The Breakdown of Many Things
Harry and Ron were angry with Hermione and Seth.
Harry didn’t blame them for McGonagall finding out about the Firebolt anymore as he did reluctantly concede that it was his fault for blabbing to Snape. But he was angry at the two for not trying to stop McGonagall from taking the broom away. If they’d at least put up a token effort, he would’ve been fine but since they didn’t, he was angry.
Ron was only angry at Hermione because he thought that just associating with her would cause bad stuff to happen even if she wasn’t the direct cause of it. He knew he was being irrational but his young brain needed someone to blame and that someone was unfortunately Hermione. He was also mad at Seth for siding with her instead of standing by him and Harry but not as angry as he was at Hermione.
In response, Seth and Hermione took refuge in the library, not wanting to spend the rest of what should’ve been a merry winter holiday arguing and being upset. They preferred to stay away from the irrationally angry boys.
In turn, Ron and Harry didn’t seek them out, also preferring to stay away as well. They stayed together as much as possible and kept themselves busy by going to Hagrid’s and looking after Scabbers.
Harry’s anti-dementor lessons were temporarily halted due to Lupin still recovering from his illness and he didn’t spend much time with Snape either as Ron didn’t want to deal with the potions professor more than he had to even if said professor was no longer the git he was back in first year.
The common room felt cold despite the fire that never waned. The silence and tension amongst the quartet weighed heavily on everyone and made the few times they encountered each other in the shared space highly awkward.
All in all, everyone was glad when the rest of the school returned shortly after new year and Gryffindor tower became crowded and noisy again.
“Happy New Year!” Seamus exclaimed as he and Dean came barging into the boy’s dorm room.
Neville shyly shuffled in after them. “Happy New Year everyone!”
Harry and Ron looked up from where they were playing a game of Wizard’s Chess and smiled at them in welcome. “Happy New Year!”
“So what’d you lot get up to while we were all gone?” Seamus asked as he landed on his bed with a small bounce and began to kick his feet back and forth like a school girl gossiping with her friends.
Ron scowled at the question while Harry laughed nervously. “Oh you know, nothing much.”
Seamus, Dean, and Neville exchanged confused looks. There was definitely more to the story there and it most likely had to do with a very obviously missing presence in their dorm room.
“Hey, where’s Seth?” Dean asked, looking around and finding no sign of their sixth roommate, “It’s almost time for curfew.”
Ron’s scowl deepened.
“Er, he’s with Hermione,” Harry said and gave no further explanation.
Seamus narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Okay…”
“So what’d you all get for Christmas?” Dean abruptly asked, trying to change the subject and break the awkward atmosphere that was starting to settle.
“My da took me to the munitions store for a supply run,” Seamus played along instead of pushing further, “Started teaching me everything there is to know about explosives.”
Dean and Harry exchanged nervous looks.
“If you get caught by the secret service, you’re dead to me,” Dean said seriously.
Seamus laughed. “Don’t worry! The explosives are just fireworks. My da got into the business after he left the army,” he assured but the mischievous smile he had said otherwise, “Besides, I’d never let myself get caught anyways.”
He laughed boisterously again. Ron and Neville joined in not quite understanding the joke while Harry and Dean laughed nervously not knowing if Seamus was serious or not.
“West Ham United held their annual holiday event and my parents managed to get VIP passes! I got all the players to sign a football for me! It’s back home right now in a display case we got just for it,” Dean gushed like the obsessed football fan he was.
“Nice!” Seamus exclaimed as he and Dean exchanged high fives.
Ron leaned towards Neville and Harry. “What’s a football?”
Neville shrugged and Harry patted him on the back. “I’ll tell you guys later.”
“My Christmas wasn’t too bad this year,” Neville said, “The DADA boggart helped me not to be so afraid of my grandmother and I had a fun time talking to a cousin who’s a herbologist. She noticed me studying my herbology textbook and got me a bunch of other books on the subject and some plants to grow on my own!”
Seamus nudged him and grinned widely. “See Neville, you’re not really pants at everything. You just needed to find what you liked learning about!”
Ron sighed dejectedly. “At least you all got something exciting. Only thing nice that I got was mum’s fudge and some Chudley Cannon merch I’ve been wanting.” He then grew excited. “But Harry got the best present ever!”
“I got a Firebolt!” Harry proudly bragged.
Seamus, Dean, and Neville ooh’ed and aah’ed.
“Well where is it? Can I have a go on it?” Seamus eagerly asked.
“Oi! I called dibs first!” Ron protested playfully.
Harry shrugged apologetically. “Sorry Seamus. But McGonagall took it away.”
“What?! Why?!” Seamus shouted in outrage.
“She thought it was cursed or something,” Harry said.
Ron scoffed. “Which I think is ridiculous. Who would want to curse a Firebolt? I still think Hermione and Seth snitched to her. They didn’t like that you got that broom.”
Neville frowned. “That doesn’t sound much like them. Why didn’t they like you getting the broom?”
“More importantly, why would anyone think it was cursed?” Dean added.
“Well there wasn’t a note or anything. I don’t know who gave it to me,” Harry explained.
Dean’s eyebrows rose in shock. “You don’t know who gave it to you? And that didn’t raise any alarm bells?”
