Revelations and Romance

Revelations and Romance chapter 12/25

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12: Cauldrons and Quidditch

January 31st

Professor McGonagall asked Hermione to wait after Monday's Transfiguration lesson. Harry and Ron waited in the corridor for her, and they went to their Herbology lesson together, with Hermione looking happy.

'Dumbledore's made the Portkey,' she explained. 'I'll get it from him on Friday, and then it's timed to take me home on Saturday morning, and bring us back after half an hour.'

'So that's when I need to go into hiding,' said Ron glumly.

'Don't even think about it! Harry, can you make sure he isn't hiding?'

'OK,' said Harry with a grin. 'Presumably you don't want Ginny around when Ron meets them, in case they mention what you've been doing?'

'Definitely not!' said Ron. 'I still don't know how I'm going to tell any of my family.'

'It's OK for me to meet them again, isn't it?' asked Harry.

'Oh, of course,' said Hermione. 'They don't know anything that you don't -- although you know about Ron proposing, and I don't think I'll tell them that yet. No offense, Ron.'

'No, it's OK,' said Ron.

After the Herbology class, they returned to the common room, and Hermione wrote a quick letter to her parents to explain about the Portkey and that she'd be appearing out of thin air on Saturday morning, but without the cliche puff of smoke. Then she and Ron went to the Owlery to send it off. Ron had already borrowed Harry's Cloak.

Harry and Ginny got on with their homework and met the other two at dinner.

'You're looking happy, Hermione,' said Ginny.

Ron coughed. Hermione just smiled and said, 'I'm really looking forward to my parents coming here and seeing where I've been for four and a half years.'

'You'd better keep them away from anyone called Malfoy,' said Harry.

'Oh, that's a point. I don't suppose we could give him a detention for Saturday? He was quiet in today's Care of Magical Creatures, so there's no excuse there.'

'He's probably planning something really stupid for Saturday's match, then,' said Harry. 'So he's keeping quiet for now to make sure he's not in detention then.'

'Does he know about Hermione's parents coming here then?' asked Ginny.

'I hope not,' said Hermione. 'You know what he's like at Gryffindor games, though -- remember when he was disguised as a Dementor and gave Harry an opportunity to practise his Patronus?'

Ginny laughed. Harry looked around, and went over to where Angelina was eating. 'Angelina, do you know if Malfoy is one of the Slytherins who crashed trying to spin his broom?'

Angelina finished her mouthful of food, and said, 'Yes, he did. I don't know if he crashed into another player or the ground, though.'

'Thanks,' he said and returned to the others with the news.

'Do you think he'd keep trying it, or give up after one go?' asked Ginny.

'He was sneering at Hermione for not flying straight -- that's probably because he'd given up.'

There was a pause while they ate more of their dinners, and then Ginny said, 'Oh -- I was waiting for someone outside the common room at lunchtime, and I was talking to the Fat Lady. She said there used to be a Professor Malfoy at Hogwarts, though she doesn't know if he's related to the others. She visits his portrait sometimes.'

'He might be interesting to talk to,' said Hermione. 'I wonder how old the portrait is?'

Ginny shrugged. 'She remembers Mum and Dad, too, and how late they sometimes got back to the common room.'

'Did she tell you where the portrait is?' asked Harry.

'No. Do you want to go and talk to this Malfoy?'

'Do you think that's the one who our ancestor beat to become Minister of Magic?' Ron wondered. 'That one would be interesting to talk to.'

After dinner, they stopped outside the common room without giving the password. The Fat Lady looked at them curiously. Ginny told her, 'They were interested in Professor Malfoy's portrait. Do you know how old it is, and can you show us where it is?'

'I can't show you, because I've got to wait here for everyone coming back from dinner.' She opened for another group of Gryffindors as she spoke. 'The portrait isn't very old -- it was painted in Professor Dippet's time.'

Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked blank. Harry said, 'That was the headmaster about fifty years ago, when Riddle was here.'

The Fat Lady explained how to find the portrait of Professor Malfoy, and they followed her directions to a sixth-floor corridor they'd rarely visited. They saw someone ahead of them, and as they got closer, they realised with a shock that it was Draco Malfoy.

'What are you doing here?' he snapped.

'We're looking for a portrait,' said Harry. He realised that Malfoy was standing in front of a portrait of a man dressed like a teacher, with human, troll and dragon skulls on the desk behind him. The man looked very similar to Malfoy and his father.

Draco saw what Harry was looking at. 'It's a portrait. What about it?'

'Is that Professor Malfoy, who we heard about?'

'It's none of your business.'

'If you think it's your business, he must be Professor Malfoy. Hello, Professor,' said Hermione.

'Hello, m'dear,' replied the figure in the portrait. 'Forgive my grandson. Apparently he can no longer talk to the real me.'

'That's enough!' snapped Malfoy. 'Clear off and leave me alone!'

'Oh, give him a detention for being rude to Prefects,' muttered Ron. Hermione smiled at him. Malfoy didn't seem to have heard him.

'All right, let's leave him here,' said Harry. 'We can come back later.'

As they headed back to the common room, Ron objected, 'Malfoy might be there when we go back, too.'

'We've got that free period on Wednesday afternoon. I don't think the Slytherins are free then,' Harry reminded him.

'Why are you so keen to talk to the portrait?' asked Hermione. 'I thought you were just curious. We've seen it now, we know Professor Malfoy is Malfoy's grandfather; what else is there that you wanted to know?'

'If Malfoy doesn't want me to talk to the portrait, then I want to,' said Harry. 'Maybe the portrait knows something about what You-Know-Who is doing? That would explain why Malfoy doesn't want us to talk to it.'

