Chapter #12 - A New Year, a New Teacher

In the morning, Tom and Rex had breakfast and took a Muggle cab to King's Cross Station. They got into the train station and headed for the barrier, going through it easily this year. They were some of the first ones to get onto the train so they were able to pick out which compartment they wanted without having to look too long. The one they chose was in the perfect spot for them to see everyone coming through the barrier so they could spot their friends better.

They stayed in their compartment, the window down so they could call to the rest of their friends as they came through the barrier. The first one they saw was Crinis, who quickly joined them. Lena was next but Tom did not call to her since her mother, who looked paler than he remembered seeing her at the beginning of the summer, was with her. Tom made himself readily visible, though, so Lena would know where he was. She came and joined them, smiling at him as she stowed her luggage and set her owl down on the seat. It was nearly time for the train to leave before Darcy and Nathan came onto the platform, literally one after the other and almost at a run. They hurried onto the train, not having seen their friends. As the train began to move away, parents waving their children goodbye, Crinis left to show the other two where they were.

"How was your vacation," Tom asked Lena once she was seated next to him.

"It was great, though there were whispers about war and all. There are a lot of wizards that are worried."

"My dad said he's heard talk of a new Dark Lord," Rex said.

"Oh, you mean Grindelwald?" Lena seemed to act so casual about it, as though everyone should know. "My dad's known about him for *years*."

Tom and Rex looked at her shocked. They looked at each other then back to Lena as the other three boys came back. There was a strange look between that went between Darcy and Lena when they saw each other and she giggled while Darcy just smiled, sitting opposite Tom, in between Rex and Crinis.

"What's going on?" Crinis looked at Darcy. "You know something, don't you?"

"I know only what my cousin told me." He grinned as Lena giggled more. "But I'm not allowed to repeat what I was told. It's secret and all."

Tom raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"So, how was the orphanage?" Nathan was standing by the door and had the solid gray cat he had gotten over the summer from his great-aunt resting in his arms, rubbing her softly. He sounded very sarcastic, smirking somewhat. "Did you have a great time there?"

Tom groaned, closing his eyes. "Don't mention that horrid place. I don't want to ever go back there."

"Did you get your work done at least?" Crinis looked at him, not having been able to send him many letters over the summer. "You mentioned that you had been being bothered."

"I got it all done. I started going outside everyday to work on it. I wasn't bothered much then so I started staying out there even after I finished."

"And all that work you had to do," Nathan visibly cringed at the mere thought of doing such chores.

"It was bad after not having to do any for nearly a year. It was so tiring, and I hated it even more than before."

"Well, like I said," Darcy leaned back, closing his eyes, "you shouldn't need to worry about it next year. No matter what."

"Would you *please* just tell us," Rex nearly shouted, even though Darcy was sitting right next to him.

"He means to say that Tom shouldn't have to worry about having to go back to the orphanage." Lena looked around at all of them. "Either he'll go home with one of us next summer or the war might keep us at Hogwarts."

"Precisely," said Darcy, smiling at her.

"But a Muggle war can't affect the wizarding world." Nathan continued rubbing his cat as she purred. "It didn't the last time the Muggles went to war...that 'Great War' of theirs."

"That was last time." Tom saw where this was going. He understood and was starting to piece things together. "This Dark Wizard, Grindelwald, who's helping the Muggle...um, Hitler I think his name is, he could do damage to the wizarding world couldn't he?"

"Right," Lena said with a nod.

"But which of them is really in charge then? A Dark Wizard usually doesn't like Muggles much." Rex looked at Darcy, knowing he, somehow, had the answers he wanted. "Even if they're 'sharing' power, this Grindelwald has another agenda, I'm sure."

"He does." Darcy smiled. "They always do, don't they."

"Can we get off the subject of war and do something else," Nathan said.

"Sure." Rex looked at Tom. "Got your chess set?"

"Yeah." Tom got into his trunk and pulled it out. "Here."

For the rest of the train ride, they played chess and practiced some of the spells that they would be getting to in class soon, most of which Tom already had looked over thoroughly. After a while, Tom pulled out his book of hexes he had gotten the previous year and everyone, except Lena, asked him if they could borrow it for a while. When the food trolley stopped by, they all got plenty of food to last them the rest of the trip. They looked at the hexes some more as they ate, talking of how nice it would be to be able to use some of the spells against the first years of other houses. When Lena gave them all a harsh look, though, they said they had only meant the first years in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

Slowly, the sun set. They all knew they would be at Hogsmeade Station soon and they needed to change into their uniforms. Lena stepped out of the compartment to let the five boys change first then she got to change, thinking it was amusing that all of them had to stand outside, looking highly impatient while she took her time getting into her uniform. Then, with all of them in their uniforms, they returned to what they were doing.

It was not too much later when that they arrived in at their destination. They followed the rest of the older students, not really knowing where they were supposed to go, hearing the groundskeeper Ogg calling for the first years. They reached a long row of horse-less carriages and saw other students getting into them. Tom and his friends all climbed into one of them and, after a moment, the carriage suddenly moved forward, moving in a procession towards the main gate. As they passed by the winged boar flanked gate, Tom had a feeling of homecoming...for this *was* his real home.

