The Boys Who Lived

CHAPTER 13

The sorting went well for Gryffindor, they got fourteen new members, Slytherin got eleven, Ravenclaw got twelve, and Hufflepuff got ten, all in all it was a larger group than they had seen in the past few years. There had been quite a few New Bloods or Muggle Borns as they were more commonly known, nine in all. That is the larges number of New Bloods they had had in one year in ages.

A lot of the older students had younger siblings that were just now joining Hogwarts this year, like The Weasley’s had Ginny Weasley who got into Gryffindor, The Greengrass’ had Astoria who got into Slytherin, and the Nott’s had Patricia who got into Slytherin as well.

To say the least Gryffindor was going to be packed and they may have to open up a second room for the Gryffindor boys room since there were eight Gryffindor boys and the rooms only held six. In the end that is exactly what they did, they opened up two rooms for the boys and put four in each room, it made it quite comfortable for them and worked out great. The six girls just shared one room, although they were a little bit crowded, it wasn’t unbearable.

Pavarti and Luna realized that their divided room with Lavender was back again as soon as they went to put up their things. Thanking who ever had thought ahead and set things up for them. Lavender may have turned out better by the end of the semester, she was by no means nice or polite to them still. She still had a long ways to go for her general attitude to change. But oddly enough she was back again this year instead of going to one of the day schools like she had demanded to go to. Pavarti couldn’t help but wonder why, what happened over the summer that changed Lavender’s mind about going to a day school instead of coming back to Hogwarts. Was it the promise of the designer clothes? Hmm.

Lavender couldn’t help but take a sad look around the dorm room when she entered, she had caused this rift between her and her dorm mates, and now she felt isolated and alone and it was only her first day back. She had the option to make changes and that is exactly what she was going to do. She had no intention of having another year like she did last year. This was her chance to make things turn out different. After her long talks with her parents over the summer, she realized just how much she had messed up her first year and how much she had to make up for. She had a lot of apologizing to do and she was more than willing to do it, although she was still jealous of the bond that the four of them shared, she just had to find someone to be friends with and go from there if she couldn’t be friends with them.

This year she planned on focusing on her studies too, she wanted that trip to Madam LeClairs at the end of the school year so bad she could taste it, she had managed to get the most beautiful gown that had been marked down seventy percent, would you believe it seventy percent! It was gorgeous, a soft pearlescent purple with dove grey accents, it had small pearls all over it and just glistened in the window when Lavender had scene it, she knew she had to have it. The sale had been so fabulous that her mother had almost let her get another dress but they had agreed to allow her only the one so they stuck to that agreement and she was happy with it. That dress was well worth all her hard work. She now had goals and she would make things happen this year. She could do it, and she would too.

Pavarti and Luna were putting all their new books they had gotten this summer in their book cases above their desks when their was a knock on the door to the section of their room.

“Who could that be?” Pavarti wondered.

“It is probably Lavender, hopefully nothing is wrong. It is too early in the year for us to have upset her already.” Luna stated. Luna went over to the door and opened it and sure enough it was Lavender.

“Um…I really don’t know where to start,” Lavender tried, “But I wanted to apologize for my behavior last year. All I can say is that there was no excuse for my petty jealousy and the way I treated you two. I know that now. I was jealous of the friendship you two had and the fact that you are so much smarter than I am. The whole Darcorn thing, meeting Harry Potter, and Neville Longbottom and instantly getting along with them. Being top of the class all the time. I was jealous of it all. I made a right fool of myself and I hurt people along the way and I wanted to apologize for that and say that I intend to do much, much better this year. Um…okay, that is all I wanted to say.” With that she turned around and started to head back to her area, when Luna reached over and stopped her.

“Apology accepted,” Luna said with her normal dreamy smile.

“Yes, of course. We accept your apology. Hopefully this year we can start fresh and make a new friendship that will last for a long time. I know one thing that will help. Jeeves…” Pavarti called out.

With a small pop Jeeves was standing there in front of Pavarti in his normal Potter Uniform. “Young Mistress wished to see Jeeves?”

“Yes please, do you think you could find another desk and set of book shelves just like the ones you found for us to use for Lavender and place it in her section?”

“Oh course Miss. It will be done.” Jeeves popped away and moments later a desk and book shelf appeared in Lavender’s section right next to her wardrobe. One that matched their’s perfectly.

“Now you have one that is exactly like ours, it really helps with our school work. Hopefully it will help you with yours as well.” Pavarti stated.

Lavender couldn’t help but smile and giggle just a little bit. She had been a little bit jealous when she had looked into their room and saw their desks and bookshelves, but she had reminded herself that she had done all this to herself and that she had no room to argue with anything that had happened. Now she had one of her own.

“Thank you so much! That is going to make things so much easier! Now I can put all my stuff up and have it organized where I can see it instead of crammed into my trunk or my book bag.” Lavender rushed over to her new desk and immediately began to place her things in her desk drawers and on her shelves, getting things organized for the new school year.

“That was very nice of you.” Luna stated.

“I know, but she does seem genuine about wanting to turn over a new leaf and so we can at least meet her half way.” Pavarti said.

Luna nodded. “That desk will definitely help her with her studies too. They sure did with ours. Oh by the way can I borrow your book “The Galaxy Before Us” By Hedmond Elexander, I have a couple of things I need to look up for my paper in Astrology?”

“Sure.” With that Pavarti went over to her shelf that held her Astrology books and picked up her copy of ‘The Galaxy Before Us’, and handed it over to Luna and then proceeded to pull out more books from her trunk and put them on her shelf, sorting them as she went.

Maybe this year would be different, Lavender certainly appeared to have made some major changes during the summer and was willing to make some more changes during the year. Maybe they could have a happy year after all. Who knows.

——————————————————

Neville was inside his trunk making sure everything was okay with his bonsai garden while Harry was talking with Dean and Seamus. They wanted to know all about his summer, especially with Lestrange out on the loose.

“According to the Profit she has already killed the three guards at Azkaban and those three campers, who knows who else she killed out there that they haven’t found out about yet. It must be really scary having someone so crazy out to get you. I bet your godfather has been going nuts all summer. I don’t even have her out to get me and my Mum has been driving me up the wall. She almost didn’t want to go to Diagon Alley when our school list came in, but she decided that Lestrange would be a fool to show her face in a crowded place like that.” Seamus said.

“You forget she is good with potions and could polyjuice into just about anyone. That is one reason we didn’t take the train to get here, she could have hidden away as any new first year and attacked at any point, or taken hostages or worse, just went on a killing spree. So we both decided to skip the train and came to Hogwarts with our folks.” Harry explained as he began to pull out his trunk and place it at the foot of his bed and enlarge it. He pulled out a tall coat rack that Alice had bought him and placed it beside his wardrobe to put his trench coat on, took off his trench coat and hung it up.

About that time a grinning Neville peaked up from his trunk and began to climb out of his trunk.

“Everything okay in there?” Harry asked.

“Perfect, the bonsai garden didn’t get jostled around a bit, it stayed exactly as I had placed it, even the koi fish are doing fine. I just made sure they were fed and the temperature of the water was right and came right on back out. It looks like my idea of taking my bonsai garden with me where ever I want to go is a success. I love that little thing and I am so glad Sirius and the rest gave it to me. I think working on it is almost as relaxing as working with the Darcorns.” Neville stated as he climbed out of his trunk and shut the lid.

“Bonsai garden?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, Sirius got me a bonsai garden for my birthday and everyone got me a little something to add to it, so it looks really cool now. It even has a koi pond and a water fall. I have six different bonsai trees in the garden right now, maybe someday I will get others but that is something to think about for the future, I have to show it to you guys sometime. It is really cool. Or at least I think it is.” Neville smiled real big and his eyes sparkled as he spoke about his little garden.

“I have only seen a bonsai garden once and that was when I went to the Royal gardens in London, they had an exhibit that had one there. It was so cool, it was almost twelve feet across, it had little fountains and streams and waterfalls in it. There were all these miniature plants in it and they had tiny statues and benches everywhere it was just amazing. I couldn’t even begin to think of how someone could make something that tiny, it looked so beautiful but it was all shrunk down and so small. The little trees were just blooming away and everything, they had trees that had little pink and white flowers on them, it made the garden seem so peaceful, you could almost put yourself in the little garden and just loose yourself in its beauty. When I told the man tending it how it made me feel he just smiled and said that is what it was suppose to do.” Dean said, he really wanted to see what Neville’s garden looked like.

“If you want to see what my garden looks like, I don’t mind. It isn’t anywhere near that size but I may make it bigger one day.” Neville was interested in hearing more about the garden that Dean has seen was like and comparing it to his, the idea of little statues sounded interesting. He had not thought about that yet. Well not really, he had one or two but they were merely Buddha’s to go along with his temple.

Dean nodded at once, “I would love to see it, if you don’t mind that is. The whole thing reminds me of the miniature train scenes that people spend so much time building and make into intricate scenes. I love model trains. I have one at home, and my Mum got me the Hogwarts Express this year for Christmas. I want to make up a whole scene out of it at some point. With platform nine and three quarters and all. But it will take me a long time to learn how to make all the little buildings, but you can buy the little figurines and what not from the stores that make the trains, I wonder if they would have some oh the things that you could use in your garden?” Dean went over to Neville’s trunk and followed him down to look at his bonsai garden.

It was about twenty minutes before the two of them came back up. “I have got that catalog in my trunk, let me get it. I ordered it just before the start of the semester, hoping I could get a few things during the school year and start collecting what I needed to start my scene of platform nine and three quarters. Just a second.” Dean climbed out of Nevilles trunk grinning and went over to his own trunk and was tearing through things until he found the catalog in question then rushed back over to where Neville was now sitting at his desk. “This catalog has hundreds of miniatures that you can get that would work with what you have started down there. Animals, people, statues, buildings, more trees… although they wouldn’t be alive like the ones you have in there now. They even have a special section on asian artwork and items. Like people in old time asian clothing, buddhas, gongs, statues, bells, prayer scrolls, all kinds of things. See…” Dean flipped through the catalog to the pages mentioned and pointed out some of the things he had just described.

Neville was in heaven. “Oh Wow! This stuff would look great in my garden, look this gong would look fabulous by my temple, and these statues would look marvelous on the walkway to the koi pond. Okay I am going to have to make a order for some stuff. Do you want to help me?” Neville asked.

“Wow, yeah… of course…if you don’t mind that is. Maybe I’ll learn how to do my train station from something you do and can get started on my own set up. This is so cool.” Dean grinned.

The two of them flipped through the catalog writing down several things on the order form. Harry was so glad that Neville had found someone just as wrapped up in his bonsai garden as he was. Oh he thought it was beautiful, that was unquestionable, but he wasn’t as in to it as either Neville or apparently Dean were.

Seamus was sitting on his bed reading a magazine this whole time, not saying much. So Harry asked, “What are you reading about Seamus?”

“It is an article about brooms. They are coming out with a new one this year, it is suppose to be the best on the market, called the Firebolt. From what I can see it absolutely squashes the Nimbus two thousand. It’s breaking system alone would put that broom to shame. It is supposedly the perfect broom for Seekers. According to this article it can practically turn on a sickle and has the power to accelerate that no broom has ever seen. It can go from zero to one hundred and ten miles a minute in under three minute. Wow a hundred and ten miles in under three minutes. The old Nimbus only goes eighty miles an hour at top speed according to this. This Firebolt must be the fastest broom on the market!” Seamus stated, not looking up from his reading.

