Bab 11: Sirius's Plan
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A day later, at breakfast, Malfoy seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting after Hagrid's class.
"Does it hurt terribly, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson asked him, as she was the closest to Malfoy. She looked miserable, as if she wanted to be anywhere but with him. Harry genuinely felt sorry for her; having to interact with Draco must be like having a double class with Snape.
"It comes and goes. Still ... I consider myself lucky. According to Madam Pomfrey, another minute or two... and I- uh- Could've lost my leg." Malfoy answered while faking a wince.
"Couldn't possibly do any homework for weeks," Malfoy added as Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched from the Gryffindor table.
"That little git." Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes at Malfoy's pity-party
While Harry groaned in annoyance, he was sitting between Hermione and Ron.
"Listen to the idiot," Ron said, with disgust in his voice. "He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?"
"At least Hagrid didn't get in trouble," Harry responded. A part of him regretted saving the idiot; perhaps it would be a relief for everyone just to let him die.
"Yeah, but I hear Draco's father's angry with you, Harry," Ron added, looking towards the wizard, who simply shrugged his shoulders, not caring much. "We haven't heard the end of this." He added a little concern, but Harry didn't really care much about what the father of Draco wanted from him.
"Harry, do you think he might be a problem?" Hermione asked, concerned; leaning a bit closer to Harry, he felt her hand holding his under the table, and he had to admit it was soft and warm.
"Don't worry, Hermione. Lucius can't do anything against me; he can throw all the money he wants; the whole class was witness; they all saw me saving Draco's worthless ass, and even if that wasn't enough. I'm a public figure, whether or not he likes it. He knows many wizard families would be against the entire ministry for trying to do something to me with no good proof." Harry explained he hated to use his title and popularity; he knew what happened that night wasn't because of him, and all the credit should go to his parents. But at the same time, Harry wouldn't mind using his reputation to get rid of possible problems.
Hermione and Ron looked surprised to hear Harry say that; the bushy girl somehow liked the new side of Harry.
"That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, though, wasn't it?" Hermione said, looking worried.
"Of course it was!" Ron exclaimed, "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him. . ."
"They wouldn't fire him, would they?" Harry anxiously said, not touching the food on his plate.
Harry was watching the Slytherin table. A large group, including Crabbe and Goyle, was huddled together, deep in conversation. He was sure they were cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had been injured.
"Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back," Harry gloomily said. Hermione rolled her eyes playfully.
"Strange! How come they still haven't caught Sirius Black?" One Gryffindor student suddenly said, the newspaper in his hands, a small group of students reading with him.
"I doubt he can enter here. There are Dementors and Aurors everywhere. He can't try anything with all this security in this school," Ron pointed out before pointing at the eight Aurors around the great hall. Harry mentally frowned, he had tried to find her today and simply asked her if she had taken permission from Professor McGonagall, but he hadn't seen Tonks anywhere in the School; perhaps today she had a free day, but Moody had mentioned nothing about it.
"He escaped Azkaban, which everyone thought impossible until a month ago. We shouldn't underestimate this criminal," Seamus pointed out at Ron, who tried to come up with a counter.
"We shouldn't forget that Dumbledore is here. As long as he's here, Sirius will think twice before coming here, don't forget that even You-Know-Who was afraid of him," Hermione quickly said, hoping their words weren't affecting Harry.
The latter grimaced at the mention of the old wizard. He wanted nothing to do with him, not anymore. The man had read his mind with no permission.
While discussing, Harry looked at his classes, already convinced to drop Divination; he had thought of what else to learn, and Runes came to mind. He didn't know much about it, but he was sure he would like it more than the boring Divination. Harry made a mental note to talk with Professor McGonagall later and ask her if it was possible to drop Divination and maybe Potions as well; having to deal with Snape's constant bullshit was the last thing he wanted.
Soon enough, it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin for The Golden Quintet, but Professor Lupin wasn't even there yet when they arrived at his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.
They all then just sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room.
Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.
"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."
A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books.
They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts before unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.
"Right then," Professor Lupin said when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."
Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom.
He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.
Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then, he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin —"
Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers.
Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get into his brooms."
Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves.
However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words except to blow a loud wet raspberry.
Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.
"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."
He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves.
With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.
"Wicked..." Ron breathlessly said in awe
"Cool, sir!" Dean Thomas said in amazement.
