Chapter 10 Hoggy, Warty Hogwarts

A/N: Sentences in bold without quotes are something written. Thank you to the many that have read and especially to those who have reviewed. As usual, this chapter has been improved by the able assistance of Shygui.

For the record, I would like to point out that it is NOT being obsessive to memorize a boy's schedule so that you can accidentally bump into him. It is called being efficient. ― Jess Rothenberg

As usual, Minerva McGonagall had arrived early for the first staff meeting of the year but not as usual she had barely returned his greeting and had little to say to him as they waited for the rest of the staff to arrive. If it had been just her, he might wonder what was wrong with her but after being read the riot act by both Croaker and the new chairman of the board of governors, he knew he had had to give himself a good, hard look in the mirror. It was a very humbling position to be in for a man who was accustomed to being honoured and admired and he had to do something about this.

He wasn't sure about most of the staff but he knew at least one professor would take offense to what he would have to say but still he had to say it. He'd be willing to give up one of his titles but his last choice would be to leave Hogwarts so he had to do what he probably should have done long ago. He needed to change the climate of the school and that had to start with the staff, even if some of them might need to be dragged to it, kicking, biting and screaming. He again contemplated their newest addition as Remus took a chair, he had thought to leverage his gratitude to use him as an information source but for now he planned to back off as he'd had enough lectures to last him for quite a while.

His mind was still preoccupied as he watched Hagrid bustle in, bringing in an outdoorsy smell and gruff greetings for all. He was quickly followed by the gloomy and grimy presence of Filch and the far more cheery chatter between professors Vector and Babbling. The others came in a stream of greetings and he was relieved to see Minerva's reserve thaw as she greeted Flitwick warmly. They'd always been cordial but he wondered for a moment about this newfound warmth. Had they bonded over helping Harry? That would be a good thing in his view.

As negative an influence as Filch was, a chill seemed to go through most of those present as Severus Snape finally made his dour presence known. As was usual, he greeted no one, merely sitting in his usual chair and waiting for the meeting to start. He was going to be Albus' biggest challenge, he had no doubts about that. How had he been so blind to the negative influence of this one man? Certainly he had to protect him and keep him near for Voldemort's eventual return but he couldn't let him scar a whole generation of students. He felt his determination grow as he resolved to fix this not just to preserve his own position but to finally do right by the students of this school.

Things had already gotten quiet so he had no need to gain their attention so instead he straightened in his chair slightly before delivering his opening comments. "Welcome to the beginning of a new year at Hogwarts. I have been remiss in my duties and I am going to do more than just say this, I am compelled to enforce it. Our duty is to provide a nurturing, educational environment for the magical youth of Britain. We must provide a school free of abuse, bullying and most of all a safe environment for the children. Not only do I expect all of my staff to do their best to provide that environment, I cannot allow you to ignore any situations that may conflict with our responsibilities to the youth and future of our country. We have a student charter and rules in place and we will enforce them on all students equally."

He had been watching the reactions and gotten partly what he expected. The sceptical looks on most of the faces hurt him but deep down he knew he deserved that, he'd let things slide for too long. He got the expected reaction from Filch, who was frowning and from Snape, who was mostly stoic although he had narrowed his eyes as he regarded his headmaster. He preferred a private approach with Severus, he would meet Filch head-on to show he meant business to the rest.

"Did you have something to say, Argus?"

Filch had a hopeful look on his face and tone to his voice. "Does this mean there will some proper punishments for the students finally?"

"Only if they deserve it, Argus, as you are presuming that they all deserve punishment. We will NOT be instituting corporal punishment as that has been contrary to the bylaws of Hogwarts for over a generation."

Filch's expression changed to the more common look of disdain. "But those little deviants don't understand anything else!"

Albus frowned, it was time to show how serious he was. "I am quite disappointed that you would use that word to describe students, Argus. That is not an attitude that I can afford to keep in Hogwarts. If you wished to retire, you should have told me so I could arrange a replacement for you."

Argus had become quite pale and still, apparently he hadn't expected him to be this serious about what he had said or perhaps the sour old man simply heard what he wanted to hear. Albus had to admit that perhaps he had been guilty of that same thing in recent years.

Argus now was looking nervously around as if looking for support but as Albus looked for reactions, he saw some disdain towards Filch and general curiosity towards him. Good, at least he had them considering the possibility that he was finally serious about this. He kept his gaze fixed on Argus as he finally gave up on finding support and looked timidly back at him.

"I, umm… wasn't really thinking about retirement yet."

"If your attitude towards students doesn't improve, I may make the decision for you, Argus."

Albus was impressed with how pale the grimy man could get. He barely heard the man as he muttered, "I'll do my best to be more tolerant, Headmaster."

"See that you do, Argus." He kept his disapproving gaze on the man until he turned his eyes to the floor and tried to look as small as possible. He wouldn't accomplish anything more by browbeating the man so he returned to speaking to the group.

As he looked at the group he saw mostly curiosity but Severus was staring venomously at the table and Minerva looked at him with a bit of hope mixed with her interest. "The instructions to the head boy and girl were explicit on this point, rules will be enforced uniformly, and nobody will be above the rules. I expect the staff to support the prefects in keeping order and ensuring that we have a safe and productive environment here at this school. Are there any questions?"

He was slightly astonished that after some surprised looks being exchanged nobody spoke up. There was other business to conclude so he moved on to administrative matters. He noticed that the meeting was somewhat quieter than usual but still productive. As he was wrapping up, he turned to Hagrid and reminded him, "Remember, Rubeus, to give me the list of animals you wish to introduce to each class before you do so."

"Righ' 'eadmaster, I'll do tha'." He nodded pleasantly as he carefully made his way out around his smaller co-workers.

He fixed his gaze on the potions master, "Severus, I would like to stay behind for a moment, if you please."

Snape had been waiting for the others to make way anyway but he nodded stiffly and stayed in his chair. Albus got the distinct impression that Severus was preparing for a fight and he just might get one. When the last staff member closed the door behind them, he raised the privacy wards and looked at his potions professor who was staring at the table.

