As everyone finished their lunch, and laughing as Lupin and Ron gulped down as many triple chocolate chip cookies, that Harry had baked that morning, as they possibly could. Lupin and Sirius settled themselves back into the bowl and offered Harry some comfort as best they could, once again. This time, they took precautions with Harry's legs by putting cushions down around his legs and by having Lupin sit down supporting his feet. He was the least likely one to lose his head in a fit, so, down to the more painful area he sat.

Harry was once more covered by the gold and red blanket that he became so fond of, and the everyone resumed their seats. Madame Pomfrey offered to read the next chapter, and walked back to her chair with the book.

"Comfortable Harry? I don't want...you hurting again." said Sirius quietly.

"Perfectly comfortable Sirius." said Harry, stretching slightly.

"Harry, if you feel any pain..." said Mrs. Weasely soothingly.

"Molly, we've got him, he's fine. He's not your cub, he's ours." said Sirius in a stern tone.

Mrs. Weasely's lips quivered.

"Mrs. Weasely, I'm alright. If something goes amiss, I'll let Sirius know. And knowing him, he'll panic and you'll know straight off." said Harry with a broad smile.

Mrs. Weasely gave him a smile in return and sat down while Sirius gave his ear a flick.

To be on the safe side, Dumbledore saved a little tray of food and placed it near Sirius's left side.

"Just in case he gets hungry." he explained

Madame Pomfrey cleared her throat.

The Midnight Duel

"One gets the feeling this won't be a good chapter." said Sirius staring at Madame Pomfrey.

"What were you doing, dueling?" shouted McGonagall.

"Umm.."

"Er.."

"Never mind." said McGonagall.

Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley,

"Wow! There is a boy, Harry hated more than Dudley?"

"I thought I did at the time, that changed, years later." said Harry.

but that was before he met Draco Malfoy.

"Ouch!" moaned and groaned half the school.

"That hurts." said Malfoy sadly.

Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan.

"Not good, especially if Gryffindors groan. They can handle almost anything without batting an eye." said a Hufflepuff whispering to her friends.

Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday-and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Yeah, that would make me groan too, at least when I had flying lessons, it was with the Ravenclaws." said the Hufflepuff girl.

"Typical," said Harry darkly, "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"Malfoy turned out to be the fool on the broom compared to you." said Neville gleefully.

"Oh yes, Longbottom, tell us how you mastered flying in thirty seconds." said Pansy with a wide evil smile that would do Umbridge proud.

"You never left the ground." retorted Parvati. "Not even during the final class."

He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.

"That sounds more like Harry." said Katie.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

"And was it, Ron?" said Harry, looking intently over to Ron.

"No, it wasn't. He was good." said Ron grudgingly.

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the House Quidditch teams

"Just like he did at Madam Malkins" said Parvati rolling her eyes.

and told loud, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.

"When did you come face to face with one of those?" said Snape looking down at his prized student with a raised eyebrow and a frown on his lips.

"Well, it was when we were on holiday." he said quietly.

"And where were you when you saw this Muggle monstrosity?" he said, the eyebrow raising higher and higher.

"On the ground, hiding behind my mother." he said even quieter.

"Where?" asked Snape louder.

"On the ground." said Malfoy a little louder. He blushed when people started to snigger.

He wasn't the only on, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick.

"Actually the countryside was just my backyard and the fields." said Seamus a little shamefully.

Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen

"Which was almost nobody." smirked Zacharias. Ron glared at him.

about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.

"Which was an absolute lie!" Zacharias laughed.

"No it wasn't actually. I had to go save him." said Charlie.

"And he was grounded for two months for being up there alone." said Mr. Weasely with a smile towards his youngest son. Ron looked down but smiled, while Zacharias stared.

"Your dad would take you for flights on his broom," said Sirius with a smile. "Lily made a halter so you could ride on the broom with him and not fall off. You kept wanting the broomstick to go faster, and the broom listened to you more than it listened to your dad."

"Funniest thing I ever saw." said Dumbledore chuckling loudly, "Your father trying to get the broom to slow down as you urged it to go faster."

"Look how red he's getting!" said Fred laughing loudly, pointing towards Harry.

Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.

"Well, I didn't understand the game, now that I saw Harry play it, I want to see it again. Can you take me to a game sometime, Dean?" asked Ron eagerly.