'I wonder what happened to him. It sounds as though the real Professor Malfoy is dead,' said Ginny.

'Died of old age?' suggested Ron. 'He wasn't that young in the portrait, and Harry said it's fifty years old.'

'It might be younger. I don't know when Dumbledore became headmaster. I don't even know if he followed on from Dippet, or if there were others in between,' said Harry.

'Professor Lupin said Dumbledore became headmaster after he became a werewolf, and before he started here. That's only about thirty years,' said Hermione.

'I hope it was old age,' said Ginny.

'Why?' asked Ron.

'His son's a Death Eater. Maybe he had to prove to You-Know-Who that he was loyal by killing his own father.'

They walked on in silence after that until they reached the Fat Lady's portrait. She looked at them expectantly, and they told her what had happened.

'Oh, I didn't know he had a grandson here. I don't see many pupils who aren't in Gryffindor. Padma Patil waits out here and talks to me, when she wants to meet her sister. It was quite confusing, the first time I saw her -- I thought she was Parvati, and had forgotten the password.'

They talked to her for a little longer, then said, 'Goosefeathers', and entered the common room. They started doing their homework.

'Do you want to go and talk to the portrait in our free period?' asked Harry.

'I don't think I will,' said Hermione. 'I've got other things to do -- you can tell me whatever you find out.'

'I think I have other things to do, too,' said Ron, looking at Hermione.

Harry just raised his eyebrows at him, and said, 'Well, if you want to borrow a book or something, it'll be in the usual place in my trunk.'

'Thanks, Harry.'

'I'm interested,' said Ginny. 'I'll come with you to talk to it. He sounded politer than Malfoy's dad.'

*

Tuesday's Potions class saw Professor Snape return to his usual attitudes, as Neville succeeded in melting his cauldron, causing its contents to pour onto the fire, dousing it and also causing a cloud of orange smoke as the heat vapourised the unfinished potion. The class fled to the corridor outside, as did Snape, who had been praising Queenie Greengrass for her potion, and didn't see what was happening in time.

'You have now, I believe, become the worst pupil I have ever had the misfortune of teaching!' snapped Snape after he'd closed the door to keep the smoke trapped in there. 'I have never before had to leave my own classroom as a result of such carelessness by a pupil. Ten points from Gryffindor, and two detentions -- which will not be in my classroom.' He turned and headed towards the door to his office.

'Sir!' called Pansy Parkinson. Snape stopped and looked at her. 'Er ... all our books and things are in there. We'll need them for this afternoon's lessons.'

Harry was glad she'd said that. He'd wondered what they could do about it, but didn't think it tactful to ask Snape in his present mood. Snape was less likely to take points from Pansy.

'Return here in half an hour or so. The cloud will have condensed by then, and will have been cleaned away. If the books are no longer legible, which may well be the case, I suggest you ask Longbottom to pay for new copies.' With that, he entered his office and slammed the door behind him.

'Early lunch?' suggested Ron. The Slytherins didn't agree, and went back to their common room. Most of them glared at Neville as they pushed past him -- there was enough room in the corridor to pass him without touching, but most didn't try to avoid him. One who did was Blaise, who also looked back apologetically at Neville, before following the other Slytherins around the corner and out of sight.

'Just try to ignore them,' Seamus told Neville.

'Even if we can't read them, or if they've disintegrated, I'm not going to ask you for any money,' said Harry firmly.

'No,' agreed Hermione. 'I bet the Slytherins pretend the damage is worse than it is, though.'

The Gryffindors went up to the Great Hall. Neville was looking more upset than Harry had ever seen him. Hermione said to him, 'Neville, I think there must be some reason for those cauldrons melting. Maybe we can work out what it is, so that it doesn't happen again?'

'What, like I'm the worst pupil ever in the school? All I can get right is Herbology? Well, I don't need help!' Neville stormed off, out of the Great Hall.

'Neville, wait! I didn't mean that at all!' But he was already in the Entrance Hall, his footsteps on the stairs echoing as he ran up them. Hermione decided not to follow him, and sat down with Harry and Ron. 'I don't think he's a bad pupil at all,' she said. 'I think there's some other reason.'

'How does he melt the cauldrons? He's not buying the cheap ones Percy was going on about. They shouldn't melt any more than ours do,' Ron said, frowning.

'Maybe Snape hates him, and is melting them deliberately?' suggested Harry.

'I really don't think that's it,' said Hermione.

'It could be,' said Ron. 'It makes more sense than a cauldron melting on a small fire like that.'

'I know Neville's father used to be an Auror,' said Harry carefully. He'd obeyed Dumbledore's request not to tell anyone what he'd seen in the Pensieve, but to wait until Neville was ready to tell people. 'Maybe he arrested Snape once, and Snape's taking it out on Neville?'

Hermione looked at her watch. 'Snape's half hour will be up before lunchtime. I wonder what our books will be like.'

'I hope they're still readable,' said Ron. 'I don't want to make Neville pay for new copies, but I can't buy replacements.'

The three of them killed time until they could go and get their books back by talking about the Aethonans in the morning's Care of Magical Creatures lesson. When they'd returned from the Potions classroom, they sat on the stairs in the Entrance Hall and examined their books. They didn't want to take them into a room where food was served until they'd checked them.

'Mine are OK,' said Harry. 'The page the book was open at has turned orange, but you can still read it.'

'There's just all this orange coating over the bags,' said Ron, trying in vain to scrape it off. 'All the books are OK. Just as well I was looking at yours today.'

'Do you still have that extra book in your bag, Hermione?' Harry asked her with a grin.

