The Last Year

Trouble On the Weekend

The first week came to an end. Despite the amount of work that had already been given, this would be the easiest week of the year. The Golden Trio was glad to have reached the weekend and celebrated by spending half the morning and the whole afternoon out by the lake. The slight breeze would lift water droplets from the lake onto them from time to time as they worked.

Hermione had of course finished all but one assignment, a five-page paper for History of Magic. Why she was still taking that along with Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense she wasn't sure. But she wanted to get into the Ministry and if she could manage to get through all these classes with outstanding grades, that would help her case. 

Harry still resisted homework and had only grudgingly finished half of his homework, still pushing off charms and potions. He was slowly getting better, but it was still amazingly easy for him to get bored or distracted.

Of course, Ron hadn't started on any of the homework due over the weekend. Despite Hermione's best intentions and her constant nagging, she had never been able to get Ron to understand the benefit of homework. She had mostly given up trying to change him.

Sadly, the afternoon eventually ended. Harry and Hermione would be patrolling as Head Boy and Head Girl for the first time tonight and hoped to get a small nap in before their shift. Tonight, they had landed the lovely three am to six am shift. Head Boy and Girl typically didn't have to patrol as often as the prefects, but still had to do it occasionally.

Ron decided to stay by the lake, so Harry and Hermione returned to the castle by themselves. They walked to their suite and Harry gave her a quick peck on the cheek before retreating to his room.

The castle was silent as they strolled through the corridors. They each held up an illuminated wand, not truly expecting to see anyone at this time of night. Everyone was probably either in bed or in a common room. They were only an hour into their three-hour shift, the final one of the night. Due to the hour, neither one talked as they patrolled, instead opting for silence and each other's company. From time to time, one of them would slip their hand into the others, savoring the connection.

They had just passed the door to the library when they heard a thump. Both stopped immediately and quietly turned on their heels. They silently opened the door to the library and tip-toed inside. Harry doused his light, prepared to cast a shield at any moment. They quickly looked both ways.

Hermione whispered, "Homenum revelio"

The spell washed over the room, and a marker lit up over a figure in the Restricted Section.

Harry raised his wand a little higher, "Okay, we know you're in here. Come out quietly, hands up."

A small figure came around the corner of the bookshelves, their hands raised. As Hermione's light washed over them, their face became clear.

"Aren't you the kid from the Train? What was your name, James?" Harry asked.

James nodded, "James Rabbnott."

Hermione took over, "Why are you in here, and why are you in the restricted section? Do you have a note giving you permission?"

"No ma'am. I'm here because I wanted to study something and I couldn't get a professor to give me permission, so I snuck in here." He hung his head as he explained.

"There is a reason this is restricted. Obviously, your professors have a reason for not giving you permission. Ten points from Ravenclaw and we will report this to Professor Flitwick in the morning and he will decide how else to punish you." Hermione stated.

Harry and Hermione checked the Restricted Section and made sure James didn't have anything he wasn't supposed to before escorting him to Ravenclaw Tower.  They said the password and pushed him through the door.

By now, it was almost six am and they decided to start walking towards the Great Hall. They realized as they walked that no one would be awake at six am on a Sunday. They decided they would eat a quick breakfast and retreat to the Room of Requirement for training.

Following a delicious breakfast, they jogged to their hidden training room. It appeared to have cleaned itself while they were gone, presenting itself once again ready for destruction. They deliberated on how to start and settled on levitating multiple objects while in battle.

Even though this was a first-year spell, Harry didn't have an appreciation for how difficult this was. They began initially by attempting to levitate two books at once. He soon realized his mistake as he struggled to split his concentration between the two books.

They worked together for an hour until they could both hold five pillows in the air. Hermione could hold six and had them revolving around her. She had always been
better at charms than Harry. Once she had accomplished this, she packed away her pillows and left to shower. Harry, however, remained. He had quickly identified his biggest weakness, silent spell casting. This had plagued him since it was first introduced in his sixth year. Then, he was distracted and pestered by Snape. Now, with Snape no longer an issue, he had no excuse to not master this ability.

Harry vowed to set aside time every training session to practice and improve his ability to silently cast spells. Once Hermione had exited, he once again brought out two books and focused on lifting the two without a verbal incantation. This took him another hour and a half until he was able to levitate five pillows without saying the spell.

He too packed up his materials and left to shower. Hopefully, there was still plenty of sunshine to soak up.

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So sorry, I meant to post this yesterday.
Hope you enjoyed!

Until next time,
-JRich