"Can I just hold it, Harry?"

After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was Passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione, the only person who hadn't rushed over to them, bent over her work and carefully avoiding their eyes. Harry and Ron approached her table and at last, she looked up.

"I got it back," said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt.

Amelia sat down on the chair next to Hermione, picking up a book titled The Ways And Wonders Of Werewolves. Harry rolled his eyes. She had been practically fixated on them for the last two months, nearly reading every book in the library.

"See, Hermione? There wasn't anything wrong with it!" said Ron.

"Well -- there might have been!" said Hermione. "I mean, at least you know now that it's safe!"

"Yeah, I suppose so," said Harry. "Id better put it upstairs."

"I'll take it!" said Ron eagerly. "I've got to give Scabbers his rat tonic."

He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys' staircase.

"Can I sit down, then?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I suppose so," said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair.

Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay ("Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity" and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over.

"Tell them we need it for defib alters and life support, that will make us sound less lazy than saying we need them for phones and junk," said Amelia, who was now reading upside down in what Harry jokingly called the astronaut pose, her legs draped over the back of the chair; with Shaprtooth resting on her stomach.

"How are you getting through all this stuff?" Harry asked her. "Oh, well -- you know -- working hard," said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin. "Why don't you just drop a couple of subjects?" Harry asked, watching