Within a day, Harry had already gotten into an argument with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. She had announced that they wouldn't need their wands in her classroom as the Ministry wanted to take a new non-practical approach. This had set the class into a range of whispers with a few Gryffindors' piping up with their doubts, only to be shot down with Professor Umbridge's blunt answers. Sophia helplessly watched Harry blurt out about Cedric's death being a result of Lord Voldemort's return, putting the class into another uncomfortable state of tension. Sophia tried hard to keep her mouth clamped shut as the Professor attempted to assure him that what Harry was saying was a lie, and that he would have to meet her in detention that same evening.
The rest of the class was spent reading a very basic textbook labelled 'Basics for Beginners'. It was painful to read about how to do the most childish of spells that weren't meant for fifth years or even pre-first years. Umbridge continued to make small 'hem hem's noises as well as sweet giggles when glared at or asked questions by students. Sophia continued to glance up at where Harry sat during the 'lesson', noticing how hunched his shoulders were and couldn't possibly understand how frustrated he must be right now. With this thought in mind, Sophia jumped up from her seat when the class was eventually dismissed and followed after Harry who was making his way quickly out of the room he had now come to hate with a passion.
"Harry!" she called over the heads of other Gryffindor and Slytherin students, looking distastefully at the students who glared at Harry as he walked by them. The boy didn't stop on his quick pursuit and kept his head down as if he didn't hear her. He was too angry to talk to anyone right now even if it was someone who could understand and sympathise with him to a certain extend.
"Harry wait!" Sophia tried again. She continued to follow after him and was making it as far as the courtyard of grass and benches where coincidentally, Fred and George were sitting while openly ditching their lessons. The twins looked up from one of their Skiving Snackboxes at the sound of Sophia's voice and the name of the boy who was storming away from her. Sophia was able to finally fall into step with the rigid student and attempted to keep pace with him as she spoke in a hurried tone.
"Look I know your angry and you have every right to be-"
"Noticed have you?" Harry spat back without looking at her. But this didn't faze Sophia yet and continued to speak to him while keeping up her quick walk.
"You can't go blurting out that sort of stuff Harry," Sophia stared at Harry's stony face. "Umbridge is just like Fudge. She's obviously going to go off what the Ministry believes."
"Doesn't mean I can't be angry about it," Harry said again with just as much anger as the last.
"I'm not saying that," she tried and lowered her voice considerably for the next part. "But it's not good for you to draw more attention to yourself by mentioning Cedric especially-"
"Oh like what you've been doing?!" Harry stopped walking and whipped around real fast while absolutely fuming. "Staying under the radar even though you know what's going on is wrong?! Just like what the Ministry's doing?! You're no better Sophia!"
Fred and George had already made their way over to the scene as other students had begun to stop on their walks to listen and watch. Harry was now facing Sophia with balled fists and with a deep glare, pinning Sophia to her spot who had wide eyes and parted lips in surprise. She knew he was angry yet couldn't help but feel a little insulted by his accusations and comparisons of her to the Ministry.
"I'm just trying to help-" she tried to keep her determined demeanour on but was slowly starting to lose her courage.
"Well you're not!" Harry yelled, his face beginning to turn red with deep veins popping out from his neck. "Just like how you didn't help last year before the last task! Where were you then huh?!"
"Y-You know where I was-" her voice had now gone weak at the reminder.
"And why was that?! Why didn't you tell me about Cedric's death?! I could of stopped him! You knew he would-"
"Oi watch it Potter," Fred appeared in front of Sophia and forcefully pushed Harry a couple paces back. He had a face of fury and his voice was seething with his anger that could take on Harry's any day. Fred had straightened out his shoulders and made sure that Harry knew not to attempt to take him on. "Think about where you are and what you're saying mate. You of all people know what happened. Back off while you still can."
Fred's voice was deep and could even have come off as threatening, something Sophia had never heard or seen before. Harry's own anger was enough of a surprise and the mention of one of the fears she has been constantly dwelling over took something out of her. She suppressed any tears that were threatening to come out of her eyes and resulted in staring over Fred's shoulder at Harry, who was now glaring harshly at Fred instead of her. Fred's protective stance in front of Sophia had now made everyone watching think that Harry was going to pull out his wand and start a duel, but was disappointed to see him turn on his heels and walk away much like Fred urged him too.
