Chapter Twenty-Three
Harry walked out to his Care of Magical Creatures class alone. He was somewhat consoled to find that Malfoy was not in the class, however. Unlike last year, Hagrid was both present and accounted for in the first class. Also present were the swollen bruises that Hagrid now wore like he wore his hair; they were both annoying and didn’t enhance anyone’s first impression of him, but were there anyway.
He grinned at the memory of Grawp- Hagrid’s ‘little’ brother- calling Hermione “Hermy.” Harry had to hand it to Professor Hagrid, he certainly did teach Grawp English (and how to not eat his students). Harry’s musings were interrupted by his instructor’s gruff voice. “Mornin’ everyone. Yer all aware this is a NEWT level class, am I correct in sayin’?”
The class nodded. Most were smiling encouragingly, but some were quite obviously not happy to be there. No doubt their career paths required the class. Many students felt Professor Grubbly-Plank- who’d taken over his position after an immoral stunning incident- was a more adept teacher. Harry couldn’t have cared less. Hagrid usually brought terrifying and dangerous creatures to class, but rarely was it boring.
“We’re goin’ ter have a great year! It’s goin’ ter be rough, these las’ two, but I’ll get yeh settled on everythin’ yeh need ter know. Now, who can tell me wha’ a grodporter is?”
Harry looked around expectantly, then realized he was expecting Hermione’s voice to chirp up and tell the class what its name was in Latin. She wasn’t in this class, though, so they all stared at Hagrid with mingled fear and curiosity. “None o’ yeh? All righ’ then. A grodporter is very interestin’, ‘cause it looks like a fish, but ‘e makes ‘is home on land. We’re goin’ ter ‘ave a look at one in theh barn. Come on, you lot.”
The class followed him into the barn. Many of them looked more at ease. After all, who was afraid of fish? However, some girls in the class looked appalled to have to possibly touch such a creature. Harry got a sense of foreboding. The barn was kept quite dark; he didn’t much like being closed in with grodporters either.
Hagrid grinned as he let loose a door to a small cubicle. Out floated an odd creature that Harry had sworn he’d seen on a Disney movie. It was all puffed up, and looked like it had only skin instead of scales. What was more, the skin was shiny and iridescent. The girls cringed at the ugly creature, and the boys laughed. “’E looks a bit silly, I s’pose. In winter, the outer layer will turn a dark color, so’s to catch more sunlight to warm it. It’s still warm, so the outer coatin’ reflects the sunlight so’s to cool ‘er off.”
“What IS that stuff?”
“Tha’ shimmery? Oh! Tha’s the slime!”
She positively cringed at this exuberant statement. She scowled at Harry when he couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. Despite its grotesque appearance- and the fact that its slime continually dripped on them- it’s movement as it floated through the air was mesmerizing. “Yeh wan’ ter watch out fer the droppin’s. Yeh’ll get some nasty boils there later.”
“Ouragh!” was the sound of mass disgust and dismay. “Now he tells us!” complained one dark-haired Ravenclaw girl.
Harry looked down and realized he had several splotches on his arm. He groaned and wiped his arm on the outside of his cloak. An odd squelching sound distracted him. The grodporter now had several feathers sticking to the perimeter of it’s oral edifice. “Did yeh see tha’?” asked Hagrid excitedly, “Tha’s how ‘e eats!”
While it was turning out to be a tame lesson for Hagrid, his professor was drifting into repulsive creatures. They spent half of the class trying to coax the grodporters with chicken livers, in order to prick them for blood. If they were pricked in exactly the wrong place, they emitted deafening shrieks that made some students’ ears bleed. They were sent to Madam Pomfrey for the remainder of the day.
The other half of the class period was spent attempting to collect the slime from their bodies as they floated. “It’s really useful, tha’.”
“What for?” asked Lavender Brown with loathing.
“Tha’ll be yer homework! A foot on the uses of grodporter blood and slime.”
“It’s just the second day!” chimed in someone else.
