Harry looked out the window in his compartment on the Hogwarts Express.
It was nearly the beginning of his fifth year, but he couldn't muster
much excitement. Voldemort had been gathering all his followers
together the entire summer and several killings, Muggle and otherwise,
had resulted. But Harry always knew that Voldemort didn't care about
killing those people. The only person he cared about killing was Harry. Harry Potter, the only wizard who had ever defeated him, and before Harry was even out of diapers.
This summer had not been a terrible one. The Dursleys were strangely
kind to him. Harry suspected Dumbledore had spoken to them, and it
had frightened them into submission. He slept in the newly refurbished
guest room, and was allowed to work on his wizarding homework when
and wherever he wanted. They just ignored him completely, which was a
pleasant switch from being yelled at the second he stepped into a room.
He had asked Uncle Vernon to sign his Hogsmeade slip, and he had done
so with barely a glance away from the newspaper. Hedwig regularly
brought him letters from Ron and Hermione. Mr. Weasley and Percy were
so overworked at the Ministry of Magic that they had barely spoken to
the rest of the family the whole summer. Ron didn't mind this in
Percy's case, but he said that he missed his dad. The Ministry was
working extremely hard to keep the Voldemort situation under control,
but were not having much success.
Hermione had had a good summer, but was a little frightened the
whole time. The only people, so far, Voldemort had been attacking
were Muggle-born. Harry was extremely glad she had made it through
the summer unscathed, and was rather nice to be sitting with his
two best friends in the whole world.
All of them were sitting silently, lost in their own thoughts about
everything that had happened over the summer. Ron was absently
pulling at a loose thread on his Chudley Cannons sweatshirt and
Hermione had the Standard Book of Spells, Volume 5 open in her lap,
but wasn't reading it.
Suddenly, the witch who sold snacks wheeled her now squeaky cart
up to their compartment.
"Oh, are we halfway there already?" Hermione gasped, looking down
at her watch.
Harry treated them all to Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans
and Chocolate Frogs. They started talking normally, as if snapped
out of a trance.
"Eurgh, vomit flavor." Ron grimaced, looking at a familiar
sickeningly green candy bean.
Just as he said this, Malfoy entered their compartment,
with Pansy Parkinson on one arm and Crabbe and Goyle standing behind
him.
"Just in time." Ron said, offering the bean to Malfoy.
Malfoy didn't respond. Harry couldn't help noticing that he looked
a little different. His normally greasy blond hair was freshly washed
and combed, his eyes were a little less narrowed and he even looked
happier than usual. As Pansy grinned sweetly at Malfoy, Harry knew why.
"Wow, Granger, still alive, huh? Pity Voldemort didn't get to all
the Mudbloods this summer." Pansy said viciously.
Hermione looked up at her defiantly, as if daring her to continue.
"Shut up, Pansy." Ron growled angrily.
"Did you need something, Malfoy?" Harry asked.
"Just wanted to say hello." And to Harry's shock, Malfoy extended a
hand.
Harry looked up at him with raised eyebrows. Then he saw under
Malfoy's bent thumb was a folded sheet of paper. Harry slowly shook
Malfoy's hand, and felt the paper passed into his open hand.
Ron and Hermione were watching with open mouthed shock. Crabbe
and Goyle looked at them stupidly, as if they felt like they had
missed something. (which wouldn't be unusual) Pansy looked confused
and kept staring at Malfoy for an explanation.
But neither said anything. And Malfoy left, leading his entourage
with him. They could hear Pansy questioning him shrilly as they
walked down the hall.
"What the-?" Ron asked, still in shock.
"Oh, you know what, I've got to go to bathroom...er...be back in
a moment." And with that, Harry dashed off.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wide-eyed.
"Feel as though we're missing something, Hermione?" Ron asked.
She just nodded, looking a little worried.
Harry entered the beautifully decorated bathroom and ducked into
a stall, locking it tightly. He curiously unfolded the paper. It
was a newspaper clipping.
Wizarding Montly Reports….
Special Correspondent: Eliza Pinswooke
The Death Eaters have made no secret of their
constant search for Harry Potter, the boy who defeated You-Know-Who.
It seems that the Dark Lord wants his revenge, and won't stop until
he gets it. One witch, Helda Frogglegute, has survived a Death Eater's
attack and has a very interesting piece of information Exclusive to
Wizarding Montly, she has revealed that after narrowly escaping a
Death Eater, she remembered something from her attack. She was held
captive in her own home, and every morning the Death Eater would tell
her he would free her if she could tell him the whereabouts of
Harry Potter.
She asked what he would do if he found the boy. All he would reveal
is that You-Know-Who plans to settle the score and has spies
everywhere, watching and waiting .Helda escaped the following
morning out a window and got in contact with Wizarding Montly with
this bit of information. She is now under special protection by the
Ministry of Magic. Let's hope that wherever Harry Potter is, he
is well protected and on his guard
Attached to the clipping was a small, scribbled note.
Just thought you should know. -Draco Malfoy
Harry looked at the note, genuinely shocked. Why on earth would
Draco want him to know that he should be extra careful? Was this
some sort of cruel joke? But something inside Harry told him it
wasn't. Draco Malfoy had just done a genuinely nice thing. And it
felt really, really weird to be holding a tip-off from Malfoy in
one hand as he opened the door to the bathroom, and walked out,
slightly dazed.
He suddenly ran straight into Malfoy, completely alone, who was
headed for the bathroom himself.
They looked at each other for a moment.
"Er, thanks, Draco." Harry said rather nervously.
"Get out of my way." Draco snarled, pushing past him.
Which left Harry feeling more confused than ever.
