Chapter One
All Harry had ever wanted was to be normal. Even when the Dursleys had tried to bring him up as a muggle, he had still been different from the rest of the children. He wished there was some spell he could cast or a potion he could drink to make his life normal... not muggle normal, but just a wizard without being a Parseltongue or having Voldemort constantly trying to kill him. Why did Voldemort hate him so much, anyway? Harry obviously knew the answer, but he just didn't understand why people hated so much.
In a way, he did understand. Hate held power. But it was power of the wrong kind.
At one time, Harry had hated Lord Voldemort. He was over that now; hate had never gotten anyone anywhere.
And, now that Cedric was dead, he'd have a free run at Cho. He shuddered. Cedric had been a nice guy; it was Amos Diggory he hadn't liked. All he ever did was brag about Cedric and not-so-subtly put Harry down.
Cho was so beautiful... she had silky, black hair just past the shoulders and deep, brown almond-shaped eyes. Every guy's ideal girl was Cho; she was smart, she was Ravenclaw's seeker, she was pretty, nice, and (Harry hoped) someone who liked him.
The Weasleys had Harry picked up in a cab. They were crammed in like sardines; Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Crookshanks, Hedwig, Pig, and all of their trunks didn't fit in a car only seating six. The Dursleys had been hostile to the wizarding folk, but nothing crazy happened. Dudley sat in the corner whimpering, remembering last year;s episode with the Ton-Toffees. At least he was smart enough to be scared of SOMETHING.
Fear held power, too; but to Harry there were several kinds. There was silly fear, such as saying "You-Know-Who" instead of "Lord Voldemort". There was rational fear, which was Ron's fear of spiders. And there was the fear that was awe that you feel in the presense of someone great; Professor Dumbledore, or even Lord Voldemort.
They drove into London and stopped when they reached the Leaky Cauldron. Mrs. Weasley tapped the brick wall with her wand several times and the gateway formed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off for Flourish and Blott's, hoping to beat the rush of students trying to snare a last minute copy of Magical Defense . It had been released a week ago, and the new Defense teacher had put it on the supply list. The line at the check-out wasn't very long when they got there; but by the time they had advanced to the front of the line, people were standing on the sidewalk.
After they had purchased all of the necessary supplies, they sat down to eat ice cream. It had been warm and sunny when they arrived in Diagon Alley, but it had started to drizzle. Harry watched in amazement as the table's sun parasol became an umbrella. On the way out of the ice cream parlor, Hermione cast a shield-spell when it started to pour.
"Aqualoss!" she said. What almost felt like a water-repelling blanket seemed to hover above them in mid-air.
They met up with Mrs. Weasley in front of the apothecary. Mr. Weasley and Percy had also joined the group.
"Well, this is lovely weather, isn't it?" Percy said sarcastically.
"Yes," agreed Harry, "but it's not so bad under here."
"Under where?"
"Hermione put a rain-shield over us."
"Aqualoss!" It seemed Percy had only forgotten momentarily those really pointless spells you only learn for the test. They Floo-Powdered to the Burrow for the night. Mr. Weasley drove his new flying car with an improved InvisiPull 2.0 to King's Cross Station the next day. They effortlessly barrelled through the barrier to board the Hogwarts Express.
When the three of them had settled into a compartment, Ron asked Hermione, "How was your stay at Viktor's?"
"It was delightful. In Bulgaria, they have lots of neat magical paraphenalia we don't have here. They have a lake in their backyard that we went swimming in, and he showed me how to ride a broom... he actually let me try out his Firebolt."
Harry gulped. He had never let Hermione try out his Firebolt, only Ron. No wonder she had been so cold and distand towards him; he had always favored Ron more as a friend, he just hadn't realized it. Hermione had always been a friend to both of them, even during fights.
She continued, "We had fun. I spent all of July there before returning to the muggle world. My mum says next summer he can come to our house."
Ron said, "My dad would love to, but you probably wouldn't have a house anymore. He'd take stuff apart and see how it works."
Harry laughed. "Muggles do all sorts of crazy things. You should see Dudley. He takes his video game box-thing, turns it on, and then when he loses, he breaks something."
Hermione shook her head. "He IS an idiot, isn't he? When we were at Viktor's..." she rattled on for 10 more minutes before Ron said, "How mufch d'ya wanna bet she calls him 'Vick' or 'Vicky'?" to Harry.
Harry yawned. "Muggles have this stuff called Vick's VapoRub that they rub on their nose and chest when they're sick. It's not too effective."
Ron rolled his eyes, knowing that Harry hadn't submitted any revelant comments to their conversation.