“It was a Firebolt,” Harry said in flimsy protest.
Seamus sighed and shook his head. “Harry, I’m as much of a Quidditch nut as Ron but even I know not to trust a broom given to me anonymously and without a note to boot even if it was a Firebolt.”
Dean nodded empathetically in agreement. “How did it even get past inspection? I heard all mail’s inspected before it arrives, including the morning owl deliveries.”
“McGonagall said it wasn’t inspected,” Harry admitted.
Seamus, Dean, and Neville deadpanned.
“You cannot be serious, mate,” Seamus said in exasperated disappointment, “A Firebolt’s amazing and all but if you don’t know who gave it to you, that’s really risky. What if you got hurt riding it?”
Ron scowled. “Now you sound just like Hermione and Seth. Are you going to start snitching on us too whenever Harry gets something cool?”
“I’d rather be a snitch than be responsible for letting a friend end up injured or worse, dead,” Dean retorted.
Neville nodded vigorously in agreement.
At that moment, the dorm door opened and Seth stepped in.
“Oh hey guys,” Seth greeted, pointedly ignoring Harry and Ron, “Happy New Year! Let’s catch up tomorrow morning. I’m going to bed now.”
“Okay Seth. Happy New Year!” Neville kindly returned.
“Happy New Year!” Seamus and Dean said in unison.
The conversation then ended there awkwardly as Seth climbed onto his bed and closed the curtains.
“Well…night then,” Seamus said.
“Yeah, night…”
The rest of the boys started turning in for the night. Before Harry and Ron jumped into bed, Neville shuffled to them.
“Harry, Ron, I know you two are understandably angry about the Firebolt but…you should take some time to think about it from Hermione and Seth’s perspective,” Neville softly advised, “I’d be really happy to have friends who worried about me the way those two worry about you.”
Then he shuffled away to his bed and closed his curtains, leaving Harry and Ron with food for thought.
On Thursday evening, Harry went to the DADA classroom where he found Lupin and Snape talking about something quietly, as if they didn’t wish to be overheard even in an empty classroom. The moment Harry arrived, they immediately stopped whatever they were discussing.
“Ah Harry! There you are! Come come,” Lupin greeted, waving Harry over, “Let’s start the lesson straight away.”
Harry eagerly joined them and pulled out his wand.
During winter holidays, Harry was taught the patronus spell and began to practice it but all he was able to produce were some pitiful wisps of silver. Lupin had stressed the need for happy memories to produce a strong patronus so Harry tried all sorts of happy memories to try and find the one that would work.
For this lesson, Harry was trying three different memories - the moment he received his Nimbus 2000, the moment he won his first Quidditch match (choking on a snitch and all), and the moment he got the Firebolt and held it in his hands.
Unfortunately, each memory ended up being overshadowed by the memory of his mum screaming for his life and small bursts of silver wisps would shoot out like a pitiful party popper.
“Let’s take a quick break, shall we?” Lupin suggested.
Harry groaned in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
“Are you focusing solely on the memory or does your mind wander?” Lupin asked.
“I am but…” Harry looked down at his hands as they trembled when the sound of his mum’s screams echoed again in his head. “I keep hearing her in the end..”
Lupin and Snape exchanged concerned looks before focusing back on Harry.
“If I may, I would like to offer a suggestion,” Snape said. Harry looked at him in question and he continued, “Do not focus on a happy memory. Instead, focus on a strong emotion.”
Harry tilted his head in confusion. Even Lupin was confused.
“What do you mean by that?” Harry asked.
“I have a theory that a patronus is not necessarily created through happy memories but rather strong emotions. After all, in a life and death situation, you can’t always bring about the memory of happiness can you? Especially when faced with dementors who feed off of such things,” Snape explained.
Harry slowly nodded along. “I guess that makes sense. So any emotion will do?”
“I don’t think just any emotion will work, right Severus?” Lupin asked.
Snape nodded. “That’s correct. Negative emotions such as anger and fear will negatively impact the spell. A patronus is a spell powered by positive emotions, even if it isn’t necessarily happiness. For example, perhaps you can try focusing on feelings of determination and the belief that you will conjure a patronus as there is no reason for you not to be able to.”
“Cast a patronus as if there is no reason for me not to be able to?” Harry carefully repeated before shrugging, “I guess I’ll give it a try.”
He took a deep breath in, focusing on the belief, the determination, and the confidence that he would be able to cast a patronus. He slowly released the breath.
“Expecto Patronum!”
A strong silver light appeared at the end of his wand for a moment before rapidly flickering and fading out within the next.
“Excellent!” Lupin beamed and clapped his hands in congratulations. “That was definitely a significant amount of progress.”
“Indeed,” Snape agreed, “However, your patronus flickered before it faded. That’s usually an indication of uncertainty. Is there something still bothering you?”
Lupin immediately grew concerned. “You’re not still hearing your mum, are you?”
Harry shook his head. “No, I’m not. I didn’t hear her this time. It’s just…” He hesitated to finish.
Lupin placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Whatever it is, we won’t judge. We just want to help you, Harry. Right Severus?”
Snape gave a curt nod. Harry sighed.