"I have many titles, Severus, but the one most important to me is Headmaster here at Hogwarts. The new chairman of the board of governors has put me on notice that he is not satisfied with how things are going here at Hogwarts and as was proven last year, they can suspend me and even terminate me. I cannot allow that to happen so things must change. Nobody and no house can be allowed to break the rules. Punishments must be fair and equal for all. We must maintain a safe and egalitarian environment. Your actions based on house must cease."

Severus' deep voice responded but with little emotion. "As I have explained to you repeatedly, in order to combat the prejudice against my house I must protect them. If I am to appear to be a faithful follower of the Dark Lord, I must act like it. Besides, you have your pet Potter who gets away with everything and you allow that."

This was exactly what he had expected and he had to suppress a sigh of frustration. "And I submit to you Severus, that you are the one person most responsible for the attitude not only of your house but of the other houses towards the Slytherins. You are creating the environment that you feel that you must protect them from. Control your house better or I will have to find someone who can."

That got a reaction as he suddenly stood and glared at Albus. "That was not our deal! You are the one who put me in this position! I never wanted to be a professor; that was your decision!"

"And that may well have been a mistake. Perhaps you could serve as the potions master for the school…"

Severus was really losing his temper now. "That is not a full time position!"

Albus sighed and looked down momentarily to gather his thoughts. "I am telling you that we cannot allow things to continue as they are. If I don't make changes, the chairman has enough support – voluntarily this time – to make the changes themselves. That decision may be taken out of my hands. You must at least rein in the darker elements in your house but I really need some cooperation on integrating them with the other houses in a friendly manner. This simply cannot continue."

"You never answered me about your pet Potter! Rein him in!"

Albus wanted to roll his eyes but managed to suppress that. "Harry Potter has never tried to harm another student. Harry Potter does not bully…"

Severus reminded him of Fudge and not in a good way as spittle sprang from his mouth as he raged. "Yes he does!"

Albus glared at him and yelled back, "WHOM!?"

Severus looked taken aback and Albus had to admit, it had been a long time since he shouted in anger. Severus' voice almost sounded timid in comparison to before. "What?"

"You claimed he has bullied someone. Whom?"

"Draco Malfoy."

Albus couldn't believe he said that. "Harry Potter bullied Draco Malfoy? You would have to prove that to me. Show me a memory but be aware that I can show you some where young Malfoy sought out Harry to harass him. We've all seen it! Show me the memory, Severus." He pointed to his Pensieve and waited but Severus just stared sullenly back.

He was tired of these games about Harry Potter. "I thought not. You only see his father, not the boy in front of you. Have you looked at his eyes, Severus? Can you look at them and not see Lily's eyes?"

"Don't you dare bring that up!" Severus was back to spitting again, he'd have to remember to perform a cleaning charm when he left.

"How can you claim to love a woman and hate her son? Her son with her eyes! I tire of this debate, Severus. I'm getting too old for this and have wasted far too much time on this old argument. You will either have to shape up yourself and your house or come up with some other idea of what to do. We cannot continue as we have."

Severus gave him a glare and abruptly turned and stormed to the door. After he had opened it, he turned back and surprisingly quietly said, "You are making a mistake." He then slammed the door and left. Albus' shoulders sagged, he doubted that he was making a mistake now but he was afraid that Severus might make one. He cast his cleaning charm and sat back to ponder.

For now, he would have to continue to search for a new history teacher. Cyrus had accepted that he couldn't produce a good choice on the spot. He thought he'd had him when he suggested that his wife would be a good history professor given that her youngest was now out of the house but that fell through. He wasn't going to waste time trying to reason with a ghost, particularly one who neglected to attend staff meetings. He'd find his replacement and banish the ghost from his lecture hall. Let him give his droning lectures to his empty office, the students would have more productive use for their time. Overall, this was an awful start to the year and the students hadn't even arrived yet.

It seemed a little surreal, a quiet breakfast together with no arguments, teasing or forgotten items. Their preparations were organized and unhurried; it was so unlike his previous times that the difference was almost stunning. Going with the Weasleys was more entertaining but this was less stressful.

Just before they left, Harry donned his cloak with his new trunk already shrunken and in his pocket. Dobby was taking him while the Greengrass parents took their daughters so there'd be no sign he was among them. The whole family was going, minus Sirius of course, it being too dangerous for him to go in public, even as Padfoot. After they arrived at the station, the two girls got their farewells from their parents and he felt a little left out even though he'd already gotten his farewells before they left.

Tracey soon joined them and whispered with Daphne and he suspected it might have been about him as she glanced around subtly but of course, she couldn't see him. He smirked at her even though she couldn't see him but was distracted by Astoria's sudden shout of "Jessica!"

He looked over to see a small girl run up to Astoria and embrace her. The two girls seemed to be genuinely glad to see each other and he had a different sort of smile on his face while he watched them. They started moving away and Daphne called out, "Wait! Aren't you going to stay with me?"

Astoria rolled her eyes at her sister and said, "I have my own friends and I can take care of myself. Besides, you have something else to worry about because I told a certain someone who gave me the Harry Potter books."

Daphne looked aghast as the two girls tittered and moved away that he had trouble keeping from laughing himself. Tracey seemed to be trying to console her friend. "You know she's more social than you, she'll make her own friends but that doesn't mean she isn't your little sister anymore."

Harry was close enough to hear Daphne's muttered reply as she scowled and said, "She won't be my little sister anymore if I disown her! She told…." As Daphne suddenly shut her mouth and blushed while looking around furtively, he again had to stifle laughter; she seemed quite embarrassed about him learning about the books. Really, it wasn't a big deal to him although he might have to tease her – just a little.

After some more momentary fussing by Daphne, the two remaining girls started towards the train to find a cabin and Harry followed along, trying to stay alert so he wouldn't bump into anyone. It was still early – another first for him – so there weren't that many people about yet making it a simple task to stay untouched.

They entered through the last car, which happened to be closest and Daphne paused in surprise so Tracey looked into the compartment too as Harry peered over them. He saw a somewhat shabby looking man asleep on the bench and was speculating it was Remus when Daphne murmured to Tracey, "I think that's our new DADA professor but I can't see his face clearly to be sure."

