Revelations and Romance

Revelations and Romance chapter 21/25

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21: Duelling

May 8th

After Sunday's lunch, Harry and Hermione joined the seventh-years to go to the classroom where Harry and Hermione had been doing their duelling classes.

Like the sixth-year class, the seventh-year class contained students from all four houses. Dumbledore grouped them into fours and fives, ready to start duelling. 'You may use any of the spells you have been using in this class. Mr Potter, Miss Granger -- you may not use Lapiform.'

Harry and Hermione had been grouped with Fred and George and a Hufflepuff called Danae Fishlock. The twins smiled at the announcement, and the five, like the rest of the class, raised their wands, ready to duel. Suddenly, the door slammed open, and Peeves came bouncing in.

'I thought you were joking when you said you wanted him here!' Harry said to Fred.

'I was joking!' Fred replied.

'Potty Potter's scared of poor Peeves!' cackled the poltergeist. 'I heard your joking, and here I am!' He took a book from a pile at the side and threw it at Fred.

'Mr Potter, Miss Granger ... would you care to demonstrate Lapiform?' asked Professor Dumbledore.

'Your turn?' Harry suggested to Hermione.

She nodded with a grin. 'Lapiform!' Peeves fell to the ground, Petrified.

'Well done. Now, if you would please start the duelling practice?'

Harry and Hermione enjoyed this lesson more than they had their lesson with the sixth-years. Fred, George and Danae were all able to block most of their attacks, as well as to block attacks aimed at others, making it a more equal contest. Both were surprised when Dumbledore announced that the lesson was over.

'I should like to speak with Mr Potter and Miss Granger. The rest of you may leave.'

The two fifth-years waited behind. 'You appeared to enjoy this lesson more than previous ones,' said Dumbledore.

'Yes, it's the best-balanced duelling lesson we've had,' said Harry.

'You did mean it, about Petrifying Peeves being all right, didn't you?' asked Hermione.

'Certainly. Peeves needs to learn some restraint. There are two other matters I wish to discuss with you both. Firstly, as you have seen, you are able to duel at the level of the seventh-years.' Both pupils smiled at this. 'They will, of course, be sitting a N.E.W.T. in the subject at the end of this term.'

Harry looked at Hermione. Surely Dumbledore wasn't going to suggest they did take the N.E.W.T.?

'Do you two wish to be entered for the examination also?'

'But we aren't in the seventh year,' said Hermione uncertainly. 'How can we take a N.E.W.T.?'

'It is usual, but not obligatory, for the examination to be taken at the end of the seventh year. However, as you have both already attained the required standard, in my opinion, there is no reason why you should not take it this term.'

'Yes, please,' said Harry.

'If it's possible, then yes, I'd like to sit it too, sir,' Hermione said.

'The second point, which I trust will not disappoint you too greatly, is that I did not intend this type of lesson to become a permanent arrangement.'

Harry heard Hermione sigh. He agreed with her -- it had been fun duelling with the twins and Danae.

'I intend that you should continue to learn new curses, and most will not be taught to this class. These lists are of three new curses I would like you to learn.' He handed them a piece of parchment each. 'Therefore, you could not duel with them on equal terms. I believe neither of you have any Quidditch or other activities between the end of classes and dinner on Wednesdays?'

'No, we don't,' said Harry.

'To allow you a greater variety of opponents, but ones who can give you a challenge, I intend to involve some of the teachers in these lessons.'

'We'll duel teachers?' asked Hermione, surprised.

'If this seems reasonable to you. Your scheduled Friday lesson would become two free periods for the rest of the year, as most of the teachers are not free at that time. Your duelling lessons would be after your usual end of class on Wednesdays.'

'I'd like to try that,' said Harry.

'So would I. Thank you,' said Hermione.

When they returned to the common room, they found Fred and George with Ron and Ginny, telling them about the lesson.

'What a day!' said Harry, sinking into his chair.

'They've just been telling us about Peeves and your duelling,' said Ginny as Hermione sat too. 'It sounds as if you had fun.' Crookshanks jumped down from Ginny's lap and up onto Hermione's, where he settled, purring.

'What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?' Ron asked.

Harry explained the two things that Dumbledore had told them. 'I know Katie was joking,' he added, 'but I didn't realise it was possible to take N.E.W.Ts early.'

'Great,' said Fred. 'What are you going to do at the end of the seventh year, then? Sit for an Order of Merlin?'

'They'll probably have to duel with You-Know-Who,' suggested George.

'Oh, don't,' said Ginny, horrified.

'Did that last year,' said Harry, grinning. The news about the N.E.W.T. had made him feel much happier and more confident.

'I'm glad I'm not you,' said George.

'Well, I've got to go and do that essay for McGonagall,' said Fred, and he and George went back to their usual table.

Ginny said, 'I'll do this homework later; I want to go and talk to someone now, so I'll see you all in a bit.'

'Who's she talking to?' asked Ron, as she left the common room.

Harry shrugged. 'She didn't tell me.' The three of them got on with their homework.

About half an hour later, the portrait hole opened again, and a breathless Ginny ran in and collapsed into her chair. 'It's happening again! It's starting again!'

'Ginny, what's happening again?' asked Hermione.

'I wanted to talk to Myrtle,' she sobbed. 'She'd been back into the Chamber, and I wanted to know if anything had happened there.'

'What could happen?' Ron asked her.

'I don't know -- maybe You-Know-Who found the other entrance and hid down there, maybe he or someone went in there to do something with the body. But Myrtle ... she's just the way that Nearly Headless Nick was when he got in the way of me attacking Justin. She's been Petrified.' She was sobbing again. 'I don't even remember anything like the diary this time, or the nightmares or anything!'

'Then it's not you,' said Harry firmly. 'It can't be.'

'We spend more time with you now,' said Hermione. 'We'd have noticed.'

'Then what happened? She didn't just Petrify herself, did she? You two didn't either, you only Petrified Peeves.' She sat back on her heels and looked at them. 'Or did you? Please tell me that you did.'

'I haven't,' said Hermione. 'I've never Petrified anyone except Peeves -- well, I've tried to do it to Harry, of course, but he blocks it.'

'Same here,' said Harry. 'Look, why don't we go and ask Dumbledore? Maybe he can convince you it wasn't you -- maybe he knows what happened.'

'No!' Ginny squeaked, horrified. 'He'd expel me this time, after what I did before.'

'But it isn't you!' Ron pointed out. 'We'd have noticed this time.'

'Why?' she demanded. 'Have you been checking up on me?'

Her brother hesitated, then said, 'Yes. Doesn't that make you feel better?'

She grinned at him. 'A bit, yes.'

'So, should we go and ask Dumbledore about Myrtle?' Harry asked her.

'No. Not yet. I want to think about it, and see if I remember anything.'

'You can calm down by doing your homework,' Hermione suggested.

'No, I can't do that now! I'd like to play chess, and calm down.'

'I'll play you,' Ron volunteered.

'You've got homework,' Hermione pointed out.

'I've got a sister who needs to feel better,' he retorted, and Hermione seemed to accept that.

'I won't mention you,' Harry told Ginny, 'but I'll go and tell Dumbledore that Myrtle's been Petrified. He ought to know that it's happened.'

He went to the former toilet, checked that Myrtle was still Petrified as Ginny had described, and then went to tell Dumbledore, who accepted the news and told Harry he did not think there was any need to worry about a recurrence of the events of his second year. Harry returned to the common room and told Ginny that to reassure her.