He began to tell them everything that happened after he received the Firebolt on Christmas Day. How Seth and Hermione were wary of the broom due to its unknown sender and how Ron and Harry accused them of snitching to McGonagall about it. He told them about the argument that was had and how they spent the rest of winter holidays as separated from each other as they could be. But now, after days had passed, things had gotten awkward amongst them and he didn’t know if there was a way to fix things.
Snape sighed. “I have to apologize, Harry. I didn’t realize my concern for your safety would cause a rift to form between you and your friends.”
“It’s alright, Professor Snape,” Harry said, waving off his apology, “It was also Ron’s and my fault for making it worse. I just still don’t understand how they could be so suspicious of the broom anyways. It’s not like Black could’ve gone into a store and bought it right?”
Lupin deadpanned and Snape sighed again, this time very disappointed.
“You’re as much your father’s son as you are your mother’s,” Snape dryly remarked, “Only James Potter could display such naive stupidity.”
“I would like to protest on James’ behalf but he was rather stupid about the simplest of things,” Lupin sheepishly agreed. To Harry, he said, “You do know there is such a thing as mail order in the Wizarding World, right Harry? And I don’t believe the broom manufacturer is going to do an extensive security check on each order just to make sure it’s not from a criminal.”
“Oh…” was the only response Harry could give.
Lupin huffed in amusement. “I know how much the Firebolt means to you but a broom is a material thing that can always be replaced. A friendship is not. Once it’s broken, it can be hard or even impossible to get back.”
“Like what happened to you, Professor Lupin?”
Lupin smiled sadly. “Yes. Exactly like what happened to me. So cherish your friends, Harry. Seth and Hermione seem to be really good ones.”
“They are,” Harry admitted without hesitation.
“Then be sure to apologize to them as soon as possible,” Lupin suggested, “I’d hate for you and Ron to lose them over a broom of all things.”
Harry nodded. “I will. I promise.”
“Good. Now, break’s over. Let’s continue practicing.”
Unfortunately for Harry and Ron, who Harry managed to reluctantly convince to admit fault and apologize as well, Hermione and Seth were far too busy for them to even get a moment to say more than a hello in the common room let alone apologize in a private setting.
Hermione’s immense workload had doubled at the start of the new term so every night she would be seen in a corner of the common room or the library with several tables covered in books, arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, magical creature guides, diagrams of muggles performing different actions, and file upon file of extensive notes. She barely spoke to anyone and snapped at everyone when she was interrupted.
While Seth didn’t have even a third of the workload she did, he spent the majority of whatever time he didn’t spend on his own work and studying to support Hermione. He made sure she wouldn’t be buried under all the papers and books she was surrounded by, helped her organize and take notes, edited her essays, checked her charts, and made sure she was given food and water at all times.
Harry and Ron, while they really did want to apologize, were genuinely concerned that if they approached the pair, they’d be hexed within an inch of their lives for interrupting.
“How’s she doing it?” Ron could only ask, completely bewildered, “I heard her talking to Professor Vecto, the Arithmancy professor, this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s lesson but Hermione can’t have been there because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures and Ernie Macmillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle Studies class but half of them are at the same time as Divination and she’s never missed one of those either!”
“You don’t think Seth could be helping her with that, right? Maybe with some sort of secret American magic?” Harry asked in speculation.
Ron shook his head. “Unless the American witches and wizards have suddenly developed a spell to allow someone to be in multiple places at the same time without anyone realizing it, I highly doubt it.”
The two boys spent a lot of time theorizing about what could be going on. There were many ideas running from teleportation to cloning to time travel. But they agreed that each theory was as outlandish as the last so they instead returned their focus to their homework and decided to just keep an eye out for any opportunity to finally get the pair alone and not studying to apologize.
Now that school had been back in session for a while, Harry and Ron could admit it just wasn’t the same anymore without all four of them together.
Even after the breakthrough, Harry’s anti-dementor lessons weren’t making any further progress. He was able to produce a steady light but his patronus was still too feeble to be strong enough to drive a dementor away.
“You’re expecting too much of yourself,” Lupin sternly remarked, “Only four weeks of practice for a thirteen year old wizard, even a small indistinct patronus is a huge achievement.”
“But it’s still not strong enough right?” Harry said, frustrated and not satisfied at all, “It doesn’t have a shape like you and Snape said it would.”
“That’s true but again you’ve achieved a great deal in a very short space of time,” Lupin said, “If the dementors made another appearance at your next Quidditch match, you’ll be able to keep them at bay long enough to get away.”
“But you said it’s harder if there are loads of them…”
“I have complete faith in you. At the very least, you’ll be able to hold them off before they can use the kiss.”
“What’s that?” Harry asked curiously.
Lupin hesitated for a brief moment before explaining. “It’s what dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. They suck out the soul of their victim entirely.”
“Oh…Professor Snape told me about that. It’s like you’re living but not, right?”
Lupin nodded. “Something like that but much worse. As long as your brain and heart still work, you can live without your soul but you’ll have no sense of self anymore. No memory, no emotion, no anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just exist as an empty shell and your soul is gone forever, lost,” he grimly explained.
Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth and being left in a state of existing but not living. “Have they done that a lot? The kiss?” He tentatively asked.
“Countless times,” Lupin said before sighing tiredly. “It’s the fate that awaits Sirius. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry has given the dementors permission to perform it if they find him.”