Ron and Hermione were playing chess on a nifty little portable board Hermione had gotten over the summer when Harry came back.
They both stopped and looked up at him.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked.
"I don't what's up with him." Harry said honestly.
And the subject was dropped.
As the trip progressed, Dean, Seamus and Neville all dropped in for a
moment to say hello. And just when they were finishing off the last
of their candy, a very unexpected visitor opened their compartment
door.
It was Fleur Delacour, looking just as stunning as she had before.
"Hello, 'Arry!" She practically shrieked, running over and giving him
and Ron a big hug.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, rather coldly.
"I am helping 'Agrid as the Care of Ze Magical Creatures Assistant.
I'snt zat wonderful!!" She looked positively ecstatic.
"That's great!!" Ron said, a little too enthusiastically.
"Since when does Hagrid need an assistant?" Hermione muttered
under her breath.
Fleur didn't notice. She flashed them all a dazzling smile and
dashed off.
"Wow, that's so cool! I knew she was going to try and get a job
at Hogwarts, but I didn't think it would happen over one summer!"
Ron was very pink around the ears.
"I suppose Hagrid might have to take a few days off." Hermione
said thoughtfully.
She remembered Dumbledore saying that Hagrid was going to have to
help get all the giants on the side opposing Voldemort before it
was too late. Giants would either be a very strong ally, or a very
deadly enemy.
In the next few minutes, the train began to slow. The sun was
setting, causing the sky to turn a very magnificent pink. The
first years were talking excitedly as Hagrid herded them onto
the many small boats that would take them across the river.
Hedwig was flying crazily around her cage as Harry started to
put his things onto a carriage. Ron, Hermione and Neville were
already inside.
"What is it, Hedwig?" He looked at his owl curiously.
She was going berserk. Finally, Harry opened the door to her cage
just a bit. She shot out like a cannon, and soared over to the group
of first years. Letting out an exasperated cry, Harry hurried after
her. Pushing through the crowd, he saw that Hedwig had landed right
on the shoulder of a very tall first year girl.
"I'm so sorry." Harry apologized quickly.
"That's all right." She grinned at him.
"I'm Harry Potter." He said, taking Hedwig off her shoulder.
"Of course," she said, not even looking at his scar, "I'm Christine
Hartsook. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too." Something about her looked very familiar.
Harry gave her a quick smile, and dashed off for his carriage.
But they had all started off down the road to Hogwarts, except for one.
He hurried into it, not even caring who else rode with him.
To his great surprise, it was Angelina, Alicia and Katie.
"Harry! It's good to see you!" Alicia smiled brightly at him.
"Our carriage was a little delayed. Katie had some trouble loading up
her things." All three of them giggled.
The four of them were all soon talking excitedly about a new
Quidditch season.
"Harry, you do realize, that Oliver's gone and we have no Keeper or
Captain? We've already talked to Fred and George, we're all meeting
on the Quidditch field at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night to decide what
to do."
"Well, we'll have to tell Professor McGongall to tell the Gryffindor
house that a new Keeper's needed." Harry suggested.
"We have. And she said that she will. I just hope we can get somebody
who will fill Oliver's spot well."
"He really was a great Keeper." Angelina said, a slight melancholic
air to her voice.
They all grew quiet. Even though he could be a little maniacal about
Quidditch, everyone was really going to miss him.
"Well, at least we won the last year he was here. But we've got to
find someone great, because Gryffindor's on quite a winning streak,
and we're not giving it up now." Katie said determinedly.
They all voiced their agreement just as the carriage came to a halt
Hogwart's main entrance. All getting out and saying their good-byes,
Harry looking around for Ron and Hermione. They were already seated
at the Gryffindor table on the far end of the hall, and were watching
the entrance for him. Hermione waved, and he hurried over to them.
As he was hurrying past the Ravenclaw table, he ran smack into Cho
Chang.
"Hello, Harry! Have a good summer?" She was smiling.
Harry felt the familiar lurch in his stomach.
"Yes, you?"
"Well…not really." Her eyes suddenly got slightly misted over.
Harry felt really stupid. Her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, had been
killed by Voldemort at the end of the last year. Why had he even asked? "So, I'll see you later then." He said quickly.
"Right, see you." She smiled, although a little more forced this time.
And she went and sat with her many friends at the Ravenclaw table as
Harry sat down in the seat Ron and Hermione had saved for him. The
Sorting was just about to begin. For once, stuffed with candy, the
three of them could actually enjoy it and not think about the
wonderful feast that awaited them.
All the first years got in a line, some looking slightly nervous.
Harry scanned the line and spotted Christine Hartsook. She was
looking straight at him with her dark eyes and wore no expression.
It was really strange. They were seemingly both in a trance,
unable to look away.
"Harry, it's starting!" Hermione nudged him.
He snapped back into reality.
"Alexander, James!" A little fat boy with a crazy mess of curly
blond hair rushed up to the stool and knocked it over in his
excitement.
"Are they sure his name's not Longbottom?" Ron muttered.
Hermione and Harry pressed their hands to their mouths to stop from
bursting out laughing. The little boy did seem remarkably like their
friend, Neville Longbottom. But unlike Neville, he was made a:
"HUFFLEPUFF!!"
They all watched with amusement as he stumbled over his robes and
nearly toppled off his chair at the Hufflepuff table.
Hermione was turning red from holding in her laughter and finally
let out a strangled sort of sneeze that wasn't very good cover.
This made Ron and Harry laugh, but Harry suddenly grew quiet when
a little later, he heard Professor McGongall called out:
"Hartsook, Christine!"
She walked up to the stool with a quiet sort of grace and placed the
hat atop her impressive head of shiny black hair. The hat seemed
to be thinking for awhile, and after awhile the hat announced:
"GRYFFINDOR!!"