“A hundred and ten miles an hour? I can’t even imagine going that fast. How on earth do they manage to keep people from falling off at that speed. It must have a killer steering system, to be able to control it at that speed.” Harry looked glassy eyed as he thought about such a broom, then he shook his head. He didn’t need such a fancy broom. He had his trusty Nimbus and he was quite happy with it. He and Neville were going to try out for the quidditch team this year, but they both agreed the only way they would play is if they both got on together, it just wasn’t fun without both of them playing.

It seemed strange in a way, that already this year both he and Neville had connected with Dean and Seamus on a level that they never had managed to connect to them before. Seamus always seemed so distant and, I don’t know… aloof almost. Not snobbish or anything just separate from them. But one thing they did have in common was brooms and the love of quidditch. When Harry mentioned that he and Neville intended to try out for relief chasers for the team, Seamus got all excited, he had always wanted to play himself…seeker mind you. But he didn’t think he was good enough, not yet anyway. Harry and Seamus were talking non-stop about quidditch when they realized it was almost time for dinner, they called over to Neville and Dean who were still going through that catalog and picking out things to put into the bonsai garden and told them what time it was. Together the four headed down to the Great Hall and sat down just as the first of the rest of the school started milling in.

“Hi Luna, Pavarti. Haven’t seen you since we got here. Are you guys already unpacked yet?” Harry asked.

“We are almost finished, still going through our books a little. I am keeping most of my books in my library downstairs and only putting my new ones out on my shelves, since I haven’t even looked through those books yet.” Pavarti stated smiling at Harry as she began to pick through the foods that appeared in front of them.

“I have finished putting up my books, now I am working on revising my Astrology paper, I had a couple of quotes I wanted to add and Pavarti had the book I needed, so I have been working on that for the last hour or so.” Luna added. She reached over and began to pick her favorites from the foods offered for the meal. She so loved pudding, but she knew that her Mummy would not be happy unless she ate a well balanced meal before she got to her delicious puddings. Mmm pudding.

Harry could tell by the look in her eyes that Luna was envisioning puddings again. Her and her pudding. That girl could survive on pudding if you would let her. Three meals a day, every day if possible. Geez. He was more of a meat and potato kind of a guy. Now don’t get me wrong he loved his candy and deserts but not as much as a nice steak or a well roasted chicken with all the fixings, even a good roast was enough to make Harry’s mouth water. Neville was more of a vegetable and chicken person, he liked pastas pretty well too but he liked chicken just about any way you could fix it and he loved just about any vegetable, at least anything other than turnips, never did find a reason for turnips, now turnip greens he loved but turnips he really didn’t like all that much, he would eat them he just didn’t really enjoy them as much as other vegetables. And Neville would rather have fruit to other sweets any day of the week. He would eat like birthday cake every once and a while, but only a small slice, but if it was something like peach cobbler or strawberry pie, well you might as well as make him his own pan of it because that is about how much he would eat.

While everyone was going crazy over butter beer and chocolate milk both boys were enjoying a wide variety of fruit juices. Lily had introduced Alice to organic fruit juices when they were both pregnant and now she loved keeping a few different varieties on stock at all times.

Harry filled his plate, making sure to get plenty of vegetables just for Alice, and began to eat. Most of the meal passed quickly, everyone sharing what they had done over the summer holiday or the latest news or tidbit of gossip they had heard.

Fred and George sharing the latest news about Ron and him having to go to Durmstrang in order to get his education since he refused to study at homeschool.

“I can’t believe it, all his longwinded fussing about not being put in the same house that You-Know-Who was put in and now he is going to be attending the same school that Grindelwald went to! Personally I think he was even worse than You-Know-Who, just look at the death toll that he managed to mount up.” Harry stated, shaking his head.

Fred nodded. “Yeah, he tried to beg Mum not to send him there, using that same excuse. But she put her foot down, stating if he didn’t want to put in even the slightest effort at home on his own he was going to start all over again in year one over at Durmstrang. And so they took him to be tested and sure enough he had to start as a first year all over again.” That is the longest statement that Harry had ever heard either of the twins ever say at one time before he thought.

“Hard to believe our own brother in Durmstrang,” George stated.

“…but that is the way it is going to be, Mum is fed up and won’t take it any longer.” Fred continued.

“Besides, this is Ginny’s first year, and she is suppose to start this year, “ George said

“…at least our sweet little Ginny knew how to get into Gryffindor.” Fred stated, looking over to the blushing Ginny who was trying to hide behind another of the Gryffindor first years.

“I think Mum would have had a heart attack if our little Gin Gin,” George started

“…had ended up in any other house.” Fred finished.

“She would have been fine in Hufflepuff, she is a hard worker and she makes friends easily. Or she would have been good in Ravenclaw, she is very smart although I don’t think most people give her enough credit for how smart she really is.” Luna stated as she speared a potato to eat it. “She would never had fit in in Slytherin though, she isn’t cunning or ambitious enough I do not imagine…although I could be wrong. Although with having seven brothers including the twins, and living with you two all her life… the only house that she could ever have been truly been placed in is Gryffindor.”

Harry noticed that little Ginny sat up a little straiter when she heard Luna say those things about her. Smiling to herself and blushing prettily as she nibbled on her fried chicken.

Colin Creevey was talking a mile a minute to Ginny, sitting right next to her, but she didn’t appear to be paying any attention to him. She was only listening to what was going on further down the table with Harry and his gang.

Dinner finished and everyone headed back up to their commons room to finish unpacking and getting things ready for school tomorrow. Tomorrow was the first day of their second year and Harry couldn’t wait. He was so excited he could barely sleep that night. It took him forever to finally fall asleep but when he did he dreamed of racing Storm across the grounds of Hogwarts and around the Black Lake, along with the others. Wind blowing in his hair, chasing each other across the grounds and across the lands surrounding Hogwarts like they used to do. It was a wonderful dream,

———————————————————

Harry looked down at his new schedule and sighed oh well, it was harder this year than it was last year but that was to be expected, each year getting a little more challenging and all.

MW 9a-11a Charms(R)
MW 11a-12p Study Hall
MW 12a-2p Lunch
MW 2p-4p Potions(S)
TTh 9a-11a Transfigurations(S)
TWTh 11a-12p History of Magic(R)
TTh 12a-2p Lunch
TTh 2p-4p Defense Against the Dark Arts(S)
Thu 10p-12a Astrology(H)
Fri 10a-12p Herbology(H)
Fri 12p-2p Lunch
Fri 2p-4p Care of Magical Creatures (R)

Three classes with the Slytherins again this year, Harry thought. Oh well, it wasn’t so bad last year. They seemed to do pretty good

“So it looks like we have Charms with the Claws first thing this morning, cool.” Harry stated.

“Yeah, it is a light day just Charms and Potions. Although they are both double classes it is only two classes.” Luna added.

Pavarti looked at her schedule and winced, “Thursday is going to be a long day though, four classes and two of them doubles. Plus Astrology at ten o’clock at night… that is going to be a killer day.”

“Thankfully we have from three thirty till ten to take a nap or do homework or what ever and can just take it easy so it won’t seem that bad I guess.” Neville said as he looked at his schedule. “We only have two classes with the Puffs this year, but we have three with the Claws and three with Slytherin. Oh well there are three history classes so I guess that makes up for it.”

“The way they did History of Magic is weird this year, I don’t know if I’m going to like it set up like that. Well, we’ll see.

Everyone finished their breakfast and grabbed their bags and headed to Professor Flitwick’s classroom for their first class of the new year.

For most of the first week classes were just review of what they had done the last year, going over old spells, remaking old potions, redoing old transfigurations, things like that. It was easy for some, not so easy for others. If you hadn’t studied during the summer it was harder on you and you had a little bit of a problem. For the chosen four it was a breeze.

——————————————————————

Harry, Neville, Luna and Pavarti sat down in the front row of their charms class on the first day of their second week, hoping that this week would not be review again.

It was Luna who pointed out that there were two words written on the chalkboard in front of the class, Engorgio and Reducio. Each one took out their book and began looking up the words and found that the charms were the enlarging and shrinking charms respectively. And began to read the chapter about the two charms.

Since they had gotten to the class about ten minutes early they had read quite a bit of the chapter by the time Professor Flitwick came into the class all smiles. His smile got even bigger when he saw that they were already studying their books and deeply focused on what they were reading. So deeply focused, in fact, that they didn’t even notice that he had arrived.

“Good morning to you all.” Professor Flitwick called out startling the four of them. “I can see some of you have already noticed the two charms that I have posted on the board and are currently reading chapter two in your books, for those that aren’t there yet, please take out your books and begin with page thirty four and begin to read quietly. Today we will be starting on the Engorgio and Reducio charms that you will find there.”

For the next hour or so everyone quietly read from their Charms text book, taking notes and writing down questions they had about what they were reading. When the hour was up Professor Flitwick called out to the class and asked everyone to stop what they were doing and to pay attention to him.

“Those that haven’t finished the chapter I recommend they continue reading it later tonight, because we will be working on these charms on Wednesday as well. Now before I start talking, do any of you have any questions about the reading?” Professor Flitwick asked.

Harry raised his hand and Flitwick pointed over to him. “I was wondering about the maximum enlargement density of an object and how you tell how big an object can be enlarged safely.”

“There is a rather complicated Arithmetic calculation that can define the exact size something can safely be enlarged to, but that is something you would learn in your fourth year. So I will give you the simple answer and state that the average object can be enlarged approximately three hundred percent. Now that is an average, and of course not accurate for every thing. Some objects can handle more some cannot handle the stress of being enlarged to that degree. So learning that Arithmetic calculation is very helpful if you want to do this charm on a regular basis. Now if you take something the size of say my desk and shrink it to the size of a matchbook, it can then be enlarged to it’s original size without issue. Since you didn’t go outside it’s original size manifestation but if you went to enlarge it to the size of a house after that you would end up destroying the desk since that would weaken the original construction of the item to the point that it was no longer about to maintain its original structure. Does that clear that up for you?” Flitwick explained as he looked over to Harry.

Harry nodded, making a note in his notebook to look up the Arithmetic calculation for the enlargement of Engorgio.

Padma raised her hand and Professor Flitwick pointed to her. “If you shrink something that has moving pieces, say like a clock or something, does that effect how it works? I mean especially if it is very delicate.”

Professor Flitwick smiled at this question, “Reductio should not effect the mechanics of how an object works. A grandfather clock should work just as well miniaturized as it did full sized. Returning it to it’s full size should be just a matter of an Engorgio and everything is humming right along as it was meant to be. I have explored this with idea using a Wizarding Wireless Radio. The Radio was not harmed in any way, it played just as well miniaturized although it was harder to hear in it smaller size, it still worked and when I returned it to original size it still worked just as good as if nothing had happened to it.”

Harry could see Neville was thinking hard about something and then wasn’t surprised when he raised his hand with a question. Professor Flitwick pointed to Neville, who cleared his throat and started. “I was given a bonsai garden for my birthday this year, and I am working on decorating it. I was wondering if I found some fountains or statues that were large and used Reducio to shrink them down to fit into my garden, is there something I could use to make sure that they would stay small so that they wouldn’t suddenly get big again and destroy my garden?”

Professor Flitwick smiled and nodded. “I had one student that decorated a whole doll house with real furniture that she had shrunk down and she went all over finding just the right pieces for her doll house, by the time she had finished it was glorious. The workmanship was exquisite and the time and money she spent on that doll house was amazing but the finished product was well worth it. All you need to do is add the word ‘Permanens’ to the end of Reducio and it will remain a permanent change. So that would be Reducio Permanens, if you want to make it a permanent change.”

Neville was grinning and had thoughts of all sorts of statues and fountains that he was going to get for his garden in the very near future rushing through his head. He turned around and looked over to Dean who was grinning up a storm at him as well. They were both thinking the same thing. They needed more catalogues.

