Remember | June Potter and the Battle of the Ministry | Book Four |

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: Mountains of Work and a Gryffindor Keeper

　　June was anxious to know how it went with McGonagall. Professor McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor house, and June knew from the moment she had laid eyes on her that she wouldn't be the woman to cross. She was stern but respected by all students, but this didn't help ease the fear that flooded against her because Harry had started a row with Professor Umbridge. The Gryffindors would be thirty more points down on top of the twenty they had both lost the house during said class. Dinner seemed to be her chance, but it went on to be an unpleasant experience. Even for Hogwarts standards, the news about his shouting match with Umbridge had travelled quite fast. Only the first day back at Hogwarts and Harry had already become the social pariah and the whispers had started up again. But, unlike last year, these whispers seemed not to mind if either of them overheard what they were saying.

　　In fact, their boldness almost appeared to be begging that he would get angry at their words and row with them, shouting the story again – to hear it firsthand.

　　"He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered ..."

　　"Come off it ..."

　　"Heard he reckons he duelled You-Know-Who ..."

　　"Who does he think he's kidding?"

　　"What I don't get," said Harry in a shaking voice, laying down his knife and fork (his hands were shaking too), "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them ..."

　　"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," said Hermione grimly. "Oh, let's get out of here."

　　As Hermione slammed her knife and fork down and looked at Ron expectantly, June smiled dimly at her three friends, debating joining them. When Ron too slammed his cutlery, her mind was made. She followed suit and strode alongside them as they left the Hall. People staring as they went.

　　"What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.

　　"Harry, you don't get what it was like after it happened," said June, solemnly. She still felt guilty for her first thoughts when she had seen Cedric Diggory dead on the transformed pitch.

　　"You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body ..." Hermione said quietly. "... none of us saw what happened in the maze ... we just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you."

　　"Which is the truth!" said Harry loudly.

　　"We know," she assured, her voice almost holding a whine.

　　"I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off!" said Hermione wearily. "It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!"

　　"Which I'm not too imposed to thinking the latter," muttered June, earning a nasty look from both Harry and Hermione.

　　Rain pounded on the windows as they marched along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Just had already become overtly wearily for the year feeling as though the first day had dragged on for almost a month, and waiting in her school bag was an obscene amount of homework for the first day. She banged her head against the cold, rainwashed window while she waited for one of the three to tell the Fat Lady the password. As she waited, she couldn't help herself from throwing a glance in the direction of Hagrid's cabin which still emitted no light.

　　Distantly, June thought it was a tab bit rude when Hermione rushed to speak the password before the Fat Lady could even ask. The portrait swung open and they each scrambled through the hole that she had revealed. The common room was practically empty seeing as everyone was still enjoying dinner in the Great Hall. Lumos mewed at them while Crookshanks uncoiled himself from an armchair and trotted over to them as they each found their favourite chairs; Lumos basked in his spot atop the headrest while Crookshanks leapt into Hermione's lap. June huffed as she rifled through her bags, opting it was better to at least get a start on her work, starting with Arithmancy.