's just making everything so much worse. Dumbledore is the only wizard my father ever feared.... so why would Dumbledore stay away from Harry? You would think that my father would stay away from Harry if Dumbledore was around!" I said trying to figure out Dumbledore's reasoning.
" I see your point..." Hermione said " I don't understand though why your father wants to be in Harry though..."
" I don't think he wants to be..." I said " I think he's trying to isolate Harry... that way Harry is much less of a threat."
"Of course!" Hermione said dropping her fork on her plate " That makes sense! If the dark lord wants Harry isolated, what better way to do it than to have him insult his friends and make him unbearable to be around?"
" That's one way to look at it... but it's also working vice versa... Harry is getting so angry... that he's thought about avoiding us." I said sadly.
"What??" Ron said. " Blimey... your father has got his hooks deep in him doesn't he.."
" Sadly Yes..." I said looking at the great hall doors where Harry had left minutes before. " My father is doing his best to keep everyone away from him.... we have to stick with him you guys... no matter how hard and miserable he tries to make us. If we leave him... I fear that things will get worse for him."
" I think he deserves it, if we left him for a little while... he's being obnoxious. I don't want to have to spend my time making a bloke happy if he's trying to drag me down all the time." Ron mumbled.
" Ronald!" Hermione scolded " This is Harry we're talking about... your best friend!"
" Only for a little while! Come on! I want to see him regretting his attitude toward us! Maybe that will help him." Ron said fervently.
" You have a point.... I don't know what's going to help Harry... so we'll just have to wing it... we could leave him alone for a little while... you know let him get things in order... but it can't be long... my father could make things worse if Harry doesn't have the love and support he needs." I said.
Hermione bit her lip nervously and said " I hate this, I really do. But since we don't know what will help Harry... we may as well try anything... oh alright.... we'll give him time to himself... I wouldn't mind an apology either...but I don't want to leave him for to long...he needs us."
I nodded at Hermione and Ron... " So operation ' Angry lightening' is in commence." I smiled
Hermion and Ron chuckled.
" Angry lightening? Nice." Ron said smiling.
Hermione gave a longing glance toward the door and said " He isn't coming back in here...is he."
" No." I said sadly. " He doesn't feel like talking to us for awhile. He wants to be alone."
After we ate, we made our way into the entrence hall and I said " Well, I'll see you later Ron.... Good luck with Harry....and remember that we plan to give him space."
" What... you're not in Divination?" He asked sounding envious.
" Nope." I chuckled " Couldn't take that class anymore... the ladies a loon... I'm taking arithmancy."
" Lucky." Ron said before walking up the stairs to go into Divination.
I follwed Hermione as we made our way into Professor Vector's class. I was new to this subject this year and was anxious to do anything besides Divination. I wonder what my father thought of Divination when he had it? Did he even take it?
I was cut off from my thoughts as I sat down and Professor Vector started to write on the board. She was a rather plain witch who had curly brown hair up in a fancy bun. She looked to be in her late thirties and she wore long lilac robes.
"Who can name the witch who found magical properties of the number seven?" The professor said as she sat on her desk looking at us.
I raised my hand. I had decided to read ahead in our textbook 'Numerology and Grammatica'. I had never taken this class, and I didn't want to look stupid in front of my fellow students....so I decided to read ahead.
" Yes... And you are..." Professor Vector asked as she nodded at me.
" Ava Wilson." I said to her.
" Ah yes, a new student....I thought I didn't recognize your face. Well welcome to Arithmancy honey... now what was the answer?" she smiled at me warmly.
" Bridget Wenlock." I said smiling at her. She seemed very nice and unboring.
" Very good! 10 points for Gryffindor." she said.
She spent the rest of the lesson talking about the history of Arithmancy and how it was useful, and more logical and precise compared to Divination. We all took notes the whole time and she didn't give us homework... for which I loved this teacher more.
I could tell that I was going to like this class.
I walked out of the class with Hermione, our arms linked.
" You were right Hermione....this is a very interesting class." I said smiling brightly.
" I told you... so much better than listening to that old fraud in Divination." Hermione said with distaste.
I laughed at her tone as we made our way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
" I wonder how this class'll go." I mused.
" I don't have a good feeling about it...Have you read the textbook?" She asked.