"Thank you, Ron, Dean," Professor Lupin said, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"
They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped right outside the staffroom door.
"Inside, please," Professor Lupin said, opening it and standing back.
"Now, then," Professor Lupin began, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?" Professor Lupin asked the students. Harry felt his blood pumping faster; he felt the strength he usually felt whenever he used Holy Magic return. His eyes turned gold but turned back to normal. Whatever was inside that wardrobe, he didn't like it.
They had been staring at a closet that shook over and over on its own as if something inside it was trying desperately to get out The Golden Quartet then shared confused glances.
"That's a boggart," Seamus answered.
"Excellent, Mr. Finnigan!" Professor Lupin exclaimed and asked once more, "Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?"
"No one knows," Hermione said, appearing out of nowhere, startling Harry and Ron.
Harry got used to Hermione's appearance and disappearing act as he could tell if she was around or not from the presence of another aura around him.
Harry turned to his left with his expressionless face, and he noticed straight away Hermione had her hair in a bun which Harry thought was very cute. She stood in between him and Ron.
"When'd she get here?" Ron questioned Harry, but he got no answer as he, too, had the same question.
"Boggarts are shape-shifters." Hermione continued as Ron and Harry had questions running through their minds about how she got to class.
"They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears most. That's what makes it so terrifying." She concluded.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Professor Lupin said, and Hermione glowed.
"Luckily, an effortless charm exists to repel a Boggart." Professor Lupin explained, walking towards the shaking closet.
"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires the force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. You must force it to assume a shape that you find amusing." The professor explained.
"Let's practice it now without wands first, shall we? After me, please . . . Riddikulus!" He said, putting his own wand away.
"Riddikulus!" the class said together.
"This class is ridiculous." Malfoy spat out, which Harry heard from afar as he wandlessly cast a nonverbal Slippery Jinx towards him with just a snap of his fingers.
Making him slip and loudly yelp, which every student heard, while they snickered at the tiny noise he made as Malfoy grabbed onto his bodyguards with his good hand, and he got red in embarrassment.
Harry was trying to hold in his smirk as the corner of his lip was threatening to lift up from his expressionless face, and Hermione knew who did it as she then looked at Harry with amusement.
"Good," Professor Lupin said through his snicker. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. Let me explain. Neville, would you join me, please?"
Neville looked around him in fear before slowly walking towards the front while he eyed the rattling wardrobe and stepped forward queasily.
"Now, Neville," Professor Lupin began as Neville made his way to the front of the class in front of him "what frightens you most of all?"
"Professor Snape..." He whispered, gaining laughter from the class and a snicker from Harry.
"Professor Snape. Yes, frightens all." Professor Lupin said, amused, and asked, "And I believe you live with your grandmother?"
"Yes, but I don't want it to turn into her, either," Neville said in fear at the thought of her Grandmother.
"No... It won't." Professor Lupin assured him and instructed, "I want you to picture her clothes, only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind."
"She carries a red handbag..." Neville began as he closed his eyes.
"We don't need to hear. As long as you see it, we'll see it." The Professor continued, "Now, when I open that wardrobe, here's what I want you to do."
Professor Lupin leans close to Neville and whispers. Neville's eyes pop open in shock. Consider Lupin uncertainly, and Neville nods nervously as he takes a deep breath.
"Right then," Professor Lupin said. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"Yes," Neville uncertainly said, plainly wondering what was coming next.
"Good, then wand at the ready." He said as he made his way to the wardrobe and readied himself. "One, two, three!"
Professor Lupin then cast a spell at the wardrobe, opening it as "Professor Snape" stumbled out.
He then walked towards Neville while he stared in shock as "Professor Snape" stared Neville in the face with scorn and discontent smeared on his face.
"Riddikulus!" Neville cast and... Snape stumbles in a flash of light and reappears... in a long, lace-trimmed dress, towering moth-eaten hat, and crimson handbag.
Instantly, the class roars in laughter, including Professor Lupin, except for Draco and his fellow Slytherins. Lupin then pushes Snape back into the wardrobe with a flick of his wand, while Neville blinks, amazed, then slowly grins himself.
"Wonderful, Neville, wonderful! Incredible!" Professor Lupin happily exclaimed and instructed, "Alright, to the back, Neville. Everyone, form a line!"
