The news of Fred Weasley's drunkenness spread through the school like a forest fire. Soon enough everyone had a different version of what happened. Luckily for Fred, the teachers believed that the rumours were nothing more than that. As Fred and George were usually inseparable, the teachers thought Fred would never pull off a stunt this size without him. Boxing Day came and went people were no longer craning their necks to see Harry, but to see the seventh year that had got drunk the night before. Harry, George, Ron and Michele, being the only ones to witness anything the night before found the whole ordeal really rather funny and took it upon themselves to encourage any rumours. They also decided to talk in very loud voices when Fred was around making him cringe and tell them over and over again that he had a headache.
On the thirtieth of December a young girl Harry, Ron and Michele had never met before approached them to ask if Fred had been singing and dancing the can-can when he was drunk. Ron and Harry burst out laughing while Michele explained that he hadn't been dancing the can-can, but the Cha-cha.
"I was making the best of a situation." Michele told them as the girl ran off to tell her friends.
New years eve sent excitement through the castle once again. The twins had snuck into Hogsmead and brought back cases of Butterbeer and large selections of sweets and tricks from Zonko's and Honeyduke's.
After dinner everyone headed up to the common rooms. Just as Harry was leaving the Great Hall he was pulled back. Cho had hold of Harry's arm and she was smiling warmly back at him.
"Hi." Cho said as she let go of Harry's arm.
"Hey." Harry replied, vaguely aware that Ron, Hermione and Michele were waiting for him at the top of the marble stairs.
"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out tomorrow around the grounds or something?" Cho asked nervously.
Harry hadn't seen Cho since Christmas night but he could still remember everything she did. "Yeah, sure." Harry answered.
"Meet after breakfast?"
"Yeah, that's great." Harry replied.
"See you then." Cho replied and she leant forward and kissed Harry softly before running off to join her friends going to the Ravenclaw common room.
Harry could feel himself going red but he ignored it as he ran up the stairs, three at a time to catch up with Ron, Hermione and Michele who had been standing watching him with Cho. Harry reached them and smiled nervously. The others turned around without saying a word and started walking towards the common room. Harry followed them, still thinking about Cho but not saying a word about what had happened between Cho and him the night before. The four of them made their way into the common room to find a party going on in the middle of the room. Fred and George were in the middle of the room revelling in the attention they were receiving for getting the sweets, drinks and tricks.
Michele walked straight into the bustle of the crowd and started whispering something to Fred while Ron and Hermione (Harry noticed their hands were clasped once again.) settled outside the crowd in two of the large squashy armchairs. Harry went to join them and sat next to Ron.
Five hours later all the filibuster’s fireworks had been let off, the butterbeer drank and the sweets eaten. It was now one in the morning and everyone was heading off to bed. The party had only stopped because Professor McGonagall, accompanied by Filch had come into the common room and told them to get to bed. Harry climbed into bed and rolled over onto his side. Staring at the red velvet he could see Cho’s face swimming in front of him. He closed his eyes and the image hovered in the black for a few seconds before he fell asleep.
Harry woke up the next morning and pulled himself out of bed. It took him a while to realise why he was so happy, he was going out with Cho today. Harry practically ran down to the Great Hall. He entered it and saw that most of the school was gathered, eating breakfast. Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table while searching the Ravenclaw table with his eyes for Cho. He saw her sitting near the end of the table looking right at him, smiling. Harry smiled back before sitting down next to Hermione at the table.
“You seem very happy this morning.” Michele said seeing the grin spreading from ear to ear on Harry’s face.
“Well am I not allowed to be?” Harry asked.
“Not unless you tell us why you are so happy.” Michele answered.
“I’m going out around the grounds with Cho today.” Harry told them happily.
Michele’s smile faltered for a second before shining back as normal as ever, though Harry never noticed this. “That’s great for you guys.” She replied.
“Yeah.” Ron added.
“What about you guys?” Harry asked suddenly, looking from Ron, to Hermione, to Michele. “What happened Christmas night?”
Ron and Hermione smiled at each other, both going as red as a setting sun, Michele just looked down towards her plate and said nothing.
“Come on. I saw you and Malfoy getting very close, and you two are holding hands every time I see you together.” Harry explained.
“Well, nothing is going on between Draco and me.” Michele answered shortly. “And you never told us where you went when you disappeared for half that night at the ball.” She added.
“Well we went outside.” Harry explained.
“That was so graphic Harry, thank you. We know exactly what happened now.” Hermione said sarcastically shocking Harry, Ron, Michele and herself.
“One kiss happened.” Harry answered and he refused to tell them anything else. “So, what about you two?”
“Well we are, together.” Ron answered shyly. Harry beamed, his first two friends, going out. He liked the idea.
Harry met Cho in the Entrance hall after breakfast and he kissed her on the cheek. They walked out onto the grounds and down towards the lake. Harry felt like every moment was special as they walked around the back of the lake and sat down in the cool winter sun. The sun, only just visible from behind the clouds illuminated the sky and the rays bounced off the water as they talked. They were about to walk back up to the castle when Harry saw something that disturbed him more than seeing Michele and Malfoy at the dance together. The two of them were walking, hand in hand towards the quidditch field. Trying to push it out of his mind Harry walked with Cho up towards the castle and into the Entrance Hall. Cho and Harry stood in silence in the Hall for a minute. Both of them lost for words until a shriek met Harry’s ears.
“Harry, we’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Hermione shrieked as she ran down the stairs towards them. Harry turned to see Hermione’s face was a white as snow. She skidded to a halt and pushed a paper into Harry’s hand. Ron ran up next to Hermione, His face also paler than Nearly Headless Nick as he stood waiting for Harry to read the article in front of him. Turning his eyes to the article he saw why they were as white as they were. Harry felt the colour drain from his face and his fists squeezed tighter on the paper as he read the stomach churning article.

