Status Quo

Status Quo

Harry Potter was a complicated boy in many ways. He was very proficient when it came to the sport of Quidditch, for example, but the game of chess meant absolutely nothing to him. He could talk about anything with his friends Ron and Hermione, but couldn't talk to an attractive girl without his ears going red. He had defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort on several occasions - and yet he could not, for the life of him, work out how he was going to find another three inches for this History of Magic essay.

'Damn,' he said, as some of the ink from his attractive feather quill blotted the page. Harry liked his feather quill. He could not remember where it had come from, but he liked it all the same. It fit snugly between his thumb and index finger. Not like those awful sugar quills that Ron was always buying - they were too thin, too fragile, and they secreted a vile sugary substance all over your work. Eagle feather suited Harry just fine.

Harry paused and re-read his paragraph.

The founding of Hogwarts took place about a millennium ago, although the exact date is not known. The significance of Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff is that they possessed qualities and virtues that are still evident in students today. Each had their very own style of magic, and a way of teaching and adapting it.

He frowned. He was drawing a blank. He knew that Hermione would have finished this days ago, probably with footnotes and illustrations, and it slightly irritated him. Not the fact that she had done the essay - the fact that he hadn't, and really should have. Ron, fortunately, was almost if not more lazy than he was. And he didn't have the excuse of having to schedule and attend Quidditch training sessions on a regular basis.

All the same, the fact that Ron was in the same boat didn't make him feel any less dispirited about his History of Magic. Considering the teachers could rarely construct a sentence without involving the word "OWLs" these days, Harry knew he should be working harder. It wasn't that he didn't want to - he just lacked proper motivation.

He eventually gave up and set his quill down. It occurred to him that it was too hot to work in here. Not that he planned to move any time soon. He decided to shove his work back into his bag and lie down on one of the empty sofas near the fire.

It felt good to relax. He let himself stretch out slowly as the warmth permeated his body. He knew he'd get too hot in a short space of time, but didn't let that bother him unduly. It was nice to lie and not think about anything.

'Harry Potter! What do you think you're doing?'

Damn, Harry thought, as Hermione's unimpressed voice drove away all the tranquillity from his mind. He sat up.

'Trying to sleep,' he said dozily. Hermione had entered the common room alone, the contents of half a bookshelf tucked under her arms. If there was one person more obsessed with the OWLs than the professors, it was Hermione.

'Planning some light reading before bed?' Harry asked with a half-smile. He watched Hermione's expression soften, but her eyes continued to gleam at him.

'Did you finish your essay?'

'Er, well. Ah, sort of. If by "finish" you mean... "not finish", then yes, I suppose I did.'

Hermione let out a sigh and came over to sit down next to him, shoving his feet off the sofa. Her look of reproval had been replaced by one of exasperation.

'Oh Harry,' she said. 'Why haven't you done it? You were getting on quite well earlier.'

'I don't know,' Harry replied truthfully. 'I just didn't have the motivation to finish it, really. It's so boring.'

'It's not boring!' Hermione exclaimed with surprise. 'Harry, the history of Hogwarts is fascinating. And it is so interesting to do some work on the school founders rather than always going through goblin rebellions... you'd know more about it, if you -'

'- bothered to read Hogwarts: A History,' finished an amused voice from the direction of the portrait hole. Ron was back. 'Harry, I am shocked and moreover appalled that you have not done your essay. I would like it to be known that I have completed mine all by myself.'

'Wow, all by yourself,' said Harry with a grin. 'Are you feeling all right?'

'I came over all faint somewhere around the fifth paragraph, but I soldiered on,' said Ron, waving a piece of parchment at them. Hermione looked at it with foreboding.

'Can I see?' she said.

'By all means,' said Ron, passing it to her and setting himself down in an armchair. Harry watched him closely. He looked comfortable, sitting in that armchair. Peaceful. Gone was the awkward Ron of the past who never really looked comfortable wherever he was. This was a Ron Harry respected as his best friend, even if he did secretly hate him for doing the essay he hadn't been able to.

Hermione's expression was fun to watch as she read through Ron's article. For a few minutes she looked at it with a furrowed brow - and all of a sudden, her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Her eyes roved across the page at lightning speed, and she had a habit of muttering things that she was either thinking or reading under her breath.

'How was Quidditch practice, Harry?' Ron asked, calmly stretching his legs out.

'It went well,' Harry admitted. He looked for some physical response from Ron, but none came. He knew Ron was still a little sore deep down about not making the Quidditch team, but there was nothing Harry could have done. As the captain, he had to have the best players playing for his team. As much as it had pained him to admit it, Ron had not been of a high enough calibre. He seemed to have accepted it by now, though.

'Points for enthusiasm,' said Ron with a wry smile. 'How is Ginny getting on?'

'She's doing well. Lacking Oliver's maniacal desire to win a bit, but she's shaping up nicely. I'm sure she'll make a great Keeper.'

'Ah, now, what's Quidditch without a maniacal desire to win? Obviously Fred, George, Charlie and I didn't do a good enough job of teaching her the game.'

Harry smiled. At first, Ron had looked on the verge of suicide when his sister gained the spot on the Quidditch team that he had lusted after for so long. It had probably been the most horrible decision of Harry's life, but he'd had to make it. Ron had had a turnaround since, although Ginny had still not entirely forgiven him.

'She's got great awareness and vision, though,' Harry continued. 'I'm sure I'll be able to get her fit enough for the game against Slytherin.'

Ron raised an eyebrow at him. 'I suppose you have your own special technique for getting her in shape, eh?'

Harry blinked at him and then coloured deeply. 'Oh, no - I didn't mean anything like that - I just meant...'

Ron cackled. 'I'm only joking, Harry. I don't seriously believe you're doing anything with my sister.'

Harry looked around, flustered, to check that no one was listening. Ron laughed even harder. 'Harry, I know you're not chasing after my sister. And even if you were, she could do worse.'

Harry was tempted to poke Ron's eyes out with his quill, but was distracted when Hermione drew in a long breath.

'What is it?' said Ron, with a hint of expectancy in his voice.

'Well, I'm - it's just a bit surprising, that's all.'

'What?'

'This essay. It's brilliant. Top standard. I'll be surprised if you don't get over a hundred per cent for it.'

Harry and Ron looked at her, stunned.

'Really?' said Harry, shocked.

'Really?' said Ron, also shocked but with an edge of pride in his voice.

Hermione burst out laughing. 'No! It's awful, Ron. You've got all your grammar mixed up, you've made a lot of the history up, there's hardly any structure, and since when was "Rhona Ravenclaw" one of the four founders?' She grinned as Harry burst out laughing and Ron scowled. 'Well, that's what you get for winding Harry up about Ginny.'

'That was a little harsh,' Ron said to Harry, as Hermione left them. She'd had a better offer; her Transfiguration notes.

'Good though, isn't she?' Harry grinned, taking Ron's essay and glancing over it. He noticed a paragraph Hermione had underlined and surrounded with question marks.

Salazar Slytherin had an affair with Rhona Ravenclaw while she was still engaged to Godric Gryffindor, and conseqeuntly Slytherin left the school. He was a pretty greasy bastard though and nobody missed him very much.

He smiled. It was nice to know that some things never changed.