When Erica walked in, she looked around. Draco was in a room, only with Crabbe and Goyle. Erica took out her wand and pointed it towards the bottom of his sheets.

She then waved her wand and whispered,"Inflamato."

Once she saw the flames start emerging, she darted back through the passage way. Erica heard Draco shout everything under the sun, trying to get the fire out. She then looked up to see Padfoot laughing.

"I knew that I was funny." Erica joked.

"I used to do the same thing when I was your age." Padfoot laughed.

"I think we're going to be great friends." Erica told him, cracking her knuckles.

"Be careful not to get caught and don't tell your professors or friends about this, okay?" Padfoot asked her.

"I'm the best at keeping secrets." Erica informed him before having a thought,"We should have a night that we should meet up."

"And do?" Padfoot raised a brow.

"Just talk." Erica stated before adding,"I can hook you up with some free food too. The Hufflepuff common room is right by the kitchens."

"I'd have to see. I'm not meant to be seen by anyone. ..Dumbledores orders." Padfoot nodded.

"You can stay in the passage ways. You're one of the probable five people that knows about them." Erica told him.

"We shall see." Padfoot then heard some shuffling, "I've got to go. It was nice meeting you."

He told her this before he ran off.

"Bye Padfoot." Erica waved before running the opposite way.

**

Only Ron, Harry and Erica were at their class the next day. Hermione and Parker were no where to be seen.

Erica was sitting next to Ron with her arms crossed and whispered,"Do you understand anything that's going on?"

"No." Ron shook his head.

"It's a bunch of rubbish." Parker sighed while she got her book out.

It was as if she had just... Appeared.

"Where the heck did you come from?" Erica muttered, looking at Parker.

"Me? I've been here the whole time." Parker whispered back with a shrug, fixing her robe.

"Hermiones here aswell." Ron pointed to the table next to them, with Harry.

"You... No... Hermione... No." Erica stuttered, unable to finish her sentence.

"You guys are going crazy." Parker shook her head.

Trelawney came over to them and pointed at Ron, "You're always pursuing, dear. Are you in for the beyond? I think you are! Tell me what you see!"

Erica handed her cup to Ron so he could do the reading.

"Well.. Erica has a sort of wonky cross." Ron flipped through the pages, "Thats..something bad. And thats the sun. So, something bad is going to happen, but you'll be happy."

"What's new, eh?" Erica joked, taking her cup back.

**

After that class, they had a class with Hagrid. It was his first day as a teacher in years.

"You don't think that Grim thing Harry got is anything to do with Sirius Black?" Ron asked while they walked down the stairs.

"No, it's not like he's a d-"Erica stopped herself,"Oh, as a bad omen? Probably."

"Divination is crap anyway." Parker rolled her eyes, "Ancient Runes is far more interesting."

Ancient Runes is on at the same time as Divination.

"Oh, what time is Ancient Runes at?" Erica asked innocently.

"Isn't it on at the same time as Divination?" Ron questioned.

"No, thats stupid. We couldn't be at Ancient Runes at the same time as Divination. You can't be two places at the one time." Parker rolled her eyes, "Come on, we're going to be late."

"Maybe..." Erica trailed off, now suspicious of her friend.

Then again, she couldn't be upset because Erica keeps many secrets that she probably won't reveal.

"We're going into the woods?" Ron asked while they walked.

"Care of Magical Creatures, it's Hagrid's first lesson." Hermione explained.

"God this place has gone to the dogs. Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore has this oaf, teaching classes." Draco scoffed from behind them.

"Yeah? How're your bed sheets?" Erica mused, turning around.

"That was you?" Draco asked, walking towards her.

"What was me?" Erica asked, looking at Draco who was now beside her.

"The fire on my bed sheets!" Draco crossed his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Erica told him nonchalantly.

That's when Ron realized this is what Erica was talking about yesterday.

"Thats what you were talking about, wasn't it?" Ron asked.

Erica nodded, slightly annoyed that Ron gave her away.

Draco went to use his wand on Erica but Parker pulled her away.

"Dracos been learning spells all summer." Parker warned her.

"You think I haven't?" Erica asked, taking out her wand.

"Alright, no dueling here!" Hagrid stopped them all,"I need you all to be calm."

Erica slipped her wand back into her pocket and winked at Draco before calmly walking towards a large, fenced area.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Ron asked when The Hippogriff walked forward.

"These are hippogriffs, they may look pretty but they're not always the nicest." Hagrid told them, throwing a ferret to the beast.

Parker looked at Draco with a small smirk, her nickname for him was Ferret.

"Dracos getting eaten by a Hippogriff." She whispered to  Erica.

"Just another year or two and he will literally be." Erica joked,"I'm getting better at transfiguration."