'No, I put it at the bottom of my trunk,' she answered. 'Probably just as well, too. I shouldn't have left the bag open, the covers have got that stuff all over them. I wonder what it might do?'

'"Do"?' echoed Ron. 'It was a Plant Growth Potion, what do you expect it to do?'

'It wasn't a finished potion, though,' Harry reminded him.

'Yes, it might have other effects -- like a paper-eating potion,' said Hermione. 'I hope it doesn't, but it might do something.'

'Let's hope it has to be drunk, not splashed over things.'

Other pupils were coming down the stairs for lunch, so they went back into the Great Hall. Ginny followed them in.

'What were you doing on the stairs?' she asked.

They told her about the Potions accident, and Neville's reaction to Hermione's attempt to help him.

'Oh, poor Neville. It wasn't a good day to do something like that.'

'When is it ever a good day, with Snape?' asked Ron.

'Fred and George had Snape yesterday, and one of them let off a Dungbomb in his class. They both got detentions, because they wouldn't admit they'd done it.'

'Maybe they didn't,' Harry said.

'Oh, they did. They told me they did,' said Ginny, grinning. 'Anyway, he and Filch spent ages getting the smell out of the classroom, and I suppose he's got to do that again today.'

'No wonder he was angry,' said Hermione. 'I've got to explain to Neville what I meant.'

*

The fifth-year Gryffindors had a free period at the end of the day, and Hermione went over to Neville to explain. He shouted at her, and wouldn't listen, and she came glumly back to her own seat. 'He just thinks I was insulting him, and I really wasn't,' she told Harry and Ron.

Ron took her hand. 'Would you like to go and do something less upsetting?'

Hermione laughed. 'Oh, yes. You don't mind being left on your own, do you, Harry?'

Harry shook his head. 'Ginny will probably be back in here before you two are. Have fun.'

The two of them left the common room, and Harry got on with a History of Magic essay. As he'd predicted, Ginny came in after the end of her last lesson of the day and sat down.

'So, Project "Not Harry's girlfriend" is still going, then?'

'It seems to be,' he said, smiling at her. 'You never thought Hermione was my girlfriend, did you? I know your mother did.'

'I wasn't sure for a while,' she admitted. She turned to look across the common room. 'How is Neville?'

'He shouted at Hermione when she tried to explain what she meant.'

'Oh. I'll go and talk to him.'

Harry watched her go over to Neville, and wondered if she was just feeling sympathetic, or if there was more to it. After all, she had gone to the Yule Ball with Neville. He forced himself to concentrate on his essay. Why was he now being suspicious even of Ginny?

Ginny returned a few minutes later. 'I tried to tell him that Hermione's worried about him and the way he melts cauldrons, but he still thinks she was sneering at him.'

'But she's always helped him in class. Why does he suddenly think she doesn't want to help him?'

'I don't know,' she said, getting her homework out of her bag. A paw came out from beneath the table, trying to grab the bag. 'OK, who hid a cat under this table?' She tickled Crookshanks' ear, the only part of him she could reach.

'I didn't know he was there.'

They met Ron and Hermione downstairs in the Great Hall for dinner, and all four of them returned to the common room afterwards. Ginny had told Hermione what Neville had said.

'I don't believe he's a bad pupil. Snape just scares him, and he can't concentrate in class,' said Hermione. 'These melting cauldrons remind me of the sort of accidental magic children do when they're scared or angry.'

'Not just children. I blew up my uncle's sister when I was thirteen,' said Harry with a grin.

'Yes, because you were angry with her. I think Neville's scared of Snape to the point where he accidentally makes the fire too hot.'

'That's not much help, though,' said Ginny. 'Unless you can think of a way to make Snape less scary.'

'Lupin had a way,' said Ron, grinning. 'But it just made Snape worse -- even when Dumbledore referred to it.'

*

After lunch on Wednesday, Harry and Ginny went down to the sixth floor again. Ron and Hermione had gone off together after eating a quick lunch. As Harry had guessed, Malfoy wasn't near Professor Malfoy's portrait this time.

'Hello again,' said the figure in the painting.

'Hello,' said Harry. 'This is probably an awkward question, but I wondered if you might have heard anything about what You-Know-Who is planning.'

'I don't actually know who you mean.'

'Oh. The Dark Lord? He Who Must Not Be Named? Lord Voldemort?'

'Oh, don't call him by that stupid name! Call him Tom Riddle -- that's his real name. I taught him, you know.'

'You did?' asked Ginny, startled. 'What did you teach him?'

'Defence Against the Dark Arts,' the painting replied.

'That seems odd,' said Harry. 'considering what your son ... ah, well, what he's been doing.'

'My grandson has told me something of that,' sighed Professor Malfoy. 'It's partly my fault. When Lucius suggested that he should play a bigger part in the running of the estate, I welcomed the idea. He had already been contacted by Riddle, and I hoped that family pride, and the work of the estate, might draw him back from committing himself to Riddle's cause.'

'Do you mean that it didn't work?' asked Harry.

'It did not. Lucius took over the estate, and then, it seems, tricked me into giving him full authority. When he had that, he shut Giulia and me away in a wing of the manor, announced that we were both dead, and became the oldest Malfoy. You understand, this is what my grandson has told me -- my memories of my original self end when this portrait was finished. I do not know if my wife or I still live, but it seems unlikely.'

'Your son isn't any nicer now,' said Harry, glancing at Ginny.

'He released Riddle's old self to terrorise the school as the Heir of Slytherin,' said Ginny.

'I had heard something of that,' said the painting. ' I also heard that one pupil was even taken into the Chamber, and was rescued by Harry Potter.'

'That was Ginny,' said Harry, indicating her. 'Ginny Weasley.'

