Chapter Nine

A/N: Sorry for the extra long delay folks. I hit a brick wall with my muse. Took a while to chip away the mortar but I got through it. This chapter is mostly transition, too, but there is something exciting in the next chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to J.K. Rowling. Nor do I plan to profit from this story.

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Harry stood on platform 9 3/4 watching the bustle around him with dread. There had been a lot of whispers and looks and pointed fingers in his direction. Mr. Sothew had warned him this school year would be difficult and it would be even more so knowing Mr. Sothew would not be here to put some of his plans in motion. The only thing marked off the to-do list that Harry could tell related directly to Hogwarts had been 'Get Binns fired'. That just meant Dumbledore had two positions to fill rather than the one.

"Potter, a word?" Harry looked up to see Bill Weasley standing off to the side looking like a red storm cloud. Harry resisted the urge to beg off and run for the train. He had been waiting for this confrontation and had been hoping he had avoided it. No such luck. He put his hand on Padfoot's head and the dog barked quietly as if in support.

"A quick one, sure," Harry said, proud that his voice didn't break as he turned towards Bill. The rest of the Weasleys were all hugging their mom and loading their trunks onto the train. Hermione was already on the train, no doubt tracking down the other prefects to compare notes or something.

"What they hell are you doing with Fleur? She broke up with me and I know it was your fault somehow," Bill hissed, getting right up in his face. Harry leaned back and swallowed hard. Maybe Bill had a right to be angry with him. Then again, Fleur had told him the bond between them was inevitable so maybe it wasn't anyone's fault.

"You'll have to ask Fleur, Bill. Her reasons are not mine to tell. I swear I didn't do anything on purpose and I'm sorry," Harry said quietly. Bill just stared at him with angry eyes for several moments before Harry heard him mutter something and then felt a weak pulse from his pendant. Harry took a step back and dropped his eyes, his own anger flaring. The large black dog sitting at Harry's feet started growling.

"Did you just try legilimens on me, Bill Weasley? Because as sorry as I am that Fleur broke it off, it is not okay for you to pry into my head," Harry said angrily. He heard Bill's sharp intake of breath and then quick footsteps. He looked back up and saw Bill's retreating back. He sighed in relief just before he was practically attacked from the side, causing Padfoot to yelp and leap out of the way.

"Oh, Harry, do have a good year dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she tried to hug the stuffing out of him. He patted her back awkwardly and she released him just before he turned blue from lack of oxygen. He was still a little irritated about her attitude towards Sirius and Fleur, but he really did enjoy the novelty of being mothered. He just hoped she would not go ballistic when she heard how much closer he was going to be to Fleur in the future. It would pain him to distance himself from the Weasley family, but he already knew if it came down to a choice between Fleur and his semi-adopted status as the eighth Weasley child, he would choose Fleur. That thought was very sobering. He had only really known her for a few weeks.

"I will try, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks for everything," he said sincerely, watching her smile widen at his grateful acknowledgement. She patted his shoulder and then shooed him towards the train.

"You don't want to be late. Say goodbye to the dog and get on the train, Harry." Harry knelt one knee and wrapped his arms around the black grim, laying his cheek against the top of his head between his ears.

"Bye, Padfoot. I'll miss you and your crazy antics this year. I promise to use the mirror. Can you maybe help Fleur with her charms, too?" He said the last too quietly for Mrs. Weasley to hear but trusted the dog's ears to be sensitive enough. He took the happy bark and the long lick to the side of his neck to be an affirmative response. He sputtered and pulled away, wiping at his neck.

"Uck, Pads. Uncalled for," he said with a laugh. The dog barked once more and then ran through the crowd towards were Mad Eye Moody and Remus were standing, keeping a close eye on the platform. Harry waved and then pulled his trunk onto the train with a little help from Ron, who had waited for him. For the first time in five years, he was not looking forward to his school year. Ah well, hopefully it wouldn't be too bad and he prayed time would fly before the first Hogsmeade visit.

Hermione had been nice enough to commandeer them a compartment near the back of the train. After stowing their trunks, Hermione and Ron both took off for the prefects car leaving Harry alone. He took out his Rune book and opened it. He was determined to at least have the basic rune sets memorized by the end of the week. Remus had told him that his head of house could grant permission for an outside tutor and he was hoping to impress McGonangall with his willingness to study.

