Midnight & Destiny | Harry Potter FanFiction

Capitulum Viginti

It was extremely early the following morning when Remus pulled Sirius out of bed. What started as a friendly wake up call quickly turned to a 'hex war' forcing Harry to run for cover which ended up being anywhere besides Marauder Quarters. Luckily Harry had already changed into his uniform so all he had to do was grab his schoolbag that was already filled with what he would need for the day's classes before hurrying to the Great Hall.

Surprisingly there were a few students already eating breakfast at the Ravenclaw table although they all looked a little on the tired side. At the Head Table, Professors McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick were seated also looking slightly drained. Harry had to wonder how the talks had gone last night but judging from the state the three Heads of Houses were in they didn't go smoothly. He had figured that the talk with the Gryffindors would have been difficult since a part of the lecture included speaking up when someone you know is being mistreated. It was bound to be taken personally since no one in the Gryffindor House had said a word of how Umbridge had acted towards Harry.

Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, Harry started to mindlessly pile food on his plate. He was nervous about his first Occlumency lesson tonight as well as his first Defense class with Sirius. The Animagus was a good teacher but certainly had his own way of doing things. The 'hands on' approach that Sirius preferred was the complete opposite of Umbridge. Sirius had been disgusted with the book Umbridge had assigned and bluntly stated that he would most likely have to start from scratch for all years to repair the damage. How can one person cause so much damage in such little time?

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts as Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny sat down around him. They all looked half-asleep still which made Harry wonder what had indeed happened last night. The talk shouldn't have been that bad. "Er—rough night?" Harry asked curiously.

Ron looked at Harry and sighed. "There had been a lot of questions," he admitted. "By the time we got to the Tower everyone had heard about the blood quill but not many knew what it was. You were right, Harry. There isn't exactly a way to learn about illegal artifacts unless you personally research them. McGonagall told us about the different types of abuse and that was something I definitely could have lived without learning. I mean...who could be that sick to do something like that to a kid?"

"You'd be surprised," Harry muttered causing everyone around him to stare in shock. "Not to me!" he exclaimed causing everyone to relax. "I meant that it does happen, at least in the muggle world. That's why people tell their kids never to wander off and don't talk to strangers. Not all predators are animals, Ron...er—maybe they are they just don't all look like animals."

"I guess Moody wasn't kidding when he lectured about constant vigilance," Ginny said causing quite a few people to nod in agreement. "So...Harry, what can we expect from Professor Black?"

Everyone's faces turned from downcast to eager as Harry smiled. "It certainly won't be anything like Umbridge," Harry said honestly. "He'll probably try to find out how much everyone knows this week before actually teaching anything. Since he knows about the D.A.—"

"WHAT!"

Harry was surprised at the collective outburst then remembered that he had forgotten to mention it last night with everything else that had been going on. "I told Sirius and Remus about the D.A. before the hearing," he said with a shrug. "Sirius wasn't a teacher then so I didn't think it would be a big deal if he knew. Remus approved of the group and Sirius was a little upset that we were defying the Ministry without him knowing about it."

Fred and George grinned. "Spoken like a true Marauder," George said proudly. "I still can't believe we are actually learning from a Marauder—and Sirius Black no less!"