The two Weasleys played a couple of games of wizard chess, pausing for dinner, after which Ginny felt better, but decided she wanted to get a night's sleep before risking talking to Dumbledore.

*

It rained lightly all day Monday. When the trio returned to the castle after Care of Magical Creatures, Ron complained, as he shook the rain off his cloak, 'I hate having classes outdoors in this weather, but this rain doesn't seem to bother Hagrid!'

'It bothered Malfoy, though,' said Hermione, smiling at the memory.

'It's typical of him, saying he doesn't need to know how to deal with gnomes because that's what house-elves are for,' grumbled Ron, as they started up the stairs to Divination and Arithmancy. 'I don't need to know either, I've been doing it at home for years.'

'Come along here,' said Harry, turning into a deserted corridor and stopping. The other two followed, and he said quietly, 'I found out that Dumbledore has some sort of spy in Malfoy's house.'

'Do you think it could be Winky?' Hermione asked.

'That was my guess. Sirius and Remus don't know who it is, though, so they couldn't tell me.'

'If she is, then she hasn't given up her freedom! She must still be working for Dumbledore, after all.' Hermione looked happier now, despite the wet hair sticking to her face.

'She might not be the spy. I'm just guessing.'

'And you only told us this because Malfoy doesn't want to deal with his own gnomes?' Ron asked, frowning.

'It's only a guess,' Harry said, shrugging. 'When I got back from Sirius', there was the news about Raine, then you two were the big news -- I forgot to mention it earlier.'

Ron shivered, as the corridor was draughty. 'OK. I hope Trelawney's got all those fires lit again, I could do with some warmth.' Hermione cast a drying charm on the three of them. Ron smiled at her. 'Thanks, that helps.'

The last lesson of the day was Herbology, and the three of them got wet again coming back to the castle. Hermione said, 'Ron, do you want another drying charm, or a different way to get warm, and out of those wet clothes?'

'The different way,' said Ron with a grin.

'Oh, not again,' said Harry, heading back up to the common room. Once there, Ron and Hermione put their bags by their usual chairs.

Ginny was sitting on the rug in front of the fire. She had taken off her cloak and robes, leaving her in the sweater and skirt she usually wore underneath. 'You three look much wetter than I am,' she said. 'Are you going to stay like that so you can have another taste of Pepperup Potion?'

Harry put his cloak on his usual chair, and pulled his robes off to join it, then sat on the rug beside her.

'We're just going to go and get out of all these wet clothes,' Hermione said, smiling. 'We just wanted to leave our bags first.'

Ginny shook her head. 'Any excuse. I really must be missing out on something.'

'Good,' said Ron. 'And you two have taken off enough wet clothes already, so stop now!' He and Hermione left through the portrait hole.

Ginny sighed, and asked, 'Did I see Ron take a chess set with him? Maybe I've got completely the wrong idea about what they're doing.'

'I didn't notice.' He told her that the two lovers had played 'strip chess' during the Christmas holidays.

'Oh, so that's what they're going to do. I thought for a moment that they weren't obsessed.'

'This is distracting me from what I was going to ask. How do you feel about going to talk to Dumbledore about Myrtle today?'

'I checked today, and she's still the same. But he did say he doesn't think it's like when I was doing it, didn't he? We could offer to draw the Chamber on his copy of the map, anyway, and then ask him what he thinks happened.'

Harry nodded. 'Good idea. He ought to have that too. Let's go and see him after dinner.'

'Yes, maybe the two wet chess players can come with us,' she said with a grin.

*

Following dinner, during which Harry asked McGonagall if it was all right to visit Dumbledore, the four friends went up to the Headmaster's office.

'Are you all right, Ginny?' Harry asked her before giving the password.

'Let's get it over with,' she replied.

Up in the office, the four of them sat, and Ginny produced the parchment with the Chamber drawn on, and a bottle of charmed ink. Harry had brought his copy of the Marauder's Map with him, and made the map visible to show Dumbledore the added Chamber.

'I would indeed appreciate having the Chamber on my copy,' said Dumbledore. 'Your map appears to agree with my recollection of it.'

'I had to tell the others we found Slytherin's body,' said Ginny, pointing at his name on the map.

'I see. Well, you could hardly fail to give an explanation once they saw his name. I do not believe that any of you are likely to tell Voldemort about the body.'

'I hope I never even see him again,' said Harry.

Ginny was looking at the heading on Dumbledore's map. 'I didn't realise that.' She indicated the words 'Messrs Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs'. 'The first name says whose map it was originally, doesn't it?'

'So it does,' said Harry. 'I hadn't seen the two maps together before.'

Wormtail's map was made transparent, and Ginny carefully traced the Chamber onto it. Once she'd finished, Dumbledore made it opaque again, and saw that it showed Slytherin, and was therefore working.

'There was one other thing, which Harry told you about yesterday,' said Ginny nervously. Harry took her hand to reassure her. 'Professor ... are you sure it wasn't me that Petrified Myrtle?'

Dumbledore nodded and said, 'I believe Hermione was responsible.'

Ginny smiled in relief, and looked at Hermione, who frowned and said, 'Me? I've only Petrified Peeves -- Myrtle's easy enough to avoid.'

'What do you know about poltergeists?'

Hermione blinked. 'I don't know about the real magic side of them. I know that the Muggle theory is that they're caused by a disturbed teenager.'

'That is correct. Peeves is the expression of the emotions of a teenager.'

'He can't be!' objected Ron. 'He was here in Bill's time, and even when Mum and Dad were at Hogwarts -- not even Crabbe and Goyle take that long to leave!'

'Oh!' Hermione said, realising. 'I see. So I accidentally Petrified Myrtle when I was only aiming at Peeves?'

Dumbledore nodded.

'I'm glad you see,' said Harry. 'Can you give the rest of us a hint?'

'Myrtle's been a teenager for over fifty years,' Hermione pointed out. 'Probably before Mr and Mrs Weasley were even born.'

Ginny stared at her. 'She's been responsible for Peeves' being here all these years?' She turned to look at Dumbledore. 'But I looked today, and she was still like that -- Hermione's lesson was yesterday!'

'I was too upset to put much power into Petrifying him,' said Harry. 'Hermione had more time to think about it, and was all keyed-up for a duelling lesson.'

'I haven't checked if it's worn off yet,' said Hermione. 'I know it depends on how much power goes into the spell, but a whole day?'

'Unlike the effects of the Basilisk attacks, this will wear off with time. However, I do not know how long this spell will last.'

'This sounds like a lot of power,' said Harry.

'How much power can you put into a spell?' Ron asked Hermione.

She shrugged. 'I've never actually Petrified anyone before. Harry always blocked the spell, and the target dummies just say the spell worked -- it doesn't actually affect them.'

'You may have more power than you believe you had. Is that all you wished to see me about?'

'Yes, thank you,' said Harry. 'Thanks for reassuring Ginny about Myrtle.'

*

There was steady rain on Tuesday, and a double period of Care of Magical Creatures. 'If it rains any harder, I'm going to need some more Gillyweed,' grumbled Harry as they returned to the castle after the lesson.

'Nick it next lesson,' suggested Ron. Potions was their next class.

'That would set him off again,' said Harry.

'Do you think he's going to keep being so restrained?' Hermione asked. 'It's almost safe for Neville to talk to him.'

'I don't think he should try it,' said Harry. 'You know, I haven't really talked to Neville much since he came back. I ought to.'