Professor Lupin played an upbeat song to fill the mood of the class as Ron stumbled up towards the boggart, fear written on his face.
Snape dissolves into a mad whirling mass, then mutates into a ... giant spider.
As Ron gasps, Hermione and Harry exchange an uncertain glance. Ron whimpered as he looked toward the giant spider, and Professor Lupin put his hands on Ron's shoulders to steady him. Ron raises his wand.
"R-Riddikulis!" Ron yelled out with a bit of a stutter.
Roller skates materialize on the spider's hairy feet, and it begins to shuffle crazily in place. Instantly, Ron relaxes as the class' laughter rings out.
"Very good, very good!" Professor Lupin said. "Parvati! You're next."
As Parvati steps up, the spider spins faster and faster, a dizzying blur, then reappears as a vampire.
"Riddikulus!" She exclaimed
As the vampire whips its cloak across its eyes and they see that the vampire is now dressed like Carmen Miranda. As it begins to shimmy about - against its will – the class starts to clap.
"Mr. Thomas!" Professor Lupin called out
As Dean steps up, the vampire's undulating body attenuates, its skin darkening with diamond-thatched scales becoming ... a giant cobra.
"Riddikulus!" He cast, and the cobra's hooded head bobs back and forth, transforming into a JACK-IN-THE-BOX.
"And next! Wonderful, Wonderful!" Professor Lupin exclaimed with a grin as he then turned to see... Harry steps forward expectantly.
Concern flickers through Lupin's face. The Jack-In-The-Box pivots on its spring, its face tumbling toward Harry, becoming more sinister, transforming into a...
Dementor.
Without thinking twice, Harry's eyes turned gold, the fake dementor who tried to approach stopped moving, and the center of its body started turning, shining like gold. The Dementor began screaming in pain; the whole class closed their ears at the loud noise, and the windows cracked. Harry prepared to do the same thing he did back on the train when the Dementor started changing again. For a good minute, it kept changing as if not knowing in what form to get, until it transformed into-
"Here!" Professor Lupin exclaimed, trying to catch the boggart's attention as he stepped between Harry and the Boggart.
The boggart vanishes, and a roiling mist appears, which becomes clouds. Something glows within the clouds, white, silvery, and round ...
"Moon?" They both thought while Harry tilted his head questioningly, and Hermione was perplexed.
Lupin then points his wand toward it and casts, "Riddikulus!"
The orb deflates like a punctured balloon, whizzes crazily about the room, then darts back into the wardrobe. The door slams shut, and the class cheers. The class was looking at Harry and the professor, wondering what Harry did and why his boggart would start screaming. Lupin, who could feel the tension in the air, turned to the class with an uneasy smile.
"Well done, everyone." He said to the students, "I think that's enough excitement for today."
"Let me see . . . five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart — ten for Neville because he did it twice . . . and five each to Hermione, Ron, and Harry."
"Why Hermione?" Ron asked, and she immediately turned to him wide-eyed "I-I mean no offense, Hermione."
"None taken." She answered as Ron sighed in relief.
"Because Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Ron," Professor Lupin lightly said. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me . . . to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."
As the students exit, chattering loudly, only Harry, subdued, remains behind. At the doorway, Lupin glances back and exchanges a private glance with him. As he exits, the wardrobe gives one last rattle.
Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. Harry, however, wasn't feeling cheerful. Professor Lupin had deliberately stopped him from seeing what the boggart would turn into the second time. Why? Was it because he'd seen Harry collapse on the train and thought he wasn't up to much? Had he thought Harry would pass out again?
As they were all walking down the hall to our next class, he was suddenly pulled by someone to the other side of the corridor where no one was.
The person who turned him around was the familiar bushy-haired girl with her hair in a bun.
"That looks cute on her..." he thought as he felt his face get hot.
He was then cut off from his thoughts as they faced each other, and she looked troubled for some reason.
"Hey, Hermione, what's wrong?" He called out with a worried expression, and it seemed he cut her off from her thoughts as she looked up at him.
'This is your chance, Hermione!' Harry heard her say, yet her lips didn't move. Wait What? Harry was confused on why he heard her thoughts. 'No one is here, just the two of you! Just ask him!'
Harry wanted to ask why she was so nervous and why her face was red.
Hermione then suddenly put a hand on Harry's cheeks, bringing him close to her, and before he could react, her lips kissed his cheek.