“Tha’s right. Yeh already had one day off. Now it’s time ter get down to b’siness.”
Harry was glad to be out of Hagrid’s class. His arm only had a minor rash, which was far better than the rest of the class. He wasn’t going to complain even if he HAD been covered in boils. He wouldn’t miss N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts for the world. He was looking forward to being in class with Ron, as well.
He was elated to find a grinning Lupin, and his friend Ron with a similar expression. He went to sit next to the latter near the front of the room, and took out his wand. He knew there wouldn’t be much reading in Lupin’s class. As he looked around, he saw the older members of the D.A. He was proud to see they had all done so obviously well on their O.W.L.s. There were a few new people as well. Harry guessed quite a few of them hadn’t joined before for fear of getting caught by Umbridge. He caught sight of a few Slytherins, which was interesting. So often, people just assumed they were bad up front. Some of them had to be ok.
“It is so wonderful to see you all again. Bet you thought you’d never see me again.” There were a few snickers at that. “To clear up any issues you may have about my condition, please understand that most of the time, I’m as pleasant as always. Once a month, for a few days, I will be unable to teach. So, barring any other necessary duties, Professor Dumbledore himself will be assisting in the growth of your already fantastically gifted minds.”
There were excited whispers all around. Everyone had heard about Albus Dumbledore’s teaching days, but had never experienced it. “Wonder what he’ll teach us?” Ron wondered aloud.
“Probably something not approved by the Ministry of Magic. It’ll be excellent,” Harry whispered back.
A bang from the door silenced the class. To Harry’s displeasure, Malfoy sauntered in looking thoroughly foul. He breezed by Ron and Harry- administering a gloating sneer as he passed- and handed a rolled note to Lupin. He unsealed it and read. He incinerated it and spoke. “All right Mr. Malfoy, take an empty seat. Do not be late to my class again,” he said with an uncharacteristically stern voice.
Ron’s mouth could have been a mountain cave worthy of a giant. “Why’s HE here?”
“Yeah. You’d think he’d be a full-on Death Eater by now; taking over for his beloved father.”
Something dawned on the freckled one. “What if he is a Death Eater, and is spying on us to pass information to You-Know-Who?”
“Maybe . . .” was all Harry could say. Ron was always coming up with theories that rarely panned out. Surely someone else thought of that possibility. Would they let him in Defense Against the Dark Arts just to trap him?
“Right,” Lupin continued. “So who can tell me about mirage charms?” Remus told the class about them when no one answered. “They transfer you to what feels like another world when you enter them. Often, they portray an idea inherently uncomfortable to everyone. They can be seen before entering, however. Who knows what they look like from the outside?”
Something clicked in the back of Harry’s mind, and he raised his hand. “A shimmering mist?”
“Right you are. You’ve encountered one, I’ve heard. Would you like to tell us about it?”
Malfoy snorted and mumbled something annoyingly, but Harry proceeded to tell the enthralled class about the mist in the Triwizard Tournament. After, Lupin produced the Mirage charm and allowed the students to practice finding their way out of it. Different varieties were used until nearly every student was glowing with accomplishment.
After teaching them the incantation to practice on each other, Lupin pulled Harry aside. “You’ve noticed you have two Defense Against the Dark Arts classes?”
“Yes, Sir, but why-“
“The second is reserved for D.A. members. All of those that were in the organization last year are here again-“
“Including the girl who ratted us out?” spat Harry, who was quite offended that they would let a sneak like her back in.
“Well, yes, her too. Fortunately, this time there’s no one to tell, so you’re in the clear. Try to be nice. She meant well. There are also a few new people who’ve expressed great interest, and Dumbledore personally approved to be in your class. Now, whether you accept them is up to you. But remember that unification is important here.”
“Yes, Sir,” he smiled and walked over to Ron, who’d just walked through the mist.
“You have your own class? Wow . . .”
“It’s not really that. Just, like, class time for D.A.”
“Hermione’ll shit a tiger.”