Harry clapped with the rest of his house but noticed her eyes were
once again locked on his. She sat a few chairs down from them,
a small smile on her face.
"Harry, what' s up with you? Do you know her from somewhere?"
Ron asked, looking a bit bewildered at Harry's odd behavior.
"No, I've never seen her before in my life." Harry said dully.
Just as the threesome grew quiet, a large amount of delicious food
appeared on their plates. Hermione looked at it sadly for a moment,
and then with a sigh of resignation, started eating.
"Given up on S.P.E.W., have you?" Harry asked.
Hermione's mouth was absolutely stuffed with roast chicken which
she swallowed with a large gulp.
"No, of course not. I still think it's terrible the way they're
being treated, but I'm not going to end it alone," she looked rather
pointedly at both of them, "and without some support, I'll never be
able to change anything. Maybe I can talk to Dumbledore or something."
Hermione continued to absolutely stuff herself with food.
Dumbledore stood up at that moment.
"Please, students of Hogwarts, take a quick moment from this delicious
feast for the beginning of the year announcements. I'm very pleased to
announce that Quidditch is back this year," there was a thunderous
round of applause, "and Gryffindor is in need of a new Keeper and
Hufflepuff is in need of a new Seeker. If you feel that you are
qualified, please contact Professor McGongall or Professor Sprout."
The hall fell strangely silent. Cedric's absence seemed to cause all
the Hufflepuff's to lose their appetites. "But, on a different note,
it gives me great pleasure to present Miss Fleur Delacour as the The
Care of Magical Creatures assistant." Fleur tossed her sheet of
silvery hair over one shoulder and gave a small wave. The male
portion of Hogwarts seemed especially pleased with this announcement.
" Also, Professor Avery as the Advanced Astronomy teacher. And
returning to his position as Defense Against the Dark Arts,
Professor Lupin!" All of Hogwarts, except the Slytherins,
leaped to their feet with thunderous applause. At that moment,
Professor Lupin entered into the Great Hall, with a sort of an
embarrassed but happy wave.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were practically screaming themselves
hoarse.
"I can't believe it!!" Harry shouted to them, feeling happier than
he had the whole summer.
"I wonder if he figured out how to take care of his...problem?"
Hermione whispered to both of them.
"Wonder what Snape thinks!!" Ron yelled, excitedly
scanning the teacher's table.
"Where is he?" Harry asked them, bewildered.
But Snape wasn't there. In his usual seat was a middle-aged man
with blond-gray hair and small hazel eyes. He looked nice enough,
but completely unfamiliar.
"And replacing Professor Snape as the Potions teacher, Professor
Capstone!" The man gave a very short wave.
This was the best news they could have ever imagined. Harry, Ron and
Hermione were practically delirious with happiness.
"Dig in everyone and here's to a wonderful year!!" Dumbledore wore
an expression of great happiness and his eyes were twinkling as he
drank deeply from his goblet.
"Here, here!" The three chorused, banging their goblets together
so forcefully that iced pumpkin juice sloshed over the sides.
As soon as they finished, they leaped up from their seats to go
see Lupin.
Harry got there first and was greeted with a very warm hug.
"Why'd you come back?!" Harry asked, smiling so hard it hurt.
"Dumbledore and I decided that I could keep my situation under
my control. I'll just have to be much more cautious and miss
the two days before and after the full moon, just for safety's sake."
"That's so wonderful!" Hermione's cheeks were flushed pink with
happiness.
They told all told Lupin good-bye and headed off to the Gryffindor
tower. It was so great to be back, telling the Fat Lady the
password (Star Dust) and entering the common room.
"Hey, Hermione, just out of curiosity, why aren't you a prefect
this year?" Ron asked as she started off for the girl's tower.
"I don't know. They sent me a notice with my beginning of the
year letter. I thought it over, and well, with all of our,
er, activities, I didn't think it was the best plan.
Besides, I need to start studying for the O.W.L.'s as soon as
possible and don't need any distractions." She said matter of factly.
Ron looked at her with a bemused expression.
"Nice to know some people never change." He laughed.
They all said good-night and as Harry entered the familiar dorm
with the four-poster beds, his heart swelled with happiness.
There was a large sign reading Fifth Years. He was back where
he belonged. And as Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron all nodded off,
Harry sat awake in his bed, thinking about what a great year this
was going to be.
The next morning, Harry still felt excited. He had the Quidditch
meeting today and the start of all his classes. Today was Care
of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, Potions with Hufflepuffs
and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. It was going
to be a great day, he just knew it. Practically leaping out of bed,
he put on his robes and hat and walked down to the common room with
Ron.
Hermione and Ginny were sitting on one of the couches, giggling about
something. They looked up at Harry and Ron with big smiles. Ginny
had grown about a foot over the summer, and was actually getting
quite pretty.
Hermione fell into step with Ron and Harry and they set off for the
Great Hall. They settled down for breakfast, and just as they began
talking about what Professor Capstone must be like, the owls came
swooping in. A beautiful tawny owl landed right in front of Hermione.
A big smile crossed her face as she ripped it open and turned away
from Ron and Harry.
"Who's that from?" Harry asked.
"Viktor. He wants to meet up in Hogsmeade the first weekend we go.
Apparently, the whole Bulgarian Quidditch team is in England for
publicity and I had told him that we were going to Hogsmeade that
same weekend. So it all worked out, and I'll write him a reply as
soon as I can get up to the common room." She said this all very
fast and excited.
Ron suddenly became very interested in his bacon and eggs omelet.
Harry saw Hedwig coming in with a letter from Sirius and opened it
hurriedly. Ron was distracted by this and forgot about Viktor's letter.
