Thanks so much for the kind (and evil, I might add) words, B2M.

Any readers out there who find errors in my fics PLEASE let me know. I do spellcheck when I think of it, but it's always good to have feedback.
Thanks!

On with the show...

The rest of the lesson carried on in much the same way. Lavender made a point of raising her hand often and volunteering to demonstrate her newfound aptitude for Transfiguration in front of the class. Not sure how else to react to this, Professor McGonnagal awarded Gryffindor about 100 points for all of Lavender's participation.
Harry and Ron spent much of the class wondering and worrying about Hermione, who seemed to be forever fiddling about with her book bag when she wasn't clutching it to her chest protectively. Ron and Harry spoke little, but exchanged worried looks and missed most of the lesson due to their inattention.

When class was dismissed, Harry turned to Hermione.

"Hermione, what's wrong with you? You're always first in our class to raise your hand. Today you didn't answer one question and frankly, Ron and I are a bit concerned."
Hermione's face flushed as she looked around her furtively. "I can't explain, Harry. I have to go." She stood up and raced after the Gryffindor girls. "Parvati, wait up!"

Ron shook his head. "I don't know, Harry. Everyone's acting mental this week! Just yesterday I saw Professor Flitwick come out of his office wearing this awful hat! It had a dragon's head on it with purple smoke coming out of its mouth. It was very realistic, except for the purple smoke I guess, but realistic enough to scare small children and dogs, I'd bet. He kept muttering something about gnomes stealing his underpants."

Harry spent the evening reflecting on what he'd heard and seen that day. His dreams were haunted by images of Snape and Dumbledore putting on a Christmas concert. Snape sang "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer" wearing leather from head to toe, pink, glittery antlers on his head and a red nose that blinked on and off intermittently. Dumbledore joined him, dressed as Santa Clause coming to say, "Rudolph, with your nose so bright - won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Harry awoke in a cold sweat, nauseous and short of breath. He felt violated, and knew just whom to blame. His thoughts returned to Lavender's stunning display in Transfiguration and Ron's information about Flitwick's horrible hat and his muttering about gnomes.
All this bizarre behavior had to mean something. He decided to ask Dumbledore what he knew about Flitwick and his underpants. First however, he needed to make some more observations of his classmates and find out if their behavior had anything to do with it. If it did, it could only mean one thing: Voldemort was at work in Hogwarts.

Harry and Ron made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry didn't have much of an appetite, and he was sure it had something to do with the double Potions first thing with the Slytherins. He went to breakfast anyway, determined to get to the bottom of all these strange goings-on.

The two boys found seats at the Gryffindor table between Dean and Seamus, who were in heated debate about shorts versus skirts. Ron joined in immediately, extolling the virtues of women jumping around in short skirts. Harry suddenly felt like the last person on Earth with his wits still about him.

"Wait a minute. What are you guys talking about?"

Dean and Seamus snickered.

"Didn't you hear, Harry?" Dean grinned, "Parvati's starting up a cheerleading squad for this year's Quidditch Cup game. Gryffindor's certain to make it to the final with you back on the team, and Parvati reckons they should go all out and have a cheerleading squad."

Seamus joined in, "…with uniforms, pom-poms and everything, Harry."

"But the Quidditch Cup is months away," Harry said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

The boys ignored him and continued with their gleeful debate, leaving Harry to observe the other students at the table. He spotted Hermione sitting beside Parvati and was about to go over and talk to her when Colin Creevy jumped in his way.

"Harry - a word if you don't mind? Harry, rumor has it that the Gryffindor Girls are forming a Cheerleading Club and plan on streaking the pitch naked sometime during the Quidditch Cup game in the Spring. Could you tell me and my readers how that makes you feel? Do you think it will affect your performance as Seeker?" Colin waited, quill poised above a small notebook in his hand.

"Wha-?" Harry was confused now. "Colin, what are you doing? I just heard about the cheerleading thing…"

"So, you suspect someone of keeping the naked performance secret from you in an effort to sabotage the game? Interesting…" Colin scribbled furiously.

"Stop. Stop… Colin, STOP!" Harry yelled. Colin stopped writing, his eyes wide. "Why are you writing, Colin? What's going on?"



More to come...