" I skimmed through it.....it was just about theories." I said in distaste.
" Yes. It didn't say anything about using defensive spells...none at all."
I frowned as we made our way into the room. We sat down in the middle of the classroom and waited for more students to arrive.
Hermione elbowed me when Harry walked in. I looked up at Harry but he ignored us and walked to the front of the classroom, away from Ron, and us.
I frowned and looked over at Ron. He shrugged looking very down and sat down beside Dean Thomas.
" Well, Good Afternoon!" Umbridge said when the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled good afternoon back but she frowned.
" tut tut, THAT won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply. 'Good afternoon Professor Umbridge.' One more time please. Good afternoon, class!"
" Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge." We all chanted back at her.
" There now." She said sweetly " That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quils out please."
I frowned at Hermione when she said ' wands away' this wasn't going to be a fun class, I just knew it. Hermione returned my look and took out her quil. I followed her example and took out some parchment and a quil.
Umbridge turned toward the chalk board behind her and wrote,
Defense Against the Dark Arts
A return to Basic Principles.
" Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Stated Professor Umbridge turning to us" The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year."
" Rubbish." I muttered to Hermione who nodded her head stiffly before staring back at Umbridge.
"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following please.
She rapped the blackboard again and the first messsage was replaced by;
Course Aims:
1) Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic
2) Learning to recongnize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used
3) Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
The room was full of the sounds of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied it down, she said " Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
" Yes, Professor Umbridge." The class chanted.
There was no way they were going to be asked to repeat themselves again.
" Good." She said " I should like you to turn to page 5 and read chapter 1, 'Basics for Beginners' There will be no need to talk."
"Umbridge settled herself in the chair behind her desk and started to observe us all with those pouchy toad eyes.
I reluctantly turned to page five and started to read. I read half of it when I looked up. This book was rubbish. It's just a bunch of theory's. There is nothing about defensive magic in here. What kind of Defense Against the Dark Arts class is this?
I looked around to see that people were gazing blankly at the book, they must have decided that it was rubbish too. I don't blame them, this book was about as dull as Professor Binns talking.
I looked at Hermione beside me and gaped when I saw that she hadn't even opened her book, she was staring fixedly at Professor Umbridge with her hand in the air.
" Hermione?" I asked.
" Shh." she said quickly to me.
I couldn't ever remember Hermione neglecting to read when instructed to, or indeed resisting the temptation to open any book that came under her nose. I kept looking at her questioningly, but she merely shook her head slightly to show that she wasn't about to answer questions, and continued to stare at Umbridge.
After several more minutes had passed, however, I wasn't the only one watching Hermione. The chapter in the book was so dull, that more and more people decided to watch Hermione instead.
When more than half the class was staring at Hermione, Umbridge decided that she couldn't ignore the situation any longer and looked at Hermione.
" Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" She asked Hermione as if she had only just noticed her.
I rolled my eyes at her.
" Not about the chapter, no." Hermione replied.
" Well, we're reading just now. If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."
" I've got a query about your course aims." Hermione said boldly.
Umbridge raised her eyebrows.
" And your name is?" She asked
" Hermione Granger." Hermione said.
" Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," Umbridge said sounding so sweet that it didn't even sound real.
" Well,I don't," Hermione said bluntly " There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."
There was a short silence as everyone squinted up at the board and frowned.
" Using defensive spells?" Umbridge repeated with a little laugh " Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss. Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
" We aren't going to use magic?" Seamus Finnigan asked loudly sounding surprised.
" Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my classroom, Mr..."
" Finnigan." Seamus said as he thrust his hand in the air.
Umbridge smiled more widely and turned her back on him. I raised my hand along with some other students and Umbridge said " You are....?"
" Ava Wilson." I said confidently.
" Yes... you have a question Miss Wilson?"
" Yes." I said " Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"
" Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Wilson?" Umbridge said in her falsely sweet voice.
" No, but..." I started.
" Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way..." Umbridge said.
" What use is that??" Harry asked angrily.
I hit my head feeling exasperated. Harry is going to blow up on Umbridge.
I wasn't wrong. Harry said " If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a..."
" HAND, Mr. Potter!" sang Umbridge.
Harry thrust his hand in the air and Umbridge promptly turned away from him. Now alot more people had their hands in the air.
