Harry Potter and the Dementors Unleashed: Harry's Sixth Year

     "So if Voldemort's got the Dementors on his side, then that means that - "

     "That means that all those Death Eaters we caught are out again," Hermione whimpered. "Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle will be looking particularly smug this year."

     Harry sat at Florence Fortescue's ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley, having just finished his school shopping. Ron and Hermione were with him, seeming to have made a silent agreement to quit fighting, and now sat there, deep in thought. All three of them were angry when the Daily Prophet didn't report the Dementors being freed. Hermione had fallen silent again, and Harry looked up at them.

     "Yeah, but we know how to protect ourselves, don't we? I taught you both the Patronus Charm last year."

     "Well, you can't've expected us to have perfected it, we're only human," replied Ron, leafing through the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6. "Wonder who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?"

     "I bet whoever it is is totally insane," said Harry, also looking at his new books, which were stuffed in his bag.

     "Why?"

     "Well, they took on the job, didn't they? They must've known it was jinxed, everyone does by now."

     "I bet it'll be a lot easier, now that I'm only taking four classes," said Ron, grinning.

     "Really?" asked Hermione, her eyebrows raised. "I'm taking six."

     Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at each other; Hermione was probably going for the hardest job in the wizarding world just as they expected she would.

     "Hermione, what are you going to be?" said Harry curiously, wondering what job would take so much training. Hermione blushed.

     "Well, I really couldn't decide, so, I - I'm taking all the basic ones," Hermione said.

     Ron thought for a second. "But Hermione, there are only five - Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic."

     "You forgot Herbology."

     "Oh, right."

     "So what are you going to be, Ron?" asked Harry, though he thought he might have an idea; Ron had shown many times over the past two years that he wanted to be an Auror, which is the job Harry had considered after school.

     "I'm going to be an Auror," said Ron confidently. "And you, Harry?"

     "I'm going to be an Auror, too," laughed Harry, and Ron beamed.

     "So I guess we'll have all our classes together."

     "And don't forget I'll be in all your classes too," said Hermione.

     "It feels like first year again. Except we know our way around the school."

     "Well, well, if it isn't Potty and the Weasel," said a cold, drawling voice behind them, and Ron immediately had out his wand and was pointing directly above Harry's head. Harry slowly turned around.

     "Hello, Malfoy," said Harry calmly. "How's your father? We're all dying to know." At this, Malfoy's cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, started flexing their muscles threateningly.

     Malfoy's mouth twitched. "My father is alive and well, Potter. How's yours?"

     Harry stood up, whipping out his wand and pointing it directly at Malfoy's forehead. A very awful sensation had filled his stomach at the mention of his father. "Unless you want a scar like mine you better shut your fat mouth."

     "My father should have cursed you when he had the chance," replied Malfoy, apparently under the impression that he was invulnerable to jinxes. Turning around, he motioned to Crabbe and Goyle to leave. "Let's hope my father has mercy on the filthy little Mudblood, shall we?" Suddenly a shout and a jet of blue light shot past Harry and hit Malfoy in the back, causing him to riverdance. Harry and Ron burst into laughter and turned around to see Hermione, panting and on her feet. She pocketed her wand and watched Malfoy with a satisfied sort of smile on her face, then she started to laugh, too. Harry looked over at Crabbe and Goyle, snapping their fingers in front of Malfoy's face and apparently trying to talk him out of the spell. The three of them stood, still laughing heartily, and walked down to the book store where they were to meet Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. They entered Flourish and Blotts to find something of an argument going on; the only reason they parted the crowd is because they could recognize Mrs. Weasley's dulcet tones anywhere.

     " - Arthur has always been very much of a nuisance at the Ministry and we feel - "

     " - YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF FILTH, LAYING PEOPLE OFF BECAUSE THEY DISAGREE WITH YOU - "

     " - we really had no choice, Molly, it was that or the Ministry was done for - "

     " - ARTHUR HAS ALWAYS BACKED YOU UP, BUT ONE LITTLE MISTAKE AND - "

     " - you know as well as I do that this is not the only mistake Arthur has ever made! Do you not recall the flying car? Or do you choose to ignore things like that?"

     There was a silence. Harry was still pushing his way to the front of the line. He was stunned to see Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, standing ten feet apart from Mrs. Weasley with a triumphant look on his face. He seemed to have struck a nerve.