Harry heard a fait gasp from next to him. Cho had read the article as well. Everything became blurred around Harry. All he could see clearly was the article, who’s words were screaming at him from the page. Harry dropped the paper and everything came back into focus. Cho was shaking next to him and Ron and Hermione were looking at Harry, as though for instructions on what to do. Harry turned to Cho and told her he needed to go and send an owl to someone. She nodded slowly and smiled weakly back at him. Harry kissed her on the cheek and ran off towards the common room, Ron and Hermione hot on his heals. Harry ran straight up to his dorm and grabbed the invisibility cloak.
“Where are you going?” Ron asked as he watched Harry pull out the cloak and the Marauder’s map.
“Sirius.” Harry answered shortly.
“Harry are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean the Dementors are going to be everywhere. And I am betting You-Know-Who is letting them administer the kiss on anybody.” Ron argued, though he didn’t change Harry’s mind.
“Ron. Sirius said to contact him if anything weird happens. I think this would cross the line of weird and keep going for a few miles.” Harry explained.
“Harry he will already know.”
“I know. But I want to go and talk to him.” Harry said. “Look Ron. You’re not going to stop me. You can come if you want to, but if you don’t I will go on my own.” Harry explained. Ron nodded and grabbed his winter cloak.
“I’m coming. I’m not letting Hermione go though.” He said quickly. Harry looked oddly at him. “We can get there quicker just the two of us.” Ron explained. The two of them ran down to the common room and explained to Hermione what they were doing. Hermione was very reluctant to let them go but Ron explained that Harry was going to go anyway and he was only going to make sure Harry was safe.
Twenty minutes later Ron and Harry were running down the tunnel towards the shrieking shack. They ran all the way to the entrance to the shack. They had left the invisibility cloak at the entrance to the tunnel as it was slowing them down a great deal. Harry was about to step into the room when he heard a deafening bark. Harry stuck his head through the hole in the floor enough to see a full-grown werewolf and a great black dog fighting in the middle of the room.

Chapter 27.

The Homorphus Charm.