Harry-
Be sure to keep me informed on anything interesting happening in
Hogwarts. I'm still hiding out, but the school owls will know where
to find me. I hope your summer hasn't been too hard with the present
situation. Give Ron and Hermione all my best. Keep me informed about
anything unusual.
-Sirius
"Well, you can tell him that Snape's gone. He'd get a kick out of
that." Ron laughed.
"Write him tonight after your team's decided on their new Keeper.
He loves Quidditch, I'm sure he'd be interested." Hermione suggested,
tucking her letter into her bag.
"Oh, yeah. I wonder if anyone's going to show up." Harry was pondering
this when the first bell rang out from the bell tower.
"Time for Care of Magical Creatures." Ron announced, looking at his
schedule.
"And no more of that Divination nonsense, Ron. I'm so glad someone's
finally taking Muggle Studies with me."
"Well, after you nagged me about it in every letter you wrote the
entire summer, how could I say no?" Ron laughed.
"You sure you don't mind taking Advanced Astronomy alone, Harry?"
Hermione asked.
"No, it's alright." Harry was saying, when all of sudden, Neville
was at their side.
"You won't be taking it alone, Harry, I'm taking it too!!"
Neville gasped, grinning widely.
"That's great, Neville. I'll see you there." Neville told them to
go ahead after he accidentally spilled all his books from his bag.
Harry was very relieved he had dropped Divination. He was getting
sick of his death being predicted whenever he set foot into that
terribly hot, perfumed classroom.
They reached Hagrid's cabin. Fleur was dashing in and out, apparently
making preparations. Hagrid came out, looking extremely excited.
The Slytherins were all ambling up, looking just as unpleasant as
ever. Everyone sat down on the grassy hill in front of the cabin,
Parvati and Lavender anxiously whispering about how much they hoped
they would get to see the unicorns again.
Finally, after about five minutes of waiting, and loads of complaints
from the Slytherins, Hagrid and Fleur marched out of the cabin together
each holding a bowler hat.
Everyone looked at them puzzled.
"'Ello, everyone! Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures." Hagrid was
beaming with anticipation.
"For ze first few months at Hogwarts, you will be working with a
partner on a very special project zat Hagrid and I have prepared."
Fleur also looked excited.
"Fleur has the names of all the Slytherins, and I've got the
Gryffindors. When we call yer name, go sit with your partner,
and than you'll get to see what we're gonna be working on this year."
Hagrid motioned at Fleur to begin.
Fleur reached into the hat and pulled out a slip of paper.
"Draco Malfoy." She read aloud, scanning the crowd for him.
He put a hand in the air reluctantly.
Hagrid reached inside his hat. Harry had every finger crossed, eyes
shut, hoping against hope Hagrid wouldn't say his name. Hagrid
glanced at the slip with a look of pity. Oh no! Harry thought.
"Hermione Granger."
Hermione's jaw dropped. She hadn't really been listening.
Hagrid looked very sorry to have to announce this to her.
Draco rolled his eyes and said something under his breath that made
Pansy laugh quietly.
"Well, then, go sit with each other over thar." Hagrid motioned
toward an empty bit of land.
Staring at each other with looks of utter loathing, they sat as far
away from each other as possible.
Fleur and Hagrid proceeded through the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
Lavender and Goyle were paired up, and Parvati gave her friend a
look of great pity. Ron and Vincent Crabbe were put together, and
Ron let out a quiet moan.
"Great, I'll have to do all the work." He muttered, reluctantly
joining Crabbe in the now crowded field.
Harry and Pansy were the only people left.
"You're kidding me. No way." She said very loudly to Hagrid when he
told them they were a group.
Harry didn't really feel the need to say anything. It was just one
class after all, and maybe they'd get something really fun to do.
"Right then, now that you all have your partners-"
Draco snorted. Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Now it's time to receive ze assignment." Fleur watched as Hagrid
brought out several large boxes.
"Not skrewts!!" Parvati called out, terrified.
"No, not skrewts, Parvati. Nah, me and Fleur have a very special
treat for all of you this year." Hagrid opened a box to reveal
several large eggs.
Ron looked at Harry quickly. Surely, Hagrid hadn't...
"Drazards!!" Fleur said, excited, picking up one the light blue eggs.
Hagrid had a wide smile on his face. Everyone else stared up at them
blankly.
"It's a half-breed between the Swedish Short Snout and a common
lizard. Just discovered 'em this summer. Only grow to about four feet
tall. You and yer partner will raise 'em, feed 'em, and we'll see
how they turn out!"
A rush of excited whispers spread through the group. Pansy and
Harry sat silently. Draco said something under his breath to Hermione
that made her clench her hands into fists and hiss something back.
Crabbe looked at Ron stupidly.
"What...?" He asked blankly.
"Don't worry about it, Crabbe." Ron said, rolling his eyes when
he looked back at Harry.
Harry smiled.
"This is so stupid." Pansy finally muttered.
"No, it isn't." Harry said angrily back.
Pansy got quiet again. Fleur and Hagrid were handing out the eggs
to everyone, and excited squeals of "I can feel it moving!" and
"What a gorgeous egg!" rippled through the crowd.
Harry and Pansy's egg was huge, the biggest one they had.
Hagrid gave Harry a big wink as he handed it to him. Harry smiled
weakly back. Did Hagrid think his experience with dragons would make
him do better on this assignment?
"MINE'S HATCHING!!" The Slytherin girl paired with Neville shrieked.
All right, that's all you're getting for now. R/H, H/G stuff to come,
but I'm trying to write this like the fifth book, so it's not
entirely a romance. If I get good reviews, I'll keep posting it. And
trust me, there's alot more exciting things to come.
