As soon Harry entered the Headmaster's room, he fell into one of the large
poufy chairs, and Dumbledore sat behind his desk, beginning to speak.
"Now that the threat of Voldemort is back, the safety of the castle has been heightened. Do not assume," he added, for Harry had just groaned and put his head in his hands, "that they are here primarily to keep you safe. The whole student body has a right to be protected. Besides, as I know better than most, you can take care of yourself."
"Okay..." Harry said slowly, glad that he wasn't going to be confined to his dormitory whenever he was out of class. "So why did you want to talk to me, Professor?"
"Because, in spite of all I have said, cautions will still have to be taken. I have talked to Sirius-" At the mention of his godfather Harry's stomach gave a slight lurch; he realized just at that moment that he hadn't gotten any mail from Sirius the entire summer. Nor, he mentally chided himself, had Harry sent him anything. Dumbledore sensing Harry's discomfort, soothed his embarrassment by saying, "Sirius was unable to contact anyone due to the- er- unstable position he has found himself in. So I went over to Remus Lupin's house and spoke with him briefly. He shares the same concerns as I and we jointly agreed that more Aurors should be reinstalled in this school."
Nodding, Harry asked, "So have you added more, Professor?"
"Yes, this year's teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts is an ex- Auror." Every year fate seemed to give Hogwarts a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. "Plus, we have a few in our midst that will stay unknown, in the case that if there is an emergency, Voldemort will not be expecting that we have as many defenses," Dumbledore explained. "That is basically why I wanted to talk to you. Being informed of our school's actions might keep you safer, Mr. Potter." Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat diverted his attention; Dumbledore swiveled around and Harry followed suit. To his great astonishment, he saw, once again, the girl from the carriage. He wondered briefly how she could have entered the office noiselessly- or maybe she had been there the whole time, silently watching? She was looking pointedly at Dumbledore.
"Ah yes- I'm sorry, Lyn. Yes, we need to talk as well." Dumbledore turned back and said, "Harry, this is Lyn- er-" he glanced back at the girl, who shook her head. "Erm- yes, just Lyn." The look of amazement that was suddenly mingled with confusion on the young wizard's face was not lost on Dumbledore, who merely gave a small smile and said, "Yes. Lyn, this is Harry Potter."
The girl's eyebrows raised in surprise, and Harry tried hard not to look at them as they would make his eyes travel in the direction of her eerie, inhuman eyes. Lyn's face relaxed into a smile as well, a smile that seemed to light up her face and bring something other than darkness to her features. She leaned forward to shake Harry's hand. "So you are the one-"
Dumbledore coughed significantly with a small glare at Lyn, who shrugged. As Harry shook her hand, he waited for the inevitable flick to his scar that always occurred when being introduced to someone new in the magical world- but, to his great astonishment, it didn't come. Her hypnotic eyes instead stayed on his own as they finished the handshake. Harry's musings of wonder were cut short by Dumbledore, who said, "Well, Harry, that's all I wanted to discuss with you. You may go down to the feast now. Lyn, stay, I wanted a word with you."
Harry nodded, his mind in a tumult as he left the office. Murmurs from Dumbledore and Lyn, muffled by the door, barely registered in his head; he was too bewildered to let anything else distract him. Why didn't Dumbledore tell him Lyn's last name? What was up with her, anyway? Those mysterious eyes and silence- and all her vanishing acts. And what did she mean, he was the one? Harry mused that she probably meant that he was the one who had vanquished the Dark Lord Voldemort, Harry's mother's protection saving him from Avada Kedavra, the worst Unforgivable Curse, and in turn reducing Voldemort to something barely alive... whilst Harry had survived the encounter with only the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Dumbledore had probably just told her about it. Obviously if she hadn't known about that, Lyn was incredibly foreign, or maybe even new to the magical world? That might explain her eyes staying on his...
His musings were halted as he bumped into the Great Hall's door. Blinking dazedly, he opened it and tried to sneak to the Gryffindor table as unobtrusively as possible, but unfortunately Harry did not possess a silent tread such as Lyn's. Many eyes stared at him, and whispers followed him as he passed by. As Harry looked up at the High Table, he saw that Professor McGonagall was not looking too pleased about the increase in noise, as it was distracting everyone from a soon-to-be-first-year wearing the Sorting Hat. As Harry spotted Ron and Hermione and sat across from them, Hermione asked him quietly, "What was that all about?" The Hat bellowed, "SLYTHERIN!"
