My Fair Lady

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My Fair Lady- Dumbledore and his Test

"That...that's...I mean, of course, Professor," Harry replied nervously. He could feel cold sweat pouring down his shirt. What will Dumbledore do to Hermione? He knows what is going on, as usual. Will he kick Hermione outside, or...?

Dumbledore smiled when he saw Harry's uneasy look. "It's all right. I won't hurt your dear friend. I'd just like to meet her."

"Well..." Harry gulped. He wasn't too sure about that just yet. He knows already. What's the point of keeping him away? It's going to happen sooner or later. Harry gritted his teeth and led Dumbledore over to Hermione and Ron. "Follow me, Professor. I would introduce you to my friend."

Hermione was caught by surprise when Harry and Dumbledore walked over their way. From all the pictures and biographies Harry and Draco had her study, Hermione was absolutely sure that the long bearded old man beside Harry was indeed a man named Albus Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards around. Upon seeing the troubled expression on Harry's face, Hermione clung tightly to Ron in fear.

"What's wrong, Hermy?" Ron whispered into Hermione's ear.

Under normal circumstances, Hermione would have boxed Ron's ears for calling her by one of her least favorite nicknames. However, Hermione didn't really hear Ron, for her mind was completely concentrated on the great wizard waling towards her.

"Dumbledore..." Hermione whispered; her voice was so faint that even Ron couldn't hear her. Hermione had hoped that she would somehow avoid meeting Dumbledore that night, but there he was, walking nearer and nearer every second, while being led by her teacher, Harry.

Harry stopped in front of the pair and cleared his throat. "Ahem! Sorry to interrupt your dance, but someone would like to meet you, Hermione."

Hermione and Ron let go of each other and faced Dumbledore squarely.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. I hope you have found the ball enjoyable," Ron greeted merrily, totally unaware of the discomfort the girl standing by him was experiencing.

"The ball is, indeed, very enjoyable. I wish the same for you too, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore's eyes transferred onto Hermione after he had finished talking to Ron. "And you too, Miss, are you enjoying yourself?'

Hermione pulled on the best mask she could manage. "Of course, Professor Dumbledore. I've always found Hogwarts' balls enjoyable."

Ah-uh, wrong move. Harry cursed inwardly. Dumbledore knows anyway. What's the point of pretending, Hermione?

"I am glad to hear that," Dumbledore replied while his eyes twinkled. He actually enjoyed playing along with Hermione's game. "Well, if Mr. Weasley doesn't mind, may I have a dance?"

Hermione glanced at Harry, who shrugged. "Of course, Professor. That would be my honor."

Ron and Harry were abandoned by Hermione, who left in the arms of Dumbledore.

"Time for a drink, mate," Ron laughed good-naturally. "Never thought little Hermy could have her way with the great Professor too."

"Hermy?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "You call Hermione 'Hermy?' She let you do that?"

Ron looked about nervously. "No, not exactly. She doesn't know that I call her that...yet."

Suddenly, Harry was pulled away from Ron. "Hey... what on earth is going on?" Harry struggled madly in his captor's grasp. However, he had no chance in escaping as his captor had a firm grasp on him.

Harry only had a chance to see his captor once before he was dragged into a boys' bathroom. "Malfoy! What do you want?"

Draco Malfoy had a very worried look on his face. "How could you send Hermione to him? He knows everything! He's going to see through your trick immediately. What you did is like...sending your lamb to a canine! What did you think you were doing?"

"Relax!" Harry hissed Draco, not sounding confident himself at all. "He knows already, so there's not much point in pretending. That will only make the matter worse. All we can do is to pe that Hermione will pull it off nicely. Have some faith in her."

"Well," Draco crossed his arms, "don't blame me when you lose your bet."

Harry grinned dryly and walked out of the bathroom. "Don't worry, I won't lose it."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When Harry and Draco returned to the Great Hall, they froze at the sight of the decorations inside.

"This can't be happening!" gasped Harry.

Draco, had he not been the tough guy Draco Malfoy, would have passed out.

The ballroom decorations were completely gone, and in their place were the accessories and decorations used when Harry and Draco had once dueled each other back in the days when Gilderoy Lockhart was the Hogwarts Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. Everybody crowded around the stage.