'I ought to skip Potions and get out of these wet clothes,' said Ron, looking at Hermione. 'But you wouldn't miss a lesson, so there's not much point.'

'We've got our O.W.Ls in a month,' she reminded him. 'We really should do more revision in the evenings, and less love-making.'

'Oh, good,' said Harry. 'I might actually see you two outside class, then.'

'I suppose we should,' admitted Ron, ignoring Harry's exaggeration. 'I've got to get more O.W.Ls than the twins did, or Mum won't let me hear the end of it.'

*

The fifth-year Gryffindors had a free period at the end of Tuesday, and Harry asked Neville to join the three of them, to talk about what had happened to him in St Mungo's.

'Well,' he began, 'Harry, you seemed to know what was wrong when I found out that Moody wasn't really Moody.'

'I found out by accident last year,' said Harry apologetically.

Ron was looking from Neville to Harry. 'What are you talking about?'

Neville frowned, obviously unwilling to go into details. Harry said gently, 'Would you like me to tell them?' Neville nodded, and he quickly summarised how Neville's Auror father had been subjected to the Cruciatus curse, as had his mother, also an Auror, when neither of them was able to say where You-Know-Who was. Neville, then nearly two years old, had been there and seen it all. Crouch Jr had been one of the four Death Eaters accused of the attack.

'Now they're in St Mungo's,' said Neville sadly. 'They don't know who I am, or my grandmother. I'm not sure sometimes if they even know who they are, now.'

The others were silent. Neville broke the silence after a while, saying quietly, 'The Ministry put a Memory Charm on me after that. It was supposed to make me forget what I'd seen. But it also affected the part of my mind that means wizards can control their spells.'

'So, that's why your spells were always powerful, but you'd Banish Flitwick instead of a cushion, and that sort of thing?' Ron asked.

Neville nodded. 'So they removed the Charm, and offered to do it again properly. I don't want to forget what I saw, though -- and I don't ever want another Memory Charm, after what that one did.'

'Does that mean as soon as they removed it, you could control your spells?' Harry asked.

'No. That's why I was away for weeks, I was having a quick course in how to do what I should have been learning for five years.' With a touch of pride, he added, 'Now I can do spells properly. Accio Bagshot's History!'

Soon after, a copy of the textbook flew through the air from the stairs and Neville caught it easily. 'I didn't even hit anyone,' he said with a grin.

'I know Flitwick's noticed the improvement,' Hermione told him.

'Of course he has -- I haven't thrown him across the room, given him hiccoughs, or anything this term.'

'Good for you,' said Harry. 'And it's all because you tried to throw Snape through a door.'

'It's the first thing he ever did to help me,' grinned Neville.

'Who's helping you?' asked Ginny, from behind Harry and Neville. The pupils in other years had finished their last lesson, and were returning to the common room.

'Oh,' said Neville, jumping up. 'This is where you sit, isn't it? I'll go back over there.' He left them, walking unusually fast.

'I think I scared him,' said Ginny, sitting down. 'I thought that was for you two "duelling menaces", scaring people. Oh, I checked on Myrtle on the way back from Charms. She's better now, but in a bad mood. Peeves is still Petrified, though. Have you any idea when it's going to wear off?'

Hermione shrugged. 'No. It's nice to know I can do it if I need to, though.'

'I hope you never do need to,' Ron told her.

*

By Wednesday, the rain had been joined by strong winds, and the trio were soaked through when they got back to the castle after their Herbology lesson. Hermione cast the drying charm again. 'You ought to learn that.'

'Yeah, we were drier after the second task,' agreed Ron. 'If we'd gone to Divination that wet, Trelawney would have invented a drowned line to read.'

'I don't believe half of those lines you were telling me about on Monday,' said Hermione with a grin. 'After all, it's called palmistry, not whole-body-istry.'

'I knew it,' sighed Harry.

'Her love line is almost two feet long,' said Ron.

'That was my spine!' Hermione pointed out.

Harry moved his bag so that it was hanging from one shoulder, leaving both hands free. He covered his ears with them and carried on walking. The other two followed slightly behind him, muttering things like 'swap his wand for an old branch', 'hand him over to the Dark Lord' and 'make love in the common room while he's trying to write essays'. He finally laughed at the last one.

'Knew you were listening,' said Ron.

Harry put his hands down. 'OK, so you caught me. Now I either have to give you detention or Petrify you.'

'I thought it wasn't something to joke about!'

'True. OK, the detention it is, then. You will be forced to do homework and not sleep with Hermione until the exams are finished.'

'Some friend he is,' Ron grumbled to Hermione. 'Is he allowed to give you that detention too?'

'I suppose I shouldn't have said that about You-Know-Who. It's too late now,' she replied as she turned down a different corridor to go to her Arithmancy class.

Being dry again didn't do much to improve the Divination lesson. Annoyed beyond endurance by another reference to his short life line, Harry finally asked Trelawney, 'Are you going to keep predicting my death until I'm over a hundred, and then claim you were right all along?'

'Perhaps, Potter, you should have left my class along with Miss Granger,' she answered icily.

'Perhaps,' he agreed. 'There didn't seem much point, since you seemed to think I was going to die in the next month -- and have done for three years now.'

She scornfully turned her back and went to look at Seamus' palm instead.

*

Following their DADA lesson, Ron went back to the common room while Harry and Hermione went to the Duelling classroom.

'Double Dark Arts and then Duelling? Do you think Dumbledore knew that when he chose Wednesdays?' Harry wondered.

'It does put us in the right sort of mood, I suppose. I wonder who we'll be duelling with?'

Dumbledore was already in the classroom. 'For the first fifteen minutes, you will have no opponents. Demonstrate your new curses against the dummies, and then show me that you can block them.' The two of them did just that, to his satisfaction. 'Excellent,' he said, and looked at the clock on his desk. 'We still have a few minutes. Show me that you can block these when cast against other people.' They did that too, and then there was a knock at the door. 'Enter.'

Professor Flitwick entered the classroom. 'Hello Headmaster. Hello, Mr Potter, Miss Granger. Our Head Boy was telling me about your duelling abilities. Mr Kelly seemed quite impressed.'

'With reason,' said Dumbledore. 'Now we need merely wait for Severus.'

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in surprise. They were going to be duelling against Snape? Both knew that he had the Dark Mark, the sign of a Death Eater, on his arm. Dumbledore had said he wanted to give them a challenge -- but this much of a challenge, in their first lesson duelling against teachers? Harry wished he could duel Trelawney instead.

Harry got on OK with Flitwick, as did Hermione, and he didn't think Flitwick would be too hard on them. Snape, though, would be a different matter. Harry could remember the Duelling Club in his second year all too clearly. Snape had never liked either of them, despite the fact that Hermione was the best pupil in his class. Harry had never heard why Dumbledore trusted that he was no longer a Death Eater, and still wasn't convinced that Snape hadn't somehow fooled the Headmaster.

There was a second knock on the door. 'Enter,' repeated Dumbledore, and Snape entered. He gave the two pupils a brief glance, and a momentary sneer appeared on his face. Harry was sure he'd be harder on both of them than Flitwick would.

Dumbledore checked that both the teachers knew the list of curses that the two pupils had learnt to block, then told them all to start the duels. Flitwick went first, casting Gravicrus on Hermione. She blocked it easily.

Snape smiled in a way Harry didn't like, and said 'Crucio!' Harry felt the pain of the Cruciatus Curse, though it didn't seem as bad as it had when Voldemort cast it. Even so, he collapsed on the floor, unable to do anything.