'Oh! I must apologise to you on my son's behalf then, as I'm certain he never will.'

'Thank you. If it's time for introductions, this is Harry Potter,' added Ginny.

'Oh, I am pleased to meet you! I understand that you are responsible for giving the world several years of freedom from Riddle.'

'That's him,' said Ginny, smiling. 'Famous Harry.'

'While you, I hope, are none the worse for your experiences in the Chamber?'

'I'm all right. I don't think I'll get over what happened that year, though.'

Harry put his arm around her and hugged her. Professor Malfoy smiled at them both, and Ginny blushed.

'I gather that you are one of the very few good wizards to be a Parselmouth,' said the Professor.

'What?' said Ginny, looking shocked.

'Oh. I'd thought that it was known to the whole school -- my grandson certainly told me that everyone thought Harry was the Heir because of it.'

'Oh -- I was thinking of something else,' said Ginny lamely. Harry's arm was still around her, and he hugged her again.

'Can I ask why there's a human skull on the desk?' asked Harry.

'Certainly. This is the skull of a wizard called Grindelwald, a Dark Wizard from some decades ago. He was defeated by a friend of mine, Albus Dumbledore, now the Headmaster here.'

'Oh, I remember reading that on a Chocolate Frog card,' Harry said.

'This has been a pleasant conversation, but I suspect you will have a lesson soon.'

Harry looked at his watch. 'Oh! Yes, we do. Thanks for that reminder. Is it OK if we come back again?'

'Oh, certainly. The view through that window is of some interest, and I visit other paintings, of course, but I so seldom meet anyone new to speak with. Good-bye.'

'Just as well we brought our bags,' said Harry, as they walked down the corridor to the nearest staircase. 'What do you have next?'

'Divination,' she answered, 'see you later.'

Harry went down the staircase while Ginny went upwards, and he arrived at the DADA classroom seconds before a rushed-looking Ron and Hermione.

'You need better timing,' he teased them.

During the DADA lesson McCardle continued to give the pupils more practice at resisting the Imperius Curse. Harry sat and watched as the others failed to resist it though, by the end of the lesson, Ron was also able to do it.

After the lesson, they returned to their common room. Ron was delighted that he'd managed to cope with the Curse, and Harry was equally happy, as one fear he'd had but not told Ron was that he might be used as a pawn by Voldemort. He hoped that Hermione would soon learn to resist it, too.

Neville came over to them and said hesitantly, 'I'm sorry I shouted at you yesterday, Hermione. I was still upset about Snape and the way the Slytherins acted.'

'That's OK,' she replied. 'I think that's why you melted the cauldron, too -- accidental magic because of being upset.'

'I'm too old to do that, though!'

'Harry blew his aunt up just before the start of third year,' said Ron, grinning.

'You exploded someone?' asked Neville, shocked.

'No, she swelled up and floated up to the ceiling. She'd been really annoying, and I couldn't take any more.'

Neville nodded, and went back to sit with Seamus and Dean.

The portrait hole opened and the fourth years came into the common room. Ginny sat down beside Harry as usual.

'You're a bit late,' said Ron.

'Sorry sir, I'll send you an owl next time I'm going to be late,' she replied.

'I was just wondering,' he said defensively.

'I'm sorry. Trelawney kept us late while she explained why her Tarot reading shows that Harry is going to die. He isn't even in our class!'

Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

'On a more cheerful subject,' said Ginny, 'have you told them what Professor Malfoy said?'

Harry told Ron and Hermione what they'd heard, with Ginny adding occasional details.

*

At breakfast on Thursday, the Gryffindors found there were photos placed at intervals along their table. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were finding them on their tables too. Harry looked at the nearest one. It was a moving photograph, and it showed Snape and the Slytherin Quidditch team posing proudly with the Quidditch Cup.

'That's just an old photo of the last time they won it, isn't it?' asked Ron.

Harry pointed to the Seeker in the photo, who was grinning and pointing at the Cup. 'Malfoy wasn't that old the last time they won.'

'That's this year's team, isn't it?' asked Hermione. 'So they just posed for the photo to annoy us?'

'They picked our last training day before the Hufflepuff match, too,' said Harry. 'I don't think that's an accident.'

'Please tell me you don't think this is a plot by You-Know-Who,' said Ron.

'No, I bet it's just Snape and Malfoy trying to put us off. It's the only way they'll get their hands on the Cup this year.'

After class, though, when the team and the reserves had changed and were ready to practise, Angelina started with, 'You all saw that photo. Just remember: the photo is only Snape abusing his authority and getting the Cup out of the Trophy Room to try to upset us. I've even heard some people claim it's a photo from the future, showing what will happen. That's rubbish, and I hope none of you believe it.'

'Let's make it as true as one of Trelawney's predictions,' said Hermione. Everyone laughed at that.

'OK, now remember: do your best in training, do your best in the match, and forget about the photo,' said Angelina.

The team played the reserves again, with a pause to change ends every time that Harry caught the Snitch. After a while, the Chasers, including the reserves, practised spinning while flying again, and Dean practised intercepting them. The team were late for dinner after the long practice, but Angelina was satisfied with the progress made by the Chasers and Dean.

'Even if their Chasers can do that spinning trick, you should be able to cope with them now,' she told Dean happily as they started back towards the castle. 'We've played everyone on their team before, apart from one Chaser and their new Seeker; I don't think there's much to worry about, except for the spinning.'

Harry heard her, and grimaced. He knew she hadn't meant to remind him of Cedric Diggory, but he couldn't help remembering Cedric's reaction as they were about to take the Tournament Cup together, nor the last time he'd seen Cedric, lying dead on this Quidditch pitch.