"If you ever get him into a Ferret, you need to tell me." Parker told her while she climbed up for an apple.

"Who wants to go first?" Hagrid turned around to look at Buckbeak.

While everyone moved back, Parker jumped down in front of them. She hadn't heard Hagrid.

"Right then Parker. Keep in mind, hippogriffs are very proud creatures so make sure to bow to them." Hagrid instructed her.

"I didn't- Someone else can.." Parker looked back at everyone, seeing they weren't for moving, before stepping forward she muttered,"Oh fuck it."

Parker then stopped and bowed slightly, keeping her eyes on Buckbeak. Buckbeak looked down at her before bowing down as well. Parker got up and looked at Hagrid.

"There ya go." Hagrid gave Buckbeak another ferret.

Buckbeak nodded before breaking into a gallop and then into flight. He soon came back down and stood next to Hagrid, rubbing against him.

"Can I go back now?" Parker asked slowly, looking at Buckbeak.

"Of course you can." Hagrid told her.

Parker nodded at Buckbeak before going back to her friends, "That totally want terrifying at all."

"Now, who's next?" Hagrid asked the class.

Draco pushed past everyone, "You're not dangerous at all. You big ugly brute."

He walked straight up to Buckbeak.

"Draco, I may not like you but that's a bad idea!" Erica called to him, putting her dislike of him to the side.

"Oh shut it, Weasley!" Draco rolled his eyes.

Buckbeak went up on his hindlegs, coming back down and cutting Draco.

Draco was now holding his arm and rocking back and forth, "It's killed me! It's killed me!"

"I mean, I told you so." Erica sighed, crossing her arms.

Draco was just being overdramatic now, "I'm dead!"

"Everyone, my idiot brother." Parker pointed at him.

"Class dismissed! It's lunch, go back inside!" Hagrid told them all while he carried Draco.

"I can see why you're the smart one." Ron stated, as the Herd started walking back to school.

"Why thank you, at least someone sees it." Parker crossed her arms.

Once they were all sat in the Great Hall, Seamus came running up to them all, "He's been spotted!"

"Sirius Black?" Erica questioned,"I haven't actually seen a picture, do you have one?"

Seamus put the paper infront of them all, "Not that far from here."

Parker titled her head and inspected the photo closely. Even though it was dark when they met, Erica could recognise that face. It was Padfoot. Erica thought it was strange, he really didn't seem dangerous when she met him.

"This is Sirius Black?" Parker asked.

"The one and only." Seamus told her, folding up the image.

"Anyone seen what he looks like before now?" Dean Thomas asked.

"I've only seen his prison photo in the paper." Ron stated.

"He's familiar, I'll give him that." Parker nodded slowly, "But no."

Harry and Erica shook their heads, as did Hermione.

"We can talk about him later, we have Professor Lupin for DADA. Come on." Neville got up.

"Time to see what the new teacher can do." Parker got up.

"Anyone will be better than our last 'professor'" Erica told them.

**

"A wardrobe. How lovely." Ron nodded while they all stood infront of a wardrobe.

"It's not the wardrobe Mr Weasley, it's what's inside it." Lupin explained, knocking on it as as something starting shaking from within,"Everyone get in a line."

"It's a bogart, Ron." Parker whispered to him while they formed a line. Neville at the front.

"Now, when I open the wardrobe the bogart will appear as your biggest fear. Stay calm though as you can use the spell 'Riddikulus' to change it into something funny." Lupin instructed.

"This class is Ridiculous." Draco muttered from the corner.

"Right, you first Neville. Remember, Riddikulus." Lupin reminded him, opening the wardrobe.

After a few seconds, Professor Snape came out of the wardrobe, walking towards Neville.

"Riddikulus!" Neville yelled as he waved his wand, changing Snape into his grandmother's clothing.

Snape was now wearing an emerald green dress, fox fur scarf,  a large stuffed vulture hat and a bright red handbag. Everyone laughed before it was Ron's turn. Ron stepped forward, looking terrified already. As soon as Ron was there, the bogart transformed itself into a giant spider.

"Riddikulus." Ron shouted, pointing his wand at the spider, giving it ice skates.

Then, it was Erica. Ron moved to the side of the class, next to Neville while Erica got ready. This time it turned into a flock of geese which Draco snickered at.

"Riddikulus!" Erica yelled, pointing her wand at the geese and turning them into harmless rubber ducks,"This is fun!"

Parker was next, she stood up while the rubber ducks changed into a water bucket and a hooded figure beside it.

It lifted up the water and went to throw it at Parker but she lifted her wand, "Riddikulus!"

The water changed into confetti and the figure disappeared. Next up was Harry, the bogart then turned into a dementor that attempted to kiss Harry until Lupin jumped in front causing it to turn into a... White circle? It wasn't very clear.