'Severus!' said Dumbledore angrily. The pain ceased. 'You are well aware that the Unforgivable Curses cannot be blocked!'

'You asked me to give them a challenge, Headmaster,' said Snape calmly. 'Do you think that the Dark Lord will merely cast curses such as Gravicrus on Potter, if he really has to confront him?'

Hermione was kneeling beside Harry, obviously concerned about him. He sat up to show her he wasn't badly harmed. To reassure her, and to insult Snape, he said, 'It's all right, it wasn't nearly as bad as when Voldemort did that to me last year.' Hermione's relieved expression and Snape's frown both made him feel him better, and he stood, with Hermione's help.

'Regardless of what Lord Voldemort may or may not choose to do, you will restrict yourself to using the curses on the list I gave you. Is that understood, Severus?'

Snape gave a slight nod. The duels resumed. Flitwick split his attacks evenly between the two pupils, and they split their attacks between the two teachers. Harry wasn't counting, but it felt as if Snape was targeting him about twice as often as Hermione. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that Snape was easier to block than Hermione. Flitwick's curses, however, were more powerful than hers.

At the end of the lesson, the two teachers left, and Dumbledore gave Harry and Hermione a list with three more curses to be learnt. 'I must apologise for Professor Snape's action. While it is true that Lord Voldemort will use such curses, you cannot learn to block the Cruciatus Curse or Killing Curse. Experiencing the first in class can be no more than a lesson in surviving pain.'

'Neville told us what that can do,' Hermione told him.

Dumbledore nodded sadly. 'Frank and Alice were very good, very popular Aurors. It is unlikely they can ever be cured.'

Harry and Hermione couldn't think of anything more to say. They left to go downstairs to the Great Hall.

'Was it really not as bad as when Voldemort used it on you?' she asked, as they walked.

'It really wasn't. He was easier to block than you, too.'

She smiled. 'That's nice to know. It was easier to block his Lapiform than yours, as well. Flitwick was stronger, though.'

'Yes, that's what I found. He was good, wasn't he? I hope we have more lessons with him -- and none with Snape.'

'I heard that Flitwick used to be a duelling champion.'

'That's easy to believe now. I don't think Snape would stand a chance against him,' said Harry. 'It would be fun to watch him try, though.' He realised that Hermione had stopped, so he stopped and looked inquiringly at her.

'Snape was right about one thing,' she said. 'If Voldemort does attack you again, or if he wants to attack me, he's not going to use the curses we've been learning.'

'No, he's not. But we can't learn to block the Unforgivable Curses. We can both resist Imperius now.'

'And you've felt the Cruciatus Curse twice. I haven't. I don't know what it's like.'

'You don't want to know.'

'I don't, but I think I might need to,' she said quietly. 'If anything does happen, it would help if I'd felt it before.'

Harry grimaced. 'Maybe. I suppose I can see what you mean. It's not a very pleasant idea, though.' He started walking again. 'Let's go and have some dinner. I'm sure if you asked Snape nicely -- or any way at all -- he'd show you what it feels like.'

*

By Thursday, the weather was worse still. Thunder made it hard to hear what Professor Binns was saying; unlike McGonagall, he didn't raise his voice to compensate, or even appear to notice the thunder.

'Quidditch practice is going to be hopeless,' said Ron at lunch. 'It'll be hard enough to see the Quaffle -- how are you going to see the Snitch?'

Angelina had been walking along the row of Gryffindors, and reached them in time to hear Ron's comment. 'No practice today, I'm not Oliver.'

'But you've got the final match in four weeks!' Ginny exclaimed. 'Ravenclaw are still practising.'

'I know. They didn't have weather this bad on Monday for their practice. We're unbeaten this year, though.'

'So are Ravenclaw,' Ron reminded her.

'True. But we're likely to be injured, trying to fly in this weather. We don't need any injuries.'

'OK,' said Harry. 'We'll just have to hope we don't miss any more practices.'

After the afternoon's Charms lesson, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sat in the common room, listening to the storm outside.

'No Quidditch,' said Ron, shaking his head.

'The Slytherins are having trials to find reserve members for the team.'

'Like a replacement for Crabbe,' said Ron. 'Oh well, it was good while he lasted.'

'No, they're keeping him. They think he just needs more practice at it. Grocyn told me they want him to come back, but he doesn't want to.'

Lavender and Parvati came over to the four of them, looking nervous. 'Are you in a good mood?' Lavender asked them.

'What, with no Quidditch practice?' Ginny retorted.

'Oh. Right. Never mind, then.' Lavender turned to go back to where the two of them had been sitting.

Hermione sighed. 'Why do you want to know if we're in good moods?'

'It's only really you and Harry,' Parvati told her. 'We've got something we ought to confess.'

'Then confess, and see how we react,' Hermione suggested. Her two dorm-mates didn't look very happy at the idea.

'Look, if you confess now, I'm sure Hermione will give you time to write your wills before she does anything,' said Ron with a grin. 'What is this sinister secret, then?'

Lavender swallowed nervously, and looked at Hermione. 'Oh. Well, the day after you shut us out of our dorm, we told McGonagall what you'd done.'

Hermione frowned at Lavender, and waited for her to continue.

'And, er ...'

'We hoped she'd give you both detentions, and maybe even take your Prefect badge away,' said Parvati in a rush, as if hoping that if she said it fast enough, nobody would mind.

Harry laughed. 'What did she tell you?'

Lavender admitted, 'She said she'd asked you about the rumours that you and Hermione have been sleeping together, and Hermione got so annoyed she just yelled at her and threw the Prefect badge at her.'

Hermione shook her head. Harry said, 'That's exaggerated. She didn't throw the badge, she just put it on McGonagall's desk.'

'Oh. You were in her office too -- I forgot,' said Parvati. 'What happened?'

'First tell us what McGonagall said to you,' said Harry.

'She said that it was all our fault for spreading the rumours in the first place, and that if we hadn't, Hermione and Ron would have kept quiet about what they were doing, and we wouldn't have been shut out, and please don't give me any more detentions,' said Lavender.

'So, since it was our fault, she said she wasn't going to give you two detentions, and she'd overlook Ron being in the wrong dormitory this once,' added Parvati.

'What about all the other times?' Ginny asked Ron with a grin.

'Shut up. She doesn't know about any of them except New Year's Day,' Ron told her.

'Other times?' asked Lavender, wide-eyed. 'How many times were there?'

'I know I didn't try counting,' said Harry. 'Anyway, there's no point in telling her now, after what she said about New Year's Day.'

Hermione shrugged. 'Several times. I was thinking about other things than counting.'

Ginny grinned at Ron and Hermione, who grinned back.

Parvati said, 'Now we've told you, and that was all. Is that OK?'

'I suppose so,' said Hermione. 'It was an amusing story for a rainy evening.'

The other two girls looked relieved, and went back to where they'd been sitting.

'You're not even going to give them detention?' Ginny asked, sounding very disappointed.

'It didn't matter that they told her -- and I probably shouldn't have locked them out of the dorm,' admitted Hermione.

'I was much more comfortable with them locked out,' Ron told her. 'Though I'm still a bit bothered that Mum, Dad and the twins know.'

Ginny pointed. 'Speak of the devils ...'

Fred sat down beside Ginny. 'Were those two just here apologising to you?'

George took the chair beside Ron. 'They told us something and asked us to tell you, as they were scared of you.'

