Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion
Chapter 35
Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny were sitting in the fiery red Hogwarts express, waiting for it to depart for Hogwarts.
The door to their compartment opened and Neville stood in the hall, with his trunk behind him and his best friend Hannah Abbott next to him. "Hey guys," said Neville cheerily. "How was your holiday? Mine was great. Gran was absolutely ecstatic that your moms got Malfoy thrown in prison, along with those other Death Eaters."
Harry and the girls smiled at Neville and Hannah. When the two newcomers saw Fleur, Neville extended a hand and introduced himself, "My name is Neville Longbottom and this is Hannah Abbott. Judging by your hair, I'd guess you're Fleur, right"?
Fleur shook his hand and that of Hannah before asking, "How did you know my name?"
Neville grinned and said, "You do not want to know how often Harry and Hermione talked about you to Ginny. I was present for a lot of those conversations."
Fleur grinned as well and said, "Been bragging about me, Harry, Hermione?"
They both grinned back at her and Hermione said, "Of course Fleur, you know how we are, we can't help but brag about our friends."
The others burst out laughing and Neville asked, "So Fleur, I was told you were going to Beauxbatons, but now you're here, how is that?"
They had agreed about what to tell the others so Fleur answered without hesitation. "I didn't really fit in there and I missed my only two friends, so my parents and I decided to enrol me at Hogwarts."
Neville nodded and said, "Well, I hope you will be sorted in Gryffindor, we could use a few more bright students. Besides those three over there, the other first year Gryffindors are a bunch of blubber heads. Most of the brains have been claimed by Ravenclaw," Hannah looked a little insulted and gave Neville an elbow between his ribs, so he quickly added, "and Hufflepuff has claimed the rest." Hannah grinned and nodded her head.
The others laughed out loud at Neville's expression and Harry grinned, "You've trained him well Hannah, he just needs a nudge to say exactly what you want."
Neville went red and Hannah said with a grin, "I've done my best, but you keep undoing my work whenever he is with you guys."
They all laughed again and after a few more minutes, Neville and Hannah left to find Hannah's friends.
They spent a few hours playing exploding snap and telling Fleur about the classes and the teachers. Around 4 in the afternoon, Harry had to use the toilet and left the compartment to search for the nearest loo.
When he spotted a sign on the wall, he followed the directions until he heard a dull cry of pain, coming from a closed cabinet next to the toilet. Harry opened the door to the cabinet and Draco fell out of it.
Harry quickly helped him stand up and when he saw his face he growled softly. Draco had a spectacular black eye and his nose appeared to be broken and was bleeding. "Who did that?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.
Malfoy pushed the sleeve of his robe against his bleeding nose and said a little muffled, "Crabbe, Goyle and Nott. I was hiding in an empty compartment at the back of the train when they found me. I ran away but they cornered me over there." He pointed towards a spot, a few feet away. Harry looked a little closer and saw a few drops of blood lying on the wooden floor.
Harry dragged Draco into the toilet and helped him clean up his face and stem the bleeding in his nose. "You should probably visit Madame Pomfrey when we get to the castle," Harry told Draco, while they made their way back towards the compartment where the girls were still sitting.
When they walked past a few closed doors, one of them opened and they could hear Nott saying, "Who told you that you could leave that cabinet Malfoy?" He stepped out of the compartment and was flanked by Crabbe, Goyle, followed by Pansy Parkinson and two other Slytherins Harry didn't recognise.
Harry cracked his knuckles and said softly to Draco, "The girls are in last compartment, tell them what happened. I'll try to talk some sense into these idiots." Draco nodded and left in a hurry.
"HEY," yelled Nott, "where do you think you are going you filthy little ferret?"
When Crabbe and Goyle attempted to follow Draco, Harry stepped before them and said in a cold voice, "I would suggest you leave Draco alone from now on. A child is not responsible for the faults of its parents. If it was, none of you would be standing here right now. So piss off to your own compartment and leave him alone".
"You have some nerve Potter," growled Nott, "there are six of us and only one of you. So unless you want to get a beating, I suggest you piss off."
