A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews everyone! It means a so much to me! An extra tidbit of thanks to Tempete Sanguine for submitting the 100th review! And a special thanks goes out to Fancy Piece of Work – you know why!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling.
Chapter Ten – Hogwarts
Harry and Draco looked up sharply as Dumbledore descended the stairs.
Harry had never met Dumbledore personally; only heard the Dark Lord's stories about the old fool.
The Hogwarts Headmaster was very old, with a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes hidden behind half moon glasses. Harry immediately threw up his mind shields, as he could feel Dumbledore probing around in his mind. The shields were shaky, but he was strong enough to keep Dumbledore at bay. Immediately, the tendrils that had snaked from Dumbledore's mind retracted.
"I never thought I'd see Henry Lestrange and Draco Malfoy within the walls of Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, frowning slightly. He continued down the stairs and went to sit behind a magnificent desk, just in front of a beautiful phoenix, sitting in its cage and staring at Harry and Draco with one black, expressionless eye."But, you have proven me wrong," Dumbledore continued, motioning to the two boys to take the seats in front of his desk.
The boys sat down and Dumbledore looked at the boys with a thoughtful expression from where he had sat down as well, behind the magnificent desk.
"Why don't you two explain why you are here and why you arrived on the eve of a Death Eater attack." It wasn't a question.
"Well, you see, sir," began Draco, for it had been a silent agreement that Draco would do the talking, "Because of who our parents are, the Dark Lord is sure that we're going to be these great Death Eaters ... but –"
"Has he made you Death Eaters yet?" Dumbledore asked sharply, his eyes flickering to Draco's forearm.
"No," Harry lied, clearly. Dumbledore's eyes shifted to him. "We're only fifteen."
Dumbledore frowned and seemed to think about this. "I can understand why he would want you to join... Anyways, excuse my interruption, please continue."
Draco cleared his throat. "Well, you see, it's ... wrong what he's doing ... all the killing, the tortures..." Draco shook his head and then added, "That's probably why the Death Eaters attacked the train, sir. Because we were on it."
Dumbledore looked surprised. Secretly, Harry was as well, but he went along with it.
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, immediately, his voice a little suspicious.
"Well," said Draco, "the Dark Lord probably sent the Death Eaters after us to stop us from getting to Hogwarts where we'd be safe. After all, our parents are his favourites – we're set to be the next leaders of his army; he wouldn't want us to abandon him." That was the truth – Voldemort was certain that Harry and Draco would be key figures in his new world.
Dumbledore said nothing for a few minutes, just stared at the two boys intently. Finally, Harry spoke up. "We really don't want to go back to him, sir." Not to the Dark Lord in particular, but to their families. He lowered his mind shields just slightly, enough for Dumbledore to see that he was sincere.
The Headmaster nodded at Harry's comment, but still said, "Forgive me if I do not believe you ... other than your words, what proof do you have?"
"Do you have a Pensieve?" Draco asked.
Dumbledore looked a little surprised but nodded. "Yes, it's right here." He led Draco, Harry following the both of them, over to a cabinet in which a glowing Pensieve sat.
Draco drew his wand and placed it to his forehead, retracting a silvery stream that was a memory. He placed it into the Pensieve and looked to Dumbledore, his eyes expressionless.
Dumbledore's eyes flickered from Draco to the Pensieve and then he leaned closer to it. With a snap, Dumbledore vanished into the memory.
The moment he was gone, Harry said, "What are you showing him?"
"A memory," Draco said calmly.
"No, really? Which one?"
Draco looked right at his cousin, his eyes cold and revealing nothing. "Don't worry about it, Henry," he said curtly. "I've got it covered."
Harry was rather surprised that Draco wasn't going to tell him what it was and, furious, he opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment Dumbledore re-emerged from the Pensieve.
Dumbledore's eyes were full of sorrow as he looked at Draco, who stared back at the Headmaster with his cold eyes.
"There's your proof," Draco said quietly.
The Headmaster returned to his desk and the two boys followed him back to their own seats. "I am happy that you two have come to this conclusion," Dumbledore said eventually, smiling sadly. "Well, of course you may remain at Hogwarts, but under one condition. You must promise me that you won't become Death Eaters."
Since they were already Death Eaters, Harry and Draco had no problem agreeing to this. "I promise," they both said.
Dumbledore nodded and continued. "Wonderful. Now, we must see to your Houses. Follow me, please. The Sorting took place very quickly in the Great Hall this evening and the first years should be about done."
Dumbledore stood and Harry and Draco followed him out of his office, Draco purposely avoiding Harry's gaze.
They walked all the way down to the Great Hall and passed several students on their way there, most of whom pointed excitedly at Dumbledore.