"Oh shut up! I always have to listen to you two talk endlessly about Quidditch! The least you could do is let me talk about my summer!"
Ron exploded, chucking his open box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans at Hermione. She ducked but was still pelted by a shower of jelly beans. "Well I don't care! Your storie's stupid! It's not my fault my parents couldn't afford to send me a thousand miles away and Harry was locked up all summer!"
Hermione got up and left, slamming the door shut. Ron and Harry continued to talk and make very flat conversation, but they both knew something was wrong. Hermione usually just didn't act like this.
They went into the Great Hall of Hogwarts upon arriving. They sat down in their usual spot, but Hermione was sitting alone, already taking notes on Magical Defense.
After the first years got in line, waiting to be sorted, Dumbledore clapped his hands. "I have an important announcement to make. A new fifth year has enrolled at Hogwarts. She went to Beauxbatons up until now. Her name is Danielle Devore."
They proceeded through the Sorting ritual, and the hat announced, "Ravenclaw!"
Danielle had shoulder-length, chocolate brown, curly hair and blue eyes. She was wearing some hideous chunky black glasses, but Harry thought that without them she might be kind of cute. But not like Cho; nothing could ever equal her.
Cho was still the same as ever, only a little taller. Everyone else had changed; Hermione straighted her hair and ditched the braces; Ron was a lot taller (his pants made him look like he was expecting a tsunami-sized flood); Neville had lost weight; and Snape actually had washed his hair.
All of the first years were sorted. The food at the feast was good; Harry hadn't eaten so well since last year's end-of-the-year feast, nor had he taking delight in pumpkin juice or any of the other wizarding treats.
"Who's that?" Harry whispered to Ron, pointing at a man wearing ugly robes Dobby would probably like.
"I dunno. Probably the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher."
The robes were magenta with lime green trim. He had a matching hat with a very narrow brim.
"What's with his hat?" The man picked up a copy of Witch Wardrobe and started reading it.
"Apparently, he thinks he's fashionable," said Harry.
Professor Dumbledore again clapped his hands. "This is Professor Salvini, your new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher." Professor Salvini had blonde hair that was wavy to just past his ears.
Ron whispered, "It looks like Gilderoy Lockhart wearing my old dress robes."
Harry laughed. It was going to be a long year.
All Harry had ever wanted was to be normal. Even when the Dursleys had tried to bring him up as a muggle, he had still been different from the rest of the children. He wished there was some spell he could cast or a potion he could drink to make his life normal... not muggle normal, but just a wizard without being a Parseltongue or having Voldemort constantly trying to kill him. Why did Voldemort hate him so much, anyway? Harry obviously knew the answer, but he just didn't understand why people hated so much.
In a way, he did understand. Hate held power. But it was power of the wrong kind.
At one time, Harry had hated Lord Voldemort. He was over that now; hate had never gotten anyone anywhere.
And, now that Cedric was dead, he'd have a free run at Cho. He shuddered. Cedric had been a nice guy; it was Amos Diggory he hadn't liked. All he ever did was brag about Cedric and not-so-subtly put Harry down.
Cho was so beautiful... she had silky, black hair just past the shoulders and deep, brown almond-shaped eyes. Every guy's ideal girl was Cho; she was smart, she was Ravenclaw's seeker, she was pretty, nice, and (Harry hoped) someone who liked him.
The Weasleys had Harry picked up in a cab. They were crammed in like sardines; Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Crookshanks, Hedwig, Pig, and all of their trunks didn't fit in a car only seating six. The Dursleys had been hostile to the wizarding folk, but nothing crazy happened. Dudley sat in the corner whimpering, remembering last year;s episode with the Ton-Toffees. At least he was smart enough to be scared of SOMETHING.
Fear held power, too; but to Harry there were several kinds. There was silly fear, such as saying "You-Know-Who" instead of "Lord Voldemort". There was rational fear, which was Ron's fear of spiders. And there was the fear that was awe that you feel in the presense of someone great; Professor Dumbledore, or even Lord Voldemort.
They drove into London and stopped when they reached the Leaky Cauldron. Mrs. Weasley tapped the brick wall with her wand several times and the gateway formed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off for Flourish and Blott's, hoping to beat the rush of students trying to snare a last minute copy of Magical Defense . It had been released a week ago, and the new Defense teacher had put it on the supply list. The line at the check-out wasn't very long when they got there; but by the time they had advanced to the front of the line, people were standing on the sidewalk.