Harry ducked back down and pushed Ron back along the passageway.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked as Harry ran back towards Hogwarts.
"Ron, it's a full moon." Harry yelled back.
"Oh." Ron replied and started running after Harry.
They reached the end of the tunnel and grabbed the cloak. Harry pulled himself out of the gap beneath the Whomping willow and pressed the knot. He ran out of the tree's reach and waited for Ron to get out. Ron got out but only just fast enough, the tree started thrashing around trying to hit him. Harry threw the cloak over the both of them and they made their way back up to the castle. The two of them slipped in the oak doors and made their way up to the common room. Harry had to stop and check the Marauders map every so often and at one point Ron and him had to duck into a classroom when they noticed McGonagall coming the opposite direction down a rather narrow corridor.
"Wo, that was close." Ron exclaimed as they climbed through the portrait hole. "How many detentions do you think we would of getting if McGonagall caught us roaming the school at night?"
"I don't want to think." Harry said sombrely. He was still annoyed that he hadn't got to talk to Sirius.
"Wow, you two are back soon." Hermione commented as they slumped into chairs next to her.
"Yeah, the full moon shortened our visit." Harry told her.
"Oh, are you two ok? He didn't bite you did he?" Hermione asked, starting to check Ron's arms for bite marks.
"No he didn't." Ron answered pulling his arm out of Hermione's grip.
Harry settled down and played a game of Wizarding Chess with Ron. He lost badly, but he wasn't really paying attention. At about nine thirty Michele climbed into the common room and made her way over to them.
"Hi guys." Michele said cheerfully, then her smile faded as she saw the mellow looks on Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's faces. "What's wrong?" Harry picked up the paper from the table and handed it to Michele. Michele's mouth opened and closed as she read the article. "Oh my god." She said as she finished the article and looked back to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Could we go and see Sirius and Remus?" Michele asked. Harry paused for a minute. He thought it was weird that Michele was calling Lupin, Remus, but then again she had just met him.
"Unless you want to be turned into a werewolf I wouldn't suggest going down there." Ron explained.
"Oh, full moon?" Michele asked Ron.
"Yeah. We didn't realise till we saw him and Sirius fighting in the living room." Harry explained.
"Are you guys ok?" Michele asked, sounding a lot more like Hermione than Harry was comfortable with.
"We're fine." Ron retorted. Something suddenly entered Harry's mind making him surge with anger, all directed at Michele.
"Also I'm kind of mad because I don't like being lied to." Harry said before walking to the portrait hole and climbing into the corridor. Harry walked along the corridor, not yet knowing where he was going. He continued to walk along the corridors until he came across Snape. Harry tried to turn around but it was too late. Snape had spotted him.
"Potter. What are you doing roaming the halls?" Snape barked. Harry quickly thought of the nearest office in this direction.
"I was going to see if I could talk to Professor Dumbledore, sir." Harry replied. Now he had said it, Harry decided he did want to talk to Dumbledore.
"Well you won't mind me walking with you then, will you Potter? I was going that way myself." Snape smiled menacingly. Harry walked reluctantly with Snape to Dumbledore's office.
"Chocolate frog." Snape said as he looked at Harry with satisfaction out of the corner of his eye. Harry could tell that Snape thought he wouldn't have anything to talk to Dumbledore about. When they got to the door at the top of the rotating staircase Snape knocked three times on the oak door.
"Come in." Dumbledore called. Snape opened the door and marched Harry into the room.
"Harry, Severus. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Go on Potter." Snape growled. Dumbledore looked expectantly at Harry.
“Well Sir, I wanted to talk to you about the Daily Prophet article.” Harry said quietly. Snape made a distinct noise behind Harry as to show he was lying.
“Yes, Harry I wanted to talk to you about that." Dumbledore said, ignoring Snape. "After this occurrence I am afraid I am going to have to ban you from leaving the school grounds… Ever.” Dumbledore told Harry who felt like a weight had been dropped into his stomach.
“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Harry replied weakly.
“Yes I know Harry. But with all of Voldemort’s most dangerous supporters now on the loose, I am afraid I cannot let you leave the protection of the school. That means no Hogsmead visits and no visiting Sirius.” Harry was just thinking that he could still visit Sirius under the invisibility cloak when Dumbledore looked straight into his eyes. “Harry, I will know if you leave the school grounds.” Dumbledore held up a worn piece of parchment with rips around the side. Harry knew instantly what it was, as did Snape. Harry knew he was trapped. “Yes Harry. I saw you leave the grounds tonight with Mr. Weasley. I am very disappointed Harry. You went to visit Sirius without checking the moon. I would of thought you would check the moon every night before you left.” Dumbledore explained, his blue eyes still twinkling behind his glasses. Harry felt a pang of guilt in his chest.
“Harry is that all?” Dumbledore asked.
“Well, no.” Harry said suddenly thinking of something. “Would Sirius sometimes be able to visit the school?” Harry asked, he was almost sure of the answer but he thought he should at least ask.
“Harry, if I allowed Sirius to visit the school grounds there would be claims of favouritism.” Dumbledore explained. Harry’s hope fell into a bottomless pit. “But seeing as you have a special case. I will allow Sirius to come onto school grounds once a month. I will alert Hagrid, you may meet him there.” Dumbledore paused. “And Harry, tell Remus he is welcome to visit Michele when Sirius comes onto the grounds.” Harry smiled back at Dumbledore. He could see why people saw him as the best Headmaster the school had ever had. “Now, if you would excuse me Harry, I must speak with Severus.” Dumbledore nodded and Harry was about to leave the room when Dumbledore called after him. “Oh, Harry, take this note with you, in case you run into Mr. Filch on your way back.” Dumbledore said handing a note to Harry.
“Thank you Sir.” Harry said before leaving the room.
Harry walked back to the common room in a trance. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Dumbledore had said. Harry knew he was now going to be watched from morning until night. He was so caught up in thought he didn’t notice someone running to catch up with him, yelling his name.
“Harry, don’t ignore me.” Michele yelled as she ran up behind him. “Harry!” She grabbed his arm making him turn around. “Why are you ignoring me?”
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” Harry replied.
“Why were you so cruel to me earlier?” Michele asked.
“Why did you lie to me earlier?” Harry snapped back.
“I, I don’t know why. I knew you would be annoyed if you knew I was dating Draco.”
“I was more annoyed when I found out you’d been lying to me.” Harry informed her.
“What can I do to say I’m sorry?” Michele asked.
“You can’t do anything. But you can not lie to me.” Harry replied.
“Ok. I promise.”
They walked back to the portrait hole and entered the packed common room. Though Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Ron and Hermione?” Harry asked.
“Oh. They went to the library. Ron didn’t want to go but Hermione said she needed to look up something.” Michele explained.
“Couldn’t it of waited till morning?” Harry asked.
“Harry, you know Hermione better than I do. Could it of waited?”
“No. I suppose not.” Harry replied. “Do you want to play chess or something?”
“Yeah sure.”
They played three games of chess, it was nearing twelve thirty and Ron and Hermione still weren’t back.
“What are they doing down there?” Harry asked as Michele checkmated him with her rook.
“Well, do you want to find out?” Michele asked.
“Sure. You get your invisibility cloak and I’ll get mine.” Harry said getting to his feet.
“Why both?”
“Because the four of us won’t be able to get back under one.” Harry explained. “Meet you back here in a minute.”
Harry ran up to his dorm, opened the door and saw three boys sleeping soundlessly in their beds. Harry grabbed the cloak from his trunk and also pulled out his own Marauder’s map. He left the room shutting the door quietly behind him and ran back down the stairs. The common room was now deserted. Michele came back down the stairs a few seconds later carrying her own invisibility cloak.
“So how are we going to get there? Because I am betting we will either loose each other, or we will keep bumping into one another.” Michele asked.
“Well we’ll go under one.” Harry said.
They climbed out of the common room and walked until they were out of sight before covering themselves in the cloak. Making their way down to the library was rather easy. It was so late that most the teachers were asleep as well as the students. From inside a classroom Harry and Michele could hear a few people talking, though they didn't know who it was.
“I didn’t” a first voice was whining.
“Oh come on, you lost simple as that. Now give over the hat.” A second voice came.
“Oh. Can’t I give you the socks?” The first voice begged.
“No. This games bet was hats. Come on give it up.” A third voice joined the conversation.
Harry and Michele both really wanted to go into the room and check it out but they decided to keep going towards the Library. Harry opened the door so that he and Michele could just fit through. Harry heard a shuffling from inside the library and he stopped still. After the shuffling stopped Harry and Michele moved further into the Library. Harry pulled the cloak off them and he shut the door. They started searching between the shelves for Ron and Hermione, but they couldn’t see them. Then it finally hit Harry. They came down at night so they could search the Restricted Section. Harry explained his theory to Michele and they set off to the darkest part of the Library.
Ducking under the rope, Harry entered the restricted section. Harry started walking down between the dark shelves when he realised how pointless this was. He couldn’t see two inches in front of his face.
“Lumos” He muttered, though the good muttering did, as his voice echoed around the shelves making Harry curse the silence. Michele muttered lumos behind him, her voice also bouncing off the shelves. They searched the entire restricted section then finally found them sitting in the corner of the restricted section.
“What are you doing down here?” Harry asked.
“Oh, Harry, we thought it was a teacher.” Hermione said standing up and brushing the dust off her robes.
“Why are you doing in the library?” Michele asked, helping Ron to his feet.
“We were having a screaming contest.” Ron said sarcastically making Harry and Michele look at him oddly.
“We were looking for a book.” Hermione told them.
“What book?” Harry asked.
“Wanderings with Werewolves. Lockhart’s book.” Ron explained as his cheeks turned violently pink. Harry thought he was going to explode with laughter.
“What in the world do you want Lockhart’s book for?” He asked between laughs.
“Well I wanted to burn it but Hermione wants to read it.” Ron said sulkily.
“Only we can’t find it anywhere?” Hermione added.
“Well there is a simple way to find it.” Michele told them. The three of them looked at Michele daringly, wanting her to find it. Harry had spent so much time in the library looking for books; he should know how difficult it was.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Michele said. “Do you want me to get the book or not?”
“Get it then.” Hermione said. Her eyes showing she didn’t think Michele could find it.
“Accio Wanderings with Werewolves.” Michele said. Soon enough a book zoomed down towards them and Michele caught it with both hands. “Now what is in this book that you want so badly as to come and get it in the middle of the night?” Michele asked, handing Hermione the book.
“Well when Ron and Harry came back and said that Lupin was a werewolf tonight I couldn’t stop thinking about that class when Professor Lockhart made Harry pretend to be a werewolf.” Hermione explained. “Well he said what charm it was in the lesson, only I can’t remember what the charm was.”
Harry smiled and Michele hugged Hermione.
“I knew your genius would come in useful at some point.” Michele said as she backed away from a rather ashen Hermione.
Hermione started flipping through the pages. Harry, Ron and Michele looked on intently, but were soon sitting, leaning on the bookshelves, falling asleep. Hermione kept skimming pages though her eyes were drooping but finally she saw something that made her go "Ah ha!" Michele jumped up and looked at the book, Harry jumped and leaned forward, off the bookshelf he was leaning on and Ron jerked awake.
"What have you found?" Ron asked sleepily.
"The Homorphus Charm." Hermione told them. As quickly as the smile had appeared on Hermione's face, it disintegrated into the dark library.
"What?" Michele asked as she saw Hermione's smile disappear.
"It doesn't say anything about how the charm is performed or where to find a book that will explain it." Hermione explained. Her voice was tired and defeated.
"We can find it though right?" Michele asked urgently. Harry knew how hard it could be to find something in the library.
"Sure we can find it." Ron answered.
"Yeah. We can." Harry added.
"Just can we not do it tonight? I am really, really tired." Ron said.
"Yeah. Let's go back to the common room." Hermione said yawning.
"That is the best idea you've had all night." Harry yawned.
Michele hid the Lockhart book in the corner of a particularly dark shelf and they set off towards the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron under Harry's cloak and Michele and Hermione under the other cloak.
"Well, goodnight." Michele whispered as she and Hermione walked towards the girl's dormitory.
"Night." Harry whispered back. He and Ron climbed the stairs up to their own dorm. Harry changed and got into bed and stared up at the canopy and thought about what could happen if they found out how to perform the Homorphus charm. Lupin wouldn't be a werewolf anymore; he would be a man, and a dad.