     "Fudge," said Mrs. Weasley in a deadly quiet voice, and Harry instinctively winced, "I believe you are making a very big mistake."

     "I beg to differ."

     "YOU LITTLE INGRATE, YOU'LL REGRET THIS, YOU WAIT, I HOPE - I HOPE - I HOPE THE DEMENTORS GET YOU NEXT!"

     Everyone went very silent. A wizard next to Harry said loudly, "What Dementors, Molly?" and Mrs. Weasley stared at Fudge, who looked as though he was seriously regretting firing Mr. Weasley. "Oh, that's right, Fudgie here hasn't told you, has he?"

     Several people shook their heads.

     "You-Know-Who has them on his side now, he's freed them from Azkaban, and he's setting them loose, so I would - "

     "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Fudge was red in the face. "THAT IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS, I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO TELL THEM ANYTHING!"

     "It's not our business that we could get our soul sucked out?" said a witch in the back, and several people shouted their agreement.

     "Well, I don't think - " Fudge started, but he was interrupted by several cries of anger. Harry noticed Mrs. Weasley slip outside and he motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow.

     Outside, you couldn't hear a single thing going on inside of Flourish and Blotts, and Harry felt rather relieved to get away from the noise. Mrs. Weasley looked very angry. He looked around at the four of them - wait, four of them? He stared at them, counting them mentally.

     "Where's Ginny?"

     Mrs. Weasley raised her eyebrows. "She went with you three," said Mrs. Weasley accusingly.

     Harry and Ron looked at each other. "No she didn't," they chorused. She looked around. Hermione looked through the shop windows.

     "Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley called. "Ginny!" Deciding that Ginny would never hear her over the crowd, she pulled out her wand. She heaved an exasperated sigh. "Sonorus," Harry heard her say, and all three of them plugged their ears.

     "GINNY WEASLEY, GET OVER HERE NOW!!!" she boomed. Harry unplugged his ears and waited. Everyone was staring at them and rubbing their ears angrily. "Quietus," she muttered as Ginny raced around the corner.

     "Sorry Mum," Ginny panted. "I just - got lost." Mrs. Weasley scolded her and led them all back down the alley. Harry knew very well that Ginny had not gotten lost and he looked at her questioningly. She shot a quick glance at the back of Mrs. Weasley's head and mouthed, "Later." Harry nodded.

     "Wow, look, it's the new racing broom," said Ron in awe. Harry looked over and mentally smirked, - it was just a Comet 380, not better than his Firebolt. Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'more important things'. Ron whirled around.

     "What do you mean? I still have my mind on important things!" said Ron indignantly.

     "Ron, your father just got fired, and you're going on about a broom - "

     "What do you mean, my father just got fired?"

     Harry turned around to face Ron. "What did you think that row was about?"

     "Well - I dunno - are you sure he's fired?"

     "Yes we're sure," said Harry, turning to catch up with Mrs. Weasley, who hadn't noticed they'd fallen behind. Ron and Hermione followed, still arguing. He weaved through the crowd and turned to make sure Ron and Hermione were still there, then kept walking. He heard snags of their argument every now and then; apparently Hermione was accusing Ron of having a very short attention span, while Ron yelled back that she just liked to argue, and this continued all the way through The Leaky Cauldron and back to the house. Harry hoped very much that they were still speaking, and they were, although every time Ron did or said anything Hermione did not like, she made a strange clicking noise with her tongue, as though to restrain it from starting another argument.

     It was a good thing that there was something to distract Ron and Hermione, because Harry was sure they would have killed each other if the O.W.L.s results had not arrived.

     Harry was sure he had read the letter wrong. He rolled his eyes over the paper again, checking it for any sort of mistake.

     Dear Mr. Potter,

     The following are your O.W.L.s results from the previous year: Transfiguration.......................................Outstanding

History of Magic.....................................Poor

Care of Magical Creatures.....................Outstanding

Defense Against the Dark Arts...............Outstanding

Potions....................................................Outstanding

Charms....................................................Exceeds Expectations

Herbology...............................................Exceeds Expectations

Divination...............................................Dreadful

Astronomy...............................................Poor

     Harry almost jumped up with glee. He was going to be an Auror! Yes! He was about to tell Hermione when she came bursting into his room.

