in the eye of the storm;; hogwarts, a history

[hermione granger]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
~Charles Dickens

Harry Potter and anyone who calls him a close friend have never had it easy. The fame and the taunts go hand in hand, and this year is no exception. You'd have thought that they would be used to it by this time, but it's really not that simple. The wounds are still fresh, the ego still inflated by the words of others.

The Golden Trio is in its fith year at Hogwarts.

But the thing is, they aren't the only ones that are famous. Or should we say infamous, because there is a group of Slytherins, led by Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black's daughter, and Bellatrix Lestrange's son that is causing a lot more trouble for them than they would have imagined possible. Not to mention that Ron is distracted by his cousin with loose lips, Hermione by her sister who is a bit frivolous, and Harry by his idiot cousin, Dudley. Voldemort is still a threat, but Hogwarts is no picnic either. And that's not even considering the fact that Umbridge is trying to run Dumbledore out when the school needs his guidance the most.

The world is like an enormous spider web and if you touch it, however lightly, at any point, the vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter and the drowsy spider feels the tingle and is drowsy no more but springs out to fling the gossamer coils about you who have touched the web and then inject the black, numbing poison under your hide.
~Robert Penn Warren

IN THE EYE OF THE STORM