The rest of Harry's classes weren't nearly as exciting as his others. Divination (predicting the future) was just as bad as always. The teacher, Professor Trelawney, seemed to have forgotten that she'd already taught crystal ball gazing, and was repeating it. It did improve, however, from the last two years when she kept predicting his death. She hadn't said Harry would die even once yet.
Herbology (the study of magical plants) wasn't as bad as Divination since they were at least doing new things. They were studying plantimals, plant versions of animals. It was a fun lesson, especially when a plant version of a kangaroo started bouncing all over and chasing Neville.
Transfiguration wasn't as much fun as it was interesting. They were learning how to transfigure themselves. They started by just making their fingers scaly or fluffy, but Professor McGonagall said, that by the end of the year, they should know how to change almost all of their bodies, though of course not to the level of an Animagus.
Potions was so much better this year, Harry almost looked forward to it rather than dread it. Professor Fletcher, it seemed, knew even more about potions than Snape did, and he had a much nicer demeanor. Instead of having Gryffindor lose twenty or fifty points each class, it gained that much. However, Tci kept Slytherin in balance. It seemed he knew as much about magic as Hermione.
"Who can tell me the main ingredient of a Necrevival Potion?" asked Professor Fletcher one day in class. Tci's hand flew up half a second before Hermione's.
"Yes Mr.. uh... Tci?"
"The ingredients of a Necrevival Potion are, one: a carcass of a dead person or animal, two: three drops of blood from that person or animal, three: blood of a tri-corn, and four: the eye of a mandrake. While some say that the skeleton is the most important for the mixture, the things that will come alive, others argue that the blood of a tri-corn is more important. It has been shown that the potion itself can come alive without the skeleton, but not without the blood of a tri-corn.
"The Necrevival Potion is used to bring skeletons to life. Though the revived skeleton will have no abilities or memories from its former life, that doesn't it mean it can't fight or used magic. Hordes of revived skeletons are a favorite army for dark wizards." He stopped with everyone in the class gaping at him. Hermione was looking especially angry.
"How'd he know all that?" she asked Harry quietly. "I didn't even know all that and I've read all the books on dark potions!"
"A very good response," said Professor Fletcher. "A much greater one than I would have expected from a fifth year. Twenty points to Slytherin. Even though we will obviously not be reviving human skeletons with this, we may be bringing some smaller beings back." Malfoy patted Tci on the back and Tci didn't react at all, he just kept sitting there as though he had just given a basic answer to an easy question. There was something more to Tci, but Harry didn't know if he'd ever find out what it was.
Before long, the tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team came. Fred and George put up signs up all over the school advertising it, so when the time came, there were about fifteen Gryffindors ready to try out for the team. Since Harry was captain, it was his responsibility and decision how to run it, and who, from the fifteen, to choose.
"All right!" yelled Harry over the voices of the fifteen people trying out. "Line up here in front of me, and we'll do some tests!" They all did as he said, and filed in front of him. Harry recognized a few people: Seamus, and Dean were there, and so was Ron. One of Fred and George's friends, Lee Jordan, was there too. Another boy, Colin Creevey, was there. He was a bit of an excessive fan of Harry's, always trying to get his picture or something. This year, however, he hadn't been much of a bother to Harry, and he almost forgot about him since he wasn't breathing down his neck every second. Harry didn't know the eleven others by name, but knew their faces.
"I am captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and I will be deciding who will be the Keeper for this team!" said Harry loudly. Some of the people looked at him confused, and Ron gave him a 'why didn't you tell me that!' look. Harry felt a little guilty, he should have told Ron that he was captain, but he didn't want Ron thinking he'd give him an unfair advantage, even though he was his best friend.