"Sure thing Ron. That is actually what my mum and I had planned, the year we graduate, mum and I are going to take you guys to a game." said Dean smiling as Ron and the other boys whooped.

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one.

"She was afraid I'd get hurt. She worries a lot about me." said Neville with a small smile.

Privately Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.

"HARRY!" shouted Mrs. Weasely and Lupin.

"Yes?" said Harry calmly.

"Oh, there's that tone again, they ain't going to win this one either." muttered Ron to Hermione and Neville. Neville smiled, he couldn't wait to see Harry fight back. Even the other students listened in intently.

"He's your friend! You shouldn't be that way!" scolded Lupin. Mrs. Weasely nodded in agreement.

"I didn't say it, I thought it." he said with a small smile.

"Still..." said Lupin irritably.

"Haven't you thought about something, that you didn't want shared?" said Harry with the same smile.

"Well...yes. What about it?" said Lupin slowly losing his footing

"And whatever you thought, is it still a secret? What you thought, is it still only known to you?" said Harry still smiling.

"Yeah." said Lupin looking confused.

"Were you persecuted for your thoughts?" pressed Harry.

"Well, no...but.." stammered Lupin.

"Why should I not expect that of my own thoughts? Why should I be punished for the thoughts I have? When you yourself have created thoughts similar to my own?" said Harry looking innocent.

"We didn't...we weren't going to pun..." stuttered Lupin, looking worried.

"In short, leave me alone." he said firmly, looking up to Lupin from where he laid. Lupin looked hurt.

"Harry winning, they don't even have point on the board." said Lee cheekily.

Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was.

"More so, I'm not very fond of heights." she said weakly.

This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book-not that she hadn't tried.

"You wouldn't be Hermione if you didn't." said Harry kindly.

At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid

"Harry you are hilarious!" said Fred and George wiping away the tears that had formed from laughing so hard.

"That would take a lot boring material to make him stupid." Rivers said quietly to McGonagall.

with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages.

"Oh Hermione! That book doesn't hold any real flying tips! For Quidditch players, yes! But not for normal, everyday flying." said Sirius laughing and smacking his forehead. Hermione blushed.

Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later,

"You're right Sirius, it didn't help at all." said Neville with a broad smile.

but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.

"Sorry Hermione." said the entire group of Gryffindor fifth years.

Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.

SMACK!

Snape had just struck Malfoy sharply on the back of the head. Malfoy offered an apology to Harry quickly.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"What is that thing?" said a muggleborn second year.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things-this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red-oh..." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "...you've forgotten something..."

"The only wrong thing about it, is that it doesn't tell you what you forgot." said Professor Flitwick said sadly.

"Harry, Hermione and Ron taught me a bunch of good ways to remember things, so I actually don't need that Remembrall anymore." said Neville beaming over to Ron and Harry.

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.

"Why! You little thief!" scolded Bathilda Bagshot. Shaking a finger at Malfoy.

"You used to call Harry a little thief, Batty. Do you remember?" said Dumbledore, trying to calm her. He knew, that when she worked herself up, she was twenty times worse than Molly or Harry ever could be.

"Indeed I do, Albus." she said, smiling all of a sudden. "The young scamp would crawl on the table, from his mother or father's lap and pilfer all the coconut macaroons, that I would bake." she chided, shaking the same finger towards Harry, quite a bit gentler though.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"Due to your father, James, I had to develop that ability." said McGonagall sternly.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

"Well aren't you a tattle tale, Longbottom?" snickered Millicent Bulstrode.

"Better than losing one's property." said Blaise.

Millicent, turned red. "Why are you now sticking up for them?"

Blaise couldn't answer her. He couldn't understand it either, why was he standing up for the Gryffindors? Especially Potter and his friends!

My mother's numerous husbands. He thought to himself coldly. Many of them would smack him at almost every opportunity they had. They didn't like that she doted on him instead of them and they took their frustration out on him. Potter had the same kind of life, only his abuse was worse off.

It wasn't pity that drew him to Potter, it was...parallelism of the two of them. They were the exact same, yet not.

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

"Just looking ," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"Bull, you would have taken it." said Angelina furiously, not wishing to forgive the little troll for taking her three best Quidditch players away.