" And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Dean.
"Dean Thomas."
" Well, Mr Thomas?"
"Well, It's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free..." said Dean.
"Do you expect to be attacked during my classes, Mr Thomas??" Umbridge said.
" No, but..." He started
" I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," She said with an unconvincing smile " but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this very class, not to mention" She gave a little laugh " extremely dangerous half breeds."
" If you mean Professor Lupin." I said angrily " He was the best we ever..."
" Hand! Miss Wilson! As I was saying.... you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, and inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day..."
" No we haven't" Hermione siad " we just..."
" Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!"
" It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, but he perfomed them ON you..."
" Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" Said Dean Thomas hotly " Mind you, we still learned loads..."
" Your hand is not up, Mr Thomas!" Umbridge said starting to lose her temper.
" Now it is the view of the ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which after all, is what school is all about." Umbridge said staring at me because my hand just shot into the air.
" Yes, Miss Wilson?" she said looking ready to strike at me.
" Isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?" I asked.
" As long as you have studied the theory hard enough there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditons." Umbridge said dismissively.
" Without ever practicing them before??" I asked incredulously " Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"
" I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory..." she started impatiently
" And what good is theory going to be in the real wrold?" Harry said loudly his fist in the air again.
" This is school, Potter, not the real world." she said softly.
" So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there??" He asked hotly.
" There is nothing out there, Mr. Potter."
" Oh yeah?" Harry said. I could feel his anger rising.
" Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" Umbridge asked.
" Hmmm, Let's think." said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice, " Maybe... Lord Voldemort."
Everyone in the classroom seemed to shriek or wince.
" Ten points from Gryffindor Mr. Potter. Now lets make this quite plain." Umbridge said " You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned ....this is a lie."
"It's not a lie! I saw him! I fought him!" Harry said standing up angrily.
" Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge said triumphantly. " This evening, 5 oclock. My office."
" Harry no!!" I whispered as Harry's eyes were burning at her with loathing.
" So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord." He said his voice shaking.
Everyone gasped at him, No one ever heard him speak of Cedric's death.
" Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident" She said coldly.
" It was murder!!" Harry shouted at her as he shook with rage " Voldemort killed him and you know it!"
I stood up not being able to take anymore. Harry is going to end up getting detentions from this woman, and frankly I don't want Harry to be alone with her. She's to sketchy. I won't allow him to be with her alone, so I'll have to tick this woman off and get a detention too, joy.
" Professor, He's right! OK? Lord Voldemort is back, and you not allowing us to do magic is the stupidest thing you could do." I said boldly.
Hermione shrieked " Ava, what are you doing??"
I ignored her and watched Umbridge's face turn red with rage.
" Weeks detetion, Wilson!!! and another 10 points from Gryffindor."
Without another word, Harry grabbed his stuff and stomped out of the classroom, glaring at Umbridge the whole way out.
I sat down shakily as I stared after him. I looked at Hermione with fear in my eyes. That was the most angry I've seen him since we arrived at school.
She returned my look of fear and Umbridge said " Wilson, you will come in at 5 in the afternoon every evening this week, for detention. You will not call my teaching stupid and you won't tell lies in my classroom. Now go back to reading chapter one."
The studednts quickly went back to the book, and I sat there staring at Umbridge. She looked pretty proud of herself.
That evening was awful. I ate dinner feeling numb. I still couldn't believe that Harry burst like that.... and in front of a teacher!
When I finished eating, I watched Harry get up from the bench and without saying one word to me, got up and headed for our detention. I sighed and said to Hermione and Ron " I'll see you later guys."
I walked behind Harry by at least ten feet, but he never slowed down so I could walk beside him. On the contrary, he sped up. I tried to not feel hurt, but I couldn't help it.
When we made it to Umbridges office, I walked up behind Harry who knocked on the door.
"Come in." said the girly voice.
I fake gagged at Harry, hoping he would smile at me or something, but he merely nodded his head toward the door, motioning for me to go first.
I sighed and entered the room.
I almost gagged at it. There was pink everywhere. There were decorative plates all on the walls with kittens on them that meowed loudly as we walked by. I had the urge to plug my ears, but I held it in as I sat down in one of the two desks sitting in front of Umbridges desk.
