Disclaimer: All characters, etc. owned by J.K. Rowling. She owns it, The Precious…

Thought/Dream

{Parseltongue}

~ The Desperate Escape ~

~A Public Announcement~

My fellow Staff and Students,

It has come to my attention that the Minister intends to place Dementors at the school under the pretext of the safety of the students. Please inform your students of the dangers of the Dementors should your students come near them. Also, announcements have been sent to the parents of the students.

Yours,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

News of the Dementors had gotten out rather quickly, much to the chagrin of the Minister. Fudge was pacing back and forth in his office, screaming at the top of his lungs. If it weren't for the silencing charms, Umbi - Umbridge could have sworn the entire building heard the Minister's rants.

"How dare that man!" Minister Fudge screamed at no one in particular. "How DARE he attempt to undermine MY authority! Don't they realize I'm doing this is for their own safety?! This prisoner is DANGEROUS. He used to be an Unspeakable!"

Oh, my...is he turning purple? Delores Umbridge thought to herself. Then she spoke, "Of course the fools don't see your concern for their own safety, Cornelius," Delores said as she attempted to soothe Fudge's amger. "I believe that man would love to have your position or place someone in your spot who fully supports him. We must find a way to rid ourselves of him and his supporters."

"Yes, yes..you're absolutely right, Delores. What would I do without you?" Minister Fudge said, twirling his bowler hat in his hands. "Delores...I authorize you to do whatever it takes to bring him down."

Delores nodded eagerly and said, "Of course, Cornelius. You do know that it will take time?" She watched as the Minister nodded in understanding. "Also..." She smirked to herself, "Would you like me to do something about those howlers and other hate mail you've been getting? Oh; and, Cornelius, what about the Potter brats?"

"Leave them alone for now. They have too many powerful allies. Wait until there is an opportunity," Cornelius replied.

The Minister glared at the Undersecretary who simply nodded and left Fudge's office. I will find a way of tearing you down, Albis Dumbledore and I will ensure that Hogwarts toes the line, Umbridge thought to herself, a malicious smile forming in her face.

~The New Professors~

Remus Lupin sat at his desk in the DADA classroom, going over the lesson plans that Bella had helped him to prepare. Remus was grateful because this would be the first time he would be standing in front of a class and teaching students. I wonder what it felt like for Bella on her first day, Remus thought to himself. It was still a good week as he got reacquainted with Septima Vector. The two had struck up a friendship and Septima had also been helping Remus with his teaching methods.

Well, looks I'm going to have to be ready whether I like it or not, the Professor thought to himself as his first class of students showed up for the day. Today's class was a mix of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, so Remus was glad to notice that there were kids that he knew. Among the students were Harry, Susan, Daphne, Hermione and Pansy.

"Good morning, everyone," Remus said cheerfully. "My name is Remus Lupin and I will be taking over for Prof. Black while she is back on duty as an Auror."

Remus noticed the look of disappointment on some of his students. "Now; class, what can you tell me about the Dementors?"

Hermione was the first to raise her hand, "They're dark creatures used as guards at the Azkaban prison, aren't they?"

"Correct; Miss Potter, take five points for Gryffindor." Remus then asked, "What makes them so effective?"

This time it was Susan who raised her hand, "They take away a person's feelings of any hope or happines, thereby draining a prisoner of their will to escape."

"Very good," Remus complicated the Hufflepuff. "Five points for Hufflepuff, Miss Bones."

Pansy then raised her hand and asked, "Is there any way to effectively deal with them, Prof. Lupin?"

"A very good question, Miss Parkinson," Prof. Lupin replied. "Unfortunately, there is no known way to physically destroy a Dementor, you can keep them at a bay with a charm called a Patronus. This powerful charm is a projection of all your most positive feelings and it is one of the most difficult charms to produce. A full, corporeal Patronus is the most difficult, even some of the most powerful wizards and witches found it hard to conjure a corporeal Patronus, A corporeal Patronus is a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom that person share's the deepest affinity. You will never truly know what form your Patronus will take until you succeed in conjuring it."