"Riddikulus!" Lupin casted the spell and the circle turned into a balloon and flew around the room and it's the wardrobe.

The class was quite for a while.

"I think that's enough for today, remember to read the chapter on bogarts for our next lesson." Lupin reminded them, locking the bogart back into the wardrobe.

Everyone soon enough left.

"What was that? With Lupin?" Ron asked while they walked up the stairs.

Erica wasn't paying attention, all she was thinking about was deciding if she should visit Padfoot that night.

"It looked to be the moon." Hermione answered.

"Maybe he's afraid of the dark?" Harry guessed.

"Or divination, it could've been a crystal ball. What do you think Erica?" Parker suggested before turning to Erica who was still spaced out in her thoughts.

Ron just sighed, knowing how Erica's train of thought works.

"Erica." Parker nudged her, tapping her head as well.

"Huh?" Erica asked, looking around.

"Great, you're back on this planet." Ron joked as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"What do you think Lupin's bogart was?" Parker asked her.

"I mean, it was a big white circle with a few clouds by it. Maybe he had a traumatic experience at night." Erica suggested, not even sure of where she was.

"That could be it." They nodded.

"Are you alright?" Parker asked Erica.

"Yeah, why?" Erica questioned.

"You're acting.. Spaced out. You're thinking, something important?" Parker guessed.

"Instead of always blurting out what I think, I'm trying to internalise it mostly. So all these thoughts are coming in from e-" Erica walked into the wall in front of her.

"You've got to stop doing that." Ron pulled her away from the wall.

"I tried practising walking in a straight line over summer... It didn't work." Erica reminded him, rubbing her nose.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Perfectly fine, I have a thick skull." Erica stated,"So, where are we going?"

"God, they could've told us that it was going to be raining like this!" Ron complained while Parker held an umbrella up for the Herd, minus Harry since he was playing.

"Stop complaining Ron, at least you aren't flying in it." Erica told him, wearing her badger hat.

"I feel bad for Harry, he has to fly in this." Hermione sighed.

"Snitch!" Parker pointed at it while it flew in front of them.

"I don't know who to cheer for." Erica told them.

"Cheer for both." Ron shrugged while Harry flew past them.

Then there was a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning shot down nearby.

"Well, that's not good." Erica stated.

"Not good at all." Parker shook her head,"Where's Harry gone?'

Erica squinted and pointed high, he was high up and being tailed by Cedric, the Hufflepuff seeker, both after the snitch.

"They're going out the grounds, is that allowed?" Ron asked.

"You're the quidditch person Ron, you tell us." Hermione reminded him.

"No. It's not allowed. But this is Harry we're talking about." Ron sighed.

"Whatever is against the rules, the Herd will do it." Parker added.

"He's falling! He's falling!" Erica yelled, pointing at Harry who was indeed falling.

"Oh shit." Parker leaned over the stand.

All of the students heard Dumbledore shout a spell, causing Harry to stop, he was floating in the air now.

"Wait, is that a dementor?" Erica questioned, pointing round about where Harry was.

"They're in the grounds?" Parker asked, "Didn't Dumbledore say they would be outside, the grounds?"

"Well, it's not like he can control them. They probably found a way in." Hermione explained.

"Cedric got it. The snitch." Erica told them, leaning back.

"Congrats on your house winning." Parker told Erica.

"Come on, we've got to go see Harry." Ron began walking down the stairs.

"It doesn't matter, it's just a game." Erica said, following behind Ron.

**

"He still hasn't woken up yet." Hermione sighed.

Erica was still doing what she always did when this happened, poking Harry.

"You still think that will wake him up?" Neville asked.

"It worked last year, it'll work this year Neville." Erica stated, still poking him.

Soon enough, Harry did wake up,"It always does wake me up."

"It's because we have good news and bad news." Fred told him.

"Which would you like to hear first?" George asked.

Harry sat up and put on his glasses, "The good?"

"You aren't severely injured." Fred informed him.

"Oh, well thats good." Harry nodded, "What about the bad?"

"Well, we lost and your broom is completely destroyed." Fred told him, handing him a long wrapped up cloth,"The pieces are in there."

"It flew into the Whomping Willow." Parker added.

Harry sighed as he looked at the cloth.

"At least it wasn't you." Neville reminded him.

"Dumbledore was furious. He sent the Dementors away, they weren't supposed to on the grounds." Hermione stated.

"No wonder, they keep trying to kiss Harry." Ron said, adjusting himself on the chair.

"Maybe they find you attractive, Harry." Parker joked.

"Well I certainly don't feel the same way." Harry chuckled.

Madame Pomfrey came into the room and up to Harry's bed.

"You're getting a bigger crowd every year." She told Harry before turning to the Herd and the others, "Go on, you can see him later."

Off the heard went, back to their common rooms.