It was nearly the beginning of his fifth year, but he couldn't muster
much excitement. Voldemort had been gathering all his followers
together the entire summer and several killings, Muggle and otherwise,
had resulted. But Harry always knew that Voldemort didn't care about
killing those people. The only person he cared about killing was Harry. Harry Potter, the only wizard who had ever defeated him, and before Harry was even out of diapers.
This summer had not been a terrible one. The Dursleys were strangely
kind to him. Harry suspected Dumbledore had spoken to them, and it
had frightened them into submission. He slept in the newly refurbished
guest room, and was allowed to work on his wizarding homework when
and wherever he wanted. They just ignored him completely, which was a
pleasant switch from being yelled at the second he stepped into a room.
He had asked Uncle Vernon to sign his Hogsmeade slip, and he had done
so with barely a glance away from the newspaper. Hedwig regularly
brought him letters from Ron and Hermione. Mr. Weasley and Percy were
so overworked at the Ministry of Magic that they had barely spoken to
the rest of the family the whole summer. Ron didn't mind this in
Percy's case, but he said that he missed his dad. The Ministry was
working extremely hard to keep the Voldemort situation under control,
but were not having much success.
Hermione had had a good summer, but was a little frightened the
whole time. The only people, so far, Voldemort had been attacking
were Muggle-born. Harry was extremely glad she had made it through
the summer unscathed, and was rather nice to be sitting with his
two best friends in the whole world.
All of them were sitting silently, lost in their own thoughts about
everything that had happened over the summer. Ron was absently
pulling at a loose thread on his Chudley Cannons sweatshirt and
Hermione had the Standard Book of Spells, Volume 5 open in her lap,
but wasn't reading it.
Suddenly, the witch who sold snacks wheeled her now squeaky cart
up to their compartment.
"Oh, are we halfway there already?" Hermione gasped, looking down
at her watch.
Harry treated them all to Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans
and Chocolate Frogs. They started talking normally, as if snapped
out of a trance.
"Eurgh, vomit flavor." Ron grimaced, looking at a familiar
sickeningly green candy bean.
Just as he said this, Malfoy entered their compartment,
with Pansy Parkinson on one arm and Crabbe and Goyle standing behind
him.
"Just in time." Ron said, offering the bean to Malfoy.
Malfoy didn't respond. Harry couldn't help noticing that he looked
a little different. His normally greasy blond hair was freshly washed
and combed, his eyes were a little less narrowed and he even looked
happier than usual. As Pansy grinned sweetly at Malfoy, Harry knew why.
"Wow, Granger, still alive, huh? Pity Voldemort didn't get to all
the Mudbloods this summer." Pansy said viciously.
Hermione looked up at her defiantly, as if daring her to continue.
"Shut up, Pansy." Ron growled angrily.
"Did you need something, Malfoy?" Harry asked.
"Just wanted to say hello." And to Harry's shock, Malfoy extended a
hand.
Harry looked up at him with raised eyebrows. Then he saw under
Malfoy's bent thumb was a folded sheet of paper. Harry slowly shook
Malfoy's hand, and felt the paper passed into his open hand.
Ron and Hermione were watching with open mouthed shock. Crabbe
and Goyle looked at them stupidly, as if they felt like they had
missed something. (which wouldn't be unusual) Pansy looked confused
and kept staring at Malfoy for an explanation.
But neither said anything. And Malfoy left, leading his entourage
with him. They could hear Pansy questioning him shrilly as they
walked down the hall.
"What the-?" Ron asked, still in shock.
"Oh, you know what, I've got to go to bathroom...er...be back in
a moment." And with that, Harry dashed off.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wide-eyed.
"Feel as though we're missing something, Hermione?" Ron asked.
She just nodded, looking a little worried.
Harry entered the beautifully decorated bathroom and ducked into
a stall, locking it tightly. He curiously unfolded the paper. It
was a newspaper clipping.
Wizarding Montly Reports….
Special Correspondent: Eliza Pinswooke
The Death Eaters have made no secret of their
constant search for Harry Potter, the boy who defeated You-Know-Who.
It seems that the Dark Lord wants his revenge, and won't stop until
he gets it. One witch, Helda Frogglegute, has survived a Death Eater's
attack and has a very interesting piece of information Exclusive to
Wizarding Montly, she has revealed that after narrowly escaping a
Death Eater, she remembered something from her attack. She was held
captive in her own home, and every morning the Death Eater would tell
her he would free her if she could tell him the whereabouts of
Harry Potter.
She asked what he would do if he found the boy. All he would reveal
is that You-Know-Who plans to settle the score and has spies
everywhere, watching and waiting .Helda escaped the following
morning out a window and got in contact with Wizarding Montly with
this bit of information. She is now under special protection by the
Ministry of Magic. Let's hope that wherever Harry Potter is, he
is well protected and on his guard
Attached to the clipping was a small, scribbled note.
Just thought you should know. -Draco Malfoy
Harry looked at the note, genuinely shocked. Why on earth would
Draco want him to know that he should be extra careful? Was this
some sort of cruel joke? But something inside Harry told him it
wasn't. Draco Malfoy had just done a genuinely nice thing. And it
felt really, really weird to be holding a tip-off from Malfoy in
one hand as he opened the door to the bathroom, and walked out,
slightly dazed.
He suddenly ran straight into Malfoy, completely alone, who was
headed for the bathroom himself.
They looked at each other for a moment.
"Er, thanks, Draco." Harry said rather nervously.
"Get out of my way." Draco snarled, pushing past him.
Which left Harry feeling more confused than ever.
Ron and Hermione were playing chess on a nifty little portable board Hermione had gotten over the summer when Harry came back.
