AN: Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter ready to go. I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.
A prefect? He was a bloody prefect? Ron fucking Weasley was a prefect? What the hell? Hermione made perfect sense, but Ron? I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I mean, I loved the bloke, but what on earth made him qualified for the job? The only guy in our dorm less qualified would be Seamus and that was only because he couldn't figure out how to stop blowing shit up.
I mean, okay. Maybe I wasn't the best qualified candidate either (I spent far too much time getting into trouble), but I was certainly far more qualified than Ron. I definitely got better grades than him, although that was mostly because I was great at defense. Plus I was well known; the firsties would look up to me. Ron would never be able to deal with all the first years. He wasn't observant enough to notice them doing anything wrong.
Okay, fine. I wasn't observant either. But still. Why him? Didn't I deserve this after everything I've been through? I don't understand. Is it because of the slander against me since Voldemort came back? That wasn't fair; Dumbledore knew I was telling the truth. But Dumbledore was ignoring me at the moment. Could this be a part of the reason?
No, of course not. Dumbledore wouldn't ignore me just because of who he and McGonagall chose to be prefect. But perhaps the reason he is ignoring me is why he didn't choose me.
'Or maybe Ron is just better than you' a voice spoke up in my mind. But no, that was impossible. I'm Harry Freaking Potter. I've faced Voldemort four times and lived to tell the tale. Surely that must count for something. But apparently not.
Maybe Dumbledore just took pity on him. Three of his brothers were prefects; maybe he didn't want Ron to feel badly. Maybe this was just a confidence boost. But if anyone in the dorm needed a confidence boost, it would be Neville not Ron. Although Ron got better grades than him in most subjects, excluding herbology. That was Neville's area of expertise.
Ok, if Seamus blows too much stuff up, and Ron and Neville don't get good enough grades, then that would leave me and Dean. Honestly, Dean wouldn't be too bad. He's gotten into trouble far less than I have. He's pretty responsible. Alright Dumbledore, you and I have a bone to pick. If you couldn't choose me, you should've chosen Dean. He's the most responsible person in our year.
Wait, no. I promised I wouldn't keep grudges. And I fully intended to keep said promise. I couldn't stay mad at Ron: it wasn't his fault that he was picked over me, and he was my best mate. I shouldn't be upset over this. I should be happy for him. And I couldn't be mad at Dumbledore; he probably had his reasons. Probably.
In the distance, I heard Mrs. Weasley fussing over Ron: "Oh Ron, I couldn't be prouder! That makes it everyone in the family."
"What are we- your next door neighbors?" Fred and George piped up.
Ouch. Please learn some tact, Mrs. Weasely. I felt awful for the twins. Imagine having your own mother forget about you because she didn't think you were as accomplished as your siblings.
I tried to compose my face into an expression that would look happy, and left my room to join the festivities going on in the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley had insisted on throwing a party for Ron and Hermione.
Laughter floated through the halls, crescendoing as I approached the door to where everyone was. The party was in full swing, and many members of the order were in attendance. Nobody wanted to miss out on a chance for a feast made by Mrs. Weasely. I heard many people congratulating Ron and Hermione, but everyone seemed to mention Ron's older brother's accomplishments as well which Ron didn't look happy about.
I stayed in the back of the room, hoping that no one would notice me, and for once, my luck held. I promised myself I wouldn't hold a grudge, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it.
Lupin and Sirius stood in the back, and I listened in on their conversation.
"Why on earth didn't they make Harry the prefect?" Sirius sounded slightly angry. "After everything he's been through, he deserves it."
"Getting into dangerous situations is not how Dumbledore chooses who to be a prefect. I'm sure he had a plenty good reason for choosing Ron over Harry. Besides, you should be proud of him. He's following in James' footsteps."
At Lupin's last comment, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. So my father had never been a prefect either. I wasn't sure why that mattered so much to me, but regardless, I felt happier. The party suddenly felt more enjoyable, and the laughter around me sounded a bit brighter. I grabbed the nearest pastry to me and stuffed it into my mouth. Delicious. There really wasn't anything that could beat Mrs. Weasely's cooking.
The remaining weeks before the beginning of the new term passed relatively quickly. Neither Ron nor Hermione recognized that I had originally been upset over the prefect situation; both had been too caught up in their own joy to notice my unhappiness. I slowly felt better as the days went by, and by September 1st, everything felt normal between the three of us again.
The morning of September 1st, the entire house was thrown into chaos, seeing as most of us overslept. Mrs. Weasley was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, Hermione was trying to stuff as many extra books as she could into her bag, Ron was still in bed, and the portrait of Sirius' mother was screaming her pureblood propaganda as loud as she possibly could. Everything was a mess. Luckily I only had a few last items to throw into my trunk, seeing as I had barely unpacked anything for the summer, and I was able to get my belongings down the stairs relatively quickly.
