Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [46]
Harry took his seat, and put his head down on his desk. History of Magic was by far his most boring subject, and it seemed to go on forever. As Professor Binns droned on and on about how the Ministry of Magic started, Harry felt sleep coming on. Suddenly, Ron put up his hand. Professor Binns looked shocked: apparently, not many students asked him questions. Harry sat up to witness this rare event.
“Yes, um, Mr. Weasley. What is it?” Professor Binns asked dully.
“Professor, “ asked Ron, “I was wondering, could you tell us a little bit about the history of Azkaban?” Harry and Hermione’s heads shot up from the table while the rest of the class’ stayed down. They were all expecting just another boring speech.
“Well, uh, Mr. Weasley, you see… Azkaban was built in 1027AD. It was originally a place where Hogwarts students went for punishment and-” he was cut off by Hermione.
“But where is it located Professor?” she asked. Professor Binns looked on the verge of another death. Today, not only did a student arrive late, but he was asked two questions! There must be something in the water…. After he took a second to calm down, he floated behind his desk, reached up above it, and pulled down a large map.
It was a great map, thought Harry. If he had known about it, he would’ve asked Professor Binns if he could use it during every lesson. It was not a flat Muggle map, but it was a three dimensional map that showed the entire world. Each place was clearly labeled, and the water was flowing. Clouds were moving above the land, and Harry could even see some lights coming from some places that contained buildings.
Professor Binns took out a long pointing stick, and pointed to a location on the map Harry couldn’t make out. The map, seeming to realize this, rotated, and zoomed in on the place Professor Binns was pointing. Harry saw that it was a map of England. Hogwarts was near the bottom, and at the top was a black dot with the writing ‘Azkaban’ next to it. Harry saw many rivers, forests, and miles between the two.
When Harry just about had the map memorized, Professor Binns let his pointer off the map, and it zoomed out again. He floated to the front of his desk again, and the map went back up into some invisible container.
“I hope that answered your question Miss. Granger,” said Professor Binns, sarcastically. He started going on about the founding of the Ministry of Magic again, and Harry felt tired once again.
“Hopefully Ron or Hermione memorized the map,” thought Harry as he fell asleep. He woke up minutes later to the loud ringing sound of the bell, and ran to meet Ron and Hermione.
“Do you remember the map?” asked Harry.
“No need to,” said Hermione. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small camera. “I got a picture of it. We’ll need the map when we set off.”
“Harry, why were you late?” asked Ron curiously. Harry went red, and told them how he had bumped into Cho. Hermione giggled throughout the whole thing. Ron just spoke at the end.
“Well, good luck with her Harry,” said Ron. “She’s a year older than you, so you’ll need it,”
“Yeah, thanks,” said Harry. Then, looking at his watch, remembered their Quidditch game tonight.
“Hey Ron, we have to get changed and get out to the field, our game is in an hour!” They said goodbye to Hermione, and ran back to their room while Hermione set out for the Quidditch field to get a good seat.
Harry and Ron raced back to the Gryffindor common room, and ran to their room. Where they changed into their Quidditch robes. Ron was incredibly nervous, just as Harry was before his first game.
“It’s okay Ron,” Harry reassured Ron. “I was nervous before my fist game, but remember, I won!”
“Yeah, yeah,” responded Ron, “but at