Time to go back to Hogwarts!

Some of you have asked how different sixth year will be from the canon, and I'll just say... I don't really know how to explain that without completely spoiling everything so I'll just keep updating and you guys keep reading and you'll find out...

Now, without further ado...


The last week of August arrived sooner than Harry expected. He had, thankfully, finished all of his summer work, and spent the last few days combing through his new school books and perfecting his Quidditch moves with Ron and Ginny. Hermione spent her last few weeks of summer with her parents in Germany, so they were planning to meet her at Platform 9 ¾.

Sirius passed his Auror test on the first try, much to Tonks' chagrin, and he was given the last two weeks of August off, his first mission would begin in September. Harry wondered why it had to wait until September, but he was grateful that Sirius would be there to see him off at Platform 9 ¾. It would be the first time he ever had family there, without having to be in disguise.

Finally, the last day of summer was here. Harry went around the house, collecting his books, supplies, robes, and socks. Remus kept the cottage tidy, when he was here, but he was currently on a mission for the Order.

Sirius helped him pack everything in his trunk, and Harry learned he was surprisingly good at folding laundry.

"Your grandmother taught me some basic housekeeping. The only thing I could never grasp was cooking."

"Well, I daresay you're an expert on the toaster." Harry said, receiving a bark of laughter.

Instead of dragging the trunk downstairs, Sirius used magic levitate it. Harry carried his broom downstairs, and retrieved Hedwig's cage from the tiny owlery in the attic. The snowy owl looked miffed at this.

"We're going back to Hogwarts tomorrow, remember?" Harry said, and Hedwig seemed to accept this. Harry gave her an owl treat before heading back downstairs.

"That's everything." Harry said.

Sirius set Harry's book bag on top of the trunk. "Good. Now we won't have to do this in the morning. To make it to King's Cross tomorrow, we'll have to be up early, so… dinner, shower, and bed. We're leaving at 9 o'clock sharp."


Harry's Snitch alarm clock woke him at eight the next morning, and he jumped out of bed, getting ready and grabbing some last minute things, the Snitch clock included. He packed these into his trunk downstairs, and then went to the kitchen to find Sirius pouring cereal for both of them.

After they ate, they went to the sitting room, where Sirius picked up an old sock.

"We're taking a portkey to the Leaky Cauldron again. And from there, a Ministry car will take us to King's Cross Station." Sirius said.

"Why is a Ministry car taking us?" Harry asked.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Because you, Prongslet, are the most important person to the Ministry right now. They want to feel like they're doing something to protect you, so Scrimgeour offered us a ride."

"And you accepted?" Harry asked, surprised that Sirius hadn't fought the special attention.

"If you had met this man, I think you'd understand how difficult it is to say no. Besides, he gave me my job. Mad-Eye oversaw my training, but before he was Minister, Rufus was Head of the Auror Department. I wasn't about to insult him by refusing something like this. Besides, it saved me the trouble of coming up with a way to get you to King's Cross."

This made quite a bit of sense so Harry didn't argue it.

"Now, come on then. This portkey won't work inside the valley. We've got to go through the valley before it will activate." Sirius said. He levitated the trunk again and they set off down the path, through the willows and the under the waterfall.

Like Dumbledore, Sirius waved his wand to dry them and Harry's things. A moment later, the old sock began to glow. Sirius grabbed the trunk, while Harry held onto his bag, broomstick, Hedwig's cage. They both took hold of the old sock. Harry felt a tug at his navel, and a moment later, they were in the Leaky Cauldron. Tom met them and escorted them outside to where a slim black car was awaiting them.

The driver helped them load Harry's things into the boot, and they set off down the road. The car drove fast, and wove past the other vehicles on the road, but none of the Muggles seemed to notice.

At King's Cross station, the driver retrieved a trolley for Harry, and loaded his trunk, broom and owl cage onto it. A tall, blonde man dressed in a Muggle suit stepped towards them. Harry looked at Sirius questioningly.

"Auror escort. They wanted one more besides me." Sirius said. He turned to the other man and greeted him. "Morning, Nigel."

Sirius received a smile and a nod in return.

Harry walked between Nigel and Sirius, who seemed unnaturally quiet in the presence of a fellow Auror.

Sirius went with Harry through the barrier, and Nigel walked right behind them. As Harry made his way through the crowd, he spotted a familiar group of redheads.