Chapter 28.

Asking for Help.

Harry, Ron and Michele helped Hermione search for the Homorphus charm during the remainder of the Christmas Holidays. It was rather difficult to get any peace in the library in the day as so many students had stayed for the holidays a lot of people were in the library from early until late. So the four of them always went to the library late in the morning and stayed until dinner then went up to the common room and relaxed for a few hours before returning to the library under the invisibility cloaks. They would stay in the library until the early hours of the morning before going to bed and getting up late the next day to go straight back to the library after breakfast.
By the end of the holiday they still had no luck. They were sure they had searched every book in the library twice but they had found nothing. At three in the morning, two days before class started; Michele was still flipping through pages lazily, Hermione was about an inch from a book trying to read the tiny text, Ron was asleep with his head on an open book and Harry was looking for a new book to find nothing in. "Ok we have searched the entire library." Harry said as he couldn't find a book that wasn't on the list of the books they had searched.
"OK that does it. I am going back to look through that Lockhart book." Michele said.
"Why? We know that has nothing in it." Hermione asked.
"Well it says the village name in there. Maybe we can look through a book about the village." Michele said walking to the back of the restricted section and grabbing the dusty version of Wanderings with Werewolves.
Michele flipped through the three hundred and nine pages and only found that it was an Albanian Wizarding Village.
"Well it's a start. How many Albanian Wizarding villages do we know?" Michele asked.
"None." Ron said sleepily.
"Yeah I don't know any." Harry added. "Hermione?"
"None. Sorry." Hermione answered.
"Right that does it." Michele answered. "I'm going."
"Thank you. Can we all go to bed? I am shattered." Ron commented.
"I'm not going to bed." Michele replied.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked.
"Going to do what we should have done in the first place." Michele answered.
"And that is? And why have you been letting us look through books for the last week?" Ron asked grumpily.
"I'm getting my grandfather." Everyone snapped their heads towards Michele. Even Ron came out of his sleepy trance.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"He might know something. He may know about the Homorphus charm, it's incantation or anything." Michele said.
"I was wondering how many late nights in the Library it would take you to come and ask me." Dumbledore said, appearing out of the darkness. Everyone, including Michele jumped and turned around.
"What… what… what?" Ron asked.
Dumbledore walked towards them and smiled warmly. He then conjured a lantern and set it on the table.
"Nox." Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele chorused. The four wands went out silently, leaving them in the warm glow of the lantern. Dumbledore sat on the chair next to Michele and conjured five cups of hot chocolate and some chocolate chip cookies.
"So…" Dumbledore started. Suddenly the four of them burst into explanations.
"We were trying to find the Homorphus charm. And we…"
"Hermione found it I Lockhart's book and we…"
"We couldn't work in the day because too many people were in here and…"
"We were trying to keep out of the teachers way and…"
Dumbledore put up his hand for silence and motioned to the cups of steaming hot chocolate. Everyone took a cup and sipped it silently. Harry could feel the chocolate warming his insides.
"I know exactly what you have been doing this last week." Dumbledore told them. Harry was sure he was going to punish them for sneaking into the Library at night but he only looked at them for a moment before he continued.
"After Harry left my office on New Years eve I spoke with Professor Snape then when he had left I checked the Marauders map to check Harry had gone back to the Gryffindor Common room. Then I noticed Mr Weasley and Miss Granger were down in the library looking along the shelves. I watched for a while then saw Harry and Michele leave the common room and make their way down to the Library. I then made my own way down the library and listened to you all talking until you left. I knew you would be back the next night so I came down and watched as you searched through every book you could think of. I never said anything because I wanted you to find it on your own. I wanted you to think of every way to find the Homorphus charm. And of course I was right. In the end you thought of coming to me." Dumbledore explained. Harry listened to Dumbledore with rapt attention. His eyes, which had been drooping only minutes ago were now alert and awake.
"Professor, do you know the Homorphus charm?" Hermione asked quietly.
"No Hermione, I unfortunately do not know that particular charm. I believe Professor Flitwick knows it though." Dumbledore told them. Michele's face lit up like a child's on their birthday when Dumbledore mentioned Flitwick's name.
"Now. I want you all to go to bed. You can bother Professor Flitwick in the morning." Dumbledore said standing up and nodding. Everyone stood up, Ron grabbed the last of the cookies, Hermione took the lamp and Harry picked up the two invisibility cloaks that were lying on the table behind him. Dumbledore walked with them to the Gryffindor common room and made sure they went inside before going back to his own office. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele went straight to bed. Ready for the next day.
At breakfast, Michele was nearly bouncing off her seat. She wasn't eating anything, she was only waiting for Harry, Ron and Hermione to finish their breakfasts so they could all go and ask Flitwick about the Homorphus charm.
After a hurried breakfast, forced by Michele, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran to the Charms classroom. They knocked on the door but nobody answered. They waited for a minute then Michele opened the door slowly. The room was empty. They closed the door then walked away.
"Where would he be?" Michele asked as they walked down the corridor. They passed the Transfiguration classroom, the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom and it was only when they were passing the Teacher's Lounge that Harry realised he should have thought of the Teacher's Lounge.
"Come in." A teacher said as Michele knocked on the door. Michele opened the door and the four of them walked in. Snape was sitting at a desk marking homework, McGonagall was looking through a Transfiguration book and Professor Flitwick was reading a novel.
The four of them walked towards Professor Flitwick, who looked up kindly.
"Yes?" He asked, shutting the novel and putting it on the desk next to him.
"Professor we were wondering if we could talk to you alone for a moment?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, certainly." Professor Flitwick answered. He stood up and led them out of the Teacher's Lounge and into a small classroom. "Now how may I help you?" he asked as he took a seat behind the teacher's desk in the classroom. Michele took the role of explaining what they wanted to as Harry, Ron and Hermione all stood and watched.
"So after we found the mention of the Homorphus charm in Lockhart's book we tried to find the incantation in the library but we couldn't find it." Michele explained.
"Miss Lupin, Lockhart's books are not reliable, it was confirmed last summer that he never did any of the things that he said he had done." Flitwick told them.
"We know Lockhart wasn't reliable Professor. He told us when we were in the Chamber of Secrets three years ago. But he did say that other people did do the things in his books. That means that the Homorphus charm does exist." Harry explained.
"Oh. Well if all you want is the Homorphus charm I have a book about the charm and others of its sort." Flitwick told them "Would that help?"
"YES!" The four of them burst out. Flitwick smiled and got down from the chair. They followed him back to the Teacher's Lounge where he told them to wait outside. He disappeared inside and returned with a large book.
"Here you go. Now I would like it back soon." Flitwick said handing Michele the large book. Harry could tell Michele was doing everything in her power not to hug Flitwick as he smiled and disappeared back into the Teacher's Lounge. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele sprinted with the book to the Owlery. Michele sat in the corner and started flipping through the pages, Hermione at her side watching. Ron and Harry took Hermione's quill and a piece of parchment she had in her robe's pocket and they hurried off to find Hedwig. They were just looking around the rafters when Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder, hooting happily. "Hello there." Harry said smiling. He stroked Hedwig then walked with her over to the windowsill where he leant onto it, ripped the parchment in half and on one piece he wrote a quick message to Sirius.