They both stopped and looked up at him.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked.
"I don't what's up with him." Harry said honestly.
And the subject was dropped.
As the trip progressed, Dean, Seamus and Neville all dropped in for a
moment to say hello. And just when they were finishing off the last
of their candy, a very unexpected visitor opened their compartment
door.
It was Fleur Delacour, looking just as stunning as she had before.
"Hello, 'Arry!" She practically shrieked, running over and giving him
and Ron a big hug.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, rather coldly.
"I am helping 'Agrid as the Care of Ze Magical Creatures Assistant.
I'snt zat wonderful!!" She looked positively ecstatic.
"That's great!!" Ron said, a little too enthusiastically.
"Since when does Hagrid need an assistant?" Hermione muttered
under her breath.
Fleur didn't notice. She flashed them all a dazzling smile and
dashed off.
"Wow, that's so cool! I knew she was going to try and get a job
at Hogwarts, but I didn't think it would happen over one summer!"
Ron was very pink around the ears.
"I suppose Hagrid might have to take a few days off." Hermione
said thoughtfully.
She remembered Dumbledore saying that Hagrid was going to have to
help get all the giants on the side opposing Voldemort before it
was too late. Giants would either be a very strong ally, or a very
deadly enemy.
In the next few minutes, the train began to slow. The sun was
setting, causing the sky to turn a very magnificent pink. The
first years were talking excitedly as Hagrid herded them onto
the many small boats that would take them across the river.
Hedwig was flying crazily around her cage as Harry started to
put his things onto a carriage. Ron, Hermione and Neville were
already inside.
"What is it, Hedwig?" He looked at his owl curiously.
She was going berserk. Finally, Harry opened the door to her cage
just a bit. She shot out like a cannon, and soared over to the group
of first years. Letting out an exasperated cry, Harry hurried after
her. Pushing through the crowd, he saw that Hedwig had landed right
on the shoulder of a very tall first year girl.
"I'm so sorry." Harry apologized quickly.
"That's all right." She grinned at him.
"I'm Harry Potter." He said, taking Hedwig off her shoulder.
"Of course," she said, not even looking at his scar, "I'm Christine
Hartsook. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too." Something about her looked very familiar.
Harry gave her a quick smile, and dashed off for his carriage.
But they had all started off down the road to Hogwarts, except for one.
He hurried into it, not even caring who else rode with him.
To his great surprise, it was Angelina, Alicia and Katie.
"Harry! It's good to see you!" Alicia smiled brightly at him.
"Our carriage was a little delayed. Katie had some trouble loading up
her things." All three of them giggled.
The four of them were all soon talking excitedly about a new
Quidditch season.
"Harry, you do realize, that Oliver's gone and we have no Keeper or
Captain? We've already talked to Fred and George, we're all meeting
on the Quidditch field at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night to decide what
to do."
"Well, we'll have to tell Professor McGongall to tell the Gryffindor
house that a new Keeper's needed." Harry suggested.
"We have. And she said that she will. I just hope we can get somebody
who will fill Oliver's spot well."
"He really was a great Keeper." Angelina said, a slight melancholic
air to her voice.
They all grew quiet. Even though he could be a little maniacal about
Quidditch, everyone was really going to miss him.
"Well, at least we won the last year he was here. But we've got to
find someone great, because Gryffindor's on quite a winning streak,
and we're not giving it up now." Katie said determinedly.
They all voiced their agreement just as the carriage came to a halt
Hogwart's main entrance. All getting out and saying their good-byes,
Harry looking around for Ron and Hermione. They were already seated
at the Gryffindor table on the far end of the hall, and were watching
the entrance for him. Hermione waved, and he hurried over to them.
As he was hurrying past the Ravenclaw table, he ran smack into Cho
Chang.
"Hello, Harry! Have a good summer?" She was smiling.
Harry felt the familiar lurch in his stomach.
"Yes, you?"
"Well…not really." Her eyes suddenly got slightly misted over.
Harry felt really stupid. Her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, had been
killed by Voldemort at the end of the last year. Why had he even asked? "So, I'll see you later then." He said quickly.
"Right, see you." She smiled, although a little more forced this time.
And she went and sat with her many friends at the Ravenclaw table as
Harry sat down in the seat Ron and Hermione had saved for him. The
Sorting was just about to begin. For once, stuffed with candy, the
three of them could actually enjoy it and not think about the
wonderful feast that awaited them.
All the first years got in a line, some looking slightly nervous.
Harry scanned the line and spotted Christine Hartsook. She was
looking straight at him with her dark eyes and wore no expression.
It was really strange. They were seemingly both in a trance,
unable to look away.
"Harry, it's starting!" Hermione nudged him.
He snapped back into reality.
"Alexander, James!" A little fat boy with a crazy mess of curly
blond hair rushed up to the stool and knocked it over in his
excitement.
"Are they sure his name's not Longbottom?" Ron muttered.
Hermione and Harry pressed their hands to their mouths to stop from
bursting out laughing. The little boy did seem remarkably like their
friend, Neville Longbottom. But unlike Neville, he was made a:
"HUFFLEPUFF!!"
They all watched with amusement as he stumbled over his robes and
nearly toppled off his chair at the Hufflepuff table.
Hermione was turning red from holding in her laughter and finally
let out a strangled sort of sneeze that wasn't very good cover.
This made Ron and Harry laugh, but Harry suddenly grew quiet when
a little later, he heard Professor McGongall called out:
"Hartsook, Christine!"
She walked up to the stool with a quiet sort of grace and placed the
hat atop her impressive head of shiny black hair. The hat seemed
to be thinking for awhile, and after awhile the hat announced:
"GRYFFINDOR!!"