Remembering Dumbledore's wishes to keep the Aurors hiding in secret in the school's midst, Harry shrugged and said, "Dumbledore just wanted to tell me that the security on Hogwarts is going to be uplifted."
Harry looked up to the teacher's table briefly. Professor Snape was sitting on the right end; as his eyes swiveled in the direction of Harry, Snape shot him his familiar look of loathing. Turning away from him, Harry gazed at the other teachers: Professors Flitwick, Trelawny, Sprout, and Sinastra sat on the left side of the table. Then there was an empty seat, presumably Dumbledore's, who was obviously still up talking with Lyn. His eyes swiveled to the right of Dumbledore's empty seat, next to which Professor McGonagall sat next to, and Hagrid, who waved at him. Harry grinned back, then turned his attentions back to his friends.
Ron nodded at his statement, but Hermione looked slightly suspicious as another terrified-looking eleven-year-old put on the Sorting Hat. As soon as it grazed the top of his head, the Hat announced, "RAVENCLAW!"
The much-relieved-looking first year scurried off to the Ravenclaw table, and Harry caught a glimpse of Cho applauding him. His stomach gave a tight lurch at the thought of her. Cho had once been energetic and full of life, but when Cedric Diggory had been killed last year by Lord Voldemort, it seemed to kill a part of her as well. When she would normally be with a few of her friends heartily thumping the back of the newcomer, Cho merely stayed in her seat and clapped politely, her eyes downcast. She looked up and made eye contact with Harry, who noticed how deadened her eyes now seemed. He waved at Cho, who gave a small smile back before turning her attention back to the Sorting Hat.
Harry frowned at his golden plate. Why was everything so confusing today? He still had feelings for Cho, of course, but Lyn was also complicating matters by her mystifying behavior...
Harry snapped back to reality by the arrival of Dumbledore, who came in just as the last student, Mark Zzepeck, was sorted into Hufflepuff. He swept up to the High Table and smiled down on them all.
"A few announcements before we begin our excellent feast-" Ron groaned in hunger at this point of Dumbledore's speech. "With the sudden rise of Voldemort-" any whisperers still left muttering immediately grew silent- "Hogwarts has been given extraordinary protection, in the case that it should be attacked. Aurors will constantly be patrolling borders around the school. I will look to the prefects-" at this point Harry and Hermione grinned at each other; they had both been selected as fifth-year prefects for Gryffindor House. Although Ron had maintained stoutly that he would rather raise a hundred of Hagrid's former Blast-Ended Skrewts on his own than become a prefect, Harry was sure that Ron was a little disappointed that he hadn't been chosen- "and the new Head Boy and Girl to make sure that no one is in danger. Furthermore, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes this year, the school has decided to especially enforce the basic Auror training to all students of fifth year and up.
"Which brings me to my next point," Dumbledore cleared his throat. "This year we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Allow me to introduce Professor Sedoll." This announcement was followed by some subdued, unenthusiastic clapping; looking up, Harry saw with a small jolt that their teacher was a woman, the first female Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that he would ever have.
Her appearance was unremarkable apart from the fact that her hair was reddish-gold, smooth-looking and shiny, that fell past the seat of the chair she was sitting in. With some amusement, Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall, who always wore her hair in the same crisp bun, was giving glances of disapproval at the new teacher. Professor Sedoll, however, did not seem to notice; she just acknowledged the announcement with a nod of her head and a smile.
Continuing with his announcements, Dumbledore gave them the regulars. "The Forbidden Forest is, as always, off limits to all students. Students of third year and up will be allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade, with a parent or guardian signed permission slip of course." The corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Quidditch tryouts will take place on October 15, as well as the election of the new House captains, as all of them are gone this year." Ron picked up his fork eagerly, expecting Dumbledore to wrap up his speech.
Unfortunately for Ron's now growling stomach, Dumbledore prolonged the start of the Welcoming Feast with, "As a last announcement, we have a new student in our midst who will be starting in the fifth year. Please welcome miss Lyn Allenné."