Sirius.
Come to Hagrid's hut at three O'clock tonight. Bring Remus with you. We will meet you there.
Harry.

Harry fastened the parchment to Hedwig's leg and stroked her head before she flew off into the sun. Harry then took the other piece of parchment and wrote a message to Hagrid.

Hagrid.
Please may we meet Sirius at your hut at three O'clock? Remus will be coming as well. We have something important to tell them. Is it ok with you?
Harry

Harry looked around and saw Ron trying to snatch pig out of the air. Finally he did so, he held him in his fist and pulled out his leg while Harry tied the message to it. Pig flew out the window just as Michele gave a squeal of excitement.
"I found it!" She screamed. Harry and Ron ran over and looked at the book in Michele's lap. Michele showed them the incantation and all you needed to do it. Harry read the passage showing them exactly what they had to do.

For the Homorphus charm to work, you must say the incantation "Mooni Wolfus Witnomorn Exitan" at midnight on the full moon with the speaker's wand touching the wolf's throat. If wolfs bane is used on that night the charm will not work. The wolf must be a threat for the charm to be successful. This charm is extremely dangerous and should only be performed by a powerful witch or wizard. If said incorrectly or at the wrong time the wolf it has been performed on will become a Werewolf permenantly.

"Michele do you really want to try this?" Harry asked as he read the last sentence.
"Yes, We need to make it work." Michele said. "What time is it?"
"Half eleven." Harry answered checking his watch.
"What time did you say we would meet Sirius?" Michele asked.
"Three O'clock." Ron said.
Michele stood up and brushed the straw off her robes, as did Hermione. The four of them made their way to the common room where they played exploding snap until there was a taping at the window. Ron looked over and saw Pig hovering outside the window with a reply attached to his leg. Ron ran over and opened the window letting pig fly into the room and start fluttering around Harry's head. Harry snatched Pig in his fist and pulled the letter off his leg before letting him go. Harry opened the letter and saw Hagrid's scruffy reply.

Harry,
Sure. It's fine if Sirius and Remus meet you at my hut. I will see you at three.
Hagrid.

"Brilliant." Michele said excitedly “What time is it?”
“Two minutes after when you last asked.” Ron answered lazily.
“Oh sorry. I’m just excited.” Michele replied.
“Really. I hadn’t noticed.” Hermione smiled. Pig flew back out of the window and up to the owlery.
Harry and Ron played one more game of exploding snap while Hermione did homework and Michele read the chapter on Homorphus charms over and over again. Michele checked Harry’s watch every few minutes to see if it was three O’clock yet. Finally at five to three everyone jumped up, grabbed their winter cloaks and sprinted down to Hagrids.