"Harry!" cried Hermione, who gave him a big hug. Ron and Ginny joined them a moment later. Harry forgot about Nigel for a moment at the sight of his friends. Mrs. Weasley squeezed him tightly.

"Oh, I'm going to miss all of you." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Molly, the train leaves in ten minutes." Mr. Weasley reminded her.

"Well come on, then. Let's get your things on the train." Sirius said. Nigel helped them pull their trunks into an empty compartment, and they stepped off to say their final goodbyes.

Sirius pulled Harry into a warm embrace.

"I know we've only lived together for a couple months," said Harry. "But it feels like we've always been together."

"I know what you mean." Sirius said.

"I'll miss you, Padfoot."

"Don't worry, Prongslet. You might see me sooner than you think." Sirius pulled away then, and urged Harry onto the train, leaving Harry to contemplate what his godfather just said.

Neville and Luna had joined them in their compartment, and Harry sat down with them.

Everyone reached out the window to wave goodbye to their families. Once the platform was out of sight, they sat down.

Ron and Hermione had to spend the first part of their journey with the Prefects, but they promised to be back as soon as possible. Ginny left for a while to find her some of her friends.

In the meantime, Neville, Harry, and Luna discussed their summers, played Exploding Snap, and snacked on some treats they bought from the trolley lady. Finally, Ron and Hermione returned, and the compartment became a little more lively.

As the early afternoon wore on, Harry found himself thinking about the coming school year. He had quite a few things to think about. He was now the Quidditch captain. He'd be having private lessons with Dumbledore. His courses would be much tougher than they were before, but he thankfully was able to drop some. Then, there was Draco Malfoy. He'd been very suspicious in Diagon Alley, and Harry had a feeling he knew what was on his left arm.

A few minutes later, Harry added one more thing to his list.

Slughorn.

A third year girl slid the door open and hand Harry and Neville each a scroll of parchment.

Harry read his aloud:

Harry,

I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.

Sincerely,

Professor H. E. F. Slughorn

Harry led the way to Slughorn's compartment with Neville at his heels. When they arrived, they saw they were not Slughorn's only invitees.

"Harry, m'boy!" said Slughorn. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"

Neville nodded, looking scared. Harry glanced around at the other guests. He recognized a Slytherin from their year. There were two seventh year boys he did not know, and, squashed in a corner next to Slughorn and looking as though she were not entirely sure how she'd got there, Ginny.

Slughorn introduced the Slytherin, Blaise Zabini, and the two seventh years as Cormac McLaggen and Marcus Belby.

"-and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!"

Ginny grimaced at Neville and Harry.

Slughorn pulled out his lunch and started to chatter away with each of the guests. He quickly lost interest in Belby, and moved the conversation to McLaggen, whose father knew some important people in the Ministry.

When Slughorn passed around a tray of pies, Belby somehow missed out.

Just as Harry suspected, everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known or influential - everyone except Ginny. Zabini turned out to have a famously beautiful witch for a mother. Neville, whose parents had been well-known Aurors before being tortured to insanity when Neville was only a baby, was interrogated next. Slughorn seemed to be reserving judgement on Neville, waiting to see if he had his parents' flair.

Then Slughorn turned to Harry. He began to talk about the night Harry's parents were killed. "After that terrible night - Lily and James - and you survived - and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary -"

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented… at posing…" said an angry voice from behind Slughorn.

"Oh, dear!" chuckled Slughorn, looking around at Ginny. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"

Slughorn almost immediately went back to Harry, and eventually meandered off into a reminiscence about Gwenog Jones, which was followed by many more anecdotes, until finally, Slughorn noticed the sky darkening outside.

"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps. You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Harry, Blaise - any time you're in passing. Same goes for you, miss." He twinkled at Ginny. "Well, off you go, off you go!"

Harry and Zabini shot each other nasty looks as they pushed past each other.

"I'm glad that's over." said Neville. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah. How'd you end up there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith." Ginny said. "He kept on asking me about you and it got so annoying I hexed him - when Slughorn came in I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a great hex and invited me to lunch. Mad, eh?"

Harry laughed. "Better reason than because their mother is really pretty. At least Neville's parents were famous for actually doing something."

"Yeah, but I don't expect I'll be invited by Slughorn again." said Neville.

"Who cares?" Ginny said. "He seems pretty full of himself."

Harry shrugged as they went back to their compartment where Ron, Hermione and Luna were waiting, already dressed in their robes. They put on their own robes and ten minutes later, Hogwarts swam into view.