The Hall doors opened, and Lyn walked in, noiselessly making her way through the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables to the front, where the Sorting Hat still stood on its stool. Small murmurs were heard around the Hall, and looking over at the Slytherin table, Harry could see Malfoy muttering bitterly to Goyle. Ron smiled victoriously and told Hermione, "It's her, of course. Figures- she's new."
Reaching the stool, Lyn jammed the Hat onto her head. Thankfully it fell past her odd eyes. An expectant hush filled the Hall, the only sound being Ron's stomach giving forth another sulky growl. Even the teachers were hardly daring to breathe. Harry noticed that Lyn was gripping the sides of the stool so tightly that her already pale knuckles were turning white.
Thirty seconds passed... then a minute... then two... Harry gave a quick glance at Dumbledore, who was frowning. Others had looks on their faces of slight surprise that it was taking so long, others yet who were hungrier wore the same angry grimace as Ron did. When five minutes elapsed with the same silence, Lyn slowly took the Hat off her head and stood up, turning to Dumbledore. "It said it wanted to talk to you."
A collective gasp arose from most everyone. Harry was nonplussed. Never had a student have to take off the Sorting Hat so that it could speak to the Headmaster. His frown deepening into the same scowl Lyn wore, Dumbledore got up and took the hat from her, placing it on his head. After a minute or so, he took it off and gave it back to Lyn, muttering something to her. While Dumbledore went back to his chair, she placed it back on her head and it immediately proclaimed her as "GRYFFINDOR!"
Whipping the hat off of her head, Lyn stalked off towards the Gryffindor table. No applause followed the proclamation, only stunned silence. Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well, that is all. Dig in."
"FINALLY!" roared Fred and George Weasley; as if the volume had suddenly been turned back up, instantaneous chatter filled the Hall noisily, and the dishes in front of the students were suddenly filled with excellent dishes. While Harry filled his plate with steak and kidney pudding, Hermione glanced around the Hall.
"Move over, Harry," she hissed. "Budge up a spot."
"Why?" asked Harry through his mouth full of pudding.
"So that Lyn can sit there." Ron opened his mouth as if to protest, but Hermione suddenly raised her voice as she smiled and said, "Do you want to sit here?"
Unbeknownst to Harry, Lyn was standing right behind him; she gave a small smile back to Hermione and replied, "Sure." As she sat next to him, Lyn looked around at the three. "I know you're Harry Potter," she said, "and you two were the ones with him when those three sloths were talking with you." Harry made no attempt to hide the smile that formed at her less-than- flattering descriptions of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. "But what are your names?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley," she introduced for both of them. Ron was still trying not to look at the girl, as her eyes were still dark and hypnotic. Sensing this, Lyn whipped out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, masking her mesmerizing eyes.
"I know that they're weird, so I generally wear these in public," she explained. Ron looked slightly relieved, and relaxed back into his normal self.
"Are you American?" he asked. Lyn gazed a little sharply at Ron.
"No," she responded after a moment, "but I lived there for a while." She looked at some of the dishes and, changing the subject, said, "I haven't had European food in a while. Which dishes are good?"
Hermione advised her on several food choices, while Harry gazed at her, frowning slightly. When her plate was full, he asked Lyn, "Why'd the Sorting Hat take so long to decide where to put you?"
Lyn frowned. She took a bite of shepard's pie, started to chew slowly, and just when Harry thought she was not going to answer, Lyn swallowed and replied, "It was misinformed on some of my requests, and the damned thing can get very stubborn when it wants to be. That's why Dumbledore had to intervene." She took another bite of the pie, saying to Hermione, "This is good. What's it called?"
While Hermione explained the origins of several of the food choices, Ron rolled his eyes and looked at Harry. "Wonder how long it'll take for Lyn to shove her plate into Hermione's face to shut her up. So, are you going to try out for House Captain?"
Harry had not thought about running for the position. But Fred, who was sitting on Harry's other side, nudged him. "You definitely should, Harry, you're the best player on our team by far. I'll bet you'd win by a landslide."
"I dunno," Harry replied nervously. "I suppose I could..."
"I think you should," Ron said as he dished more fried potatoes onto his plate. "Who do we have to replace this year anyway?"
"Um, Wood definitely..." Harry frowned as he thought. "How many of our Chasers are left?" he asked.