Again, Hermione raises her hand. "Yes, Miss Potter, I will be teaching the Patronus in time," Remus replied with a smile.

"Uhm; Professor Lupin? Could you show us your patronus?" Hermione asked.

Remus smiled and nodded. He then pulled out his wand and began drawing circles with it, gradually increasing the power of the charm. He then said, "Expecto Patronum!" A thin mist of silver light began to form around the tip of Remus' wand and grew in intensity until a form jumped out and turned into the shape of a bright-white translucent wolf. The students stared in awe at the nearly solid form of the wolf as it bounded around the room. The room was filled with such joy and happiness, that many students were disappointed when the silvery animal disappeared.

"That was brilliant," Harry exclaimed from his seat. The others in class nodded in agreement, even the Gryffindor students couldn't find fault with the demonstration.

Remus looked around the class and said, "Alright; class, that's it for now."

After the class was over, Harry and his friends said goodbye to Remus and headed towards their next class which happened to be Care of Magical Creatures. A class being taught by another new professor, Hagrid.

"Good mornin', everyone!" Hagrid beamed at his new students. "Today we'll be learnin' abou' a few magical creatures tha' some of you may not ha' heard abou'." Hagrid disappeared for a moment and brought something out that was about ten feet long and resembled a giant scorpion.

Hagrid motioned at the creature and described it as "Something tha' smelled like rotten fish. The males have stingers on their backs while the females had suckers tha' they used to draw blood and their shiny armour deflected most spells, and they used their blasts to propel themselves at a foe. Its single undefended spot was its armour-less underside."

Near the back, Ronald Weasely snorted, "Who the bloody Hell would want something that could bite, burn and sting. All at the same time?!" A few of his fellow Slytherins nodded at his words.

Next to Harry, Susan began giggling, "What do you think Luna would do if she saw that thing?" Beside her, Pansy also started laughing at the mental image in her head.

"She'd probably adopt the thing," Pansy said. She knew that Luna would find Hagrid's creatures fascinating, even if they could kill you.

Apparently finished with the Skrewt, Hagrid led it back to its cage and locked it up. The next creature that Hagrid brought was more majestic-looking then the Blast-Ended Skrewt. The animal had the body, the hind legs, and the tail of a horse, but the front legs, wings, and the head of a giant eagle, with steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly orange eyes. The six-inch talons on their front legs were also quite deadly-looking.

"Righ' then. This; 'ere folks, is Buckbeak. He's a Hippogriff. Proud and noble, they are. Yer never want to insult one, see? May be the last thing yer do. There's also a proper way of introducing yourself to one. It's always best ter let them make the firs' move. Yeh walk up to 'em; see? And yeh bow. If he bows back, then it's safe ter approach him. If he doesn't; well, yer probably be lucky ter walk away," Hagrid said during his introduction of the noble creature. "Now who wants ter say hello? Harry why don't you meet Buckbeak?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he realized his name was called out. Oh; come on, really? Harry groaned when he saw everyone looking at him. Susan stared wide-eyed as she saw Harry hewding towards Hagrid and the Hippogriff.

"Now; remember, Harry, what I told Yeh."

Harry looked at Hagrid and nodded. Slowly; he walked up to Buckbeak while looking at its eyes. He then bowed at the creature and waited for a response. Buckbeak looked at Harry with its large eyes and; surprisingly, bowed back at him.

"Great job, Harry! Now yeh can pet him!" Hagrid said from behind him.

Harry slowly walked up to Buckbeak and began stroking Buckbeak's fur. "Yeh know...I think Buckbeak might let yeh ride him if yer so inclined." Hagrid motioned towards the majestic animal. Surprised and elated, Harry cautiously got onto the back of the animal and - they took off into the air! Harry then got a crazy idea in his head and as if Buckbeak understood him, the hipppogriff headed down towards Susan, who yelped in surprise when Harry grabbed her and hoisted her in front of him. Susan screamed in delight as they flew around the paddock and the castle before heading back down, much to the applause of the rest of the students. As soon as they landed, Susan grabbed Harry's face with both her hands and kissed him, earning the two catcalls and wolf whistles from the boys and "Aaws" from the girls.