Tracey sounded puzzled when she asked, "Why is he here? Professors don't usually ride the train."

Daphne shrugged and said, "No idea, let's go find our own compartment."

As they approached the next car, Harry began to see a glow suggesting that they were approaching something magical but it wasn't until they went through the doors that he saw what it was. He saw a glowing Draco Malfoy with something draped over him and based on the fact he was remaining still and was unnoticed by the girls, he realized the boy was wearing an invisibility cloak, just like him. He narrowed his eyes and ejected his wand into his hand as he saw Malfoy watching the girls as they chose their usual compartment.

They had made a habit of choosing a cabin in this car of the train and obviously, Draco had noticed that. What the hell was he doing spying on Daphne? Harry found that deeply disturbing and had to fight an urge to hex Malfoy on the spot.

He continued to observe his rival closely as he moved to the now-sealed door of their compartment and appeared to try to listen in, which Harry knew would be fruitless. Draco seemed to come to the same conclusion quickly and then tried the handle on the door, which didn't budge. Harry grinned as Draco began to quietly curse and barely paid attention to the sound of a door opening. Harry didn't realize what was happening until he saw Draco turn to glare at a boy staring perplexedly at the door beside Draco. Harry didn't recognize the boy but the boy must have heard Draco and was wondering what it was that he couldn't see.

Draco continued to glare malevolently at the approaching boy but had to eventually give ground or be discovered. The boy felt around and even Harry had to pull back a little to avoid accidental discovery. Draco continued to lurk in the corridor until someone else came into the car and asked the other boy what he was doing. The boy was explaining about hearing a voice when the other door opened and Draco and Harry had to make way for someone dragging their trunk and looking into the compartments as they passed.

Draco must have had enough as he slipped through the door before it closed and Harry was left unprepared so he didn't make it. He watched from near the door but had to also keep his eyes on the others in the car but thankfully, none of them approached his position.

Harry was left in a real quandary. Why was Draco trying to spy on Daphne? Was he trying to do more than spy on them? He also had the more immediate problem: how does he get out of this car unnoticed since there was at least one student here looking from something invisible? Draco had inadvertently left him in a bit of a spot. Fortunately, the boy gave up on his search to talk with his friend and the next time the door opened, Harry took his opportunity to follow Malfoy.

Harry found Draco sulking in a compartment of that car but he had apparently taken off his cloak as the glow was coming from a bag beside him and Crabbe and Goyle could obviously see Draco even though none of them was talking. Apparently, Draco's sour mood was putting off his bodyguards so they sat in brooding silence. That couldn't happen to a nicer set of goons was Harry's conclusion. When the door to the car opened again, he saw a girl dragging her trunk and heading towards the front of the train.

Once more Harry was left with a decision to make, what should he do now? His chances of being discovered were increasing with each student arrival and Draco seemed harmless now as the girls were safe in their compartment and Draco seemed done with his skulking. Harry waited until he saw nobody and quickly removed his own cloak and stuffed it into a pocket. After another look around, he continued towards the front to see if he could find either Neville or Hermione, expecting that Ron would be a last-minute arrival as usual.

He was so busy looking into compartments that he nearly bumped into a blond girl with odd eyes, she seemed distracted or like she might be looking through things rather than at them. He had barely gotten out "Excuse me," when she spoke to him.

"Hello, Harry Potter. Congratulations on your bond."

Harry was dumbfounded. Bond? Did she mean the possible marriage bond? Who was this girl? It took him a moment to come up with something to say but the girl seemed endlessly patient. "Umm… thanks? Who are you?"

She still seemed dreamy to him as she replied, "I'm sorry Harry Potter, I'm Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw a year behind you."

"Oh, well, pleased to meet you, I'm… never mind, you already know who I am."

He chuckled nervously and offered to shake her hand as she certainly didn't seem to be using wizarding manners or at least how he knew them to be. She shook his hand more firmly than he expected but before he could say anything else she said, "I better find a compartment. I just hope I can hang on to it this time."

He looked at her in confusion. Why wouldn't she be able to hang on to her compartment? It's not like anyone would come in later and throw her out of it, was it? Then he thought that there probably were some gits who would do something like that. She had continued on though so he decided to figure it out later. He was also pondering her earrings, which looked like radishes. Surely she wasn't wearing radishes as jewellery, right?

He finally found Neville sitting alone but still seemed to be settling in so he hadn't been there long. He opened the door with a smile and greeted his friend. "Hey, Neville. How was your summer since I saw you?"

"Great. Gran seems to be easing up on me, and even gave me a quick hug at the station. It's a little weird but a good kind of weird. How was your summer?"

He enlarged his trunk and selected the second compartment and opened it to look for his parchment linked to Daphne's, which he had neglected to keep on him. He found it and as he was closing it up, he answered his friend. "Mine was the best ever. We went to the beach for the last week, I'd never really been on a beach before and it was really fun."

His friend gave him a smirk as he opened the parchment to write to Daphne. "How's Daphne?"

He answered distractedly as he saw she'd already written something. "Fine."

Did you try to enter our compartment?

He looked up when Neville snickered. He wondered what he found so humorous so he asked, "What?"

"Didn't you just say goodbye to her?"

Oh, he was being teased. "You're just jealous, get your own girlfriend."

He got his quill out and started to write as Neville snickered again. He was starting to wonder if he liked his friend better when he was still shy.

No, that was Malfoy. He's got an invisibility cloak and tried to spy on you and even tried to open the door.

He looked up to see Neville grinning at him so he decided to fill him on some not-so-fun news. "Malfoy has an invisibility cloak and tried to spy on Daphne."

That got Neville to drop the smile and ask, "What? How do you know?"

"When I'm wearing my own cloak, I can see certain types of magic through it so I could see the magic of the cloak and I could see through it to see Malfoy. He tried to listen at their door and even tried to open it. Daphne must have detected his attempt to enter as she just asked if I had tried to get in."

Neville sounded impressed but Harry was distracted as Daphne wrote again. "That's brilliant! I wonder what Malfoy is after."

That git! I'll have to watch him more closely this year.

As he pondered a reply to Daphne, Harry muttered, "I wish I knew."

