The Hogsmeade Trip
I roamed the hallways and passages of Hogwarts for the first few months eagerly, exploring and memorising the different hidden passages as well as the knooks and crannies that filled the old castle. My favourite room in particular was the Room of Requirement, which, when I entered, I found hundreds upon hundreds of stacks of things, from spell books to robes to old cauldrons. I didn't spend much time there, choosing to go down to the kitchens to find some food to eat. As my Animagus was a bird, I found I was hungrier more often, especially when I had shifted, so I ate five hearty meals a day, knowing that I couldn't do this during the term, and enjoying it even more. Towards the end of the summer, word reached the lonely castle that Harry had left his Aunt and Uncle Dursley's house. Dumbledore and I were suitably more concerned than the nurse or the librarian, but heaved sighs of relief when we heard he'd been found at the Leaky Cauldron after a short trip on the Knight Bus. Jack's third year books arrived, along with a new Defence book. I received my schedule early, as the teachers had returned to school sooner than usual to help prepare for the year. I discussed my fears about Sirius Black with Dumbledore, and we compared different plans for contingency resulting from different situations. My schedule was this:
Monday
8:00-Charms
9:00-Divination
11:00-Defense Against the Dark Arts
12:00-Lunch
1:00-Potions
2:00-History of Magic
4:00-Arithmancy
5:00-Free Period
Midnight-Astronomy
Tuesday
8:00-Free Period
11:00-Transfiguration
12:00-Lunch
2:00-Study of Ancient Runes
4:00-Arithmancy
6:00-Free Period
Midnight-Astronomy
Wednesday
8:00-Transfiguration
9:00-History of Magic
10:00-Potions
12:00-Lunch
1:00-Free Period
2:00-Charms
3:00-Defense Against the Dark Arts
4:00-Arithmancy
6:00-Study of Ancient Runes
7:00-Free Period
Midnight-Astronomy
Thursday
8:00-Transfiguration
9:00-Defense Against the Dark Arts
10:00-Charms
12:00-Lunch
4:00-Arithmancy
6:00-Divination
7:00-Free Period
Midnight-Astronomy
Friday
9:00-Arithmancy
12:00-Lunch
1:00-Potions
2:00-Defense Against the Dark Arts
4:00-Study of Ancient Runes
5:00-Charms
It was definitely a change from the past two years, as I had been taking the same classes, give or take, for the past two years, and the abundance of free periods worried me slightly. As the others arrived on the train, I headed to the Great Hall, and took my place on the Ravenclaw table. After a little, people began to enter the Hall, filing to their appropriate tables. Luna sat down next to me, and the other three took their place at Gryffindor table. As usual I ignored the song, and sorting, only joining in for a halfhearted version of the school's song, and blanked through the welcoming speech. I numbly stood with the others, tired from the huge meal, and trudged to the common room, answered the question, and fell into my bed.
~
Transfiguration for the first years was an interesting experience. McGonagall asked the class to speculate on what she had Transfigured to make me (in dove form). They offered a few ideas, while she watched. She shook her head to all of them, before telling me to do a few things a normal bird couldn't comprehend, like writing with chalk in my beak, or lifting one wing or the other before I shifted back in front of the class. They gasped, and applauded as I bowed and made my exit.
-
As I had worried, the free periods were not a time for lazing around, but rather a time for frantic homework completing, especially Wednesday. I was so filled up with my homework that I barely had time to keep an eye on Harry, so that most of the Quidditch practices were spent scribbling on parchment while glancing up every few minutes. On one day, in the afternoon after Charms, I had put away my parchment, and was about to take a break from writing when I noticed a large black dog in one of the stands. I stuffed my things into my bag, vanished them, and shifted into the dove. I flew above the pitch, circling slowly before diving down to the stand and shifting back to normal. The dog looked at me suspiciously, before trotting to the wooden staircase. When I walked down there, it was no longer a dog, but a man with scraggly black hair, and manic eyes. Sirius Black. I drew my wand, and viewed him carefully.