Harry smirked and said, "Make me." Crabbe and Goyle stepped towards him with their fists raised and Goyle made the mistake to aim a blow at Harry's face.
He hit him on his cheek and Harry's head spun a little, before he regained his senses. He gave the boys a dark grin and said, "You shouldn't have done that." He had made a promise to Lily and James, not to start any fights. But he sure as hell was going to hit back if someone hit him first.
He aimed his right fist at Goyle and hit him with an uppercut straight to his jaw. Goyle spun around and fell backwards, while Crabbe tried to exploit the distraction and hit Harry with a right hook.
His fist never hit the intended target as Hermione and Ginny had joined Harry in the hallway and Hermione had grabbed Crabbe's fist with her right hand. While Ginny delivered a right hook of her own and knocked out two of Crabbe's teeth.
The other Slytherins saw they were outmatched and quickly dragged Crabbe and Goyle back to their own compartment. Harry grinned after them and waited till the door had closed behind Parkinson.
He then looked around quickly to see if anyone could see them, before giving Hermione and Ginny a quick kiss on the lips and whispered, "Thanks."
The two girls grinned and Hermione said, "Fleur stayed with Draco, his nose started bleeding again." Harry nodded and led the two girls back towards their own compartment, where Fleur was helping Draco to stuff his bleeding nose with cotton wool.
"How are you Draco?" asked Harry when Fleur was done stuffing the blonde's nose.
"I'm okay," mumbled Draco, his stuffed nose gave him a very strange voice and Harry and the girls had to hide their mirth when he spoke.
"Good," replied Harry, "I think we scared them off for now, but to be sure, I think you should stay with us for the remainder of the journey." Draco nodded and everyone took a seat.
Hermione took parchment, ink and a quill from her bag and wrote a short note to Madame Pomfrey to ask her to be at the platform to heal a few students who had been injured during an 'unfortunate accident'.
When Draco heard her describe it as such he grimaced painfully in an attempt to smile, and said, "I'm sure you three shocked them into having an accident." The others laughed and Hermione gave the letter to Pidgy, who flew off through the open window and quickly disappeared out of sight.
Half an hour later a voice announced that they would soon reach Hogwarts, so Harry and the girls put their robes over their normal clothes. Draco had already changed, and together they waited till they arrived at the station of Hogsmeade.
When the train had stopped, the quartet and Draco left their compartment and stepped onto the platform.
"Draco, what happened?" A voice came from behind them. When they turned around, they saw Daphne Greengrass, with her friends Tracey and Blaise."
Draco tried to smile at them but only managed a painful looking grimace. "I got beat up," he confessed.
"What," Asked Daphne, "by who?!"
"Nott, Crabbe and Goyle," came the muffled reply.
"Those stupid blockheads," muttered Tracey
Blaise asked, "Do they blame you for what happened to their parents?" Draco nodded and grabbed his head in his hands as the movement made him dizzy.
At that moment they heard a stern voice saying, "Miss Granger, I received your letter and I would like to know why you dragged me out into the cold." Madame Pomfrey came marching towards them but stopped abruptly when she saw Draco's face.
"Mister Malfoy", she gasped, "what happened to you?"
"Got beat up," muttered Draco, while Madame Pomfrey aimed her wand at him and cast several healing charms on him to fix his nose, black eye, and the slight concussion he had.
"Well," sighed Madame Pomfrey, "it's a good thing we have a few new staff members at Hogwarts. I hope not to see any of you again to soon." With that the healer turned around and dragged Crabbe and Goyle behind her towards a carriage. She would be having words with Professor Snape.
Harry turned towards Daphne and asked, "Do you three mind keeping an eye on him? He has been through a lot and could use a few allies in his own house."
Daphne, Tracey and Blaise all nodded and Daphne responded, "Of course Harry. It's not his fault his father is such a piece of scum."
They said goodbye and the four Slytherins stepped into one of the many waiting carriages.
When the quartet reached the carriages, Harry stood still and said to the girls, "What kind of weird horses are those?"