*

Harry spent his two free periods on Friday morning researching the new spells for DADA. He wondered how Hermione had ever found time in the past week to do this research, as it took him most of the two lessons to track down all the spells and learn them. Of course, she'd had more practice at finding things in the library.

Harry and Hermione met outside the DADA classroom. Professor Dumbledore was already there, and there was a metal rod a foot long, about the diameter of a wand, on his desk.

'Is that the Portkey?' Hermione asked, looking at the object.

'It is indeed.' Dumbledore handed it to her. 'You remember the times that it will be activated?'

Hermione nodded happily, looking at the Portkey, then put it into her wand pocket.

'Now, to the lesson. Are there any spells on your new list you would prefer not to use in today's practice?'

Hermione's hand flew to her mouth. 'Oh, no! I'm sorry, Professor -- I was too carried away thinking about my parents visiting at last!'

Dumbledore smiled at her. 'A momentary, and quite forgivable, lapse. Harry, have you learnt the spells?'

'I think so.'

'Then I will bring forward a topic I had intended to leave for a few more weeks.' Dumbledore taught them how to block spells aimed at others, and then the two pupils took it in turn to cast curses at the target dummies, while the other pupil tried to block them. Harry used the new spells too, and the dummies confirmed that he was successful, before Hermione tried blocking those spells to protect the dummies. By the end of the lesson, they were both quite good at it, and Dumbledore pronounced himself pleased with their progress.

'I will learn those spells for next week's lesson,' promised Hermione.

At lunch, Ron noticed that Hermione's mood had changed. 'What's the matter? Is there a problem about your parents coming here?'

'Wishful thinking,' said Ginny.

Hermione explained that she'd forgotten to do her homework.

Ron put his hand over his heart and leant backwards in the chair. 'Oh, no! The world is coming to an end! Hermione didn't do all her homework!'

'You must really be looking forward to tomorrow,' said Ginny, ignoring her brother's melodramatics.

Ron grimaced. 'I suppose it'll be all right once I've got past actually meeting them.'

'I meant Hermione! Even being in the hospital wing doesn't stop her doing homework ... well, except ...'

'We know,' said Harry.

Their next lesson was Potions. While waiting for Snape to arrive at the Potions classroom, some of the Slytherins confronted Neville, demanding he buy them new copies of the books they claimed that his potion had destroyed.

'Your books weren't even damaged!' said Harry, annoyed. 'If ours weren't, yours weren't either.'

'His potion rotted the pages!' snapped Millicent.

Harry grabbed her bag away from her and emptied it onto the floor. 'None of these look damaged,' he said, flicking through a couple of books, then tossing them back to her. Millicent glared at him and knelt to gather the other books together.

'Who else is lying about books being damaged?' asked Seamus. 'Just prove it to the Gryffindor Prefects and then you might have a chance -- or if you can't, you could win a detention instead,' he added with a grin. None of the Slytherins seemed too eager to prove it after Seamus' suggestion.

Snape's office door opened, and Snape emerged. They could hear a potion bubbling away inside, and Harry thought he recognised the smell, though he couldn't place it.

After Herbology, Harry and Hermione returned to the common room, while the Hufflepuffs and the other Gryffindors went to the DADA classroom for their joint lesson.

'What is the plan for tomorrow?' Harry asked Hermione.

'Breakfast first, then the Portkey takes me home at nine, and back again half an hour later, which should be just in time for the game.'

'That seems a long gap.'

'It's to make sure we don't forget anything, and aren't rushed. Then my parents finally see a game of Quidditch, with you beating the Hufflepuffs. Then lunch, then they're going to be meeting some of the teachers.'

'Including Snape?' asked Harry, grinning.

'You know, I somehow forgot to include him,' she said, grinning back at him. 'McGonagall said it was OK for them to see Gryffindor Tower, too.'

Harry sighed. 'I wouldn't want to show my aunt and uncle any of the school, even if they were interested.'

'I'm sorry, Harry; I wasn't thinking. All this is just reminding you of your parents, isn't it?'

'In a way. I like seeing you so happy, though. I'm not sure what I feel -- but your parents should see the school, and you should be happy about it. How long will they be here?'

'They're staying for dinner, and then the Portkey will take us back.'

Ginny had returned from her Muggle Studies class in time to hear the last few comments. She sat down beside Harry and put her hand on his. 'Poor Harry. It didn't seem to bother you meeting our parents.'

'I don't think it'll bother me tomorrow to actually meet Hermione's, either. It does remind me that I don't remember mine, though.'

They sat quietly after that, doing homework until dinner. Harry suddenly looked up from a Potions essay. 'I just remembered what Snape's potion smelt like -- it's that Wolfsbane potion Lupin needed. He must still be making it for him.'

'He was a good teacher,' said Ginny. 'Much better than Lockhart. I wish he'd come back.'

Harry and Hermione agreed with her.

At dinner, Ron looked less tired than he had the previous week.

'How did your duelling lesson go?' asked Harry.

'Better,' said Ron. 'My group got some new spells for next week, and we also had fun watching Lavender's group dancing a lot.'

'So they can cast Tarantallegra, but can't block it?' asked Hermione.

Ron nodded. 'I've got that Jelly-Legs Jinx that Harry learnt last year on my list for next week. At this rate, by the end of the term, I should be up to where you were at the start of the term.'

'Good,' said Harry. 'I don't think you're in as much danger from You-Know-Who as Hermione might be, but I'd still be happier if you can block more spells.'

'What about me?' asked Ginny.

'I hope he doesn't have any reason to attack you,' Harry replied.

*

Hermione kept checking her watch all through Saturday's breakfast, and finally took the Portkey out of her pocket and stood up. 'It's set to bring us back to the path, near the gates, at nine-thirty. Can you make sure Ron is actually there, Harry?'