"I trusted you. Can you not turn me in?" I frowned, and lowered my wand.
"Thank you. Now, please let me tell my story." As he did, I watched him carefully, noting his movements, making sure he wasn't trying to distract me. When he finished, I tapped my wand on my leg, setting a series of sparks to fly out of it. He watched hopefully, and somewhat warily, and I spoke.
"I'll let you go, but I'm not saying I believe you." He sighed in relief, and held out a hand to shake. I accepted it cautiously, and we shook.
"Thanks, lad. I'll remember that." I nodded, and shifted back into a dove before flying out of the stands. I landed at the gate, shifted back, and unvanished my bag, meeting up with Harry at the entrance to the Great Hall.
"Hey, Harry." He nodded wearily before heading to the Gryffindor table. I sat down at Ravenclaw table, talked a little with Luna, and had a thought. I stood, and headed over to the Gryffindor table, at which Ron, Harry, and even Hermione were swamped with homework. I sat next to Hermione, and watched curiously. Piqued by her overloaded homework situation, I sneaked a peak at her schedule, surprised to find that she had multiple subjects at the same time.
"Hermione Granger!" She looked up, frazzled, and saw my face. She quieted, stood, and led me over to a secluded part of the Hall.
"You have a Time-Turner, don't you?" She shushed me, and nodded. I huffed, and she asked me quietly,
"How did you find out?" I shook my head.
"Your schedule." She sighed, and shook her head.
"I thought I could do it, but I'm barely staying above water right now." I growled, and spoke quickly.
"You could have asked me to help you, you know." She waved me off, but I glared at her until she gave up.
"Fine, I'll stop by Ravenclaw common room Saturday morning, if that's alright. I'll bring Ron and Harry, as well." I nodded, and we went back to our respective tables after a moment. As I ate, I mulled over the next day's events, and sadly rose to go work on my homework before tomorrow.
The next morning, I was up early and sitting in the common room, accompanied by Luna, who was working on homework as well. When someone knocked on the door, I rose to open it, but it swung open after a moment, revealing Hermione, Ron, and Harry.
"Hey, guys. Did you answer the question?" Hermione nodded, and I shrugged.
"Nice. Come on in." They set their books and things next to mine, while Luna exuded herself as she had to go eat. We began trying to forge through the mass of homework, me helping the other three write papers (mostly helping Ron) while I talked with the others about Harry's Grim situation (pun intended). I listened as he talked about his experiences in Divination, me agreeing with Hermione's decision to drop the class.
"I would, but I'd like to learn it a little. Trelawney is definitely a strange one." They agreed, and Harry rolled up a finished two foot long piece of parchment on the moon for Astronomy. I leaned back for a moment, resting my neck and eyes, before turning and scrutinising Ron's handiwork. His normally seemed to need more work, as I was getting accustomed, and I was surprised when we were interrupted.
"May I see you for a second, Dugan?" I turned, and made eye contact with Professor Flitwick. I stood, and followed him over to a more secluded part of the room. He withdrew a piece of parchment, and showed it to me.
"This is your permission form to go to Hogsmeade, and normally we'd need your parent or guardian's signature for you to be able to go, but..." I sighed, and nodded.
"None of my family members would sign it." He nodded, and continued.
"So, I asked Dumbledore if he could sign it, as he is your guardian now, in a very loose form of the term. He agreed, and I came up here to notify you of that, and also," he reached into his robes, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, "he asked for me to give this to you." I smiled, thanked him, and waited for him to leave before I opened it. It read, in a very fancy handwriting,
Dugan,
Please meet me in the Great Hall at your earliest convenience.
~Dumbledore
I folded up the note, and walked back over to the three.