Harry frowned. “Good. He deserves it.”
Lupin wasn’t quite surprised he’d think that way. “You think so? Do you really think anyone deserves that?”
“Yes, definitely for, for some things,” Harry said, no longer as certain but still trying to feign it.
Lupin smiled sadly. “I really hope you don’t mean that, Harry. You’re much too young to be thinking like that.”
“But-”
“No matter how heinous the crime someone commits, nobody deserves the fate that’s given through a dementor’s kiss.”
Before Harry could even formulate a response to that, the clock chimed and they looked over to see it was nine o’clock.
“Right, that’s enough for tonight. Head on back to the common room before curfew,” Lupin ordered.
“Good night then, Professor Lupin.”
“Good night, Harry. And think about what I said alright?”
Harry nodded before taking his leave. He kept thinking about what Lupin said on his way to the common room and was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost walked right into McGonagall halfway up the stairs.
“Mister Potter, do watch where you’re going,” she scolded.
“Sorry Professor,” Harry sheepishly apologized.
McGonagall sighed. “I suppose it’s just as well we ran into each other. I was looking for you in the common room and, well, here it is. We’ve done everything we could think of and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it at all.”
Harry’s jaw dropped as she held out the Firebolt, still looking as magnificent as ever.
“I can have it back? Seriously?” He weakly said.
McGonagall smiled. “Seriously. I daresay you’ll need to get the feel of it before Saturday’s match, won’t you? And Mister Potter, do try and win, won’t you? Or we’ll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me last night.”
Harry nodded before running upstairs with the Firebolt in hand. As he turned the corner, he saw Ron running towards him, grinning from ear to ear.
“She gave it to you! Excellent! Can I still have a go on it tomorrow?”
“Yeah, anything,” Harry said, feeling lighter than he’s felt in days, “You know what, we should apologize to Hermione and Seth right now. They were only trying to help.”
“Yeah, alright,” Ron agreed without putting up a fuss, “They’re in the common room, right now. C’mon.”
They turned into the corridor of the tower and saw Neville pleading with Sir Cadogan who seemed to be refusing him entrance.
“I wrote them down. I swear! You even saw me do so,” Neville tearfully pleaded, “I must’ve just dropped them somewhere.”
“A likely tale!” Sir Cadogan roared. Upon spotting Harry and Ron, “Good even my fine young yeomen! Come clap this loon in irons! He is trying to force entry to the chambers within!”
Ron rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up.”
“I’ve lost the passwords,” Neville explained miserably, “I managed to make him tell me what he was going to use this week and now I’ve lost them.”
“It’s okay, Neville,” Harry assured him, “I’ve still got the ones for today written down.” He took out his own list and found the nighttime password for the day. “Oddsbodikins.”
Sir Cadogan looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was an excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming and fawning over his Firebolt.
“Where’d you get it, Harry?”
“Will you let me have a go?”
“Have you ridden it yet, Harry?”
“Ravenclaw’ll have no chance! They’re all on Cleansweep Sevens!”
“Can I just hold it, Harry?”
The Firebolt was soon passed around the common room for everyone to admire. Harry and Ron took that as their chance to go over to Hermione and Seth who were the only ones who hadn’t rushed over and were pointedly ignoring them as they bent over their work. Only once the two arrived at the table did they look up.
“I got it back,” Harry awkwardly started, waving out to the crowd.
“See. There wasn’t anything wrong with it,” Ron snobbishly remarked.
Seth rolled his eyes and Hermione huffed indignantly. “Well there might’ve been. At least now you know it’s safe.”
“Yeah. I suppose so,” Harry said, “I’d better get it back and put it away or I’ll probably never see it again.”
“I’ll do it,” Ron eagerly volunteered. “I’ve got to check on Scabbers right now anyways.”
He pushed his way into the crowd to grab hold of the Firebolt. Once he was able to pry it out of Oliver’s tight grip, with the help of Alicia and Angelina of course, he bolted upstairs before anyone could react and the crowd dispersed with some minor grumbling.
Harry shook his head at Ron’s antics before turning back to Hermione and Seth. “Can I sit down then?” He tentatively asked.
“I suppose so,” Hermione tersely responded and moved a great stack of parchment off a chair.
As Harry sat down, he looked around the cluttered table where an arithmancy essay was laid out for the ink to dry, a muggle studies essay was being rolled up by Seth, and a rune translation was spread out for Hermione to pore over.
“How are you getting through all this?” He asked.
“Oh well, you know, by working hard,” Hermione said rather vaguely, “Seth’s helping me manage as well so there’s that.”
Harry frowned. She looked almost as tired as Lupin did after he returned from his bouts of illness. “Why don’t you drop a couple of subjects?”
Hermione looked at him scandalized, as if he just asked her to kill her parents. “I couldn’t do that!”
“Don’t bother Harry,” Seth tiredly said, “I’ve already tried but she refuses to listen.”
“Well they’re all fascinating subjects to learn! And what if I miss something?” Hermione indignantly protested.
“You don’t even like Divination and you’re a muggle! What could you possibly not know about muggles?!” Seth rebuked with great frustration.
“Arithmancy looks pretty terrible too,” Harry said, adding his own two cents. He picked up a very complicated looking number chart and grimaced at it. “Is that math? Bleh!”