At three thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day,

"Perfect flying conditions." said Madame Hooch and the Quidditch players

and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forests, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

"I'll say it again, you should write music, Harry, or poetry." said Dumbledore smiling over to Harry.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in the neat line on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasely complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrant if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

"Ruddy brooms." mumbled Fred.

"School needs new brooms." muttered George.

"Not really, those are the best brooms to learn from." said Harry brightly. "Not too fast, slow enough so we can learn the basics all right. As long as one doesn't panic." he added and sending an apologetic look to Neville.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"I like your description of me, Mr. Potter. Very nice." said Madam Hooch, trying to hide a slight twinge of pink in her cheeks.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.

"Stick out your right hand over you broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did.

"You were being modest Mr. Potter. Your broom was off the ground at least two minutes before anyone else's did." said Madam Hooch looking at him proudly.

Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

"I found out right quick after that, just how much I wanted to stay on the ground." said Neville trying not to laugh at himself.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"It worked before I got to Hogwarts." said Draco a little stubbornly.

"It wouldn't have, if you have flown for longer than an hour. Your hands would have been stiff and sore, you'd fallen off easily." said Madam Hooch simply.

Draco uncrossed his arms slowly.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle-three-two-"

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Oh, dear. I hope you don't get hurt Neville dear." said Mrs. Weasely. Neville looked a bit taken aback.

"She worries about everyone, Nev. Everyone and anyone who needs it." whispered Ron. "I just tell people to go with it."

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle-twelve feet-twenty feet.

"You can even judge distances, at such a young age? Is there anything you can't do?" asked Rivers.

Harry gave it some thought, then he smiled. "I'm a ruddy awful dancer, paranoid sometimes, and I can't lie to save my life." he then thought once more. "and I wouldn't be able to do all I do, without my friends, and lots of outside help."

His friends smiled and many adults, including Rivers, nodded.

Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp,

"Not even on a broom yet and you still had Seeker's Sight." said Angelina happily.

slip sideways off the broom and-

WHAM-a thud and nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap.

"Oh you poor thing." said Luna patting Neville's arm.

His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

"Well that explains how we lost one." said Dumbledore kindly over to Neville. "Were you alright?"

"Yes sir, I only hurt my wrist. I'm sorry about the broom, sir." said Neville nervously.

"Oh don't worry about it, you should have seen all the brooms that I have seen banished into Forbidden Forest. Your father, if I remember, sent two or three into the woods a week until he got the hang of it. Mind you, it took several months."

Neville beamed immensely.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy-it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

"What was I thinking? Leaving the Gryffindors and the Slytherins alone with a bunch broomsticks all over the place! The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together are one thing, but those two! What was I thinking?" said Madam Hooch looking up into the sky.

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist , hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

"I feel kind of like a big baby and a big wuss now." said Neville sadly.

"Why do you say that Neville? Having a broken wrist is quite painful." said Mr. Weasely smiling down at him.

"Yeah, but..that was only time I broke a bone in my life. Harry...the scroll..." he said almost in a whimpering tone.

The school, which was in a reasonably good mood, despite the fears that Neville had really hurt himself, all of a sudden turned very somber and sad.

"Neville..." started Harry, but he stopped. How should he go about this, without sounding like a prat. He gave up, rather reluctantly. He wanted him to feel better. But nothing, absolutely nothing could he think up.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Of course you would." said Ginny rather fiercely.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

"Didn't know Dudley was there." said Harry with a smile. People started to laugh.

The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil

"Good for you Pavarti, stand up for your fellow housemate" said Tonks.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati."

"Still don't know what you see in fat cry-babies." sneered Pansy.

"Thinking back to that day, he was only five pounds overweight. You on the other hand, were at least ten pounds over." Harry said maliciously.

Pansy blanched.

"And as for the here and now. Neville has gotten taller and is dead on with the weight he should be. You haven't changed, still ten pounds over." he added snidely.

Pansy turned even whiter.

Sirius tugged at the top of Harry's head, "That was a very low blow to say to a girl. Normally I say don't pick on 'em, cause they'll mess you up something fierce. But right on, good show." he said wickedly.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

"That's right, get Neville's Remembrall back for him." said Sirius looking at the book.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I think I'll leave it someone for Longbottom to find-how about-up a tree?"

"And how are you going to get it up there? Madam Hooch said no flying?" said Percy looking confused.

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off.

"You expected him to follow the rules, Percy?" said Sirius with his eyebrows raised.

