"Alright! Neville, Parv and I will bring the candy. You guys bring yourselves. Oh, it'll be SO MUCH FUN!" Lavender says, nearly bursting with excitement. Her energy is pretty contagious, and even the more glum Harry is seen entering the Great Hall with a smile on his face.
After breakfast, the Ravenclaws head to their Charms class, where Professor Flitwick welcomes them with a smile. "Greetings everyone, and Happy Halloween! Today we are going to be learning one of the more useful spells you will ever learn, and one of my personal favorites. It's the levitation charm, and its incantation is 'Wingardium Leviosa'. The wand movement is a simple swish and flick. Please watch my demonstration." Professor Flitwick then gets into a stance and casts the spell, lifting his desk towards the ceiling, with himself on top of it. "You will be attempting to levitate feathers, be mindful of your pronunciation and wand movement and you should have no trouble. More information can be found on page 93 of your texts. I will be coming around to assist those as I can."
Having practiced the charm before with the Sphinx Club, Harry, Hermione, Padma, Neville, Parvati, and Lavender have no issues performing the spell, although Harry and Neville are still working on proper power control, with Harry accidentally levitating the table they were sitting at, and Neville shooting his feather into the ceiling, causing it to stick. "Well done you six, remarkable casting. Boys you need to get that power under control, you're likely to put someone's eye out if you aren't careful.
"Yes Professor Flitwick." Neville and Harry say in unison, before chuckling.
"Would you six assist some of the others? I dare say you've got it down well enough for that." Professor Flitwick asks, as he makes his way across the classroom to Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, who have managed to set their feathers aflame.
"You've got it professor," The six say, and they head to a few of the other class members to assist their spellcasting.
Harry watches as Hermione heads over to Ron Weasley, who is sitting with Michael Corner. Harry would normally be concerned about this, as Ron has constantly been mean to Hermione on the few occasions they've spoken. With Michael there though, he's less concerned.
Of all the boys in Harry's dorm, Michael Corner is the one that Harry has taken up the most with, since they've both experienced being bullied for their size. Michael supposedly is on friendly terms with Ron, as they like to talk quidditch together, mainly about Ron's older brother Charlie, who was both Quidditch Team Captain and Seeker during the previous year. With his graduation, Gryffindor had struggled to find a replacement Seeker, as it was a notoriously difficult position. A second-year named Cormac McClaggen had stepped up to the plate and played the first game of the year, but gave a poor performance, causing the Gryffindor team to lose.
Turning his attention away from Hermione, Harry focuses on assisting Terry and Anthony with the Levitation Charm. After a few minutes, both have managed to lift their feathers a few inches, and Harry congratulates them.
"It's Win-gar-dium Lev-i-o-sa. You see, make the gar nice and long, and more emphasis on the 'O' less on the 'sa'" Hermione says and Harry's ears perk up. Ron's accent would give him some difficulty with that, given he'd be more likely to say 'Leviosar' than 'Leviosa'.
"If it's so easy, you do it then." Ron spits angrily. If Hermione notices his sour mood, she doesn't comment on it as she clearly enunciates the spell and levitates Ron's feather.
"See, just try the pronunciation again, you'll get it." Hermione says, her voice sweet.
"Ugh, you're such a nightmare, why does anyone hang out with you?" Ron asks angrily. Michael not so subtly knocks him in the back, which thankfully diverts Ron's attention away from the stare of total fury that Harry is throwing Ron's way. Any chance of them being friends was just thrown out.
Hermione's eyes well up with tears, as she moves back to her original seat. Harry, having coached his dormmates through the spell moves to go sit with her, when he is stopped by Lily Moon and Mandy Brocklehurst. "Can you help us next?"
Harry looks over and sees Hermione pack up her things and leave the classroom, sighing in exasperation, he sits down to help the two girls with their spell.
Charms lets out and Harry and Padma make their way to Transfiguration, and are startled when Hermione doesn't show up. They're even more concerned when they can't find her for lunch, DADA or History. Before the feast, the pair split up to attempt to find her. Harry had no luck in the Ravenclaw common room or the Sphinx Club room. Making his way to the Great Hall for the feast, he comes across Padma at the doors.
"Did you find her?" Harry asks, visibly concerned.
"I did, she's in the girl's bathroom on the second floor. She yelled at me to go away. I figure after the feast the pair of us can go get her and drag her to the Sphinx Club room and let her know that we think she's great." Padma says.
"You're right. Come on then. Let's eat something and grab Hermione a plate. I don't want to leave her in there for long." Harry says, and the pair open the door and make their way to the Ravenclaw table.
"Hey Harry, can I talk to you for a second?" Michael Corner asks as Harry sits down.
"What's up Michael?" Harry asks, looking at the black-haired boy.