Justin Finch-Fletchly raised his hand and waited for Professor Flitwick to point at him. “How long does the Reducio usually last?”

“That all depends on how strong the Wizard or Witch is and how much magic is used when they did the original charm. If the person is rather strong and they put quite a bit of magic into the charm, the Reducio can last a matter of weeks even months; but under normal circumstances I would say a few days to a couple of weeks at best. When you first start doing the charm I wouldn’t expect that type of result either, just like a muscle it will take time to develop that type of result. When you first start you may only be able to get a Reducio to last for a few days at best. As you get more experience with the charm you will be able to gain more control over it and be able to develop it longer and hold it for weeks instead of days, then months instead of weeks. Then of course there is the Reducio Permanens charm you can always use if you want something to remain reduced until you want it to be enlarged again. And that will last until the charm is broken by using an Engorgio on the item.” Professor Flitwick explained. Justin made notes in his papers and nodded as Flitwick spoke.

“Now that goes for the Engorgio as well, if you are using that charm you will find that it will only hold for a few days to perhaps a week at best until you get to where you are more experienced with it and then you can hold it for longer. As you get more experience with the charm you have more control over it and are able to hold it for longer you will go from days, to weeks, to even months. Let’s say you have a favorite rabbit fur you would like to make into a big fur on your bed to cover the whole thing, you could enlarge the whole thing to make it big enough to cover your bed, at first the Engorgio may last for five days, then the second time you did it it may last for eight days, then two weeks, then three weeks. The one thing you must realize is that some things can only be enlarged a certain number of times before they begin to get what I call ‘thread bare’ or ‘delicate’ which means that the next time you try to enlarge it something goes wrong and the item ripped apart or breaks in some way. Most things have a Engorgio limit, but if you keep an eye on it and keep it in good condition you may be able to do it many times. Other things may be so delicate that only have five or six Engorgios in them so keep that in mind when you are using these charms. Keep your original target in good condition and you will not have any problems.” Flitwick smiled at Justin. And then nodded over to Megan Jones who also had her hand up.

“Is this the spell that dress makers use to get something to automatically fit to someone?” Megan asked.

“The charm they use is a variant of these charms but they are similar, good question. The sizing charms that dress makers use are very similar to these charms, they use a variant of the Reducio it is Reducio Accommodo and that will adjust to fit around the size or shape that is presented to it. Like you put on a dress that is too big, simply state Reducio Accommodo and it will self size to fit your body size and it will adjust to you and fit properly. Now that is a fourth year charm but I suppose there is no harm in telling you about it now. The same is true for Engorgio, let’s say you put your shoes on and they are a little too small, you can use Engorgio Accommodo to enlarge them to fit your feet once again and everything is fine. Although the charm is temporary and you will eventually have to get another pair of shoes you have a temporary fix for now.” Flitwick explained.

The girls in the class were especially interested in this information. Lavender Brown was excitedly writing everything Flitwick had said. For the first time in two years there was something she could use in her desire to be a fashion designer and she was so excited. Engorgio Accommodo and Reducio Accommodo, she had to remember those two, she could do so much with them. The ideas she had were racing through her head faster than she could put them down on parchment.

Professor Flitwick passed out a bunch of pillows to each student and instructed them on how to do the wand movement necessary to get the Reducio to work correctly. After each student had a pillow he then had them practice on the pillows Reducio and told them to begin. Harry, Neville, Luna and Pavarti had no problem getting the charm to work the first time they tried it, which thrilled the charms Professor.

As Professor Flitwick watched them work through the Reducio charm without a problem he walked over to the four of them and whispered to them that they were free to try Engorgio as well. And to do the two charms intermediately, so that is exactly what they did. First Reducio, then Engorgio and back again. Over and over again until the bell rang for the class to end.

“Don’t forget to read chapter two, starting on page thirty-four and have it completed by Wednesday, we will be practicing this more then as well.” Professor Flitwick announced as everyone gathered up their books and notes.

They all headed over to the Great Hall to study, While they only had one class so far they could always finish the reading for Charms and read a little ahead on Potions at least. Which is exactly what they did. It was Professor Burbage’s turn to watch over the Study Hall. She was the Professor of Muggle Studies and didn’t have a class right now so she was one of the few individuals available to watch over the students.

Lunch time came around and they simply put away their books and parchments and waited for the food to be served. Neville was excitedly talking about some of the gardening catalogues that he had seen that had fancy statues he was going to order and shrink down to fit them into his bonsai garden. He had some major plans for his garden now. He had never thought about getting fancy, standard sized statues and or artwork and just shrinking it to fit. But now he was having a real hard time just sitting there eating and not heading up to his dorm room and getting his gardening catalogues and picking out all kinds of things. Bells, gongs, statues, seats, fountains, gazebos, anything and everything was rushing through Neville’s head and he was talking excitedly to Dean who was sharing his ideas with Neville and between the two of them they seemed to have a pretty cool garden set up in mind. Nothing to crowded mind you, but quite a bit more than what he currently had in his bonsai garden…he may even have to enlarge it before he was done but that was something to think about in the future.

Harry spent much of his lunch talking to Luna about Potions and what she thought the first potion of the year might be, although they knew that it would probably be something they had worked on before, they were both excited to see which one it was. Luna was hoping for the Antidote Potion which was a basic potion for most poisons that you could encounter in a standard potions lab. Harry was betting it was going to be the Fire Protection Potion, then move onto the Antidote Potion. Although with the new Herbology this year it could be the Herbicide Potion that they had worked on over the summer as well. So they were both at a loss as to what it could be.

Pavarti chimed in and bet that it would be the Herbicide, stating that it was probably the reason Professor Lovegood had had making the Potion that summer. So they would be prepared. Although logically she should do the Antidote Potion first then the Herbicide, since the Herbicide potion and in fact several of the potions they are suppose to be working with this year could be considered toxic if used incorrectly.

So it was one for the Antidote Potion, one for the Fire Protection Potion and one for the Herbicide Potion…well we shall see.

—————————————————————

Everyone went to their standard seat and began to get their things ready. Neville noted how this year Pavarti had a scale that matched theirs, one with all the delicate dials and measurements on it. It was harder to calibrate, but it gave more accurate measurements as well.

Neville couldn’t help but notice that Pavarti and Luna both wore the necklaces, that he and Harry bought for them last Christmas, everywhere. For some reason it brought a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach and he couldn’t quite understand it. Neville was going to get Pavarti the wrist cuff just like Harry bought for Luna as soon as Pavarti had her birthday, he would have to wait until February fifth to get it for her though…no he would get it for her for Christmas…that was sooner. Maybe see about a set of ear rings for her birthday. Yeah, that would work.

While Neville was focused on Pavarti and the presents he wanted to get her, Professor Lovegood came into the room and began to set up her station in the middle of the room like always. Then she turned around and wrote on the board… Antidote Potion page ninety-two.

“All right everyone, I want you to turn to page ninety-two in your books and read the information starting on that page about the Antidote Potion. When you have finished that you may gather up your ingredients and begin brewing. If you do not finish with the reading and do not start on the brewing today don’t worry we will be working on this potion on Wednesday as well.” Professor Lovegood reached over and began to calibrate her scales and wipe down her instruments before she began to brew, just like always.

Harry looked over to Luna, who stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. Harry shook his head and took out his book and began to read the assigned reading. Sassy little witch.

About forty minutes after they were assigned the reading Harry put his book down and got up to go get his ingredients. Neville soon followed, as did Pavarti and Luna. Each one finishing their reading about the same time.

Harry sat his ingredients down at his station and took out a clean cloth and began to wipe all his instruments down. Making sure that there was no dust or particles on the surfaces of his instruments. Then he got his cauldron on the fire and placed his base in the cauldron and waited until it got to a slow boil, while he was waiting for it to get to that slow boil he was chopping, grinding and crushing the ingredients necessary for his potion. When the base got to the slow boil it was suppose to be at, he lowered the temp on his fire and put in the first ingredient, stirring the potion the required number of times clockwise followed by three counter clockwise stirs.

Then when the potion turned to a light blue he added the second ingredient and did six clockwise stirs and one counter clockwise stir, he did this process three times. When this brought the potion to a bright aqua color he raised the temperature back up to the slow boil and added the next ingredient. Once it was boiling at a gentle boil he stirred it five times counter clock wise, which turned the potion almost a turquoise color. The final step was to add the last ingredient and stir seven times clock wise, followed by three times counter clock wise, repeating this process three times. Then remove the potion from the heat and let it cool, the end result should be a cobalt blue color with a almost syrupy consistency.

Harry’s potion came out perfect, consistency and all. Luna’s was slightly too thin but other than that it was perfect. Neville’s was perfect, a brilliant shade of cobalt and the perfect syrupy thickness. Pavarti’s was just slightly lighter than perfect but not so much that you would notice it really, but her consistency was perfect.

Professor Lovegood came by and checked each one of their potions and nodded in approval then headed over to the Slytherin side and checked on some of the others who had just started brewing.

The four of them bottled up and labeled their potions, and then bottled up the remaining portions for their trunks. Never can have too much Antidote Potion just laying around now could you. They already had the stuff they had made over the summer, now they had some they made in class as well.

“For those that have finished the potion, Wednesday we will be making the potion again and if you do good enough on it, your potion will be used in the Medical Ward. For those that have not finished the potion you will have a chance to finish the potion and if there is enough in your batch, you can also send some to the Medical Ward for student use. For those that have not finished the assigned reading, please finish reading, read, or reread the information on the Antidote Potion starting on page ninety two of your books.

After they had gathered up all their equipment and cleaned up their station, each of them handed in their work and headed back to their common room to put their books up and wait for dinner. It was while he was was waiting for dinner that Harry had an epiphany, if you can call it that, perhaps it was just a really good idea. He was watching Pavarti braid a small strand of Luna’s hair and put it back out of her eyes and clip it there. When he realized that the next starburst gift he needed to get her were starburst hair ties or hair clips. She uses them all the time, in one fashion or the other, might as well be a starburst decoration and match her other jewelry, right… yup… he had to see about getting her some hair decorations in starburst patterns next. Beautiful and functional, how could he lose on that one. It’s perfect!

Dinner went smoothly, everyone was talking about their Darcorns and getting to see them soon. Hoping they would get to ride them and where they would get to play with them. They knew they would have to go down and muck out their stalls soon anyway, so they made plans to go seem them in the morning before classes. Besides they needed to get back into routine of getting up at five o’clock and starting their day with running and exercising then taekwondo and karate finishing up with swordsmanship and light hand to hand, like they did last year. They didn’t do it yesterday, due to the fact that they had just got there and they needed to get things set up first. So they waited a day to start, but tomorrow they needed to start. And then they could put exercising their Darcorns between the end of classes and dinner on three nights a week as well and they would be set.

Setting up a new schedule was always the hardest thing to do come the start of the new school year. They wanted to make sure that they had Saturday to set aside like they did last year for music and dancing and practicing with their friends. Then Sunday was all family time, a time to finish up your homework and spend with your family. Now if both Harry and Neville got on the quidditch team they would have to work around that schedule as well so that had to be taken into consideration but they would work around that if they had too. Just like next year they would be allowed to go to Hogsmeade. And that would have to be figured into the schedule then.

They spent most of the evening trying to organize their schedule into something that would work. Finally, just before bedtime they had something that they were all happy with. It included all their academic, and extra-curricular studies, as well as hobbies including the Darcorns. Then they made several copies of their schedule and gave one to Alice and one to Sirius, Remus, and Persephone. Then they made sure that Hermione, Susan, Hannah, and Padma had a copy of it as well. With that they thought everyone they were thinking of had a copy. Although they would have to talk to the people in the band later about their practice times that could wait a day or so.

