Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM Nothing!
Summery: It is time to head to platform 9 ¾ again for the fifth year & for Harry, it couldn't come soon enough. Life with his aunt, uncle & despicable cousin had become almost unbearable & on top of that, death eater attacks on muggles were becoming more frequent (Harry suspected that they were looking for him). But all the troubles of the wizarding world are temporarily forgotten as Hogwarts welcomes its first foreign exchange student & a new, famous flying instructor. Note: this was written before OOTP was released; it had previously been hiding in the hard drive of my old PC.
Harry pushed his trolley along irritably; the Dersleys had since refused to drive him anywhere any more & he had to take the Knight bus here, he wasn't particularly fond of the bus' hectic transportation style. "Harry! There you are! We saved you a seat, the train's packed tight this year." Hermione said as Harry took a seat next to Ron across from her. "You look tired, mate." Ron said. "The Dersley's have decided that if I want to get anywhere, I'm on my own." Harry replied. "I hate that they are so terrible to you." Hermione said as her hands balled into fists. "I'm going to talk to Dumbledore about moving out, I have the money." Harry replied. Just then, there was a knock on their compartment door & it slid open. Ron's eyes grew as big as saucers; standing in the doorway of their compartment was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen (next to Fleur, of course). She had wavy waste-length black hair that had a bluish sheen, her skin was a lovely olive color, & her eyes were a beautiful violet. "I'm sorry to bother you, but everywhere is full, can I sit with you?" Harry tried to speak, but nothing would come out. "Yes, you are welcome to join us." Hermione said irritably as she shot the boys a disapproving look that let them know just how she felt about their staring. "Thank you, very much." She said a she took a seat next to Hermione. "My name is Noah Murrel, I' am a foreign exchange student from Canada." She said as they all shook hands.
As they walked to the carriages, they were surprised to see Professor McGonagall walking up to them. "Miss Murrel, please come with me." She said as she whisked her away before Harry, Ron or Hermione could form a question. "What happened?" Harry asked her as they joined her at the Griffindor table. "Nothing, as a new student, I had to be sorted & Professor McGonagall didn't want to make me wait with the first years." She replied as they watched a girl by the name of Linda Hamble get sorted into Ravenclaw. "There sure are a lot of them this years, arent there?" Ginny said as they watched the lon procession. "Yeah, at this rate, we'll never get dinner." Ron groaned.
"That was the longest dinner I have ever been through." Ron said as they returned to Griffindor tower to find a monstrous dog, snow white in color sitting in one of the squashy, plush armchairs in front of the roaring fire. "Shadow!" Noah greeted the huge beast as he washed her face with his wide tongue, he was huge indeed, standing four feet at the shoulder & weighed at least three hundred pounds. "Everyone, this is Shadow, he is what is known as a lion hound." "Yes, I've read about them, you have to have a license to own one." Hermione said. "Which I do, but even with that it was tough to get permission for him to come here." She explained, just then, Shadow caught sight of Crookshanks as he sauntered into the common room. He let out a bellow & charged, Crookshanks let out a shriek & tore back up the stairs, it took Noah & Harry to restrain Shadow long enough for Noah to slip quite a large chain over his head & give it a sharp tug. "Now, that's enough!" She said sharply, Shadow sank into a sitting position & looked at her apologetically. "This chain has a charm on it that gives him a slight electric shock every time I tug on it." Noah said. "Well, that's kind of cruel, isn't it?" Hermione said. "Would you rather have him kill your cat?" Noah replied. "She's got you there, Hermione." Ron said, Hermione gave him a dirty look.
"I never know how to feel about Hagrid's classes, they're always so… dangerous." Ron said as they joined the rest of the class. "Oh! Look!" Hermione gasped, there, standing in a large pen were four Pegasus' black, chestnut, bay & white. "Finally we get to study something that won't kill us." Lavender said. "Don't bet on it, a spooked Pegasus can very well cave your head in." Noah said. "You seem to know a lot about them." Hagrid said, overhearing their conversation. "Yeah, my family breeds them." "Would you mind showing us how to approach one?" Hagrid said hopefully, Noah smiled. "It would be my pleasure." She said as she stepped into the pen. All of the Pegasus backed into the far corner; Noah merely stood in the middle & closed her eyes. The black one was the first to approach her, he sniffed her over & then nuzzled her hand, the others followed suit. "You see, once you have the leader trusting you, the rest of them are a breeze." She said. As they were leaving for transformation, Noah caught sight of a fifth winged horse in a pen by himself; he was so brilliantly white that the surrounding snow seemed dull. "Best not approach him, he's a naughty one, he injured himself in a fight with a werewolf & has to be treated with this." He said as he showed the four of them a tub of glowing purple paste that made them cover their noses with their sleeves. "I know this stuff, good for animals but its highly corrosive to human skin to it has to be applied with dragon hide gloves." Noah said. "Would you mind helping me treat him?" Hagrid said. "It would be my pleasure." Noah replied with a smile.
"Blimey, Noah! What happened to you?" Harry said as she joined them at lunch. "That's quite an impressive shiner." Seamus interjected. "I was getting treated at the hospital wing, Helios reared & got me in the face with one of his hooves." She said as Ron suddenly nudged Harry. "Look who's sitting with the teachers! It's Olivet Looma!" He said, Harry's eyes fell on a youngish looking woman wearing a silver witch's hat with matching robes, her hair was a pale, lavender color & her eyes were a brilliant purple. "Can you two stop goggling at her like idiots long enough to tell me just who she is!" Hermione said irritably. "Only one of the best seekers in professional quiddich, she played for Ireland until she got hurt a year ago." He said as Dumbledore stood. "I would like you all to join me in welcoming two new teachers this year, Miss Olivet Looma, who will be filling in for Madam Hooch this year. I would also like to welcome back Professor Lupin, who has so graciously agreed to return."