Ron was flabbergasted at the announcement. "Are you serious, mate? That's one of the hardest courses! You want to swap over to Ancient Runes, when you're already a year behind? You're barmy!"
"Yes, Ron, I'm serious," answered Harry through gritted teeth.
Ron continued ranting, oblivious to Harry's displeasure. "But on top of that, you're dropping Divination? It's the easiest course! It's almost like a free OWL! You'd have to be absolutely nutters to drop Divination and take Runes! Honestly, what kind of a fool would do that?"
Harry dropped his face into his palms. Ron had done it again. There was somebody sitting right beside them who had dropped Divination just a few months ago... not to mention the fact that Harry had just admitted he was completely serious about taking Runes in its place. Harry may have been able to forgive Ron for his careless yammering, but Hermione...
"A fool, am I?" Hermione glared at Ron. "So I'm completely nutters, am I? You're lucky exams are already over, Ron, because I swear it's going to take months before I even think about helping you with your homework again. Maybe if you keep up with your Divination course you could actually predict what going to come out of your mouth before you open it!"
With that outburst, she got up and left the table. Harry quickly followed, shaking his head in disappointment at Ron and muttering, "Maybe it would have been better if you just kept eating instead of talking, Ron." He left Ron at the table, who was looking around, still wondering what he had done wrong.
Just outside Professor Flitwick's classroom, they ran into Draco Malfoy and the pair of walking lumps of meat. Harry groaned inwardly. He didn't want to deal with this. Here it comes, he thought.
"So, Potty, you decided to snag yourself the mudblood, huh? Goodness knows a proper witch would never give you the time of day," he sneered.
"Oh, shut it, Malfoy, or else she'll punch you again." Harry snickered at the memory. That was one he could always count on for a patronus.
Malfoy kept his haughty tone, and narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "That just proves you're worthless as a witch, mudblood, fighting like a muggle. You haven't got the guts to face me in a proper duel."
Harry looked at Hermione, who really did look like she was about to punch Draco again. Harry replied, "If you don't remember, Malfoy, it was you who backed out of the duel you challenged me to back in first year. Are you ever going to go through with it, or are you just going to keep running away?"
That statement struck a nerve. Draco raised his wand at Harry to hex him, but Harry instinctively threw off a Silencio, Petrificus Totalus, and Incarcerous in single, chained motion. Malfoy wasn't able to speak his first spell off before he was silenced, and quickly fell down to the ground, stiff as a board and bound in ropes. It was at that moment that their Charms professor walked onto the scene. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for raising your wand against another student, Mr. Potter. Now would you care to explain what happened?"
Harry froze. Looking at the diminutive professor, he put his wand back into his pocket and was about to apologize, but Hermione interrupted. "He was defending me, professor. Malfoy called me a... mudblood. Twice. He was trying to pick a fight, as usual."
"Is that so? Well, twenty points from Slytherin then, for use of foul language. I won't have such... intolerant... words being uttered in my classroom." Professor Flitwick frowned openly at Draco, showing that his partially-goblin heritage revealed itself quite prominently in his teeth as much as his stature. Draco paled when he saw the display. Turning to Harry, his attitude lightening considerably, he said, "That was excellent spellwork there, Mr. Potter. I'd ask you to do it again if I didn't have to take points away from you. Where did you learn to duel like that? It certainly couldn't have been from that travesty of a duelling club from last year, could it?"
"Er... no, Professor. I'm not sure, really. It was just a reflex," Harry answered, fidgeting nervously.
"Is that so? Well, it certainly reminds me of my younger days, when I was a professional dueller. With reflexes like that, I wonder how you'd do with proper training in duelling." The professor smiled. "Well, enough with the chatter. Time to begin our class! Come on, everyone, into the classroom!"
It wasn't until everyone had filed through the door, walking past Draco, who was still bound and frozen stiff on the ground, that Professor Flitwick dispelled the jinxes from him.
Charms class consisted a review of Cheering charms as well as a few others. Harry decided to practice with Hermione, thinking she really needed the cheering up. Ron had caught up to them after the incident with Malfoy was over, but Hermione was ignoring him. His charms were only mildly successful as he practiced with Neville, and was barely any better at it than his much-ridiculed partner was.
Hermione was much more cheerful at lunch. Alright, Harry admitted he had been rather sneaky about it, casting two cheering charms in quick succession at Hermione and then cancelling only one. It would wear off eventually. He just didn't want her to be so sullen all day, worrying about impending doom because of some odd philosophical observation. He did want to talk about the time-travelling more, but was trying to avoid turning towards the grim thoughts that Hermione was having. Thankfully, her (temporarily) brighter attitude helped the conversation open up with a lighter topic.
"So, do you remember how you learned to duel like that, Harry?" Hermione asked. "I mean, obviously, it was a part of the future memories, wasn't it? But even if you remember learning the spells, you still need to practice them to cast them so well, don't you?"
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