After stepping off the boats when arriving at Hogwarts, we all piled into one of the self-pulling wagons that took us up to the school. It was still raining pretty hard, so naturally my hair was soaking wet by the time we made it inside.
Luckily, though, I was able to use a simple spell to dry off before we were all required to meet in the Dining Hall. Before we ate, the school choir sang the classic song 'Double Trouble.' When the song finished and the choir had cleared out, Dumbledore walked up to the golden owl podium to bring a start to yet another school year.
"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts." he held his hands up for everyone to settle down. "Now, I'd like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck, professor."
Another year, another Dark Arts teacher. There was a very interesting pattern forming. "Of course. That's why he knew to give you the chocolate, Harry." Hermione spoke over the applause.
"Potter," Draco called from his table next to us. "Is it true you fainted? I mean, you actually fainted?"
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron grumbled.
Turning back to us, Harry seemed a little confused and agitated. "How did he find out?"
"Just forget it." the three of us shrugged it off, hoping that Harry wouldn't bother with Draco too much.
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs." Dumbledore continued, bringing me slight sadness. I had liked the teacher for Care of Magical Creatures, and even though the class would be new for us this year, I was looking forward to being taught by the old teacher. "Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid."
My slight frown turned to an instant smile. Having one of my favourite teachers teach one of my new favourite classes was going to hopefully make this year awesome.
Dumbledore nodded. "Finally, on a more disquieting note...at the request of the Ministry of Magic...Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban...until such a time as Sirius Black is captured. The Dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities...a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving. But you know, happiness can be found...even in the darkest of times...if one only remembers to turn on the light."
Once the speeches had been done and we had all had enough food to feed an entire country, we headed up to our common rooms for the night where we could relax and catch up with friends that we hadn't seen in a while.
While Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean went to the boys' dorm to do who knows what, Hermione and I headed to the girls' dorm where we just talked about our summers.
"I think you'll like this one." Hermione handed me a book she had been telling me about. "I finished it over the summer, so there's no rush for you to return it."
Taking the book from her, I chuckled as I sat it on my bedside table, where it would probably sit for the entire year. "Sounds like you had a wonderful break." I sat at the top of my bed while Hermione sat at the bottom.
Hermione nodded. "I did. What about you? I heard you spent quite a lot of time with the Weasleys."
"Oh, yes." I laughed, having way too many stories to tell. "My dad and Ron's dad are best friends and it's like they're back in school again. I was always over there, so naturally, Ginny and I hid away in her room while the boys did whatever it was that they did."
"You must have gotten close to Ron." she winked and I instantly knew where she was steering the conversation.
I pointed my finger at her, a playful smirk still on my lips. "Nope, none of that! Besides, it wasn't Ron I got close to."
Hermione gasped, surprised that I had told her anything at all. "Now you have to tell me everything!"
I grabbed my pillow and clutched it tight to my chest, feeling the need to share my feelings with someone. "What happened to the Hermione who didn't like gossip and always had her nose in a book?"
"Just speak!"
"Okay, so...there was one night that I was over there and I had ended up spending the night in Ginny's room." I started the story, slightly surprised that I was even telling it in the first place. "In the middle of the night I headed downstairs for a glass of water, because by now, and I am slightly sad to admit this, I know where everything in that house is. Anyway, when I got downstairs, George was sitting on the couch in the pitch-black working on some sort of prank he was going to do to Ron the next day. I got my water, sat down with him, and we talked."
Hermione literally started bouncing up and down on the bed, careful not to wake the other girls who had already fallen asleep. "You kissed George!"
"God, no, Hermione!" I shook my head. "Did you even listen to the story? We talked!"
"Okay, but there's nothing interesting about talking to Ron's brother."
"It is if it happened again after that." I leaned over and flicked off the light beside my bed, crawling under the covers as Hermione climbed into her bed beside mine. "And a few other times, too."
_______________
"Welcome, my children." I sat at one of the tables with a red tablecloth as I listened to the Divination Professor, Professor Trelawney, speak. "In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight. Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future. This term, we'll focus on Tasseomancy, the art of reading tea leaves. So please, take the cup of the person sitting opposite you. What do you see? The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read. But first, you must broaden your minds. First, you must look beyond."
Hermione, who had just appeared and sat down next to me, scoffed. "What a load of rubbish."
"Where did you come from?" Ron, who was sitting in front of us with Harry, turned around.
"Me?" Hermione set her bag down on the ground. "I've been here all this time."
Looking over at Neville, Professor Trelawney approached him with a crazed look in her eyes. "You, boy...is your grandmother quite well?"
"I think so," Neville answered.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Give me the cup." she took Neville's cup before peering inside with her large, bugged-out eyes. "Pity. Broaden your minds." she stopped at Ron. "Your aura is pulsing, dear. Are you in the beyond? I think you are."
Ron swallowed hard as he shrunk back in his chair slightly. "Sure."
"Look at the cup. Tell me what you see." Professor Trelawney told him.
Grabbing Harry's cup, Ron peeked inside. "Yeah. Harry's got sort of a wonky cross. That's trials and suffering. And that there could be the sun and that's happiness. So...you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it."
"Give me the cup." Professor Trelawney took the cup, but after looking inside, she slammed it back down on the table and screamed. "Oh, my dear boy. My dear...you have the Grim."
"The Grin?" Seamus called out. "What's the Grin?"
"Not the Grin, you idiot. The Grim." someone told him as they read out the meaning from a book. "'Taking form of a giant spectral dog. It's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen...of death.'"
After our insane class with Professor Trelawney, we all headed outside to my favourite class taught by Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures. I had spent a lot of time over the summer reading about magical creatures, so my heart was racing with excitement by now. "You don't think that Grim thing's got anything to do with Sirius Black?" Ron asked as we headed down the outside steps.
"Oh, honestly, Ron." Hermione huffed. "If you ask me, Divination's a very woolly discipline. Now, Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject."
"Ancient Runes?" Ron questioned. "Exactly how many classes are you taking?"
"A fair few."
Then, all of a sudden, Ron stopped in the middle of the stairs. "Hang on. That's not possible. Ancient Runes is at the same time as Divination. You have to be in two classes at once."
"Don't be silly, Ronald." Hermione blew him off. "How could anyone be in two classes at once? 'Broaden your minds. Use your Inner Eye to see the future.'"