"I'm sorry, but I've been summoned by Dumbledore. I'd probably better head down." They nodded, and I bid them farewell before changing into some robes, exiting the common room and making my way down the stairs, catching a glance of a white blur in an adjoining staircase. Ernest had taken to the castle in a matter of hours, and I was beginning to think that the school owned him more than I did, even though he still came when I called him. I arrived at the Great Hall to find it half full, most people probably working on the homework assignments that they had been given on Friday. I walked up to the staff table, at which Dumbledore sat, conversing with the Arithmancy professor. When he saw me, he quietly excused himself, and met me as I was rounding the edge of the table.
"Hello, Dugan. If you'll follow me to my office, please." He led me out of the Great Hall, down the many passageways and corridors, and finally past the gargoyle and into his office. Once we were settled into our chairs, he spoke.
"I have an update on our... Situation." I sat forward, curious.
"The Potter situation, or mine?" He indicated me, so I nodded before he continued.
"Other than Sirius Black, several people have tried to get past the school's magical barriers, especially in recent weeks. We were not able to apprehend them, but, we do know that they were trying to reach you because of the letters they tried to send to you." He reached into his desk, and set four or five folded pieces of paper on the desk.
"I can give them to you now that I have scanned them and tested the letters for any spells or hexes that I know of, but if you think of any, you are welcome to try." I nodded, and accepted the letters from him.
"Now, I also have an update of Harry's situation as well. Progress is slow, as Lord Voldemort has covered his tracks quite well. I now know that he has at least one other Horcrux than the two we know of, but I cannot locate it, or even know what it is." I nodded, and spoke reassuringly.
"We'll find it. Nothing is hidden forever." He smiled at me as I left, and I caught a sentence he must have said to himself, for it was almost a whisper.
"That, my dear boy, is what I am worried about."
-
As the year moved onward, I was increasingly interested in Quidditch (not to play it; I was downright awful on a broom) from watching Harry's practices and games, and it was relatively silent until the Gryffindor portrait was attacked. This put us all on edge, even me, though I had heard Black's story from the source. It was comical, however, when the platoon of trolls was assigned to guard the Fat Lady, after a much more serious incident with Sir Cadogan and the Longbottom boy forgetting his passwords. Behind the scenes, Dumbledore and I were in a panic, and, if you had happened to catch me between classes or even during class sometimes, I was covertly sticking my wand out of windows, casting more Protection Charms than I ever had before. Also, I was closer to Harry than ever, sometimes even accompanying him to the bathroom (directly after the second incident). As Halloween approached, however, I was looking forward to going to Hogsmeade, maybe getting a flagon of Butterbeer with Luna at the Three Broomsticks, or sneaking down to the Hog's Head for a glass of Firewhiskey. The day of the trip, however, I was pulled aside by McGonagall.
"Someone's been adding more charms to the school's boundaries, Kehoe. Was it you?" I nodded quickly, trying to catch up to Harry, who was with Ron and Hermione, slowly disappearing with the crowd. Harry was staying back, which I was fine with after he told me the story about his Aunt Marge, which I guffawed at for a good five minutes. She held me back, and looked at me fiercely.
"On who's authority?" She was keeping me from my next class, and I had to keep an eye on Harry, causing me to grow exasperated.
"On Dumbledore's authority." I pulled my arm away from her before hurrying to catch up with Harry. We met at the courtyard, and the crowds passed their forms to Filch, who, at the sight of him, sent me reeling back to my first year, when I had to shift into him to get us past the teachers, namely Quirrel, so I could become an Animagus. I checked my pockets to make sure my bag of money was secure before waving farewell to Harry. The Hogsmeade trip wasn't my idea, as I was planning on not going to keep an eye on Harry, but Dumbledore encouraged it as a chance to relax and take a break, as I had been wearing myself thin juggling multiple things at once. Another fact of note was that four second years, one from each house, were allowed to go to Hogsmeade based on their performance in class. The two I knew of were Ginny and Luna. I talked with Ron and Hermione for a moment before noticing Luna, walking alone. I said I'd meet up with them in Hogsmeade before saying goodbye and hurrying to Luna.
