chapter 32

"How's Dudley doing at the new school?" Harry asked.

"Ohh, he's having a wonderful time!" Aunt Petunia's voice came from the phone in Harry's hand. "It was a bit bumpy in the beginning. Smeltings Academy have a bit of a bad reputation, it seems. Both academically and socially," she said. Harry couldn't say he was surprised by that, seeing as Vernon had gone there and how adamant he was about Dudley going there. Really, anything Vernon approves of… Harry just shook his head. "Let's just say that Dudders surprised both teachers and students," Aunt Petunia's voice sounded awkward, even through the phone.

They talked for a few more minutes before Aunt Petunia had to leave for a job interview. Harry wished her good luck before they hung up and Harry left eh alcove he had been standing – maybe hiding – in.

He had just rounded a corner when he almost got a large vase in the head. He was saved by none other than Peeves, who most likely was the one that overturn the vase to begin with. Peeves huffed and puffed as he, apparently, used all his strength to push the vase back into its upright position again. Harry just watched in a bit of a shock as the poltergeist worked. He was not sure what to do, never had Peeves not pranked (though some pranks were maybe too malicious to be called that) a student, much less saved one!

The vase finally standing on its own, Peeves turned to Harry. "Why, it's Potty Wee Potter!" Peeves shouted like Harry wasn't less than five meters away from where the poltergeist floated.

"Peeves…" Harry finally managed to do something other than stand there. Peeves grinned and nodded as he slowly floated to a horizontal position. After a long, and awkward for Harry, pause, where they just stared at each other – Peeves now upside-down – Harry asked, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Peeves answered back, looking for all the world like the most innocent of innocent.

"The vase…" Harry said.

"What are you talking about, my fine Potty friend?!" Peeves shouted again but was beginning to lose his evil grin. "Peevesy wasn't doin' nothing! Peevesy was absolutely not about to knock the vase over death's master, no he wasn't!" And with those parting words Peeves zoomed around the corner Harry had turned and disappeared down the corridor.

Harry stared after the poltergeist for probably a few minutes before he managed to shake himself and continue his way back to Gryffindor tower.

Harry and Ron managed a week of Hermione's nagging before they gave in. Harry could see that she was oh so pleased with herself when she made them sign the magical contract stating that they joined her spew-business. Harry also noted the last line in the contract; Once this contract is signed one cannot resign from the organization without losing their magic.

Harry was suddenly very glad that a magical contract only works if ones full (and real) name is written. It was apparent that Hermione didn't know that, from the grin she gave them when they handed her the contracts with 'Harry Potter' and 'Ron Weasley' written on them.

She demanded two Sickles from each of them before she handed them each one of the ugly badges with 'S.P.E.W.' written on them. The badges were vanished with a spell as soon as Hermione turned her back to them.

The weeks passed slowly after that. Hermione ditched them almost every day, going to the library, and when she was with them all she did was either nag them to do their homework – that they were already doing – or ask Harry questions. Questions she had always asked him, but that Harry had never registered as weird. Well, maybe the questions weren't weird, per say, it was the frequency and intensity that was strange. Asking how their friend is feeling is normal but asking every other day – and continue to pressure him to tell her every little feeling he has ever had – was not. She would also ask seriously detailed questions and then being mad as his "lack-luster" response.

"Potter! Weasley! Stay behind!" Severus shouted at the end of potions on Friday, 16th. Hermione looked at them with concern, while the Slytherins laughed. Harry and Ron knew what this was about, so they just sat back down and waited for everyone else to leave.

Finally, the potions classroom was empty except Severus, Ron, and Harry. Severus conjured himself a chair on the opposite side of their shared desk and sat down facing them. "Now, firstly. How is school going?" Severus asked with his signature half-smile. His smile turned wry after getting the normal teenage response, "it's fine," and a shrug.

"Anything else?" he tried again and was not ready for the response. He had hoped for some difficult homework that he could help with, not Granger forcing them into a magical contract. "I do hope you didn't write your full names," he said when they finished retelling the story, with a tone that said, "if not, you are bigger dunderheads that I though".

"Of course, we didn't, Sev!" Harry almost whined. Ron had to hide a snort of laughter at Harry's tone, while Severus just sighed in response to both of them. "Anyway! That can't be all you wanted to talk about?" Harry stirred the conversation back on track.

"Yes. From now on you both are going to have 'extra potions classes' with me, every Sunday," Severus told them. "I finally managed to convince Dumbledore that it was 'necessary'. I have already talked with the twins and will pull Draco from his common room later this evening to tell him the same thing," Severus added. Harry and Ron just nodded. "For now, you should go to the Great Hall before dinner starts. I'll see you boys in my office after lunch on Sunday," was the last he said before shooing them out of the classroom. Harry managed to give Severus a hug before catching up with Ron.