" You two will be writing lines for me today... you will be writing ' I must not tell lies." She said looking happy.
I made to take out my quil when her hand stopped me. " No, No... you'll be using a rather special quil of mine."
I looked at her questioningly as she handed me a sinister looking quil with an abnormally sharp edge. She handed one just like it to Harry.
" Professor, you haven't given me any ink." Harry said sounding surprisingly calm.
" Oh you won't need any." She said smiling to herself like there was some sort of inside joke.
" How many times do we have to write it?" I asked.
" Ahh, as long as it takes for the message to...ah... sink in." Umbridge said, giggling to herself.
I stared warily at her t, I then looked over at Harry hoping to see what he thought of her weirdness. But he was avoiding me and he started to do his lines.
I frowned at him and looked down at my parchment. It sucked that I had to write lines for this, I wasn't even lieing to her, I was telling her the truth. At least Harry wasn't here alone.
I started to write my lines and felt a stinging sensation in the hand I wasn't writing with, my left. I clenched my hand a couple of times, thinking that my hand was going numb. I looked down at my hand to see why it was stinging and my eyes widened. The words were being etched into my skin, it was my own writing... I looked down at the ink on the parchment and glared hard at it. She was making me write lines in my own blood. How barbaric.
" Is anything wrong, dears?" Umbridge said to us sounding innocent.
" No. Nothing." I said calmly, looking like this didn't bother me at all.
Umbridge looked displeased for a brief second but she quickly recovered herself. " Good, because deep down... you know that you deserve to be punished." She said smiling at me.
I went back to my lines and started to write again. Each word made my hand sting more and more, each line made the words etch deeper and deeper into my skin. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of letting her know that this hurt, so I let no sound of pain escape me. I witheld my tears, and wrote my lines quicker.
I looked over at Harry from the side of my eyes and saw that he was writing his lines slowly, he showed no sign of pain...but you could tell it hurt because he was writing really slow and he kept clenching and unclenching his fist.
I looked back at my own paper and wrote faster, it made it easier if you just got it over with quickly. Concentrating on writing the lines, made it easier to bare the pain.
I saw Harry stare at me wide eyed as he saw me race through my lines like a beast that had a high pain tolerance. I almost smiled at him but he glared at me and went back to writing, this time trying to speed up his writing.
I held in my sigh and continued to write quickly.
She didn't let us go until after midnight. I wrote from 5pm until midnight. That was 6 hours of cutting words into your hand and it stinging painfully.
" Now, I think this will do... come here and let me see your hands.... you first Miss. Wilson." Umbridge said smugly.
I walked up to her, careful to show no weakness. I didn't even wince when she prodded my bleeding and swollen hand.
I had written 10 pages of lines in the past 6 hours of being here. Harry had only done around 4 pages. His hand was red and raw... he was lucky. I wrote so fast and furious, it helped with the pain, but it made the cuts deeper. Waaaay deeper than Harry's.
" Now this is good....I made a good impression on you.. Hmmm" Umbridge said smiling triumphantly as she let go of my ugly hand. It looked deformed and discolored.
Harry gave her his hand and she tutted " Now Mr. Potter.... It didn't sink in like it was supposed to. Look at Wilsons hand... you could've done better... It looks like you'll have to be given another detention."
" But professor! You said I only had to be here once!" Harry cried indignantly.
" Yes, but I told you that I wanted the message to sink in... it clearly didn't... Wilson, you won't have to come back for any more detentions... it looks like my warning has sunk in plenty, but Potter, You'll keep coming back until the message sinks in... got it?" Umbridge said sweetly.
Harry gritted his teeth and nodded stiffly.
" Good, you'll be here tomorrow at five. You both may go."
I walked stiffly out the door, feeling my blood fall down my hand and drip from my fingers. It gave me satisfaction as it hit her ugly pink carpet. I hope that's hard to clean up.
I was slightly aggrevated, the only reason I stood up and argued with her was so Harry wouldn't be alone in detention, and now look... he's got it for a whole week now and I don't have it anymore... ugh.
Harry didn't look at me as he sped outside and sat under a tree to think. I could feel his anger climax and I quickly walked away. I didn't want to be around when he burst. I walked down the hallway quickly, looking back over my shoulder to see if Harry was going to follow me and take his anger out on me, when I collided into something hard.