As she got down after her kiss, Harry froze in place, and she saw his face as Hermione then adorably giggled at his expression, which made him look down in embarrassment.
At that moment, he took deep breaths in and out, trying to collect himself, and locked eyes with her once more.
"What was that?" Harry asked with a goofy smile, feeling like a kid who just got a good present for Christmas.
"I just wanted to do that," Hermione replied, her face red from embarrassment.
"So, why did you pull me here, Hermione?" Harry properly asked, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Well, I was wondering if you..." She said confidently, as if her worries were gone. "If you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me, without Ron around? I mean, if you want to, of course."
Did she just ask me to go out with her?! Harry thought, shocked, his heart pounding uncontrollably and his stomach fluttering.
"Well, Tonks wanted to go with me. Yesterday she said she would convince Professor McGonagall, and she ahhh-" "Don't worry, Harry. I wouldn't mind if she came with us," Hermione quickly interrupted, grabbing his hand.
Harry was perplexed to hear that before a bright smile formed on his face. "I would gladly come," Harry accepted, kissing her cheek in return, a part of him wondering what it would be like to kiss her lips.
Hermione smiled brightly as she hugged him, and he returned it while she thought. "Yes, yes, yes!"
Sirius Black
By now, he should have gotten used to getting hexed left and right, yet, waking up and feeling his head spinning and wanting to vomit everything out was a feeling he hadn't felt since his time in Hogwarts. It felt nostalgic, drinking like a fool, and waking up with the worst headache in the world.
He could hear people talking in the room he was in, and he wanted to yell at them to shut up, yet everything was dizzy; slowly opening his eyes, he was almost blinded by the bright light inside the room; squinting his eyes, he heard someone speaking.
"He's awake!"
Andromeda! He thought, recognizing her voice; after a minute, he felt his vision return to normal. Fully opening his eyes, he saw Andy, her husband, and Nymphadora standing around him; Andy's daughter was still holding a wand in her hand.
Only now, he noticed that he was lying on his back on a bed. "Sirius, are you alright?" Andy questioned, concerned; Sirius could see her daughter was still nervous by his presence, especially with her body shifting uncomfortably.
"Man, this is the second time. My luck must really suck!" Sirius started with a joke, but it seemed his relatives didn't appreciate it.
"And there will be a third time if you don't tell me everything," Nymphadora threatened, pointing her wand at Sirius, who quickly raised his hands to show that he was harmless.
"Tonks, I told you to calm down," Andy scolded her daughter like she used to do when Tonks was younger and liked to take multiple forms.
Sirius forced himself into a sitting position; he quickly noticed his wand wasn't in his pocket, not that he was surprised. "I will explain, but can we sit properly?" Sirius asked; Tonks simply pointed at the nearby round table with her wand.
After sitting and drinking a cup of tea, he felt refreshed. Sirius explained everything from beginning to end. How Wormtail had betrayed the Potters; after hearing everything, Tonks had only one thing to say.
"You must be kidding! Why didn't you get a trial?" Nymphadora asked when she saw Sirius' memory.
Sirius just shrugged. "Fudge sent me to Azkaban immediately; there were no questions, not even a trial. No matter what I said, I was found guilty, then all charges were against me," Sirius explained with a grimace, thinking of little Harry.
"What should we do then?" Tonks asked, looking back at her mother.
"Ron Weasley's rat is Pettigrew in disguise. We need to get that rat as soon as possible," Sirius warned, hearing that Tonks got alarmed.
"We must tell Dumbledore!" She almost shouted. Harry was in danger, and she wouldn't allow him to get hurt.
"Our Hands are tied as the Ministry believes Sirius is guilty and if Pettigrew ran away. We can't clear his name, plus no one will believe us; Dumbledore and Remus won't let me get close or give an explanation about the situation. That's why we must make this as stealthy as possible," Sirius explained to her; Tonks reluctantly nodded. She didn't want Harry to get hurt accidentally. She wouldn't allow it.
"Now, have you happened to see the Weasley's rat?"
"Not really. I mostly spend time with Harry," she explained, her face flushing a little when she realized what she had just said. Her parents smirked but made no comment; Sirius simply ignored it. He figured he could tease his godson when they met and get to know each other; Sirius couldn't wait for that day to arrive.
"Alright, this is what we are going to do..."
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