Hermione, Fleur and Ginny looked confused and Hermione said hesitantly, "What horses Harry?"
Now Harry looked confused and pointed towards the large skeletal horses that stood before the carriages. The girls followed the direction of Harry's finger but didn't see anything.
"We don't see anything Harry," said Ginny carefully.
Harry looked even more confused and stepped towards the nearest of the horses. He held out his hand and the horse sniffed it before lowering his head to allow Harry to stroke its neck.
When the girls saw Harry stroke something, they slowly approached it as well and Harry took their hands. One by one he placed their hands on the neck of the creature and the girls were amazed that they could touch something they could not see.
"Let's ask my moms what those things are," Harry said and the girls nodded. They all stepped into the carriage and it immediately made its way up to the castle.
After about ten minutes they entered through a large gate, embedded in massive stone walls. Two large winged boars were seated on pedestals, on either side of the gate. The carriage made its way towards the large open doors of the castle and stopped just in front of the large double doors.
Harry and the girls left the carriage and made their way through the throng of students and towards the open doors of the Great Hall. When they entered the hall they looked towards the head table and got identical grins on their faces.
Aurora and Gabrielle were both seated at the head table. Gabrielle sat next to Professor McGonagall, who sat on the right side of Dumbledore and Aurora sat between Gabrielle and Professor Quirrell.
They smiled when they saw the kids enter and Harry and the girls made their way towards the front of the Gryffindor table and sat as close to the head table as they could.
During the next few minutes the Great Hall filled with students and many threw curious looks at Aurora and Gabriel, or at Fleur, who sat between Harry and Ginny, with Hermione on the other side of Harry.
When the doors closed, indicating all students had entered the Great Hall, Dumbledore stood up and called for silence.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts everyone. I hope you have all had a nice holiday and are ready to start learning again." There were a few cheers when he said this, so Dumbledore waited till is was quiet again before he continued.
"As you all can see we have two new additions to the staff. During the holiday there was an investigation at Hogwarts. Her Majesty was not pleased with the results of several of the classes. So, Professor Binns has been replaced by Professor Aurora Emrys." There was a loud whispering as he said that name and Aurora stood up from her chair to make a bow. Harry and the girls clapped loudly, as did most of the other students who had been bored out of their minds by Binns ramblings.
When everyone had calmed down again, Dumbledore continued. "Our professor of Muggle Studies has also been replaced. His post will be taken by the wife of Professor Emrys, Professor Gabrielle Emrys". There was a second round of polite applause while Gabrielle stood up to make a bow.
He waited until it was quiet again, before continuing, "She will be teaching a new class, which will replace muggle studies and is mandatory for every student, until you have taken your OWL's. This new class is called, Rules and Customs of the Magical and Muggle world, or RCMM. Her Majesty has decided that we need to create a better understanding between students of both worlds, to avoid conflicts and to help you to work together."
Dumbledore sat down again and there was a loud murmur, as everyone was discussing what they had just been told. After a few minutes, Aurora stood up and cleared her throat. When no one reacted, she snapped her fingers and a large red fireball exploded with a massive bang, above the heads of the students and they were immediately silent.
Aurora smiled and said, "So, now that I have your attention, I have a few things to add to the headmaster's speech. Firstly, the Queen has placed me in charge of the security of the castle, and its inhabitants. What this means for you is quite simple, either you follow the rules, or you're out. This is a school, not some playground. You are here to learn, so that is what you will do. There will be plenty of opportunities to party and have fun, as long as no one gets hurt or left out.
As some of you might know, the castle around us is sentient. I'm in direct contact with the castle, so I control the wards around the castle and those within. If I hear of any bullying or something like that, then the one who is found guilty will be in trouble. If you have problems with your fellow students, with your teachers or if you just want to talk, my office is always open for you. Now, on to security, there was a severe breach in this schools security at Halloween, to avoid anything like that from ever happening again, we are inspecting the school wards and updating them if necessary. That is all I have to add, so I give the floor back to the headmaster who has a final announcement to make." She looked pointedly at Dumbledore and he stood up, while she sat back down.