He hadn't been lying, he could fly well.

"Wait, what? What did that book just say?" said Malfoy, thinking that he didn't hear right.

"It said, that I thought, that you could fly well." said Harry repeating it for Malfoy. Malfoy looked shocked.

Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move-you'll get us all into trouble."

Harry ignored her.

"I really hate to say this Potter," said McGonagall, whispering in his ear while leaning over to him. "I'm sort of glad you did. But you still shouldn't have startled me so."

Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him-and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught-this was easy, this was wonderful.

The students cheered, this was the start of the school's star Quidditch player's career!

He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.

"I appreciated that." said Harry over to Ron.

He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to follow me. Thought I was the only one who knew how to fly well." said Malfoy weakly.

"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"AHA! Violent tendencies!" bellowed Umbridge and Fudge.

"I'll show you 'violent tendencies' if you interrupt with your nonsense again!" said Sirius and Madam Bones loudly.

The Minister and Fudge cowered slightly.

"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.

Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin.

"That is what you used to do on your father's broom, with him. Just like I said a moment or two ago." said Dumbledore brightly.

Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy, " Harry called.

"He's right, Malfoy will have to deal with you on his own." said Kingsley with a smile.

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.

"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted,

"Coward." muttered Kingsley

and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

"Oh, dear. It's going to break!" said one of the third year Hufflepuffs.

Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall.

"Slow motion? Just how finely tuned are your senses?" said Sirius quickly.

He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down-next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball-wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching-he stretched out his hand-a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass

"If it weren't for that first scroll, I would say I'd beat you soundly for giving me a heart attack." said Sirius, accepting a Calming Draught from Dumbledore.

with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

People that hadn't heard this story, clapped wildly.

"HARRY POTTER!"

"Oooh, way to kill the moment!" shouted the twins.

His heart sank faster than he'd dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling.

"Diving from a fifty-foot dive doesn't scare you, but my coming after you causes you to tremble in fear?" said McGonagall said with her eye open wide.

Harry turned and blushed.

"Very, very wise." mouthed Lupin.

"Never-in all my time at Hogwarts-"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock,

Sirius whistled, "That's a first." McGonagall rewarded him with a face full of cake, from the table of snacks for Harry, at his elbow. She smirked as she put her wand away.

and her glasses flashed furiously, "-how dare you-might have broken your neck-"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor-"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"

"But Malfoy-"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasely. Potter, follow me, now."

"Why didn't' you ask people to find out what had happened?" asked Tonks questioningly.

"I didn't need to ask, I've already seen what happened from the window in my office." said McGonagall.

Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it.

"Oh, Potter, I'm sorry I frightened you." said Madam Hooch. "We wouldn't expel you for flying, we would've given you a month's worth of detention, maybe, but not expel you."

He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice.

"I wondered why you weren't talking, I've pulled students out of class before, and they've always defended themselves." said McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep?

Harry gave a full-body shiver. Sirius and Remus looked at him concerningly.

"What's wrong, cub?" said Sirius.

"I was thinking what would have happened if I got expelled then, I'm not too sure how it would have gone. Very badly I suspect."

Growls rippled through the Great Hall.

Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled by allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant.

"Don' need an assistant 'Arry, but t'was nice o' you ta think o' me." said Hagrid kindly.

His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.

"Felt ta same way, when I was expelled, bit depressin'." said Hagrid, but strangely he didn't have a sad look on his face.

"But, I got ter stay at Hogwarts when they had ter leave. So I got the best lot." said Hagrid beaming.

Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?

"We don't use that sort of punishment here. I won't stand for it." said Dumbledore firmly.

Harry on the other hand wasn't listening. A flurry of recollections of the incident came to him once again, it was a thick cudgel and it was smashing into his chest. Was that what happened to him? No, he thought, that wouldn't explain the lacerations on his legs and chest. But that would explain the cracked and broken ribs he gained from the incident.

But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.

"He wasn't the only one, you looked absolutely perplexed, Harry." said Professor Flitwick.

"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.

"In here."

Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.

"We didn't teach him that!" said Fred, George, Lupin and Sirius loudly.

"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood-I've found you a Seeker."

"Wait, you didn't give him a detention?" said Professor Snape incredulously.

"Well, what did you give Mr. Malfoy?" questioned McGonagall

Snape said nothing.

