Okay… my computer is being a total jerk again… now I need a huge update. Dang, I did NOT know it was THAT old! Once again, we do not own HP or TT! Enjoy!

Harry struggled into his school robes, slipping his invisibility cloak under it. Grabbing his wand, he warily made his way out of the dormitory. "Follow me," he whispered to his best friend Ron Weasley. They tiptoed down the spiral staircase and into the Gryffindor common room, where a Death Eater clad in a dark robe and a skeletal face mask. Hermione Granger, wearing a fuzzy bathrobe, stood pinned against the wall, her wand ten feet from where she was standing.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled. The Death Eater turned to face the two boys.

"Well, well," said a taunting, sickly sweet voice. Harry swallowed. It was the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange. She took off the mask, smirking malevolently. "If it weren't my Muggle-loving nephew and his scar-headed friend."

"Don't touch her," growled Harry, pointing his wand at Bellatrix. Her lips curved into a twisted sort of smile as she screeched,

"CRUCICO!" Hermione gave a scream that echoed throughout Gryffindor Tower as the torturing curse did its vile work.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, sparks flying from his wand. Bellatrix ducked to avoid the spell. The other Gryffindors poured into the common room from the dormitories.

"Harry!" Neville Longbottom shouted, pointing at the entrance to the room. Several more hooded Death Eaters entered, wands at the ready.

"This will not end well," Ron muttered.

Meanwhile, the first years, along with five transfer students, had gotten off the Hogwarts Express. Once Hermione's scream reached their ears, they instantly ran for their lives. All except for the five transfers. Richard and Garfield's bacckground and training in superhero business kicked in and they sprung into action; Richard using a spell to transform his wand into a bow staff and Garfield shifting into a cougar. Koriand'r turned to the tall, african american boy next to her.

"What is going on? I am not familiar with this School of Hogwarts."

"I dunno... but I'm gonna find out!" Victor rolled up his sleeves to reveal mechanical arms and running into the castle. Curious, Koriand'r followed, gripping what wizards call a 'wand' in her hands. The dark girl with the hood of her Hogwarts cloak pulled up, Rachel, was the only one standing.

"Might as well check it out," she sighed, grabbing her ebony wand and levitating (or flying) up to the tower where the scream came from.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, causing a Death Eater's wand to fly out of his (her?) hands. The Death Eater ignored the wand and went straight for Harry. The rest of Griffindor were also in the midst of battle.

"H-Harry, I don't think we have enough wizards..." Hermione yelled from across the room. The three Death Eaters closed in on Harry and Ron, Bellatrix being in the middle.

"AVADA -OOF!" Her spell was cut short when a boy about their age in Hogwarts robes with spikey black hair and blue eyes kicked her down, landing gracefully on top of her with a bow staff.

"You guys okay?" he asked with an American accent.

"Heads up, dudes!" Another squeaky, american voice yelled before a green goat charged at a Death Eater and ran blindly towards the three boys. The other two Death Eaters were quickly pushed out of of the way before their comrade was rammed into the wall, unconscious. It then shifted into a boy with soft blonde locks dyed green at the tips, wild green eyes, a few freckles, and the traditional Hogwarts robes.

"Hi! Name's-"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ron shouted, pointing his wand seemingly at the boy. He let out a girly scream and jumped into Harry's arms as the spell was directed at a Death Eater behind where he once stood.

"Oh... thanks."

"Can you get off of me now?" The boy jumped off Harry and more Death Eaters approached. The first boy jumped at one with a flurry of jabs and strikes using what once was his wand. Harry, Ron, and the 'Master of Transfiguration' as they mentally dubbed him sprung into action, each taking a single target.

Victor, despite being 50% metal, quickly made his way through the tower. It seemed the door, a portrait, was wide open, so he stepped in to find a battle between who he guessed to be students like himself and cloaked skeleton things. "What the...?" An irish boy flew past him and tumbled into the wall. "Whoa man, you okay?" To his surprise, the boy shook it off and ran back in.

"Don't just stand there, HELP!" Victor raised his human eyebrow before grinning and cracking his knuckles.

"Aw yeah, time to kick butt!"

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled as the spell hit its target. Unknown to her, another Death Eater had managed to sneak up on her from behind. Before she could notice, a girl with fiery red hair, tan skin, and emerald eyes flew- without a broom -at her, wand at the ready.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione ducked in time for the spell to hit the Death Eater behind her.

"T-thank you."

"You are most welcome, uh..."

"Hermione, Hermione Granger. And you are...?" The girl helped her up and shook her hand.

"I am Koriand'r."

"Like the spice?"

"It is a spice?"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" what seemed to be a black spell shot out of the window and hit a Death Eater. "I've never heard that spell before..." Hermione and Koriand'r snapped back into reality and went back to the battle. Only few noticed the cloaked girl fly into the window and take on a few of the attackers.