'We said Gryffindors are supposed to be brave,' Fred told them, 'and that they should tell you themselves.'

'So, did they?'

'They admitted telling McGonagall we locked them out. Was that what they told you?' Ron asked.

'That was the same one,' said Fred.

'So you came over here just to check on them?' Ginny asked the twins.

George hesitated. 'Well, no.'

'We ought to tell you something too,' said Fred reluctantly. 'But no turning us to statues.'

'Mum will be disappointed,' said Ginny wistfully. 'Two free statues for the garden, and no more problems with Canary Creams.'

'Stop that!' George told her. 'Mum loves us for our faults.'

'Just as well,' said Ron. 'There's not much else.'

'Do you want to hear what we were going to tell you, or not?' asked Fred.

'Yes,' said Hermione. 'At least, I do.'

'We told you we didn't tell Mum and Dad,' said Fred slowly.

'Which we really didn't,' added George.

'We only told Percy. We owled him to say what Ron and Hermione did, and that he was the only Weasley son not to have slept with his girlfriend.'

'We couldn't resist teasing him about that.'

'So it was Percy that told your parents?' Hermione asked.

'Must have been. We didn't think he'd be able to tell them,' Fred admitted.

'We never dreamt he'd be able to mention sex to them,' added George. 'Or anything like that.'

'I don't suppose it matters,' said Hermione. 'Are you bothered about it, Ron? Should I give them detentions?'

'I was going to have to tell them sooner or later,' said Ron, 'and this way I don't have to think of a way to mention the subject.'

'Good,' said Fred, looking relieved. 'By the way, did you know Peeves is still Petrified?'

'Still?' asked Ginny. 'But Hermione did that four days ago!'

George shrugged. 'Maybe she's better at it because the Heir of Slytherin Petrified her, and she knows what it's like. Anyway, he hasn't recovered yet.'

Ginny was frowning, and had closed her eyes. Fred didn't notice. 'That just stopped when Ginny was rescued, and Pomfrey got everyone back to normal. Nobody got expelled that year, did they? I suppose that means Dumbledore just sealed the Chamber after Harry rescued Ginny, and they never knew who did it.'

George said gently, 'It's all right, Ginny. You know that Harry killed the Basilisk. It'll never happen again, you're safe. Don't cry.'

Ginny nodded, her eyes still closed.

Harry said, 'We do know who did it. It was You-Know-Who, indirectly. He took Ginny into the Chamber to make it more likely that I'd follow him to get her out.'

'I thought you knew that,' Ron told the twins.

'He targeted Ginny? Personally?' Fred asked, clearly shocked.

Ron and Harry both nodded.

'The Aurors had better get him,' said George darkly. 'I thought she was caught by mistake, and the Heir thought that she was Muggle-born, though I didn't know why he'd think that.'

'If we could just make him eat a Ton-Tongue Toffee, he wouldn't be able to cast any curses,' said Fred. 'Let's go and think about that.'

After they'd gone, Ginny opened her eyes and looked round. Harry offered her his handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

'Thanks. I've got to tell them one day. Maybe when I tell Penny.' She wiped her face again and gave Harry the handkerchief back.

'I looked in the library,' said Hermione, 'and I couldn't find any charm or potion which can tell a Muggle-born from a pure-blood. How did Riddle do that?'

'He didn't,' Ginny told her quietly. 'He told me there wasn't any way to tell.'

'I told you it doesn't really make any difference,' Ron said to Hermione.

'I knew Colin was Muggle-born because we sit ... sat next to each other in Charms, until I told him. He mentioned how strange this all was to him, because his family weren't magic. Ron was complaining about Justin after the Duelling Club, and saying he should have gone to his Muggle school. I knew about Hermione, of course.'

'What about Penelope? We didn't even know who she was, then,' asked Ron.

'You didn't. I did, from when I walked in on her and Percy. Percy was all self-conscious and said it didn't matter to him that she was a Muggle-born.'

'Good for him,' said Harry. 'But if it really didn't bother him, he wouldn't have mentioned it, would he?'

'No, but at least he's trying.'

'I've always found him trying,' said Ron, trying to cheer her up.

She grinned at him. 'Anyway, Riddle only wanted Hermione. Penelope was an accident, and it just happened that she was Muggle-born, even though I did know.' She sighed. 'So the only way to tell people apart by their "blood" is if they happen to tell me.'

Harry squeezed her hand.

Ron tried to think of something else to talk about. 'You know that Percy was in disgrace after he didn't notice that Barty Crouch wasn't writing those letters freely. Well, the new Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation didn't want him around -- and I don't blame him -- so he's been moved to the Improper Use of Magic Office.'

'That's the same people that blamed me when Dobby smashed a pudding in the Dursleys' house,' said Harry. 'It must be just like being a Prefect, for him.'

'Yes,' said Ginny, grinning. 'Now he can go and yell at people and fine them, and send them to court for risking Muggles finding out.'

'What happens if I use magic in front of my parents?' Hermione asked, concerned. 'When I'm of age, I mean.'

'That's OK, since they already know about Hogwarts and everything.'

'Yes, even Percy can't complain about you doing that,' said Ron. 'If he does, tell Penelope, and she'll yell at him for you.'

*

Friday saw the storms begin to calm down. Since Harry and Ron had two free periods to start the day, and Hermione joined them for the remaining two periods until lunch, there was no problem with trying to hear teachers and, with a bit of patience, they managed to talk about their homework.

As the Potions classroom was in the dungeons, the thunder was muted. Snape seemed almost as muted, and Harry suspected that the struggle against Voldemort was going badly. He wished he knew what was going on in the secret meetings.

The lightning had almost stopped by the time they went to their Herbology lesson, and the pouring rain was now just a drizzle. To Neville's delight, he earned ten points for Gryffindor during the lesson, while Hermione only earned five.

Harry, Ron and Hermione went up the stairs from the Entrance Hall together. Neville was far enough in front that he couldn't hear them.

'I wonder how many points you've earned over the years, though,' said Ron. 'It's got to be a big number.'

Hermione shrugged, blushing slightly. 'I don't mind Neville getting points, though.'

'No,' agreed Ron. 'It'll help his confidence. Your confidence will survive.'

A cackling voice from ahead of them said, 'Oh, it's silly Longbottom. What shall I do with you today?'

'Hello Peeves. You must be feeling better -- for the next twenty seconds,' said Hermione calmly.

Peeves froze where he was and, for a moment, Harry thought that Hermione had cast Lapiform on the poltergeist without his even noticing. Then Peeves gathered his senses and zoomed off up the staircase, as fast as he could go.

'Thanks, Hermione,' said Neville. 'You two have really got him scared now. I wish I could do that.'

'We could ask McCardle nicely,' suggested Ron. 'I wouldn't mind being able to do it, either.'

They talked about the new, improved Peeves until they reached the DADA classroom. Ron and Neville went inside for their lesson, while Harry and Hermione went up to the common room. Ginny was already there.

'Peeves is better,' Harry told her as he sat down.

'How long was that? Five days?' she asked.

'I suppose it was,' said Hermione. 'That's nice to know.'

'If only you could get You-Know-Who to just stand there and be Petrified,' sighed Ginny, looking at Harry. 'It would serve him right, after what he did with the Basilisk.'

They got on with their homework until dinner time, then met Ron in the Great Hall.

'I got another three curses for my list!' Ron exulted. 'And Neville got four, so he's trying to catch up with me, and I'm trying to catch up with you.'

