A large eagle owl floated in through the window to Dumbledore's
office, carrying a cream colored envelope bearing the official Ministry of
Magic seal. When the owl landed on his desk Albus walked over to it, and
removed the message, petting the owl while he reached for his letter
opener.
"hmmm. I wonder what Cornelius has to bother me with today.
Interesting. new information from the ministry considering veela. not just
silver I see. Harry? Part veela? James and Lily kept some interesting
secrets. even from me. There are that many at Hogwarts?" after finishing
the letter, he went over to his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment,
and began to write a response, "Cornelius, Of course I will implement the
changes you suggest. I do wonder though. most of the part veelas you
mention in your letter are young people from previously thought to be
pureblood families. Has the Ministry looked into this claim? Or do we just
trust the ministries from the other countries? Reply soon. A.D." Once the
owl was off, and flying for London, Albus began to pace, and think about
how to handle the coming year.
Sitting on the Hogwarts express, Harry sat back and relaxed into the plush seats. The summer had been longer than usual for Harry. Duddley had been sick for most of the vacation with a flu, which did not surprise Harry at seeing as Dudley kept his room in such a mess anything at all could be growing in there and you would never know until you came down ill, and Harry had been made to stay home with him and care for him. He had only gotten away when he had to leave to go shopping for the school year.
While shopping in Diagon Alley he had run into the Weasleys, and since the summer was so close to the end, he sent an owl back to the Dursleys telling them where he would be. Harry figured that they would be overjoyed to have him out of the house, and of course they were. In uncle Vernon's letter, he had practically ordered Harry to stay away until next summer, and even then it was doubtful if he'd be let back in the house. He spent the last few weeks of the summer before his sixth year living with the depleted Weasly family.
The four oldest children were off at college or studying abroad. The Twins had even set up a catalogue service that went all around the world selling their gag gifts, and were now off promoting it. George and Fred were planning to build a gag store in Hogsmede, but didn't want to try and compete with Gambol and Japes, so they were trying to work a deal with the older jokes store, about having their own counter in the other store so they could sell their products, and split the profit with Mr.'s Gambol and Japes. They were the quietest weeks Harry ever spent at the burrow, only broken with Ginny's sporadic mid-morning rants about the tiny zits she was getting on her nose, which weren't even that big, and if you didn't look too closely, you could mistake them for freckles. It was almost a relief when the day came for them to go meet the train.
Back on the train, Harry's mind wandered. He had been having some very explicit dreams lately, and about people he had never even thought of that way before. Even remembering the dream with Mr. and Mrs. Weasly made Harry blush and try to forget. His sixteenth birthday had passed during the summer, and that was when his dreams took on their more. interesting nature. Harry had begun dreading going to sleep, especially after the dream with Dudley and the box of ice cream.
"Harry! Harry! All the lights are on, but not even a house elf is home!" Ron's voice jilted Harry out of his memories. "Are you OK Harry. You've been zoning out the entire trip. Has your scar been hurting you?"
'If only it was that.' thought Harry. 'Even my thoughts about Ron are turning dirty!'
"There you go again! Jeeze! At least focus on me when we talking!"
"Now Ron, maybe Harry just has a lot on his mind. right Harry?" Ever since the two had begun dating, Hermione had been able to make Ron see sense with just a hint. She turned her smile on Ron, and waited for Harry to respond, "Right, Harry? Harry!"
"Oh. sorry 'Mione. I've just been distracted lately." swimming in Harry's mind were pictures of his two friends doing things he knew they'd never do while he watched, no matter how he begged. "What was it you said again?"
"Oh for the love of." Hermione began, when the door smashed open.
"Is Potter feeling ill today? Oh. poor baby. maybe I could fix him up for you. I know a few spells that might make his face bearable at least." Sarcasm dripped off of Malfoy's voice, and as he brought up his wand the three friends braced for the curse they knew was coming. "Or I could just let him stay that way. yeah, I think that's what I'll do. Hah! Crabbe, look at the look on his face!" With that the three slytherins began to laugh harder than the joke was worth.