"Angelina's our only one now; Katie and Alicia left last year," George replied as he entered the conversation. "So we need a Keeper and two Chasers now."
"I wonder who'll try out," Harry mused. Turning to his other side, a thought occurred to him. "Lyn, do you play Quidditch?" he asked.
Hermione abruptly halted her detailed description of European food. Instead she was looking expectantly at the new Gryffindor, as were Ron, Fred and George. Lyn fidgeted uncomfortably, toying with a piece of bread. "A little," she admitted reluctantly.
"Really? What position?" Harry persisted.
"Keeper," Lyn responded even more unwillingly.
"You should definitely try out then," Fred urged. "We really do need a good replacement for Wood."
It took a bit more persuasion to convince Lyn, but in the end she hesitantly agreed to try out for the team. Harry wondered briefly why she was so loath to try out, but he figured that it was probably nerves. He himself had been uneasy about flying in front of everyone his first time.
"Are you going to try out?" he asked Ron.
"Maybe," Ron shrugged.
"You know," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I was thinking I might."
"You?!" Ron was barely able to cover a snigger. "Since when have you been the best flyer around? Getting tips from Krum, I suppose?"
Hermione scowled at him. Harry sighed inwardly. Ron had always been tecthy about her going out with Victor Krum, and it seemed as though he had not quite given up his grudge yet. "It was just a thought," she snapped.
The remnants of the feast cleared, and Harry got up wearily. "Come on, Hermione, we've probably got to lead them."
"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "The password's 'jabberwocky', isn't it?"
"Where are you two going?" Lyn asked starting to get up after them.
"We're prefects," Hermione explained.
"Oh," said Lyn, a blank look still on her face.
"I'll explain later. Let's get to the tower," Hermione advised.
They led the Gryffindors to their common room, many of them giving a wide berth to Lyn, who didn't really seem to notice or care. Reaching the Fat Lady, Harry gave the portrait the password and she swung open to admit them. Hermione started to show Lyn up towards the girl's dormitories, and Harry and Ron trudged up to their beds. As soon as he reached the side of his, exhaustion swept over Harry; without bothering to undress, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.
=====
Thanks to Alexia Alexandra, Rachel, and XxDragon Princess NikkixX for reviewing Chapter 1.
"Now that the threat of Voldemort is back, the safety of the castle has been heightened. Do not assume," he added, for Harry had just groaned and put his head in his hands, "that they are here primarily to keep you safe. The whole student body has a right to be protected. Besides, as I know better than most, you can take care of yourself."
"Okay..." Harry said slowly, glad that he wasn't going to be confined to his dormitory whenever he was out of class. "So why did you want to talk to me, Professor?"
"Because, in spite of all I have said, cautions will still have to be taken. I have talked to Sirius-" At the mention of his godfather Harry's stomach gave a slight lurch; he realized just at that moment that he hadn't gotten any mail from Sirius the entire summer. Nor, he mentally chided himself, had Harry sent him anything. Dumbledore sensing Harry's discomfort, soothed his embarrassment by saying, "Sirius was unable to contact anyone due to the- er- unstable position he has found himself in. So I went over to Remus Lupin's house and spoke with him briefly. He shares the same concerns as I and we jointly agreed that more Aurors should be reinstalled in this school."
Nodding, Harry asked, "So have you added more, Professor?"
"Yes, this year's teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts is an ex- Auror." Every year fate seemed to give Hogwarts a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. "Plus, we have a few in our midst that will stay unknown, in the case that if there is an emergency, Voldemort will not be expecting that we have as many defenses," Dumbledore explained. "That is basically why I wanted to talk to you. Being informed of our school's actions might keep you safer, Mr. Potter." Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat diverted his attention; Dumbledore swiveled around and Harry followed suit. To his great astonishment, he saw, once again, the girl from the carriage. He wondered briefly how she could have entered the office noiselessly- or maybe she had been there the whole time, silently watching? She was looking pointedly at Dumbledore.
"Ah yes- I'm sorry, Lyn. Yes, we need to talk as well." Dumbledore turned back and said, "Harry, this is Lyn- er-" he glanced back at the girl, who shook her head. "Erm- yes, just Lyn." The look of amazement that was suddenly mingled with confusion on the young wizard's face was not lost on Dumbledore, who merely gave a small smile and said, "Yes. Lyn, this is Harry Potter."
