Harry followed Hermione and the other Gryffindors blindly around the stone bunker, not sure what to expect. With Kiera and Atris so far away, he was having a harder time finding them in the Force, especially with all the other lights of Force-sensitivity-it was even more disorienting than the Praxeum was the first standard week!
At least there, some of the others were familiar, like the Solos and Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn, and some of his other apprentices, like Jaden Korr and Rosh Penin.
Here, Harry had no one. Hermione seemed nice, though, he had to admit. She bickered good-naturedly with a redhead about the same age, and they were both smiling, while shooting insults that would've made Harry cringe if he'd been the subject of such horrors.
They then stopped in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink gown.
"Password?" she asked.
"Fortuna major," Hermione said proudly, and the portrait swung open to reveal a passageway. Hermione looked to Harry. "The Boy-Who-Lived first."
Harry nodded, although he was unsure about the title, and entered in a room covered with red and gold tapestries, covered with some sort of valiant, golden creature. Harry sank into the plushy round armchair by the window.
"It's enchanted to show the view from the towers," Hermione said as she sat across from Harry, the redhead boy trailing her with a lovestruck expression on his face. "This is Ron, by the way."
"Ron Weasley," the boy said, offering his hand to Harry.
"It's nice to meet you, Ron," Harry said. "So tell me, what's going on?"
"Didn't Dumbledore tell you?" Hermione asked. "Well, the plan is to get you a wand tomorrow morning, and then we can squeeze in about a week's worth of training. The thing is, we need you to help us fight, and quickly. Hogwarts is the last refuge for anyone against You-Know-Who on this planet."
"Why am I so important?" Harry asked like
"You're the Boy-Who-Lived!" Ron cried. "You're the only person recorded to survive the killing curse!"
"What?" Harry exclaimed, confused by this turn of events.
"They think You-Know-Who attacked you on Hallow's Eve-an important holiday here-and he killed your parents. He then tried to kill you, but it didn't work. It destroyed him, and he was out of it for a while. Then, three years ago, he came back-no one knows how."
"So, just to be clear," Harry said, "I'm supposed to have lived through something no one else has as a baby and defeated some Dark Lord who's now risen from the dead? Sounds like I do have a lot to catch up to."
"And that's why we need to get into the dorms, mate," Ron said, standing up. "McGonagall wakes us up early."