"Well, if you're this easily amused, Malfoy. I can arrange for you to spend some time with Neville. oh wait, he might be a little too sophisticated for you three." Frost should have covered the three boys from Hermione's tone. "Now, if you can leave us alone, it is time for everyone to be getting into their robes. We should be at Hogwarts within an hour." Her officious tone was only partly because she was a new made prefect, the rest was because she was just Hermione. The rest of the trip passed in silence.
Then first order of business, once the students were at Hogwarts, was the beginning of the year feast, and the sorting ceremony. There were only about 100 new students, and only fifteen of them went to Gryffindor. Once the ceremony was done, professor Dumbledore got up to speak. After the usual warnings about the forest, the various dangerous hallways, and the beasts Hagrid was keeping for study this year, Dumbledore had one last note, "Will these students come to my office after the feast ends, and before going to their dormitories? Mr. Potter, Mr. Finnegan, Mr. Smith, Mr. Lennox, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Jansen, Ms. Elliot, and Ms. Parkinson." With each name, every eye in the hall turned to the students being named. "Now, students, forget your worries, and enjoy. We are here to celebrate being back with friends, don't think about any thing other than having fun, and eating all the wonderful food our house elves provide for us." With a wave of his wand, the tables suddenly sank an inch because of all the food piled high on them.
Harry managed to forget his dreams, Malfoy, and even having to go to Dumbledore's office after the meal. By ten o'clock, Ron and Harry were having a little competition to see who could drink the most pumpkin juice. The event ended in a draw, because both boys were laughing so hard that the juice spurted out their noses. Of course, Hermione ignored the two, until they splattered her with pumpkin juice. Then she got mad. With a quick charm, she turned all the juice they were drinking and wearing into skunk juice. It took professor Flitwick coming over to charm away the stink. By the end of the feast, Harry no longer was dreading going to Dumbledore's office, and with a little bit of a skip in his step he headed out of the Great Hall. The bounce in his step lasted only until he met up with Draco Malfoy and the other students who were called.
"How many points do you think he's going to take from gryfindor, Potter? 100? I don't even know why we're being called, but I hope it gets you in trouble." Malfoy was getting slow after spending the day tormenting first years, and then cracking jokes throughout the feast with his fellow slytherins, so his barb barely bothered Harry.
"Malfoy. He called you too. That means if he takes points from my house, he'll take 'em from yours too."
The eight children settled into a less than comfortable silence, thinking about why they'd been called. When they arrived at the hidden door to Dumbledore's office, Harry said the password, "Chocolate Frogs." And after a moments deliberation, the two gargoyles parted their wings to reveal the door. With only a second of hesitation, Harry reached out to the door knob.
Next Chapter-Dumbledore explains
Sitting on the Hogwarts express, Harry sat back and relaxed into the plush seats. The summer had been longer than usual for Harry. Duddley had been sick for most of the vacation with a flu, which did not surprise Harry at seeing as Dudley kept his room in such a mess anything at all could be growing in there and you would never know until you came down ill, and Harry had been made to stay home with him and care for him. He had only gotten away when he had to leave to go shopping for the school year.
While shopping in Diagon Alley he had run into the Weasleys, and since the summer was so close to the end, he sent an owl back to the Dursleys telling them where he would be. Harry figured that they would be overjoyed to have him out of the house, and of course they were. In uncle Vernon's letter, he had practically ordered Harry to stay away until next summer, and even then it was doubtful if he'd be let back in the house. He spent the last few weeks of the summer before his sixth year living with the depleted Weasly family.
The four oldest children were off at college or studying abroad. The Twins had even set up a catalogue service that went all around the world selling their gag gifts, and were now off promoting it. George and Fred were planning to build a gag store in Hogsmede, but didn't want to try and compete with Gambol and Japes, so they were trying to work a deal with the older jokes store, about having their own counter in the other store so they could sell their products, and split the profit with Mr.'s Gambol and Japes. They were the quietest weeks Harry ever spent at the burrow, only broken with Ginny's sporadic mid-morning rants about the tiny zits she was getting on her nose, which weren't even that big, and if you didn't look too closely, you could mistake them for freckles. It was almost a relief when the day came for them to go meet the train.