"I'm sure that since you're here, most of you know how to play Quidditch," continued Harry, "but, I'd just like to do a quick review of what it is: there are seven players on a team: three Chasers (he nodded toward Angelina, Alicia, and Katie). They chase the large red ball called the Quaffle, and score goals. A team also has two Beaters (he waved his hand at Fred and George) who whack two large balls at the other team to try and de-broom them. A team also consists of a Seeker... me. I have to find the tiny golden Snitch, and end the game, giving the Gryffindor team an extra one hundred and fifty points. Now, a team also needs a Keeper to prevent the other team from scoring goals. That's what you all are here to try and become.
"I thought we'd have a small tournament for the tryouts, and whoever's left at the end will get the position. Sound fair?" he asked the Keeper hopefuls. They all nodded, and started getting ready to mount their brooms.
"What we'll do first is test your accuracy," said Harry. "I'll throw a ball in the air, and I want you to fly up and hit it back toward me as close as you can, alright?" The group nodded again. "Now, form a line, and get ready. You go up when you think it's time, and everyone who succeeds will go onto the next round."
Harry looked at all the nervous faces. Most of them were white, and some of them were even a little green. Ron was among the few that looked confident.
"Ready... set... go!" yelled Harry as he threw the Quaffle up in the air.
The first person in line was Ron. He blasted off the ground, met the ball at its maximum height, did a fancy spin, and the ball came soaring back, right into Harry's arms. Ron came quickly back to the ground. He had done a perfect job!
"Excellent work Ron!" yelled Harry. "Next!" He threw the ball back into the air, and Lee Jordan flew up, earlier then Ron did. Harry had to lean just a slight bit to catch the ball when it came flying back at him.
Each other person went, and only six people had passed. Everyone except for Ron, Lee, Seamus, Dean, Colin (much to Harry's dismay) and another Gryffindor whose name Harry learned was Bill McCunley. The other nine left, muttering to themselves that they 'didn't really want to be on that dumb team anyway'.
"Our next test," said Harry, "will be to test your blocking ability. Fred, George, and I will be shooting Quaffles at you. Every time you block one, you will get one point." Harry pointed to a magical scoreboard that Angelina, Alicia and Katie were looking after. "Whoever the top three are that block the most will go onto the last round. Ready... set... go!" Fred, George, and Harry started cloning Quaffles by what seemed like hundreds at a time. They shot them towards the six hopefuls at extreme speeds, and Harry was glad he was doing the shooting rather than the blocking.
There was a mad rush for every Quaffle. Even though they came from every direction, all of them seemed to want the same one at the same time, and ended up crashing into each other. After five minutes of this chaos, Harry thought they had enough, and stopped the test. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie looked positively exhausted from keeping track, just as exhausted as Harry, Fred, and George were from cloning all the Quaffles.
Once Harry caught his breath, he looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Ron, Bill, and Colin were each tied with seventy-two Quaffles blocked each. Harry walked over to Dean and Seamus (who were lying on top of each other and appearing to be unconscious) and told them sorry, but they didn't win. They didn't seem too sad, on the contrary, they looked positively thrilled that they wouldn't have to be tortured anymore.
"For the final test!" yelled Harry to Colin, Ron, and Bill. "We will test your speed! It's as simple as this: the first one to the other end of the Quidditch field first wins." Colin, Ron, and Bill each mounted their brooms, and grasped the front tightly. Each was looking just as much determined as the other.
"What will I do if Ron doesn't win?" Harry thought to himself for a second.
"Nah!" he reassured himself. "Ron will win for sure! He's the best." Harry blew on a whistle, and the three hopefuls were off, with Fred at one side of the three, and George at the other, to see who crossed the finish line first.
They seemed to be speeding bullets rather than humans as all three shot forward. Even Fred and George were having a tough time keeping up. Since the race was so fast, it was over very quickly. Less than five seconds had passed when it was finally over. Harry saw Fred and George signal him to come over. He shot over there on his broom, and saw glum looks on their faces.
"Harry," said George, "I think we have a tie." He pointed to Ron and Bill who were currently arguing with each other.