He grinned. “I know. I can’t wait to tell her.”
They drifted down to lunch, only to find that Hermione wasn't present. It was over quickly enough, and they headed back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Ron said he had to stop off in the lavatory and Harry continued on.
When the time came, half of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class remained, and many excited, familiar faces bounded in. Girlfriends squealed as if they hadn’t seen each other in ages. Others hugged or shook hands. For a moment, Harry felt lucky. Then he spotted Cho. She immediately walked up to him and gave him a hug. “Thank you for letting Marietta in again. It was really sweet of you.”
He looked askew at her, but quickly said, “Oh? Yeah . . . erm, welcome.”
She sighed and looked at her shoe. She glanced up at him and bit her lip. “You don’t . . . wonder if maybe . . . there could be a . . . a-another chance? For us, I mean?” It was so visibly difficult for her to ask. Harry felt bad for her, but was relieved when Hermione bounded in, looking flushed. “Hello Mr. Potter!”
“What?” he asked, wondering why they were on a last-name basis.
She whispered quickly into his ear, “Oh, have I got news for you!”
Cho realized she wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon, and walked away. “I’ve got news for you, too,” he said.
“Ooo, you first!”
“You’re in my class.”
“I KNOW that,” her eyes grazed over the room. “Why isn’t Professor Lupin out of his office? And . . . it’s all D.A. members in here.” Then she understood what he meant. “Oh! This is so exciting!” she squealed. “Can I help?”
“Could I stop you?”
“No. Well, it looks like everyone’s here. We’d better get started.”
Harry smiled at her strange mixture of maturity and child-like enthusiasm. He was going to call attention when she threw an arm across his chest. Her eyes narrowed. “Malfoy.” She all but spit the name.
“I know. He’s probably left over from the last class, hoping to find someone to torment.” Harry strolled up to him with Hermione following closely behind. When Ron arrived he made a beeline for the coming confrontation as well.
“Malfoy, we have some things to do, here. So leave.”
“Nice try. I have this class, Golden Boy,” he replied coolly.
“You know when all the kids change class? That’s your cue to go too. So scamper off to your Murderers in the Making class or something,” he said condescendingly.
“Oh, I would,” he said with a sneer, “but it seems Dumbledore wants me here.”
“Well, we don’t. And as Harry’s teaching this class, he gets to decide who stays and who, well, doesn’t. So GET OUT,” said Hermione with venom.
“Always the little follower, aren’t you, Mudblood? Always running around, hoping to take scraps of glory from your friends. If you ask me, it’s a bit desperate-“
“-Aborrante Halitosa!”
“-Inflatoria Mania!”
They shot the spells at each other simultaneously, but both missed a collision and hit true to their marks. Hermione’s fingers were ballooning at an alarming rate. She looked on in horror at something she couldn’t control. When they checked back to see what had happened to Malfoy, they saw only air. He’d gone as quickly as he came.
“At least you got him good before he ran off,” said Harry consolingly.
“Yeah, maybe. But I still would have like to throw a few more his way for good measure,” said Ron angrily.
“She’s a library of jinxes. If she knew a good one, she’d throw it at him. It was a good one, wasn’t it, Hermione?”
She didn’t care at that point. She was in tears. “I have so many essays to do tonight! How am I going to do it all?”
“We’ll help, won’t we Harry?”
“Er, yeah. Ron, you should take her to the Infirmary. Maybe Madam Pomfrey can pop them or something.”
Hermione began to audibly sob at that idea as Ron guided her out of the classroom. Harry distinctly heard the word “bastard,” slip out of his good friend’s mouth. Harry turned to see the whole class staring at him, and Ginny quietly slipping into the classroom. “Erm. Hey everyone. Good to see you.” He blushed when he saw Luna. “So, who’s new?”
He asked the original D.A. members to pair off and practice the spells they’d learned last year, while he spoke to the newcomers. He asked them all why they wanted to join. All of them had lost someone they knew in recent months. One young girl even cried when she told her story about how her grandpa died in Diagon Alley when he went to fetch her birthday gift.