The girl's eyebrows raised in surprise, and Harry tried hard not to look at them as they would make his eyes travel in the direction of her eerie, inhuman eyes. Lyn's face relaxed into a smile as well, a smile that seemed to light up her face and bring something other than darkness to her features. She leaned forward to shake Harry's hand. "So you are the one-"
Dumbledore coughed significantly with a small glare at Lyn, who shrugged. As Harry shook her hand, he waited for the inevitable flick to his scar that always occurred when being introduced to someone new in the magical world- but, to his great astonishment, it didn't come. Her hypnotic eyes instead stayed on his own as they finished the handshake. Harry's musings of wonder were cut short by Dumbledore, who said, "Well, Harry, that's all I wanted to discuss with you. You may go down to the feast now. Lyn, stay, I wanted a word with you."
Harry nodded, his mind in a tumult as he left the office. Murmurs from Dumbledore and Lyn, muffled by the door, barely registered in his head; he was too bewildered to let anything else distract him. Why didn't Dumbledore tell him Lyn's last name? What was up with her, anyway? Those mysterious eyes and silence- and all her vanishing acts. And what did she mean, he was the one? Harry mused that she probably meant that he was the one who had vanquished the Dark Lord Voldemort, Harry's mother's protection saving him from Avada Kedavra, the worst Unforgivable Curse, and in turn reducing Voldemort to something barely alive... whilst Harry had survived the encounter with only the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Dumbledore had probably just told her about it. Obviously if she hadn't known about that, Lyn was incredibly foreign, or maybe even new to the magical world? That might explain her eyes staying on his...
His musings were halted as he bumped into the Great Hall's door. Blinking dazedly, he opened it and tried to sneak to the Gryffindor table as unobtrusively as possible, but unfortunately Harry did not possess a silent tread such as Lyn's. Many eyes stared at him, and whispers followed him as he passed by. As Harry looked up at the High Table, he saw that Professor McGonagall was not looking too pleased about the increase in noise, as it was distracting everyone from a soon-to-be-first-year wearing the Sorting Hat. As Harry spotted Ron and Hermione and sat across from them, Hermione asked him quietly, "What was that all about?" The Hat bellowed, "SLYTHERIN!"
Remembering Dumbledore's wishes to keep the Aurors hiding in secret in the school's midst, Harry shrugged and said, "Dumbledore just wanted to tell me that the security on Hogwarts is going to be uplifted."
Harry looked up to the teacher's table briefly. Professor Snape was sitting on the right end; as his eyes swiveled in the direction of Harry, Snape shot him his familiar look of loathing. Turning away from him, Harry gazed at the other teachers: Professors Flitwick, Trelawny, Sprout, and Sinastra sat on the left side of the table. Then there was an empty seat, presumably Dumbledore's, who was obviously still up talking with Lyn. His eyes swiveled to the right of Dumbledore's empty seat, next to which Professor McGonagall sat next to, and Hagrid, who waved at him. Harry grinned back, then turned his attentions back to his friends.
Ron nodded at his statement, but Hermione looked slightly suspicious as another terrified-looking eleven-year-old put on the Sorting Hat. As soon as it grazed the top of his head, the Hat announced, "RAVENCLAW!"
The much-relieved-looking first year scurried off to the Ravenclaw table, and Harry caught a glimpse of Cho applauding him. His stomach gave a tight lurch at the thought of her. Cho had once been energetic and full of life, but when Cedric Diggory had been killed last year by Lord Voldemort, it seemed to kill a part of her as well. When she would normally be with a few of her friends heartily thumping the back of the newcomer, Cho merely stayed in her seat and clapped politely, her eyes downcast. She looked up and made eye contact with Harry, who noticed how deadened her eyes now seemed. He waved at Cho, who gave a small smile back before turning her attention back to the Sorting Hat.
Harry frowned at his golden plate. Why was everything so confusing today? He still had feelings for Cho, of course, but Lyn was also complicating matters by her mystifying behavior...
Harry snapped back to reality by the arrival of Dumbledore, who came in just as the last student, Mark Zzepeck, was sorted into Hufflepuff. He swept up to the High Table and smiled down on them all.