The rest of the class went by surpriingly well except for Ronald Weasley, who was the only one to irritate Buckbeak.

"Wait until my mother hears about this!" Ronald said when he was led away to the hospital wing by Crabbe and Goyle. Hagrid dismissed the class and the students left the paddock, talking excitedly about their experiences.

~Hogsmaede~

The weekend had finally come around for the Third Year students' first visit to Hogsmaede visit. Harry, his fiancées and friends had all gotten their permission slips signed by their respective guardians and they were excited. For Hermione and Cedric, it would be their first "official" outing as a couple.

They were surprised when an out of breath Luna Lovegood caught up with. "Hello, Harry Potter...are you going into Hogsmaede?"

Harry smiled at the dreamy expression on his fellow Hufflepuff's face and replied, "Yes; Luna, we are. Would you like us to get you something?'

"Some chocolate would be nice; thank you!" Luna beamed happily and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. She then turned and headed back to the castle.

"How do you do that?"

"Yes; oh ladies man,"

"Tell us your secrets!"

The Malfoy Twins had caught up with the group and decided to tag along before meeting with their own group of friends.

"What can I say? I'm just a charming -" Harry winced as he recieved a slap in the back of the head from Dora, who was behind Harry.

"Keep your charms focused on us, buster!" Dora said.

Susan nodded in agreement, "Honestly; Dora, we'll have to keep a leash on him if this keeps up."

Dora looked at her sister-fiancée and said, "I still can't believe you got to ride a hippogriff!"

Susan grinned and latched onto Harry's arm, "It was amazing! So different from riding a broom!"

Dora looked at Harry, who smiled, "I'll see if Hagrid will let me take you all on Buckbeak." Dora smiled back at Harry nd gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"So; 'Arry, what are we going to do?" Fleur asked, her hand in his.

Harry simply shrugged and said, "Whatever you ladies want to do. Too bad they don't have a movie theater or something."

Hermione's lit up at that suggestion. "That would be so cool! But how would they get the projectors to work?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way, Hermione," Cedric smiled at his girlfriend.

Hermione smiled and kissed Cedric on the cheek, "You're so sweet."

"You sure you two don't want a - " Harry began before he was elbowed in the ribs by his sister.

Hermione glared at her brother and said, "Will you stop with that contract nonsense? I swear I'll hex your bits off!"

"Leave his bits alone, 'Mione," Dora said with a grin. "We still want babies, don't we girls?"

Both Fleur and Susan laughed and nodded, causing Harry to blush.

"Okay, okay...no contracts," Harry said with an exaggerated sigh.

Cedric looked around and was grateful that he had to deal with only one girlfriend. "So, 'Mione, bookstore first?"

The bushy-haired witch nodded in reply and said with a cheeky grin, "Obviously, Ceddy. Yes; we can go to Quality Quidditch Supplies as well."

Suddenly, Susan's eyebrows went up into her hairline. "Oh, that reminds me! The new Firebolt is out! It's supposed to be faster then the Nimbus 2000! I wanna take a look at that!" Susan then took a quick glance at Harry and grinned. "You love me, don't you, Harry?" Susan starts to bat her eyelashes at her fiancée, who immediately starts to fidget. "That would make a nice gift and a Quidditch player really happy."

Hermione snickered and then looked at her own boyfriend, "Oh; Ceddy..." Hermione said as she began her own flirting with Cedric.

Harry stopped and looked at Cedric. "Ceddy?"

"Shut up, squirt!" Cedric snapped back.

The entire group laughed as Harry pouted. They finally reached the carriages that would take them into Hogsmaede.