Hermione huffed and snatched the chart out of his hands. “Excuse you! I happen to think Arithmancy is a wonderful subject. It’s my favorite so far!”
A strangled yell suddenly echoed down the boy’s staircase. The entire common room fell silent, staring in concern at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps that grew louder and louder until Ron came running into view, dragging with him a bedsheet.
“LOOK!” He bellowed as he strode over to Hermione. “LOOK!” He shook the sheets violently in her face.
“Ron, what?”
“SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!”
Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking as utterly bewildered as Harry and Seth felt. They all looked down at the sheet Ron was holding and there was a red stain on it. Something that looked too much like-
“BLOOD!” Ron yelled into the stunned silence. “He’s gone! And you know what was on the floor?”
“N-No?” Hermione said in a trembling voice.
Ron threw something onto her rune translation. Hermione, Seth, and Harry leaned forward to take a look. Lying on top of the parchment were several long ginger cat hairs.
It seemed that Ron and Hermione’s friendship was over. Each was so angry at the other that no one could see how they’d ever make up.
Ron was enraged that Hermione never took Crookshank’s attempts to eat Scabbers seriously and hadn’t bothered to keep a closer eye on him and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting Ron look for Scabbers in all the small spaces and crevices of the boy’s dorm.
Hermione was furious at Ron for having no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers other than some red stains that may or may not be blood and ginger cat hairs that might’ve fallen off her clothes when she was there during Christmas. She claimed that Ron was prejudiced against her cat ever since she first got him.
Harry personally thought that there was enough evidence to prove that Crookshanks ate Scabbers but knew better than to point it out to Hermione if he didn’t want to be jinxed. So instead he kept his mouth shut and stood by Ron in support as he took the loss of his rat very hard. Though he wasn’t the only one.
“I can’t believe you let this happen, Ron!” Percy scolded his youngest brother who looked absolutely miserable as he moved his fork listlessly around his breakfast, not even bothering to take a bite. “You knew Scabbers wasn’t doing well. You should’ve kept him on your person at all times. He wouldn’t have made a fuss if he stayed forever in your robe pocket!”
“Sod off Percy,” Ron grumpily said, “I’m not in the mood for your lecturing.”
Percy scowled. “I wouldn’t have to lecture if you knew how to be a responsible pet owner!”
“Oh come off it Perce. You don’t get to go off on Ron as if you’re any better,” Fred bluntly interjected.
“Yeah. Who was it who left Scabbers behind at Hogwarts during winter hols again?” George helpfully added.
Percy turned an ugly shade of red before stomping off with a huff.
Fred scoffed. “Prat.”
George nodded in agreement. “Big headed prat.”
However, instead of thanking the twins for their interference, Ron went back to moaning about Scabbers.
“Come on, Ron. You were always saying how boring Scabbers was,” Fred said, trying to be empathetic but annoyance could still be heard in his voice. “He’s been off color for ages! He was wasting away. It was probably better for him to-”
George slapped a hand over Fred’s mouth before he could say anything too insensitive. “All he did was eat and sleep, Ron. You said it yourself. So why are you acting as if your best friend died?”
“He bit Goyle for us once, remember Harry?” Ron said, ignoring his brothers.
“That’s true,” Harry hesitantly nodded.
“Ah yes, his finest hour. Let the scar on Goyle’s finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory,” Fred deadpanned.
Ginny closed her book with a sharp thud that turned everyone’s attention to her. She’d been giving Ron the silent treatment ever since the blow up. She glared at Ron and sharply said, “Get over yourself already, Ron. And go down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat. It’s not as if we don’t have the money anymore. So stop your moaning already. It’s annoying.”
“Scabbers was a good rat!” Ron protested indignantly.
“And Hermione is a good friend!” She angrily shot back.
“She’s got a point, Ron,” George carefully said, “Scabbers was always going to pass soon. It was just a matter of how. And it’s not as if you can keep blaming Hermione for what her cat would do.”
“Cats eat rats. It’s just what they do,” Fred bluntly remarked.
Ron scowled harshly. “Why are you siding with Hermione? I’m your brother! You’re supposed to be supporting me!”
“We’re not taking sides, Ron,” George objected.
“Well it sure looks like you are to me!” Ron exclaimed, “Who cares how ‘ickle Ronnikins’ feels about his rat dying? Why should we be helping our brother grieve when we can be mad at him for yelling at his friend who’s cat killed his rat and tell him to get over himself instead! After all, he’s just the youngest of six boys who always gets the scraps and who’s opinion never matters anyways!”
Ginny stared wide eyed at Ron when he finished his angry ranting. Fred and George exchanged concerned looks.
“We’re really not trying to take sides here, Ron,” Fred gently assured, “We were just trying to help you move on but I guess it’s not helping as much as we’d like to believe it is.”
George nodded. “You can take as much time to mourn Scabbers properly as you need to. We’ll be around if you need us though, right Ginny?”
Ginny scowled and looked away. “I don’t care. Just do whatever you want.”
“Fine, I will,” Ron said, dropping his fork onto the table with a loud clatter, “I’m done eating now. Come on Harry.”
He stormed away with Harry hurriedly following after.