" Whoa!" I said as I fell onto the floor.
" Watch it! ....OH!... Ava?" Draco said in astonishment. " Ava, what are you doing out this late.... oh my God, what happened to your hand?"
The sound of his voice made my stomach fill with butterflies and I blushed crimson. I could hear the worry in his voice and I was flattered that he was worried about me.
He helped me up and took my hand gently as he inspected it.
" ' I must not tell lies?' " Draco quoted off my hand looking slightly nauseated " Ava, what is this..."
" Detention with Umbridge.... she made me write with a special quil that wrote the message in my own blood..... And into my hand." I said frowning down at my creepy looking hand.
Draco made a sound of indignation and glared down the hallway toward Umbridge's room and said " I can't believe she'd do that....That's sick.... really sick."
He yanked off a piece of his robe and tied it around my injured hand. " I don't know if this will help... but it should soak up some of the blood you're losing." He said as he wiped some of the blood off my hand with another part of his robe.
" You don't have to ruin your robe, Draco, really." I said blushing furiously.
Draco chuckled and rolled his eyes and said " Babe, I have 10 pairs of robes in my dorm... I can afford to lose one. Besides, I can always buy another pair."
My heart sped up doubletime when he called me babe. It took all I had to not hyperventilate. The electricity flowing between us suddenly got much stronger as I stared up at him.
I sighed in relief as he wiped all the remaining blood off my hand, leaving my hand to just look discolored, and not like some prop from a horror movie.
" There. All better.... for now at least." Draco said looking proud of himself as he analyzed the work he did with my hand.
He looked up at me and said " Are you ok, It must have hurt... those words were cut deep into your hand."
" Yeah... it hurt." I said as I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and avoided his eyes.
Draco sighed and shook his head. " Oh, well. There's nothing we can do about it now, is there."
I shook my head, I couldn't find my voice to speak. I just analyzed him. He truely does look like an angel, He is so beautiful, I almost have trouble speaking to him sometimes, hence why I shook my head just now.
He smirked down at me and said " Like what you see?"
" Yes." I said bluntly as I grinned at him.
Draco beamed and said flirtaciouly " You don't look to bad yourself."
I rolled my eyes and said curiously" So what are you doing wandering the halls at midnight?"
Draco laughed and said " Prefect, remember? I'm on shift to watch the corridors around here until 1."
" Ahh," I said feeling stupid " I forgot all about that."
" Yeah, so how was your summer?" He said taking my hand and leading me toward a bench against a wall.
We sat down and I said " It wasn't the greatest you know... but it wasn't terrible, I had to lay around inside all day... My mom wouldn't let me leave her sight... now that she knows my father is back. How was yours?"
" It was fine. All I did was hang out at Malfoy Manor, nothing really exciting about that." Draco said as he looked into my eyes.
I nodded my head.
"Does your father being back, really shake you up." Draco asked quietly.
" No." I said truthfully " It shakes everyone else up. I don't fear my father.... I only fear what he does."
Draco nodded in understanding.
" Hey Draco...." I said thinking of something. " What did you mean a few days ago, when you said that you would be 'dogging' Harry's footsteps."
" Ahh so you caught that. Smart girl." Draco grinned at me " I was only messing with him, My father and I saw Sirius Black at Kings Cross...Sirius is an animagus you see... He turnes into a black dog... so I was just trying to scare him by showing to him that I knew about him."
I rolled my eyes and said " I know all about him being an animagus, he's my stepdad."
I laughed when I saw his expression. He looked so shocked.
" Oh...I'm sorry if I offended you...I didn't know..." He started.
" Ah, It's fine." I said smiling.
" Hey... was that woman...holding Sirius's leash your mom?" He asked smiling a little bit, at the thought of Sirius being on a leash, I suppose.
" Yes." I smiled.
Draco nodded and said " You looking nothing like her...not at all....but she's pretty, I can see why your father would take an intrest in her."
" Yeah...People always say that. I look identical to my father...and nothing like my mom. But I do have her heart.... my mom has the biggest heart in the world..... she has so much compassion and love for absolutely everything...it shows too, thats how she fell in love with my dad." I said smiling. I loved my mom, and talking about her.... she was a mom to be proud of.