Lavender, Parvati, Ron, and Ginny rushed by Harry and Draco's side as soon as they stepped into the Hall.

"My dearest brother, I told you not to mess with that Non-Hogwarts-Trained Muggle. Would you listen? No! And now look what she's done! She's in for it. Dumbledore knew that she wasn't one of his students the minute she set foot here. You will be in a lot of trouble too for dng illegal things. And that..." Parvati told Harry off.

"Harry, how come you never told me that she wasn't a witch?" asked Ron. "Not that I mind, but really...."

Ginny interrupted her brother. "Draco, please don't tell me you are in this with Harry. Please say you don't know anything about this...."

"Shut up, all of you!" Harry yelled. The group fell silent immediately. "Thank you. Lavender, what happened?"

Lavender took a deep breath. "Not long after you left with Draco, Dumbledore had a brief meeting with the other professors. They announced that a Non-Hogwarts student, a Muggle-born witch not trained at Hogwarts, had found her way in. They also said that all the professors, including Professor Dumbledore, to prove that she can be here, must test her. We all think they are talking about Hermione, because we can't find her anywhere."

At that moment, the Hall began to chatter loudly, and the group turned to look at the stage. One glance at it confirmed their fear.

"That's Hermione all right," said Draco.

Harry caught Hermione's eyes. In those brown eyes, Harry read fear and nervousness. However, he also read a hint of confidence and determination. Harry smiled reassuringly and nodded, and Hermione smiled back weakly and drew her wand.

Harry turned back to his friends. "Have some faith in Hermione. She knows more than we think I only hope her vowels and consonants won't fail her."

Suddenly, the test for Hermione began. First up, Hermione had to take up Professor Filtwick's challenge. Hermione levitated a group of people successfully under Professor Filtwick's demand. She also transfigured Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, into a crystal goblet, by Professor McGonagall's request. Then, she fought off Lupin's assignment, the Boggart, which had turned into another Harry while saying 'A, E, I, O, and U.' Much to Professor Snape's dismay, though she had hesitated for a few times, Hermione recited the latest recipe of Wolfsbane out aloud without any mistakes. She also passed other various subjects such as Astronomy and Arithmancy without any difficulty. However, Hermione was facing a slight dilemma when Professor Trelawney came to test her.

"What, my dear, will be the fate of your friend, Harry Potter?" Trelawney asked one of the easiest questions anyone could answer, for she had made Harry's prediction way too many times.

Oh no, thought Harry. He had forgotten to tell Hermione what to say to pull Trelawney off. Something awful and she'll give you full marks, Harry begged as he looked at her intensely.

"Um," Hermione mumbled, glancing at Harry uncertainly. She had abandoned Divination early, thinking it was rubbish.

Make an awful prediction; Harry did his best to send the message across through his eyes. Say I will drown, or be murdered, or stabbed to death. Come on, anything that involves a painful death.

" He.. would..." Hermione dared not make the prediction.

"Yes?" Trelawney stared at her expectantly.

Hermione closed her eyes and muttered, "He will cease to exist when his time comes."

Trelawney, who was probably not the most intellectual person in Hogwarts, stopped and thought for a while. Cease to exist? Whatever that meant, it couldn't be too good. "Congratulations, Miss Granger. I declare that you have passed Divination also."

Harry could breathe again, at least until Dumbledore walked on stage.

"Excellent work, Miss Granger. Now it is my turn to challenge you. If you pass this, I will declare that you have officially graduated Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore declared and smiled. In his right hand, a scroll appeared, which everyone recognized as the graduation certificate. In his left hand, a broomstick appeared.

Dumbledore gave Hermione the broomstick and threw the scroll upwards. Magically, the scroll floated in the mid air.

"Miss Granger, as you are well aware, Mr. Potter had been the best Seeker Hogwarts ever had. My challenge for you is to catch that scroll on your broomstick. The minute you catch the scroll, Miss Granger, you will be considered one of the graduated students of Hogwarts. Good luck."

Hermione glanced at the broomstick in her hand. I mustn't quit now that I had just passed all other tests. Hermione mounted the broomstick. With a deep breath, she kicked off.

It was her first time on a broomstick. Hermione focused her mind on the scroll, unaware that the scroll was moving higher as she did. She hated to think how far off the ground she was.