'Yes, even if I have to Stun him and levitate him there,' said Harry, smiling.

'Huh!' grumbled Ron.

Hermione went out into the empty Entrance Hall. Craning his neck, Harry could just see her vanish.

Ginny asked, 'Can I come and meet them too?'

Harry looked at Ron. 'I think Ron is going to be embarrassed enough meeting them again -- could you wait until they get to the stadium to watch the game?'

'I wouldn't embarrass him! But, OK then.'

'Thanks,' said Ron.

Harry and Ron went outside shortly before Hermione was expecting to return. Harry was already carrying his Firebolt and wearing his Quidditch robes, ready for the match.

'There they are!' said Ron, pointing at the sudden appearance of Hermione and her parents. The two of them walked over to meet them. Harry thought Ron looked more nervous than when he'd made the knight sacrifice at the end of their first year. Hermione, on the other hand, was smiling at them.

'These are Ron and Harry. You met them before,' she told her parents. Both boys said hello.

'I remember,' said her father. 'You're Ron, aren't you? I remember Hermione talking about you last summer.'

Ron nodded, and blushed.

'Now you look even more like a matchstick,' joked Mr Granger.

'What is this about a matchstick?' asked Harry.

'Hello, Harry. He's tall, thin and has a red head like an unstruck match. Actually, he's filled out since I saw him before,' answered Mr Granger.

'He's all grown up,' said Hermione, grinning and putting the Portkey back into the wand pocket of her robes.

'Where's the school?' asked her mother.

'Oh, I forgot! That's it there,' she said, pointing to the castle.

'That? But ... is that just an entrance? Is the school underground?'

'You said you wanted to see me doing some magic,' said Hermione, drawing her wand. 'Veritavisio.'

'How did you do that?' asked her father, amazed.

Hermione explained about the spells that made it look like a ruin to Muggles, and how the charm she'd learnt meant the spells no longer affected them.

'It's immense,' said her mother in awe, looking at the castle spread out before her. 'What's the oval thing that looks like a stadium?'

'It's the Quidditch stadium,' she told them. 'The game must be starting soon. Harry's got to join the rest of the team.'

'Let's go and watch then,' said her father. 'We can finally find out what this game is you've been telling us about.'

'With our daughter and her lover,' said her mother, smiling at Ron, who blushed.

'Oh -- Ron hasn't told his family yet that we're sleeping together, and his sister will be watching the game with us,' said Hermione.

'All right, I won't mention it again,' said her mother. She looked at Harry.

'They did tell me though,' he said.

'Are you going to fly to the stadium on that broom? I'd like to see that,' said Mr Granger.

'You'll see lots of flying in the game. I don't think it's quite polite to fly into the stadium,' said Harry, looking at his watch. 'I'd better hurry though.'

Before he even started towards the stadium, a voice from near the gates called out, 'Surprise!' Ron looked around, and saw his parents walking down towards them.

'Oh. We didn't know they were going to come and watch the game,' said Hermione. 'Well, you've met Ron's parents before. His dad is nicer than the impression you got. He really is.'

Mr and Mrs Weasley joined the group. 'Oh, you're Hermione's parents, aren't you? Pleased to meet you again,' said Mr Weasley, holding out his hand. Mr Granger shook hands, though he looked slightly uneasy.

Harry left the two families to it, and arrived in the changing rooms before Dean, so he only apologised briefly to Angelina before Dean got there. Once out on the pitch, he looked for Ron, Ginny and Mr Weasley's red hair, and saw the whole group sitting together. It looked as if the game was being explained to Mr and Mrs Granger.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and the teams rose into the air. She then threw the Quaffle into the air, and Alicia grabbed it almost immediately, catching the Hufflepuffs off-guard and putting it past Kevin Whitby, the Hufflepuff Keeper, to score the first goal. Harry looked around and spotted the two players that hadn't been on the team last year. One of them was a Chaser, meaning the other must be the new Seeker.

Harry couldn't see the Snitch anywhere. He flew around, hearing Lee give the score as 40 to 20 in Gryffindor's favour. He was vaguely aware that some of the other players on both teams were using the broom-spinning trick, but he kept out of their way. A Bludger hit towards Katie by Ernie Macmillan just missed him, and then he saw the Snitch near the base of the Gryffindor goals. He sent his Firebolt into a dive, aiming for it, and aware that the new Seeker wasn't far behind. They raced together, but the speed of the Firebolt told, and Harry reached it first, and soared again with the Snitch proudly held above his head.

'And Harry beats Lorelei to the Snitch! That's 190 to 20, and Gryffindor win the match!' announced Lee. Harry and the other players landed, and he was hugged by the other Gryffindors.

'We'll have to watch out for that Lorelei, though,' said Katie when the team calmed down. 'If she gets a faster broom, she could be a real problem.'

'I could lend her the Firebolt for their game against Slytherin,' Harry suggested with a grin.

Katie laughed. 'Do you think she needs that to beat Malfoy?'

'Probably not,' admitted Harry.

Harry changed out of his Quidditch robes, then he, Fred and George joined Hermione and the others. Hermione introduced the twins to her parents.

'You saw lots of flying, then,' Harry commented. He was still carrying his broomstick.

'I wouldn't have thought brooms could fly so well,' said Mr Granger. 'Hermione's talking about getting a broom, now that she's on the team.'

'Yes, she told me about that.'

'Can we see you fly?' her mother asked Hermione.

'You can borrow my Firebolt,' said Harry.