I stood waiting for what felt like forever, listening as Mrs. Black shouted her head off before somebody finally had the sense to silence her. Seriously, if they couldn't remove her portrait from the wall, they should remove the entire wall itself. I mean, Kreacher probably wouldn't be too happy, but he could suck it. She was bloody awful, and I wanted her gone.
Finally everyone was ready to leave. Thank Merlin we were already in London; I don't know how we would have made the train if we were any further from King's Cross. The Order gave us a full escort to the platform: Mad-Eye, Tonks, Kingsley, Remus, and the Weasleys accompanied us. Sirius also came in dog form, much to Mrs. Weasley's chagrin. But her protests of "But what if someone recognizes you and calls the aurors?" fell onto deaf ears. Personally, I was glad Sirius was with me. I was still worried that he was upset I couldn't spend the year with him, so having him with me to send me off was a huge relief. And hopefully he wouldn't get into too much trouble while I was away.
Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and I boarded the train together at the last minute. Fred and George hurried off immediately to find Lee Jordan, and so the four of us were left standing in the emptying hallway.
"Should we find a compartment then?" I asked.
"Er, Harry," Hermione looked uncomfortable. "Ron and I have to go to the prefect's compartment and find out what we have to do. Sorry."
Jealousy flared up in my chest, but I squashed it down almost immediately. "Oh, ok. I suppose I'll see you later."
"We're really sorry, Harry. It shouldn't take the entire train ride though. We can find you after we're done." With one last glance, Hermione turned around and marched to the front of the train.
"Sorry, mate. We'll see you later." Ron turned and hurried after her. I felt a pang inside. This would be the first year I travelled to Hogwarts without Ron by my side.
After a few seconds, I turned and realized with a start that Ginny was still standing next to me. "Er, should we find a compartment then?"
She smiled and turned around to start walking down the hallway. I took that as a yes and began to follow her. She stopped at a compartment that had Neville, and a blonde girl I didn't recognize. The blonde had strange glasses that seemed to have kaleidoscope lenses, and she was reading a newspaper upside down. Her wand was tucked behind her ear, and she wore a necklace with butterbeer corks on it. Internally, she made me feel squeamish, but I tried to hide it. Neville was holding a plant that did not look particularly friendly to me, but I supposed he was the herbology expert, and who was I to question him.
"Hey guys, can we come in?" Ginny asked brightly. Clearly she was more comfortable with the occupants of this compartment than I was.
The blonde brightened upon seeing Ginny. "Of course, Ginny. There's plenty of room here."
Ginny grinned and opened the doors to the compartment, gesturing for me to enter. After a moment's hesitation, I stepped in. I wasn't sure where to sit. On one hand, sitting next to a potentially crazy girl did not sound particularly pleasant, but Neville's plant was on the other side, and I didn't want to take my chances there. Gingerly, I sat down next to the girl, and prayed I made the right choice.
Ginny walked in and sat across from me. "Harry, may I present Ms. Luna Lovegood. She's in my year, but she's a Ravenclaw." I gave the now identified girl a small smile. "Luna, may I present Mr. Harry-"
"Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived," Luna interrupted Ginny in a voice that didn't sound like she was all there.
"Er, yes I am. Although I don't think the Ministry is particularly fond of that name at the moment."
"Of course. The Daily Prophet has been printing the meanest things about you. Daddy says all of it is rubbish though. The Ministry controls the Prophet, and so you can't trust a word they print. Daddy prints the true stories in his newspaper."
I assumed that the newspaper she was reading at the moment was the newspaper her father wrote. I tried to read the front upside down; it looked like the newspaper was called the Quibbler. The front page headline read: "Minister Fudge Overthrowing Gringotts?" I almost laughed. Fudge sucked, but I thought he had more important things to worry about than overthrowing the bank. You know, like slandering my name for instance. I highly doubted the validity of Luna's father's newspaper.
"Look what I got for my birthday!" Neville exclaimed, holding up the plant he had in his lap.
"Er, a plant?"
"Not just any plant: the mimbulus mimbletonia! It's really, really rare. I don't know if even Professor Sprout has one. My Great Uncle Algie bought it for me in Assyria. I don't know how he got his hands on it."
"That's great, Neville. Does it, er, do anything?" I didn't want to seem rude, but I really couldn't see the appeal to the plant.
"Yeah, loads of stuff. It has a really neat defense mechanism. Hang on one sec." He dug through his stuff, and pulled out a quill. I quickly realized what he was about to do.
"Neville, it's alright. I can take your word for it. You don't need to-"
Neville prodded the plant with the tip of his quill, and goo shot out everywhere. Ew. Luckily, Ginny and I had the sense to throw our arms up across our face, so the worst of it got on our sleeves. Luna's magazine protected her. Somehow, Neville seemed to also have escaped from the worst of it too, even though he had made no move to defend itself. However, the window and walls were completely covered, and boy did it stink. Disgusting.