They exited the train and Harry stopped short before the carriages. There were several Aurors standing on the platform, watching the students stepping off the train and scanning the crowd carefully. Harry recognized two of them: Tonks and Sirius.

As the crowd thinned, Harry caught Sirius' eye. His godfather waved and made a sign with his hands, as though he were holding a mirror. Harry nodded and turned back towards his friends.

"Well, now I know what Sirius' first mission is." Harry said, suddenly lighthearted at the thought of his godfather being so close.

"So he's one of the Aurors guarding Hogwarts, and Tonks, too." Hermione said.

"Come on, there's one more carriage left." Ginny said. They climbed onto the last carriage, and the seemingly horseless carriages began moving by themselves.

"So these are pulled by Thestrals?" Asked Ron, who could not see them like Harry, Luna and Neville.

"Yeah." said Neville. "I've always been able to see them, and a little scared of them, honestly."

"They're very gentle creatures." Luna said whimsically. "But many fear them because of their connection to death."

"I think they're fascinating. But I do wish I could see them." Hermione said, and then, realizing what she'd said, she added: "Not that I want to see someone die -"

"It's okay, Hermione." Harry and Neville said together.

The carriages stopped in front of the school's main entrance, and the students filed into the Great Hall and to their House tables. They watched the Sorting, and Harry chuckled at Ron's comment on how small the first years were.

After the Sorting, Dumbledore stood for his speech.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Before we begin the feast, I have a few announcements. As you know, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength." There were murmurs and gasps throughout the hall. "I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, and we are protected in new and more powerful ways. As part of this new security, the Ministry has stationed Aurors around the school. I advise you all not to bother these hard working men and women, as they will be guarding us day and night. Their presence here is not to be taken lightly. However, we must still guard against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them - in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious inside or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff or an Auror immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

"On another note, I am pleased to welcome Professor Horace Slughorn to our staff this year. He will be returning to his former post as Potions Master." There was very little applause for the new teacher. "And our own Professor Snape will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." Only Slytherin House cheered for Snape, who looked rather smug. "And now, let the feast begin."

The food was wonderful, and Harry ate plenty. He barely had room for some treacle tart for dessert. When the dishes cleared away, Dumbledore bid them goodnight, and Harry followed Hermione and Ron to Gryffindor tower, through the portrait hole and up to his bed, where he lay down for a moment, eyes closed, and thought about all the events of the day, the summer, and the year before.

Harry suddenly remembered his godfather, and he quickly pulled his two-way mirror from his bag. Not wanting to wake his roommates, he snuck down to the empty Common Room and took a seat by the fire.

"Sirius." He said.

Almost immediately, his godfather's handsome face appeared in the mirror.

"Hey, Prongslet. How was the feast?"

"Delicious, as usual. Though Dumbledore's speech was a little dark. Where are you right now?"

"My quarters, which I share with Nigel. He and I are partners now."

"The stiff Auror from the train station?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Stiff?" asked a voice in the background.

Sirius laughed. "I did just say I share a room with him, right?"

Harry grimaced, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, he's only like that on the job." said Sirius. "I mean, he's got two young daughters. He's not allowed to be tough all the time."

Harry heard Nigel laugh in the background. "What can I say, those two stole my heart when they were born."

Harry smiled. "So, will you be here the whole year?"

"Yeah, it's a long-term mission. Tonks will be here, too."

"Speaking of Tonks," said Nigel. "Doesn't she fancy that Lupin fellow? He's your friend, yeah?"

"Careful how loud you say that. I don't want her storming in here and hexing us both." Sirius said to the side of the mirror. "And yes, he's my best friend, and I don't know how you noticed what was going on between them." He turned back to the mirror. "Anyways, Harry, we should both go to bed. You've got class first thing and Nigel and I have guard duty in five hours. We're on a rotation. Six hours on duty, six hours off. It's up to us what we do with our free time, but we aren't allowed to leave the school grounds."

"Well, good night, Padfoot." Harry said.

"Night, Prongslet." Sirius said.

Just as Sirius disappeared from the mirror, Harry heard Nigel say, "That's adorable."

Harry felt slightly embarrassed at Nigel's comment about their pet names, but quickly brushed it from his mind as he made his way back to bed. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.


Okay, so new OC in this chapter: Nigel the Auror. Is he important? Maybe, maybe not. But he's there.