After the girl in the dark cloak dispatched several of the enemy, she floated down to the floor of the Gryffindor common room, unnoticed amidst the chaos. The Death Eaters all let out a simultaneous groan, many clutching their forearms. "He is coming," said one named Macnair, yanking up the sleeve of his robe. On the sinewy forearm, there was an inking of a skull, with a snake protruding from its mouth. . The Dark Mark, clear and concise, almost seemed to writhe on Macnair's skin. He dropped his sleeve, covering up the Mark, looked around, and raised his wand. "MORSMORDRE!" he cried. The Gryffindors shrank back with fright. Harry raced to the common room east window, and forced himself to look up at the emerald Dark Mark, seemingly comprised of a thousand glittering green stars. It rose high into the atmosphere, like a constellation in the night sky. Screams erupted from all around them. He looked back at the Death Eaters. They were waiting expectantly, patiently. Bellatrix locked her gaze onto Neville, who, although appearing very frightened, stood with his wand pointed resolutely at his parents' tormentor. Then, a tawny owl came gliding in through the window, a letter in its beak. The Death Eater named Nott opened it. "He is here," Nott announced quietly. His comrades stiffened ever so slightly at the news.

"Where?" Bellatrix queried, never taking her eyes off of Neville.

"Hogsmeade," Nott informed them, "We must go immediately."

"And the boy?" asked the silky smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy,

"Where is he?" The Death Eaters looked around, but did not descry Harry Potter.

"We'll deal with him later. We must go to the Dark Lord," Bellatrix said, finally breaking her stalemate with Neville. One by one, the followers of Voldemort filed out of the common room. And Harry breathed a sigh of relief from under his Invisibility Cloak. Hermione turned to Koriand'r and asked,

"So, who are you, exactly?"

"I'm Richard Grayson. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm a transfer student from America," the boy with spikey black hair said, shaking hands with Harry and Ron.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter. This is Ron Weasley," said Harry, also introducing his friend.

"-ahem- Yeah, like I was saying, I'm-"

"Victor Stone, also transfer student, nice to meet y'all!" the bulky boy with metal for 50% of a body interrupted the boy with blonde/green hair and placing an arm over his head.

"Nice to meet you, Victor."

"Anyways, I'm Gar-"

"Hello, new friends! I am Koriand'r of Tamaran, and I am also a transfer student," the girl who was with Hermione squealed.

"Um, yes, a pleasure. My name is Hermione Granger. And you are...?" she turned to the cloaked girl who slipped off her hood to reveal pale, almost grey, skin, violet eyes, a black bob with a purple tint, and a small red gem on her chakra (forehead).

"Rachel. Same as them."

"Hello?! I'm still here!" the boy called out, waving his arms around and trying to get their attention.

"Oh, sorry... um... what's your name again?"

"*clears throat* Name's Garfield Logan, master of transfiguration, and Hogwarts' next biggest star!" Hermione facepalmed. "Oh great, another egomaniac..."

Suddenly, the portrait swung open to reveal Professor Dolores Umbridge in a fuzzy pink cardigan. All the Gryffindors stopped their work.

"You naughty, naughty children," she simpered with a counterfeit smile. "What have you been doing to my school?"

"It's not your school, it's Dumbledore's, and if you were paying attention, the Death Eaters just broke in," Harry said angrily.

"Mr. Potter, I do believe you're hallucinating. Mr. Malfoy..." she said sweetly. Draco Malfoy, with his blonde hair and pale, pointed face, stepped into the common room.

"Kindly escort Mr. Potter to the hospital wi-"

"I'm not ill," spat Harry. "And they were here. Look!" He pointed to the sky, where the Dark Mark hovered above Hogwarts.

"It's true. I saw them, I swear," Richard said.

"Who are you?" Umbridge asked with a suspicious glance in his direction.

"Richard Grayson."

"I've never seen you before."

"You hardly pay attention," Harry cut in. Umbridge looked the newcomers up and down.

"Your wands. And you- Potter, Weasley, Granger, bring your new friends with me. You all have detention," she said. The eight strange teenagers handed over their wands. Harry, Ron, and Hermione reluctantly followed suit. Malfoy smirked. "The rest of you...clean up," Umbridge said dismissively, waving her pudgy hand. She lead the group out the common room hole.

"What's going on?" Richard whispered to Harry as they traversed down the corridors.

"Umbridge has been Acting Headmistress ever since Professor Dumbledore had to leave. She's maddening, the old hag," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Who's the creepy guy?" asked Richard,eyeing Malfoy in front of him.

"Draco Malfoy. The slime ball's Slytherin prefect," Ron said, looking disgusted. "Oh, great. We're here." They had entered Umbridge's office. It was flowery and pink, with moving pictures of cats. "Ugh. Detention is bad enough, so why does the room have to be pink?" Rachel thought to herself.

"I want you to write 'I will be respectful 100 times. Use these quills. No ink needed," she said, sporting a sickly sweet smirk. (Try saying that 10 times fast.) They all set to work.

"Ow!" Garfield exclaimed, holding up his hand. On his green skin, the words 'I will be respectful' was carved. The words on the paper were etched in his blood. Umbridge said nothing, only a "Hem, hem." The small hairs on his neck stood on end as a sense of fear overtook him. Garfield quickly averted her glare and went back to work. Victor, having mechanical hands, thought that he wouldn't have the same results, but apparently he did. The very same words were etched deep in his armor. Rachel, sensing the spell put the pen, only sat in silence. Umbridge walked over to her desk and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Is there something wrong, Roth?" her sweet yet grim voice sent chills down Rachel's back, though she didn't show it.

"... No."

Yay, we actually made some progress in the story! Don't stop here, keep reading! xXarcherXx, out!