How It All Goes Down
Flight of the Fat Lady
- Defense Against the Dark Arts becomes everyone's favorite class.
- Lupin does lots of practical lessons, which are fun.
- However, Potions become worse than usual: "Snape was in a particularly vindictive mood these days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had traveled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn't seem to find it funny" (8.1.4).
- Trelawney continues to act deranged and manages to make a dire prediction about Harry every class.
- Hagrid lost his confidence after the Buckbeak debacle and his class becomes the most boring thing ever.
- Harry is happy about the kick-off of Quidditch season, at least.
- Team captain Oliver Wood is determined to win the Quidditch Cup, especially since this is his last year at Hogwarts.
- But Harry is bummed out when the first Hogsmeade trip approaches, since he doesn't have a signed permission form.
- In other news, Crookshanks continues to chase Scabbers around, prompting a series of shouting matches between Hermione and Ron.
- And speaking of pets, Lavender hears that her pet rabbit died and she's rather upset by the news.
- She insists that Trelawney predicted that this would happen. Hermione tries to use logic to convince everyone otherwise, but no one listens to her.
- Hermione makes like Agent Brennan on Bones here, and annoys everyone with her skepticism and her blunt delivery.
- Harry goes to see McGonagall about his permission form, but she refuses to let him go to Hogsmeade without one.
- So on Halloween morning, every third year except Harry heads off to Hogsmeade.
- Harry wanders around and ends up in Lupin's classroom.
- The two chat for a while and Harry confesses his concern over the boggart.
- Lupin says that he assumed Harry's boggart would turn into Voldemort and would scare everyone else too badly.
- But Harry says he thought of the Dementors instead. Lupin is impressed since a fear of Dementors implies that Harry is most afraid of fear.
- Snape appears and instantly ruins the mood. The man's like a permanent wet-blanket.
- He gives Lupin some sort of potion and the two have a cryptic conversation.
- Harry instantly assumes that Snape is trying to poison Lupin.
- Later, Ron and Hermione return with tons of candy and stuff for Harry from Hogsmeade. Sigh.
- The Halloween feast is awesome as usual.
- But afterwards, everyone heads to the common rooms and encounter a traffic jam on the stairs.
- Turns out, the Fat Lady portrait is gone and her canvas has been ripped to shreds.
- The Professors quickly appear and Peeves, the school poltergeist, tells everyone that the Fat Lady was cut up by Sirius Black after she refused to let him inside.
- Hogwarts needs a new security system, pronto.