'All I can do is shut you up,' sighed Ginny. 'Just wait until next year, though. I'll tell McCardle that I'm in as much danger as Hermione, so please can I learn all the nasty ones too.'

'McCardle?' Ron asked. 'Do you think she's still going to be teaching us next year?'

Ginny shrugged. 'This jinx has to end one day.'

'Yes,' said Harry. 'The Dark Arts teacher should be the one least likely to suffer from a jinx.'

'Not Lockhart,' said Ron, grinning at Hermione, who ignored his comment.

'It's only Lupin and McCardle who haven't tried to attack you,' Ginny said to Harry. 'As long as McCardle doesn't turn out to be a vampire or Death Eater in disguise, she should be all right.'

'I wouldn't mind having Remus back,' said Harry. 'It was nice, seeing him again over Easter. Though McCardle's good too.'

*

Saturday was another Hogsmeade day, so Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny strolled around the village, just enjoying the cool post-storm weather and the sunshine.

'What happened to that toy cat Harry gave you?' Ron asked Ginny, as they looked in the window of Mullein's toyshop.

'Widdershins is on my bedside table,' she told him, 'unless Olwen's borrowed him again after I came down for breakfast.'

'Does she do that a lot?'

'She's fascinated by him. She told me she'd like to get a job making toys like that after finishing here.'

'Is she a Muggle-born, then?' Harry asked.

'No, she's a pure-blood. She just doesn't shout about it, like the Malfoys do.'

'She's more like your family then,' commented Hermione. 'Does anyone want to get anything in here?'

Nobody did, and they drifted off down the street and into Honeydukes.

'I'll get some more sugar quills,' said Ron. 'I need them to look as if I'm working in History of Magic.'

Hermione bought an assortment of sweets, including some more Stringmints. Harry wondered if she really liked them that much, or if she was just getting them from a sense of loyalty to her dentist parents. He bought himself some Chocolate Frogs and Chocoballs, and only then noticed that Ginny hadn't got any sweets. She was just standing staring at a barrel of Every-Flavour Beans.

'What's the matter?' he asked her.

'I've still got those Flavour Pyramids.'

'They don't sell those here. Why are you staring at that barrel?' He waved his hand in front of her eyes, wondering if she was hypnotised.

She turned to face him, and there were tears in her eyes. 'They reminded me of the sweets that I bought Raine for a late birthday present.'

Ron and Hermione were standing nearby. Ron rolled his eyes in exasperation. Hermione suggested, 'You should eat them for her, then they won't be on your mind.'

'That's like stealing from her,' Ginny said. 'I'm not going to.'

'Let's go outside, anyway, it's getting crowded,' said Harry. A group of third-years, who were still unused to Hogsmeade visits, were trying to decide what to buy, and daring each other to buy blood-flavoured lollipops and Cockroach Cluster. They were getting noisy.

Once outside, Ron pointed out, 'You could have taken points off them for being so noisy.'

Hermione shook her head. 'I don't really want to spoil their fun. You remember how you were when you first came here.'

'I wasn't that bad!'

'You were,' she retorted. 'You were trying to convince me that we should get Harry some of the same sweets those kids were talking about.'

'Are you OK, Ginny?' Harry asked.

'I'm just feeling sad about her,' she replied.

'She didn't know you'd bought her those sweets. I don't think it counts as stealing, when it's something she didn't even know she was going to get.'

'Besides,' said Ron, 'Flavour Pyramids are nice. I asked about them when I paid for these, but apparently the shop in Godric's Hollow sells all it can make, and won't sell them to other shops. It won't sell the recipe, either.'

Fred and George emerged from Zonko's with a couple of large bags that were nowhere near full. Harry and the others followed them as they walked down a side-street.

'You didn't get much,' said Ron. 'Run out of money?'

'No, we even made a profit,' said Fred.

'More Wizard Wheezes?' asked Hermione.

'Yes, we sold them four of our new products,' said George happily. 'Then we bought some of their other stuff, but we still spent less than we made.'

'More money for brooms and robes, then,' said Ron.

'We're saving it for the shop we want to open,' said Fred.

'Yes, we found a nice one up for sale in Diagon Alley,' said George. 'Should be a good location.'

'How do you get any time to look for shops?' asked Harry.

'There's a lot of time if you know how to use it,' said Fred with a grin.

'Let's go and check on the place,' said George. Both twins suddenly Disapparated.

'I didn't know they could do that!' said Harry.

'They passed their tests after we came back to school,' explained Ron. 'They failed twice before, so they weren't talking about it when you stayed with us last summer.'

'No wonder they can look at shops, if they just Apparate to Diagon Alley and back.'

'I'm sure they're not supposed to do that,' said Hermione, frowning. 'We've only got permission to come to Hogsmeade, not Diagon Alley.'

'They're eighteen now,' Ron reminded her. 'They may still be here at school, but they're legally adults.'

'But legally, the school is responsible for them, and none of the teachers know they've gone to Diagon Alley. If anything happened to them, Dumbledore would be in trouble.'

'Considering what's probably in those bags, they'd probably be in at least some trouble themselves,' said Ron with a grin. 'I suppose all of it is safe to Apparate with.'

'If anyone made up an object that would explode like a firework when someone Apparated with it, it would be the twins,' said Hermione.

'Or you,' suggested Harry. 'Take it as a challenge.'

'I'm not going to make an unexpected firework! Suppose Fred and George Apparated back to the Burrow with it -- what did Mr and Mrs Weasley ever do to you?'

'Oh, that's a good point,' Harry admitted. 'Aren't you interested in working out how to do it, just as an intellectual exercise?'

'Harry, if you want to exercise your intellect, spend more time revising for your O.W.Ls.'

'You mean I'll have to stop sneaking off to the Prefect's bathroom and so on?'

'We've almost stopped doing that.'

'Hermione doesn't need to revise any more, but I do,' said Ron glumly. 'She still goes and uses the Prefect's bathroom, anyway.'

'Only for its proper use,' she pointed out.

*

On Monday, every teacher felt it necessary to remind the fifth-years that the exams were now only three weeks away.

'Yippee,' muttered Ron, as McGonagall told them, after they'd already heard it from Flitwick, Hagrid and Trelawney. 'I'd never have guessed they were that soon.'

McGonagall also had a list of the Gryffindor fifth-years, with a day and time beside each. 'Each of you will meet me in my office at these times. I have reviewed your choices of subjects for next year, and it is time to discuss your ideas for future careers, to make sure that your subject choices are appropriate.'

Professor Sprout, who took their last lesson for Monday, had a different approach for reminding them. 'I hope you all realise that the exams are in less than a year?'

The class laughed, as they'd been expecting her to say just what the others had.

'I like Sprout,' Ron said as they walked back to their common room after Herbology. 'She's not being as predictable as the rest.'

'Maybe she was a pupil here once and remembers what it was like,' suggested Harry. 'Snape can't be the only teacher who used to be a pupil here.'

'Have you thought about teaching here?' Ron asked Hermione.

She shrugged. 'I still don't know what sort of thing I'd want to do after leaving here.'

'When's your careers talk?' Harry asked. 'Mine's not until Friday.'

'Mine's on Wednesday, while you're duelling,' said Ron.

'I've got mine tomorrow,' Hermione replied.

They sat with Ginny in the common room. 'Do you still want to be an Auror?' Hermione asked Ron.

'I suppose so. It'd please Dad if I got a Ministry job, and maybe I could shut Percy up, too.'

