B.Q. Book Two: Black Princess Ascendant

Chapter 23: First Date

Disclaimer: Were the inhabitants of Hogsmeade supposedly terrified of the "ghosts" haunting the Shrieking Shack, even though as wizards and witches they should have been familiar enough with spirits not to be concerned overmuch by the antics of ghosts or ghouls? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whomever else she sold the rights to.

_____________________________________

"I still think the French should have used Warming Charms."

"Except if they did that, the guards would have been on them as soon as they crossed the border. They had to bypass the sensors to get to the stronghold."

"Better to fight early with their entire force than sneak up on their destination with only a fifth of their men left. What do you think, Jen?"

"Hmm?" Jen glanced behind her to find Morag and Padma watching her unabashedly. "I think they should have learned from Napoleon's mistake a decade earlier: never attack Russia in the middle of winter."

"It wasn't Russia as a whole; it was a Dark Lord who happened to make his lair... and you don't care in the slightest, do you?" Luna asked with a sigh.

She sighed as well before returning her attention to the throng of students sharing the corridor with her and her friends. "Whatever could have given you that idea?"

"Look, we all know you're not happy about your-" Jen shot the Scottish girl a sharp glance, and Morag quickly reworked her phrasing. "About Potter teaching here, but you have to admit that he's not half-bad at strategy."

"I don't have to admit anything."

"What would it take for you to at least appreciate the DADA class this year? Short of him no longer being the professor?" Padma pressed.

"Him not making cow eyes at me the whole period." The other girls grimaced at that disturbing - but unfortunately not inaccurate - description. "And have you considered that the bigger reason I'm not interested in the class this year might be because I don't find it relevant? Unless the strategies used by the Bataillon de Chevaliers in the early nineteenth century is on the OWLs, I don't particularly care."

"Right." Luna disbelief was palpable, and the other Ravenclaw girls nodded in agreement.

The dark-haired witch shook her head in disappointment; she truly did think Potter senior had chosen a rather poor topic to teach, and that had nothing to do with their blood relation. Perhaps her friends' opinions were being colored by the man's evening tutoring sessions, but she was sure that she had the better deal on that score, too.

A volunteer vigilante against a trained, professional duelist? The choice was obvious.

"Hey, Jen!"

She searched out the source of the call with her sonar and smiled when she found him walking toward them. "Kenneth, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you out this way? I thought you had Charms on Monday afternoons."

"Normally I do, but several of us were given special permission to join the sixth-year Care class today instead." She cocked her head in curious confusion, and he explained, "Hagrid returned weekend before last, as I'm sure Tracey told you, but at some point while he was on sabbatical he arranged to have a few specimens of one of his more interesting beasties loaned to him for a few hours."