Wood expression changed from puzzlement to delight.

"Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"

"That I could remember, apparently." said Harry gaining his voice back from his thoughtful ravine.

Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs.

"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasely couldn't have done it."

"You and I will have to play sometime, Harry." called Charlie.

Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.

"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.

"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.

"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light-

"Too light, STILL too light." mumbled Madam Pomfrey.

speedy-

"Too right!" said Ron, thinking of the second scroll.

we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor-a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."

"Cor, Harry!" said a first year Hufflepuff.

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year.

"Flying flobberworms would have been better than that year." said Snape quietly with a large smirk on his face.

Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."

Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.

"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."

Then she suddenly smiled.

"Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."

"'Excellent' is an understatement." whispered Sirius. "And he would have been extremely proud."

"You're joking."

It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.

"Wow, Ron not eating? Rita, are you writing this down? This could be the biggest news you've ever written. The only news you've ever written." said Bill smirking over to the paper correspondent. She only scowled, dang blasted quill wouldn't work for her and she to just sit and try and remember all she was hearing. Which was becoming, quickly, an impossibility.

"Seeker?" he said. "But first years never-you must be the youngest House player in about-"

"-a century," said Harry, shoveling pie into his mouth.

"Oh, dear! Don't choke!" said Madam Pomfrey worriedly.

"I taught Ron The Heimlich, 'cause I had to do it on him one or twice." said Harry laughing hard.

He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."

Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.

"I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

"It lasted a lot longer than I thought it would." said Harry chuckling.

Fred and George Weasely now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.

"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too-Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year." said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left,

"What? I left two years before that! What the heck..was going on, with you lot?" said Charlie in shock.

"No seekers, no winners." said Fred shrugging.

but this year's going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Traumatizing, that was." said Fred faking a shiver.

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

"You could've let me know you knew about that one!" said Lee a little hurt.

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"Never, he's never going back." said Sirius, Lupin and Dumbledore together.

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly.

"Very brave to say that in front of them, Potter." said Snape, with a very impressed sound in his voice.

There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"Thank goodness, you were there. Our faces, probably, would have been rearranged." said Ron.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy.

"Hmph, that's not likely." scoffed Ginny.

"Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course not!, Living in the Muggle world, how was he to know what happens during that?" said Seamus.

"It's like a muggle duel. Only wands, instead of guns or swords." said Harry.

"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.

"Yeah, don't go with smarts or anything, And why are you sizing them up? You said no contact!" scolded Tonks.

Malfoy didn't answer her.

"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

"You knew this how?" asked Snape looking at him in amazement. But Draco didn't answer, he only shifted nervously in his seat.

When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.

"What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie.

"You say that while you are eating? Are you outta your mind!?" said Bill.

"I didn't think anything could happen." shrugged Ron.

catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly,

"He looked at me like I was insane. Kinda funny really." said Ron with a laugh.

"But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."

"Not really, was hoping you took it." said Draco.

"Why?" asked another Slytherin.

"You'll find out, fast." said Harry.

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Throw it on the ground and punch him in the nose." said Sirius.

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.

"Right on." said Sirius with a high five to Ron.

"Excuse me." They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.

"Honestly Hermione, every single time I looked up, there you were. Staring at me." said Harry with a laugh.

Hermione smiled and blushed deeply.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.

"Apparently not." said a Slytherin.

Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry. "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying —"

"Oh, Hermione! You really have to learn to mind your own business." said Lavender laughing.

"Oi! Leave her alone!" said Ron and Harry. Lavender looked taken aback.

"Bet you could," Ron muttered.

"— and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"Who were you addressing that to?" asked Ron.

"Umm, Harry..." said Hermione quietly.

"Are you nuts?" said several different people.

"No, I wasn't' thinking of the good of the House, I only wanted to kick Malfoy's ass." said Harry defending Hermione.

"And it's really none of your business," said Harry.

"Good-bye," said Ron.

"Oh, Ron. Could you at least, try and be nice?" admonished Mrs. Weasely.

"Hey I tried! Then I gave up." Ron said defending himself.

All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing).

"Why weren't you in bed, Longbottom?" asked McGonagall.

"Umm...I forgot the password" said Neville quietly.

Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them."

"Sage advice, Mr. Weasely." smiled Dumbledore.

There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness — this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. He couldn't miss it.