When they reached the Great Hall, the Hall was nearly empty as students from second year on hadn't gone to the Great Hall at all this evening. Near the front of the hall, in front of four huge tables, a large man was standing there, watching the final three students get Sorted. He was at least eight feet tall, with a huge mane of bushy hair and beetle black eyes. Beside him was Professor Potter, who smiled rather tentatively at the two boys at they entered.
The large man nodded at Dumbledore, his eyes flickering a question to who the two boys were. Dumbledore just barely shook his head and continued to watch the three first years get Sorted. Two of the boys hurried off to Ravenclaw and the girl clambered out of the hall after them, off to Gryffindor Tower.
"Who do yeh have here, Professor?" asked the big man, with a thick accent.
"This, Hagrid, is Henry Lestrange and Draco Malfoy."
Hagrid's expression was priceless. He turned bright purple with horror and whispered, "Lestrange? Malfoy?" in a very funny voice.
Professor Potter also had a funny reaction – she paled and her mouth dropped open, her rather large emerald eyes nearly popping out of her head.
Harry coughed loudly to cover his laughter.
"Yes," said Dumbledore, frowning at Hagrid. "But, it is not what you are thinking, Hagrid. They escaped from their homes and have come to Hogwarts to seek asylum. They are not with Voldemort. Bellatrix and Lucius have kept their sons sheltered their entire life and most don't even know that they do each have a son." Dumbledore turned to Harry and Draco. "And I hope that you two will keep the identity of your parents' a secret, as well."
Harry and Draco nodded and Dumbledore looked back to Hagrid.
"Hagrid?"
Hagrid still looked a little scared, but nodded, trusting Dumbledore's decision. "So yeh need to be Sorted?" he asked Harry and Draco after a few moments.
The boys shrugged but Dumbledore said, "Yes."
Professor Potter, who had been holding the old Sorting hat handed it to Draco, who, after shooting a grim look to his cousin, placed it on his head.
The Hat took barely a few seconds to decide for Draco before calling out, "SLYTHERIN!"
Even though Draco had just basically finalized that he was now a Hogwarts student, he still managed to smirk at his cousin for getting Sorted into Slytherin.
"Your turn, Henry," said Draco, referring to his cousin formally now that they were with Hogwarts staff.
Harry took the hat and placed it on his head.
"You?" said a little voice in Harry's ear. It sounded surprised. Harry was also surprised – this hat seemed to know who he was, even though he really was no one of importance that a Hat should know who he was. "I never thought I'd Sort you ... hmm, where to put you? Slytherin seems the obvious choice seeing as your upbringing, but ... I think another House would suit you better."
What? Harry thought, panicking inside.
"Nothing to worry about, no nothing at all ... but yes, Slytherin would be a good choice... but you belong to a different path. GRYFFINDOR!"
NO!!!!!
The expressions on Draco's, Hagrid's, Professor Potter's and Dumbledore's faces were priceless.
This was the worst day Harry had ever had in his life. First, they get trapped on the Hogwarts Express. Then told that they're going to Hogwarts to try to kill Longbottom. Then Draco acts all secretive about whatever his stupid memory that he showed Dumbledore was. And, the best of all, he was Sorted into Gryffindor. Gryffindor!
To top it all off, Harry was lost. Desperately lost.
Hogwarts was one big maze. Dumbledore had told him the directions to Gryffindor Tower, as well, as the password but that did absolutely nothing for Harry. The staircases bloody moved, the portraits moved about and talked to each other, making a landmark extremely hard to keep track of.
The hat must be off its rocker, Harry thought darkly, as he rounded a corner. Putting me in Gryffindor!
Unforunately, as he was climbing the stairs, his leg suddenly sunk into one of the steps, making him holler in alarm and topple over.
As he angrily yanked his leg out of the step and kicked a suit of armour for good measure as he passed, he couldn't help but think that this day just kept getting worse and worse.
"All right, everyone," McGonagall shouted, over the loud noise in the Gryffindor Common Room. She had just ushered in the last of the newly Sorted first years and was looking incredibly grim. "Organize yourselves into your years, please, we need to take a head count."
The Common Room instantly quieted and sorted itself into the appropriate years. Hermione, who was sitting with the Weasleys and Neville, fell silent in the middle of her explanation as to where Harry and Draco had gone and went to stand near Dean and Seamus.
Professor McGonagall started with the first years, the ones who had just arrived. Then on from there all the way up to seventh.
She frowned while reading out one of the seventh year names. "Victoria Frobisher? Has anyone seen her?"
No one said anything, but one girl spoke, through a choked voice, "I haven't seen her since the attack."
Professor McGonagall's lips went thin. She nodded tightly after a few moments and said, "Thank you, Angelina." She paused and then added, "Kevin Bundy and Benjamin Dunstan from Ravenclaw and Harold Dingle and Melanie Summers are also missing."