After an hour, the tiny symbols began to blur together so Harry put his book away. About that time, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan dropped in for a quick visit. He was surprised when Seamus, usually the most outspoken of his yearmates, was subdued and rather sullen. Harry raised his eyebrows at Dean and he shrugged almost apologetically before they took their leave after a rather lack luster discussion of their summers.

Harry felt a little restless after Dean and Seamus' visit so he decided to make the rounds himself. There weren't many people he wanted to see, but he was hoping to find two people in particular. One was Neville Longbottom. The other was a fourth year named Luna Lovegood. As luck would have it, they were both sitting in the same car along with the Creevy brothers and Ginny Weasley.

"Hi, Harry. How was your summer?" Neville asked easily. Harry relaxed with a shrug.

"Pretty good, actually. First year I think I'd actually rather stay home than head off to Hogwarts," he said truthfully. Neville blinked in surprise.

"Really? The only thing I'll miss from home is the greenhouses. Okay, and maybe the quiet. Can't say I look forward to sleeping in the same room as Ron and Seamus again," Neville said with a wry grin. Harry chuckled at friend's uncharacteristically snarky comment about their roommates' abilities to out snore a mountain troll.

"Lucky for me I've had a couple of weeks to get used to Ron again," Harry said with a chuckle. Then he turned to speak to the others.

"Hi Colin, Dennis. Hey Gin. And it's Luna, right?" he asked. After the chorus of hellos from the boys and Ginny's bright smile, the waif-like blonde girl looked up from the magazine she was reading - upsidedown. Her wide blue eyes stared intensely at him for a few seconds before she nodded.

"Hello, Harry Potter. Yes, I'm Luna Lovegood, daughter-in-chief for the Quibbler," she said, holding up the magazine with a shy yet somewhat dreamy smile. Harry nodded.

"Nice to meet you Luna. The Quibbler, huh? I don't think I've read that issue," he said politely. Mr. Sothew had gotten him a subscription to the Quibbler. Harry had quickly learned not to take the stories too seriously, but it was fun to read. Luna beamed at him and offered up her magazine.

"You can read mine. It really is a riveting issue. Daddy has a whole article on Heliopaths and another about the Unicorn migration," she said cheerfully. Harry took the magazine without hesitation despite the cutthroat motions Ginny was making when Luna wasn't looking.

"Thanks, Luna. I'll get it back to you at the Opening Feast, yeah?" he said. She nodded with a dreamy smile and then pulled a school book out of the bag in her lap and started reading it - right side up this time. Harry winked at Ginny and than made his goodbyes to the compartment before ducking out and returning to his own, stopping occasionally to say a quick hello to someone he knew. He was not too surprised by the hesitant greetings he received from some people, but a few minutes of conversation seemed to thaw most of them out.

When he finally arrived back in the last passenger car, Harry was surprised to see Crabbe standing outside his compartment. When the Slytherin saw him enter the car, he turned and thumped on the door of the compartment.

"He's back, Draco, hurry up!" the boy said in a harsh whisper that was loud enough for Harry to hear. Alarmed, Harry drew his wand and shot a silent stunner at Crabbe and flung open the door to their compartment before the boy had hit the ground. His trunk had been upended and Draco stood there with his invisibility cloak in one hand and his godfather's mirror in the other. The panicked look on the Malfoy heir's narrow face would have been comical if not for the fact that he was obviously trying to steal two of Harry's most precious possessions.

"Drop my stuff Malfoy and get the hell out of this compartment before I call a prefect," he snarled. Malfoy straightened at that and covered his panic with his usual haughty sneer.

"This is an invisibility cloak, Potter. I doubt it belongs to you so I was just going to return it to its rightful owner," he said pompously. Harry snorted softly.

"Family heirloom, given to me by Dumbledore himself. Try again, ferret," Harry said through clenched teeth. It was Malfoy's turn to snarl, but it was cut off by an exclamation from outside the compartment.