————————————————————

Tuesday started off with Transfigurations with the Slytherins. When they entered into the Transfigurations classroom no one had a clue as to what the first project would be, Sirius had talked about so many different ones that he had planned that it could have been any one of a number of them.

“All right folks, settle down we are going to be working on a new branch of Transfiguration this semester. Last semester we did non-living to non-living, this semester we will be doing non-living to living. So it will be a little bit more complicated and require a lot more focus. We will be taking at least two classes per project so don’t worry if you don’t get it the first time around. There is also quite a bit of theory reading in this section, so be prepared to bring your book with you each class.” Professor Black announced.

Everyone got out their books and parchment for notes and waited for further instructions.

“The first Transfiguration we are going to study is not listed in your books however, since it is a newly discovered Transfigurations by the name of Cultroflora. It means knife to flower. The reason we are focusing on this transfiguration is because of the illustrious Bellatrix Lestrange herself. As you all should be aware she broke out of Azkaban prison this past summer and is currently wandering around somewhere. Well fact is she could be any where and with polyjuice and charms, she could be anyone. Unfortunately.”

“So as a means to help fight against her two budding transfiguration prodigies came up with a new transfiguration this summer. Lestrange’s’ favorite weapon is a knife and she knows how to use it well, so if someone, anyone pulls a knife on you, you can use this spell and turn their knife into a daffodil and wallah no threat there. Then turn and run like hell. “

“Now this spell is very simple, it is Cultroflora, pronounced Cul-tra-flor-a. A simple point and shot approach. No wand movement necessary. Now pronounce it with me… Cultroflora…again Cultroflora one more time Cultroflora. Now you can imagine any flower, but the easiest flower to work with is the daffodil, it usually comes in all yellow and its leaves are easy to remember how to envision. So it is the fastest flower to work with. But if you have a preference of flower or one that pops into your head first go with it. What ever flower you prefer, go with it. The fact is that it is a knife to a flower. It is quick and to the point, no fighting, no blood, no cursing, just one spell and it is over with, she is down one weapon. But don’t underestimate Bellatrix Lestrange… she always has something up her sleeve, always run away if you can. Leave or get away as fast as you can. You don’t want to be anywhere near that person for a second longer than absolutely necessary. So I brought a bunch of butter knives for you to practice on, so I would like to see what you can all do.”

With that Professor Black passed out two butter knives out to each student; and then spent the rest of the class walking up and down the aisles helping the students focus their spell, and pronounce the spell properly. Some did brilliantly, others needed a bit more help. By the time the bell tolled for the class to be over though, everyone had managed to create two perfect daffodils at least. Some worked on other flowers as well, but everyone managed at least the two daffodils. Even Goyle and Crabbe had managed it, and that was practically a miracle in and of itself. That just proved that anyone could do this spell if they tried.

Lavender was quite proud of herself, she managed to get two perfect daffodils and it only took three tries to get the first one and two more tries to get the second one. She was working so hard to make her parents proud of her this year. She was determined to take her studies seriously and do what ever it took to do better. She had already signed up with a study group that the Hufflepuffs had started a list for, that was suppose to be for Charms and Transfiguration studies. She knew most of the people in the group, that had signed up anyway so she might as well as see if they wouldn’t help her study, and see if they could help her with her home work some. Luna and Pavarti already volunteered to help her as well. Which surprised her, she thought that they wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her after the way that she had been treating them last year. But apparently they were serious about forgiving her and wanted to help her with her drive to get better grades this year.

Professor Black ended up with two beautiful bouquets on his desk, one a bouquet of daffodils and one a bouquet of a variety of other flowers of all kinds, each in a beautiful crystal vase that he created. By the end of the week nearly every female teacher had bouquets on their desk, flowers were everywhere and they were all proudly exhibited when they were told about how they were created and why. Of course Sirius may have put a charm or two on them to make them last a long time too, but that is neither here nor there. After all who wants a vase full of butter knives. He even added a charm to make them smell like the real flowers that they represented. He also gave Professor Flitwick a bouquet, even though he was a male, simply because he was so proud of all the charms he had added to the original bouquets the students had made. Professor Flitwick was thrilled with it and put the vase of various flowers on his desk proudly and then taught everyone the charms to make the flowers to stay permanent and to have the scent to match their representative flower. So that a rose smelled like a natural rose, and a daffodil smelled like a natural daffodil. It was a big hit in class. All though they were running out of butter knives in the kitchen. HaHaHa.

——————————————————————

Professor Lupin introduced himself and spoke a little about what to expect from this years History of Magic, giving a ruff overview of each general topic and area they were going to study. Then he asked if there were any questions, Harry raised his hand and was acknowledged. “Do you offer extra credit in this class this year?” Knowing he had accepted extra credit last year he was hoping he would do the same this year.

“Yes, but there are restrictions. First, I will not accept anything before the last two months of the class. I will have enough to grade at that point and don’t need the extra work.”

Hermione raised her hand and he pointed to her. “How long do you want the essays?”

“No more than sixty inches, I don’t want to read a book at that point of the year either. So keep it as brief as possible.”

Before he could point to someone else Hermione spoke up again “Professor Lupin, what can we write these essays on?”

Sigh… “Anything we have spoke about in class or any of our guest speakers have spoken about will be acceptable.”

This brought up an entire conversation about guest speakers until Professor Lupin called a halt to it. And he turned to the board and wrote on the board a bunch of names and dates. Then he started on the formation of the Magical Government and the Ministry for Magic. To say the least it was very interesting, too many dates to remember, but it was still very interesting and Professor Lupin made it fun.

“Now the Ministry of Magic was formed in seventeen zero seven as the successor to the earlier Wizards Council. Although it did have some actual capacity to be involved before its formation in the International Confederation of Wizard’s decisions enact the Statute of Secrecy in sixteen ninety two which took the responsibility of enforcing said Statute in the United Kingdom. There were also laws against underage wizards and wand use by non-wizard folk that was also enforced by the Ministry of Magic at that time as well, in part to maintain the secrecy.” Professor Lupin stated.

Harry raised his hand and Professor Lupin pointed over to him. “So the reason they put up the ban on under age magic use was because they are afraid that someone will do magic around the wrong people, not because they were trying to protect the individual from doing magic that could possibly be too strong or too much for them to attempt at that age?”

“That’s right. It has nothing to do with the individual at all, it is all about who could possibly see what is going on and would it break the Statue of Secrecy. It is one of the reasons that New Bloods or Muggle Borns if you prefer are not given the knowledge at all until they are eleven years old. They are raised in a Non-Magical heavy area and hence run the greatest risk of breaking that Statue.” Professor Lupin stated.

“Is that also the reason that Pure Bloods and Half Bloods are allowed to get a letter of compensation for use of their wand during the summer to practice with and New Bloods are not?” Luna asked. This question brought several people questioning and raising their hands but Professor Lupin just waited until the classroom quieted back down and then answered her question.

“It isn’t so much a matter of Blood as a matter of where they live. If a Pure Blood lived in a flat in the middle of London they would be refused. If a New Blood lived in a well warded Mansion somewhere in the hills of Wales they would be accepted. It is merely location that is the primary governing obstacle, but yes most New Bloods don’t live in Mansions in the Middle of no where in Wales and hence they have neighbors close by and are subject to the possibility of breaking the Statute of Secrecy. So they are restricted from the possibility of compensation for the use of a wand during the summer to practice with.” Professor Lupin explained.

Hannah Abbot raised her hand, and Professor Lupin pointed to her. “What if you have neighbors but they are all magicals like yourself, even if it isn’t out in the middle of nowhere, what if you live in a magical neighborhood or magical village?”

“At that point it would be up to the Department handling the Compensations. They would have to look at your location and see how likely you would be to run into a Non-Magical in your area and how likely it would be that you might accidentally break that Statue even if you are being very careful. You have to remember that a lot of people break the Statue by doing something foolish on accident and don’t even think about it until it is too late. That is what they have to look out for, kids more than adults because by the time you are an adult you have had this same lecture a thousand time and are sick of it. But somehow it starts to sink in and the danger of our exposure starts to sink in. Last Year we spent a great deal of time studying the witch trials, think of that in modern day times and what could happen if the current Government realized that Witches and Wizards were an active part of their everyday existence. It would make Salem or the European Witch Trials look like a holiday. It would be World War Three… Concentration Camps for all those thought to be magicals, bombing of Wizarding cities completely. Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and Durmstrang, Bobbottons, and Salem’s Academy, they would all be bombed out of existence. Everyone there would be taken to a concentration camp as Prisoner of War or just killed out right. The Statue of Secrecy is serious business people and the sooner you begin to realize it the better off you will be.” Professor Lupin stressed.

Susan Bones raised her hand and he nodded in her direction. “Do you really think that it could get that bad?”

“I would hate to think so, but I have to compare it to what happened in World War II. People were put in concentration camps, gas chambers and work farms by the thousands and for no other reason than they were different than the reining Government. It could happen, and that is something that could happen and spread like wildfire world wide if the hatred or fear of Magicals caught on fast enough. Yes, there are some that would want to work with us and collaborate with us to try and live together in peace. But the vast majority would either be jealous of our abilities or fear us and want to hunt us down like wild animals in the night. Witch hunts would be the smallest of our problems, and yes we could avoid the small mobs or the occasional insane fanatic. But what happens when the mobs are no longer small or they no longer use a mob and they decide to use one of their bombs instead. What if they manage to find a virus that only effects magicals, and they spread it across the globe? They could wipe out our existence in a matter of months and no one would be left to argue about a Statue of Secrecy any more. I am not saying it would happen, I am only saying that it could happen. I say this so each and every one of you take this Statue seriously and obey it. It is not there just to be an inconvenience in your life and make things harder for you, it is there to save not only your life but the lives of those you love.” Professor Lupin sighed as he finished.

Then he got into the three major branches of the Government. The Wizengamot, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and The Office of the Ministry. He reminded them that as time went on they would be having special guests from each branch come in and talk about the that specific branch. It sounded fascinating and the students were really taking a lot of notes, whispering back and forth, wondering who he would have come in and speak about the different branches. They didn’t know he planned on having Madam Marchbanks, the oldest member of the Wizengamot come speak about the Wizengamot. For the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Susan Bones’, Aunt Amelia Bones had already agreed to come and speak. And for the Office of the Ministry, none other than the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, had offered to come and speak to the class about the duties of the office of Minister. It was going to be an exciting semester that was for sure.

—————————————————————

Defense Against the Dark Arts this year was about Creatures. And how to defend yourself against magical creatures. Harry found it interesting although he doubted he would ever meet half of the list that Professor Longbottom passed out. He still wanted to know how to do the spells that they would have to learn or to learn how to defend himself against them. When he walked into the Defense classroom there were all kinds of things in cages and crates sitting around the room, apparently they were filled with some of the creatures that they were suppose to learn how to defend themselves against.

The first on the list that Professor Longbottom had passed around were Redcaps and Hinkypunks. Since those were were the first two creatures mentioned in the Defense Against the Dark Arts book Level Two and Harry had already devoured the whole book already he was pretty sure he could answer the questions on how to defend himself against a Redcap or a Hinkypunk.

Redcaps are a level XXX creatures according by classification, they are about three to four feet tall and live in burrows where ever human blood has been spilled. They will try to bludgeon any unweary traveller to death with their club and use their blood to dye their cap red with it. Hence their name. They are common in Northern Europe and are Dwarf-like in appearance, with red eyes and long, sharp claw-like nails. They are vulnerable to a wide variety of spells and hexes that can repel them or you can just throw a beautification potion on them and distract them long enough to get away.

