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- Chapter five - ‘Here! My ball, my ball! Aaand! Tackle! Shoot! Scooore!!!!’ Harry grinned, put on his glasses, and got up from his bed, walking over to his suitcase to get some clothes. It was common knowledge amongst the Gryffindors that Dean was a total football maniac; something most people (especially Ron, who found no point at all in a bunch of men kicking a ball to each other) thought was really boring. The wall behind Dean’s bed was filled with several posters of West Ham, the team that Dean supported. Harry opened his suitcase, and under a bunch of socks, he found some clothes, and his cloak. Ron grunted from his bed, opened his eyes, and stared wildly around the room. ‘What are you searching for?’ Harry asked while Ron got up and started to throw several maroon sweaters around the room in the search for his clothes. ‘I just had a dream that Victor Krum was hiding under your bed, ready to strike…’ Ron said while he pulled a blue sweater over his head. Harry looked confused at Ron, who had started to take on his shoes. ‘Victor Krum?’ Ron looked up from his shoelaces, a gloomy look spread through his face. ‘Yeah, he has a pretty mad look, don’t you think? Looks like a hawk!’ He made a grimace and got up, stretched and yawned. ‘Shall we go and get some breakfast?’ The familiar smells from the Great Hall breakfast made Harry wide-awake at once. He had really missed this. Everything even the most fastidious person in the whole school would scream of joy at the sight of, and hungry students who ate their breakfast, talked with the food in their mouths, and discussed the upcoming day. ‘There’s Hermione and Ginny!’ Harry said, and they headed over to the end of the Gryffindor table where the two girls were sitting; Hermione reading the daily prophet and Ginny with her face buried in a teacup. ‘Morning!’ Harry couldn’t help smiling widely. The feeling of being home filled him up, and left no room for other things. He didn’t even scowl when he saw Malfoy entering the Great hall, accompanied by Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. ‘Toast?’ Harry turned, and saw a plate of toasts that was held up in front of him by a smiling Ginny. Hermione was still behind the newspaper, and Ron had taken a seat next to Harry, his mouth full of egg. ‘Thanks.’ Harry reached out his hand and accepted the toast. ‘Harry, Ron! Here are your timetables. McGonagall gave them to me about five minutes ago, and told me to give it to you.’ She threw two pieces of paper over at the boys. Harry looked at it, and smiled. ‘This Monday is the best we’ve had in years! Two hours transfiguration, potions, astronomy and charms. Of course, we have to stick out with Snape for an hour, but at least we don’t have divination this year.’ Hermione nodded, and Ron made an effort to chew his food faster so that he could speak. ‘Yeah! And we don’t have that old hag Umbridge anymore! She is gone forever!’ he grinned like a maniac, and Harry felt a feeling of relief spread through his body. This year looked like a promising one, at least the time table. The only sad thing was that they didn’t have Tonks until tomorrow. Harry was really exited to see how she handled the new job as a teacher. Ginny spoke as if she had read his mind. Or perhaps she had just read his timetable. ‘I have Tonks in a double lesson today, so I’ll tell you how she is doing.’ She smiled, and waved her own timetable in front of Harry’s face. He tried to snap it, but she pulled it away and laughed. Harry took a bite of his toast, and looked up at the teachers’ table where Tonks sat in a conversation with Snape. The Potions master didn’t look as mad as he used to when it came to Defend against the dark arts teachers. Perhaps it had something to do with that they were in the Order together and that he knew her. It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that Snape was obsessed with the defend against the dark arts job, but Dumbledore never gave it to him. Harry was glad Snape wasn’t the teacher. It was enough to have him as a potions master! * The first thing professor McGonagall did when they entered her classroom was to have a quarter-long pep-talk about how they were facing their sixth year, and should prepare for a hard year with intense studying and much work. Harry sighed just as loud as the other Gryffindors. Last year had been bad enough with the OWLs and all. In a year, they would be facing the NEWTs, and Harry knew he wasn’t the only one who didn’t look forward to it. In fact, he was sure that Hermione was the only one who didn’t get nervous every time the word “newt” was mentioned. Professor McGonagall certainly let them know how much she would expect from them the upcoming year. They spent the lesson trying to transfigure their desks into ponies with the professor breathing in their necks, ready to save them if something wrong should happen with the transfiguring. At the end of the lesson, Hermione was (not surprisingly) the only one who managed to get a complete pony. Many desks were covered in fur, and Neville’s made funny whinny noises. Harry looked down at his own desk. It was covered in thick light brown fur, the legs had got hooves, and a pair of ears at the top of the desk showed that his transfiguration wasn’t a complete disaster. ‘Good job, everyone. Homework: Write an essay about big transfigurations and how they could go wrong if you don’t watch out.’ Professor McGonagall yelled once she had finished transfiguring all of the desks/ponies back into regular desks. All the way down to lunch, Hermione kept complaining about how her pony had too short mane and bushy fur. Ron stopped her talking by pointing out that her desk didn’t start running around the classroom without showing any other similarities with a pony like his had done. They entered the great hall, and found some empty seats on the Gryffindor table next to the Creevy-brothers. Colin immediately started to tell Harry how all of the teachers had talked about the OWLs, and ask thousands of questions weather it was as bad as they said. ‘Well, Colin…’ Harry started, but he didn’t get any longer, because Neville managed to knock down his glass of orange juice over Ron, who yelled and fell backwards of the bench with juice all over. Harry got up, and dragged the cursing redhead out of the great hall without making a bigger commotion. He could hear laughter from the Slytherin table, and walked faster so that Ron wouldn’t notice it. ‘Urgh! This stuff is sticky!’ Ron pulled of his cloak as Harry dragged him up the stairs, heading for the common room. ‘Harry! Ron!’ They both turned away, and saw a red-faced Neville who was heading up the stairs towards them. ‘I’m sorry, Ron! I really didn’t mean to!’ he looked sad and nervous. Even sadder and more nervous than he used to. Ron looked less mad, and gave the boy a little wink. ‘S’all right, Neville. Could have happened to anyone, ey? I’ll just go and change before the potions lesson.’ He turned away and continued up the stairs, trying to keep a calm face. Harry looked at Neville. The boy had always been clumsy and nervous, but there were some serious changes in his appearance. He looked thinner, and his hair was much bushier than it used to. Harry couldn’t help thinking about Wormtail. He had lost weight in a short amount of time because he knew that Sirius was coming to kill him, and Neville sort of had the same look. Except from one major difference; Wormtail had been a filthy, stupid, crappy, self-centred person who didn’t care about anything but how to make things better for himself. He had betrayed Harry’s parents and fooled them into death so that he could spare his own life. Neville on the other hand was really nice and friendly. He had just always been very clumsy. ‘Neville, is everything all right?’ Harry asked with a concerned look. Neville shook his head. ‘No, no! Everything is fine, Harry. Just wanted to make sure Ron was all right.’ He turned, and hurried back to the great hall. Harry didn’t have time to think over Neville’s behaviour, because of Ron’s yell from the top of the stairs. ‘Five minutes! I have to change before that stupid potion lesson!’ * Snape met them in his usual gloomy mood when they entered the potions classroom five minutes later. Ron had to take the first clothes he had found in his suitcase; a maroon sweater with sleeves which were an inch to short, and “Ronnie” written on the chest, and trousers with several holes on each knee. He tried to cover the outfit with his cloak, but didn’t succeed; Malfoy let out a loud laugh when he caught a glimpse of Ron’s sweater, and in one second, he was making up songs and poems about ‘little Ronnie boy, Weasley-mummy’s favourite baby’. Crabbe and Goyle backed him up with their stupid laugh, which reminded Harry of the sound of two gorillas who fought over a banana. ‘Silence!’ Snape’s voice made everyone go quiet. ‘Today we will make a simple potion. The properties of the potion are that it cures fever and makes the sight of whoever drinks the potion clearer. Perhaps it would help some of you to read the instructions better.’ His eyes fell on Harry, and a smirk spread trough his face ‘I know some of you could really need that.’ Harry concentrated really hard, and read the instructions three times before he added the ingredient. His potion didn’t have the same bright blue colour as Hermione’s, but it was nice and thin, and small purple rings of smoke rose from his cauldron, filling his eyes with tears as the smoke hit his face. In the end, he was happy that he didn’t ruin anything. Perhaps he would get an A for this one. Poor Neville, on the other hand, messed up again. He dropped the whole glass of phoenix feathers into the potion, that immediately got a disgusting brown colour, swelled up in no time, and ran down the floor, making the students jump up on chairs to avoid burning of their shoes. Snape removed it with a flick with his wand, and scowled at Neville, who looked like he’d rather face an angry dragon than be in his situation. ‘Longbottom, I’ve never met anyone as clumsy as you are! 20 points from Gryffindor. Some time, you’ll have to learn not to drop everything you’ve got in your hands.’ Neville didn’t look Snape in the eyes. His gaze was fixed upon the empty cauldron, and Harry supposed he was doing his best not to listen to Snape’s words. As they left the dungeon, Neville didn’t speak. He was walking in silence, looking down at his shoes. Harry was just about to go over and tell Neville not to care about Snape, but a voice interrupted. ‘Longbottom! You’re going to pay for this! Look at my shoes! Do you have any idea what these costs?’ Malfoy came strolling over to Neville, his face red with anger, and his shoes covered in Neville’s thick, brownish potion. ‘Get of, Malfoy! It’s not like he did it on purpose.’ Ron said with an ugly look at the blond boy. ‘Does it look like I care, Weasel? Longbottom had ruined my shoes, and now he’s going to pay!’ He lifted his wand in his outstretched arm, ready to throw a spell on Neville, who didn’t move at all, but Harry was quicker. As if he was waiting for it, he threw himself over Malfoy, and knocked his arm out of position. Malfoy yelled as they landed on the floor, and swung his other arm right in Harry’s face, knocking of his glasses. Just when Ron was about to join the fight by jumping over Malfoy’s head, Snape’s voice echoed in the hall: ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING? POTTER! 50 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR AND DETENTION!’ ‘But sir. Malfoy tried to attack Neville-‘ Hermione started, but Snape cut her of. ‘I don’t care what happened, all I see is that Potter found it funny to attack another student, and for this he will be punished. Get up, Potter. I said GET UP!’ Harry slowly let go of Malfoy’s arm and rose from the floor, putting his glasses back on. He gave Malfoy a hateful look, which the boy returned without any problems. ‘You wait, Potter! Soon you’ll end up like your parents.’ Malfoy said before he turned and walked away with Crabbe and Goyle right behind. ‘Harry, what was that all about?’ Hermione asked with a shocked expression as they headed for the astronomy tower. At first Harry didn’t answer. His mind was still in the hall where he had attacked Malfoy. It was as if he had a photograph of the whole incident in front of his eyes. When he had knocked Malfoy’s arm away, his sleeve had been pulled down, and for a second, Harry thought he had seen a mark on it. A mark that reminded him of the quidditch world cup two years ago. A mark that was a sign for Voldemort. The skull with the snake out of its mouth. The dark mark. ‘Harry!’ Hermione’s irritated voice stopped his thinking. ‘Huh?’ He looked over at his two friends, both of them with curious expressions. ‘I just… you both saw Neville’s face! It was like he knew there was nothing he could do to defend himself if Malfoy attacked. And haven’t you noticed that his whole appearance has changed? Like he is waiting for something he know will happen.’ He didn’t mention his thoughts about Wormtail because he knew they would both take that in a completely wrong way. ‘When you mention it, I have noticed that Neville seems very nervous.’ Hermione started. Her eyes widened as if she suddenly understood something. ‘Do you think it has something to do with Voldemort?’ (Ron made a frightened grimace when he heard the name Voldemort) Hermione said with a look at Harry. ‘I don’t know, but something tells me that it has something more to do with Malfoy-‘ and so he told them that he thought he had seen the Dark mark on Malfoy’s wrist. Ron looked as if he had just been knocked out, but Hermione didn’t look as surprised as Harry had thought. ‘Well, that makes sense, don’t you think? His father is, as far as we know, still in Azkaban, and Draco wants to help ‘his’ side out. So he agrees to join the death eaters. Maybe as a spy on Dumbledore or something.’ She looked pleased with what she had figured out. Harry ignored Ron’s comment that ‘this is insanity!’ and looked back at Hermione. ‘But we still aren’t sure that it was the Dark mark. What if i was mistaken?’ Hermione shook her head, but Harry could see some doubt in her eyes. ‘It would have been weird if you were mistaken after having all that smoke from your potion in your eyes. It gives you a better sight, remember what Snape said. But I agree. We should check out the facts instead of assuming things we don’t know for sure.’ Both Harry and Ron nodded. Ron looked more exited now, not so sceptic. ‘So what’s the plan? Sneak up behind Malfoy and drag his sleeve up?’ Harry laughed, but Hermione shook her head. ‘The best thing would be to make him drag up his sleeve by himself. Perhaps spill something on him in potions?’ ‘Yeah, we could spill something poisonous on him!’ Ron said in an eager voice. ‘The only bad thing about it is that we’ll have to wait two days before we could do it. We don’t have potions tomorrow.’ Hermione said. She had obviously memorised the timetable, something that usually took Harry and Ron half a year. ‘Well, that’s the only plan we’ve got, so I guess we’ll just have to wait.’ Harry said as they entered the astronomy classroom. * The common room was filled with Gryffindors, everyone telling everyone what they had done in the summer and no one really listening to a word anyone else was saying. The sixth years had gathered in a sofa in front of the fire. ‘I really don’t understand why you two quit divination! Firenze and Trelawney have split up the class in two parts. I’m with Firenze, but Lavender is with Trelawney, and today Firenze told us all about-‘ Parvati Patil talked eagerly about her first divination lesson. Lavender was sitting next to her, nodding and smiling, but no one else paid much attention to them. One of the things Harry had been looking forward to this year was not to have to get predictions about his death every week by professor Trelawney, the divination teacher. He knew that she was a real seer (with two real predictions), but that didn’t make her less irritating. The rest of the day’s lessons, he had been in a silent mood, thinking about the Dark mark. If Malfoy was a death eater now, Hogwarts wasn’t that safe anymore. Voldemort would have lots of information about Dumbledore and the weaknesses of the castle, teachers and students. Did it help that Dumbledore was around if Voldemort knew how to beat him? Harry tried not to think of what could happen, but deep down, all his fear was about to enter the surface. He was the one Voldemort was after, and if he knew that it was safe to enter Hogwarts’ grounds, he would! And not only Harry, but also all of the students were in great danger! ‘You won’t believe Tonks! She is really good! Has earned much respect all ready on her first day!’ Ginny came over to the sofa and took a seat between Hermione and Lavender, right opposites Harry, who tried to put down his dark thoughts and smile. ‘Really? That good?’ He asked while Ginny nodded so that her hair jumped up and down on her shoulders. ‘People compare her to Lupin! Her skills are really good, but she is just as clumsy as she has always been. Started the lesson by walking straight into Colin’s desk.’ Ginny laughed as she thought of the incidence. ‘And then she let her nose grow out, and eyes widen so that she looked pretty freaky before she presented herself-‘ Ginny’s talking about Tonks’ first lesson made it easier for Harry to turn his mind of all the dark thoughts. He even laughed at Ginny, who lived completely into the story by using great arm movements (that made Lavender dive over Parvati so that she wouldn’t be hit by Ginny’s arm in the face.) and changing of voices when she talked. She ended her story and left the little group in silence. ‘It’s really kind of quiet here now that Fred and George is gone.’ Ron said, and looked at the others in turn. Seamus nodded. ‘Yeah! I know! The whole common room is just sorta’ dull.’ The little group soon started their homework (Harry and Ron started to beg Hermione if they could read hers but were forced to write their own as she refused, and hid her own paper), and after a while, Parvati and Lavender went up to bed. Ron leaned back in the sofa and yawned. ‘what do you say to a set of chess, mate?’ he said in the middle of his yawn with one eye closed and the other one fixed on Harry. ‘No chess now!’ Hermione cut in. ‘Your sets take forever because Ron always use about a quarter to make his move! Besides, it’s school tomorrow!’ Ginny grinned with a look on her brother, who had got an insulted look. ‘Fine! I’ll go to bed.’ He said, seizing his backpack, which were open, and all the books fell out. Ginny couldn’t hold the laughter back, and started to giggle. Soon Hermione joined her giggling, and Harry could see Ron’s forehead turn red as he bent over his books and threw them back in the backpack. Harry expected him to be angry when he turned his face towards them, but to his great surprise, Ron was smiling. ‘See y’all tomorrow.’ He said, before he turned and went up to the dormitory. ‘He was in a weird mood today.’ Ginny said with a grin. Harry grinned back. ‘Well, I’ll go to bed too, and I would recommend you to do the same.’ Hermione said before she rose from the sofa. Ginny sighed with a smile. ‘Fine, I’ll come,’ she said and got up too. ‘That one. Do you think she’ll work in the military?’ Ginny added to Harry before she turned and followed Hermione up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory. Harry grinned, but found no point in sitting on the sofa without anyone to talk to (Dean and Seamus was busy in a conversation about football, and Neville had gone to bed a while ago), so he followed the other’s examples and went up to the dormitory.
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