padma (prefection) wrote in whizlogs, @ 2012-09-29 19:10:00 |
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Padma didn't know what to do. Hermione had invited her to join a secret study group, lead presumably by Harry. Though, when she thought about it, Hermione hadn't actually said Harry would be there, but she sort of assumed. The offer was inviting, if only because she really did want the extra DADA practice. OWLs were right around the corner, after all. Plus, it was nice to be included, and obviously Hermione thought she was trustworthy. If she was honest, she wanted to join. It seemed so exciting and yet also so, so foolish to join. That was why she was sitting in the corner of the Ravenclaw common room, staring down at a list of pros and cons, when really she should've been in bed. Her list wasn't helping, either. The longer the con list got, the more she wanted to join, and she wondered what that said about her. She kept readig it over and over again, anyway, as if some great insight were going to pop off the page.But it didn't. Finally, she sighed and crumpled it into a ball. S Apparently, Padma had never made the quidditch team for good reason because it bounced off the edge because when she tossed it torward the waste basket, it anded in the middle of a chess board. A third year she didn't really know glared at her. "Sorry," she mumbled. Cho entered the common room with a slight irritation in her shoulders. She'd had Defense Against Dark Arts homework to do and she didn't want to touch it. She was already tired of this new professor's method of instruction. In fact, she'd tired of it the very first day. And she had no respect for the woman who said Albus Dumbledore was wrong about Cedric and what Harry had said. You-Know-Who was back and it was pointless and foolish to pretend like he wasn't. She saw Padma in the common room and was headed over to see her when she saw the girl toss a bit of parchment toward the bin. Smiling, she picked it off the chessboard and bounced it in her hand before she tossed it into the bin for Padma. "Having trouble with homework?" she said. "Maybe I can help." Though Cho wasn't the best student in her year she'd taken many of Padma's courses already, so she felt confident to offer assistance. "Unless it's Defense, I might just be sick at the idea of more Defense coursework." Padma winced a little when Cho picked up her discarded list. For a second, she thought Cho would smooth it out and read it, and suddenly it seemed very foolish of her to write anything down about, not when Hermione seemed insistent that it be kept a secret. It was just Cho, though. She could trust her. When she sat down a few moments later, Padma looked at her guiltily. "Oh no," Padma said with a smile. She was always happy to hang out with Cho. "It's nothing, not coursework." Her eyes darted to the bin and then back to her friend. "You hate defense too? I was just thinking about how our Professor is just awful. I don't know how we're expected to pass our exams with her around." Cho wondered what had been on the paper now that she knew it wasn't homework, but there was no chance she'd go looking through the bin to find out. If it was important, her friend would tell her. "I can't stand that woman," Cho said. "High Inquisitor my foot. She's not really teaching, just making us read pages out of a book. We might have had some horrible Defense professors in our day but at least they let us do our work." She felt bad for the 5th and 7th years. How were they going to practice for the practical element of their exams? Cho gave Padma a sympathetic frown. "If all goes well she'll be gone at the end of the year," she said. "But that doesn't do much good for you now, does it? You need to find some way to do your practical. I doubt she'll change the Examinations Board's mind on what should be tested." “Well... I might know of something I can do,” Padma said, her voice a little shaky with nerves. Obviously Cho didn’t like Umbridge, and Padma knew she could be trusted. Hermione had said they could invite other trustworthy people. If she told her and Cho approved of the secret group, then maybe it would be okay to join. Cho was, after all, practically perfect in her eyes. “But I don’t know if I should. It’s supposed to be a secret, but I can probably tell you if you want to know.” "You do?" Cho asked, her eyes alight with the desire to know more. She wondered what Padma had up her sleeve. She was a very clever girl so it didn't surprise Cho too much that Padma would have an idea. "Well, if you can tell me when you should," Cho said. "Because you're going to have me dying of curiosity if you don't." The possibilities were practically endless. "Hermione Granger, you know her right? She asked if I would be interested in a secret Defense study group. I think she's going to have Harry lead it." She glanced down at her hands, which we idly playing with the edge of her skirt. "You could probably join to." Cho did know who Hermione was. After all, she was one of Harry's friends. This