Everyone gasped and a few people started to cry, especially Angelina who burst into tears. Five people were dead? Five?
Hermione was in shock – she hadn't thought that anyone she knew (she'd spoken to Victoria several times about Arithmancy and Ancient Runes) would've been killed.
At that moment, the portrait hole swung open and everyone turned to look, surprised. For a wild moment, the same thought flickered through everyone's head: was it Victoria?
But no, it was a tall dark haired boy who entered, looking thoroughly pissed off.
Hermione's mouth fell open – Henry Lestrange was in Gryffindor!? What the –
Henry ignored the entirety of the Common Room and sulked over to an empty armchair, throwing himself down and staring angrily at the fire roaring in the fireplace.
Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the boy and cleared her throat. "Lestrange? What are you doing here?"
Immediately, whispers broke out about Henry's last name.
"Lestrange?"
"As in Bellatrix Lestrange?"
"You don't think that's her kid, do you?"
Henry narrowed his eyes at the whispers and, if it was possible, looked even more pissed off.
"What do you think?" Harry snapped. "The Sorting Hat put me here." He shook his head, disgusted.
"Dumbledore, you can't be serious!" said Professor McGonagall, her face pale. "You're letting two sons of Death Eaters attend Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Minerva," said Dumbledore calmly, shuffling a few papers on his desk. "They have given me sufficient reason as to why they have come to Hogwarts."
McGonagall looked like she thought Dumbledore was insane.
"This is an unwise decision, Dumbledore," added Snape, who was looking very unpleasant today. "I've seen it with my own eyes; the boys were raised in Voldemort's headquarters and I assume that the Dark Lord has made them Death Eaters already."
McGonagall went even paler. "If Snape is correct, they've grown up with You-Know-Who; they're going to know how to lie, Albus!"
Dumbledore said nothing. "I am not about to turn them away, Minerva. They have come to Hogwarts seeking asylum and have even given me a proper excuse as to why the Death Eaters attacked the train."
"Oh, really?" said McGonagall scathingly. "And you believed them, Dumbledore? For Merlin's sake, Albus – one of them is Bellatrix Lestrange's boy!"
Dumbledore stood to his full height and said, "Minerva, Severus, please. Do you not trust my judgement? I talked with the boys myself and I honestly sensed that there was something good about those boys. Their innocence was destroyed by Voldemort, and, I assuming, Bellatrix and Lucius. It is apparent to me that Draco and Henry do not wish to become Death Eaters any longer. Besides, if they had just gotten onto the train during the Death Eater attack, do you not think that they would've bolted as soon as the train reached Hogsmeade Station?"
McGonagall and Snape didn't say anything, although both looked extremely distrustful.
"And what happens if it turns out that they are Death Eaters, Dumbledore?" asked Snape softly.
Dumbledore sighed and didn't answer, just rubbed his temples.
The Gryffindor Common Room was in an uproar.
"What's Dumbledore playing at?" demanded George Weasley loudly. Several people shouted out their agreement. "Letting a Lestrange into Hogwarts, let alone Gryffindor?"
The moment McGonagall had shown Henry the dorm room he had disappeared and had not returned, not even to eat the dinner that had been brought to Gryffindor Tower.
"He's off his rocker!" roared Lee Jordan, getting several rounds of applause from the Common Room.
"He's probably the bastard who killed Victoria!" shouted Angelina Johnson, through her tears at the death of her friend.
"Yeah!" bellowed several people.
"And who's to say he's not up there planning to kill all of us?" said Fred.
Arguments continued well into the night and were only stopped when McGonagall stormed in and threatened everyone with detention if they didn't shut up and go to sleep.
The fifth year boys all banded together and headed up to their dormitory as one. Ron opened the door, but saw that the new bed that had been added had the curtains drawn tightly around it and the room was dead silent.
All of them were apprehensive about going to sleep with a probable Death Eater in the room, but after such an exhausting day they all fell asleep eventually.
Harry lay awake long into the night, staring up at the ceiling and thinking of his own warm bed at home at Lestrange Manor.
He had been able to hear the shouts from the Gryffindor Common Room and was secretly pleased that they were so afraid of him.
Harry rolled over and saw, through the little crack in his curtains, the two way mirror that Lucius had delivered to him sitting on his nightstand. He had spoken to Voldemort the moment he'd gotten up to his dorm room and the Dark Lord had told him that his and Draco's new mission. Befriend Longbottom and then once they'd gained his trust, deliver him to Voldemort.
By the time Harry finally drifted off to sleep, with dreams of being home with Bellatrix and the annoying house-elves, the other boys had already fallen asleep a good three hours ago.
The next day no lessons were held, to allow students to mourn for their friends who'd been killed.