'Those are the most important things about a career,' commented Ginny.

'Just you wait until next year.'

Ginny looked at Harry and smirked.

'I don't mean that!' Ron exclaimed. 'I meant that you'll have a careers talk then!'

'Yes, what you're thinking about isn't a career,' said Harry, grinning at Ginny. 'Not the sort you could ever tell your parents about, anyway.'

'Healing sounds interesting,' said Hermione, putting down the leaflet she'd been reading. 'It'd please Mum and Dad if I did something medical, too.'

'Doesn't anyone choose a job because of what they want for themselves?' Ginny asked. Then she asked Harry, 'What would you like to do?'

'I don't know. Moody suggested I could be an Auror, but it wasn't really him. I'm still thinking about it, but was he being serious and trying to act like Moody, or did he just say it because he wants clumsy Aurors?'

'You can cast a Patronus, and there're all these spells we've learnt in duelling,' Hermione pointed out. 'You'd probably be a good Auror.'

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. Both of them were hoping to please their parents, but he couldn't do that; he couldn't even guess what might please them. 'I'd really like to be able to talk to my parents, just once. I'd like to know what they thought about jobs I could do.'

Hermione looked sadly at Harry, then asked, 'Have you looked at the leaflets about careers?'

Harry noticed that Hermione had several leaflets in her lap. 'No, I haven't looked yet. My talk's not until Friday, anyway.'

'You could look before the last minute, though.' She passed him a couple of the leaflets. 'That one's about Aurors, and that's about the Committee on Experimental Charms.'

Harry took them. 'Experimental Charms? Is that a good one?'

She shrugged. 'I don't know if you'd like it. Trying to invent new charms sounds interesting, and you've already faced You-Know-Who more times than any Auror.'

'So you think he needs a rest?' asked Ron, grinning.

'It would be nice if Harry had a safer job,' said Ginny. 'Growing horns or something is nothing next to facing You-Know-Who and Dementors.'

'Oh, yes -- there was that man at the World Cup that your dad pointed out. Would you like me with horns, then?' he asked her, grinning.

'I'd like you alive,' she said simply.

'Good point. I'd like me better if I was alive, too.'

Hermione was reading another leaflet. Ron asked her, 'How many jobs are you thinking about, anyway?'

'I don't know yet. Auror sounds worthwhile, but I don't like the idea of working for a Minister who doesn't believe You-Know-Who is back. How can you catch Death Eaters when the person in charge thinks there aren't any left?'

'Mr Dunsmuir's the Head Auror, and he knows there are too many left,' said Ginny quietly. 'He still has to convince Fudge, but maybe he will by the time you leave here.'

'I'm still thinking about being an Auror,' said Ron. 'Can I read that one after you, Harry?'

Harry nodded, and kept reading. 'It's not easy to get in.'

'There's a big problem with being an Auror,' said Harry, handing Ron the leaflet. 'They need a N.E.W.T. in Potions.'

'Oh,' said Ron, disappointed. He started reading the leaflet. 'Can you get round that? It was bad enough when McGonagall persuaded us not to drop Potions this term.'

'You might be OK with enough other N.E.W.Ts,' said Hermione. 'They're just worried you'll be poisoned.'

'Like Moody and his hip-flask,' said Ginny. 'I suppose they're right.'

*

Tuesday's lessons went well, and Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in their common room for their free last period of the day. Hermione was looking through all of the careers leaflets.

'You don't have to do homework for a careers talk,' said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. 'We could be having much more fun not doing homework.'

'I don't want to be late getting to McGonagall's office, though,' she said, hardly paying attention.

'At least you can tell her why you're late, now that she knows,' said Ron.

'Would you tell her that?' Harry asked him.

'No, I wouldn't. But Hermione already told her. She must have more of this Gryffindor bravery.'

'She must have been very annoyed about all these rumours,' said Harry with a grin.

'"She" is still here and listening, you know,' Hermione reminded them.

'At least you can't complain I didn't notice you were a girl,' said Ron.

'If you haven't noticed, you've been doing something very different from what I imagined,' joked Harry.

The portrait hole opened, and other pupils, including Ginny, entered. She came over to sit beside Harry. 'Hello.'

Hermione looked up with a start, put the leaflets on the table and hurried out of the common room.

'What did I do?' asked Ginny.

'She's scared of you,' said Ron, grinning.

'It's her career talk,' Harry explained.

'Oh, right. Did you say yours is on Friday? Why so late?' Ginny asked.

'I've got duelling tomorrow and Quidditch on Thursday, remember?'

Ginny nodded and got her homework out.

Hermione returned some time later, and reminded Lavender about her talk, before sitting next to Ron.

'So? What are you going to do after school?' Ron asked her.

She shook her head. 'I seem to have a few choices. I'll see what O.W.L. results I get.'

'You don't really think that your O.W.L. results are going to reduce the possibilities, do you?' Harry asked her. She grinned back at him.

'Are you going to tell us what the choices are?' Ginny asked her.

'McGonagall agrees about Healing and Experimental Charms. She also suggested working as an independent researcher on Experimental Charms, but she says it's hard to earn a living that way.'

'Was that all?' asked Ron.

'She mentioned curse-breaking -- you should read that leaflet, Harry -- but I'm not sure I want to do that. She also suggested being an Auror, but I already told you how I feel about that. She mentioned teaching, too, which might be interesting.'

'You'd have to put up with pupils like Ron,' said Ginny. 'Doesn't that put you off?' Ron frowned at her, making her giggle.

*

After classes on Wednesday, Ron went back to the common room, as he had the second careers talk, after Dean's. Harry and Hermione went to their duelling class, hoping that Snape wouldn't be there this time.

Dumbledore tested them on the three new curses, which they both performed properly. Hermione hesitantly asked him about the Cruciatus Curse.

'I would be most reluctant to cast that on you, although I understand what you mean about experiencing it in this setting, rather than at the hands of someone more hostile, who will not stop.'

'You don't think it's wise, then?' she asked, half-disappointed, half-relieved.

'I will consider it. I certainly will not cast it today.' There was a knock on the door. Dumbledore said, 'Enter,' and Sinistra and McCardle came in. They duelled against Harry and Hermione, and both pupils found the lesson was better than the one involving Snape.

Dumbledore gave them another list, this time with two more spells to learn for the following week, and they went down to the Great Hall. Ron was already there, having decided it was quicker to go straight there after the careers talk. They told him about their duelling lesson, and asked about his careers talk.

'She does think I'll have to add Potions back to my subjects next year,' he said sadly, 'if I'm serious about being an Auror.'

'I think it could be interesting, with the changes in the way Potions is taught in the sixth year,' said Hermione.

'Have you added any?' Ron asked.

'Well ... I couldn't.'

Harry grinned and shook his head. 'You forgot to leave even a single subject off the list, didn't you?'

'I didn't forget,' she protested.

*

Thursday had much better weather than the previous Thursday, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team took the opportunity to practise for the upcoming match against Ravenclaw.

'In three weeks and two days, we'll be playing Ravenclaw,' said Angelina. 'Do I have to remind everyone that both our teams have exactly three hundred and seventy points?' There was a chorus of 'No'. 'I do not want to see Roger Davies holding this cup up in front of the school. I don't want to do my final Head Girl duties with a smirking Jon Kelly. I want to be the one who's smirking! We managed to win the Cup for Oliver's last year, and I'd like that to become a tradition.'

'At least we've already thrashed Slytherin,' said Fred.