Harry was pretty sure a simple Stupefy would work against a Redcap so that is what he marked down on the sheet that was handed out.

Hinkypunks are little one legged creatures that can be white, grey or blue. While they are not given a specific creature classification by the Ministry for Magic they are considered dangerous and warned against approach. They make a habit out of luring a traveller off their desired paths in the night into treacherous bogs or wetlands under the guise of being helpful, lamp bearing beings. The appear to magical and non-magical beings alike and can lead both to their death as they wander aimlessly into harms way. They can also propel fireballs from their lamps that can do serious damage. Their only means of communication is a series of hollering or grunting noises that are sporadically emitted by them. To defend against a Hinkypunk you must first get the creature into a corner or tight space if possible, next perform the Lumos Duo Charm on the Hinkypunk, until it solidifies. While the Hinkypunk is still solid and dazed blinded by the wand-light, attack it with the Knock-back Jinks three to five times, thereby causing it to disappear into a puff of white smoke. Harry read the paragraph in the book one more time then put the Lumos Duo Charm and Knock-Back Jinks on the line next to the place that said Hinkypunks.

This year was going to be great, they were going to learn about all these creatures, and get some real life experience with dealing with them, or at least he hoped so. He looked over to the crate that was across the room and under the window and realized it had three Redcaps in it. The really were ugly and looked a lot like little troll like men, all green and dirty. Each one proudly wearing a bright red cap that showed off their prowess in battle against their interfering humans. They hissed and growled from inside their cage and reached between the bars of the cage to try and scratch at anyone who got to close to the cage by accident.

Harry spotted the glass box that Luna was pointing to in a darkened corner of the room that held three Hinkypunks in it, although she was calling them Willow-Wisps instead and said they are very naughty little demons that can lead you far away and you are never heard from again. She also mentioned that if you managed to steal their lantern it is said to be able to lead you to safety again and the light will never go out. Although how much of that is truth and how much of that is Luna is unknown. But Harry could see the little blue-gray flames inside the glass box with their lanterns and wondered how hard it would be to steal one of their lanterns from them now.

Harry listened to Professor Longbottom lecture about the Redcaps and as he told about the increase of the population of Redcaps where ever there were major battles and the Redcap population boomed, and eventually had to be culled, due to their risk to the non-magicals in the near vicinity. They would try to remove their dead and give them a proper burial, only to disappear into the night. They had labeled the battle grounds as haunted and forbidden because of the number of individuals that had gone missing, but the non-magicals still sneaked into them, trying to see what was there. Trying to see what spooks were hanging about, only to be beaten to death and never heard from again; their bodies never found. This went on for decades and no matter what happened, the people kept coming back. So the only way to protect the non-magicals was to cull the redcaps and clear the area of their influence as best as possible. It was a grueling task, but it eventually proved successful in many of the old battlefields. These areas are safe today due to the diligence of the magicals of days gone by and their continuous monitoring of those historical sites for further danger of the redcapped menaces.

Harry couldn’t help but shiver at the bloodthirsty nature of the little beasts that were sitting merely feet away from him. He was so glad that they were so easy to handle though and that he knew how to fight against them. He was glad that he had this class and that he was able to see what one looked like up close so that if he ever saw one out somewhere he wouldn’t get caught unawares and possibly get attacked or something. They are vicious fighters and relentless once they have you down, according to Professor Longbottom that is. So the whole trick to it is never let them get you down. Aim to stun them first, then tie them up or incapacitate them in such a way that they can’t attack you again and get them to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and have them relocate them to somewhere that they are not a threat to society. But try your best not to kill them, after all they are a living, sentient creatures.

Hinkypunks could be easily captured as well if you had an impenetrable glass container and you used the Lumos Duo Charm on them to make them solid, then placed them in the container while they were still in their dazed state. Again it is recommended relocation through the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures instead of simply disposing of them yourself, avoidance is always the first line of defense when it comes to Hinkypunks. Simply note their location and report it to the proper authorities then let them deal with them. Don’t even try and deal with them yourself at all, unless absolutely necessary.

Harry raised his hand, and Professor Longbottom pointed over to him. “What if you are already lost and you have no clue how to get back to where you should be going. Didn’t you say that their lantern could show the way out?”

Professor Longbottom nodded, “It can, in theory. The lantern will always lead the bearer to safety. However, getting the lantern from the Hinkypunk isn’t as easy as you think. And it might not be worth the time and energy that it takes to get it away from the little menaces. I highly suggest just to avoid them at all cost, they will lead you to nothing but trouble. If you are lost and don’t know your way out, do a simple Point Me spell with your wand. If you don’t have your wand look for your compass points, like simply head north, or east which ever direction you think is closest to your safe zone. If you can’t tell direction, stay put…build a bon fire if you can and wait until someone finds you. But don’t under any circumstances follow the Hinkypunks, they will lead you nowhere that is safe or secure. In fact if they are trying to get you to go left, I would head right…and quickly too.”

Millicent Bullstrode raised her hand and Professor Longbottom pointed to her. “Is there such a thing as a female Redcap or are they all males? The book only mentioned males.”

“Good question Miss Bullstrode. Redcaps are an all male race. They are born by battles and blood and not through procreation, hence there is no need for dual genders.”

Seamus Finnigan raised his hand and was acknowledged by Professor Lovegood. “How long does a Redcap usually live?”

“That depends on their supply of fresh blood actually. It can be a few years to a few hundred years, although those Redcaps that have been relocated by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures have been tagged and found to live about twenty years give or take a few years.”

Theodore Nott raised his hand and Professor Lovegood nodded his way. “I read somewhere that if you salt the ground where you find the Redcap that they can’t return there, is that true?”

Professor Longbottom nodded, “That is very true, salt is deadly to a Redcap, so something as simple as throwing salt on one could end up killing it, or salting the ground that they come from could end up keeping them from ever allowing them to step foot back on the land again. Good question. It used to be common practice for Wizards Warriors or Priests to carry pouches of salt with them when they went to collect their dead from the battlefield just in case they ran into a Redcap, it not only killed the Redcap but prevented others from showing up while you were working as well.”

Harry quickly added ‘salt’ to the space next to Redcaps on the worksheet and made a few notes on his class notes about it as well.

Pavarti raised her hand and the Professor nodded at her, “Does anyone know the origin story for Redcaps or did they just appear one day and no one truly knows?”

“The earliest writings found about Redcaps were back in the thirteen hundreds, thirteen sixty-seven to be exact. And while that may not be the first sighting of the creatures it is the first recorded sighting. It does state that the place that they were found in was a deathly stretch of land between two Castles and was always plagued with bizarre happening and disappearances. Many a wayward traveler lost their life to that dark and mysterious twelve mile stretch of land.” Professor Longbottom explained.

The bell rang and Professor Longbottom smiled out at everyone. “Alright folks that’s it. Read chapters two and six, on Redcaps and Hinkypunks and fill out the questions next to their names on your questionnaire. I will see you again on Wednesday.”

With that everyone gathered up their books and writing supplies and put them back into their bags and headed back to their dorm room. They had an hour and a half until dinner so they could get some work done before then and maybe they could do some of their reading for one of their classes they had today.

——————————————————————

Bellatrix found a small clearing about a hundred yards into the Forbidden Forest, just the other side of the Black Lake. It gave plenty of coverage so that no one could see her camp, it was far enough away from the Centaurs so that they wouldn’t come upon her camp when out patrolling their areas, and it allowed her to be close enough to Hogwarts to observe the grounds at will.

She had purchased a moderate three bedroom tent from the Tourist Center although she had gotten one with all the possible accoutrements one could get, like a full potions room, a chef’s kitchen, a parlor, a full library, and a two cell dungeon… just for fun mind you. A nice little home away from home, and quite and improvement from Azkaban at any rate. It took her all of ten minutes to have a site picked out and her tent set up.

Then it took her two hours to set up all the wards and alarms she wanted to set up around her area. She wanted to make sure that no one and nothing could get near her camp without her knowing about it. She started with basic Notice-Me-Not wards and Muggle Repelling wards just in case. Then she moved up from there. She did ones that people would be repelled by, people would get stuck in, people would loose their memory if they touched, animagus wards, wards against Death Eaters even…she didn’t want Severus Snape accidentally wandering into her encampment when he was out and about in the Forbidden Forest gathering potion ingredients now did she. Little did she know he was no longer at Hogwarts. She then started on ones to repel creatures like the blasted Centaurs that were near by, wards to hide the smoke from her chimney, wards to hide any sound from her camp, wards to hide any magic from her camp, she even did wards that would hide her camp against scrying. She had big plans and she wasn’t going to have anyone messing with her plans at this point.

In the end no one and nothing could even come close to her encampment without her knowing about it.

Then she set up a lookout station where she could watch the kids on the grounds of Hogwarts. There was a large boulder just to the west of the Black Lake, between Hagrid’s hut and the Greenhouses, that was well hidden by shrubbery. Bellatrix could either sit on it or lay down on the boulder and watch the students for hours and get a pretty good idea of their basic routines from that vantage point.

It took Bellatrix nearly a month to get their routines down and to find her targets but she did find them and she began to make her plans. She could see the green houses from where she sat on her rock and she used the binoculars she stole from the female camper she killed to get a close up look at the kids that came and went from classes.

Longbottom and Potter had Herbology on Friday mornings at ten o’clock until noon, that was her time to strike. It was a narrow window, but she knew she could pull it off. She would grab them when they exited the green houses, and then the fun would start. Every time she thought about it her mouth would water, and she would giggle like a little school girl, this was her shot at revenge and she wasn’t going to miss it. Those fucking brats were going down. She could just see her pathetic cousin, Sirius, kneeling over the broken and battered body of his godson and weeping at what was left of him and couldn’t help but smile at the thought. The thought of that Longbottom bitch holding the body of her son screaming out her sorrow to the sky above her, was practically orgasmic to Bellatrix.

She also had an escape plan in place so that she could dump the bodies, where they could be found in a matter of a couple of days, and she could be long gone by then. She would then head back to the bolt hold that the Dark Lord had set up near Manchester, and wait until things calmed down, then head to Paris, it would take a lot of planning and multiple apparition jumps but she could do it, if she planned it out right. She would stay in Paris for a month or so then head to Madrid for a month or two. Next it would be Barcelona for another month. Then Rome, and she would hide out in the magical section of Rome until things calmed down, and she could see about returning, or maybe she would just start all over again with a new identity somewhere else. Who knows… the world would be her oyster at that point. Her’s for the picking.

—————————————————————————

That morning they had learned two interesting charms, Tantantallegra, or ‘Dancing Feet’, and Finite Incantatem,
which was the counter curse for it. Flitwick had made a pineapple dance across his desk with the charm and the whole class broke out laughing at the site. Then he warned against holding the charm too long on an individual and how it could cause damage to someone and all the actual danger in the actual charm. No one ever really would consider a dancing charm as being dangerous but if you think about it, leg cramps, exhaustion, and bad muscle damage are just the beginnings of the problems that it could cause. In a dual it could easily distract your opponent which is one of the reasons that that the charm was invented in the first place. But Finite Incantatem would counter it, if you could aim it at yourself long enough to actually do the counter course, with all of the dancing and flailing about going on.

As they walked to Potions Harry and Pavarti talked about different dances they knew that would make it very unpleasant for individuals to have to try and perform the counter on themselves.

“The cha-cha would be ruff.” Harry said.

“Yes, so would the tango.” Pavarti agreed.