"Yes," began Dumbledore, "I have one final announcement to make. It would seem that we have a new student in our midst." He gestured towards Fleur and continued, "Miss Fleur Delacour. Miss Delacour didn't really fit in at her old school, so she has decided to enrol at Hogwarts. Miss Delacour, if you would come forward, you will be sorted into one of the houses."
Fleur stood up and smiled to the other three before making her way towards professor McGonagall, who was waiting with the sorting hat and a stool. Professor McGonagall smiled to Fleur and said, "Please sit down Miss Delacour."
Fleur did as she asked and professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on Fleur's head. When it sat on her head, Fleur heard a soft voice in her head which said, "Well, well, well, what have we here, a little Veela I see. Well that could be dangerous amongst the pure bloods, so no Slytherin I think." Fleur let out a relieved sigh and the hat continued, "Hmm you have plenty of wisdom, so Ravenclaw is a possibility. But you have loyalty as well and courage. Hmm difficult."
The hat spent several minutes contemplating, causing Fleur to get anxious as she felt the eyes of the entire hall upon her. After a while, Fleur heard a second voice inside her head, one she recognised as Aurora's. "Oh please Godric, stop tormenting the poor girl, or I'll scorch your stitches."
Fleur was almost certain she heard the hat swallow, before it said, "Aurora, it's been too long. How are you and Gabrielle?"
"Stop stalling Godric, you know I never bluff".
The edges of the worn hat started to get warmer and the hat hurriedly said,"Very well, since all your friends are there already, you're going to, GRYFFINDOR." Fleur took the hat off with a sense of relief and handed it to professor McGonagall, before making her way towards her friends, at the cheering table of Gryffindor. Fleur got a hug from Harry, Hermione and Ginny and shook hands with many others, before she was able to sit down between Harry and Ginny again.
The headmaster stood up again and said, "Now that we have that over with, tuck in." He clapped his hands and the tables were filled with food. The students attacked the food like a pack of hungry wolves and it wasn't long until the hall was filled with the cheerful banter of the students.
At the head table, Aurora was softly talking with Gabrielle, while the other teachers were eyeing their new colleagues carefully. They had all been present at Halloween, when Aurora had talked Albus Dumbledore down. They knew she wasn't bluffing when she had said that the castle was under her control.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry and the girls were besieged with a seemingly never ending flow of questions. Most were about Fleur, but a fair number wanted to know more about the arrest of Lucius Malfoy. Harry and the girls were forced to lie about most things, as they didn't want the real reason Fleur was at Hogwarts to become known. Also they couldn't tell anyone about the fact that they were present when Malfoy had been captured.
When the main course had been devoured, the plates vanished, only to be replaced by the desserts immediately afterwards. Fleur snatched a large apple-pie, from under the noses of Fred and George and gave herself and the other three each a large piece, before she handed the pie back to Fred.
They were a little surprised that Fred and George had not yet attempted to take revenge for their prank at the Christmas party. The only thing that indicated the twins were planning something, where the shared grins and cautious looks towards the head table.
After the desserts had been devoured, the headmaster wished them all a good night, before he left the hall swiftly. Aurora stood up and cleared her throat, this time everyone was quiet at once.
"I would like to have a word with Misters Fred and George Weasley, so if you would please stay. The rest of you I wish a good night and happy dreams."
All the students rose up, except for Fred, George, Harry and the girls. While Harry and the girls remained seated and kept talking, Fred and George cautiously approached the head table. Only Aurora and Gabrielle were still seated, as the other teachers had left soon after the headmaster.
The two new Professors stood up and walked around the table when they saw the Weasley twins approach. They stood before them and Aurora looked sternly down at the self-proclaimed, 'prank masters' of Hogwarts.
"Okay listen up you two," Aurora began on a stern tone, but softened it somewhat as she continued. "You have seen what Gabrielle and I can do, but trust me, that was nothing. I know you two like to prank people, so let me give you a warning. As long as no one gets hurt and everyone can laugh about it, you can prank whomever you want. If anyone gets hurt, either physically or mentally, you're in trouble, understood?"