"A few announcements before we begin our excellent feast-" Ron groaned in hunger at this point of Dumbledore's speech. "With the sudden rise of Voldemort-" any whisperers still left muttering immediately grew silent- "Hogwarts has been given extraordinary protection, in the case that it should be attacked. Aurors will constantly be patrolling borders around the school. I will look to the prefects-" at this point Harry and Hermione grinned at each other; they had both been selected as fifth-year prefects for Gryffindor House. Although Ron had maintained stoutly that he would rather raise a hundred of Hagrid's former Blast-Ended Skrewts on his own than become a prefect, Harry was sure that Ron was a little disappointed that he hadn't been chosen- "and the new Head Boy and Girl to make sure that no one is in danger. Furthermore, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes this year, the school has decided to especially enforce the basic Auror training to all students of fifth year and up.
"Which brings me to my next point," Dumbledore cleared his throat. "This year we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Allow me to introduce Professor Sedoll." This announcement was followed by some subdued, unenthusiastic clapping; looking up, Harry saw with a small jolt that their teacher was a woman, the first female Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that he would ever have.
Her appearance was unremarkable apart from the fact that her hair was reddish-gold, smooth-looking and shiny, that fell past the seat of the chair she was sitting in. With some amusement, Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall, who always wore her hair in the same crisp bun, was giving glances of disapproval at the new teacher. Professor Sedoll, however, did not seem to notice; she just acknowledged the announcement with a nod of her head and a smile.
Continuing with his announcements, Dumbledore gave them the regulars. "The Forbidden Forest is, as always, off limits to all students. Students of third year and up will be allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade, with a parent or guardian signed permission slip of course." The corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Quidditch tryouts will take place on October 15, as well as the election of the new House captains, as all of them are gone this year." Ron picked up his fork eagerly, expecting Dumbledore to wrap up his speech.
Unfortunately for Ron's now growling stomach, Dumbledore prolonged the start of the Welcoming Feast with, "As a last announcement, we have a new student in our midst who will be starting in the fifth year. Please welcome miss Lyn Allenné."
The Hall doors opened, and Lyn walked in, noiselessly making her way through the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables to the front, where the Sorting Hat still stood on its stool. Small murmurs were heard around the Hall, and looking over at the Slytherin table, Harry could see Malfoy muttering bitterly to Goyle. Ron smiled victoriously and told Hermione, "It's her, of course. Figures- she's new."
Reaching the stool, Lyn jammed the Hat onto her head. Thankfully it fell past her odd eyes. An expectant hush filled the Hall, the only sound being Ron's stomach giving forth another sulky growl. Even the teachers were hardly daring to breathe. Harry noticed that Lyn was gripping the sides of the stool so tightly that her already pale knuckles were turning white.
Thirty seconds passed... then a minute... then two... Harry gave a quick glance at Dumbledore, who was frowning. Others had looks on their faces of slight surprise that it was taking so long, others yet who were hungrier wore the same angry grimace as Ron did. When five minutes elapsed with the same silence, Lyn slowly took the Hat off her head and stood up, turning to Dumbledore. "It said it wanted to talk to you."
A collective gasp arose from most everyone. Harry was nonplussed. Never had a student have to take off the Sorting Hat so that it could speak to the Headmaster. His frown deepening into the same scowl Lyn wore, Dumbledore got up and took the hat from her, placing it on his head. After a minute or so, he took it off and gave it back to Lyn, muttering something to her. While Dumbledore went back to his chair, she placed it back on her head and it immediately proclaimed her as "GRYFFINDOR!"
Whipping the hat off of her head, Lyn stalked off towards the Gryffindor table. No applause followed the proclamation, only stunned silence. Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well, that is all. Dig in."
"FINALLY!" roared Fred and George Weasley; as if the volume had suddenly been turned back up, instantaneous chatter filled the Hall noisily, and the dishes in front of the students were suddenly filled with excellent dishes. While Harry filled his plate with steak and kidney pudding, Hermione glanced around the Hall.
"Move over, Harry," she hissed. "Budge up a spot."
"Why?" asked Harry through his mouth full of pudding.
"So that Lyn can sit there." Ron opened his mouth as if to protest, but Hermione suddenly raised her voice as she smiled and said, "Do you want to sit here?"