"I thought of it , like, facing all the bullies that had messed with me in the Muggle school I went to." said Harry with a satisfied smile.

Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "we'd better go."

They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows.

"That makes the Gryffindor common room seem creepy." said Dean shaking slightly.

They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."

"You are stalking him, aren't you Hermione?" said Lupin, laughing out loud.

"I just thought he was interesting person! Not at all like the books I read." she said with a defeated voice.

A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.

"You sound like a wife, waiting for her drunk husband to come home." said Sirius almost falling out of bowl.

Hermione chewed her lip.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"Good luck with that." said Hermione starting to fight back. However, her voice was weak.

Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.

"Now, that is one of the qualities that I find so endearing about you." said Harry with a broad smile.

"You act like boyfriend and girlfriend." said Charlie.

"More like brother and sister." said Harry and Hermione quickly.

"Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.

Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.

"I didn't sound like that did I?" said Hermione fearfully.

"Well, sort of..." said Harry and Ron feeling a little bad.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves,

"Hermione, don't ever let me catch you saying that again." scolded McGonagall.

"I won't, I promise I won't." said Hermione shamefully. Ron patted her on the back.

I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

A few sixth years whistled, "How many points did you give her?"

"Sixty." said McGonagall.

More people whistled.

"Go away."

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so —"

"I'm real sorry Hermione, but thank goodness Ron and Harry calmed you down. You were a bit much." said Neville. Hermione smiled sadly and nodded.

But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a night time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

"Well that sucks." said Fred and George with shocked looks on their faces.

"Oh, wait a bit...what time did he say it was? Half past eleven? She's out visiting her friends then, you've got to wait about thirty minutes then to get back inside." said Sirius with a smirk.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.

"Not their problem." said Moody, he was not happy with the young lady. The way she acted, it was wrong. Though he was anxious to know how she changed for the better.

"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."

They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them. "I'm coming with you," she said.

"You are not."

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"ARE YOU FLIPPING PSYCHO? Why the heck would they defend you? No sane person would defend you?" said Fred and George staring at her.

Hermione stood up and ran out of the Hall, crying.

Harry shook his head and began to stand.

"Harry, you should rest." said Madam Pomfrey. "I'll go find her."

Harry ignored her and finished standing "When she gets back, you all lay off, understand? If you've got a beef with her, you go through me." said Harry firmly and walked slowly out of the Hall.

His cane clicked heavily on the stone floor as he exited the hall. He closed the door behind himself and heaved a sigh. He then listened carefully, he heard sobbing coming from outside. He hobbled out to the grounds and there she was, underneath a tree to the right of the door.

Harry sighed again and walked over to her, he handed her a handkerchief.

"I told them to lay off of you." said Harry leaning with his back against the tree heavily .

"Thanks, how much longer are they going to hate me?" she said desperately, crying into the piece of cloth.

"Only till the troll. Then they are going to love you, they will be worried sick about you." he said with a smile.

"Oh, Harry, you and Ron, you…" she started, wiping her eyes.

"We wouldn't be here without you." said Harry seriously.

"You would have thought of escape routes. You always do." hiccupped Hermione.

"There were times that I was a little slow on the uptake, and you rose to the occasion." said Harry, pulling her into a tight hug.

They stood there for a good three minutes or more, Hermione, slowly calming down.

"Let's go back, Umbridge must be having a fit." he said with a smile. "On second thought, let's go for a walk. My leg could do with some stretching and it being a nice day and all."

Hermione laughed and she and Harry walked along the path nearest to them, leading down to the Greenhouses.

It was an hour later, when they arrived back into the Great Hall. Umbridge was shrieking and caterwauling, if she was trying to deafen everyone near her, she was doing a bang up job.

"Where were you? We've been waiting for you to stop your crying and get back!" she screamed.

"I needed to stretch my legs a bit, and it took a long time for me to find her, ma'am." he said with innocent eyes. "Remember what I said." said Harry sternly to the people around them.

Several people walked up to her, including the twins and apologized profusely, didn't mean to hurt her.

Hermione sat down beside Ron, "Sorry I didn' t come looking for you, but I had a feeling he would do a lot better talking to you then I would." said Ron with a smile.

"How did you two become friends? She sounded like an absolute horror." said Zacharias, he was the only non-Slytherin to not apologize to her.