Daphne noted that Tracey seemed anxious as they completed the spells to seal their compartment. She had no news for her of any import and she began to wonder if her friend had some news to share. When they finished, she turned to Tracey and asked, "What's up?"

Tracey gave her a happy grin so she knew it was good news. "Neville and I have been corresponding and we've started talking about us!"

Daphne grinned at her friend as she asked, "So are you a couple now?"

Some of the smile slipped off of Tracey's face before she began to answer. "Not yet but we're going to talk about it. You might not be the only one with a Gryffindor boyfriend soon." Tracey's big smile returned for the last sentence.

"That sounds like progress but I can't congrat..." She broke off to look at the door when it flashed a warning that someone was trying to get in.

She heard Tracey's distracted voice saying "What?" as she drew her wand and faced the door.

When a few seconds went by she lowered her wand and turned back to Tracey. "I wonder if that could have been Harry."

"I thought he would sit with his friends as usual."

"That's the plan. If he needed to talk to me, he would have used the parchment." She pondered a few moments and then sat down and put her wand away and reached into her bag for her parchment and a quill. "I'll ask him if that was him."

She wrote a message to him but after a couple of minutes she gave up on the parchment and looked at the door again. "I wonder what is happening."

Tracey's voice had a teasing tone when she spoke. "So, Astoria finally outed you on the books, huh?"

That earned Tracey an icy glare from her friend.

Hermione really did like the Weasley family but she just wished they were a bit more organized. Staying with them at the Leaky Cauldron and going together to the station had seemed like such a good idea yesterday but today she was very worried about missing the train. Although she often found the twins' antics amusing, she also thought they were being a bit hard on their brother Percy. After all, it was a big honour to be chosen as head boy and she was intrigued at the instructions he had received from Hogwarts. It sounded like the rules were going to be applied more uniformly this year, which would be a big relief.

OK, she had to admit that Percy was being a bit pompous but he could get over that on his own, right? Tormenting the boy just didn't seem fair to her but she could admit to herself that her dream of someday being the head girl might have coloured her thinking on the subject. Most of her thoughts were on a different subject though: Ron Weasley.

She hadn't quite figured him out yet as he seemed different but kept assuring her he was fine. He seemed more – serious. For most things she considered that a good thing, for example schoolwork. However, she didn't want him serious all of the time; she sort of liked it when he made her laugh, even if it wasn't always on purpose.

She was also puzzled about the book he seemed to be hiding from her but from one glance she'd gotten she thought it was about runes. Why would he try to hide an interest in runes from her? It was also puzzling as he'd said he was taking Divination and Creatures as his electives when they talked last school year, not runes. He was being stubborn and didn't want to talk about it with her, which she found quite irksome.

There was a bit of a rush but she didn't get away without one of Mrs. Weasley's hugs and although she liked hugs hers seemed a bit stifling and were best kept short. For some reason both of the Weasley parents seemed to be particularly worried about Harry but they didn't want to discuss why. She was beginning to wonder if the whole Weasley family had decided to be irritating for some reason. Anyway, they had made Ron promise to owl them right away if anything was amiss with Harry and to report it to Dumbledore too. She hoped it wasn't still about where Harry had spent the summer as she'd expected that had blown over by now.

They made it on the train in time and Hermione had a sigh of relief. Most of them kept on going and searching for their friends but Percy left them quickly to start preparing for the prefect meeting. She tuned out the banter of the twins and hoped that Harry or Neville had been early enough to get a compartment for them as she was usually the one to do that. She found Harry and Neville talking alone in a compartment and opened the door to greet them. "Hello Harry, Neville. I'm glad you guys found us a compartment, we were almost late!"

She smiled at the boys as they greeted her and more greetings were exchanged as Ron and Ginny followed her in. That is until Ron said, "Ginny, don't you have your own friends to sit with?"

As Ginny huffed in annoyance, Hermione rounded on Ron with a glare. "Ronald! She's your sister!"

As Ron gave her a surprised look, Harry chimed in. "You can stay with us if you want, Ginny."

"No, that's OK, I was just saying 'hi'." She glared momentarily at a now sheepish Ron before continuing. "I was going to find my own friends anyway, so I'll see you lot later."

After a chorus of goodbyes, Hermione stowed her trunk with a little help from Ron but he motioned her to sit before he hefted his own onto the rack. Ron ended up taking the seat next to Harry so Hermione sat next to Neville.

It didn't take long for Hermione to start talking again. "I like your new glasses, can you see better?"

Harry gave her a smile as he replied, "Much better. It seems I should have had my eyes checked earlier. They not only correct my vision, they are charmed to stay on my face until I take them off and they are water resistant; I should have done this years ago."

While Ron was looking at his glasses curiously, Harry and Neville watched attentively as she placed a carrier beside her and opened it to reveal a rather ugly looking cat. Harry gave it a critical look and asked, "What is that?"

Hermione gave him a frown and responded tartly, "My cat!"

Harry got a teasing glint in his eye as he asked, "Are you sure?"

Hermione huffed and conceded, "He's half Kneazle." That is when she noticed Ron struggling to keep from laughing so she glared at him. However, when he recovered he just raised his hands as if surrendering so she let it drop.

Harry was eyeing Ron expectantly before asking, "Scabbers still missing?"

Ron seemed to deflate as he said, "Yeah and I'll never get him back now. There's a ton of cats in Egypt, a fat lump like him wouldn't have lasted long."

Harry had an odd look on his face that she couldn't place and that delayed her enough that Ron asked about his summer before she could.

"How was your summer, Harry?"

Harry's grin made it clear the answer was very good and it brought a smile to her face as well. "My best summer ever!"

She couldn't help but observe, "You seem to have a little bit of a tan, Harry."

"That's what happens when you spend a week at the beach." Harry had a big satisfied grin that made her chuckle before Ron spoke up.

"Beach!? You're lucky, Harry. All we got is the sand and that was in the middle of the desert. Don't get me wrong, seeing the pyramids and such was kind of fun but it wasn't the beach."

She couldn't help reacting to that. "Oh! I would love to see the pyramids! You'll have to tell me about that."