Unbeknownst to Harry, Lyn was standing right behind him; she gave a small smile back to Hermione and replied, "Sure." As she sat next to him, Lyn looked around at the three. "I know you're Harry Potter," she said, "and you two were the ones with him when those three sloths were talking with you." Harry made no attempt to hide the smile that formed at her less-than- flattering descriptions of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. "But what are your names?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley," she introduced for both of them. Ron was still trying not to look at the girl, as her eyes were still dark and hypnotic. Sensing this, Lyn whipped out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, masking her mesmerizing eyes.
"I know that they're weird, so I generally wear these in public," she explained. Ron looked slightly relieved, and relaxed back into his normal self.
"Are you American?" he asked. Lyn gazed a little sharply at Ron.
"No," she responded after a moment, "but I lived there for a while." She looked at some of the dishes and, changing the subject, said, "I haven't had European food in a while. Which dishes are good?"
Hermione advised her on several food choices, while Harry gazed at her, frowning slightly. When her plate was full, he asked Lyn, "Why'd the Sorting Hat take so long to decide where to put you?"
Lyn frowned. She took a bite of shepard's pie, started to chew slowly, and just when Harry thought she was not going to answer, Lyn swallowed and replied, "It was misinformed on some of my requests, and the damned thing can get very stubborn when it wants to be. That's why Dumbledore had to intervene." She took another bite of the pie, saying to Hermione, "This is good. What's it called?"
While Hermione explained the origins of several of the food choices, Ron rolled his eyes and looked at Harry. "Wonder how long it'll take for Lyn to shove her plate into Hermione's face to shut her up. So, are you going to try out for House Captain?"
Harry had not thought about running for the position. But Fred, who was sitting on Harry's other side, nudged him. "You definitely should, Harry, you're the best player on our team by far. I'll bet you'd win by a landslide."
"I dunno," Harry replied nervously. "I suppose I could..."
"I think you should," Ron said as he dished more fried potatoes onto his plate. "Who do we have to replace this year anyway?"
"Um, Wood definitely..." Harry frowned as he thought. "How many of our Chasers are left?" he asked.
"Angelina's our only one now; Katie and Alicia left last year," George replied as he entered the conversation. "So we need a Keeper and two Chasers now."
"I wonder who'll try out," Harry mused. Turning to his other side, a thought occurred to him. "Lyn, do you play Quidditch?" he asked.
Hermione abruptly halted her detailed description of European food. Instead she was looking expectantly at the new Gryffindor, as were Ron, Fred and George. Lyn fidgeted uncomfortably, toying with a piece of bread. "A little," she admitted reluctantly.
"Really? What position?" Harry persisted.
"Keeper," Lyn responded even more unwillingly.
"You should definitely try out then," Fred urged. "We really do need a good replacement for Wood."
It took a bit more persuasion to convince Lyn, but in the end she hesitantly agreed to try out for the team. Harry wondered briefly why she was so loath to try out, but he figured that it was probably nerves. He himself had been uneasy about flying in front of everyone his first time.
"Are you going to try out?" he asked Ron.
"Maybe," Ron shrugged.
"You know," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I was thinking I might."
"You?!" Ron was barely able to cover a snigger. "Since when have you been the best flyer around? Getting tips from Krum, I suppose?"
Hermione scowled at him. Harry sighed inwardly. Ron had always been tecthy about her going out with Victor Krum, and it seemed as though he had not quite given up his grudge yet. "It was just a thought," she snapped.
The remnants of the feast cleared, and Harry got up wearily. "Come on, Hermione, we've probably got to lead them."
"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "The password's 'jabberwocky', isn't it?"
"Where are you two going?" Lyn asked starting to get up after them.
"We're prefects," Hermione explained.
"Oh," said Lyn, a blank look still on her face.
"I'll explain later. Let's get to the tower," Hermione advised.
They led the Gryffindors to their common room, many of them giving a wide berth to Lyn, who didn't really seem to notice or care. Reaching the Fat Lady, Harry gave the portrait the password and she swung open to admit them. Hermione started to show Lyn up towards the girl's dormitories, and Harry and Ron trudged up to their beds. As soon as he reached the side of his, exhaustion swept over Harry; without bothering to undress, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.
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Thanks to Alexia Alexandra, Rachel, and XxDragon Princess NikkixX for reviewing Chapter 1.