"What is going on here?" The lady that manned the snack trolley had just pushed into the car and was nudging Crabbe with her foot, giving Harry a stern glance. Harry lowered his wand and stepped back, gesturing into the compartment.

"I just came back from visiting friends and found these two going through my things," he said sourly. The lady peered into the compartment and Draco squawked and dropped the cloak and mirror. Harry winced when the mirror hit one of the cushioned seats and bounced onto the hard floor. He hadn't heard it break, but he worried that his best means of communication with his godfather might be damaged.

"Mr. Malfoy! I am ashamed of you, young man. Just wait until I tell your mother about this," the snack lady said sternly. By now, several of the compartment doors had slid open and people were peering out to see what the commotion was. Whispers started up and one young girl darted out the door into the next car. Whether she was off to pass along the gossip or to get a prefect, Harry didn't know.

"I was j-j-just...I thought this was my compartment! Yes, and I was just finding out that this is not my stuff, no, so, I'll be going now," Draco said, scrambling out of the compartment and stumbling over Crabbe. The Snack Lady huffed and gestured at the large body on the floor.

"Well, Mr. Potter? What happened to young Vincent?" she asked resignedly.

"Sorry, ma'am. I stunned him when he yelled at Malfoy to hurry up because I was back," Harry said, doing his best to sound contrite. Hopefully the flush in his cheeks would come off as embarrassment and not anger. The woman rolled her eyes and pulled a wand out of the cup of lollies on the top of the cart, flicking a quick ennerverate at the prone Slytherin. Then she pointed her wand into the compartment and cast a quiet spell that Harry didn't quite hear. He watched with wide eyes as his trunk flipped over and began to pack itself neatly. When Draco squeaked in surprise, all of them watched as a chocolate frog, a few galleons and a wadded up piece of pale green parchment floated out of his pockets and into the trunk as well.

"I was going to try and convince Mr. Potter here to let you go after a sincere apology, Draco, but I'm afraid I'll have to mention this to the Head Boy or Girl," the snack lady said in a frustrated tone. Harry got the impression that she was familiar with the Malfoy family and knew Draco personally. He might have wondered about that if he wasn't too busy being horrified. That pale green parchment was Fleur's signature stationary. Had Draco gone through all his letters from Fleur or just grabbed one at random to taunt him with later?

Draco's face went from beat red to pale and back to red again before he whirled and stalked past all students gawking from the open compartments, Crabbe following him unsteadily. Harry felt a hand on his arm and flinched slightly. The snack lady gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, lad. I'm not sure what young Draco was thinking. He used to be such a sweet boy. I've been friends with his mother for years. I'll be sure to let the Heads know and I'm sure Mr. Malfoy will get a few detentions for his misbehavior," she said. "Did you want anything off the trolley?"

Harry just shook his head and offered the woman a terse thanks before ducking into his compartment. He slid the door shut with a bit too much force and jerked down the shade on the window. The lid on his trunk was still open and he snatched up the letter, carefully undoing the wadded paper. To his relief, it was the letter she had sent the day of his hearing. It held little of importance. Why would Draco have chosen this one out of all the letters Harry had tied together with a bit of blue ribbon he'd nicked from Fleur during their trip to the beach? Hopefully it meant he had just stolen the letter at random.

Harry shut his trunk and shoved it back in the overhead bin, anger at Draco's attempt at thievery warring with relief that he'd been caught at it. He doubted Draco would get more than a slap on the wrist, but the whole train would know what Draco had done by the time they reached Hogwarts. Or at least they would know some version of the truth. Merlin only knew how the story would evolve as it moved through the train.

Harry was too agitated to study runes so he decided to try something Remus had suggested to help him train his casting speed and precision. He pulled a knut out of his pocket and charmed it featherlight and carefully incanted the moderately complex series of spells that made the small coin float in the air two feet away from him and begin weaving through the air in a lazy, random pattern. He began throwing various harmless charms and hexes at the small target. Most of them would have no effect on the little coin, but it would pause in its flight and change direction if he hit it. By the time someone slid the door back half an hour later, the coin was speeding around the compartment like a tiny Quidditch player. It zinged past Hermione's nose, causing her to squawk in surprise and stumble backwards into Ron.