When their carriage arrived at the castle, they hurried in and went to the Great Hall. They picked out seats where Lena and Tom could sit back-to- back so they could talk later on. Tom sighed, looking down at his plate, very ready to start the feast, though knowing that the first years had to be sorted first. He glanced up at the teacher's table, seeing a new face there. It was a middle-aged woman with long brown hair, which she had over her shoulder in a braid, wearing beige robes with black trimming. He knew she had to be the new Transfiguration professor.

Once all the older students had been seated, the headmistress slipped out of the Hall, undoubtedly to bring in the newest additions to the school. After a few minutes, the doors opened again and Professor Madril entered, leading in the nearly four dozen new students. They filed down the between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, awing at the rest of the students and the ceiling, which was showing the clear night sky. They went to the front of the Hall and stood. The Sorting Hat was placed in front of them then it broke out into a song, a different song than had been sung the previous year, which surprised Tom, till he was told by an older student, as they all clapped, that it sung a different song every year.

The students were sorted: twelve to Gryffindor, ten to Hufflepuff, and eleven to both Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Once the last of the new students had been seated, Headmaster Dippet stood. The Hall fell silent to listen to his announcements.

"This year, we have had a slight change in the lineup of professors. Professor Albus Dumbledore, formerly the Runes teacher, has agreed to take up Professor Vicuss' position as Transfiguration teacher. Professor Mariana Trevors is now going to be teaching Runes."

There were several whispers about this announcement. Most of the students that were taking Runes were rather upset about the sudden change. Dumbledore was a great teacher for runes and it seemed strange that he would want to change since he liked teaching that subject. Hardly anyone knew that he was interested in Transfiguration as well.

"That's strange," said a sixth year Slytherin near Tom.

"I know," said a fourth year.

"I wonder why he wanted to change," Crinis said.

Tom looked at Dumbledore as the headmaster continued with the notices, which were mainly directed at the first years so they could know the general rules. The new Transfiguration professor's wavy auburn hair and beard were nearly to his waist. He wore half moon spectacles, behind which his blue eyes were looking at the Slytherin table. Tom swore that he was looking straight at him too. He swallowed hard, feeling like this professor knew things the others did not. He knew instantly that he did not like him.

"Tom?"

His gaze remained on the teacher. "Yeah?"

"You alright?"

The second year looked at the new Transfiguration professor for only a second longer then turned to Darcy. "Why would I not be?"

"I don't know. You just seem a bit...I don't know..."

"Is there something about Dumbledore you don't like," Rex asked, having noticed that Tom had been nearly glaring at him.

Tom glanced back at the auburn haired professor, who was now talking to Professor Mercer. "I don't know. There might be."

All of his friends looked at each other with slightly wide eyes. They did not get to say anything for the food suddenly appeared in front of them. They were all hungry, even though they had had plenty of food on the train. They grabbed what they wanted and ate and talked and were just generally glad to be back at school. Soon it was time for dessert and while they were eating, a prefect came by and whispered the new password for their house to each of them. Once they were done, the older students filed out and headed to their houses while the first years waited to be shown their to their houses.

Tom got to his room first and curled up on top of his blanket. His feather- filled bed was so comfortable and he could not imagine how he stood being away for the two months he was. He did not worry about changing into his pajamas before he fell asleep, still on top of his covers, his arms wrapped around his pillow and a smile on his face.

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To my reviewers -

Liv - well, the reason that I'm weaving the war into the story is because it is important to the rest of the story...WWII was a major event in England and I think that it would have definitely have affected Tom's years at school, since that is when he attended (he graduated in 1945)...I'm glad you love Tom, I'm trying my hardest to portray him like I think he honestly would have been...and the fact that he is a lot like Harry, I think that he would have had similar situations regarding what goes on over the summer as well...and when it comes to his mom, well, that's a different story, something that, when you find out about her, you'll be surprised...but, yes, there is a lot of respect for her...and she had a lot of friends that really cared about her...

Sabrina Black Snapeish - let's just hope that the fangirls get to Snape before Voldie....oh...wait...that might actually be a bad thing...I think he might actually prefer dealing with Voldie than with some of his fangirls...*sigh*...oh well...either way the traitor will hopefully be dead...

RivanKnight - I'm glad I didn't let you down...you seemed so intent on seeing evil plots being acted on though, so I thought you might be...though you might be surprised at when the "bloodshed" actually starts...but there are plenty of violent thoughts to look forward too...^_^

Le Bonbon de Sensuous Severus - *glares at you*...master is mine...don't make me fly out there and kick your butt...I'll teach you a thing or two...and you have your traitor to huggle on...so go to him...

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I love you all...thanks so much for the reviews...I'm looking forward to possibly putting up three chapters next week so get me those reviews if you want more chapters fast...^_^...continue to enjoy...