Fred and George nodded a little downcast and said as one, "Yes professor Emrys."
"Good." replied Aurora with a smile, "Now, I suggest you two get to the dormitory, it's ten minutes to nine, curfew will begin soon." They nodded and quickly left the Great Hall.
When they saw the twins leave, Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny stood up and approached Aurora and Gabrielle. "Okay mom," said Harry to his mothers, "where are we going now? I seem to remember you promising something about trying to get us our own tower."
Aurora chuckled and Gabrielle said, "Not so cheeky young man, you four need to remember that you have to address us as Professor, whenever there are others around."
"Yes mom," came the reply from four directions.
Gabrielle smiled and added, "Well if you would follow us, we will take you to your new quarters." The four children looked excited and quickly followed Aurora and Gabrielle out of the Great Hall.
When they reached the entry hall, Aurora walked towards one of the large statues that stood against the wall next to the grand staircase. She placed her hand on the model of Hogwarts, which was in the statues right hand, and said softly, "All your secrets, are no longer secret."
When the last word was said, the statue sprung away from the wall to reveal a large wooden door. Gabrielle opened the door and motioned for the quartet to enter the well-lit passage behind it.
When all of them were in, Gabrielle followed them and closed the door behind them. "This passage is a short cut to the seventh floor, where our quarters are located. The passphrase I just used, is known only to six people, and all of them are standing in this passage right now. It's a universal passphrase, which opens every shortcut and secret corridor in Hogwarts. Don't try it on the common room doors though, as they are the only exception."
When Aurora finished speaking, Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny grinned at each other with a knowing look. That passphrase would come in handy in their future endeavours.
Gabrielle led them through the passage, and after only a few short minutes, they came to a second wooden door. Gabrielle opened the door and they found that they had arrived on the seventh floor, behind one of the many suits of armour that stood around the castle.
Gabrielle led them past a moving tapestry of a man surrounded by tutu wearing trolls, who were hitting him with their clubs, and towards the end of the main corridor of the seventh floor.
There was a large window at the end, which looked out over the black lake. On the right wall, a dozen feet before the end, hidden behind thick curtains that Gabrielle opened, hung a portrait of three people.
"Hello my dears", spoke the man on the left side of the portrait.
Aurora smiled happily and replied, "Hey dad".
"DAD," exclaimed the four children as one.
Aurora and Gabrielle laughed loudly and Aurora said, "Kids, I'd like you to meet my father Merlin. The founder of Britain, King Arthur and his wife, Queen Guinevere. Guys, meet our adoptive son, Harry Potter, and his friends, Hermione Granger, Fleur Delacour and Ginny Weasley," she pointed towards each of them in turn as they were introduced.
Ginny looked curiously at Merlin's face and as Aurora had said, he had a spectacular moustache and a sizeable goatee, but no beard. "Hmm," she remarked softly, "you were right Aurora, he doesn't have a beard". The portrait of Merlin and Arthur laughed out loud when they heard this, and Guinevere, Aurora and Gabrielle smiled softly.
They spoke for a few more minutes until Aurora said, "I think we should get in. Just place your hand on the portrait and they will know whether or not you are allowed to go in. If you are, just walk through it, like with the wall at the platform." Gabrielle proved her point, by placing her hand on the portrait and walking straight through it.
Harry and the girls looked at each other and Harry shrugged, "Let's just do it." He placed his hand on the portrait and felt it pass through without resistance. He walked forward and passed through the portrait.
When he came to the other side, he saw as short passage, which led to a large circular room with a high ceiling and long shelves all around it. On the sides of the passage were two sets of stairs, one leading up and one leading down. On the shelves were hundreds upon hundreds of books and the floor was covered in a soft looking rug. Several large armchairs, and two couches were gathered in front of a large, cozy fireplace. Above the fireplace were two empty paintings.
Gabrielle stood smiling in front of the fireplace and when the others had joined her, she opened her arms and said, "Welcome to Emrys Tower. When the castle was built, Aurora and I were in need of a safe haven, for when we grew tired of war. So the founders added a tower, especially for us."
