A/N True to JKR's writing, chapter thirteen contains a pivotal plot point! Bless JKR for giving us these wonderful characters to play with!
*
"Hey Ginny," Harry said the following morning. "Did you check the list yet?"
"Of course I did," Ginny replied. "I'm so excited about the team this year, the championship is ours!"
"I hope so," Harry said. "I don't want to think about that yet, though. I wanted to ask you something about your tryout."
"What about it?"
"Several times, you seemed to know when something was going to happen. It was almost like you sensed it."
Ginny shrugged her small shoulders. "Over the summer, I worked with Ron a bit. He wanted to get better and I wanted to make Chaser. I just worked hard, you know?"
"Hm," Harry said. "Well, whatever you did, keep up the good work."
"Now," Ginny said. "I want to ask you something. Who's Kyla?"
"I don't really know. She's new here from America. She showed up late and tried out. She did great and made the team. Why?"
"No reason, just curious I guess," Ginny said. "I didn't recognize her name, what year is she in?"
"Yours, I think. Anyway, she hasn't been here for very long. Want to go down to breakfast?"
"Sure." He took her hand in his and they left the dormitory.
*
Harry watched his potion bubbling in the cauldron drowsily. After two minutes, he lowered the heat and, after checking to see if Snape was watching, he whispered to Hermione, "I want to ask you something."
"What?" she said out of the corner of her mouth.
"It's about Ginny."
Ron leaned over. "What about her?" he asked.
"Have you noticed anything strange about her?"
"What do you mean?" whispered Hermione.
"Like, earlier-" THWACK! A ruler slammed across their tables. The three jumped and looked up to see an angry Snape hovering over them.
"Fifteen points from Gryffindor for your whispering. Now, would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the class?" They shook their heads. "Good. Be warned now, when the time comes to make Veritaserum, I'll be testing it on one of you, so don't cross me." They nodded and he went back to his desk.
*
"So?" Hermione said as they headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "What about Ginny?"
Harry looked around to make sure nobody was listening. "It's not that something's wrong with her. She just seems to pick up on a lot of things. When we were having Quidditch try outs, she knew everything before it happened. It was like she could..."
"See?" Hermione said when he didn't finish. "You think Ginny could be a Seer?"
Ron started to chuckle, trying to hide it with a cough but failing.
"It's not funny," Harry protested.
"Of course not," Ron said, chortling. "But I suddenly got this mental image of Ginny draped in beads and shawls with bug eye glasses and, and I just couldn't help it!" He screamed with laughter.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, I don't know what to tell you. I'll watch her and see if I notice anything strange and you can do the same."
Harry hugged her quickly. "Thanks Hermione. I'm not really worried about it, it's just that it was a little peculiar at the tryouts."
"How about we start looking up stuff about famous seers in history? We can go to the library and..." Hermione started to walk forward speaking in excited tones at a rapid pace.
"Now you've done it," Ron said to Harry. "We'll never get her to shut up."
"Sorry," Harry said before running to catch up.
"Good afternoon," Krum said. "We've finally got an idea on how the Impediment Jinx works. Keep working on it in your spare time." He moved to the front of his desk and leaned against it. "As many of you know, Defense is more than just stopping someone from trying to harm you. Not only will I teach you defense this year, but also offense. This is more than just defending yourself, it is preventing others from being hurt. An important spell to know is the stunning curse. This is used to completely put an opponent out of action without inflicting physical harm upon them. It has temporary results and the counter curse is simple. Shall we start?" And with a wave of his wand, a cupboard opened to reveal stacks of cushions and the desks disappeared leaving an open space.
"Harry, may I speak with you for a moment?" Krum asked quietly when everyone had started.
"Er-okay," Harry said. Leaving Neville to work with Ron and Hermione, he followed Krum to his office. Once inside, he noticed that once again, the decor was different. The desk was cluttered with drawings and diagrams of broomsticks. On the walls were pictures of people flying and playing Quidditch and leaning in a corner were no less than five brooms.
"Please sit," Krum said, indicating a chair. Krum pulled up his own and sat in it backwards.
"I've spoken to Dumbledore about this class," Krum said looking Harry straight in the eye.
"Uh, okay," Harry said, wondering where this was going.
"I'm sure you noticed that half the class is doing splendidly. However, the other half is behind. Not behind, really. They are at an OWL level where they should be. But, several groups of students seem to be far ahead. These students, mainly Gryffindors with some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, must have gotten extra schooling somewhere, so I went to Dumbledore about it. He told me quite a remarkable story about a student who, not feeling that he learned enough in his regular Defense Against the Dark Arts class, decided to learn new things and teach them to anyone who was willing to learn." He leaned forward, his black eyes twinkling. "Dumbledore didn't say any names, but I have no doubt in my mind, who that student is."
Harry was puzzled. "With all due respect, what does that have to do with anything? We disbanded the DA at the end of the year."
"I spoke to Dumbledore about the possibility of hiring another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Two of us could accomplish what one could not. However, this is a position that is difficult to fill. It would be difficult to get another teacher. I suggested that we do a special tutoring class where one of the more gifted students could teach those that were ahead. That way, I could work with people who are behind and the other students wouldn't be bored until we caught up."
Harry nodded slowly. "And you want me to do this?"
Krum smiled. "You were the obvious choice."
This is a quick little expository chapter. If you haven't figured out Ginny's gift by now, your punishment is to go back, reread and review if you haven't.
Next chapter is the quidditch game!
Spoiler:
"What do you want now?" she said bitterly. "You're Quidditch captain with an amazing team and someone who loves you. What could you possibly have to say to me?"
Take that!