Hey everyone, mistfeather here! Okay, when I finished my last story (To Be Seen, posted under MissSparks' account, please read that too!) I decided that I wanted to write more Harry Potter fanfictions. This one is set in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
To make it clear right now, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, movies, books, or anything else that J.K. Rowling owns. HOWEVER, I do own the Thompson triplets: Chelsea Autumn, Elizabeth Jane, and last but not least, Phoenix Rose.
I'm going to take a moment to apologize for the detail that I'm going to use when describing their hair. As it's among the only ways for the triplets to be distinguished from one another, I went into great detail with that. Pretty much, if you don't want to read all the detail, don't. It doesn't matter much anyway.
Chapter One
Harry had been very relieved when he got on the Hogwarts Express and soon found Luna and Neville, but when they found a compartment he hadn't counted on seeing three girls already sitting in it.
"Would you mind if we joined you?" Luna asked, and immediately two of the girls nodded. The third simply glanced at them before looking back out the window.
When Harry, Neville and Luna sat down across from the girls, Harry began to notice some things that he hadn't immediately, the first being that these three girls were nearly identical, except for small differences in their hair. They all had auburn hair that curled in ringlets, but the one reading a book had their hair parted on the left side, down to her elbows, the one staring into space rather like Luna would had hair parted on the right side, and fell in between her shoulders and elbows, and the one looking out the window had her hair parted on the right side also, but down to her elbows. Otherwise, it would be impossible to tell them apart.
"What are your names?" Luna asked.
The one who had been staring into space answered immediately, "I'm Elizabeth Thompson."
The one who had been reading answered a few moments later, finally looking up at them, "I'm Chelsea Thompson."
Harry looked over at the girl by the window, expecting her to say something, but she just continued looking out with a look of utter boredom on her face. "What's her name?" He asked Chelsea, jerking his head to indicate the girl by the window.
Chelsea just looked back at him, though, a bit of amusement entering her eyes, and the third sister looked over at him, her brown eyes icy, "You know, when you are talking about someone who happens to be in the room, it is polite to ask that person instead of asking others about her. My name is Phoenix, and I'm one of the Thompson triplets. Happy?"
Elizabeth laughed, "Oh, lighten up, Phoenix! What are your names?" Unlike Phoenix, Elizabeth's eyes were bright and friendly.
"I'm Luna Lovegood." The Ravenclaw said absentmindedly, already looking through The Quibbler.
"Neville Longbottom." The Gryffindor said, making sure that his toad, Trevor, couldn't escape.
"I'm Harry Potter."
The Thompsons showed no reaction to Harry saying his name, as most others would, and Phoenix said in a disinterested voice, looking out the window once more, "So you're that one, then? The one the Daily Prophet is always writing articles about, saying you've lost it. I don't really think you have, personally, but the Ministry wouldn't really want to proclaim to the world that Voldemort's back."
Harry blinked, surprised. Neither Chelsea nor Elizabeth had flinched when Phoenix had said Voldemort's name, which was odd. "So what house are you three in?"
"None of them." The three answered together, much like Fred and George Weasley might have if they had been there.
Chelsea then went on alone, "We were taught for our first five years at home, but our parents wanted us to get the Hogwarts experience, so we came here for our final two years."
"It'll be interesting to see if you have to be with the first years, then." Luna said from behind her magazine.
Elizabeth smiled at Luna, "Yes, I guess it will! So, what are the Houses like? I know that the four are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, but I don't know much about them besides that."
Chelsea broke in, "Well, we know that we don't want to be in Slytherin, but that's really all we know."
The Gryffindors quickly broke into an accurate description (that might have been slightly biased) of all four houses, allowing Luna to take over during the description of Ravenclaw, and they had just finished with Slytherin when the door slid open and a girl with dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way in.
"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane." She said loudly and confidently, "Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them." She pointed to Luna, Neville, and the triplets.
"They're friends of mine." Harry replied coldly.
Romilda had left only a moment later, looking rather surprised, and Elizabeth and Luna said at the same time, "People expect you to have cooler friends than us."
When Harry insisted that they were cool, Luna and Elizabeth had beamed at him, and even Chelsea's face had cracked into a tiny smile. Only Phoenix's expression didn't change, staying in its cold mask.
As the train sped onward, Harry continued conversing with the Luna, Neville, and Thompson triplets, or at least Chelsea and Elizabeth. Phoenix all but ignored him, almost glaring at the trees as they passed. Soon Harry just gave up trying to talk to her, and ignored her right back.
Ron and Hermione entered the compartment some time later, and introductions were made. It became apparent almost immediately that Hermione, Chelsea, and Elizabeth were going to be good friends.
Only a minute later, when everyone had only just begun to get comfortable, a petrified third-year girl walked into the compartment to deliver invitations to Harry and Neville, and they reluctantly stood to leave. Harry had barely gotten outside the compartment, however, when someone grabbed his arm and he looked back to see Chelsea looking up at him.
"Don't judge Phoenix too harshly." She said softly, and Harry realized that she had noticed how he had given up trying to speak to her sister, "She's always had a bit of trouble getting along with others. It's just a weak point of hers. She'll warm up to you, Ron, Hermione, and everyone else, I promise. It'll just take some time."
Harry hesitated before nodding, "I guess I can understand that."
Chelsea smiled her first true smile since she had climbed onto the train, "Thank you. She can be a good friend when you get to know her, honest." With that, she slipped back into the compartment, and Harry hurried to catch up with Neville.
When Harry walked into the Great Hall after the Sorting that night, he could hear the whispering and muttering going on around him as he hurried towards his seat next to Ron and Hermione. Hermione quickly filled him in on what he had missed, and said, "You missed the Sorting, anyway. All three of the Thompsons were Sorted into Gryffindor."