Back on the train, Harry's mind wandered. He had been having some very explicit dreams lately, and about people he had never even thought of that way before. Even remembering the dream with Mr. and Mrs. Weasly made Harry blush and try to forget. His sixteenth birthday had passed during the summer, and that was when his dreams took on their more. interesting nature. Harry had begun dreading going to sleep, especially after the dream with Dudley and the box of ice cream.
"Harry! Harry! All the lights are on, but not even a house elf is home!" Ron's voice jilted Harry out of his memories. "Are you OK Harry. You've been zoning out the entire trip. Has your scar been hurting you?"
'If only it was that.' thought Harry. 'Even my thoughts about Ron are turning dirty!'
"There you go again! Jeeze! At least focus on me when we talking!"
"Now Ron, maybe Harry just has a lot on his mind. right Harry?" Ever since the two had begun dating, Hermione had been able to make Ron see sense with just a hint. She turned her smile on Ron, and waited for Harry to respond, "Right, Harry? Harry!"
"Oh. sorry 'Mione. I've just been distracted lately." swimming in Harry's mind were pictures of his two friends doing things he knew they'd never do while he watched, no matter how he begged. "What was it you said again?"
"Oh for the love of." Hermione began, when the door smashed open.
"Is Potter feeling ill today? Oh. poor baby. maybe I could fix him up for you. I know a few spells that might make his face bearable at least." Sarcasm dripped off of Malfoy's voice, and as he brought up his wand the three friends braced for the curse they knew was coming. "Or I could just let him stay that way. yeah, I think that's what I'll do. Hah! Crabbe, look at the look on his face!" With that the three slytherins began to laugh harder than the joke was worth.
"Well, if you're this easily amused, Malfoy. I can arrange for you to spend some time with Neville. oh wait, he might be a little too sophisticated for you three." Frost should have covered the three boys from Hermione's tone. "Now, if you can leave us alone, it is time for everyone to be getting into their robes. We should be at Hogwarts within an hour." Her officious tone was only partly because she was a new made prefect, the rest was because she was just Hermione. The rest of the trip passed in silence.
Then first order of business, once the students were at Hogwarts, was the beginning of the year feast, and the sorting ceremony. There were only about 100 new students, and only fifteen of them went to Gryffindor. Once the ceremony was done, professor Dumbledore got up to speak. After the usual warnings about the forest, the various dangerous hallways, and the beasts Hagrid was keeping for study this year, Dumbledore had one last note, "Will these students come to my office after the feast ends, and before going to their dormitories? Mr. Potter, Mr. Finnegan, Mr. Smith, Mr. Lennox, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Jansen, Ms. Elliot, and Ms. Parkinson." With each name, every eye in the hall turned to the students being named. "Now, students, forget your worries, and enjoy. We are here to celebrate being back with friends, don't think about any thing other than having fun, and eating all the wonderful food our house elves provide for us." With a wave of his wand, the tables suddenly sank an inch because of all the food piled high on them.
Harry managed to forget his dreams, Malfoy, and even having to go to Dumbledore's office after the meal. By ten o'clock, Ron and Harry were having a little competition to see who could drink the most pumpkin juice. The event ended in a draw, because both boys were laughing so hard that the juice spurted out their noses. Of course, Hermione ignored the two, until they splattered her with pumpkin juice. Then she got mad. With a quick charm, she turned all the juice they were drinking and wearing into skunk juice. It took professor Flitwick coming over to charm away the stink. By the end of the feast, Harry no longer was dreading going to Dumbledore's office, and with a little bit of a skip in his step he headed out of the Great Hall. The bounce in his step lasted only until he met up with Draco Malfoy and the other students who were called.
"How many points do you think he's going to take from gryfindor, Potter? 100? I don't even know why we're being called, but I hope it gets you in trouble." Malfoy was getting slow after spending the day tormenting first years, and then cracking jokes throughout the feast with his fellow slytherins, so his barb barely bothered Harry.
"Malfoy. He called you too. That means if he takes points from my house, he'll take 'em from yours too."
The eight children settled into a less than comfortable silence, thinking about why they'd been called. When they arrived at the hidden door to Dumbledore's office, Harry said the password, "Chocolate Frogs." And after a moments deliberation, the two gargoyles parted their wings to reveal the door. With only a second of hesitation, Harry reached out to the door knob.
Next Chapter-Dumbledore explains