     "Harry, look, I got an O in everything! What did you get?"

     Harry beamed. "I passed, I passed! I'm going to be an Auror, I can't wait to tell Ron - " Harry stopped. Hermione face had fallen at the mention of Ron's name.

     "I - don't think you should, Harry, he's really upset - he won't tell me - I think it's his Potions, but it might be - I don't know, don't ask him, okay?"

     Harry thought for a moment, then decided to let Ron tell him on his own. "Okay, okay, I won't ask him."

     Hermione looked relieved. Just then Ron entered the room. Harry got the feeling that Ron was purposefully avoiding their gaze.

     "Ron, we - we wanted to ask - " Hermione stopped, clearly appalled at the look on Ron's face. He looked as though he were headed to the gallows. "We were wondering what you got on your - tests."

     Ron stared at them. His face had gone red. "Here." He handed her the letter and clenched his teeth. He seemed to be trying to con

     Hermione's eyes darted over the paper. Harry saw her read it twice. Then she promptly went over and smacked Ron aside the head.

     Ron burst out laughing and Hermione looked at him and joined in. Harry sat there, confused, then picked up the fallen letter. He looked at it, then grinned. Ron had the same grades as he. He fell back on Ron's bed, watching Ron and Hermione, who were still laughing. Watching them laugh, of course, made him start laughing, and they sat there, Ron pointing at Hermione and managing to choke out, "Got you! Got you both!" before he started to laugh again. A loud voice from downstairs interrupted them.

     "Ronald Weasley, get down here this instant!"

     "Com - coming, Mum!" said Ron, wiping tears from his eyes. Ron stood and left, still chuckling.

     "He shouldn't've done that, had me worried sick, I thought he failed every class," said Hermione, rolling onto her stomach in a very un-Hermione-like way. "I was so worried we wouldn't be in any classes together, and - " she paused, thinking about what she just said. "What I mean to say is - it's always been us three - I know how disappointed you would be if he weren't there with you in Potions or something," she finished hastily, carefully avoiding Harry's eyes. Harry saw her trying to look somewhere else and end up glaring at the poster on the wall. "Why does he have these up, anyway?" she asked, gesturing at the walls. Harry raised his eyebrows, yawning.

     " 'Spect it's cause you told him to. He said you told him to start liking girls and stop arguing with them." Hermione looked thunderstruck.

     "This isn't what I meant!" she hissed. At that moment Ron walked back in, grinning.

     "Mum wanted to know what I got on my O.W.L.s, she's hysterical that I got top marks and that I want to be an Auror - "

     "Is your mother really that proud, Ron?" asked Hermione in a dangerous voice. Ron nodded, his grin slowly fading at the look on Hermione's face.

     "Maybe she will reconsider when she sees these, hm?" said Hermione, looking at the posters with disgust.

     Ron was growing angry. "Hermione, you hate it when I argue, so I find something else to do - "

     "Bet that was a challenge."

     " - and you yell at me for that - "

     "Did I hurt your feelings? I'm NOT sorry!"

     Harry watched old tempers flare up again. Their constant bickering was enough to drive one mad, and Harry swore one could set their watch by it.

     "It's not my fault I like the Weird Sisters - everyone does - so why can't I?"

     "I can't like Viktor so why - "

     "DO YOU MEAN DEAR VICKY? BECAUSE - "

     "DON'T CALL HIM THAT, - "

     "I WILL CALL HIM WHAT I WANT TO, THANKS!"

     "WHAT DID VICKY EVER - " Hermione stopped and went very red. Ron was staring at her with a triumphant look on his face.

     "Aha!" he said, pointing at Hermione. "So you do call him Vicky!"

     "No, I don't, not all the time," murmured Hermione, still looking shocked at what she said. "Only once in a while, but - "

     "So you just like to argue?"

     "No, Ron, I don't think you - "

     "But when I call him Vicky it's bad?"

     "WELL HE'S NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!"

     "HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND?"

     Hermione stared at him in disbelief. Then she turned on her heel and marched out of the room. Ron rounded on Harry.

     "He's her boyfriend? Did you know about this?"

     "I guessed it would happen, Ron, I mean they spent the whole first half of summer holidays together," said Harry, throwing up his hands. Ron fell back on his bed.

     "Who does she think she is?" he snarled, staring at a poster intently.