Harry clapped with the rest of his house but noticed her eyes were
once again locked on his. She sat a few chairs down from them,
a small smile on her face.
"Harry, what' s up with you? Do you know her from somewhere?"
Ron asked, looking a bit bewildered at Harry's odd behavior.
"No, I've never seen her before in my life." Harry said dully.
Just as the threesome grew quiet, a large amount of delicious food
appeared on their plates. Hermione looked at it sadly for a moment,
and then with a sigh of resignation, started eating.
"Given up on S.P.E.W., have you?" Harry asked.
Hermione's mouth was absolutely stuffed with roast chicken which
she swallowed with a large gulp.
"No, of course not. I still think it's terrible the way they're
being treated, but I'm not going to end it alone," she looked rather
pointedly at both of them, "and without some support, I'll never be
able to change anything. Maybe I can talk to Dumbledore or something."
Hermione continued to absolutely stuff herself with food.
Dumbledore stood up at that moment.
"Please, students of Hogwarts, take a quick moment from this delicious
feast for the beginning of the year announcements. I'm very pleased to
announce that Quidditch is back this year," there was a thunderous
round of applause, "and Gryffindor is in need of a new Keeper and
Hufflepuff is in need of a new Seeker. If you feel that you are
qualified, please contact Professor McGongall or Professor Sprout."
The hall fell strangely silent. Cedric's absence seemed to cause all
the Hufflepuff's to lose their appetites. "But, on a different note,
it gives me great pleasure to present Miss Fleur Delacour as the The
Care of Magical Creatures assistant." Fleur tossed her sheet of
silvery hair over one shoulder and gave a small wave. The male
portion of Hogwarts seemed especially pleased with this announcement.
" Also, Professor Avery as the Advanced Astronomy teacher. And
returning to his position as Defense Against the Dark Arts,
Professor Lupin!" All of Hogwarts, except the Slytherins,
leaped to their feet with thunderous applause. At that moment,
Professor Lupin entered into the Great Hall, with a sort of an
embarrassed but happy wave.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were practically screaming themselves
hoarse.
"I can't believe it!!" Harry shouted to them, feeling happier than
he had the whole summer.
"I wonder if he figured out how to take care of his...problem?"
Hermione whispered to both of them.
"Wonder what Snape thinks!!" Ron yelled, excitedly
scanning the teacher's table.
"Where is he?" Harry asked them, bewildered.
But Snape wasn't there. In his usual seat was a middle-aged man
with blond-gray hair and small hazel eyes. He looked nice enough,
but completely unfamiliar.
"And replacing Professor Snape as the Potions teacher, Professor
Capstone!" The man gave a very short wave.
This was the best news they could have ever imagined. Harry, Ron and
Hermione were practically delirious with happiness.
"Dig in everyone and here's to a wonderful year!!" Dumbledore wore
an expression of great happiness and his eyes were twinkling as he
drank deeply from his goblet.
"Here, here!" The three chorused, banging their goblets together
so forcefully that iced pumpkin juice sloshed over the sides.
As soon as they finished, they leaped up from their seats to go
see Lupin.
Harry got there first and was greeted with a very warm hug.
"Why'd you come back?!" Harry asked, smiling so hard it hurt.
"Dumbledore and I decided that I could keep my situation under
my control. I'll just have to be much more cautious and miss
the two days before and after the full moon, just for safety's sake."
"That's so wonderful!" Hermione's cheeks were flushed pink with
happiness.
They told all told Lupin good-bye and headed off to the Gryffindor
tower. It was so great to be back, telling the Fat Lady the
password (Star Dust) and entering the common room.
"Hey, Hermione, just out of curiosity, why aren't you a prefect
this year?" Ron asked as she started off for the girl's tower.
"I don't know. They sent me a notice with my beginning of the
year letter. I thought it over, and well, with all of our,
er, activities, I didn't think it was the best plan.
Besides, I need to start studying for the O.W.L.'s as soon as
possible and don't need any distractions." She said matter of factly.
Ron looked at her with a bemused expression.
"Nice to know some people never change." He laughed.
They all said good-night and as Harry entered the familiar dorm
with the four-poster beds, his heart swelled with happiness.
There was a large sign reading Fifth Years. He was back where
he belonged. And as Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron all nodded off,
Harry sat awake in his bed, thinking about what a great year this
was going to be.
The next morning, Harry still felt excited. He had the Quidditch
meeting today and the start of all his classes. Today was Care
of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, Potions with Hufflepuffs
and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. It was going
to be a great day, he just knew it. Practically leaping out of bed,
he put on his robes and hat and walked down to the common room with
Ron.
Hermione and Ginny were sitting on one of the couches, giggling about
something. They looked up at Harry and Ron with big smiles. Ginny
had grown about a foot over the summer, and was actually getting
quite pretty.
Hermione fell into step with Ron and Harry and they set off for the
Great Hall. They settled down for breakfast, and just as they began
talking about what Professor Capstone must be like, the owls came
swooping in. A beautiful tawny owl landed right in front of Hermione.
A big smile crossed her face as she ripped it open and turned away
from Ron and Harry.
"Who's that from?" Harry asked.
"Viktor. He wants to meet up in Hogsmeade the first weekend we go.
Apparently, the whole Bulgarian Quidditch team is in England for
publicity and I had told him that we were going to Hogsmeade that
same weekend. So it all worked out, and I'll write him a reply as
soon as I can get up to the common room." She said this all very
fast and excited.
Ron suddenly became very interested in his bacon and eggs omelet.
Harry saw Hedwig coming in with a letter from Sirius and opened it
hurriedly. Ron was distracted by this and forgot about Viktor's letter.