“True, I think the tango would be worse. It has more flamboyant movement.” Harry had to agree with Pavarti on that one, he could just imagine someone like Ronald Weasley doing the tango across the room trying to do the counter curse on himself and not being able to aim his wand at his own feet because he couldn’t get his feet to stay still long enough to get a clear shot at them.

“What about the Riverdance?” Neville suggested, “I could just see Seamus being forced to do the Riverdance, and your feet are moving so fast that getting a clear shot off with that counter curse would be just sheer dumb luck to tell you the truth.”

“Totally.” Harry nodded as he thought about it.

Luna nodded as well. “I am just glad that they don’t allow anyone to use those spells against us, I would hate to have that one aimed at me. I can only imagine how much my legs would hurt after being forced to move about so much and me fighting the charm…no thanks. Besides I will stick with my Waltzes and free dancing thank you very much.”

“Free dancing is more your style anyway Luna, While I love to Waltz with you, you always seem happier when you are free dancing than anything else.” Harry said.

“Free dancing, what is this?” Pavarti asked.

“Free dancing is when you allow the music to guide your movement. You simply move to the rhythm of the song, if you listen to the song and it has lots of base and you want to shake your hips or your shoulders then that is what you do. If the song has a lot of violins and you feel like spinning and twirling about then that is what you do. If the song has a lot of drums and you want to stomp your feet and bang your head about to the music then that is what you do, you let the music guide your movement and allow your body to follow.” Luna smiled as she explained.

“Hmm, free dance, interesting.” Pavarti replied, she was going to have to try that sometime.

Oh well it was time for Potions, so dancing would have to wait.

The door to the Potions classroom opened and everyone who had been waiting in the hallway filed into the room and took their seats and started setting up their stations as quickly as possible.

Professor Lovegood began to set up her station at the center of the room and began to calibrate her scales as the students muddled their way through getting their things set up.

Neville smiled as he watched Pavarti set her scales up, never missing a beat. She set her’s up like a pro now, no longer needing his help at all. When she finished setting up her scales she began wiping all her equipment down with a clean cloth just to make sure that nothing had any dust or dirt on it. Another thing that Neville had taught her. A small bit of dust, a human hair, a bit of water that hadn’t dried up from when you last washed your cauldron, or some cleaning agent that hadn’t rinsed off completely, could destroy your potion completely or turn a healing potion into poison in the blink of an eye.

As everyone got settled and quiet Professor Lovegood wrote on the board “Herbicide Potions pages forty one through page forty five” on the board behind her. Then she turned and began. “Okay class as you can see the potion we will be working on today is the Herbicide Potion. It is considered toxic, and we will be taking extra precautions with this potion today. Anyone not taking these precautions will find themselves in the Medi-ward for a few days to say the least, dead to say the worst. So let’s not make any mistakes today. First, everyone will be wearing the safety goggles while brewing today, the fumes from this potion are corrosive and hence can lead to eye damage and quite a bit of pain if they get in your eyes. Next once your potion is complete you will put your dragon hide gloves on so that you can safely pour your potion into it’s container and clean up your station and equipment. Failure to use the gloves will leave large red, painful welts on your skin and that is if you are not allergic to the potion, if you are allergic to the potion you will find that you will have problems breathing and your air will be shut off…it takes only a matter of minutes for your lungs to be completely cut off from any air getting to them if this happens. I have plenty of bezoars if an accident does happen, but let’s make sure that stupidity isn’t that accident, shall we.”

Professor Lovegood then turned the blackboard over and the potion recipe was demonstrated on the other side. Just like always the safety measures were written in bright red, and with this recipe there were a lot of notes on the board.

“Now you will notice that with several of the ingredients you must use your gloves to prepare the ingredient, like with the first one, dead nettles. This ingredient has tiny bristles that will get under your skin and are the devil to get out, so use your gloves people. Do not handle the nettles at any time with out your gloves.” Professor Lovegood stated.

“You will notice that your base today is white vinegar, vinegar itself will kill several common mundane plants and is excellent as a natural weed killer. In fact the Non-Magicals use just white vinegar and salt as a natural weed killer all the time. But with magical plants you must disrupt the magic within the plants as well to actually kill the plants so we have to take a slightly different approach…hence this recipe. So I want every one to start your white vinegar to a low boil and gather your ingredients.”

Luna poured her white vinegar into her cauldron and checked the heat on it before she headed into the ingredient closet to get the four ingredients she would need to have for the potion, she got enough for the others while she was at it, since she was the first to get up.”

“Thanks,” Harry stated as he was just about to get up and go get his ingredients. Taking the offered packets from Luna.

In the potions closet there was a handy scale and several small manilla envelopes that you could fill with your ingredients to make them easier to carry back to your station. All you had to do was weigh out how much you need, put it in the envelope and write what was on the envelope on the front of it, then move onto the next one. Then carry the little envelopes back to your station, instead of carrying several large containers or worse waiting for someone to finish with the one container of dead nettles so that you could have your turn at them. That would take for ever to get a potion done.

Harry read the instructions on the board one more time and then put on his Dragon Hide gloves and began to prepare the first ingredient.

As the white vinegar began to simmer he added the salt first and stirred the base until the salt had dissolved completely into the vinegar, then he added the next ingredient. He repeated this process, watching the color changes carefully and the viscosity changes until the last ingredient was added and he removed the cauldron from the fire and he stirred the potion ten times counter clockwise as the potion cooled. It was now a golden yellow color, just as it was suppose to be and was the perfect thickness. Absolutely brilliant!

Harry smiled real big, thrilled with his success and began to bottle his potion into his prepared bottles that he had labeled earlier. Then he cleaned and put away his equipment and cleared away his area. Then he noticed that Neville, Luna, and Pavarti were doing the same. Each one had a couple of labelled bottles of Herbicidal Potion sitting on their station waiting for Professor Lovegood to look them over and judge their quality.

Harry couldn’t help but compare his potion with those of the others and noticed that each of theirs were almost a mirror image of his own, with maybe only a fraction of a difference in color, maybe. He didn’t know whose was the best but it would be a hard contest to tell that would be sure.

Professor Lovegood had been helping Goyle work on his potion, noticed they were sitting there reading the information in the book about the potion, realizing that they were finished with their potion. She walked down the aisle and picked up their potions and began to inspect them, each one in turn. Smiling she nodded and awarded each one of them ten points for excellent work. Then she picked up Neville’s and held it up for the rest of the class to see.

“Class, Mr Longbottom has already completed his potion and as you see it is the perfect color and viscosity. This is what you should be aiming for, you will notice the amber golden color. Not too yellow, not too dark, this is what you want to see. If it is too dark that means you let your potion get too hot, if it is too light you let your potion cool too fast while stirring the final ingredient into it. It will still work as a Herbicide but it will not kill all magical pest plants only most magical nuisances. The problem you have is that you may or may not know which ones it will work against. It will be a trial and error situation more than likely.” Professor Lovegood held Neville’s labelled potion up for the entire class to see, shaking the bottle every now and then so that they could see the thickness of the potion within it properly.

Malfoy, Thomas, Greengrass, and Davis finished their potions and received full marks and got points in the class for it as well. Nott’s potion was a little too dark and was Bullstrode’s. Parkinson’s potion was so thick she could barely get it into a proper jar, so she will be remaking it Wednesday. Zabini’s potion was fine although it could have been a little darker. Crabb’s potion melted a hole through his cauldron and Goyle accidentally used Apple Cider Vinegar in stead of White Vinegar and now he has to do the whole thing all over again. Finnegan managed to pull out a foggy yellow potion that would probably work on some plants but which one was anyone’s guess. And Brown did a passable daisy yellow although it seemed to have small floating bits of something in it that she couldn’t identify so it she was going to have to remake her potion as well.

When it was all said and done about half the class was going to be remaking their potion and the other half was going to be making another batch for the green houses on Monday.

When class finished everyone gathered their supplies and put them away. Then headed over to their common room to put their things up. Professor Lovegood had assigned a ten inch essay on the common mistakes when making this potion and how to avoid them. So each one decided to start working on their essays, and get them over with while they had the chance.

————————————————————————

The next morning Transfigurations was buzzing about the Cultroflora Transfiguration they had learned their previous class and several had practiced it until they had it down to a fine art. Harry had even gotten Sirius to go and pick up a case of butter knives for everyone to practice on, and they did, repeatedly. They would first turn the knife into a daffodil and then turn it back into a knife then back. Until they could do it almost without thinking about it.

Now it was time for the next class and Harry and Neville were debating on what Transfiguration they thought Sirius would be having them do.

“Well a beetle into a button is the first one listed in this section, but how often has Professor Black followed the syllabus that is in the book…” Neville pointed out.

“Yeah, he mentioned a block of wood into a flower, and a rock into a bird too so who knows. I think the block of wood into a flower would be the most interesting. But I may be bias, with the whole Cultroflora thing and all.” As it turns out it was indeed the wood into flower transfiguration or Lignumflos. This one has a small swirling configuration above the block of wood clockwise while envisioning the form of the flower you wished the block of would to become. The hardest part was maintaining focus while attempting to envision what you wanted the end result to be.

Focus, intent, and determination. That was the key to this Transfiguration. Without all three you couldn’t get very far, and unfortunately some people in the class were having problems with one or more parts of this particular Transfiguration. Thankfully, Professor Black intended to work on this particular project for more than one class and had planned ahead for just such an outcome. Harry, Neville and Luna had managed to get the results they wanted without a problem, Pavarti took a couple of tries but she too managed to get it right before the end of class with some coaching from Luna.

Malfoy and Zabini were the only other ones in the class that had managed to get the Transfiguration right before the bell rang. Which was a little surprising, but Professor Black announced that this was a very complex Transfiguration and he expected it to take two, maybe three class times for everyone to get it down. He assigned a twelve inch essay on the basic steps of Lignumflos and what are the common mistakes when performing it, then dismissed everyone.

—————————————————————

History of Magic was really interesting that day, it was their first class on the three parts of the Wizarding Government. Today they were going to have a guest speaker from the Wizengamot come in and speak to them about the formation and workings of the Wizengamot and it’s dynamics.

Harry could hardly wait, he knew the basics from reading ahead in his book and doing some research in the Library on it since Professor Lupin had announced what they would be studying this semester, but he still has so many questions he could hardly wait to actually get to ask someone that was a member of the Wizengamot and knew what they what they were talking about. The opportunity to ask questions was the biggest help, he felt. The books he had found so far were kind of dry and really just facts with little to no emotion or commentary behind them. Just dates, names and events…nothing more.

“…there are a total of fifty three seats on the Wizengamot. The Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts has four Hereditary seats held in proxy, that he or she has control of. The Minister of Magic has seven that he hold proxy over, one for each of the major departments in the Ministry. The Office of the Ministry hold proxy for The Magical Law Enforcement, The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, The Department of Magical Transportation, The Department of Magical Games and Sports, The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and the Department for the International Magical Cooperation and The Department of Mysteries.” Professor Lupin explained.

Neville raised his hand and Professor Lupin nodded to him, “What about say like the Department of Miss-use of Muggle Artifacts, don’t they get a vote in the Wizengamot?”

“The Department of Miss-Use of Muggle Artifacts is a sub-branch of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement and they report directly to that department so their vote goes in with that department. Good question. A lot of the smaller departments that were not mentioned are actually sub-branches of the larger divisions of the Ministry and while they do get a vote it is combined in with the vote of the larger branch all together. However, the Minister holds the proxy for all of those votes at this time. If at any time a vote of no confidence was placed against the Minister each individual branch could place their vote individually and their vote would be counted separately, the head of that department casting one vote at that time.” Lupin explained.