'Yes, and they're going to be last this year, whatever we do. That just reminded me -- it's not just my last year, it's Fred's, George's and Alicia's. This is the most changes we've had in a year since I joined almost six years ago. So next year, you have to win it for Katie -- don't you dare forget. At least we've got a full reserve team now, to build next year's team from.'

For the practice session, Angelina flew Hermione's Firebolt again. 'Thanks, Hermione,' she said, handing the broom back to her. 'That should be a big help in the final. It's very team-spirited of you.' Hermione blushed and smiled.

*

Following Friday's Herbology lesson, the trio returned to the castle and went in three different directions. Hermione returned to the common room, Ron went to the duelling class with the other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, and Harry went to McGonagall's office to find out what she had to say about his life after Hogwarts.

Her desk was sprinkled with careers leaflets. She looked at him and asked, 'Have you any thoughts about what career you might try?'

'Well, even after looking at the leaflets, the main thing I've thought about is something that the false Moody said last year -- becoming an Auror.' He looked at his hand, avoiding her gaze, and asked, 'Do you think that's realistic? I don't know if he just said it because he was a Death Eater and wanted useless people to be Aurors.'

'You are hardly useless,' she said, reprovingly. 'I do not know why he said it, but he would not have considered you to be a threat to his master, as he expected you to die before the end of the year, when You-Know-Who was revived.'

Harry looked at her in surprise. That was a blunter comment than he'd expected from her.

She continued, 'The fact that you are sitting here today clearly indicates that you are more skilled at Defence Against the Dark Arts than he believed.' She looked down at some pieces of parchment on her desk. 'Professor Dumbledore and Professor McCardle have both confirmed that your progress in that subject has been remarkable, and enough to cause us a problem in this year's exams.'

'What problem?' asked Harry, concerned.

'The exam timetables do not consider the possibility of pupils who are taking a N.E.W.T. in addition to O.W.Ls. Your duelling exam clashes with your Herbology exam. You need not be worried -- it is a problem for us, not you. You will need to do an extra exam after dinner on one of the days that week.'

Harry nodded, reassured. He thought that would probably mean doing three exams in one day, which would be exhausting.

'However -- is Auror your first choice of career? Have you not considered becoming a Quidditch player professionally, as Oliver Wood did? I am certain that you are skilled enough.'

Harry sighed. 'I'd like to be able to think about it.' He told her what he'd told Sirius earlier, about his fear that playing in public would endanger other players, who might be killed as a distraction while Death Eaters captured him.

McGonagall looked sadly at him. 'No pupil should have to consider something like that when thinking of future careers, but I agree it is a risk.' She looked at the parchments again. 'You would really need to study Potions to N.E.W.T. level, and you did not mark that on your list.'

'Can I avoid having to do it by getting a good result in a different subject?'

'Unfortunately not. I am aware of your problems with Professor Snape, but it would be necessary.'

Harry nodded glumly. 'I suppose I'd better add it back to my list then.'

McGonagall made a note. 'There would also be a further three years training at the Ministry, even if you can meet their requirements. There will be further exams, too.'

'I don't mind exams.'

'That is fortunate. These requirements are quite severe. Have you considered any other career?'

Harry grinned. 'I don't suppose there's a leaflet about helping Fred and George with their joke-shop?'

'I appear to be missing that one,' she said drily.

'I don't know about curse-breaking. Hermione suggested it because of the Dark Arts connection.'

'You don't study Arithmancy, though, which would be a drawback. It is possible that you might be able to overcome that, with your Dark Arts results.'

Harry nodded. 'I suppose being an Auror makes sense, after all the practice I've had surviving attacks by You-Know-Who.'

'It is an unfortunate but unavoidable fact. Your experiences would stand you in good stead when you applied to the Ministry, certainly.'

'I never thought of all those as work experience! I don't suppose Ginny did when she was taken into the Chamber, either. I'm sorry. That's not why I came here. All right, so I'll do Potions again next year. Oh -- does that mean I will have to drop something else?'

'No, your list is still less full than Miss Granger's.'

'It would be,' he said, smiling.

McGonagall looked down at the notes. 'There is a further possibility.' She kept looking at the notes, not at Harry. 'Your skills in Defence Against the Dark Arts are certainly your best attribute, as far as career choice is concerned. Many people believe that the job of Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts is jinxed, although I would prefer to consider there to have been an unfortunate series of coincidences and plans by You-Know-Who ...'

'Are you suggesting I should teach DADA?' he asked in surprise.

'If you thought that you might be suited to a teaching career, then yes.'

'I hadn't even thought about teaching.' He considered the idea. Staying in the surroundings of Hogwarts -- that was an appealing idea. The school felt more like home to him than the Dursley's house ever had. Of course, he wasn't going back there again. 'I don't know, but I'll think about it. Would I need to study anything extra for it? I suppose I wouldn't have to do Potions for that.'

'No, you would not. You would need to have a reasonable number of N.E.W.Ts, not merely Dark Arts. With diligence, you should be able to achieve that.'

Once back in the common room, he told Hermione and Ginny the basic details of her advice.

'We're doomed,' he prophesied. 'We're all going to be doing Potions still.'

'I like the idea of a leaflet about the joke-shop,' said Ginny, who was looking through the leaflets.

'What would they ask for?' asked Hermione. '"A" in Potions and Transfiguration, and "D" in Filch's detention book?'

'Well, if Harry's as rich as you were suggesting, he could help with the costs,' Ginny replied, reading about training security trolls. She didn't see Hermione look at Harry and grin, nor his sheepish grin in return.

At dinner, Harry told Ron the short version too.

'Well, at least we can keep each other company in the misery of Potions class,' said Ron.

'Good, you're looking on the bright side,' said Ginny.

'Sirius told me we won't have ingredients or instructions. We'll be told what the potion is supposed to do, and we have to choose what ingredients to use, and what to do with them,' said Harry.

'You must be joking,' said Ron, horrified. 'It's bad enough getting them right with the list and the instructions!'

'I asked Angelina, Alicia and Katie about the subjects they were doing, and that's what I heard about Potions. Didn't you talk to Lee?' Hermione asked him.

'Yes, but I wasn't going to do Potions! He doesn't do it, anyway.'

'Teaching DADA is a good idea, Harry. Don't you think so?' Hermione asked.

'I'd never even thought about it before. There do seem to be a lot of vacancies -- and I'd know that the DADA teacher wasn't secretly working for You-Know-Who, too!'

She smiled. 'That's probably not the main thing to look for in a career.'

'It would be a relief. Besides, it would annoy Snape if I became the DADA teacher, wouldn't it? This idea's getting better all the time.'

'Fred!' called Ginny, seeing the twins getting up after finishing their dinner. Both twins came over. 'I thought you two could tell each other apart,' she said with a grin. 'Aren't you missing a chance, by not having a leaflet about jobs in your joke-shop in the pile in the common room?'

'We're not ready to take on anyone else!' said George. 'We can't even promise Lee a definite job yet, we're still looking at the shop we want. Besides, you're not ready to leave Hogwarts yet.'

'Not me! I don't want to annoy Mum. Harry's safe though, she won't be upset if he works for you.'

Fred and George hesitated and looked at each other.

'It was a joke,' said Harry quickly. 'I just asked McGonagall if she had a leaflet about the shop when I had my talk.'

Fred grinned. 'Well, if you get desperate for a job, come and see us. You'll know our address by then.'

George nodded. 'If we get things right, you won't be able to ignore us by then.'