Meanwhile, Seth didn’t believe Crookshanks actually ate Scabbers and had wanted to keep the sheets and get them examined to see if the red stains were actually blood or not. But the sheets were taken away by whoever was in charge of housekeeping before he could get the chance. Without any way to investigate beyond circumstantial evidence, he turned his focus to supporting Hermione who grew more visibly worn down after the blow up occurred.
She’d skipped breakfast and lunch for the day, not wanting to see or deal with Ron as much as possible. But Seth strong-armed her into going to dinner because she was clearly running on fumes.
She was currently attempting to read an enormous book titled ‘Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles’ while Seth tried to loudly insist she eat while pushing a plate towards her.
“Come on, Hermione. Eat something please. I’m begging you.”
“Yeah Hermione. Come and have some food,” Harry awkwardly chimed in while glancing at Ron and hoping he wouldn’t start anything in the Great Hall.
“I can’t. I’ve still got four hundred and twenty two pages to read,” Hermione said, sounding slightly hysterical. She glanced over at Ron too. “Besides, I’m sure he doesn’t want me to join in.”
There was no arguing on this as Ron chose that moment to loudly say, “If Scabbers hadn’t just been eaten, he could’ve had some of this sweet corn. He used to really like it.”
Hermione burst into tears. Before anyone could say or do anything, she ran out of the Great Hall sobbing, even leaving her book behind in her distress.
“Can’t you give her a break?” Harry asked.
“No,” Ron firmly said, “If she just acted like she was sorry then sure. But she’ll never admit she’s wrong. She’s still acting like Scabbers had gone on vacation or something.”
“Well you don’t have to be such an asshole about it yet here we are,” Seth dryly remarked.
Ron frowned at him. “Of course you’d be the one defending her.”
“Well someone has to since you refuse to have a mature conversation about it with her,” Seth said, slightly miffed, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a friend I need to check on.”
He grabbed Hermione’s textbook and quickly made his way out of the Great Hall, hoping to catch up to her. He didn’t have to go far though as when he turned down the corridor towards the library, he spotted Hermione collapsed on the ground. Fear seized him as the image of the stingbulb clone of Kendra briefly overlayed Hermione’s prone figure.
“HERMIONE!”
He rushed over to her and carefully picked her up. She was pale and sweaty with her brow furrowed as if she was in pain. He ran as quickly as he could to the hospital wing and burst inside.
“Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey! Help!”
Madam Pomfrey came out of her office in a fluster. “What is going on-” She gasped sharply at the sight before her. “Quickly! Put her down on that bed.”
Seth complied with her instructions and stepped back as Madam Pomfrey swiftly examined Hermione.
“Is she okay?” He anxiously asked.
Madam Pomfrey sighed. “Yes. She’s not in any danger. She simply collapsed from overworking herself. Some rest and a pepper up potion will have her back on her feet in no time.”
Hermione began to stir with a groan.
“I’ll go get that potion now,” Madam Pomfrey said, patting Seth’s shoulder. She walked off as Hermione slowly returned to the waking world.
“What happened?” Hermione asked.
“You collapsed,” Seth said seriously.
“I did?” She jerked up suddenly. “Oh no! I forgot my book back in the Great Hall! I need to finish reading it.”
Seth put a hand up to stop her. “You’re not going to do anything except rest.”
“But I can’t!” Hermione vehemently protested. “Besides the reading for Muggle Studies, I have the translation for Ancient Runes and the chart for Arithmancy and the essays for Transfigurations and Charms and the dream journal for Divination and-”
“ENOUGH!” Seth shouted, “Just stop already Hermione!”
Hermione was stunned by his outburst.
“You’re going to work yourself into an early grave at this rate. You need to drop some classes or so help me, I will go straight to McGonagall and demand she drop them for you!”
Hermione paled. “You can’t do that!”
“Watch me,” he threatened.
“But Seth! I-I can’t- If I give up now-”
“Hermione,” he interrupted, grabbing hold of her by the shoulders, “Listen very carefully to me. No one is going to think you’re a terrible witch just because you’re not taking every single class on the roster. If anything, you’re already the most brilliant witch of our generation in spite of all the classes you’ve taken. But you have to start taking care of yourself. Please. As your friend, I can’t just stand by and watch as you waste away trying to prove something when you don’t have to prove anything. Seeing you laying on the floor like that…it reminded me of something that happened to my sister. I…I was really scared.”
“Seth…”
“Please Hermione. Please,” he said with such heart wrenching emotion.
Hermione was silent for a moment, looking down at her hands with a guilty expression for having caused such distress in her friend. Eventually, she sighed and said, “Fine. I’ll drop a few classes.”
“You will?” Seth asked, looking at her hopefully.
She nodded. “Yes. I promise. In fact, we can go straight to McGonagall right now. She wasn’t at dinner so she must be in her office.”
“Not until you take this pepper up potion, Miss Granger,” Madam Pomfrey interjected, announcing her return, “I’ll not have you coming back here so soon after you leave.”
“Yes, Madam Pomfrey,” Hermione said as she sheepishly took the offered potion. She downed the pepper up potion and grimaced as smoke briefly came out of her ears. “Thank you, Madam Pomfrey.”