"Are you alone?" She nodded, shivering though she had a jacket on. I removed my overcoat, and she accepted it thankfully.
"Thank you." We walked together for a little, and I spoke again.
"What about Ginny? You two are friends, right?" She nodded, and shrugged.
"Ginny wanted to stay back, work on catching up. Seems foolish if you think about it, with how beautiful it is out here." I nodded, surveying the cold autumn surroundings, trees losing or completely devoid of leaves, with the trail we were following coated in leaves varying in different colours.
"Listen, when we get to Hogsmeade, do you want to swing by the Three Broomsticks, maybe grab a Butterbeer or something?" She looked up at me with piercing blue eyes, and smiled.
"Sure, I'd like that." The rest of the walk was spent talking about random, pointless things, and I realised how much I liked her. I had spent time with her, but not very much of it was alone or talking about things she was interested in, and I watched her expression light up as she talked about Blibbering Humdingers and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. As she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, she looked up and stopped.
"There it is." I looked ahead, and spied the village, quaint cottages and houses surrounded by fall leaves and trees. We headed into the village, and found the Three Broomsticks easily enough, entering the warm pub happily. She handed my overcoat back, but I had a feeling I'd be giving it back to her when we left. I found a table, weaving in between the full ones with Luna in tow, and sat down after pulling out her chair for her.
"Thank you." I smiled, and we resumed the conversation, her now talking about how her father was the one who ran the Quibbler. I watched her face, the dreamy smile causing me to grin as well, and I nodded along as she explained the history behind the magazine. After a moment, she glanced at me and stopped.
"Do you think this is funny?" I frowned before realising I had had a goofy grin on my face the whole time, and shook my head.
"No, I was really interested. I just got distracted..." She blushed, and, to my relief, Rosmerta showed up at that split second to cut the tension.
"What'll it be?" Luna and I both responded with Butterbeer, and she left to retrieve the drinks. As we were alone again, Luna turned her blue eyes to me fiercely.
"What did you mean by that?" I hesitated.
"I thought you understood." She shook her head, hair bouncing slightly.
"No, I mean, yes, I understood, but I want to know if I understood it correctly." I fidgeted, and spoke slowly.
"Well, I just meant that, uh, I was watching you talk, and I got distracted by your eyes." She looked at me in wonder, and we were promptly interrupted again by Rosmerta, who plunked down two Butterbeers.
"Four Galleons." I fished them out of my bag, and handed them to her, not once taking my eyes off of Luna, who was viewing me with the same intensity. She left, and Luna continued.
"Good. That's what I thought. I do admit, sometimes I'd get distracted watching you." It was now my turn to blush, and I smiled awkwardly.
"I'm sorry." We were growing quieter, leaning across the table so we could be heard, the chorus of the voices in the pub slowly drowned out by the thumping in my ears.
"Sorry for what?" I could see every eyelash on those beautiful eyes, and every stray piece of hair that hung down.
"Sorry for distracting you." As I finished, our lips met. Instant explosion in my mind. I placed a hand on the side of her face, and tilted her chin up a little as we began to make out. This was the first time I'd ever kissed a girl, so I wasn't sure if I was kissing correctly, but it seemed to be her first kiss as well, so I was slowly overcoming my worry, the Butterbeers forgotten. We drew back, and I opened my eyes to stare into hers, the edges crinkling from the smile that twitched on her lips, the sweet taste of pineapple lingering on mine.
"That was... Nice." She nodded, face as red as a beet, and I barely had time to wonder if my breath smelled or tasted bad before we were interrupted suddenly by Hermione and Ginny, who thumped down into the seats next to us.
"Hello, lovebirds." I blushed once more, and Luna somehow turned even redder. Ginny spoke up.
