While they waited for the next secret meeting, Harry, Ron, and Neville spent a great deal of time catching up on homework. The work was dull, hardly something they could enjoy, but the gentle glow of the autumn sun drew them out of the Common Room. They took their books and Quills outside to the shade of a towering beech tree by the lake.
Hermione and Jerry, by contrast, had heavier course loads but seemed to have far less trouble with their homework. Jerry's outstanding performance in Transfiguration and Charms Class had earned him an exemption from the usual assignments from Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, a privilege Harry envied.
Harry had not only his regular homework to contend with, but also the punitive essays Professor Snape assigned him. They often kept him up late into the night.
Once Hermione finished her schoolwork, she always brought out her knitting. A tap of her Wand gave the needles a life of their own. The silver needles swept smooth arcs through the air, clicking away as they produced one hat and scarf after another.
She pinned her hopes of freeing the House-elves on those knitted things. She planned to hide them in corners all over the Tower—if a House-elf happened to pick up a piece of clothing while cleaning, the terms of its contract would set it free.
Jerry thought Hermione's plan was rather underhanded...
But Dobby ended up collecting every hat Hermione had made.
The last time Jerry had seen him, more than a dozen hats had been stacked above Dobby's distinctive pointed ears. He looked as though he had a castle of colorful yarn on his head.
Harry's good mood lasted until Monday morning, when he saw Umbridge's newly issued Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four on the noticeboard.
Inside the Chamber