Chapter Two:

Hogwarts Hosts Some Exchange Students - Again

A Few Weeks Earlier...

Harry

The day after my birthday, our Hogwarts letters came. They were pretty much the same as usual—letters inviting us back to Hogwarts, along with the booklist for the year. I scanned the letter. It was mostly the usual—Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, and so on. Apparently I'd been made Quidditch Captain, too. Then, at the bottom, something caught my eye.

We would also like to inform you that this year, Hogwarts shall be playing host to a number of exchange students from America. Therefore, Headmaster Dumbledore would like to encourage each and every one of you to welcome these students with kindness and open arms. We may find it is helpful to have strong allies in dark times such as these.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

I realized that's what Dumbledore had been talking about. A few weeks ago, he had come to the Dursleys' house to pick me up and bring me to the Burrow. On the way, we had stopped by the house of someone who had apparently been an old colleague of Dumbledore, Horace Slughorn. We were on a mission to recruit the man, as there were teaching positions at Hogwarts that still needed to be filled. Great, another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who will probably end up sacked, insane, or dead by the end of this year, I thought.

Afterwards, when we'd arrived at the Burrow, Dumbledore had pulled me into the Weasleys' broom cupboard to have a talk. Most of it was things I'd expected—about the prophecy, the current state of the wizarding world, things like that. But then Dumbledore had said something odd.

"One more thing, Harry. I expect things at Hogwarts to be a bit...different this year," he'd said, gazing at me over his half-moon glasses.

"Well, isn't that, well, obvious, sir? I mean, with Voldemort out in the open and everything?" I was confused.

"Well, yes, but in other ways, too. I've contacted an old friend of mine, as it has come to me that we may need more help in this fight than we wizards can muster on our own. He and his...brethren are currently fighting a war of their own at the moment, so it may be a while before they can be of any assistance. But their war shares many similarities with ours, so I believe they indeed can help us. Having allies during these times is so incredibly important. As such, Harry, it would be wise of you to begin school with an open mind." He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling behind his spectacles.

"I understand," I replied, though I didn't have the faintest idea what he was getting at.

"Very well, then," Dumbledore had said, pushing open the broom shed door and stepping out into the yard. "I see a light in the kitchen. Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are."

I had followed him inside and been welcomed into the Weasley household by Molly, but for the next few weeks, questions about what Dumbledore had said kept plaguing my mind.

When Ron finished reading his letter, he looked at me. Hermione was still poring over the booklist.

"Bloody hell," Ron said, confusion clearly evident on his face. "What d'you think this is about. Exchange students?"

"I dunno, but Dumbledore said something about this when he brought me to the Burrow." I replied. "He said that there were some people who he thought could help us in the war."

Hermione finally looked up. "Well, no matter what, I'm excited to meet these exchange students. From America! I wonder what magical education is like there!"

"Hermione, remember the Triwizard Tournament? Do you remember how that turned out?" I reminded her.

"Yes, well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Hermione said. "Anyways, have you seen the booklist? Most of it's normal, but look, there, at the bottom. Greek mythology?"

I looked. A Wizard's Guide to the Greek Myths, by Hector the Heroic. "Must be for History of Magic," I inferred.

"Yes, I'm sure. But oh! That's going to be so exciting! I've always wanted to learn whether there was a connection between magic and Ancient Greece! I wonder what we're going to learn... this might just be the most interesting year of History of Magic yet!" Hermione babbled.

"Fat chance," Ron grumbled. "Like History of Magic could ever be interesting."

"Oh Ron, do you always have to be such a wet blanket? You don't know!" Hermione snapped back.

"Whatever. Let's go play Quidditch."

"Sounds good," I said, and we marched out the door, though I still didn't quite know what was going on. Little did I know what kind of year I was in for...

A/N: So, here I am with another chapter. I won't be promising daily updates, since I'm going out of town in a few weeks and won't be back until school starts, and then... you know how it goes. I have a lot of free time on my hands at the moment, but once school starts I'll shoot for weekly. Capiche?

Chapter 3 is already written, I'll post that tomorrow. Yay suspense!

I've gotten reviews asking for me not to put Percy in Gryffindor since that's overused. I totally understand! I hate cliches as much as the next person. Unfortunately, that's where he's going. He's not smart enough for Ravenclaw, not cunning enough for Slytherin and not lame enough for Hufflepuff. He's a hero, for gods' sake, so Gryffindor it is. On that note, I'm definitely not going to have everyone in the CHB gang be in Gryffindor, because that would be toats-mcgoats boring. Stay tuned!

Review please!