After they had purchased all of the necessary supplies, they sat down to eat ice cream. It had been warm and sunny when they arrived in Diagon Alley, but it had started to drizzle. Harry watched in amazement as the table's sun parasol became an umbrella. On the way out of the ice cream parlor, Hermione cast a shield-spell when it started to pour.
"Aqualoss!" she said. What almost felt like a water-repelling blanket seemed to hover above them in mid-air.
They met up with Mrs. Weasley in front of the apothecary. Mr. Weasley and Percy had also joined the group.
"Well, this is lovely weather, isn't it?" Percy said sarcastically.
"Yes," agreed Harry, "but it's not so bad under here."
"Under where?"
"Hermione put a rain-shield over us."
"Aqualoss!" It seemed Percy had only forgotten momentarily those really pointless spells you only learn for the test. They Floo-Powdered to the Burrow for the night. Mr. Weasley drove his new flying car with an improved InvisiPull 2.0 to King's Cross Station the next day. They effortlessly barrelled through the barrier to board the Hogwarts Express.
When the three of them had settled into a compartment, Ron asked Hermione, "How was your stay at Viktor's?"
"It was delightful. In Bulgaria, they have lots of neat magical paraphenalia we don't have here. They have a lake in their backyard that we went swimming in, and he showed me how to ride a broom... he actually let me try out his Firebolt."
Harry gulped. He had never let Hermione try out his Firebolt, only Ron. No wonder she had been so cold and distand towards him; he had always favored Ron more as a friend, he just hadn't realized it. Hermione had always been a friend to both of them, even during fights.
She continued, "We had fun. I spent all of July there before returning to the muggle world. My mum says next summer he can come to our house."
Ron said, "My dad would love to, but you probably wouldn't have a house anymore. He'd take stuff apart and see how it works."
Harry laughed. "Muggles do all sorts of crazy things. You should see Dudley. He takes his video game box-thing, turns it on, and then when he loses, he breaks something."
Hermione shook her head. "He IS an idiot, isn't he? When we were at Viktor's..." she rattled on for 10 more minutes before Ron said, "How mufch d'ya wanna bet she calls him 'Vick' or 'Vicky'?" to Harry.
Harry yawned. "Muggles have this stuff called Vick's VapoRub that they rub on their nose and chest when they're sick. It's not too effective."
Ron rolled his eyes, knowing that Harry hadn't submitted any revelant comments to their conversation.
"Oh shut up! I always have to listen to you two talk endlessly about Quidditch! The least you could do is let me talk about my summer!"
Ron exploded, chucking his open box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans at Hermione. She ducked but was still pelted by a shower of jelly beans. "Well I don't care! Your storie's stupid! It's not my fault my parents couldn't afford to send me a thousand miles away and Harry was locked up all summer!"
Hermione got up and left, slamming the door shut. Ron and Harry continued to talk and make very flat conversation, but they both knew something was wrong. Hermione usually just didn't act like this.
They went into the Great Hall of Hogwarts upon arriving. They sat down in their usual spot, but Hermione was sitting alone, already taking notes on Magical Defense.
After the first years got in line, waiting to be sorted, Dumbledore clapped his hands. "I have an important announcement to make. A new fifth year has enrolled at Hogwarts. She went to Beauxbatons up until now. Her name is Danielle Devore."
They proceeded through the Sorting ritual, and the hat announced, "Ravenclaw!"
Danielle had shoulder-length, chocolate brown, curly hair and blue eyes. She was wearing some hideous chunky black glasses, but Harry thought that without them she might be kind of cute. But not like Cho; nothing could ever equal her.
Cho was still the same as ever, only a little taller. Everyone else had changed; Hermione straighted her hair and ditched the braces; Ron was a lot taller (his pants made him look like he was expecting a tsunami-sized flood); Neville had lost weight; and Snape actually had washed his hair.
All of the first years were sorted. The food at the feast was good; Harry hadn't eaten so well since last year's end-of-the-year feast, nor had he taking delight in pumpkin juice or any of the other wizarding treats.
"Who's that?" Harry whispered to Ron, pointing at a man wearing ugly robes Dobby would probably like.
"I dunno. Probably the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher."
The robes were magenta with lime green trim. He had a matching hat with a very narrow brim.
"What's with his hat?" The man picked up a copy of Witch Wardrobe and started reading it.
"Apparently, he thinks he's fashionable," said Harry.
Professor Dumbledore again clapped his hands. "This is Professor Salvini, your new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher." Professor Salvini had blonde hair that was wavy to just past his ears.
Ron whispered, "It looks like Gilderoy Lockhart wearing my old dress robes."
Harry laughed. It was going to be a long year.