"How can there be a tie?" asked Harry, worried that he would have to choose between the two f them.
"See for yourself!" said George as he held up a magical picture of the finish line. It showed Ron and Bill pass the line, with Colin a millisecond behind. While Colin was definitely out, Ron and Bill were exactly tied. While they were all arguing, Harry had a quick thought.
"Movus Pictorus," he whispered as he tapped his wand on the picture. Harry moved the image of Ron just a tiny bit forward, so it appeared that he had won.
"What are you talking about!" yelled Harry as he held up the changed picture, "Ron is clearly the winner!" Ron grinned eagerly as Harry gave the picture to Fred and George. They scratched their heads.
"How'd we miss that, George?" asked Fred, "Ron did win after all! Congratulations Ron!" Bill and Colin left looking sulky, and Ron got a handshake from each of the members on the team. Harry was feeling a little guilty. Did he do the right thing? What if Bill was the better player?
"But, Bill and Ron are so close talent-wise, it didn't really matter," Harry reassured himself silently as he shook Ron's hand.
"I can't believe it Harry!" said Ron. "Ever since Charlie was on the team, I've wanted to be on it too. I can't believe I'll be on it... with you!"
"Yeah... great Ron!" said Harry, trying to sound happy, but still feeling guilty.
"Here we go!" said Fred and George as they brought in several mugs filled with yellowish-brown liquid.
"What is that?" asked Katie.
"Butterbeer!" said Fred. "To celebrate out new Keeper!" Everyone eagerly grabbed a glass, and they cheered them all in the air, creating a loud 'clink'.
"To a Gryffindor victory on Sunday!" said Harry. That would be their first game of the Quidditch season, and their first game with Ron, against Hufflepuff.
As everyone chugged it down, Harry noticed Fred and George laughing.
"What's so funny?" asked Ron, he had obviously noticed it too.
"Your face!" said George still laughing.
"No seriously!" said Ron.
"Seriously, your face!" said Fred. Harry looked over at Ron, and burst out laughing. Ron's face had turned into one of a bunny's, ears and all. Suddenly, the same thing happened to Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. Fred and George laughed even more, and Fred fell onto the floor. Harry started to worry that the same would happen to him, after all, they did test their other invention on him.
"Don't worry Harry," said Fred, sensing Harry's feeling, and recovering from his fall onto the floor. "Yours and ours butterbeers are real." After everyone's face turned back to normal, Alicia asked,
"What was that?"
"Bunny-Butterbeer! We also have Beetle, Bear and Bumble-Bee!" said George. "A real bargain! Only a galleon a gallon!"
The next day went by very quickly to Harry. All he really remembered was at breakfast when Ron was bragging to everyone that he was on the team, and also pestering Hermione to tell him what happened at Krum's house over the summer, and to 'get her face out of that book' that she was reading. She did neither.
All that happened toward night was Aylar, still showing off his magic by making Butterbeer come pout of his wand and into glasses (which he had also conjured up). All day long, Harry was nervously anticipating kidnapping Fawkes, and he wasn't able to lessen that fear by talking to Ron and Hermione about it.
Finally, when ten o' clock came around, Harry said he'd forgotten his books in Transfiguration as an excuse to leave, and he slipped out the door with his invisibility cloak tucked under his shirt. The invisibility cloak was the only thing Harry had inherited from his father (except for the giant fortune), and it made whoever wore it completely invisible, and it came in handy many times before.
It didn't take Harry too long to get to Dumbledore's office, it was pretty close to the Gryffindor room. As he got closer, he wondered where Mrs. Figg was. He looked around, and suddenly saw that she was next to him. He slipped the hood off his head.
"How'd you get here so fast?" asked Harry.
"Oh," said Mrs. Figg, "I've been here for a while, Harry. Eventually, you'll learn magic that can make you invisible without a cloak." Harry nodded, and Mrs. Figg walked over to Dumbledore's door that was guarded by a gargoyle. She was holding a small, light-blue cube.