Chapter 29

The Transformation

"Comin." Hagrid called as they banged on the door. "Fang. Lie down." He opened the door and smiled from behind his wiry beard. They all walked into the hut and sat at the huge table, Remus and Sirius weren't there yet. Hagrid pulled out a plate of biscuits, a pot of tea and seven cups. He set them on the table and sat down on the enormous bed. They waited for a few minutes. Michele went back to checking Harry's watch every thirty seconds.
"It's five past, where are they?" She asked.
"Don't worry. They'll be here." Harry replied, taking off his watch and putting it on the table. He was getting sick of his arm being wrenched out of the socket every half minute. Michele got up and started pacing up and down. She had her hand up to her mouth and Harry was sure she was biting her nails.
"Please sit down. You're making me dizzy." Ron said after a few minutes. Just as he finished though there was a knock at the door. Fang bounded forwards and started scratching the door. Hagrid got up and pulled Fang away before opening the door. Sirius and Remus stood in the snow and both looked rather agitated.
"Sorry we're late. We were being hassled by goblins in the Three Broomsticks." Sirius explained. They walked into the hut, took off their cloaks and put them over the back of two chairs.
"So what were we called here for?" Remus asked as he took a biscuit. He took a bite then put it back on the side of the plate, Harry smiled as Remus made a grimace from the biscuit. Michele picked up her bag, pulled out the dusty copy of Wanderings with Werewolves and placed it in front of Remus who looked at it then to Sirius.
"What has Lockhart got to do with anything?" Sirius asked. At this Hagrid stood up and walked over to see what all this was about.
Michele exhaled impatiently and opened the book at a page she had marked. Remus and Sirius looked down at the page then looked up.
"How did you find this?" Sirius asked. "We must have looked through every book in Hogwarts Library and we found nothing."
"So did we." Ron said grumpily. It was obvious he was still annoyed he had stayed up every night that week.
"Hermione remembered one class when Lockhart mentioned it." Michele explained.
"Obviously you wouldn't of thought to check Lockhart's book. I mean who would?" Harry added. Remus nodded and Sirius smiled at Harry.
Remus went back to reading the page in the book. As Hermione's had done a week before, his smile disintegrated as he finished the page.
"It doesn't say how you perform the charm." He said closing the book. Michele leaned down and pulled the book Flitwick had given them out of her bag. She opened it and put it on the table on top of the Lockhart book. Remus, Sirius and Hagrid read the title and all smiled broadly.
"Where did this come from?" Hagrid asked.
"Well, after finding nothing in the library on the Homorphus charm we asked Dumbledore. He told us Flitwick might know about it. We asked Flitwick and he gave us this book." Hermione explained.
"Well this is exactly what we need." Remus said, hardly keeping his excitement out of his voice. "Sirius is brilliant with charms.
"What's hard is. We can't use Wolf's bane." Sirius said reading the paragraph. "Plus if this goes wrong you will a werewolf permanently."
"I can help." Hagrid said gruffly.
"How?" Remus asked turning around.
"Well I can handle werewolves. I had to do it on the full moon once. If I can get you still, Sirius ere can do the charm." Hagrid explained.
"Ok Hagrid are you sure?" Sirius asked. "I've been with Remus when he's a wolf. He's very difficult to handle."
"Yeah I'm sure." Hagrid replied.
"Ok. Hagrid there is something you must know. I am an animagi. I can transform into a dog." Sirius said. Harry looked at Sirius, Why did he tell him that?
"Aright." Hagrid answered, he didn't know why he had told him either.
"I calm Remus when I am dog. So I will come with him on the full moon as a dog. Then as soon as you have him under control I will transform and do the charm." Sirius explained.
"It has to be done at midnight." Michele said pointing at the paragraph. "We can help right?" Michele asked.
"No way." Remus said sternly. "I am not letting you kids within a five hundred metre radius of me on the full moon."
"Oh Come on. We want to help." Harry begged.
"We said no!" Sirius and Remus chorused.
The rest of the meeting went quickly. Dumbledore paid a visit and said he would come down to the grounds to make sure everything went smoothly on the full moon much to Remus' objections.
Classes started the next day. Work was piling up, Their O.W.L's were coming soon and the teachers were piling work on them as quickly as they gave it in. Snape was being as mean as usual, though he was lying off Harry a little as he always sat with Michele as well as Hermione and Ron. Malfoy was always really annoyed to see Michele with Harry and would take any opportunity to drag her away and put his arm around her. Michele didn't seem too bothered about it, actually she seemed to like it, She seemed to be smiling a lot when she was with Malfoy but Harry was sure it was more the fact that the full moon was approaching fast. Cho would always find a way to come and see Harry in between classes, which Harry was thankful for.
The night of the full moon Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele ate a hurried dinner before running up to the common room and grabbing four chairs by the window facing Hagrid's hut. As night approached they still didn't see anything. It turned ten O'clock, eleven O'clock, eleven thirty and still nothing.
"What are they playing at?" Michele said as her eyes scanned the grounds for sign of Sirius, Remus and Hagrid. They continued to look around the grounds until…
"There they are!" Ron said pointing down to a dark patch where the four of them could see a wolf Remus and a large black dog they knew was Sirius. A few minutes later they saw Hagrid come out of his hut with a length of rope, and a big piece of brown material. They watched as Sirius made Remus turn and Hagrid came up behind him and grabbed him around the middle. They watched, unblinkingly as Hagrid rapped the rope around Remus, tying his arms and legs together to stop him scratching anyone. Hagrid then tied the material tightly around Remus' muzzle to stop him biting anyone.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele all watched as Dumbledore came down from the castle to meet a now human Sirius and Hagrid who was still holding Remus tightly around the waist, just in case anything happened. Harry looked at his watch, one minute to go. He saw Sirius look at his watch, he saw Dumbledore look at his. They all waited.
"Come on, come on." Michele muttered from next to Harry.
"Thirty seconds to go." Harry told Michele.
"Twenty seconds… Ten seconds… five seconds." Harry's heart jumped up to his throat. He could see Sirius getting his wand to touch Remus' throat down in the darkness of the school grounds. Michele grabbed Harry's arm, squeezing it tightly in anticipation.
"Three…Two…one…midnight." They watched the window. Sirius was saying the charm. Suddenly Hagrid let go of Remus but he didn't move. Nobody moved. Everything on the grounds was frozen. Sirius stood, stock still as his wand set off an amazing silver glow. Everything was frozen in time as the silver glow moved from the wand over Remus and Sirius. The bonds around Remus broke as he started writhing around. Sirius snapped back into reality and backed away. The silver glow covered Remus entirely. Michele's grip on Harry's arm became tighter as they watched from the common room. Remus rose slowly into the air, a silver mass. His snout, fur, and claws were all retreating, moving slowly inwards. Soon it wasn't a wolf that was hovering in the air on the grounds below them it was a man. Then it stopped. The glow disappeared and Remus fell to the floor in a heap. Michele couldn't wait. She left the window and ran to the portrait. Harry followed as did Ron and Hermione. The four of them sprinted to the large oak doors. Michele pulled them open and ran down the grounds. Harry watched as Michele ran flat out into Remus' arms and he hugged her tightly. Harry ran down to meet them with Ron and Hermione.
Hagrid was standing, beaming down on them. Sirius was smiling and patting Remus on the back. Remus was looking up in awe at the full moon, Michele was still hugging Remus but looking at Dumbledore who was just standing, smiling at this bizarre scene.