Harry had awoken early and headed to the Great Hall immediately. He got lost on the way but a Ravenclaw who obviously didn't know who he was pointed him in the right direction.
He walked in and saw Draco sitting by himself at the Slytherin table, eating a bowl of cereal with a look of disgust on his face.
Harry had almost completely forgotten about Draco not telling Harry about the memory, because he had much too important other things on his mind. Harry walked over to him and plopped down on the seat opposite him, making Draco jump.
"I can't believe you're in Gryffindor," was Draco's greeting. He said it a little smugly.
Harry sighed loudly. "Just think of it this way – I'll be able to get to know Longbottom better. Oh, yeah, I have to tell you what ..." he dropped his voice to a whisper "the Dark Lord said."
"Oh?" said Draco, looking interested, but also, strangely, a little annoyed. "What?"
"Not here. I'll tell you later."
Draco nodded, barely holding back his rolling of the eyes.
A large crowd of students suddenly entered and both boys looked up. Hermione was among those entering. Harry and Draco watched her in silence as she got a seat by herself at the Gryffindor table and began to butter her toast. She apparently felt someone's eyes on her because she glanced up and scowled at Harry and Draco.
"I don't think she likes us much," Draco noted, who couldn't help himself from grinning.
Harry laughed. "Yeah, well, we did force her to Vow to help us." He shook his head and grinned. "I'd hate us too."
Bellatrix woke up in Lestrange Manor the day after Henry had been taken by the Hogwarts Express in a foul mood.
For the first time that she could remember, she was angry with the Dark Lord. She wanted her son back home desperately but Voldemort refused to hear it.
He had allowed her today off, mostly because he was sick of her complaints and would end up killing her soon if she didn't shut it and he would just regret that later.
And besides that, Voldemort was refusing to let her contact Henry, or even Draco. He wanted their cover story to be as legitimate as possible and that meant no contact with her son or nephew.
It infuriated Bellatrix to no end, but she'd managed to plead a Hogsmeade weekend meeting with them in a few months, under the condition that she was in disguise.
She was currently sitting at the dining room table, stabbing at her meal with more than usual vigour. She'd agreed to meet Narcissa and Lucius later tonight – Narcissa had been hysterical with worry about Draco the moment she'd found out and Bellatrix supposed that she had to go and comfort her, even though she was going to smack her sister if she didn't shut up soon – Bellatrix had lost her son too.
Jason and Melinda headed down to breakfast late, both very glum about the loss of Victoria. Jason hadn't known her well, but Melinda had talked to her on occasion and was very upset.
They ate very little at breakfast among the quiet Gryffindors. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables were also quiet, but Slytherin table seemed completely normal.
Jason looked over to them as a loud roar of laughter reached his ears. He saw Henry Lestrange roaring with laughter at something a silvery blond boy had said, sitting at the Slytherin table. He wasn't surprised in the least that Lestrange had decided to sit with the Slytherins. He had looked furious last night about being in Gryffindor.
"Hey, Jason, Melinda," greeted a voice from behind him. They turned to see Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley standing there. "Can we sit?"
"Sure," said Jason, sliding over to make room. Neville headed to the other side of the table and Ron sat beside Jason.
Ron spotted Lestrange and his expression positively darkened. "I can't believe that those two are going here now. I mean, it's obvious they're Death Eaters."
"How can you tell?" asked Melinda, curiously.
Ron shrugged. "It's just the way that Lestrange acted when he came in to the Common Room last night. All high and mighty and 'I'm the best'." Ron shook his head, disgusted.
"That could just be because he's a Lestrange and his whole family was Slytherins," Jason pointed out.
Ron shook his head stubbornly. "No, I bet they're Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters?" Melinda said, startled. "They can't be older than you, though, Ron. You think You Know Who is gonna let two teens join him?"
"Who's to say?" Ron said darkly. "He's probably getting desperate – this war has been going on forever it feels like."
Neville nodded solemnly in agreement. "Yeah," agreed Jason. "You'd think that You-Know-Who would just die of old age already."
Ron, Neville and Melinda snorted with laughter and agreed. Melinda looked over to the boys and asked, "Who's the blond one?"
Ron and Neville shrugged. "Probably some Death Eater crony of Lestrange. They were on the train with Hermione –"
"She was sitting with them?" said Jason, surprised. "Hermione Granger?" He looked over to where Hermione sat, engrossed in a book she'd propped up against a basket of toast. She had a dark scowl on her face and seemed to be stabbing her eggs with more vigour than usual.
The other three glanced over to Hermione, who didn't notice them and absently flipped a page in her book.
"Maybe she's just really lonely and had no one to talk to," Melinda suggested.
"She could talk to us!" Ron said quickly. "I mean, well ... she is really irritating most of the time, but we're better than Lestrange, right Neville?"
Neville nodded. "Completely."