That Sunday, they didn't only start their Occlumency training. After going over the basics of Occlumency, they started planning how to find the missing people. Hogwarts is a gigantic magical castle, not only would they have to search the whole castle, but they also had to consider the possibilities of hidden rooms and corridors. Severus taught them no less than 8 spells they needed to use on every room, wall, and door when searching.

On the other hand, their lessons were becoming more difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts. To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.

"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor," Hermione said what everyone had been thinking as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was –"

Moody's magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," and all Harry could think was 'Of course…'. "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go." He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Harry and Ron shared a wry glance. They knew Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss any school lesson.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Harry watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!"

It was the most wonderful feeling. Harry felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. He stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching him. And then he heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of his empty brain: "Jump onto the desk...jump onto the desk..."

Why, though? Stupid thing to do, really. Harry thought back to Moody's order.

"Jump onto the desk...." Moody's voice said a third time, a little more forcefully now.

No, I don't think I will, thanks, Harry though a little more firmly back. No, I don't really want to....

"Jump! NOW!" The order was shouted in his brain.

The next thing Harry felt was considerable pain. He had both tried to jump and tried to prevent himself from jumping, thereby locking his legs - the result was that he'd faceplanted into the floor, and, by the feeling in his legs, fractured both his kneecaps.

"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice, and suddenly, Harry felt the empty, echoing feeling in his head disappear. He remembered exactly what was happening, and the pain in his knees seemed to double.

"Look at that, you lot...Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention - watch his eyes, that's where you see it - very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!" Moody praised Harry.

"The way he talks," Harry muttered as he hobbled out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class an hour later – Moody had insisted on putting Harry through his paces four times in a row, until Harry could throw off the curse entirely – "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second," he complained.

"Yeah, I know," Ron agreed, who was skipping on every alternate step. He had had more difficulty with the curse than Harry, but he had also managed to almost throw off the curse. Moody had assured him the effects would wear off by lunchtime. "Talk about paranoid..." Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and went on. "No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted 'Boo' behind him on April Fools' Day? And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?"

All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.

"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer -"

"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.

"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!" Harry was not going to mention that he had managed a "satisfactory pincushion", and that Ron was very close – by her own estimate the last time she was by their table. If McGonagall was going to play favorites, then so be it.

Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself.

Harry and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told the class that Dean and Seamus had received top marks of their homework in their next divination class. She read large portions of their predictions and commended them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them. Harry had seen both Dean and Seamus "working" on their predictions in the common room. They were even more amused when Professor Trelawney asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; the twin faces of horror and devastation on Dean and Seamus' faces told everything.

Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Severus had them to research antidotes. And even though they knew he wouldn't try to poison them; they still did as told. Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.

Even ancient runes was adding to their workload. Harry, Ron, and Draco worked their arses off translating the Elder Futhark text they'd chosen. And even after that was delivered, they were right back to the theory, now with the Phoenician alphabet. Professor Babbling made them write at least two sheets of history on the alphabet to every class for the two weeks they had theory on it.

Between all that they also had the Occlumency lessons every Sunday, and the "homework" Severus gave them for that. They had to quickly get up walls and faux layers to protect from Legilimentsers, namely Dumbledore. They had also gotten a sort of system over who roamed the halls at night – with either the invisibility cloak or notice-me-not charms and the Marauders Map – searching for the missing people.

The week before Samhain, or the muggle "equivalent" Halloween, they arrived in the entrance hall, and found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there. Everyone milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest between them, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other:

"TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON SUNDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. DINNER WILL BE SERVED LATE – Ohhh…" Ron interrupted himself. "– STUDENTS WILL BE ADEQUATELY DRESSED IN UNIFORM AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST." Ron finished just as Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff emerged from the crowd.

"Only a week away! I wonder if Cedric knows?" he said loudly to himself, eyes gleaming. "Think I'll go tell him…"

"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off.

"Diggory," said Harry.

"Well, I know that!" Ron playfully complained at Harry's lack of trust in his memory. Harry just grinned back.

"He must be entering the tournament." Harry said with a shrug as they sat down to eat lunch.

"Him? Didn't take him for an idiot!" Ron said loudly just as Hermione sat down beside them.

"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," Hermione said. "I've heard he's a really good student - and he's a prefect." She spoke as though this settled the matter.

"You only like him because he's handsome," said Ron scathingly.

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.

Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!"