When the scroll reached the top of the ceiling, it stopped for Hermione to catch. Hermione, of course, made a grab for it. However, just as Hermione touched the scroll, she incidentally fell off the broomstick.

"Noooooo!" Harry yelled. "Accio broomstick!"

The broomstick Hermione had ridden flew into Harry's hand and he mounted it immediately. Harry shot upwards towards the falling Hermione and caught her, just before she fell on top of a large pile of silver knives.

The Hall burst into applause as Harry and Hermione landed safely on the center of the stage.

"Professor Dumbledore, that was not a funny joke," Harry said. "You should know that Hermione had never been on a broomstick before."

Dumbledore smiled. "Alas, she still did it beautifully with a little of your help. After all, how can I deny our audience such a marvelous show?"

Draco and Ron, down the stage, watched the so-called "show" with their nerves in the air. When they saw that Harry and Hermione had landed, the two enemies wiped sweat off their forehead simultaneously.

"I now proclaim," announced Dumbledore, "Miss Hermione Granger a fully qualified Hogwarts grandaunt."

Professor McGonagall clapped. She gave Dumbledore a meaningful look, which reminded Dumbledore; "Oh yes, I have nearly forgotten," Dumbledore said. "Let us celebrate the marriage of our two very outstanding professors, which marks the joining of Hogwarts' two enemy houses. Let the wedding begin!"

As the wedding march began to play for the wedding of McGonagall and Snape, all kinds of reactions came from the crowd. Many girls fainted in shock, while some people began to giggle uncontrollably. Many boys had to run for the bathroom in order to vomit. One thing worth acknowledging was the reaction of Fred and George Weasley. The twins pulled out a very innocent looking can of confetti and sprinkled the little confetti all over Snape and McGonagall. However, it was clear that the pair put more on the Potion professor on purpose.

"Look! The bride and the groom are dancing!" George shouted, pointing a finger at the newly wedded professors.

On the stage, the two poor professors began to jump, hop and beat each other up. Obviously, the confetti was enchanted to make people itch.

The night ended in the crowd's laughter and the threats to the twins from Snape.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When Harry, Hermione, Draco and Lavender finally arrived in their house on Wimpole Street, it was well past midnight. The whole house was in the mood of celebrating Harry and Hermione's achievements.

Draco was, of course, the first to congratulate the pair. He was happy, even though he did lose the bet.

"You did it, Harry! You did it!" Draco shouted.

Everyone was in a crazy mood. Every servant patted Harry on the back and congratulated. No one even thought of poor Hermione sitting in the corner.

With his servants as audiences, Harry told the tale of Hermione's tests as if he had done them himself. Everyone was so entranced by Harry's story that no one paid any attention to Hermione. When the story was finished, all the servants walked back to their room.

Draco yawned. "Well, it's late. I must get going, as I have to get up nice and early tomorrow to get your bet prizes. I've also got a date with Ginny..."

"Ginny WEASLEY?" Harry nearly screamed. "I thought I would be patting myself on the back when I saw a Malfoy and a Weasley dancing together. I must get up early to see you off to your date or I will never live it down! A date between a Malfoy and a Weasley! That is some sight to see."

Draco laughed and left, leaving Harry and Hermione along in the lounge.

Hermione looked at Harry expectantly. She had hoped that Harry, if no one else, would pay her some compliments.

"Well, that was a nice evening, wasn't it? I must go to bed now. God knows how tired I have been during these past months. Tell Lavender to get me coffee instead of tea tomorrow, will you?" With that, Harry left as well.

Hermione glared after that horrible Harry. As soon as Harry left the lounge, Hermione took off her high heels and threw them against the door Harry had just walked through.

Hermione was furious. Angry tears poured down her cheeks; her eyes were like broken water pipes that just wouldn't stop flowing. How DARE he just walk away and take all my credits? He didn't face the professors' challenges, I did. How dare he just leave me here alone without even a kind word! How dare he tell me to get him coffee instead of tea tomorrow morning in that one sentence he said to me tonight? He is going to regret it!

"Just you wait, Harry Potter, just you wait!" Hermione muttered as she wiped away her tears. She picked herself up from the floor and headed for her room angrily.