Harry immediately looked around and saw that Hermione's words were true: About half the table down from them, the Thompsons were sitting side by side, Elizabeth in the middle. Before Harry, Ron, and Hermione's astonished eyes, Phoenix actually broke into a smile over something that Chelsea had said. A moment later, though, Phoenix's eyes narrowed as she looked over at the Slytherin table. Following her gaze, Harry saw Malfoy pointing at him before miming the shattering of a nose.
When he looked back at the triplets, Phoenix was whispering something to her sisters, and then the three of them looked over at Harry simultaneously, the same question clear in all three pairs of eyes. Harry hastily averted his gaze, not really wanting to be interrogated at that particular moment.
It seemed like forever before Dumbledore stood up at last, "The very best of evenings to you!" He smiled broadly at the students before him.
The students, however, were staring at his blackened, dead-looking hand. When Harry glanced around, he could see everyone whispering and pointing, but the triplets were just staring at his hand with identical expressions of shock and horror on their faces.
"What happened to his hand?" Hermione gasped.
Shaking his sleeve over the injury, Dumbledore smiled and continued, "Nothing to worry about. Now…to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you…"
"His hand was like that when I saw him over the summer," Harry whispered to Hermione, "I thought he'd have cured it by now, though…or Madam Pomfrey would've done."
"It looks as if it's died," said Hermione, with a nauseated expression, "But there are some injuries you can't cure…old curses…and there are poisons without antidotes…"
"…and Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of house as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise.
"We are also pleased to welcome a new member of the staff this year, Professor Slughorn" –Slughorn stood –"is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."
"Potions?" The word rang throughout the room, echoed by many dumbfounded students.
"Professor Snape, meanwhile, will be taking on the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
When Harry said "No!" loudly, he could tell that many heads had turned in his direction as he stared at the Head table incredulously.
As the Great Hall buzzed with conversation, Dumbledore had to clear his throat several times before he was heard and the Hall quieted. Dumbledore immediately began talking about Lord Voldemort and how the castle's security had been mounted.
Finally, the headmaster's eyes swept over the students and he said, "But now, your beds await you, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!"
As the benches scraped back with a screech that nearly burst Phoenix's eardrums, she stood at the same time as her sisters and caught Hermione by the arm as she tried to hurry past. "Hey, can I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure, sure," she said, her eyes on the first years, "As long as you don't mind me leading the first years to our common room as we talk."
"Of course not." Elizabeth said cheerfully, "After all, we don't know where it is either!"
"Oh, of course you don't. I had forgotten. Anyway, what are your questions?" Hermione asked as they caught up to the first years and moved to the head of the pack.
"Well, first of all: Who is Professor Snape, and why is it so bad that he's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Chelsea asked, glancing back at the Head Table.
Hermione grimaced, "Well, Harry is a bit biased, but either way, I don't think that Defense Against the Dark Arts is the best job for him. He was the Potions master for my first five years here, and even before we came here, and the reason that Professor Snape teaching Defense would be a bad thing is because he used to be a Death Eater."
Phoenix nodded, satisfied, "That I can understand, then. Another question, then: Who was the Slytherin with the pale blonde hair who looked about our age and was miming a nose shattering, and why would he mime that, of all things?"
Hermione glanced over at Phoenix, "That was definitely Draco Malfoy. He's an evil pig, to tell you the truth. As for your second question, I don't know. It may have something to do with why Harry was held up on the train though, and why he was covered in blood."
"Draco did point over at Harry before miming the thing about the nose." Chelsea pointed out.
"And all of Harry's blood was on his face, or at least seemed as if it came from it." Elizabeth added, "So that must have been the cause. My only question now is: When did Draco have the chance to break Harry's nose?"
Hermione had opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment they arrived at the portrait hole and Hermione turned to tell everyone the new password before stepping aside to let the Gryffindors begin to clamber inside.
The three Thompsons quickly found the sixth year girls' dormitory, but were more than a little surprised to find their trunks waiting for them. The three simultaneously took out their wands, turning them in their fingers as they examined them: Elizabeth's was 12.5" and made of Yew with a Dragon Heartstring core (ironically the same as Myra Kingston's wand, if anyone even bothered to read my story To Be Seen), Chelsea's was 9" and made of Willow with a Unicorn Hair core, and Phoenix's was 10.5" and made of Ash with a Phoenix Feather core.
They spun around as one when the door opened and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown walked in, staring openly at the triplets. Finally Parvati asked, "Who are you three?"
Lavender turned to her friend, "They were the three that were Sorted into Gryffindor—remember, Dumbledore said that these three were sixth years?"
Parvati opened her mouth to reply, but Chelsea broke in, "Yes, yes, we're those three. My name is Chelsea, this is Elizabeth, and that's Phoenix."
"Oh." Lavender and Parvati said together, and they quickly headed off to Parvati's bed and sat down, heads close together and glancing at the triplets as if they were already gossiping about the Thompsons.
Phoenix rolled her eyes and said, "Well, tomorrow classes start. I'm off to bed." She quickly hugged each of her sisters and walked across the dormitory towards her bed, and when the other two Thompsons climbed into bed, the lights went off and the triplets fell asleep to the sound of Parvati and Lavender whispering to one another in the darkness.
There's chapter one! Sorry if you think this chapter is a bit short, I know. I'm just not that good at making long chapters, to be honest.
Anyway, tell me what you think! Even if you didn't like it, please tell me. Most of all, please tell me what you think of Phoenix, Chelsea, and Elizabeth. I love them because I have a chance to be absolutely awful, kind of in the middle, and bubbly and nice at the same time! It's a fun experience.