"Get back to your knitting you nosey sods," George's voice rang through the tense silence, glaring at all the Hogwarts' students who littered the corridor. The general flow of the hallway started again as chatter was heard from all over and people were beginning to continue their way to their classes. George stood back as Fred turned around to face Sophia, a still guarded expression on his face. He didn't like at all that Harry was taking advantage of Sophia's usual quiet tone by yelling and taking out his anger on her. He was ready to jump in as soon as Harry had swivelled around the first time, but it was the mention of Sophia's involvement with Cedric's death that really ticked him off the most. They had already tried hard in order to keep her out of the loop of any gossip and Harry was just about to jeopardise that with his unnecessary tantrum.
"You alright love?" Fred's face visibly softened when he saw Sophia's crestfallen face. Her usual light eyes looked troubled from Harry's out of order accusations and she was biting her bottom lip as if to stop a sob leaving her lips. "Oh love please don't-"
"I'm fine," Sophia piped up and heaved her shoulders up from their sagging position, swallowing any sign of wavering in her voice. For good measure, she pulled the sleeve of her jumper up to wipe away any tears that may have fallen from her eyes. "I'm not going to cry about this. I'm fine."
"Alright, you're fine then," Fred let a smile pinch at his lips as he watched Sophia regain herself to a stable state. "But even so, that was well out of order."
"He's actin' like a right git," George appeared at Fred's side in front of Sophia, crossing his arms over his chest to appear more put off about the situation. "If he would have said anymore, I would have hexed him into next week."
"Good thing I stepped in then didn't I?" Fred sarcastically exclaimed.
"Well you're her boyfriend, it was your duty to act first," George scoffed. Fred rolled his eyes playfully before turning to look back down at Sophia who he was surprised to see was in deep thought. She was looking straight ahead in between himself and George, where Harry had just stormed off to. Fred raised his eyebrows and thought for a second that she was going to lose her unfazed facade, worrying that she was going to go into another state of asking 'what if?'s again.
"What's up?" Fred asked cautiously, leaning down to appear in her view.
"It's like... it wasn't him," Sophia vaguely stated. She switched her gaze back up to the twins who looked down at her with confused expressions. "Did you see his eyes?"
"Um no. I think I was little distracted by the fact that he was about to throw a tantrum in front of the whole of Hogwarts to notice his dreamy eyes, love," Fred hinted with a tease but Sophia ignored him
"I noticed it before... at Grimmauld Place," Sophia started and thought deeply. "His eyes ghosted over like a blind was pulled over them. Like someone was watching other than just Harry."
Fred and George looked at each other before looking over their shoulders simultaneously to look down the corridor where Harry had disappeared. Even though Fred was now wary of the boy from his un-needed outburst at Sophia, he couldn't help but wonder about what's been going on with him. Sophia was thinking the same, noticing how much more agitated and angry he was all the time. Twice now had Harry looked at her and made her feel almost uncomfortable from the way his eyes had changed. It would make her feel like she was being exposed to someone she didn't know, watching her through a surveillance camera.
"Well if he does anything like that again-" Fred looked intensely at her. "-you tell one of us. The twit needs to be put in his place every once and while."
"Yeah, he'll be 'The Boy who Nearly Lived' when we're done with him," George tried to look intimidating but failed when Sophia only laughed at him.
Sophia spent the rest of the day dwelling on what had happened with Harry. She had seen him a couple of times throughout the day but didn't make a move to approach him again. She sat with Hermione in Charms class and her friend turned to her when Professor Flitwick had said they could read over their textbook for the rest of the lesson.
"I heard about what happened with Harry," she stated. "Ron and I both agree he's been off ever since the hearing. What did he say exactly?"
"He nearly let slip about me knowing that Cedric was going to die last year," Sophia whispered to Hermione, taking into account the other students who were around them. "He was just angry. I'm not taking it personally."
"That's good to hear," Hermione nodded but noticed that Sophia looked troubled once again. "What's the matter? Did he say something else?"
"No... it's just," Sophia pondered whether to tell Hermione. She wasn't sure if it was something that other people have noticed or if it was just her. "He changed. Just for a moment. Like he wasn't himself."
"Like the Imperius curse?" Hermione jumped forward with a concerned look.
"No not quite," Sophia shook her head which made Hermione's shoulders relax. "It's only for a split second at a time. And from what I've gathered, I'm the only one who's seen it so far. His eyes just change."
"How odd..." Hermione turned back to look in front of her, now in a state of her own thoughts. The girl would always try to find a logical explanation to everything. Maybe this was something to search for in the library as asking a teacher would be risky and cause suspicion. Especially with the Ministry so involved with the school now, it would bring attention towards them as they were known to know Harry well.