"You know, you should decide whether you're a couple or not, Dugan. Luna has been dropping hints all school year." I looked down, ashamed that I hadn't picked up on this because of my 'busy schedule': watching out for Harry (not just in general now that I could successfully perform a Patronus charm). I looked over at Luna, who was watching hopefully.
"Well, Dugan?" I watched her face, those blue eyes, and made a decision. To hell with watching Harry day and night. He's made it this far. I spoke.
"Luna, do you want to go out with me on a date?" She practically fainted, and I was surprised at the show of emotion that had been occurring in the past few minutes (normally she was like stone). I reached over, and took her hand. She smiled at me, and I turned to Ginny, struck by a thought.
"Hey, Luna said you were hanging back at the castle to work; why are you here at such a convenient time?" Ginny grinned mischievously, and I realised that she had, in fact, told Luna to lie. I shook my head, and began to sip my Butterbeer, the foam collecting on my upper lip like a bubbly mustache. "Well, we'll probably best be getting on our way, then. See you back at Hogwarts, guys." We waved, and I sat back, still holding her hand. It was good, I thought, to get out like this and to put all of the current events behind me, and act like I didn't know Lord Voldemort was going to come back sometime in the very near future. I absentmindedly traced circles on her hand with my thumb, thinking about her sudden opening up as I had gotten closer to her. I assumed it meant that she must have had some bad experiences with people in the past, and she rarely opened up to people, so I'd have to be very careful not to hurt her. I wiped the foam from my lip, and finished my Butterbeer. I couldn't have a crisis right now, I was thirteen and on a date with a pretty girl. She finished hers, and looked at me.
"So, what do you want to do next?" I shrugged, and we stood, me wrapping my coat around her as we exited the pub. She steered me towards Honeydukes, astonished when I admitted that I'd never really been to a sweets shop in my life. As we browsed the shelves, she went on about the Defense teacher, Remus Lupin, who I hadn't had much experience with as I usually showed up last and had to sit in the back of the room. I injected comments here and there, looking at the strange types of candy. She grabbed a bar of Honeydukes Chocolate, assuring me that it was worth it and she would pay for it (as if), and I decided on a small bag of Lemon Drops, along with a box of Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans. We approached the register, and I paid for the lot before she could even pull out her coinpurse. She huffed, and we exited the shop, a small bag containing the goodies in tow. It was beginning to darken, so we headed back to the castle, holding hands in the chilly autumn weather. The trip back was quiet, mostly her demanding me to let her pay me back, and me refusing, until we reached the castle. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused.
"Race you to the top?" I grinned, and nodded. She was off like a shot, and I shifted into the dove, easily catching up to her. I landed on the banister, and waited for her to reach the top. When she did, I squawked quietly. She turned, saw me, and giggled. I shifted back, and shook my head.
"Never try to race a bird." I laughed, and answered the question easily before picking her up gently in my arms and carrying her through the door. We pulled up a couple of chairs next to the fire, and shared the pieces together. I marvelled at the deliciousness, pretending to faint once I had taken a bite. She punched my shoulder playfully, and I chuckled before picking up the box of Every Flavour Beans and opening it.
"Okay, how about we each pick one and the other eats it." She nodded eagerly, and I poured them out into a small dish from a nearby table. I scrutinised them carefully, looking for one that wouldn't be too bad, and settled for a bright pink one. I picked it up, and watched as she selected a green, red and purple one with white splotches. I suddenly began to worry, as it appeared that she wasn't playing nice, but when I bit into mine, it was a pleasant tropical flavour. Hers wasn't so good, by her face, which scrunched up.
"What did you get?" She shuddered, and replied.
"Toenail polish." I shuddered, and smiled sympathetically.
"I know it's Friday night, but I need my beauty rest, so I'll see you in the morning?" She nodded, and waved goodbye as I walked to my dorm, my share of the candy in my hands. As I set it down on the nightstand, I noticed something interesting. On the table, next to the clock, lay the necklace with the ring on it that Jack had given me two years ago. I chuckled, and crawled into bed.