She noticed he blushed slightly but he had a small smile as well. Harry asked, "So, Ron… has your mother eased up on you?"

Ron seemed to snap out of a daze and looked at Harry. "Oh, yeah. Once we knew we were going on the trip, she pretty much forgot how mad she was at me. She'd give me an occasional glare but that was it. I got to do everything I wanted on the trip. I also had a few great talks with Bill, he's a curse breaker over there, did you know that?"

"Yeah, you told me. What's his job like?"

"I now know why he studied so hard, it isn't easy being a curse breaker. Ignorance or being in too much of a hurry can get you killed. He's awesome with runes and very quick with a wand."

She noted that Harry looked very impressed. "That sounds brilliant and I hope I get to meet him some day."

Ron grimaced slightly before answering. "He doesn't come back here much. He admitted that part of the reason he took the job where he is was to get away from mum. There's also a lot of work to do there and he likes that too."

She bit her lip, things were a bit awkward during the silence after Ron's answer so she decided to shift the conversation a bit and satisfy her curiosity at the same time. "Is he the one who gave you the book on runes?"

Ron stared at her, gobsmacked. "How did you…?" He huffed then glanced at Harry and Hermione saw that he looked curious too. Ron practically moaned out, "Fine." After looking at everyone for a moment he began again. "I didn't want to say anything until I know for sure but after talking to Bill, I wrote to McGonagall about dropping Divination and taking Ancient Runes instead. He gave me the book I'm reading, he says it's better than my textbook. He got that for me too, by the way."

The discussion covered Bill's job, runes in general and Ron's newfound dedication to his studies. They also talked about their summer homework and again, Ron showed up well with the work he had put in. They all talked about their summers and Hermione made a point of asking questions about what Ron had seen in Egypt. Hermione couldn't help but be impressed with Ron and was a lot happier to have her curiosity satisfied.

Harry was relaxing after their discussion died down and looked to see that Neville was dozing, Hermione was, of course, reading a book but the surprise was that Ron was also. He looked at the book Ron had and recognized it as one of the books they had used over the summer although it was not the textbook for the class. He was familiar enough with it to agree that it was a good one to have. He wondered if she should order one for himself.

Then he became side-tracked with wondering what he should tell them about Sirius, a subject that had never come up. That's when the lady with the cart came by and Harry quickly bought a variety of items, making sure he got treats for each of them. Hermione was enjoying a sugar quill when she suddenly brought up the very subject Harry had been wondering about.

"I read about Sirius Black escaping, you must be pretty upset about that, Harry. However, I also read about the Potter Will finally being unsealed and that he wasn't the secret keeper so I'm really not sure what is going on."

That got the attention of Ron and even Neville looked curious. Harry regarded the three of them and trying to make up his mind when Hermione asked, "What is wrong, Harry?"

Harry sighed and decided to get it over with, they all should know. He brought out his wand and used the same spells as Daphne did on her compartment that she had shared with him. When he was done, he had the full attention of all three of them.

"What I am about to tell you cannot get out to anyone and I mean anyone." He stared hard at Hermione, who he considered to be the one most likely to be reluctant to agree but she surprised him by readily agreeing and the boys quickly followed suit. He took a deep breath and decided to just blurt it out as he had no better idea.

"Sirius managed to find the Greengrass Manor and he spent most of the summer with us. We've been planning on how to get him cleared by the Wizengamot as he never had a trial. He's been brilliant although maybe a little immature sometimes. He's been getting treatment from a healer for something called PTSD and get this: he's the Lord Black. Not only that, but I'm a Black too through my great grandmother Dorea Black. She was the older sister of the previous Lord Black, Sirius' grandfather."

Hermione was aghast, "How could he not have had a trial?"

"The previous Minister … Bagnod … Bagnoldi … whatever, she had him chucked straight into Azkaban under emergency powers during the war. They never got around to giving him a trial and he's been an innocent man in prison all that time."

"That's horrible! Why didn't you get him cleared right away?"

Harry scowled as he replied, "Fudge was involved in his arrest and doesn't want to be any more embarrassed than he already is. He wants him kissed on sight by dementors! He thinks Sirius wants to kill me but that is bullocks. He's been really nice to me, even teaching me some of the Black family magic."

It was Ron's turn to be appalled. "But Harry, the Blacks are a really dark family! He'd be teaching you dark magic!"

Harry huffed before he gave Ron a serious look. "He's been teaching me about wards, how to detect and analyse them and even some stuff on how to create them. It's been fascinating! And not a bit dark!"

Ron didn't look completely convinced but all he said was "Oh."

Neville was perplexed. "Was he there during your birthday party?"

"No, he came later." Harry thought a moment and then continued, "About a week later I think. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Neville, but it had to be kept secret to protect not only Sirius but the Greengrasses too. It would be awful if the Ministry found him there."

"I understand, Harry, nobody will hear about it from me."

"I know I can trust you guys, that's why I told you."

Harry was surprised at how gratified Ron seemed when he suddenly became aware of the parchment he had left out was trying to get his attention. He reached out and was alarmed to see the message it contained, written in a hurried script.

Someone has been trying to break into our compartment! Whoever it seems to have stopped.

He quickly scrawled a reply.

I'll be there soon to check out the car.

The other three were giving him worried look so he quickly announced, "I have to check out Daphne's car, someone tried to break into their compartment."

"I'm coming too!" came nearly simultaneously from Ron and Neville and Hermione expressed the same sentiment a moment later. It might have been funny but not now and Harry nearly drew his wand but refrained when he realised that he didn't want to cause a scene. With his new wand holster courtesy of Cyrus, he could now have his wand in his hand in an instant.

His main suspect was Malfoy, of course, so he headed to where he'd seen him last time. When he entered that car, he was surprised to see some Ravenclaw girls loitering in the hallway and looked away when he saw them eyeing him. He was slightly disconcerted to see Malfoy slumped in his seat and looking frustrated. He might have assumed the frustration was due to his recent failure but he and his bodyguards didn't have the manner of ones who had just returned from somewhere.

Harry was startled to hear a somewhat familiar voice say, "He's been sulking in there for over an hour. If you're wondering when he'll come to taunt you, I think he plans to skip that this year."