Draco looked away from the Gryffindor table and his eyes swung about the room. They rested on the staff table and, with a jolt, recognized the man sitting next to Dumbledore. He had a spinning blue, electric blue eye which was surveying the room amazingly fast.
"Henry!" Draco hissed, his eyes widening. Draco dropped his toast in his shock and seemed to completely forget that, for whatever reason it was, that he was mad at Harry.
"What?" Harry said, looking around in surprise.
"Look! That's Mad Eye Moody!" Draco said, angling his head in the direction of the teacher's table.
Harry choked on his orange juice. "What? Where?"
"Up there, sitting next to Dumbledore."
Harry shot quick glance over his shoulder and his mouth fell open. "He's one of the ones who burned down the Dark Lord's house all those years ago!"
Draco looked like he was deep in thought. He grinned evilly. "I have an idea. Come on, let's go for a walk."
Harry nodded and they both headed to the doorway, and to get to which you had to pass the Gryffindor table.
The group that contained Longbottom fell silent immediately as they passed, all of them shooting dark looks at Harry as they did. Hermione also looked up from her book and gave them a darker look than Longbottom's group combined.
Once in the Entrance Hall, Harry and Draco headed out the main doors and onto the grounds. It was still early, but as it was just the 2nd of September, the air still contained all of its August heat.
They found a secluded little area near a random hut which Harry assumed was the giant Hagrid's house and cast the appropriate protection and silence spells over themselves, as they'd been taught to do.
"Tell me what the Dark Lord said first," Draco ordered, sitting down against a tree.
Harry felt a twinge of annoyance at his cousin's tone. "He wants us to befriend Longbottom and then deliver him to him when we've gained his trust."
Draco nodded. "I figured that would be what it was. Shouldn't be that hard, should it? After all, you are in Gryffindor with him."
"Yeah," Harry said slowly. "But, they were up all night complaining and shouting about me being in Gryffindor. It's going to take them time to accept it, I bet." Harry shook his head, disgusted. "Anyways, what were you saying about Moody?"
"Oh yeah, I was thinking, we should find out a way to kill Moody to get back into the Dark Lord's good graces!"
"What?" Harry said, so surprised he almost fell over.
"Yes, kill him. It's brilliant! But the only thing is ... this is Mad Eye Moody we're talking about – you've heard what my dad has says about him. He's really good at fighting."
Harry laughed. "Come on, Draco. We were trained by the Dark Lord himself in the Dark Arts! And besides, the stronger the Moody is – the more respect we'll get for actually having killed him."
Draco's face spread into a grin. "That's right! How would we do it though?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know – we'll come up with something." Harry snapped his fingers. "Why don't we get Granger to help us? She definitely won't want to help us kidnap Longbottom – yet anyways –" he grinned evilly, "but she can help us with this."
Draco made a face of agreement, nodding his head. "We could start with poisons – that will keep our cover and it is a way of murder."
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, that's great! And this will probably get Granger to trust us more. It's really obvious that she doesn't have any friends; she's always alone – if we're her first friends then she'll help us easily. Gryffindors are loyal and once she's on our side, it'll all be fine – we can off Moody and kidnap Longbottom."
Loyalty was a big factor to Harry. There had been one time, when he, Bellatrix, Rabastan and the Dark Lord had been eating dinner on one of the few times that Voldemort had actually allowed the Lestranges to eat with him, where Voldemort had casually said that his most effective Death Eaters were the ones who were completely loyal to him – such as the Lestranges.
Chances are that the same thing would apply here – if Hermione was loyal to them, believed in what they were doing – then it would be a lot easier.
"Should we talk to her now?" Harry asked.
Draco shook his head. "No, not yet. We should specifically plan out what we want to do to Moody first, then get her help."
Harry nodded in accord. "Sounds good to me."
Wednesday, the next day, was when lessons began and Harry was dreading having to go to all of the Hogwarts' classes – there was no doubt that he and Draco would be extremely far ahead.
He was sitting with the Slytherins for breakfast when a very angry looking Professor McGonagall stormed up to him.
"Lestrange, to your own table," she snapped, thrusting a piece of paper at him.
"What's this?" Harry asked rudely, taking it.
"Your schedule," she said shortly. "Now, get back over to the Gryffindors and watch your tongue."
Harry rolled his eyes pointedly, and muttered to Draco, "See you later," before standing and going over to join the Gryffindors.
The people he sat beside instantly stopped their conversations and stared uneasily at him. Finally, Harry looked up at a young dark haired girl and barked, "What?"
She looked away hurriedly, muttering, "Nothing," under her breath.
Harry, who had already eaten while at the Slytherin table, looked at his schedule. First thing was Herbology, whatever the hell that was. Then Charms right before lunch and directly after lunch was a free period. Then he had some class called Ancient Runes.