idea of a secret defense study group appealed to her immensely. After all, she didn't want to get behind on what she needed to learn. And Harry... Well, if anyone knew defense then it'd be Harry, wouldn't it? She gave Padma a serious look and nodded. "I'd want to join," she said. "It's like standing up against Frogbridge while getting to learn what we really ought to since You-Know-Who is back," she said. Maybe if Cedric... Her eyes grew a little misty and she blinked back the tears. "I'm in, are you?" Was she? Padma bit on her lower lip and considered the question. “I...” She looked up then and noticed the expression on Cho’s face. A feeling of sadness washed over her, followed by a sudden resolve that this was the right thing to do. “I think so, yeah,” she said, giving Cho an awkward look of sympathy. “But we’ll have to get more information from Granger. That’s really all I know.” "Good," Cho said with a smile. "I'm glad you'll be involved." She wondered if Padma's sister would be, but assumed that Parvati would probably be joining them as well. In fact, she wondered who overall would be joining them for this. "Do you know who else is going to be a part of it?" she asked, voicing her thoughts. "I'm sure Granger will organize everything quite well," said Cho. "She seems like the type. And Harry... He'll be a great teacher." Padma shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I know she invited the other fifth year prefects, minus the Slytherins. Hannah, Ernie, and Anthony, of course. Parvati but not Lavender yet, and if I had to guess, probably Dean. I’m not really sure. Ron, for certain.” She shrugged. “I guess we’ll probably find out if we join. I don’t really know where they--we--plan on meeting.” "Well," Cho said slowly. "I look forward to finding out." This had certainly put a positive spin on her day. The idea that she had some way to stand against Umbridge, as a group, made her pleased as punch. "Do you think I could invite one person who I know we can trust?" she asked, looking over at where Marietta was sitting with other girls from their dorm. "Just Marietta. I don't think I could do this without her." “Probably. She did say we could invite trustworthy people,” Padma said, and she hoped she’d emphasized the word trustworthy enough. In part, she was saying this to herself since, well, she had just told someone else. She glanced over at Marietta as well and knew she could trust any of Cho’s closest friends. “Can I ask you something? Do you think we could get into trouble for this and that’s why it’s a secret?” "Good," said Cho. It would be hard to keep something like this a secret from Marietta. She was glad she'd be able to talk to her and Padma about this secret study group. Secrets were no fun if they weren't with a group, after all. Padma's next question gave her a little bit of pause. "Yes," she finally said. "I think Umbridge wouldn't like the idea of us going behind her back and doing something like this. She's so stubborn and full of herself that it'd bother her to know that people are getting around her rules." She knew this wasn't the answer Padma wanted, so she gave her a weak smile. "But what's the worst she can do to us? Give us detention?" “Yeah, that’s true,” Padma said, giving Cho a nervous smile. “I’ve never had detention before, but I guess it must not be so bad. Maybe we won’t get caught anyway.” She really, really hoped they wouldn’t. A prefect should never get detention, in her opinion. “I still want to do it. It’s the right thing to do.” "That's the spirit," Cho said. "You want to learn how to be safe. It's important. Defense Against Dark Arts is the most important class we take, in my opinion. There are real dark wizards out there and it's important that we know how to defend ourselves." Although she had started speaking more boldly at the beginning, Cho's voice had softened and her eyes misted over once again. This time the mist could not so easily be blinked away. "It's really important," she managed. Awkwardly, Padma reached over to pat Cho on the back, who she assumed must be thinking of Cedric. She believed Professor Dumbledore and to a lesser extent, Harry. There were dark wizards out there, and they needed to be prepared, not just for OWLs and NEWTs. “You’re right. You’re so smart,” she said. “I’m glad we’re going to do this.” "I'm not that smart," Cho said. "But thank you. I'm glad we're going to do this too. It's going to make a different, you'll see. And when it's time for you to take your OWLs you're going to do brilliantly on the practical of Defense. Harry will know what he's doing, and Hermione's the smartest witch of your year and mine. Together I'm sure they'll do a great job setting this up." She had a feeling Ron would be there too, although she didn't have anything to say about him. Cho’s words made Padma feel more confident in the idea, and she smiled brightly at her. Maybe this year wouldn’t be so awful, after all. “I suppose we just need to get more information from Hermione then, so we don’t miss out.” |