Harry ignored him, and Hermione and Ron were too busy talking to each other to take notice of him.

"You've got some nerve —" said Ron loudly.

"I still can't believe you said that, Hermione." said Ron quietly to Hermione.

"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something."

"Oh, crud. What is there now?" asked Katie fearfully.

It was a sort of snuffling.

"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

"Was it?" asked the twins

"Nope, thank God." said Harry and Ron.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville.

"What the..." said Lupin.

He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."

Some people laughed but that stopped when Harry glared at them.

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout'

The other houses tried to stifle their laughter, what kind of password is that?

but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."

"How's your arm?" said Harry.

"Your so kind, Harry." said the fourth year Gryffindor that kept batting her eyelashes at him.

"Who's that?" asked Sirius quietly.

"Beats me, never met her before." said Harry plainly.

"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Well, what were you doing out of the tower then? Why weren't you in bed?" asked Percy.

"Madam Hooch just said that he couldn't remember the password." said Sirius.

"Oh, right." said Percy quietly.

"Good — well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later —"

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

"Is he even scarier at night?" asked a first year Ravenclaw.

"Yes!" said Neville and the entire Slytherin house.

Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville. "If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."

"After I heard that, I refused to teach him that curse. You don't use magic like that." said Harry looking over at Ron, sternly.

"It took me three months to learn it on my own." said Ron shaking his head.

"Oh, no! Does that mean you got caught?" whined Sirius sadly. Harry and Ron pretended to look ashamed.

Sirius groaned, until he saw Hermione laugh and shake her head. Then he bopped Harry on the head with a cushion, and threw one at Ron.

Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies,

"That would have been a very bad move, Hermione." said Dumbledore said with a smile.

but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet.

The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once.

"You mean to say, that you, at eleven years of age, were already training yourself for an attack?" asked Moody, both eyes staring at him.

Harry looked down scratching his head.

"Good work, boy! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" bellowed Moody. Several students shrieked and fell off their chairs.

The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.

"Or, he never intended to come." growled Sirius.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

"Oh, sweet Merlin!" cried Fred.

"This is not good!" said George, covering his eyes.

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice.

"You're horror-struck, and you can still think enough to get the bloody hell out of there?" asked Lupin staring at the young man.

"I think when that happened with James and I, we stood frozen. Filch had to drag us out of the room he caught us in." said Sirius laughing.

Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor.

"For being petrified, you were moving very well." Snape sneered.

They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run-he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.

"Oooh! Not good, not good at all." said the students.

The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"I thought that was Peeves making all that racket." said Professor Snape bitterly, the other teachers nodded.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following—they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead,

"Small wonder he was in the lead." said Sirius with chuckle.

without any idea where they were or where they were going—

"Ever get the feeling Harry, kinda knew where he was going?" whispered Ron to Hermione.

"I didn't have a clue, I was just trying to get us the hell outta there." whispered Harry to them. The three of them laughed.

they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"Oh, really?" said Pansy sarcastically.

"About one and a half miles, actually." said Harry with a smile.

"How in the world do you know that?" she sneered.

"I felt it in my legs." said Harry simply.

No one contested that.

"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead.

"That means...whoa...the other guys must have been wiped out." whistled several different people.

Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.

"You are too flipping fast, Harry." said Hermione.

"I —told— you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I — told — you."

"Did you know that Draco wouldn't show up, Hermione?" said Luna, looking dreamily over to the Gryffindor Prefect.

"Well...no...but I knew that they were going to get in trouble." said Hermione quietly.

"Well, then you did know something would happen." said Luna happily.

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."

"Good thinking, go back to bed before anyone sees, you." said Tonks quickly.

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you — Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Hermione sent him a glare.

"Boys don't tell girls they're right." said Ron and Harry.

Every male, even Dumbledore, in the room nodded, it was true. Boys, especially adolescent boys, never let on that a girl was right.

"Let's go."

It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves.

"Just went from worse to even more worse." moaned Fred and George.

He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves — please — you'll get us thrown out."

"Telling him to shut up isn't a wise thing, trust me." said Lupin sadly.

Peeves cackled.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice,

"Saying 'Please' to him will get him talking like that." said Sirius shaking his head.

but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake.

"Very big mistake." moaned Ron.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"

Harry laughed as well as the rest of the school. " I bow to a greater 'Drama King'."