A bell rang and the Great Hall started to empty as students headed off to their classes. Harry spotted Draco being led out by a reddish blond haired girl. He winked and Harry laughed.
Harry had no idea where Herbology was, but Longbottom had already left and was walking with Weasley and Hermione near the doors to the hall.
Sighing dejectedly about what he would have to do, Harry stood and quickly caught up to the three Gryffindors.
"Hey, Lo-Neville, can you show me where the Herbology classroom is?" he asked, after tapping Longbottom on the shoulder.
"Uh, sure," said Longbottom, looking a little confused. "It's outside."
Weasley shot Harry a dirty look, as did Hermione.
Harry followed the Gryffindors for a few steps with them barely saying a word to him. Deciding that he would have to be more social to become friends with Longbottom, Harry spoke up.
"So, what do we do in Herbology?"
"Learn about plants and their properties and how to take care of them," Longbottom said. "It's really interesting."
Well that's the stupidest class ever, thought Harry. "Oh," he said. "Uh, cool."
"Did you learn anything about Herbology when you were homeschooled?" Longbottom asked.
Harry shook his head. "No, we mostly learned about spells and potions and stuff like that." He figured it would probably be a bad idea to mention the Dark Arts to these three so he left it out.
"Who taught you?" Weasley asked, unable to keep his curiosity out of his voice.
"My mother," said Harry. "And my aunt and both of my uncles." He left out Voldemort too because that would definitely be a bad idea to mention.
The three Gryffindors exchanged a nervous look, but said nothing.
The four of them arrived at the greenhouses and the Gryffindors led the way in, Harry followed glumly behind them.
The class sat around a huge table, with many different plants on the table making it hard to put anything down on the table. For Harry, this was his first class with students other than his cousin and he was actually (though he'd never admit it) interested in how traditional schools worked.
Finally, the teacher of this class, Professor Sprout, appeared and said, "Welcome to Herbology everyone! All right, let's get started." She looked a little upset; her eyes were ringed in red. Harry had heard that she was the Head of the Hufflepuff house and that two of the dead students had been from her house.
Professor Sprout whipped out a list and began to take attendance. She briefly narrowed her eyes when taking attendance and reaching Harry's name, but said nothing.
Once she had completed, she rolled the list up and it promptly disappeared. "All right, everyone, please take a look at the plants in front of you." Most people leaned forward, interested, but Harry just sighed and looked, bored, out the window.
"Now, there are four different types of plants on this table ..."
For the rest of the class, Harry learned more about plants than he ever had before – and it was a total waste of time.
After Professor Sprout (who Harry was learning was embracing the idea of a Hufflepuff being a hard worker) had completed telling the class about some plant that Harry had no idea how to even pronounce the name, she told them to divide into groups to dissect the plants.
Harry was left out, but Professor Sprout quickly placed him with Hermione, Weasley and Longbottom. Harry was unanimously voted to be the first to dissect the strange, orange leafy plant.
"This is ridiculous," Harry muttered, staring at the plant he had just been told to 'deflower'.
"Come on, Lestrange," mocked Weasley. "It's easy."
Then why don't you do it, Weasel? Harry thought darkly, starting to pluck at one of the plant's bright orange and fuzzy leaves.
"No, don't do that!" exclaimed Longbottom and Hermione.
However, it was already too late. The plant let off a large siren like sound, startling Harry so badly that he jumped backwards, landing hard on the stool and almost tumbling right over.
"Lestrange!" shouted Professor Sprout, running over to the flailing plant and the four Gryffindors. "What did you do?"
"What you told us to do!" Harry retorted, a little shakily.
"You don't pull the orange leaves!" she said shrilly, pulling out a bottle of a queer ivory liquid from her robes pocket. She dumped the liquid into the plant's pot and it immediately stopped whirring.
"How the hell was I supposed to know that?" demanded Harry. "I've never taken this stupid class before in my life!"
Professor Sprout looked deeply offended that he had called Herbology stupid. "Five points from Gryffindor, Lestrange," she said, disapprovingly.
She walked away, leaving Harry standing there, still in shock from the yelling plant and also a little confused about what the hell house points were.
Hermione, Weasley and Longbottom took control of the rest of the dissection, talking about the Welcome Feast that had been rescheduled for next Friday evening.
Harry sat, furious and also a little embarrassed, on the stool and watched them glumly.
Finally, the bell rang from the castle and the class hurried to put away all of their supplies. Harry, who had no idea where the Charms classroom was, had to wait for some Gryffindors to leave so he could follow them. He was too angry at Hermione to wait for her, so he followed a sandy haired boy, who Harry recognized as a Gryffindor from his uniform, departed with a dark skinned boy and so Harry tagged along behind them.
They were too far ahead to let Harry overhear their conversation, so he instead thought about how stupid Hogwarts was and how much he missed home.