"Oops, sorry 'Mione," Harry said with a grin. It took him three tries to hit the coin with a finite, making it tumble to the seat opposite him. Ron snatched it up and threw it at Harry, who caught it with a laugh. Both of them knew about the exercise so they didn't ask what he'd been doing.

"What did Malfoy do?" Ron asked instead.

"Yes, what exactly did he do? I have trouble believing what Parvati told us," Hermione said with a raised eyebrow and a frown. Harry hmmed.

"What did Parvati say?" He asked instead of answering his friends. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"He was caught hexing all of your things so they would kill you in various gruesome ways the next time you opened your trunk. He also tied you up and hung you by your toes from the top of the train before you cursed him wandlessly, making him fly off the train into a gorge. That last story was via the twins so I'm pretty sure there's no basis in fact," she said with a snort. Ron laughed and shook his head.

"Gotta admit, the firsties were eating it up though," Ron said before pinning Harry with a stare that encouraged him to spill the real story. Harry sighed.

"He posted Crabbe as a guard and upended my trunk. I found him with my cloak and the mirror Sirius gave me in his grubby paws," Harry growled. Hermione gasped softly.

"Oh, Harry! Good thing you came back in time. Did the trolley lady really drag him off by his ear?" She asked. Harry snorted.

"I wish. She scolded him like a kid that had just stolen cookies out of the pantry and he stomped off in a huff. Git had taken money and one of my letters from Fleur too, but they were shoved in his pockets. Good thing the snack lady knew a packing spell that pulled them out or I would never have gotten them back," Harry said in an angry voice. Ron growled in commiseration while Hermione shook her head.

"Well, hopefully he'll get punished once we get to Hogwarts," Hermione said in a wistful tone that said she hoped it would happen but didn't expect much to come from the incident. Harry shrugged.

"Either way, I'll be warding my trunk as soon as I can figure out how. I'll ask Sirius about it tonight on the mirror. Unless you know a few off the top, 'Mione," Harry said, giving his best female friend a hopeful look. He was not surprised when she confessed to knowing a simple ward or two. She spent the next hour teaching the boys and helping them ward their trunks with an alarm charm that would shriek like a banshee if someone other than the caster attempted to open the trunk. By the time they were done, most of their car had come by to see if someone was being murdered and Hermione was in her element, teaching the charm to anyone willing to learn. By the time the train arrived in Hogsmeade, Harry was in better spirits.

At least until he saw the thestrals.

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Harry stormed through the portrait hole in the wake of the first years, skirting around the group of young Gryffindors on his way to the stairs. He caught Hermione's concerned gaze and gave her a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. She turned her attention back to the first years, though. She was taking her prefect duties very seriously. Luckily, Ron was there to keep the tour from turning into a verbatim lecture from Hogwarts: A History. Hermione did tend to babble when she got nervous.

Harry was relieved to see he was the first to reach the fifth year boys' dormitory. He pulled off his uniform and draped it carefully over the chair by his bed, all the while running through one of the calming exercises Mr. Sothew had taught him. By the time he pulled the mirror out of his trunk, he was relatively calm.

"Sirius Black!" Harry called as he settled back against the pillows on his bed wearing nothing but his boxers. He had already pulled the curtains and cast a silencing charm on them.

"Harry Potter! Howsit, pup?" Sirius asked a moment later, his smiling face appearing in the reflective surface. Despite the litany of bad news Harry had to convey, he still managed to smile for his godfather. Granted it was gone in an instant as he replied.

"Quite possibly the worst Welcoming Feast ever. Dumbledore is letting Snape teach Defense!" he exclaimed sourly. Sirius sighed.

"Yeah, Mooney told me after we got back from King's Cross. He found out last night but he didn't want to ruin your train ride back," Sirius said, turning his head to glare at someone off to the side. Evidently Mooney was listening in.

"Prank him good for me, would you? I didn't like being blindsided by that after everything else that's happened today," Harry said with a growl. Sirius' eyes widened.

"What else happened today? Did you have trouble on the train?"

"Might as well start at the beginning, I guess. Malfoy got into my trunk on the train and tried to steal some things. I'm just lucky I caught him," Harry said. It was Sirius' turn to growl.

