Secrets

Chapter 8 - From Honeydukes to The Three Broomsticks

Christmas vacation was over before anyone realized it, and the students returned to Hogwarts happy and refreshed. Lisa had read three of the four books Professor Bale had lent her, and Kyra had come to visit half a dozen times during the break. Kyra had also practiced the exercises in the Classic Auror Training book until she knew them by heart.

The Professor was pleased with the progress both girls had made. Kyra found out that she was now slightly ahead of the Gryffindor students in their M.A.P.s, as Professor Bale began working with them on the exercises in chapter three when classes resumed in January. Kyra, meanwhile, moved on to the exercises in chapter five. Lisa began spending more time with Professor Flitwick doing Charms work than with Professor Bale, but she enjoyed herself so much that she didn't mind too much.

All those that were old enough took and passed the Apparation tests and earned their licenses during the first weekend after classes resumed. The first weekend of February was a Hogsmeade weekend, and Professor Bale chose that weekend to give them a practical lesson on Apparation. They spent their Tuesday lesson learning theory and the background for different situations. Those that had yet to earn their licenses were warned that if they were caught performing illegal Apparation he would personally string them up by their toes in the dungeon and have them scour Snape's cauldrons while they were at it.

The Professor then cancelled their Thursday and Friday lessons in exchange for monopolizing them as a group for two hours on Saturday morning. They agreed to meet at 10 in Honeydukes Sweetshop. It was impossible to Apparate within range of Hogwarts due to the spells in place around the school, so Hogsmeade was the next closest place they could go to practice.

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Before leaving Ravenclaw Tower on Saturday morning, Lisa and Kyra arranged to meet Terry and Noel in The Three Broomsticks after their lesson. The girls, dressed warmly to protect themselves from the bitter cold outside, headed out of the castle and through the gates to Hogsmeade. They walked quickly through freshly fallen snow, arriving at Honeydukes a full ten minutes early. They entered the shop to see Harry and Ron eating Pepper Imps and seeing who could breathe the longest plume of fire. Hermione was sitting off to one side, trying to pretend that she didn't know either of them, while Neville was serving as judge.

"I hope you bought enough to share!" Lisa called out to them as the girls entered.

Ron grinned and tossed an Imp to each of the girls. They took seats at the small table with the boys and popped the candy into their mouths. Lisa went first, and shot a breathe of flame almost eight inches in length out of her mouth.

"Oh, come on, is that all the better you can do?" Ron said in exasperation.

Kyra chose that moment to shoot a plume almost two feet in length out in front of her, almost singeing Neville's sweater.

"Nice one!" Harry complimented her, and Ron and Neville both looked impressed.

"Impressive," a voice complimented Kyra from the doorway. The students looked up to see Professor Bale standing there.

Kyra turned pink in embarrassment, and Lisa feverishly hoped he hadn't seen her pathetic attempt.

"Would you like one, Professor?" Ron asked him, holding the proffered piece of candy up.

Professor Bale smiled. "No thanks, Ron. I'm trying to cut back."

The students all laughed. Ernie MacMillian and Hannah Abbot entered the shop just then, and Ernie looked around. "What'd we miss?" he asked curiously. "Are we late?"

The Professor looked at the clock above the candy counter. "No, you're actually early. You're all a bunch of overachievers!" he exclaimed in good humor. "We still have five minutes, so if you'd like to have a go at the fire-breathing contest Mr. Weasley is sponsoring, be my guest."

Ron grinned. "Heads up!" he called out, tossing Pepper Imps to Ernie and Hannah.

Ernie grinned back and tossed the Imp into his mouth.

Hannah caught the Imp and immediately tossed it back to Ron. "Thanks," she told him, "but no thanks."

Ron shrugged and shoved the piece of candy into his own mouth. "Your loss," he said, before shooting an eighteen-incher her direction.

Once Ernie expelled his plume of fire, Professor Bale spoke again. "Right. Shall we get started then?" he asked.

"Please, Professor," Hermione spoke up, finally coming over to join the group.

"You really are a dud, you know that," Ron retorted in good humor. Hermione responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"Now, now children," Professor Bale jokingly admonished them. Ron and Hermione quit bickering, and he continued. "I've arranged for us to study in the back room at The Three Broomsticks," he told them. "So, please gather your things, and we'll head over there now."

The students stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Professor Bale asked them, using a tone of voice that implied they were doing something wrong.

Each of the students turned to look at their teacher with a confused expression on their faces.

"Oh!" Kyra spoke up suddenly as realization dawned on her. She smiled. "Right, see you there, Professor!" she called, before suddenly disappearing with a loud crack.

"Five points to Ravenclaw," Professor Bale said, smiling at the rest of them. "Harry, Ron, Neville, Hannah," he said, looking at each of them in turn, "you'd best start walking. We'll see you there in a few minutes."

"Right, Professor," Harry grumbled, pushing past Ernie and heading out of the candy shop.

"Bloody 'ell," Ron muttered, following his friend. "This isn't learning, it's torture, that's what it is!" he complained. It wasn't as though The Three Broomsticks was a great distance from Honeydukes or anything - it was the mere principle of not being able to Apparate like the rest of the class.

Hermione, Lisa, and Ernie followed Kyra's lead, Disapparating from Honeydukes and reappearing inside The Three Broomsticks. Professor Bale Apparated shortly after the four of them, and the non-licensed lot showed up a few minutes later.

They worked for two hours on various tricks for various situations. He also gave them lots of advice regarding what not to do in certain situations. The four youngest wizards even found themselves enjoying the lesson, though by the end they were even more annoyed at not being able to obtain their licenses until the next fall. Hannah planned to find out if her father knew anyone at the Ministry who could license her sooner. Ron agreed to ask his father and share his information with her if she shared hers. Unfortunately for Harry and Neville, they still wouldn’t be seventeen until the end of July, which meant they might as well just wait until the first week of classes next year.

By the time they finished their lesson, the main room of The Three Broomsticks was full of Hogwarts students. Terry and Noel had claimed a table and the boys caught Lisa and Kyra's attention as the M.A.P. group exited the back room.

"Hey, Professor," Terry greeted him as the group passed their table. "Would you care to join us for lunch?"

"Thanks, Terry," Professor Bale replied, turning around. "I'd like that."

"We'll see you later then, Professor!" Harry called out as the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students headed off to attend to their own affairs.

Lisa beamed at Terry, who smiled back and pulled out a chair for her. Slightly surprised at his hospitality, she settled into the seat. Professor Bale tossed his cloak over the back of the chair next to Terry and sat down at the table. Kyra sat to Lisa's left, and Noel sat between the Professor and Kyra.

They ordered sandwiches and butterbeer and spent the next hour talking about school, Apparation (Noel and Terry had also earned their licenses in January), Quidditch, and the upcoming Valentine's Day ball. Rumor had it that the teachers were tired of the students sneaking off to Hogsmeade on weeknights, so they planned to throw a ball this year in order to keep an eye on the students.

Only Noel had any idea who he wanted to ask - he'd developed a crush on the new Gryffindor Chaser, Ginny Weasley. Lisa wanted to go with the Professor, but that was probably out of the question. Kyra had a suspicion that Terry was going to ask Lisa, though he didn't do so during lunch. And Kyra had no idea who she'd want to ask to the ball... Her first choice would have been either Terry or Noel, but they were both semi-spoken for and she didn't have any other ideas off the top of her head.

The Professor excused himself after lunch, claiming other duties that had to be performed. He thanked them graciously for sharing their time with him, donned his cloak, and headed out into the brisk winter afternoon.

~*~