Harry knew exactly how the young Hufflepuff was feeling. He sympathized with the new group. “I’m sorry I had to ask why, but I need to know your interest is genuine. This isn’t just a club you do for fun; that you can drop in and out of. If you sign the list, you’re in. These are life and death times, and we train you to stay alive. This isn’t an extracurricular activity; it’s life. We’ll be doing some tests to see if you’re serious, and if you fit in with the current group. We all have to work as a team, or we’re done for.”
Even to himself, he sounded a lot like the Sorting Hat. The new students nodded solemnly. He made a mental note to ask Hermione about some initiation rites. He thought for a moment about using the old list, but as he looked at Marietta Edgecombe's face, he thought it was a better idea to make a new one. Her face still had some spots on it. “Damn,” he thought, “Hermione IS good.”
“Anyoo, let’s see how you do with stunning.” He showed them how to do it, then stood back to watch. He corrected them here and there, and showed them how to improve. He then dispersed them among the seasoned D.A. members to practice that and other simple spells. He moved between everyone, doing the same for them as he did for the new ones. Some people had lapsed into shoddy spell work. He avoided Luna, Cho and Ginny as much as possible.
Luna, unconcerned, floated over to Harry, leaving her partner stunned on the floor. “Are you coming tonight?”
“Um, about that, I was actually really-“
“Me too. We have things to talk about. See you.”
He had no idea what just happened, but saw Ginny looking at him with what he thought was a twinge of hurt in her eyes. Harry made to walk over to her, but tripped and fell to the floor. “Why do I always land on the same spot?” he mumbled grumpily, thankful that no one noticed. He looked at his feet and saw his laced tied together. He couldn’t say when it happened, but he was quite sure he knew a red-head who could tie shoes by thinking about it.
He was glad, by the end of class that he didn’t have to deal with Cho. He walked to the front. “All right. You all know what you need to improve on. We have some new people here that we may welcome into the D.A. I want your opinions. There will be a ceremony sometime after this week, when we’ll decide who’s in and who’s out. Good job. See you in a couple of days.”
Harry raced to the infirmary to check on Hermione, but Madam Pomfrey said she sent Hermione to the Gryffindor tower for rest. Harry went to where she referred. When he entered the common room, he saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny in front of the fire. It was lunchtime, but he couldn’t tell by the scene before him. It was quite a serene image. Well, almost. Ron was frustrated at the homework he was working on, alternately scribbling, cursing, and throwing wads of parchment on the floor. Ginny was working on transfiguring a cup of tea, and Hermione seemed to be speaking her essay. He soon understood what was happening.
“Is that a quick-quotes quill?”
“Not a chance!” said Ginny, “Those tell elaborate, awful lies. I just bewitched a quill to write what I say. I loaned it to Hermione, considering her condition. I came to look for her, actually, but found her here, trying to get Ron to write her essay for her.”
“What did Madam Pomfrey say?”
“Oh, the swelling should go down in a day or so,” Hermione said, after stopping the quill. “Until then, this is a nice change from writing everything myself.”
“I know,” Ginny smiled at her, “I use it a lot when I’m not up to manual labor. You know, I wish I could have been there when you and Malfoy were going at it. Oh, I know a wonderful hex I just ran across . . .“
“Oh, believe me, it wasn’t necessary,” Hermione said haughtily. “He got it worse than I did.”
“What did you do?” asked Ron eagerly.
“Well, anyone who comes within ten feet of him the whole next week will nearly faint,” she said conspiratorially.
“Why?”
“Because his breath smells like a cross between dead possum, sulfur, and . . . oh yes, baby poop.”
“Brilliant,” grinned Harry. “I can’t wait to see everyone faint when he opens his mouth!”
They all laughed at the collective mental image. “Oh, Harry!” interrupted Ginny, “you and I have to work on ‘having our way’ with a special someone’s brain tonight,” she said tauntingly.