"Wizard Scout Cookies", she said, and the gargoyle moved out of the way, and the door opened. She and Harry quietly and quickly walked up the staircase leading to his office.
It was just as Harry remembered it. He had been in Dumbledore's office before, but never with the sort of intentions that he had now. It was a large circular room with many pictures of the old headmasters on the wall. In one part of the room was a cage, and a tiny black bird was in it.
"It works out nicely doesn't it?" said Mrs. Figg,. "The day that Dumbledore is out is the day Fawkes will burn (burst into flames and be reborn). That's when they're the weakest you know." They top-toed over to the cage where the tiny black bird (that looked nothing like a phoenix) was sleeping.
"Now Harry," said Arabella, "this is when you come in. I'm to weak to do it, but I need you to clone a copy of Fawkes." Harry swallowed hard.
"Alright," he said, thinking that all this would be worth it when he was with his mom. He walked even closer to the cage, and brandished his wand, feeling extremely conscious of everything around him, and trying not to jump at every minute sound.
"Clonusout!" he said quickly. Another Fawkes suddenly appeared inside the cage right next to the original one.
"Good job Harry!" said Arabella. She then opened the small door to the cage, and grabbed the original Fawkes around the mouth, so that it couldn't make any noise. She touched the blue cube that she had brought with her to the head of the now awake Fawkes, and he suddenly flashed blue. Then, he disappeared, evidently into the box.
"Now lets get out of here, Harry," she said, stuffing the cube back into her pocket. Harry nodded in agreement: he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. As she put the box in her cloak pocket, and started walking down the stairs, she put out her arm, signaling Harry to stop. He froze right where he was on the staircase. What happened? Was someone coming?
Someone was definitely coming. Harry could hear footsteps coming from far down the hallway that were getting closer every second. As Harry saw Mrs. Figg turn invisible, he slipped his cloak back on. Harry heard Arabella open the door just a tiny bit more, and then run out it. Harry followed her, and closed the door behind him. As Harry ran across the hallway, he glanced down to see who was coming. It took him by surprise to see who it was: Tci. What was he doing here at this time?
However, Harry didn't have time to ponder this. He heard Arabella continuing to run down the halls, and Harry did not stop following her. He didn't want to fall behind. They ran all the way to her office, and then, Harry heard her finally stop. She became visible again.
"Good job there, Harry, I'm glad you weren't caught," she said, panting slightly. "We just need one more phoenix now. I'll contact Lupin and Sirius about that later."
"About them," asked Harry, "how did their trial go?"
"Very well Harry," she said. "Sirius presented his side of the story regarding killing Wormtail, and Lupin presented his story regarding the thought that everyone though Sirius was trying to kill Harry. If they aren't found innocent, I will be very surprised."
"That's great," said Harry, feeling relief flow through him.. "One other thing, why don't we just get another clone of Fawkes for the other necessary phoenix? Won't that save time?" Arabella laughed.
"Harry, oh, there's still so much you don't understand about magic. Clones, while they share the same physical and chemical attributes of the original, do not contain the same magical properties. So, if we were to use a copy of a phoenix, it would be just as good to use an ostrich. Understand?"
"Yeah, I think so," said Harry, his head spinning. "One last question though: did you figure out how all the people in Diagon Alley saw Sirius?"
"No Harry," she said, "that is still a mystery. All witnesses said they saw Sirius Black, not one of them mentioned a dog. But, enough of that, I guess you'll be wanting to go to bed now, you've had a very exciting night."
"Yeah, see you in class tomorrow," said Harry as he walked off, not really wanting to leave, but also wanting to rest as well. When he came back into the Gryffindor room, no one was there, they had all gone to bed. Harry decided to do the same, and headed up to his room. As he collapsed on his bed, he felt something under his stomach. He stuck his hand under it, and grabbed a piece of parchment. It read:
"I know what you did Harry Potter, I know what you did..."