Chapter 30.

The End of a Minister.

Michele was eternally happy since the last full moon. She was walking around like she had air beneath her feet. She only came back to the ground after Malfoy's reaction to what had happened. Unluckily for Harry, he, Ron and Hermione witnessed the entire thing.
"What?" Malfoy said.
"He isn't a werewolf anymore. Sirius saved him." Michele explained for a second time.
"Why would you want to save a werewolf?" Malfoy muttered though not quietly enough. Michele stopped dead in her tracks and stared angrily at Malfoy.
"What did you say?" Michele's eyes narrowed.
"Nothing." Malfoy replied, trying to sound innocent but failing completely.
Michele didn't reply. She just turned and walked away. From what Harry had seen Michele hadn't spoken to Malfoy since. It was now ten weeks after they had broken up and things were not happy. Malfoy had now gone from normally mean to unbearably mean to Harry, Ron, Michele and Hermione. Luckily for the four of them, All the teachers (except Snape) were so impressed that they had found a way to cure Remus that they would always punish Malfoy for even thinking about hassling them. And as Snape knew Michele he was also battering Malfoy. Work was piled on more and more as the summer term grew nearer. Hermione started revising in the middle of February and was soon urging Harry, Ron and Michele to do the same.
In middle April Harry, Ron, Hermione, Michele and the twins were eating breakfast and chatting about Weasley Wizard Wheezes, which Fred and George had decided to set up in Hogsmead.
"Won't it take away from Zonko's?" Ron asked.
"No. As all the inventions are our own and we don't sell anything Zonko's makes we should be able to both be there." George explained. George looked over to see Harry was staring at Dumbledore, who looked very white, and a lot older than usual.
"Harry, what's wrong?" George asked. Harry snapped back to the conversation.
"Oh, its just… well Dumbledore doesn't look well does he?" Harry told them.
"He's reading something." Hermione noted. "It's the Daily Prophet. Wonder what's in there?"
"Well, let's see…" Michele answered. "Accio Daily Prophet."
The paper flew out of Dumbledore's hands and across the hall. People watched as Michele stood up and caught it. She opened the paper and her mouth dropped open, her eyes widened and she turned whiter than Nearly Headless Nick.
"What is it?" Harry asked. Harry thought she hadn't heard him but then he saw she was reading the article. As soon as she had finished she sat down back into her chair. Her hands were shaking so violently that they looked like a blur and her breathing was fast and shallow. Harry once again asked what was wrong. Michele looked up then handed Harry the paper. Harry turned it over and saw why she was so white.

Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge was found dead by Adava Kedavra early this morning. Nobody knows when about this happened as he was found in his home, the Dark Mark hovering over it. The nation mourns for our beloved Minister and wonders who we will now turn to, to rule our wizarding country. Arthur Weasley made this comment this morning. ‘We are all devastated by last nights events. Cornelius was a great minister and a brilliant man. We will be finding a new Minister soon but for now we will have everyone pull together to try and get over this tragedy. We can only assume that this is the work of He-who-must-not-be-named and we hope we can catch him and his followers and punish them for the havoc and torment they have caused.’ There is strong hope that Albus Dumbledore will take the role of Minister for Magic, but there is belief among the Ministry that Albus will not take this job and that Mr. Arthur Weasley is the next best man for the job. There will be a memorial ceremony tonight. And Cornelius Fudge’s body will be buried at a private location.