Madam Pomfrey shook her head and smiled. “You don’t need to thank me for doing my job. And do be sure to get some rest immediately after you speak with Professor McGonagall, am I clear?”
Hermione nodded and left the hospital wing with Seth supporting her just in case. The two made their way to McGonagall’s office and Seth knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The two opened the door and stepped inside the office. McGonagall looked surprised to see them.
“Miss Granger, Mister Sorenson. Why are you two here instead of down at dinner?”
“We have something we’d like to discuss with you. Or rather,” Seth pushed Hermione forward, “She does.”
McGonagall raised a brow in curiosity. “Oh? And what would that be, Miss Granger?”
Hermione looked helplessly back at Seth who nodded encouragingly. She sighed and faced McGonagall. “Professor, I want to…I would like to…I…” With great effort and a rushed manner, “Please let me drop a few classes!”
McGonagall looked at her in surprise and she flushed in embarrassment. “Is that so? Which classes will those be then?”
“You’re…you’re not mad?” Hermione asked, surprised by the easy acceptance.
McGonagall smiled kindly at her. “Why ever would I be mad at you, Miss Granger? If anything, I am mad at myself for allowing you to convince me into pushing yourself like this. As a teacher, the wellbeing of my students is of utmost priority. Their academic achievements come second.”
“Oh…”
“Oh indeed. Now, which classes would you like to drop? And don’t be shy now. I know the other professors will be quite understanding.”
Hermione meekly nodded. “I’d like to drop Divination and Muggle Studies please.”
“Very good,” McGonagall said, “I’ll make the changes now and inform Professor Trelawney and Burbage. Also, you still have the necklace I presume?”
“Oh yes!” Hermione took out a golden hourglass necklace and removed it from around her neck. Seth narrowed his eyes when he sensed the powerful magic in it. “I, uh, quite enjoyed the challenge of studying the charms on it, Professor. It was very, er, informative.”
McGonagall delicately took the necklace back, handling the piece of jewelry like a ticking bomb. “I’m glad to be of help. Now, please do remember to take care of yourself, Miss Granger. You do not and will never need to prove you are a great witch.”
Hermione burned red at the compliment. “Thank you, Professor.”
McGonagall smiled. “Good night, Miss Granger.” She looked to Seth. “Thank you, Mister Sorenson, and good night as well.”
“Thanks to you too, Professor. See ya at class!” Seth cheerfully said.
Seth and Hermione took their leave with Hermione now looking considerably lighter as they made their way to the kitchens, deciding not to go back to the Great Hall for dinner.
“So what was that necklace?” Seth asked, curiously.
Hermione startled at the question and scrambled for what was clearly a sham explanation. “Oh! It was uh, just some charms challenge Professor McGonagall thought would interest me.”
“Really?” Seth said, not buying it for a second.
She nodded vigorously. “Yes, really. And even if I wanted to, I can’t really talk about it. The necklace is from the Ministry you see.”
“I do see. Alright then, I won’t ask about it anymore.”
She sighed in relief. “Thank you, Seth. And could you also not tell Ron and Harry about what happened? I know they’ll be quite rude about it, thinking I did all that to get attention.”
Seth frowned. “I know we’re all a bit high strung and having a breakdown in friendship at the moment, but Harry and Ron aren’t stupid enough to think you collapsing from overwork was a cry for attention.”
“I know. But-”
“Look. Despite how they’re acting right now, they do genuinely care about you, Hermione. They’re just being dumb boys right now.”
“But you’re not a dumb boy,” she pointed out.
He waved at her dismissively. “I’m an anomaly so I don’t count. Besides, I was also dumb and insensitive when I was actually that age so yeah. That’s just how boys are.”
She smiled in amusement. “If you say so.”
“I do say so.”
“Still…please don’t tell them. I’ll…I’ll tell them myself eventually, so please?”
He frowned and then sighed. “Oh alright, fine. I’ll drop it. But if and when Harry and Ron get their heads out of their asses, you better tell them what happened okay? They’ll be more mad if you don’t and they find out anyway.”
She nodded solemnly. “I promise. Now come on. I’m starving.”
On the day of the Ravenclaw v Gryffindor match, Seth and Hermione didn’t go down to breakfast, instead staying in the common room to eat some pastries Seth got from the kitchens. Once it was eleven, they went down to the pitch and sat in the back of the Gryffindor stands, far away from Ron for Hermione’s comfort. She was looking a lot better now after a full night’s sleep and two less classes worth of work to deal with.
They watched the riveting Quidditch match that was accompanied with hilarious commentary from Jordan who kept getting distracted by the Firebolt so McGonagall had to constantly scold him to pay attention and focus on his commentary instead of providing advertisement for the ‘top of the line’ broom.
The match ended in Gryffindor’s victory when Harry managed to grab hold of the snitch, pulling ahead of Cho by quite a distance thanks to the Firebolt.
The crowd went absolutely wild and the Gryffindors immediately ran back to their common room for a celebration. Hermione and Seth, while happy, decided to stay away from the common room for a while and went to the library for some quiet.
By the time they went to the common room, the party was beginning to wind down for the night. Most likely due to McGonagall standing in the middle of the room in her pajamas and insisting everyone go to bed already.
Harry spotted Hermione and Seth quietly enter and subtly slipped away from Ron. “Hey, there you two are,” he said, not in accusation but curiosity, “Did you even come to the match?”