He turned to see that it was a smirking, tall blond who had spoken and she definitely looked familiar but it took a moment for her name to come to him. "Well, that's good news. Thanks, Turpin."

She smiled a bit too widely to be normal as she said, "Call me Lisa."

"Call me Harry." He wanted to reciprocate and seem friendly but her manner was putting him off a bit and he did want to check the next car where Daphne was. He nodded to her and her eyes followed him as he went through the car to the door at the end. The other three were behind him so the thought he could get away with a glance to see what she might be doing and was shocked to see that she seemed to be admiring his bum! He'd had no idea that girls checked out boys' bums but he had to admit, he had started noticing girls' bums – mainly Daphne's, of course.

The next car was quiet although a couple of boys were talking further down the car and after glancing at the new arrivals they seemed to be eyeing the compartment where Daphne was. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to have witnesses. He recognized one of the boys but didn't indicate that as the boy hadn't seen him. "Did something happen here?"

The closest boy regarded Harry for a moment before answering. "When I first got on the train, I thought I heard someone talking over there." He pointed to Daphne's compartment. "A couple of minutes ago, I saw flashes that might have been spells and came out to see what was going on. Then I saw a shimmer or a bit of distortion over there too. After that I heard a door shut but I didn't see which one." He appeared perplexed and then he shrugged.

The shimmer or distortion might be someone under the Disillusionment charm, one he had yet to fully master. He wondered if it might be from an invisibility cloak but an upper year who did the charm seemed more likely. Since Malfoy had an alibi, that left Harry with no suspects.

Harry wanted to be sure that things were clear so he swept the area around the compartment and found nothing. He suddenly felt a little silly as the boys would have no idea why he was there so he tried to distract them. "I wonder if it could be a ghost."

That got the boys talking animatedly and as they turned to leave he murmured to his friends, "That ought to distract them for a while. Reckon I just started a rumour?" He grinned at them as the boys quietly guffawed and Hermione rolled her eyes. His good humour evaporated as he wondered what else was going on that involved Daphne and then the watchful eyes of the girls in the next car unsettled him as well. That got him on a new tangent of thought. If girls were now checking him out, would they start trying to be his girlfriend?

That was a bit of a conundrum for him as although he'd like to say he already had a girlfriend, the next question would be 'who?' It was just his luck that he didn't dare answer that question truthfully. He'd have to figure out what to say in case it came up.

It was a rather confused quartet that returned to their compartment and they all sat down where they'd been before. He looked at his companions and asked, "What do you reckon?"

Hermione offered, "It was probably an upper year with a Disillusionment charm."

"That is what I was thinking, but there are dozens of upper years."

Nobody had an answer for that so he sighed in frustration and then said. "I thought it would have been Malfoy trying for round two with his invisibility cloak."

That got strong reactions from Ron and Hermione and he realized that he hadn't told them that story yet. He relayed that information as he wrote to Daphne that they'd found nothing but suspected an upper year with a Disillusionment charm.

Daphne put aside her parchment linked to Harry's and growled out her frustration. The chipper, teasing voice of her friend didn't improve her mood. "What's wrong, your boyfriend didn't find the culprit?"

"No, as a matter of fact he didn't. It was quite enough with Malfoy skulking around with an invisibility cloak but now we have some mystery upper year after us! There is nothing funny about this Tracey! He knew all of the counters to my spells! If we hadn't kept putting them back up when he took them down, he'd be in here right now doing who knows what!"

Tracey held up her hands at her friend's glare and spoke up quickly, her face turning solemn. "Whoa! I was just teasing. I know this is serious and I'm as worried as you are but we're safe now, aren't we?"

Daphne huffed and dropped her scowl and her head to stare down into her lap. "For the moment, yes but I wasn't expecting two stalkers! I hoped our biggest problem would be hiding who our boyfriends are."

"OK, now you're counting the goal before the quaffle clears the ring. Neville and I exchanged a few letters and agreed to talk in person when we could. Nothing is settled."

Daphne turned to her friend with a raised eyebrow and enquired, "I thought you were always the optimistic one."

Tracey looked a little uncomfortable before replying. "Usually I am. But this is kind of important – and risky, don't forget risky."

Daphne gave her friend a small smile and softly said, "But if he's the right one, it's worth it."

Tracey gave her a surprisingly hard stare as she demanded, "Who are you and what have you done with my friend Daphne?"

She really tried to keep a straight face but ended up giggling, much to her displeasure but at least Harry wasn't around to hear it. She got a hold of herself and sighed. "When it was just Malfoy, I was going to wait until tonight to write to my father but with two stalkers at work I am going to contact him now." She dug into her bag and removed the appropriate parchment then she began to ponder what to say.

As the weather worsened and the end of their journey was finally approaching, even Hermione had given up on reading and they were all sitting quietly, apparently all lost in their own thoughts. Harry was contemplating the beginning of a new year at Hogwarts but not looking forward to it as usual. He no longer needed a haven away from the Dursleys, he was not going to get as much time with his girlfriend and added to this he was missing Roxanne, Cyrus and Sirius too. On top of that, Malfoy was still acting up and now they had some mystery upper year up to something.

This was shaping up to be another eventful year at Hogwarts and Harry was starting to feel like he had had quite enough adventures in his life. He had a lot of people who cared about him now and that he cared about and this whole facing death thing was really getting old. Then he thought bitterly that whatever he wanted, trouble always seemed to find him even when he wasn't looking for it.

He was startled from his gloomy thoughts when the train started to slow down. His first reaction was to look out the window but all he saw was black, he then checked the time and realized that unless the train had gone faster than usual, and he hadn't noticed that if it did, they shouldn't be near Hogsmeade yet. He ignored Ron's comments about the feast to come as a feeling of dread began to come to him. When the train stopped abruptly and some baggage could be heard to fall and then Ron said he thought there were people entering the train, his dread increased.

Whatever this was, it wasn't normal and that just increased his unease, and knowing his luck this was shaping up into something bad. He had just flicked his wand into his hand when the lights abruptly went out so he cast Lumos with a bit more force than usual and had to squint in the bright light. It was so dark though that he decided to lift it higher and not try to lessen the glow. He still had to work on his magical control. He had improved after Robert's advice but there were times that he still had some issues.

