Harry Potter and the Year of Truth
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any the Characters or spells and animals. All Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowing. This work is done for the enjoyment of those whom wish to read stories and, in no way, an attempt to garner monetary compensation for it's production.
Plz read and review: no flamers as I don't spell very well so Plz keep it nice thank you.
Harry/Harem
Harry was running through the downpour with his hand above his head and the other tugging his lightened trunk behind him. He sighed as he reached the overhang that protected the entrance to King's Cross station which housed the magical platform 9 and three quarters. He smiled as he thought of the exciting fourth year he was to spend at his real home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This year would be the fourth year he would attend the magical home that had been a nine month reprieve from the hell that he had associated with his previous sleeping arrangements with the Dursley family. Harry knew that something big was going to happen this year, and this thing had nothing to do with Tom Riddle, at least he hoped it wouldn't. He didn't know exactly what was going to happen since the Weasleys had managed to stay tight lipped about it over the time he had spent with them since the Quidditch World Cup this past summer.
But he did know that it was supposed to be something big and it was to be very entertaining. Honestly, he was hoping it would be something that might actually allow him to avoid more fame and just be able to enjoy a single year at his home.
The Quidditch world cup had been very fun to watch and even the horrible way it had ended, with a dark mark in the sky, it was still one of the most notable magical experiences that Harry had ever had. Harry was brought out of his musing as he turned to look at Ron and Hermione appear from the deluge followed quickly by Ginny, the twins, Charlie, and then Mrs. Weasley. He wasted no time in moving forward and creating a path through the myriad of people on the platforms so that his friends could follow him. It took them little time to reach the pillar which acted as the portal from the Muggle world to the magical platform.
Harry moved to the side as he watched his companions move through the portal and gather together before goodbyes were started. Mrs. Weasley started to berate the Twins and doted upon Ginny as Hermione, Ron, and Harry stood to the side, "I think we should go put our trunks in our compartment then we can come back." Harry whispered to his friends as it looked like Mrs. Weasley was on a bit of a tirade, "We have the time." Hermione looked slightly apprehensive about just leaving but Ron nodded almost immediately and Hermione, somewhat reluctantly, followed her two friends onto the Hogwarts Express.
Harry led the way down the narrow hallway with Ron and Hermione following. They were about halfway through the train when they finally found an empty compartment and Harry stepped forward, blocking the entrance from the other side as Hermione and Ron filed into the compartment. As they put there stuff away and made there way back to say good bye to Mrs. Weasley. They made there approach Mrs. Weasley gave each a hug good bye told them to stay out of trouble, Harry of course answered "we don't go looking for trouble it finds us but we'll try not to get involved".
The golden trio made there way back to the train and found there seats and sat down. Finally the train began to move. Harry looked out the window watching the rain pour and the wind whip around then the door slid open and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. Neville looked in and said hi Harry looked back and told him to have seat.
After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm. Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match. "Gran didn't want to go, " he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though. ""It was, " said Ron. "Look at this, Neville... He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum. "Oh wow, " said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand. "We saw him right up close, as well, " said Ron. We were in the Top Box-""For the first and last time in your life, Weasley. "Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer.
Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar. "Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy, " said Harry coolly. "Weasley... What is that?" said Malfoy, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the moldy lace cuff very obvious. Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled. "Look at this!" said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety... "Eat dung, Malfoy!" said Ron, the same color as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly. "So... Going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know...
You'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won... ""What are you talking about?" snapped Ron. 'Are you going to enter?' Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?""Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy, " said Hermione testily, over the top of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4. A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago... Heard it from Cornelius Fudge.
But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry... Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley... Yes... They probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him... "Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned to Crabbe and Goyle, and the three of them disappeared.
Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered. "Ron!" said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered "Reparo!" and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door. "Well... Making it look like he knows everything and we don't... " Ron snarled. "Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry. '... Dad could've got a promotion any time... He just like sit where he is... ""Of course he does, " said Hermione quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron-""Him! Get to me!? As if!" said Ron, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.
Ron's bad mood continued for the rest of the journey. He didn't talk much as they changed into their school robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station. As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads. "Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform. "All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid. "Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather, " said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd.
A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.
Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase. "Blimey, " said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak-ARRGH!"A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded.
Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped-narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry's feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks. People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. Harry looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again. "PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling. "Ouch-sorry, Miss Granger-""That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat. "Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles. "Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived. "I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves-"Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely. "Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and through the double doors on the right, Ron muttering furiously under his breath as he pushed his sopping hair off his face. The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost.
Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed tonight in his usual doublet, but with a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much on his partially severed neck. "Good evening, " he said, beaming at them. "Says who?" said Harry, taking off his sneakers and emptying them of water. "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting. I'm starving. "The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, Harry hadn't been present at one since his own. He was quite looking forward to it. Just then, a highly excited, breathless voice called down the table. "Hiya, Harry!"It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was something of a hero. "Hi, Colin, " said Harry warily. "Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!""Er-good, " said Harry. "He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?""Er-yeah, all right, " said Harry. He turned back to Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick. "Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?" he said.
He was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor. "Oh no, not necessarily, " said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"Harry looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too, and Harry couldn't think who else was missing. "Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers. They had never yet had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Harry's favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, who had resigned last year. He looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there.
"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" said Hermione, looking anxious. Harry scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her fly away gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape Harry's least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose-Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days. On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Harry guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very center of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons.
The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. Harry glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it. "Oh hurry up, " Ron moaned, beside Harry, "I could eat a hippogriff. "The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Harry, Ron, andHermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school-all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what Harry recognized as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. The coat was so big for him that it looked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he hadlined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, I fell in the lake! He looked positively delighted about it. Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, ontop of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence.
Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hatbroke into song:A thousand years or more ago, When I was newly sewn, There lived four wizards of renown, Whose names are still well known: Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, Shrewd Slytherin, from fin. They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, They hatched a daring plan To educate young sorcerers Thus Hogwarts School began. Now each of these four founders Formed their own house, for each Did value different virtues In the ones they had to teach. By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest; For Ravenclaw, the cleverest Would always be the best; For Hufflepuff, hard workers were Most worthy of admission; And power-hungry Slytherin Loved those of great ambition. While still alive they did divide Their favorites from the throng, Yet how to pick the worthy ones When they were dead and gone? 'Twas Gryffindor who found the way, He whipped me off his head The founders put some brains in me So I could choose instead! Now slip me snug about your ears, I've never yet been wrong, I'll have a look inside your mind And tell where you belong! The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished. "That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us, " said Harry, clapping along with everyone else. "Sings a different one every year, " said Ron. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? Isuppose it spends all year making up the next one. "Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment. "When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool, " she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.
"Ackerley, Stewart!"A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, andsat down on the stool. "RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat. Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone wasapplauding him. Harry caught a glimpse of Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerley as hesat down. For a fleeting second, Harry had a strange desire to join the Ravenclaw table too. "Baddock, Malcolm!""SLYTHERIN!"The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Harry could see Malfoy clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Harry wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down. "Branstone, Eleanor!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Cauldwell, Owen!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Creevey, Dennis! "Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table.
About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming-a misleading impression, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide-"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother. "Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!""Cool!" said Colin, just as excitedly. "It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!""Wow!" said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster. "Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one with the black hair and glasses? See him? Know who he is, Dennis?"Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs. The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by oneto the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's. "Oh hurry up, " Ron moaned, massaging his stomach. "Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food, " said Nearly Headless Nick as "Madley, Laura!" became a Hufflepuff. "Course it is, if you're dead, " snapped Ron.
"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch, " said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table. "We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?"Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row. "Pritchard, Graham!""SLYTHERIN!""Quirke, Orla!""RAVENCLAW!"And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away. "About time, " said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate. Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome. "I have only two words to say to you, " he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuckin. ""Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes. Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates. "Aaah, 'at's be'er, " said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato. "You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know, " said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier. ""Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak. "Peeves, of course, " said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously.
He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast-well, it's quite out of the question,
you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council-the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance-but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down. "The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent specter covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves. "Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something, " said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?""Oh the usual, " said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits-"Clang.
Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention. "There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?" "Certainly, " said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred. ""I've never seen one!" said Hermione. "Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning... See to the fires and so on... I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"Hermione stared at him. "But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And-and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on theinch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck. "Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her. "Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee, " said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding.
"Oops-sorry, 'Arry-" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!""Slave labor, " said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labor. "And she refused to eat another bite. The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings. "Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!"But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up. When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard. "So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, " ("Hmph!"said Hermione) "I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-BashingBoomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can beviewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it. "The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year. ""What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak.
Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing through out the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy-but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the door way, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.
R&R {most of this taken from Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. Also this part is to make a Good foundation to get the story moving hope you all have a good Thanksgiving and those who don't Have a great day and a Happy holiday.} Will update next three days...