Hermione was miffed he’d think otherwise. “Of course we did. And I’m very glad we won and I think you did really well.”
“Then why weren’t you here at the party?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me here…”
“Well I did,” Harry said, “I mean, I don’t know about Ron but, I would’ve liked if you were here. I’m really sorry, Hermione, Seth, for how I acted. I shouldn’t have let Ron treat you like that.”
“Thank you, Harry, that means a lot,” Hermione said, smiling happily, “And I forgive you. I know you were just being a good friend to Ron. Speaking of, is he going to apologize too?”
Harry scratched at his cheek. “Er, that’s a bit of a work in progress. I think he’s got some stuff going on that doesn’t have anything to do with you but it was unfortunate that you ended up reminding him of it, or something like that.”
Hermione huffed. “Whatever. Thank you again, Harry, and good night you two.” She left for the girl’s dormitory without another word.
Seth slapped Harry on the back. “Atta boy, Harry! That was real mature of you, apologizing without having someone drag you kicking and screaming into doing it.”
Harry smiled sheepishly. “I talked with some people and realized that I didn’t want to lose my friendship with you two over something like this. And I’m sure Ron feels the same. He just…needs some time.”
Seth pursed his lips but didn’t protest. “Yeah, I know. Still annoying though. Shall we head to bed then?”
Harry nodded and the two made their way to the dorms where Ron eagerly pulled Harry away to talk more about the match, pointedly ignoring Seth but Seth didn’t care and got ready for bed.
He lay down on the comfortable mattress and snuggled into his blankets, immediately conking out only to be rudely awoken a few hours later by-
“ARGH! NO!”
Seth sprung up from his bed, grabbing hold of the dagger he kept beneath his pillows, and flung open his curtains. He saw a man by Ron’s bed who was startled by Ron’s screams and Seth’s sudden appearance. The man went to make his escape but-
“Oh no you don’t!”
Seth jumped out of his bed, lunging towards the man and swiping out with his dagger. It made contact, cutting deeply into the man’s arm. The man hissed but didn’t stop his escape and his form seemed to shift, startling Seth and making him pause long enough for the man to disappear from the room. Not a moment later, Dean lit up his lamp.
“What’s going on?” Seamus groggily asked.
Ron sat up in his bed. The hangings were torn apart on one side. He had a look of utmost terror on his face. “Black. Sirius Black. With a knife.”
“What?!” Neville squeaked fearfully.
“Here just now. Slashed the curtains. Woke me up.”
“You sure you weren’t dreaming, Ron?” Dean nervously asked.
“Look at the curtains I tell you. He was here!”
“Whoever it was, Sirius Black or not, there was a man,” Seth confirmed and held up his dagger with blood on its blade, “I got him with my dagger. See?”
The boys all paled and scrambled out of bed. They sprinted out of their room and down the staircase. Doors opened behind them and sleepy voices called out.
“Who shouted?”
“What’re you doing?”
“There’s no one here,” Harry said, looking around the empty common room.
“I wasn’t dreaming. I swear!” Ron anxiously said.
“Well then how did he disappear so fast?” Dean asked.
“I don’t know!” Ron shouted.
“What’s all the noise?”
“Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed.”
A few of the girls came down their staircase and yawning boys were appearing as well.
“Excellent! Are we carrying on?” Fred brightly asked.
“Everyone back upstairs!” Percy shouted as he hurried into the common room while pinning his head boy badge to his pajamas.
“Perce, Sirius Black, in our dormitory with a knife. Woke me up,” Ron faintly said.
The common room went very still and quiet.
“Nonsense. You had too much to eat Ron and had a nightmare,” Percy understandably denied.
“I’m telling you-”
“Now really, enough’s enough!”
McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait door behind her as she entered the common room and looked around furiously. “I’m delighted that Gryffindor won the match but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you.”
“I didn’t authorize this, Professor,” Percy puffed up indignantly, “I was just telling them all to get back to bed. My brother Ron had a nightmare.”
“IT WASN’T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME HOLDING A KNIFE!” Ron roared.
McGonagall stared at him. “Don’t be ridiculous, Mister Weasley. Are you sure your brother isn’t right and you did have a nightmare?”
“His bed curtains were slashed, Professor, and I did see a man as well,” Seth helpfully interjected, “Couldn’t tell if it was Black though but I did get him with my dagger. ” He held up the bloody dagger as evidence.
The common room held its breath.
McGonagall was speechless. “Well- I-”
She shut her mouth and turned on her heel. She pushed the portrait door back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath.
“Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor tower?”
“Certainly, good lady!” Sir Cadogan proudly boasted, “Though he left in quite the hurry! Probably needed to address the wound on his arm.” He scoffed. “He wouldn’t have made a good knight running off with a flesh wound that twas but a scratch.”
There was a stunned silence both inside and outside the common room.
“You…you did? But…But the password…”
“He had ‘em, my lady! The whole week’s! Read ‘em off a little piece of paper!”
When McGonagall went back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd, she was white as chalk.
“Which person…which abysmally foolish person…left a week’s worth of passwords lying around?”
In unison, everyone turned to look at a trembling Neville who slowly raised his hand into the air.