He unlocked and opened the door to their compartment and saw some others with lit wands peering around as he was. He got the impression that something was coming their way from the car towards the front of the train when he finally noticed something specific that was amiss.

He felt a warmth blossom on his chest and it quickly occurred to him that it must be the amulet. However, he certainly wasn't in a situation where someone would be attempting Legilimency on him, he was surrounded by frightened students who wouldn't be able to concentrate enough to do it even if they knew it, which seemed unlikely in most cases. That must mean some sort of negative energy but there couldn't be dementors here, they were supposed to be around Hogwarts, that's what Cyrus had said and he swallowed nervously as he wasn't ready for this now.

His heart began to pound harder in his chest and he felt a surge of adrenaline hit him but that just made him cautious as he thought through his options. There was no reason for him to try to confront anything so he closed and backed away from the door but accidently jostled Ron who had come up close behind him. Ron sounded worried as he asked, "What did you see?"

"Nothing specific, I could feel something coming, something dangerous."

Ron sounded baffled. "Feel? What do you mean?"

He turned to look towards Ron and saw that Hermione was looking at him curiously too. He saw Neville and was a bit startled as he looked determined and was glaring towards the door with his wand ready. Neville felt it too so he swung back towards their compartment door as he heard a door close so he thought something must have just entered their car and he heard whimpers, a scream and shutting doors. He quickly shot the locking charm on the door and he wanted to be ready for whatever it was also so he took another step back and aimed his wand at the door.

He saw another wand appear in his peripheral vision and based on where it was, he assumed it was Hermione's. Nobody was wasting any time on talk now and suddenly a vague shape appeared at their door. The glare off of the glass, some ice that was appearing and the darkness in the aisle made it hard to make anything out but Harry got the impression of ragged clothes that made him think of Sirius momentarily. He shoved that aside as Sirius didn't look like that anymore and this was something dangerous but hopefully not a dementor, please don't let it be a dementor.

He still only had accomplished mist; he wasn't ready! The door rattled as whatever it was tried to get in and he heard a rumble that made him think of frustration. Then there was a hit against the door that startled them all and suddenly there was a flash and the door began to open despite his charm and Harry's Lumos spell began to grow weaker even though he hadn't consciously done anything about that spell.

He noted that fact absently but focussed on what was now about to enter their compartment. Despite the lesser light, the direct view confirmed the impression of ragged clothing although it was now discernible as a black cloak. He saw the skeletal hand that had opened the door and realized with a sinking feeling that it was exactly what he had feared, they were about to be face to face with a dementor!

It stayed where it was but he could hear something like it taking in a large, rattling breath and the temperature of the compartment lowered drastically and he could now see puffs of vapour coming from their mouths but not from the dementor. It seemed to float as it suddenly came towards Harry and he held tightly to his best memory of when Daphne had asked him to be her boyfriend and shouted "Expecto Patronum!"

Although the Dementor drew back when the white mist shot from his wand, Harry realized with dread that the amount of mist was less than his best, it really was harder to cast with a real dementor present! A strange rattling sound came from the dementor as the mist faded and Harry got the impression that he had angered the beast and his mind began to race. He had no alternatives, he had to cast the spell correctly or lose his soul!

Then his mind took a new, more frightening tangent. His friends didn't know the spell at all! He should have tried to teach them! Why would an angry dementor stop at one? All of their souls were in peril! Then he thought of Astoria who couldn't even produce mist and worst of all, Daphne who had only accomplished as much as him, which was now clearly insufficient. Suddenly, he realized he was beginning to feel hot and his magical flow had increased so much that he could feel it without even trying!

As the dementor started forward and a disgusting hand began to reach for him he let everything loose, he had nothing to lose. He thought of his friends and his new family and most of all, the girl so central to his life, he couldn't fail them! He brought the image of Daphne to the front of his mind as he dimly heard a woman screaming but he focussed on his own thoughts. PROTECT US! SEND THE MONSTERS AWAY! Harry's ears rang with his shout of, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Harry had never felt anything like this before. His vision had dimmed and narrowed and he feared he was about to faint and his wand seemed to be bucking in his hand. He couldn't afford that now! Concentrate! Force the magic to flow! Dimly he heard an unearthly shriek and then a high pitched keening sound that hurt his ears and he hoped it was the dementor making those sounds. Suddenly, his vision improved and he became aware of some large, glowing animal ravaging something with – was that antlers?

Sirius had told him about prongs, had his father somehow sent his Patronus to save them? No, he was letting his mind wander; that must be his own Patronus, just like his father's. Then he noticed that the Patronus was gone and the lights were on again. He staggered forward and saw that the Patronus was in the next car already but couldn't see enough to know what was going on. As much as he'd like to follow it, he didn't feel able as he'd barely managed to get to the door, trying to follow farther was a bad idea.

He absently noticed that the amulet wasn't warm anymore and then his eyes were drawn to a pile of rags and bones in the aisle about where he'd last seen the dementor. Was it – dead?

He was still staring at the pile when a voice finally penetrated his consciousness. "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry turned to see the concerned face of Hermione and nodded his head affirmatively, not feeling up to speaking at that moment. Suddenly, two sets of hands were helping him back to the bench and he didn't try to resist, sitting down sounded good to him as he realized he was very shaky.

Hermione was right in front of him looking worried and frightened. "Harry? Are you really alright?"

Apparently, his nod hadn't been enough. He managed to say, "Just feel weak, very tired."

Astoria had been enjoying the train ride despite the horrible weather they were now enduring. She not only had been able to talk with her best friend Jessica, she felt that she had made some new friends with the other first year girls that had timidly trickled in to their compartment. A couple of boys might have been good but she now knew she should wait on that, there was no hurry.

When the train slowed, she was excited at first, assuming that they were reaching their destination. However, the abrupt stop that very nearly toppled a trunk from the rack was the first sign that something might be amiss. They ended up clustered near the windows and only Astoria and Jessica had their wands out, the others were too frightened and were crying. They had seen nothing but the sounds they were hearing were plenty foreboding on their own.