Hermione agreed, and flew the Firebolt around them in a wide circle, so that her parents could see, as well as Mr and Mrs Weasley. She looped-the-loop and flew the broom while spinning.

'Show-off,' said Harry affectionately when she landed and gave him the broom back. Her parents were impressed, and surprised.

'She's just proving to her parents that she can fly,' said Ron.

'She certainly can!' said Mrs Weasley. 'I didn't ... well, I've never seen you fly. I didn't realise you were that good!'

'We saw the ... what were they, Chasers? We saw them spinning like that in the game. It looks dangerous,' said Mr Granger.

'Some players have been injured trying to learn to do that. They're all copying Hermione,' said Ginny.

'You started it?' asked Mrs Granger. 'Really?'

'Really,' said Fred. 'And it's as difficult as it looks, too.'

'Doing it's not difficult,' said George, 'but managing not to crash is.'

'I can believe that,' said Mr Weasley.

'I don't suppose Hermione's ever told you that she's the cleverest pupil in our year,' said Ron, grinning at Hermione.

'She hasn't, but her reports make it pretty clear,' said her father.

Ron looked at his watch. 'It's still too early for lunch. We could look at the greenhouses and the lake.'

The ten of them did as he suggested. The greenhouses were closed, but the Gryffindors could point out to the Grangers some of the plants they'd been working with through the glass. Hermione warned her parents that the giant squid might appear, but was safe. She unobtrusively took out her wand, though, as she'd never seen the giant squid near Muggles, and suddenly feared that it might be a defence against Muggles finding the castle, and that it might attack them. A few tentacles were visible, but her fears were unfounded, much to her relief. They went back towards the castle, and she put the wand back in her pocket.

'I just thought of something.' said Ginny. 'We want to avoid the Slytherins, don't we?'

'Why?' asked Mr Granger.

'Oh, yes,' said Mrs Weasley. 'You definitely want to avoid them.'

Ginny started explaining about their attitudes to Muggle-borns and Muggles, helped by Harry and Ron.

'So you've had to face all this prejudice? You never told us that,' Mrs Granger asked her daughter.

'Most people are all right,' she replied.

'Nobody in Gryffindor cares about it,' said George.

Ginny added, 'Even the Slytherins aren't all hostile -- my friend Raine's in Slytherin, and her best friend is Muggle-born.'

'Slytherins tend to be obsessed with being pure-blooded wizards,' said Mr Weasley, avoiding mentioning that his family was pure-blooded.

'Oh, Raine said she saw you at work last month,' said Ginny.

'She did? Oh, is she Angus Dunsmuir's daughter? I remember him showing her round the place.'

'Prejudice really isn't that much of a problem,' Hermione told her parents.

'Slytherin? Wasn't it the Heir of Slytherin and the Monster of Slytherin that you wrote about in your second year? It was that monster that attacked you, wasn't it?' asked her mother.

'Yes,' said Hermione, avoiding looking at Ginny. 'It was You-Know-Who: the most evil Dark Wizard ever I told you about.'

'Oh, yes. Wait a minute -- Harry, you rescued Ron's sister, didn't you? Is that you, Ginny?'

'Yes, I'm his only sister,' Ginny replied, grateful that the conversation had shifted to something less embarrassing. She was beginning to wonder if it would be easier to just tell everyone and get it over with.

'Six sons and one daughter, that's our family,' said Mrs Weasley proudly.

'The Slytherins aren't much of a problem,' said Harry, 'but I've just realised -- dressed like that, you do stand out from everyone else.' Mr and Mrs Granger were wearing normal Muggle clothes, which neither Harry nor Hermione had thought odd enough to notice.

'Oh, you do,' said Hermione. 'I hadn't thought about that.'

'Will it matter?' asked Mrs Granger.

'Not with the other Gryffindors,' said Harry. More quietly, he said to Hermione, 'I hope we won't need that new blocking technique, but it's just as well we learnt it, in case.'

'It's easily fixed, anyway,' said Mr Weasley, taking out his wand. 'I can Transfigure your coats into robes like ours.'

Hermione said quickly, 'That's a good idea. You can just change them back before they go back home, can't you?'

Mr Weasley nodded. Hermione's parents didn't look too sure about this, but let him go ahead with the change.

'Now you won't stand out so much,' said Hermione.

The ten of them sat at the Gryffindor table. 'What now?' asked Mr Granger, looking around to see where the food was. 'Is it a self-service thing, or what?'

'It's magic,' said his daughter, smiling. 'Thanks to a lot of house-elves, of course.'

The food appeared on the tables as usual. 'You weren't joking! I wasn't quite sure.'

'You just take this all for granted now, don't you?' asked Mrs Granger.

'Well, yes, usually. Sometimes I remember how strange it should all be to me,' said Hermione.

'That must be interesting,' said Ginny wistfully. 'I've heard about Hogwarts since Bill came here, so I always did take it all for granted.'

'Hermione wrote and told us she'd be appearing out of thin air, outside the French windows. It was still a shock when she appeared there, exactly when and where she said,' said Mr Granger.

'It was the Headmaster who made this Portkey, so it isn't anything I did that was that accurate,' his daughter told him.

'If you did know how to make a Portkey, you'd be just as accurate, though,' said Harry, grinning.

Some of the Gryffindors, including Lee, came over to say hello to the visitors during lunch. As the meal drew to an end, Professor McGonagall came over to Hermione and greeted her parents, then the three of them followed her to the room behind the teachers' table where the Triwizard Tournament Champions had waited the previous year. Harry and the six Weasleys went upstairs to the common room, as McGonagall had told Mr and Mrs Weasley that it was all right for them to do so. The Fat Lady smiled as she saw them approaching. 'I haven't seen you two for a long time. Still going for night-time walks?'