Draco smiled at me and put his arm around me. " She sounds really nice."
" She is." I smiled.
We sat there a few moments in comfortable and content silence as he held me to him. I layed my head down on his shoulder and he sighed in contentment.
I smiled to myself. I had the most perfect boyfriend.
" So how was your classes today? Were they almost as dreadful as mine?" I said chuckling a little.
" I had Binns, and Trelawny.... I hate them... they make everything so horrid. Other than them I had Umbridge and Snape... Snape loves me, and so does Umbridge, so those classes are easy to sit through." He said
I looked up at him and said in envy " It's because your dad works at the ministry isn't it! That's why the old toad likes you! Ugh that's so unfair, I didn't have to say one word! She automatically took a hating to me!" I ranted.
He looked amused and chuckled " Awww are you jealous."
" No! I just don't understand how that is fair!" I said grumpily.
" Because you have a bit of a temper, babe." He laughed as he saw me pout.
" I do NOT have a temper." I grumbled.
Draco laughed and he said " Aw, you crack me up."
I smiled as he laughed, I couldn't help it, his laughter was contagious.
" Why weren't you in Trelawny's class? I saw Weaselbee, and Scarhead but you weren't there." Draco said calming down.
" Aww, did you miss me?" I said. " Nah, I'm not taking her class anymore, I couldn't handle any more guesswork....I'm taking arithmancy now. It's so much better" I said happily.
" Well I'm glad your enjoying your class... Trelawny is making us interpret dreams! We have to keep a bloody dream journal now. I don't even remember my dreams when I wake up." Draco grumbled.
" I told you, that class is just a bunch of guess work." I smiled.
" I'll say...I had to make something up just to please her." He smiled as if remembering something funny.
" What did you make up?" I asked curiously.
He smiled at me and said " I told her I had a dream that I was riding a giant marshmallow through a meadow..... she told me that it meant that my demise was coming closer.... that old fraud tells that to everyone."
" At least you don't have it as bad as Harry, the poor bloke can't say one word without her predicting his imminent death." I chuckled.
" Ah, True." He said frowning a little at Harry's name. " So what's been up with you guys lately. Your friends and scarhead seem to be arguing alot lately."
" You've noticed?" I asked sadly.
" It's kind of hard not too... he's really loud when he's angry." Draco said with an aplogetic look.
" I figured... well He's been very moody since my father has returned...It's almost like he's being possessd by my father." I said
" Whoa, that's intense." Draco muttered.
" I'll say...." I said as I stared through a window and up at the starry sky.
Draco looked out the window with me and I said quietly " It's a beautiful night."
I could feel Draco move his mouth to my temple and kiss my head. " yeah, it is... but it has nothing on your beauty. Quite pale in comparison, really." He said softly.
I turned toward him to smile at him and realized that our faces were extremely close. His blue-gray eyes stared into mine, and I found that I couldn't look away. I was held captive by his gaze.
The electric current that ran through us got stronger and my breathing became irregualar, but I couldn't work myself up to be embarrassed.
He slowly leaned toward me and I couldn't help but to lean toward him also, the want was to strong. The moment his lips met mine, fireworks errupted in my body and I found myself clutching him closer to me. Needing him closer.
All to soon Draco pulled away looking like he just won a million galleons.
" Wow." I said surprisedly. We just had our first kiss.
" Wow." he repeated smiling.
We sat there for a few minutes just gazing at the other before Draco's eyes widened and he looked at his wrist.
" shoot...It's 1:15. We need to get going..." Draco said.
He grabbed my wrist and walked me briskly up to my common room portrait.
I turned toward him and he said " You might want to soak your hand in some murtlap essence...it'll take away the stinging...Well I should see you tomorrow." Draco said as he leaned toward me and pecked me on the lips.
I smiled into the kiss and beamed up at him when it was over.
" Goodnight, Draco." I murmured.
" Goodnight." He smiled at me as he walked toward the dungeons.
I walked through the portrait hole and ran up the stairs and jumped into bed, without bothering to change. Draco had kissed me... He KISSED me!!
I touched my lips and smiled. His kiss was warm and gentle, and I could feel his passion in the kiss. It took my breath away.
I layed down and thought of Draco as I slowly drifted to sleep.