"I hope you hexed the little bastard."

"No. I did stun one of his hulking sycophants, though. Got him in trouble with the snack trolley lady, but I doubt he'll get more than a slap on the wrist for it," Harry said with a sigh. Sirius grimaced.

"Let me know if he doesn't get some kind of punishment. I can get Mooney to file a complaint with the Board of Governors for you," he said.

"Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well since Malfoy has the board in his back pocket. What's next on the list of terrible things? Oh yea, thestrals," Harry said with a groan. Sirius blinked and then shook his head sadly.

"Never actually saw one myself, but I think we studied them in NEWT Care of Magical Creatures. I'm really sorry, Harry."

"Wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the whole seeing death thing. They are kinda cool in a creepy sort of way," Harry said with a wry smile. "Speaking of Care, do you guys know why Hagrid's missing?"

"Off on a mission for the Order," Sirius said quietly. "Hoping he'll be back before Christmas hols."

"Oh. He's alright? Have you heard from him lately?" Harry asked in concern. Sirius shrugged.

"Heard from him a couple weeks back. He's fine, just not making any progress with his...assignment," Sirius said with a grimace, no doubt hating that he couldn't tell Harry exactly what Hagrid was up to. They had agreed that if the information pertained to Harry, Sirius would share. Otherwise, they would let Order business stay within the Order.

"Oh, okay. Alright, what's next? Hermione's worried about the Sorting Hat's song. Evidently we need to learn how to get along with the other houses. I just don't see that happening with the Slytherins," Harry said darkly. Sirius snorted softly in agreement and then yelped when a hand came up behind him and hit his head.

"Not all the Slytherins are Death Eater wannabes, Sirius. Be the adult and encourage him to get to know some of them," Remus' voice said sharply from off mirror. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Did you hear him, pup? Good, consider yourself encouraged, okay? So, what's next?" Sirius said cheerfully. Harry chuckled a little before mentally running through his list of disasters.

"Um...did you know that Umbridge woman from the Ministry is teaching History? She got up during Dumbledore's speech, cutting him off when he started talking about Voldemort. She started going on about how safe the world is because the Great and Powerful Ministry was in control. You should have seen Dumbledore's face. I've never seen him drop the grandfatherly twinkle in front of the students like that. He does not want that woman at Hogwarts. From the looks of the rest of the staff table during her speech, none of them do either. Not even the new potions teacher."

"Umbridge is a nasty piece of work, Harry. Best we can figure, the Ministry is determined to take control at Hogwarts. Fudge has it in for Dumbledore because he refuses to stop telling people that Voldemort is back. That and he thinks Dumbles wants his job. Too bad you can't drop History before your OWLs. She'll probably have it in for you, too," Sirius said, his expression grim. Harry nodded.

"Mr. Sothew warned me about her, as well. I'll be careful," he said quietly.

"Good. Now, it can't be all bad. No more Snape in potions, right? That's a plus," Sirius said cheerfully. Harry snorted.

"Yeah, I guess. The new potions teacher is a woman from Austrailia. Professor Nofti Black. Any relation, Padfoot?" Sirius looked surprised.

"I'll have to look into it. If she is, its several times removed. I think there was a great uncle a couple generations back that moved down under. Got blasted off the family tree for marrying a muggleborn, I think," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Anyway, she's not too old. Kinda pretty, really. Definitely beats Snape hands down, but I really hate that he's teaching Defense. Its my favorite subject and now it'll be ruined."

"Well, he'll have no problem with the Dark Arts part of class. Not so sure about the Defense," Sirius snarked and Remus tapped the back of his head again, making Sirius' nose collide with the mirror. Harry grinned as Sirius snarled at Remus before the mirror went dark. It took a moment for Harry to realize Sirius was wiping away the resulting smudge with his sleeve.

"Oh, McGonagall told me to come by her office before dinner tomorrow to talk with her about Fleur being my Runes tutor. At least I'll enjoy learning something this year," Harry said with a wistful sigh.

"Come now, Harry. It can't be all bad. At least there's Quidditch," Sirius said soothingly. Harry finally managed a truly happy smile.

"Yeah, Quidditch."