His heart ached at the thought of his mother. He really missed her, even with all of her craziness. Harry sometimes felt as if he was the only one who truly understood her ... and she the same with him. He wanted to go home.
But, it was no time to be sentimental, and Harry was a Death Eater on a mission, for Merlin's sake.
The two boys Harry was following headed into a classroom on the third floor. Harry's heart leapt at the sight of a familiar blond head and he immediately headed over to Draco's desk and plopped himself down beside him.
"Hey, Draco," he greeted, relieved.
His cousin nodded back in greeting and said, "I have decided that Hogwarts is a waste of time."
Harry nodded gravely. "I agree."
Draco shook his head, clearly disgusted. "Do you have any idea what class I just had to sit through?" he demanded.
Harry shook his head, no.
"History of Magic. History. Of. Magic. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard – all about goblin wars and what not."
Harry gaped at his cousin and said, "History of Magic? No wonder all the Light people are so bad at magic – that's what they learn."
Draco nodded. "Yeah. I slept through it after I realized what a gong show it was. The Professor is a ghost, for Merlin's sake!"
"A ghost?" repeated Harry, surprised. "Why the hell is a ghost still teaching?"
"Well, I asked this girl –"
"The girl you left the Great Hall with this morning?" Harry asked, smirking.
Draco grinned and nodded. "Daphne Greengrass. Very nice girl." Harry's smirk broadened and Draco laughed. "Anyways, so I asked her what the hell was up with Binns – that's the teacher's name – and she said that he simply got up one day without his body and she doesn't think he ever noticed that he was dead."
Harry laughed and then said, "Well, I had this ridiculous class called Herbology –"
"What's that, a cooking class?" asked Draco, waving his wand absently at a girl in the first row, who was just about to sit down. He made her chair move backwards and she fell flat on her butt, slightly shaking the floor as she hit it.
"No," said Harry, amused at what Draco had just done. "It's all about plants and their properties and stuff. It was stupid."
Draco opened his mouth to respond, but the redheaded Professor Potter suddenly entered and so he didn't say anything. People quickly finished their conversations and headed to their seats. The girl that had fallen to the floor jumped to her feet with a bright red face, retrieved her chair and sat down hurriedly.
"Good morning, everyone," Professor Potter said. "I understand that yesterday was a very upsetting day for you all –"
You have no idea, Harry thought darkly.
"– but I know that Victoria, Melanie, Benjamin, Harold, and Kevin would not want us to wallow in their deaths. That being said, I hope you all had a lovely summer vacation. Anybody have any interesting stories to tell?"
Harry snorted and thought what the class would think about his summer ... training with Death Eaters and all.
One girl mentioned that she had gone to Spain for the summer and a few boys made up a story about fighting dragons, which the rest of the class (excluding Draco and Harry) found very amusing.
Professor Potter smiled at the boys and said, "I'm sure the dragon really appreciated being thrown into a river, Goldstein."
"Oh, he did, Professor," said one of the boys, solemnly. "Says it cleaned his scales right off."
Professor Potter shook her head, smiling, and said, "Now, to today's lesson. We will begin practice on the Aguamenti Charm –"
"They're just learning that now?" Harry hissed, surprised. Draco looked equally as surprised.
"– but before that I want to explain to you about an O.W.L. level requirement that this course has. For the rest of the term until Christmas, you will be working with a partner on a number of projects, the first of which we will begin right now. Take out your notebooks, please."
Professor Potter turned to the board and waved her wand at it, making instructions appear. Harry and Draco exchanged a look – they had no books or quills or anything.
"Uh, Professor?" said Draco politely, surprising Harry at his respectful tone.
"Yes, Malfoy?" said Professor Potter, turning from the board.
"Henry and I don't have any supplies – well because –"
Professor Potter nodded, interrupting Draco. "Yes, I understand. Can anyone lend Malfoy and Lestrange some parchment and a quill?"
No one looked very eager, but at Professor Potter's dark glare at her unkind students, a few rustled in their bags and handed over the supplies.
"We'll have to figure out a way to contact my mother or Aunt Narcissa and tell them to get us school supplies," Harry muttered to his cousin, as he peered at the bent out of shape quill with a frown.
Draco nodded. "Yeah. And get them to send us our brooms as well – did you know they have Quidditch teams here?"
"They do?" said Harry, surprised. He loved Quidditch – but as if he'd be doing any of that here, playing with Hogwarts students when in reality he was on their opposing team in reality, the Death Eaters.
Professor Potter cleared her throat loudly and the boys rolled their eyes in unison, but stopped talking and started to write the notes.
Year Five – First Charms Project – O.W.L Level
-You and your partner(s) will chose a spell that we have not covered in class yet and write a report on the properties and effects that this spell has.