Ron waved his hand around regally, which set everyone off laughing again.

They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts.

"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled.

She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

The teachers paled, wasn't that the...oh Lord.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please.'"

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"That singsong voice of his is very annoying." mumbled Harry.

"All right —please."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!"

"We taught him that!" said Fred and George raising their hands.

And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

"I heard swear words, that I had never even heard of." said Harry laughing quietly

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay — get off, Neville!"

For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute.

"What?"

"Oh, Merlin! What now?" groaned Lupin.

Harry turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare — this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.

"That can't be good, if Harry is thinking that." said Dean, getting a little scared now.

They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

"Take a breath guys, cause all hell is going to break loose." said Harry to Ron, Hermione and Neville.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog,

"Oh he ain' monstrous!" said Hagrid, feeling a little hurt.

"He was to four, frightened first years." said Harry.

"Can we get on with the story!" said Sirius nervously.

a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

"OH MY GOD! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" screamed Sirius and Lupin.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise,

"Didn't need to hear that, didn't need to hear that." said Lupin rocking back and forth, holding onto one of Harry's hands tightly. Sirius was hugging the young man, just as tightly as could without hurting him.

but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.

Dumbledore paled, as did the rest of the regular staff.

Harry groped for the doorknob — between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.

"Live to sneak another day, very wise decision." said Snape, handing Calming Draughts to the staff and guests.

They fell backward — Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

A collective sigh rushed through the Great Hall.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Don't tell her, she' s the biggest gossip in the school." said Bill.

"Never mind that — pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.

"It takes a lot for Harry to start trembling." said Neville a little proudly.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"That only lasted till morning." he said smiling.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"Ron! We didn't know you could be funny!" said the twins proudly, rebounding quickly from hiding their eyes behind their hands and leaning heavily against each other.

Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor? Why were you focused on the floor?" said Justin in amazement.

"I couldn't look up, I was too scared." said Hermione.

"You made us think that you were the most observant one, Hermione." said Harry beaming.

Hermione blushed heavily.

"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"Us too." said Neville and Ron.

"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

She stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled.

"We helped her prioritize her life a little bit." said Ron with a laugh.

"And she helped us prioritize our homework schedule." Harry laughed back.

"Not that you needed it." she said with a smile.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron stared after her, his mouth open. "No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you."

But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something… What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts.

People looked at the book in earnest. Where was eleven year old Harry going with this?

It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.

"You figured all that out, that quickly?" I am intensely impressed, Harry." said Dumbledore proudly.

"Harry, I don't want to hear you going near that dog again, not it this lifetime, or the next!" bellowed Sirius, causing Harry look up quickly.

"I had no intention of going near him again." said Harry looking up at his godfather.

"Good! Cause if you do I...wait a minute, d-d-did you s-say that y-you HAD no int-intention?" he said fearfully.

"It's kinda towards the end." said Harry guiltily.

"You are SO grounded when I get you home." said Sirius with fear-ridden eyes.

"I'm not afraid of what you'll do for my groundings." said Harry with a slight smile.

"Why is that?" said Sirius with furrowed brows, he had never been a parent, but he knew that a grounding is something to be feared, not smiled at!

"I've gone fourteen years of 'Dursley Groundings' the Cruciatus Curse is better than what they did half the time." said Harry with a smile. Then he paused and smacked his forehead with his palm. "I need a filter for my mouth."

"Harry...I...I won't...ever...EVER...hurt you! Your...your leg...accident...I...didn't mean it. You've got to know that!" wailed Sirius. He started to cry hold him tightly. Harry, feeling the full repercussions of his words and a fresh wave of guilt, he allowed Sirius to hold him just as tightly as he dared and whispered to his godfather:

"I know, I know. I trust you, you and Remus. It's just, I keep forgetting that, you all know, now, parts of what I've been hiding. I'm sorry." said Harry trying to calm Sirius down.

Trying to steer the attention away from the two of them, to give them privacy. Dumbledore asked: "Who would like to read now? I think we can squeeze another chapter in, before dinner."

"May I sir?" asked Charlie.

"Of course, here you are." smiled Dumbledore, magicking the book down to the Dragon Tamer.

"All right then, the title is 'Halloween.'" said Charlie loudly.

"Bloody Hell." said Ron, Hermione, and Harry, the other students looked at them in wonder.