'They're allowed to now,' said Fred, grinning. 'They're married, and we're not even all of their children.'

'That is a large family!'

'Goosefeathers,' said Ginny, and the portrait opened to let them in. The twins showed off by levitating two chairs over to where Harry and his friends usually sat, and the seven of them sat and talked about school, O.W.Ls, N.E.W.Ts and why the twins mustn't do something as frivolous as trying to earn a living from a joke shop.

'But it is what they're good at,' said Harry.

'Seven years at Hogwarts, but a whole lifetime of being jokers,' agreed Ginny. 'They'd hardly fit into the Ministry.'

'Well, the Ministry may not be the best place to be now,' said Mr Weasley. 'Not now that You-Know-Who has returned, and the Minister won't admit it.'

'Harry's worried about what You-Know-Who is plotting,' said Ginny.

'Ginny!' exclaimed Harry.

'You are, though,' said Ron.

At this point, Hermione and her parents entered. The twins levitated two more chairs over, and the Grangers joined Harry and the Weasleys. Crookshanks leaped up onto Mrs Granger's lap, purring happily at her.

'You look even happier,' said Harry to Hermione. 'That must have gone all right.'

'Mostly. My little omission was corrected, so Snape was there as well,' she said.

'At least he's more polite in person than in your school reports,' said Mrs Granger.

'I wondered before we met Professor Frith if she was going to talk to us in English or whatever that language is that she writes reports in,' said Mr Granger.

'Did she talk English?' asked Ron.

'Of course,' said Hermione.

The talk turned to Quidditch. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had all played Quidditch, and were curious to hear what Mr and Mrs Granger had thought of the game.

'I was surprised that the Seeker's role is so decisive -- it seems odd that the other players are even needed, given the scoring differences,' said Mr Granger.

'Ted!' said his wife reprovingly. 'Hermione's going to be one of those other players.'

'That's why I was thinking about it. Harry's role is so much more important than that of any Chaser.'

'That's been the rule since the fourteenth century,' said Mr Weasley.

'Even though the Snitch wasn't invented until the sixteenth century,' said Fred, grinning.

'Stop trying to confuse them!' said Ginny.

'It's true,' insisted Fred.

The discussion continued with everyone explaining the rules more slowly than had been practical while watching the game. Harry looked at Ron, who was talking to Hermione's parents quite happily, his earlier fears of meeting them now forgotten. Hermione noticed Harry looking at Ron, and smiled at him. She'd smiled more today than he could remember her doing before, except during the past Christmas. He smiled back at her, and looked at her parents, who seemed to be enjoying their visit to Hogwarts as much as she was. Ginny and the twins were chatting happily to both sets of parents, too. Happiness was clearly the emotion of the day.

Except ...

'Excuse me, I have to get something,' Harry said abruptly. 'It might take a while.' Ignoring the curious looks of the others, he went up the stairs to his dorm and closed the door, then sank down onto his bed. He just had to get away from them all for a while.

He told himself that he was happy for Hermione, that she had wanted her parents to see Hogwarts. It wasn't as much a novelty for Mr and Mrs Weasley to visit, but Ron, Ginny and the twins were enjoying having them visit Hogwarts, and he told himself he was happy for them too.

Harry opened his bedside cabinet, and pulled out the photo album Hagrid had given him. He looked through the photos -- all showing his parents, waving happily at anyone who might be looking at the photos. He put it back and lay on his bed, his eyes closed in thought. He knew they were his parents, Hagrid had said so. He even recognised them -- the Mirror of Erised had pulled their appearances from his buried memories. Apart from that though, he couldn't remember them. His only memories of them were the Dementor-induced memories of their dying moments, and those weren't what he wanted to remember, not after seeing his two best friends and Ginny, happy with their parents.

His eyes must be tired, they were feeling prickly. But he wasn't going to cry. He was happy for his friends, even though his own parents would never be able to return to Hogwarts, even though he would never see them again. Everyone who'd spoken to him about his parents, except Snape, had given him the impression that they were popular, intelligent, and so important in the fight against Voldemort that he'd set Wormtail to spy on them and finally betray them.

Were they all just being nice to him when they said those things, or was it all true? He remembered overhearing McGonagall in the Three Broomsticks, when she didn't know he was there, and she'd spoken of his father's intelligence and talent -- so it must be true.

He thought of Hermione's parents' acceptance of their daughter's lover, and Ron's fear of how his parents would react. He'd never know how his parents might have reacted to that situation, as he'd never be able to take Ginny home to meet them. He was not going to cry, though. He was fifteen, too old to cry! Crying would make that Daily Prophet story too close to the truth. He reminded himself that he could take Ginny to meet Sirius -- but it just wasn't the same with a godfather.

The worst part was watching the Grangers. The Weasleys had so many children that they didn't seem to be quite as close to any one child. Hermione was an only child, and she seemed far closer to her parents than Ron was to his; which, he realised, was why she had told her parents about Ron, and he'd still said nothing to his parents. Harry was an only child -- would he have been just as close to his parents? It couldn't be inevitable, as Dudley wasn't that close to his, but Harry had to wonder ...

He had told Hermione that he was happy for her, that he liked to see her happy, and he'd meant it then. He hadn't seen her with them then, and his words weren't echoing in his mind as they were now. 'Happy for her' seemed hollow now. The realisation of what he would never again have, the almost-total lack of memories, and the fact he could only even recognise them due to a magical mirror ... he was not going to cry, not at his age.

Harry buried his face in his pillow, and cried.

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Next chapter: Harry is still suspicious, Hermione is upset, a reserve Seeker is chosen, Lavender is terrified and Ginny is kissed.

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