Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [50]
The whole class was gathered around Lavender now. Seamus shook his head seriously. Hermione hesitated; then she said, "You -- you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?"
"Well, not necessarily by a fox," said Lavender, looking up at Hermione with streaming eyes, "but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't l?"
"Oh," said Hermione. She paused again. Then
"Was Binky an old rabbit?"
"N -- no!" sobbed Lavender. "H -- he was only a baby!"
Parvati tightened her arm around Lavender's shoulders.
"But then, why would you dread him dying?" said Hermione.
Parvati glared at her.
"Well, look at it logically," said Hermione, turning to the rest of the group- "I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he? Lavender just got the news today-" Lavender wailed loudly. "- and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock --"
"Don't mind Hermione, Lavender," said Ron loudly, "she doesn't think other people's pets matter very much."
Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at that moment, which was perhaps lucky; Hermione and Ron were looking daggers at each other, and when they got into class, they seated themselves on either side of Harry and didn't talk to each other for the whole class.
Harry still hadn't decided what he was going to say to Professor McGonagall when the bell rang at the end of the lesson, but it was she who brought up the subject of Hogsmeade first.
"One moment, please !" she called as the class made to leave. "As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"
Neville put up his hand.
"Please, Professor, I -- I think I've lost
"Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. "She seemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may leave."
"Ask her now," Ron hissed at Harry.
"Oh. but --" Hermione began.
"Go for it, Harry," said Ron stubbornly.
Harry waited for the rest of the class to disappear, then headed nervously for Professor McGonagall's desk.
"Yes, Potter?" Harry took a deep breath.
"Professor, my aunt and uncle -- er -- forgot to sign my form," he said.
Professor McGonagall looked over her square spectacles at him but didn't say anything.
"So -- er d'you think it would be all right mean, will It be okay if I -- if I go to Hogsmeade?"
Professor McGonagall looked down and began shuffling papers on her desk.
"I'm afraid not, Potter," she said. "You heard what I said. No form, no visiting the village. That's the rule."
"But -- Professor, my aunt and uncle -- you know, they're Muggles, they don't really understand about -- about Hogwarts forms and stuff," Harry said, while Ron egged him on with vigorous nods. "If you said I could go --"
"But I don't say so," said Professor McGonagall, standing up and piling her papers neatly into a drawer. "The form clearly states that the parent or guardian must give permission." She turned to look at him, with an odd expression on her face. Was it pity? "I'm sorry, Potter, but that's my final word. You had better hurry, or you'll be late for your next lesson."
There was nothing to be done. Ron called Professor McGonagall a lot of names that greatly annoyed Hermione; Hermione assumed an "all-for-the-best" expression that made Ron even angrier, and Harry had to endure everyone in the class talking loudly and happily about what they were going to do first, once they got into Hogsmeade.
"There's always the feast," said Ron, in an effort to cheer Harry UP. "You know, the Halloween feast, in the evening."
"Yeah," said Harry gloomily, "great."
The Halloween feast was always good, but it would taste a lot better if he was coming to it after a day in Hogsmeade with everyone else. Nothing anyone said made him feel any better about being left behind. Dean Thomas, who was good with a quill, had offered to forge Uncle Vernon's signature on the form, but as