“We have a special guest today who has been the longest standing member on the Wizengamot for the last sixty-seven years and I would like to introduce you all to Madam Griselda Marchbanks or Professor Marchbanks if you prefer. She is the Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority and a Wizengamot Elder, so please show her the respect that she is due.” With that he stood to the side and clapped as the elderly witch walked down the the center aisle of the classroom, no one had noticed her sitting at the rear of the classroom when the class had started, but it was hard to miss her strong yet ancient presence now.

Clip, step, clip, step, clip step. Her cane tapped as she made her way up the aisle.

The four in the front stood up and began to clap as they watched her walk to the front of the class, the rest of the class followed suit, and by the time she reached the seat that Professor Lupin had conjured for her she had a standing ovation.

“Sit, sit you young things you. I’ll not have any of that nonsense in here.” She chuckled. The students chuckled along with her and but took their seats obediently, with barely a sound.

“Now as Professor Lupin pointed out, I am Madam Marchbanks. Since we are here to talk about the Wizengamot today I should point out that I have been on that distinguished body for sixty-seven years, following my husband Reginald’s death in nineteen-fifty-seven. He died of Dragon Pox and it took our two sons as well. It left me to take the seat on the Wizengamot as the last Marchbanks to the line. Since that date I have represented the Marchbanks line and family in the Wizengamot and will continue to do so until my death, which will hopefully be many, many years from now.” Madam Marchbanks stated.

Pavarti raised her hand and Griselda pointed over to her. “I thought Dragon Pox was extremely rare? Or that there was an inoculation to prevent you from getting it.”

Madam Marchbanks nodded her head. “There is indeed an inoculation invented by Gunhilda of Gorsemore back in seventeen-twenty-one. But it is a series of inoculations that you get over a three year span when you are very young and if you miss one or miss time on even one shot you are left susceptible to the disease. My sons apparently got a weak dose of the inoculation as did over forty other children in our area. It was a horrible epidemic at the time. Almost a horrible as the muggle smallpox. People were dropping like flies. My husband helped tend my sons and his constant exposure to the disease for over a two month span wore his body down and he caught the pox as well. Why I was spared I have no clue, I was just as tired and just as exposed as he was but I somehow managed to avoid the pox and survived.”

Professor Lupin cleared his throat and stated that while the history of Dragon Pox was fascinating, it was not the subject that we had wished Madam Marchbanks to come to speak with us about. So please keep your questions focused on the Wizengamot and the founding of our nations government.

Earnie raised his hand and Madam Marchbanks nodded to him. “Is it true that you hold four proxies?”

“Yes, I hold the Monroe, Madison, Marchbanks, and Farris proxies at this time.” She smiled over to him, she knew young Earnie McMillian was one of the ones that was going to claim a seat on the Wizengamot once he got to be old enough.

Neville raised his hand and Madam Marchbanks pointed to him. “How many proxies can one individual hold, is there a limit or something?”

“There is a limit young Mister Longbottom. In fact other than the Minister of Magic with his seven proxies, the limit is six. Even the Headmistress of Hogwarts has five Proxies at this time, one each for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin and one for the McGonagall seat. After six Proxies you must pass the seats on to another individual or assign a secondary Proxy to maintain your seats. If you are found to have more than six seats on the Wizengamot they can be taken from you by petition, and you will be fined quite heavily.”

Lavender raised her hand and Madam Marchbanks pointed to her. “What is the primary duties of the Wizengamot?”

“The Wizengamot is primarily there to approve or remove bills or laws as they see fit, and pass judgement over said laws. Review court cases based on the transgressions of said laws and protect and serve the magical society of our people. We vote into office representatives to serve our society based on the popular votes of our people, we collect and distribute taxes based on the bills that have been called to order, and we vote on the governing of the offices of our standing government based on the laws and bylaws that are standing for their functioning. We set the budgets for the different offices, we maintain the staffing for the offices, we write the bylaws for their functioning, without the Wizengamot the Ministry of Magic would crumble and fall. The Department of Magical Law would have no funds for Aurors, the Department of Mysteries would have no funds for their research, Azkaban would have no budget to feed it’s prisoners, Hogwarts would have no funds for it’s Medi-Ward, St. Mungos would get no funding for their improvements and staffing. Our Wizarding World as we know it would be in chaos if we didn’t have the Wizengamot.” Madam Marchbanks clarified.

Hannah raised her hand and Madam Marchbanks pointed to her. “I didn’t realize that the Wizengamot had any thing to do with our Medi-Ward…has that always been so?

“Not truly, that started in about the the mid nineteen forties when Grindelwald was at his worst. During that time many people used Hogwarts as a refuse and medical help was needed there for the refugees. So the Wizengamot set up a medical center at Hogwarts just for the injured and they really never took it away. It was originally designed to house up to three medical staff and is designed to house up to twenty beds, but due to the lack of need, thankfully, that is no longer necessary. Now we have one on call staff and eight beds. And allow for up to four trainees per semester, if the current staff so desires.” Madam Marchbanks explained.

Susan raised her hand and Madam Marchbanks motioned towards her, “Is there a certain age bracket you have to be in to be in the Wizengamot?”

Madam Marchbanks chuckled a little at this question and stated. “Well you must be at least seventeen to hold a seat on the Wizengamot, but there is no upper limit, although they have been telling me for years I should step down…I refuse to, until I think they know what the dickens they are doing, I will keep my seats and keep voting my conscious as I damn well please.”

Everyone in the class laughed along with Madam Marchbanks as she said this and then she said, “Now don’t get me wrong the medium range for people on the Wizengamot is about forty-five to sixty-five but to be honest we need a bunch of new blood in there to shake things up some. I know that in your year there are a lot of you that will be taking your seats back from proxies and new blood will fill that ancient house once again. Maybe then I will hand over my proxies to someone and step down, but until then I will keep voting and keep my seat. I know of eighteen seats that are attending school right now, that will be taking up a position in the Wizengamot in the near future, and I can’t wait. Those old fuddy duddies need a little shake up and I hope you all will give it to them.”

About that time the bell rang and the class had to end. Harry was thrill with this class, he had learned so much and was now so excited about taking up his seats on the Wizengamot. He was going to have Sirius take him down to Gringotts to have an inheritance test done to see how many seats he could rightfully claim. He knew he had the Potter and Peverell seats but he wasn’t sure about any others. So he wanted the test to be sure.

Frank had the Longbottom seat, and so Neville wouldn’t get that seat for a long while. Remus couldn’t sit in the Lupin seat due to his furry little problem, but he named Sirius as his proxy for his seat and still claimed it anyway. Xenophilius didn’t want the Wizengamot seat so he let Sirius hold his proxy until Luna gets old enough to take the seat herself.

They all gathered up their things and put them in their bags, Harry couldn’t believe the amount of notes he had taken in such a short amount of time. No wonder his fingers were cramping. But no matter it was time for lunch and he would get a break from writing for a few minutes at least.

——————————————————————

Everyone was still talking about their guess speaker and the Wizengamot when they reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They chattered away in the hallway outside the door to the classroom as they waited for the door to open and the last class to end and their class to begin.

“I wonder what McGonagall would do if someone were to come along and claim one of the founders’ seats on the Wizengamot.” Harry pondered.

Luna tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment then stated “She would undoubtedly hand over the seat without question as soon as the individuals could prove that the seat was rightfully theirs. I think if the heirs to the seats were found it would be a wonderful thing, then we could actually get some changes made around here. Did you have anyone in mind?”

“I think that Professor Longbottom should go down and have an inheritance test ran, the Longbottom name has been tied to the Gryffindor name since the founding of Hogwarts and I wonder if they have some blood in there that might give them the right to claim that seat.” Harry stated.

Luna nodded. “I think Susan should do the same, the Bones line is well known to go all the way back to the founders as well…I think she may be linked to the Hufflepuff side of the founders.”

“I wonder who would have the Ravenclaw seat?” Harry pondered.

“Daddy does silly, it is just that he hates the politics of it all and doesn’t want to be involved in it. Right now he doesn’t want to claim that seat, but when I reach my maturity I am going to claim it, and I intend to make some changes around here, hopefully. Especially if the others come forward as well.” Luna put on her best dreamy smile.

“Wait a minute… your family holds the Ravenclaw seat and you have never claimed it?” Harry was confused. He didn’t understand how her family could allow the Headmistress, nice as she was, to vote their seat when they could pick their own Proxy at least and have someone they trusted to vote the way they wanted to hold their seat.

“Sirius already holds the Black, Potter, Peverell, Lupin, and Lovegood seats, if you go down and find that you have some other seats on the Wizengamot we may have to find someone else to hold our seat. At least until I reach my majority. So why risk it by adding the Ravenclaw seat before we even know what the results of your inheritance tests say. Daddy will probably wait and see what your tests say and then if necessary change over to Frank Longbottom, but insist that Frank take an inheritance test before he does as well. At which time they will find he is the rightful heir to the Gryffindor and Longbottom lines. Then he will hand over the Lovegood and Ravenclaw lines to Professor Longbottom, giving him four votes and Professor Black will have how ever many he will end up with. At that point we could out vote the Ministry and the Malfoys without a problem. With all the votes from all the seats the Wizengamot may actually be properly equal again.” Luna stated dreamily.

Just when Harry was going to comment the door to the classroom opened up and the third year Defense Against the Dark Arts class left the room allowing their class to enter and take their seats.

Harry couldn’t help but wonder what the next creature in line would be, the next one in the book was Imps and Gnomes although Harry didn’t see either one of them out on display at this point so he was pretty sure they were not going to be the subject of the class today. What he did see though looked a bit like a beetle and a Pixie that had mated and came up with some weird combination of a creature. He wasn’t sure, but he thought it was a Doxy. At least that is what it looked like most.

Harry and Neville looked into the cage that held the little creatures, trying to figure out what they were. The little things had two sets of arms and two sets of legs, and when they opened their mouths to hiss at you, you could see they had two rows of teeth. They all had beetle like wings and they were each a variety of brown or brownish colors. Yeah, these were Doxies. Dangerous little blighters. Getting bit by one of these things was very dangerous since they were poisonous and their bite could make you very sick, if you got into a Doxy swarm and got several bites you could end up dying. Even one bite could be deadly if you were allergic to the venom, and didn’t get the anti-venom into you quick enough.

Both boys made sure to stay well away from the cage and out of reach of their sharp little claws, while not as poisonous as their bite they could still cause a nasty infection that could lead to you going to St. Mongos for a few days. Running a high fever, hallucinations, swelling up and having problems breathing are just a few of the symptoms of Doxy scratches.

“Take your seats please.” Professor Longbottom sat down on the edge of his desk and looked around the room, then warned, “Don’t get to close to that cage boys, those are venomous Brown Doxies there, and can definitely cause some major problems if you get scratched or bitten.”

Everyone gave the cage with the little menaces a huge space and went to sit down at their desk, no one wanting to get to close to the Doxies, even by chance.

“Today we are going to be talking about Doxies and Pixies. Yes I realize these creatures are a little further down your list but I happen to get this shipment of Doxies in before they were suppose to come in, so I decided to get this over with now rather than keeping them around in a cage until later and holding them until later.”

“First, Doxies are a lot like the common bee in their social structure, they have a Queen and Workers, Warrior and Drones. The Queen can lay up to five hundred eggs at one time and the Drones tend to the eggs turning them and guarding them, making sure the larva are kept at the right temperature to hatch in about two to three weeks after they are buried. The queen buries her eggs underground but the Drones will go and uncover the egg, turn it and bury it again several times a day, making sure that there is a even distribution of heat. The Worker Doxies gather food for the Drones, Warriors and the Queen and deliver it to them throughout the day, making sure everyone is fed and does not have to leave their post. Their favorite food is Billywigs. Although they will eat various larva of other forms as well.” Professor Longbottom started.