Harry-
Be sure to keep me informed on anything interesting happening in
Hogwarts. I'm still hiding out, but the school owls will know where
to find me. I hope your summer hasn't been too hard with the present
situation. Give Ron and Hermione all my best. Keep me informed about
anything unusual.
-Sirius
"Well, you can tell him that Snape's gone. He'd get a kick out of
that." Ron laughed.
"Write him tonight after your team's decided on their new Keeper.
He loves Quidditch, I'm sure he'd be interested." Hermione suggested,
tucking her letter into her bag.
"Oh, yeah. I wonder if anyone's going to show up." Harry was pondering
this when the first bell rang out from the bell tower.
"Time for Care of Magical Creatures." Ron announced, looking at his
schedule.
"And no more of that Divination nonsense, Ron. I'm so glad someone's
finally taking Muggle Studies with me."
"Well, after you nagged me about it in every letter you wrote the
entire summer, how could I say no?" Ron laughed.
"You sure you don't mind taking Advanced Astronomy alone, Harry?"
Hermione asked.
"No, it's alright." Harry was saying, when all of sudden, Neville
was at their side.
"You won't be taking it alone, Harry, I'm taking it too!!"
Neville gasped, grinning widely.
"That's great, Neville. I'll see you there." Neville told them to
go ahead after he accidentally spilled all his books from his bag.
Harry was very relieved he had dropped Divination. He was getting
sick of his death being predicted whenever he set foot into that
terribly hot, perfumed classroom.
They reached Hagrid's cabin. Fleur was dashing in and out, apparently
making preparations. Hagrid came out, looking extremely excited.
The Slytherins were all ambling up, looking just as unpleasant as
ever. Everyone sat down on the grassy hill in front of the cabin,
Parvati and Lavender anxiously whispering about how much they hoped
they would get to see the unicorns again.
Finally, after about five minutes of waiting, and loads of complaints
from the Slytherins, Hagrid and Fleur marched out of the cabin together
each holding a bowler hat.
Everyone looked at them puzzled.
"'Ello, everyone! Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures." Hagrid was
beaming with anticipation.
"For ze first few months at Hogwarts, you will be working with a
partner on a very special project zat Hagrid and I have prepared."
Fleur also looked excited.
"Fleur has the names of all the Slytherins, and I've got the
Gryffindors. When we call yer name, go sit with your partner,
and than you'll get to see what we're gonna be working on this year."
Hagrid motioned at Fleur to begin.
Fleur reached into the hat and pulled out a slip of paper.
"Draco Malfoy." She read aloud, scanning the crowd for him.
He put a hand in the air reluctantly.
Hagrid reached inside his hat. Harry had every finger crossed, eyes
shut, hoping against hope Hagrid wouldn't say his name. Hagrid
glanced at the slip with a look of pity. Oh no! Harry thought.
"Hermione Granger."
Hermione's jaw dropped. She hadn't really been listening.
Hagrid looked very sorry to have to announce this to her.
Draco rolled his eyes and said something under his breath that made
Pansy laugh quietly.
"Well, then, go sit with each other over thar." Hagrid motioned
toward an empty bit of land.
Staring at each other with looks of utter loathing, they sat as far
away from each other as possible.
Fleur and Hagrid proceeded through the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
Lavender and Goyle were paired up, and Parvati gave her friend a
look of great pity. Ron and Vincent Crabbe were put together, and
Ron let out a quiet moan.
"Great, I'll have to do all the work." He muttered, reluctantly
joining Crabbe in the now crowded field.
Harry and Pansy were the only people left.
"You're kidding me. No way." She said very loudly to Hagrid when he
told them they were a group.
Harry didn't really feel the need to say anything. It was just one
class after all, and maybe they'd get something really fun to do.
"Right then, now that you all have your partners-"
Draco snorted. Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Now it's time to receive ze assignment." Fleur watched as Hagrid
brought out several large boxes.
"Not skrewts!!" Parvati called out, terrified.
"No, not skrewts, Parvati. Nah, me and Fleur have a very special
treat for all of you this year." Hagrid opened a box to reveal
several large eggs.
Ron looked at Harry quickly. Surely, Hagrid hadn't...
"Drazards!!" Fleur said, excited, picking up one the light blue eggs.
Hagrid had a wide smile on his face. Everyone else stared up at them
blankly.
"It's a half-breed between the Swedish Short Snout and a common
lizard. Just discovered 'em this summer. Only grow to about four feet
tall. You and yer partner will raise 'em, feed 'em, and we'll see
how they turn out!"
A rush of excited whispers spread through the group. Pansy and
Harry sat silently. Draco said something under his breath to Hermione
that made her clench her hands into fists and hiss something back.
Crabbe looked at Ron stupidly.
"What...?" He asked blankly.
"Don't worry about it, Crabbe." Ron said, rolling his eyes when
he looked back at Harry.
Harry smiled.
"This is so stupid." Pansy finally muttered.
"No, it isn't." Harry said angrily back.
Pansy got quiet again. Fleur and Hagrid were handing out the eggs
to everyone, and excited squeals of "I can feel it moving!" and
"What a gorgeous egg!" rippled through the crowd.
Harry and Pansy's egg was huge, the biggest one they had.
Hagrid gave Harry a big wink as he handed it to him. Harry smiled
weakly back. Did Hagrid think his experience with dragons would make
him do better on this assignment?
"MINE'S HATCHING!!" The Slytherin girl paired with Neville shrieked.
All right, that's all you're getting for now. R/H, H/G stuff to come,
but I'm trying to write this like the fifth book, so it's not
entirely a romance. If I get good reviews, I'll keep posting it. And
trust me, there's alot more exciting things to come.