Harry looked up. He noticed Ron was staring at him with confusion. Harry could feel his heart thumping in his chest and he could see Hermione staring quizzically at him. Harry handed Ron the paper and watched as Ron and Hermione read the article. Hermione made little gasps every few seconds as she read and Ron seemed too shocked to say anything. When Ron looked up he shot a look at the twins who still hadn't read the article. Ron handed them the article. Once the twins had finished the six of them sat in silence as they tried to get over what they had read. None of them noticed when Malfoy came into the hall sneering something about the Weasley's house and they didn't notice that Dumbledore had walked over and was standing behind them. He made a fake cough in his throat making them all jump and turn to look at Dumbledore.
"Could you six come with me please." He asked them gravely. They all stood and followed Dumbledore to the room just off from the Great Hall. He motioned for them to sit down as he closed the door. He walked over and they sat in a circle near the fire.
"Nobody else in school knows. Well none of the students." Dumbledore explained. "I had the post stopped for today as I am going to explain what happened at lunch. The memorial will be held in the Castle as this is the only place Voldemort would not come if so many ministry wizards will be within these walls. He cannot apparate from here so he will have no escape. I just didn't want you six telling people before I can explain. You will attend classes this morning then I will cancel all afternoon classes at lunch. Just please do no tell anyone what you have seen." Dumbledore begged.
"We promise." Fred answered. The twins seemed the only ones who still seemed to be able to talk. Dumbledore looked from them to the others to Harry.
"Harry, please do not worry. We will not let Voldemort within these walls. We would know if he were here. Just do not worry." Dumbledore explained. Harry nodded slightly. He hadn't actually been worrying about that. He just couldn't believe Fudge was dead. Dumbledore walked with them out of the Great Hall then parted with them as they made their way to the Gryffindor tower.
The six of them parted at the portrait after grabbing their bags. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele made their way down to the dungeons for potions and Fred and George made their way to Charms. Harry seemed to be in a trance throughout Potions. He didn't hear Snape snapping at Malfoy for his abysmal potion, nor him calling Hermione an insufferable know it all for the third time that week. Snape seemed to be snapping at everyone that lesson and Harry only returned to the reality of the dungeon when Snape snapped at Michele. "Stupid girl, you added your fluxweed before your knotgrass." He snapped as he inspected Michele potion. Michele turned her head to Snape with a confused expression. Snape's face, realising what he'd done turned to a sorry expression. Michele then said something to Snape in a hushed whisper that Harry heard as 'We know.' Snape shot a questioning look at Michele then at Harry. He mouthed 'You know what?' back at Michele who explained in a hushed voice what had happened at breakfast. Snape's eyes widened then he looked from Michele, to Harry, to Ron and then to Hermione. He walked off and the rest of the class passed quickly. The Gryffindors and Slytherins (apart from Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele) left Potions rather happy, as Snape hadn't given them homework. Defence against the Dark Arts also passed extraordinarily fast. Fleur looked rather white and she wasn't her perky self. She also refused to give the class homework. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele made their way to lunch. Fleur had said at the end of Defence against the Dark Arts that everyone was to go to the Great Hall as soon as the bell rang. Everyone was piling into the Great Hall when Harry reached it. He was almost horrified to hear the excited murmurs that were running through the crowd before he realised that they didn't know what Dumbledore was going to tell them.
When everyone was settled Dumbledore stood up and began to explain what happened. The hall was silent as Dumbledore explained everything that was believed to have happened the night before.
"The memorial service will be held here. I expect every one of you to wear your best robes. The entire Ministry of Magic will be here this evening and if anyone from this school isn't on their best behaviour there will be severe punishments.'' He paused for a second. "Classes this afternoon are cancelled. You may do what you wish. But I expect everyone to be ready for the service at six O'clock. You may go." He sat down and the food appeared in front of them for lunch. Harry, Michele, Ron and Hermione left immediately. None of them felt like eating. The four of them made their way down to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. Hagrid answered and let them in. Harry was shocked to see Sirius and Remus were sitting at the table.
"Hullo Harry." Sirius said quietly.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"We just made our way down here for the service. Plus I wanted to see you. We haven't seen you since the beginning of February." Sirius explained. They talked for a while. Remus explained how he and Sirius had been going out to visit people every full moon to try and scare them. It hadn't worked with most people though. But they did explain how Mrs Weasley had become very edgy when Sirius had pretended to tell Remus he had forgotten to take him wolfsbane potion. Ron smiled a little and Harry nodded. By five O'clock they all made their way up to the castle. Sirius and Remus went to meet Dumbledore and Harry and the others went to get changed for the service.
At six O'clock Harry, Ron, Hermione and Michele made their way down to the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindors. When the entered the Great Hall they saw that there were hundreds upon hundreds of chairs. All set to face where the teachers table usually stood. Harry looked around to realise that the hall was at least three times it usual size. There were black banners draped around the Hall and everyone that was in the Hall was dressed in Black. Harry had been helped by Hermione to change his dress robes black, as had Ron. Hermione was wearing a simple but elegant black dress and Michele was wearing a high collared, long armed black dress. There were no ministry wizards in here yet but Harry was sure that soon it would be filled. Harry walked with the others, lead by Professor McGonagall towards a section that was obviously for the Gryffindors. Harry sat in between Ron and Michele. Hermione was sitting on the other side of Ron also next to Lavender. Harry watched silently as the rest of the students filed into the hall by the teachers and sat down. As soon as all the students were seated all the Ministry wizards poured into the Hall. Then other wizards started filing in. within half an hour the hall was packed to the brim. The only spaces that weren't filled by people were; a long walkway down between the chairs and the front of the hall, which was raised about two feet. Soon a soft funeral march started. Everyone stood and Harry did the same. Harry could only just see that a coffin was being carried up to the front by eight ministry officials. Harry watched with everyone else as the coffin was set on a long velvet table at the front of the hall. Everyone sat down and Dumbledore walked up onto the stage.
"Today we lost a Man, a Friend, a Leader. We all knew Cornelius and we all liked him. He was a dedicated Minister and a beloved Friend to everyone in this room." Dumbledore went on to explain about how Fudge's death would be mourned for a long time. Then other Ministry officials came to say something. Harry sat silently watching as more and more people came to pay their respects to the fallen Minister. The service ended at around eleven and the students waited until the adult wizards had left before leaving the hall. Harry had been thinking during the service and he decided he needed to end things with Cho, he knew that he would be in danger as Voldemort wanted him dead and after what had happened to Cedric the year before he didn't want anyone else in danger. He decided he would do it as soon as possible.
Thinking he would see her the next day Harry bumped into Cho on his way out of the hall. Harry pulled her aside, out of the bustling crown and explained his feelings.
"Cho, You know what I'm like. I get into trouble every year. Things always seem to happen to me and my friends get dragged along with me. I don't want anything to happen to you. So I don't think we should go out anymore." Harry explained. Cho's eyes filled with tears.
"Harry, don't do this." She begged.
"I have to." Harry answered. "I'm sorry but I don't want you to get hurt by anyone if they want to get to me." He paused. "I'm sorry."
Cho ran off into the crowd and Harry didn't see her again. Harry made his way up to the Gryffindor common room alone. When he reached his dorm he found that Ron wasn't in there. Harry changed and got into bed. He heard Ron enter the dorm about an hour later but he didn't say anything, Harry lay in bed thinking for a long time before he finally fell asleep.

back to chapters 21-25