Sophia saw Hermione again while sitting at dinner in the Great Hall. Harry hadn't turned up yet (much to Sophia's relief) and let Hermione sit next to her without any interruptions or any awkward atmospheres. There had been some talk throughout the school about Harry Potter going off at one of his known friends in the middle of a hallway, but it thankfully wasn't talked about that much. The people who had stopped to watch at the time were mostly second years and seventh years as they had classes in those areas in the mornings, making it not that worthy of their time as they didn't know Harry or Sophia personally.
"I was thinking that maybe you should speak to Professor Dumbledore about what happened with Harry," Hermione said as soon as she sat down opposite Sophia.
"Are you mad?!" Sophia hissed. "You want me to dob him in for having a go at me?"
"No," Hermione huffed in annoyance. "I think you should tell him about how he changed so suddenly. It could be a sign of something dangerous."
"Hermione I appreciate your concern, but I'm trying to keep quiet at the moment," Sophia sighed and looked apologetically at her friend. "My dad made it clear he didn't want me doing anything that a normal Hogwarts student wouldn't do. And besides, Dumbledore's got a lot of his plate right now with the Ministry. My conspiracy theories aren't really worth his time."
"It's your decision," Hermione shrugged but still looked unconvinced from her previous advice. "But I plan to talk to Harry tonight when he gets back from detention. Maybe I can get something out of him."
"Yeah make sure to bring a shield," Sophia shoved a forkful of Spaghetti into her mouth with a snort, initiating the end of the conversation.
The Gryffindor common room was quite chaotic when she got back from dinner. She couldn't ignore the two familiar redheads who stood on stop of chairs in the middle of a group of students, Lee sitting at the table next to him with a piece of parchment and a quill waiting for him to use. Sophia stopped from a far and looked over the heads of the small crowd, listening in on Fred and George's not so quiet announcement.
"Gather 'round to hear about our newest invention, the Headless Hat!" Fred introduced with a face full of glee and pride. "If you'll look to my colleague here for a demonstration."
George pulled on a funny looking hat and his entire head disappeared, leaving his body looking as headless as Nearly Headless Nick. Gasps came from the crowd at the disappearance before George's hands reached up to pull the hat off, his head appearing again looking untouched and unharmed. The identical grins the two boys wore just showed how happy they looked in their element and Sophia felt her own smile grow on her face as people rushed towards Lee to order their own Headless Hats.
"They'll be available at our new shop Weasley Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley!" George announced over the noise before hopping down from the chair with an accomplished look. Fred did the same and spotted Sophia standing a bit away while waiting patiently, making a much softer smile spread across his face. He made his way over and leaned down to press a peck against her lips as a form of greeting.
"You know Hermione's gonna go for you guys for this right?" Sophia asked and caught sight of the familiar bushy-haired girl making her way over. "Oh look, here she comes now!"
Fred audibly groaned once Hermione stopped in front of him and Sophia, looking up at the boy with a stony expression. Her shiny red Prefect badge was on full display and added to her strong posture and narrowed eyes.
"I thought I told you to not advertise your products in the common room!" Hermione grumbled.
"Yeah you did," Fred nodded but then shrugged. "Doesn't mean we listened though does it?"
"It's bad enough that you're 'testing' your products on first years, but the common room is not an advertising seminar," Hermione then turned her attention to Sophia who was watching the exchange with amusement. "Have you tried to stop them at all?"
"Don't drag me into this," Sophia looked partially offended but rolled her eyes when Hermione continued to look at her with a yearn for a better answer. "Oh come on Herms, it's their last year. The world's in enough mayhem as it is, what's a few sweets and hats gonna do?"
Hermione looked like she was actually pondering it for a moment before she let out a small huff and turned on her heels to walk towards the group that was surrounding Lee. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was most curious at how the Headless Hats worked as a simple vanishing spell wouldn't work like this on an object at will. Fred sighed in relief and slithered his arm around Sophia's waist, kissing her on the top of the head in gratitude.
"You're a blessing Soph," he stated and leaned the side of his head against the top of hers. "That'll get her off our backs for a little while."
"She is right though Fred," Sophia replied. "Testing on actual people isn't the best strategy."
"Is that an offer of yourself instead then?" he asked hopefully. "We're thinking of making some Flirting Fancies from the Wonder Witch range for a demonstration. Care to be a volunteer?"
"In your dreams Weasley," Sophia rolled her eyes and Fred shrugged again with a look that didn't seem that bothered.
"You're right, you are in my dreams. Want to know about them?" the glint that Sophia saw in Fred's eye was enough to make her pull away from his arm with a disgusted look.
"That's gross Frederick."