Then, Astoria was astonished when a giant, glowing stag poked its head though their door as if it didn't exist and looked straight at her. She felt warm and safe suddenly and somehow it almost seemed familiar. Then she remembered hearing about Harry's father's Patronus. Could it be like father, like son? She whispered, "Harry?" and with a quick nod, the Patronus left them behind and went somewhere else. Astoria still stared in wonder even after it had left.

As soon as Daphne realized that it was too soon to be arriving at Hogsmeade, she went on high alert. She reinforced her spells on the wall to the aisle of the train but was startled by something behind her when the windows to the outside iced over and something dark and ominous passed by. She quickly sent some spells at the outside and then the side walls, nearly in a panic. What in the name of Circe was going on here? Tracey gamely helped her but looked quite frightened and Daphne knew she wasn't far behind her best friend.

She wasn't sure of the passage of time as her state of high alert was messing with her perceptions a bit. When the door to the aisle iced over, she tensed and pointed her wand at the door. Her parents had warned her about the dementors but never mentioned them being on the train! She tried to focus on her and Harry kissing and attempted to prepare to cast the Patronus charm. She was startled to hear an inhuman shrieking that faded as she heard some crashes and then the feeling of cold began to dissipate.

Then an amazing thing happened, a large glowing stag came walking through the door and the ice disappeared in a flash and not only did she feel warm, she felt loved. It was if she was enfolded in her mother's arms – no, more like Harry's arms. Why was this thing making her think of Harry?

Then she felt like a fool, this was his Patronus and it was just like his father's! Harry had finally successfully cast the spell! She dropped her wand as it was unimportant now and she reached out to touch the glowing animal. It wasn't quite solid but there was something there and a feeling of being enveloped in Harry's hug nearly overwhelmed her.

Her voice sounded shaky and awed to her own ears as she said, "Oh, Harry, you finally did it! And it's amazing!"

She abruptly felt bereft as it faded away but her worry and fear did not come back, somehow she knew they were safe. She turned to look at Tracey as her friend asked, "Harry did that? What the bloody hell was that anyway?"

Daphne had to fight off a semi-hysterical giggle as she tried to reassure and inform her friend.

Remus Lupin slowly came awake, dimly aware of the fact that the train had stopped. He pushed himself up when he realized that he must have slept through the entire trip! He'd ridden the train in case something happened at the request of Dumbledore and now he felt guilty that he'd been slumbering the whole time.

His last transformation had been tough despite the return of Padfoot and he was recovering but still, he expected better of himself. He was puzzled as to why the lights were out when they suddenly came on. Then he realized he'd best change robes, Padfoot had wanted him to make a good first impression and he had to admit, these new robes looked much better than what he was wearing. He had only begun to remove his robes when he heard an eerie shriek and some crashes. What the hell? He dropped his old robes back in place and hurried out the door with his wand drawn; perhaps he'd be of use after all.

He was startled to see the window of the door to the outside broken, apparently by something exiting as there was no glass on the floor in front of him. He cast a quick Reparo and the glass was good as new, now the mystery was what exited the train with such velocity? Fortunately, it couldn't be a student as there was no sign of blood anywhere and he definitely would have smelled it.

He looked towards the other door and saw students beginning to peek out of their compartments but he also saw glass from the broken door window leading into this last car of the train. "Mind the glass," he said conversationally, trying to keep the students calm as he cast another Reparo which solved the broken glass on the floor issue.

It had seemed too cold for this time of year even for Scotland so he was suspicious that he was still missing something. "Did anyone see what happened?"

A shivering boy spoke up. "It was an awful creature that was wearing rags. I felt so cold, so awful."

Bloody hell, dementors! They weren't supposed to be on the train! He hesitated a moment as he frowned and then focussed on his hearing. He heard others moving about and talking similarly to the students in this car so the crisis was apparently over.

Could something have frightened dementors badly enough for them to break out through windows? Thanks to some foresight, he had plenty of chocolate gladly supplied by Padfoot, he went back for his sack full of chocolates and handed some out with explanations as he made his way through the car and into the next one. He continued on his way and still seeing no sign of a dementor himself, just students recovering from a terrible experience. He was relieved when the train began to move again as it was another sign the trouble was over but he had to finish his rounds and make certain.

He was moving through a new carriage when he sensed the presence of something dark, his augmented senses serving him well in that regard. He absently passed out more chocolate as he approached a pile of rags and bones on the floor. He'd never heard of a dementor dying before, but what he sensed was consistent with the remains of one.

He looked across the aisle and saw some frazzled looking students looking back at him so he opened the door and was surprised to finally see Harry but he looked exhausted. Without thinking, he asked, "Harry, are you OK?"

Harry was giving him a lopsided smile and said, "Just tired, Remus."

He handed him one of the chocolate bars and said, "Eat some of this, it helps you to recover from the effects of dementors."

As Harry muttered, "Thanks," Remus continued to distribute chocolate to the two other boys and the girl when he noted their confused looks. He was about to introduce himself when Harry beat him to it. "This is our new DADA professor, Mr. Remus Lupin. May I introduce Ron Weasley..." A red-headed, gangly youth nodded at him. "Neville Longbottom..." The other boy gave him a grin and a very brief bow, which he returned. There was no doubt about his identity as he reminded him of both of his parents. "And Hermione Granger." He bowed slightly but then shook hands as that is obviously what she expected so she must be the Muggleborn that he'd heard about.

The girl seemed slightly embarrassed. "We didn't realize who you were, Professor."

Remus chuckled and replied, "Don't worry about it, Miss Granger. School hasn't started yet and I haven't even put on my Professor robes. I'm always glad to meet friends of Harry's but I must be off. There are others who can probably use this chocolate."

"Of course, Professor."

He bid them all a quick goodbye and turned to finish his trek to the front of the train but was still close enough to hear Harry's friends quiz him on how he knew their professor already. He hid a grin as he continued on and even ended up giving the driver some chocolate, the poor fellow looked like he could use it.

When the driver informed him that they were now only minutes from Hogsmeade, he hurried back to finish changing. He may have blown his first chance at making a good impression with the students but at least once at the school, he really ought to look his best.