"Cool," came the reply from the quartet.
Aurora chuckled and stood next to her wife, before she said, "The room upstairs is for you four, your trunks have already been placed there. Our room is downstairs. Why don't you go to your room and start unpacking, we have an early start tomorrow."
Before they could make their way towards the stairs, Harry remembered something. "Mom, what kind of creatures are pulling the carriages from the station to the school. I was able to see them but Hermione, Fleur and Ginny couldn't."
"Ah," said Gabrielle a little amused, "we totally forgot about them. They are called Thestrals and the reason you can see them is that you have seen death and accepted it. The girls have never seen anyone die yet, so they are unable to see them.
You will learn more about them if you choose, Care for Magical Creatures as a electoral class. Or you could just pop by Hagrid's, as he is the one who cares for them."
The quartet nodded in understanding and they said goodnight before making their way upstairs, leaving Aurora and Gabrielle in the living room. When they heard the door of the room close, Aurora and Gabrielle sat down on one of the couches and looked towards the empty paintings, which were no longer empty.
The left portrait was occupied by Merlin, Arthur and Guinevere. The right portrait showed a young woman, with long golden hair, deep brown eyes and an elegant face. "Hello ladies," said the young woman, "It's been a long time since I last saw you in this room."
Aurora and Gabrielle smiled at her and Gabrielle said, "Hello Sarah, it's nice to see you again. Just speaking to a disembodied voice, gets tiring after a while."
Sarah smirked and replied, "I know, it has been fun to mess with Dumbles though. The old guy was pissed when I wouldn't let him enter the hospital wing at Halloween. So to piss him off a bit more, I told the house elves to stop serving waffles for breakfast during the Christmas break. He's been less and less amused for the past three weeks. It's been so much fun watching him mumbling under his breath every time he had to make do without his favourite breakfast".
Aurora and Gabrielle burst out laughing when they heard this and Gabrielle asked with a grin, "Has he ever even seen you?"
"No," came the laughing reply, "I haven't visited that portrait in over two centuries and the headmasters usually only hear my voice when I disagree with them. Which happens quite regularly, I might add."
They spent the next few hours catching up with their old friends until the large bell struck midnight and they decided to call it a night.
When Harry and the girls walked onto the stairs leading up, they were surprised to find that the stairs moved, like a muggle escalator. When they reached the top they saw a large heavy door, made of English oak and carrying four small, golden letters, H. H. F. G.
Harry opened the door and they gasped at what they saw. The room was beautiful. It had three large windows, one towards the forest, one towards the lake and one towards Hogsmeade. In the middle of the room was a king sized, four-poster bed, that could fit at least 6 people. It was made from a light kind of wood and had fine golden detailing all over.
The floor was covered by a soft white rug, and the walls were painted white, with a few ornamental decorations. There were two other doors in the room, one on the right and one on the left. The one on the left led towards a large walk-in wardrobe, while the one on the right showed a large bathroom.
Apparently the 2 side-towers, that contained them, were covered in extension charms, because both the wardrobe and the bathroom were far larger on the inside.
The bathroom was made of white marble, it held a large shower, which could easily fit all four of them. Next to the shower was a large, Jacuzzi sized, bath. Between the shower and the bath was a tall rack with soft white towels. There were also a toilet, a very broad sink, and a large mirror.
Harry and the girls spent several minutes, discovering their new room and they all came to the same conclusion, it was stunning, it was light coloured, with an amazing view and a wonderfully soft bed.
They quickly changed and headed to bed. Despite the cold of the room, the duvet was warm as they crawled underneath it. They gave the others a soft kiss and cuddled up together before quickly falling asleep.
Tomorrow was a new day and what that day would bring was still a mystery. But one thing was for sure though, Hogwarts would never be the same again, now that the Legion had arrived.
Authors note:
i would really like to thank dealyflame for her amazing work on beta reading this chapter for me. She reallly helped me out with some issues'i had, so the story should be more easy to read with less grammar issues.
Till next time
Medieval Maniak