You Get What You Deserve

When the Transfiguration class had finished, we joined the crowd thundering towards the Great Hall for Lunch.

“Ron, cheer up,” said Hermione, pushing the plate of bacon that I had asked for towards me. “You heard what Professor McGonagall said.”

Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but didn’t start.

“Harry,” he said, in a low, serious voice, “you haven’t seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?”

“Yeah, I have,” said Harry. “I saw one the night I left the Dursleys.”

Ron let his fork fall with a clatter.

“Probably a stray,” said Hermione calmly.

Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad.

“Hermione, if Harry’s seen a Grim, that’s – that’s bad,” he said. “My – my Uncle Bilius saw one and – and he died twenty-four hours later!”

“Coincidence,” said Hermione airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Ron, starting to get angry. “Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!”

“There you are, then,” said Hermione in a superior tone. “They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim’s not an omen, it’s the cause of death! And Harry’s still with us because he’s not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I’d better pop my clogs then!”

Ron mouthed wordlessly at Hermione, who opened her bag, took out her new Arithmancy book and propped it open against the juice jug.

“I think Divination seems very woolly,” she said, searching for her page. “A lot of guesswork, if you ask me.”

I continued to eat and turned towards the Ravenclaw table, where I felt the stare of Chase on me. I swallowed my mouthful of bacon, and smiled at him. He gave me a wink, before Maika caught his attention.

“There’s nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!” said Ron hotly. “Professor Trelawney said you didn’t have the right aura! You just don’t like being rubbish at something for a change!”

He had touched a nerve. Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew everywhere.

“If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea eaves, I’m not sure I’ll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!”

She snatched up her bag and stalked away. Ron frowned after her.

“What’s she talking about?” he said to Harry and I. “She hasn’t been to an Arithmancy class yet.”