Ron turned to Hermione. "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" she replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Rene Witherbottom was expelled for researching into the Dark Arts! I heard it from Neville!" The youngest boy of the Weasley clan seemed very shocked.
"Wasn't she a Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked Harriet as her friend sat down at the table and started to fill her own plate of breakfast goodies.
Harriet gave her a look as if to say 'how should I know?' She swallowed her first bite of a biscuit. "I'm in Gryffindor, remember?"
George suddenly sat down next to Hermione. "Feeling better, Hermione? Your leg, I mean?"
"Yes, thank you! So what is this about Rene Witherbottom?" she asked in reply.
Fred slid in next to his twin. "We overheard that the Minister of Magic had to be called in to deal with a matter of a student investigating the Unforgivables."
Harriet and Hermione shared a quick, worried glance. Had they gotten Madam Pomfrey in trouble?
Harriet tried to casually inquire, "What do you mean about Unforgivables? That's a very odd term."
"Blimey! I keep forgetting you and Hermione are Muggle born," Ron said with a slap to his forehead. "You are always doing loads better than me in class, so I just plain forget you don't know that much about Wizarding society."
"That's almost a compliment..." Fred said with a grin.
"...from poor ickle Ronnie-kins!" George finished up with a wider smile. "I wonder if he's already smitten?"
"We'll have to write home to Mum about it immediately!" Fred replied with glee.
"Quit that! Can't a bloke say that someone is smarter then him?" Ron said with a beat red face.
"Unforgivables?" Hermione asked while poking Ron on the shoulder.
"Oh, right! There are three spells that will end you up with a life sentence in Azkaban just for casting once! I don't even think Fred and George know a lot about them." Ron turned to his older brothers.
"We haven't studied them at all yet," Fred said.
"And happy not to, thank you!" George finished.
Dumbledore stood at the head table and tapped his spoon on his glass. "Pardon for the interruption of your important morning repast, but there are some things that I must inform you about."
The entire school quieted down almost instantly, craning their necks to see the old wizard.
"Madam Pomfrey was unable to continue her outstanding service at our school this year. I have managed to procure the services of a fine Mediwizard. Please welcome Mr. Libberwock." After the applause had died down. "Unfortunately, it appears that Ravenclaw has fallen to the last place for the house cup." In a very serious voice, he continued, "One should always be curious and inquisitive. But be aware, that there may be severe consequences and a stiff price for your knowledge."
There was a very quiet lull in the background noise of conversation.
About two minutes later Neville came trotting in, late as normal. "What happened to Ravenclaw?" he asked.
Harriet blinked. "What do you mean, Neville?"
"Ravenclaw doesn't have any house points!" he explained as he filled his own plate.
George looked over at the clumsy and forgetful Gryffindor in surprise. "They had over a hundred points yesterday."
Indeed, the Ravenclaws looked stunned. Several of the older Ravenclaws were giving a lone girl on their table vile looks or totally ignoring her.
"Is that Rene?" Harriet asked with a low voice.
Fred nodded seriously. "Looks like she might have been involved in the Dark Arts like the rumors say."
As they watched, both Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape stopped by to talk to Rene. The young woman smiled wanly, but shook her head.
Harriet blinked. "Wow. I don't I've ever heard of Professor Snape trying to cheer up a student."
Fred and George looked aghast. "It's a sign of the end times!" they chorused.
--------
Harriet had discovered that she was really good a Defense Against the Dark Arts. She seemed to have an intuitive grasp of the concepts and magic spells.
Hermione sighed. "That should do it. Four feet on the use of a tickling hex. I'm sure I could have gotten another six inches. But it's about tickling! How much did you do, Harriet?"
"Er... about that much." Harriet knew exactly how much. It was almost five feet.
The other girl glanced over. Her face fell as she spotted the scroll. "You've done more than me again, haven't you?"
"Maybe. I'm not-"
"I'm trying so hard! But you make it look so easy!" Hermione almost shouted. "I study and I read and I just can't quite match you."
"I'm not trying to out do you, Hermione. I just happen to have a knack for it, I guess." Harriet shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
"And you do try to get your homework done well, too. You aren't slacking off." The girl still seemed a bit upset, but almost resigned.
"Cheer up, Hermione. You are still loads better than me in all of the other classes!" Harriet exclaimed. "I think I'm entitled to be better at one!"
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See other episodes by Arthur Hansen
(Posted Tue, 28 Dec 2004 20:37)
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