Professor Longbottom placed a blown up picture of a Doxy on a stand so that everyone could see what one looked like up close and continued with what he was saying. “The common Brown Doxy that we have here in the classroom today is found mostly in North America, the Purple Doxy is more common in Northern Europe, these are the two regions that you can normally find Doxies as they are their natural habitats. Doxies are a class XXX creature as classified by the Ministry of Magic and are very venomous, a Doxy Bite is very painful and can make you very sick if you don’t get the anti-venom quickly. If you are allergic to Doxy venom you can actual die from a single bite. Even if you are not allergic to them, if you get into a swarm of Doxies and get bit multiple times you may still die, their venom is that potent.”

Professor Longbottom then walked over to the cage and waved his wand in front of the cage, the Doxies went crazy trying to grab the wand, “As you can see they go after wands, it has something to do with the magic they can feel within the wand, although I am not sure what the specifics of it is. They will try and steal your wand if you let them get close enough to you. Thankfully, a simple Knock-Back Jinks can eliminate them as a threat, well all except the Queen, who is more resilient to magic than the rest. A Stupefy will work as well at that point, and will not harm the Doxies, which will allow you to carefully gather them up and transport them elsewhere. You will find them hiding in curtains a lot here in older homes or abandoned homes. They seem to take great pleasure at swarming in the curtains and waiting for the poor un-expecting victim to come along to attack. So be aware of that fact if you are doing some cleaning and always be prepared.”

“I suggest that if you must handle these creatures that you use Dragon Hide gloves, due to their claws being toxic as well as their bite and you don’t want to accidentally get scratched, even if you do have them sedated for transport. Remember it is safer just to contact the Ministry and have them come and remove the infestation professionally than for you to risk getting bitten or scratched, but if you have no other option, use precautions at all times.” Professor Longbottom held up a pair of Dragon Hide gloves just to make a point to the class. “Even I don’t handle these little menaces without the proper gear on folks, and I have been doing this for a long time. I always have Doxy anti-venom handy just incase and I always wear my Dragon Hide gloves. I have been bitten by accident on a few times and it is a very unpleasant experience I can tell you, and I am not even allergic to it. It takes all of a few minutes for the anti-venom to take effect but while it does it is a painful experience and you just have to suffer through it. It takes about three to five minutes for the Doxy Anti-Venom to take full effect so you feel like your muscles are burning and your joints have a heartbeat of their own, your heart is racing and you are getting sweaty, getting dizzy or light headed. You try to ignore the feeling of being disoriented and confused but it seems like that is all you can focus on. Your mouth is dry and you want something to drink but for the life of you, you can’t remember how to take a drink of water. Then the Anti-Venom begins to set in and things begin to become more clear and you are able to focus better and make sense out of what is going on. It is the strangest five minutes of your life, I can tell you that.” Professor Longbottom explained. The students around the room were captured in his explanation of what he depicted as a Doxy Bite. Everyone was so focused on what he was saying they forgot to take notes, so once he stopped speaking they all grabbed their quills and quickly wrote down notes on everything he had said.

Then Professor Longbottom picked up another picture and placed it on his easel, this one was of a Pixie. “Pixies are similar to Doxies in some ways but very different in others. First they are a class three dangerous creature as classified by the Ministry of Magic, just like the Doxie. But unlike the Doxie they are not venomous. They are considered a nuisance or pest creature more than anything else quite frankly. They are very strong and find it quite humorous to grab an un-expecting individual by the ears and place them in a tree or on a roof or some where very high up that makes it very difficult for the person to get down from. They love to steal things and are quite good at hiding just about anything that you find to be precious or important to you, like your house keys, a favorite picture of a loved one, even your wand. It is all a game to them and they love every minute of it.”

“Unlike Doxies who lay eggs, Pixies bare live young and can have eight to ten young during their life time, baring one young every eight to ten months. They have a breeding cycle that last for about two weeks and then they go through three months of pregnancy, then deliver a live young. They wait about two to three months and repeat the process. An average Pixie will live to be perhaps ten to twelve years out in the wild, in a reserve they may live up to twenty to twenty five years with proper care that it. They are bright blue in color and are about eight inches or twenty centimeters in height when fully grown and it takes them about three years for a newly born Pixie to fully mature and be ready to breed its own young.” Professor Longbottom went over to a clear box he had sitting off to the side and put it up on a pedestal and sure enough there were four Pixies in it and they were just buzzing around inside of it, trying to get out. “These Pixies were caught just two days ago and as you can see they are about eight inches in height, so they are all fully grown, and they are quite anxious to get out. Like Doxies they do have wings, although their wings are almost like those of a Fairy, instead of like those beetle like a Doxie. Their wings fold back onto their backs when ever they area not in use, so they do not get injured and so you only see them when they are actually using them.”

“Pixies are herbivores and love things like berries or berries and milk, so one way to get an infestation of Pixies out of your house is to take and put a few drops of sleeping drought into a dish of milk and crushed berries and set it out as bait, then wait. The following morning you should find several rather disoriented, knocked out Pixies present, waiting for you to hand over to the Ministry for relocation. If you are attacked by a swarm of Pixies, I suggest a simple Freezing Hex to stop them in their place, then gather them up, and simple relocation through the Ministry for Magic. Now they originally come from near Cornwall England so relocation is always an option, but placing them in protective zones is also an option and will lead to their longer life and better living conditions.” With that Professor Longbottom took a pretty necklace that was quite shiny and had a pretty red stone in the middle and held it up against the glass box that held the Pixies, all the Pixies were scrambling over one another trying to get to the pretty necklace and scratching at the box to get to the necklace.

“As you can see pretty things attract the Pixies, so keep that in mind when you have your bling out. A heavy box won’t keep them out. A lock box is the only thing that will keep out a determined Pixie. Once they see a pretty thing they like, they will stop at nothing to get to the object of their affection and they will do anything to get it. They are also attracted to highly magical things such as a wand and love to steal them when an un-expecting Wizard or Witch is sleeping. Finding a Pixie nest could lead you to finding all kinds of little gems of things that you have been missing for ages and thought you had just misplaced. I once found a pair of cufflinks I thought that I had lost, some ear rings that had ended up missing one earring out of the set for a long time, a couple of necklaces, some keys of all kinds that I still don’t know what they go to, a picture frame and picture of my great-great grandmother, and a watch that had been in the family for generations that I didn’t even realize had gone missing. It was quite the haul to tell you the truth. Thankfully, we managed to relocate the whole little hive of them and while they were not happy they lost all their bling, we got them several pieces of non-essential jewelry and things that they could take with them and they were quite happy with the results.”

Professor Longbottom held up a little red dish and showed the class then placed it on top of the glass box. The little Pixies were looking at the bowl and trying to see what was in it but were more interested in the necklace still. “If you want to make peace with the Pixies and work out a fair trade with them you can get a brightly colored bowl and put one or two baubles in it. Let them pick what they want, maybe a button with a bright gem in the middle, a broken earring, a watch the doesn’t work any more, a trinket or two that you found in a second hand shop somewhere, any little do-dad that you think will catch their eye and put it in the bowl. Every few days trade out what’s in there, maybe a quartz stone that had some magical property too it, a hair tie, a pair of old eye glasses you found somewhere. Anything will do, just give them a choice of bangles, and keep the bowl in the same place. Soon you will notice they will always go to that bowl and stop bothering other things in your house. They will even start returning other things they have taken in exchange for the new things you are putting out for them. It becomes an almost bartering system, your bauble for theirs. If you want something magical given back you have to give them something magical first, so like a crystal or old wand that no one is using, in exchange for your wand that they just stole and you have no idea where they hid it. A wand for a wand is always a fair trade in their eyes. If you want to become friends with them simply put your plate of berries and milk out for them next to your bowl of baubles and wallah you have a new best friend.”

Professor Longbottom opened up a small door on top of the glass cage and poured a dish of red ripe strawberries into the cage, then he lowered the necklace into the cage. The little beasts didn’t know what to go for first the berries or the necklace. So they ended up going for both, grabbing a berry and trying to grab for the necklace. Then Professor Longbottom lowered three other pretty necklaces down into the box, one for each of the Pixies and the little creatures fought over who got which one until each one had a necklace and each one was munching down on strawberries, happily chirping away at their success in battle over their prizes.

“And that is how you keep a Pixie happy.” Professor Longbottom smiled and noticed there were hands raised so he pointed to Blaise Zabini who raised his hand first. “Does it matter what the bauble is made out of, I mean does it have to be like gold or silver, or can it be bronze or copper…or what ever as long as it is shiny?”

“I haven’t found that it makes a difference, as long as it is shiny or pretty. They seem to focus on silver more than gold though I have noticed, but they love things that have pretty stones in them too.” Professor Longbottom explained.

Theodore Nott raised his hand.”What about pearls or sea shells, I have a neat necklace of sea shells and pearls that I think they would love, but it isn’t shiny, just really pretty and unique.”

“I am sure if it was pretty they would love it, but you could always bring it in here and see what they thought of it, to test it out. In fact you all can do that, if you have something that you wonder if a Pixie would be interested in, feel free to bring it into class and see if they are interested in it, you can always donate it to them or set up your own Pixie dish as well.” Professor Longbottom pointed over to Harry and nodded.

“I have a small bowl of loose crystals that I keep for odd projects, do you think they would be interested in them?” Harry asked.

“Most definitely, they love crystals, of all colors and sizes. They love the sparkle and most crystals have some degree of magic in them so they love that too.” Then he pointed to Tracey Davis who had her hand up.

“I have an ankle bracelet that had been missing for months, do you think it is possible that Pixies got it and have it hidden somewhere?” She asked.

“It’s a very real possibility. I would suggest setting up that bowl, and placing in a bracelet of maybe rhinestone or even crystals, but something shiny and make sure it is bigger and has more bling that what you lost. Then add a couple of other pieces just for variety. Wait a couple of days and see if your ankle bracelet doesn’t show up, I bet that it will. They are real good at trading up for newer and more shiny things.”

“It’s like keys, they love keys. So if you have lost your keys, go out and get them a group of bright shiny multicolored new keys. Like purple and gold and green keys that go to absolutely nothing but they are new and shiny and lay them out for them to find, and sure enough your old dreary looking keys will show up within a day or so. To these little guys bling is everything, the more bling the better. The more color, the more shine, the more sparkle, whatever… just more. You will see they always go for more. If they have taken an old silver picture frame with your grandmother’s picture in it, set them up with a sparkly purple one that has rhinestones in it and a picture of a sunset or something in it. They will bring back the silver one in favor of the sparkly purple one any day. Silver is nice, but sparkle will win them out every time.”

“Okay folks before we go I want to tell you to read chapters eighteen and six and write me a ten inch paper on each one, and if you want to bring something to either donate to the Pixies or see if it will attract the Pixies be my guest.” Professor Longbottom stated just as the bell rang and the class ended.

This class had been so cool. Harry couldn’t decide which creature he enjoyed learning about the most. Both were interesting. Doxies were dangerous and he put down Knock-Back Jinks and Stupefy on the blank next to the Doxie entry. And next to Pixie he put Knock out drops and Freezing Hex. Then he gathered his books up and made his way out of the class taking one last look at the Pixies as he left, they were still eating their strawberries and holding onto their necklaces for dear life, chattering away, sounding like a herd of budgies arguing in there. It was kind of cute actually.