-You will then practice said spell until you have mastered it and then you will present it to the class and teach your classmates the spell.
-This assignment is due on the 3rd of October, no exceptions
Harry finished writing and said, in a low voice, "Really? This is what you do in O.W.L. level Charms? We did these kinds of things when we were twelve."
Draco nodded. "Yeah, this will be a piece of cake. What spell should we do?"
Professor Potter cleared her throat and asked, "Is everyone finished copying the notes? Yes? Perfect, now I'll put you into your partners for this –"
"You choose the partners?" said Harry out loud, horrified about the prospect of getting stuck with a Hogwarts student.
"Yes, Mr Lestrange, I do," said Professor Potter, scowling at him. A piece of parchment had appeared in her hand and she said, "Now, when I've finished calling out everyone's name, you may move to sit beside them. Finnigan and Longbottom –" The sandy haired boy that Harry had followed there jumped up and high fived Longbottom. "Miss Bones and Miss Greengrass –" the girl Harry had seen leaving with Draco that morning curled her lip at a redheaded girl from Hufflepuff – "Miss Parkinson and Thomas –" A girl with a face like a pug made a loud complaining noise and– "Macmillan, you'll work with Corner –" a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw boy nodded at each other – "Finch-Fletchley and Miss Patil – Parvati, that is –" a Hufflepuff boy smiled brightly at a very pretty Gryffindor – "The other Miss Patil with Zabini –" a girl who looked almost identical to the Gryffindor Patil sighed and narrowed her eyes at a tall, dark skinned boy wearing Slytherin robes – "Goldstein and Corner – " Two Ravenclaw boys high fived – "Weasley and Malfoy –"
"WHAT?" said both Weasley and Draco, loudly.
Professor Potter looked up from her list and cocked an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes," said Draco promptly. "I don't want to work with Weasley."
"Well, sometimes life isn't fair, Malfoy," Professor Potter snapped. "Malfoy and Weasley, and the last partners are Miss Granger and Lestrange."
Oh kill me now, Harry thought darkly. He glanced over to Hermione; she looked just displeased as Harry felt.
"It is my recommendation to all of you that you begin research on this project as soon as you can for October 3rd may feel as if it as a long time away, but it really isn't. Your essays are due the 3rd and we will present the spells for the following week or so."
After the scrawl of the quills began again, Harry looked to the board and saw that Professor Potter had summoned a set of instructions on how to conjure the Aguamenti spell.
"Before I split you up to practice, would anyone like to try this spell now?"
Hermione practically jumped out of her seat. "I will, Professor!"
"Of course she will," Draco muttered to Harry, who smirked.
"All right, Miss Granger, come on up. Now, the incantation is Aguamenti – can everyone please repeat that?"
"Aguamenti," said the class, in unison. Harry and Draco just rolled their eyes.
Professor Potter cleared her throat and pointed her wand at one of the empty desks in the room. "You all might want to move away from there," she added, to the three students sitting near it. They stood up and headed to the back of the classroom to watch.
"Incendio!" said Professor Potter, and a jet of fire shot out of her wand and hit the table, igniting it immediately. Harry was strongly reminded of the time that Bellatrix had set the chair beside him on fire at dinner all those years ago.
"Go, Hermione!" said Professor Potter, urging the girl forward.
She looked focused and said, clearly, "Aguamenti!" A small spurt of water escaped her wand, but wasn't strong enough to completely put it out. "Aguamenti!" she repeated. This water jet was pretty good but still the fire blazed.
Professor Potter said, "Aguamenti!" and the water from her wand was good enough to help Hermione's to put it out.
"Very good, Miss Granger," Professor Potter said. "Five points to Gryffindor."
Hermione beamed with pleasure and returned to her seat.
"Anyone else?"
Before Harry could stop himself, he was out of his seat – he wanted to show Hermione (and the rest of the students here) what a proper education looked like.
"Ah, Mr Lestrange?" Harry nodded and so Professor Potter said, once more, "Incendio."
The desk, which was now badly charred, burst into flames and again. Without missing a beat, Harry shouted, "Aguamenti!"
The jet of water from Harry's wand was so strong that it extinguished the fire easily, but also made the desk shoot back several feet, making several people jump in alarm as the smoking desk came flying towards them.
Harry smirked and looked at the class's awestruck (and for some, alarmed) faces. "That was easy," he said simply, twirling his wand in his fingers.
A/N: Alas, the end of another chapter! Next chapter will have Harry's interactions with Snape, McGonagall and Moody!!! More murder planning coming up too!
Oh and I have one little request for everyone to do – I'm sure you've all heard of the disaster in Haiti. If you're able to donate anything, even if it's just a dollar, I know they'd all really appreciate it and you could be the difference between someone dying or not.
Please review!