"Oops, sorry I didn't realize it would be quite that bad. Don't worry, it's not poisonous." Neville looked pretty embarrassed. I was annoyed, but I couldn't find it in me to be really mad at him. I was sure that it would be a funny memory once we cleaned up.
"Oh, that's alright, Neville. We can just-"
"Hey Harry! Oh, whoops. Is this a bad time?" a voice came from the door.
Fuck.
It was Cho Chang. The gorgeous Cho Chang. And she was seeing me covered in goo with two people below my year, one of whom was more than slightly off, and Neville Longbottom, who was not known for being particularly popular. Fuck me.
"Er, hi Cho. Sorry for the mess. We were just- uh-"
"It's alright," she giggled, "I was just coming here to say hi, so, er, hi."
I felt my cheeks heat up. "Hi."
I thought I heard Ginny laughing at me in the background, but I didn't care. Even in my goo-covered state, I couldn't be bothered by anything. Cho Chang had said hi to me.
"Well, bye then. Enjoy the rest of your train ride." She turned around and walked away from the compartment.
Goddamn it. I should've asked her about her summer, or something. Or invited her into this compartment. Wait, but then Ron and Hermione wouldn't fit. A little voice in the back of my head didn't care. Wait, but the goo. She wouldn't sit here anyway. Nobody in their right mind would want to sit in this compartment in this state.
"Scourgify," Ginny cast, and part of the goo disappeared. "Come on guys we can get this cleaned quickly."
All four of us cast the spell repeatedly, and after 10 minutes, there was no evidence that the goo had been there in the first place. Luckily the smell left as well once the goo was gone.
About an hour passed with Neville and Luna conversing quietly about their summers, while Ginny and I sat in relative silence. She broke her silence occasionally to tease me about Cho, but she realized how grumpy it made me and graciously shut up.
Finally, Ron and Hermione entered the compartment, looking rather frazzled. Both of them sat down rather violently with their arms crossed. Their mirrored actions almost made me chuckle, but I knew that they would not take that kindly.
Before any of us could ask what was wrong, Ron spoke up: "Fucking Malfoy is a prefect. The prick. Why on earth would Dumbledore allow that?"
"And it's not only Malfoy," Hermione chimed in. "That absolute cow Pansy Parkinson was made prefect too. I hate her. She doesn't have an ounce of sense or smarts. There had to be more qualified prefects from Slytherin. What about Greengrass? Or Davis?"
"If I'm being honest, I'm not sure who either of those are."
Hermione huffed. "And that's a good thing. That means neither of them are huge bullies. They would be far better than Parkinson." She spat Parkinson's name out as if it were a curse.
"What about the other houses? They must be better," I asked.
"Well there's Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff. Hannah's fine, but Ernie was a bit of a prat to you in second year. He's still rather pompous, but he'll be alright," Ron said through a mouthful of chocolate frog.
"And there's Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw," Hermione finished. "I'll admit I don't know either of them quite well, but they seemed pretty agreeable."
At least the other houses weren't too bad. Maybe they could keep Malfoy in check. Hopefully.
"Ron took Padma to the Yule Ball," Luna spoke up from behind her magazine. "She didn't like it much, though. You refused to dance with her."
"Blimey, you're Looney Lovegood! What's she doing here?"
"Ron," hissed Ginny, "be nice."
"Right, sorry, sorry. But she's not quite right in the head, is she?"
"My daddy says that everyone else is just boring. Besides, I know what I say is right. You can read all about my theories in the Quibbler."
"The Quibbler?" Hermione scoffed. "But everyone knows that's a load of rubbish. The creatures it describes are obviously fake. I have no clue where they get their 'facts' from."
Luna lowered her newspaper to stare right at Hermione. "My daddy's the editor."
Hermione's cheeks tinged pink. "Oh, er, well, in that case, my apologies."
"Besides, you should know about seeing creatures that don't exist. Like a half bull half man thing for instance." I was confused. What on earth was Luna talking about? "After all, Hermione Granger, you do an excellent job of blending in here, but I can see that you're like Neville. You don't quite belong in this world."
Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times before responding. "Not belong in this world? How dare you? I'll have you know that I am first in my year. Come on, Harry, Ron, let's find somewhere else to sit."
"I hate to burst your bubble, Hermione," Ron spoke up, "but everywhere else is full at this point. We're stuck here."
Hermione hmphed, and fell silent for a few minutes before finally changing the subject. "So what do you think Defense Against the Dark Arts is going to be like this year? The reading list was certainly a surprise. I wonder why whoever it is chose muggle books. Not that I'm complaining. I'm sure The Art of War and The Prince will be great books. Although I am a little confused about The Prince. I don't see how a book about politics will help us fight, but I'm sure they have a reason."
Come to think of it, it was a little strange that we were assigned only muggle books for the class. Hopefully that meant the teachers would be good. I mean, how bad could they be if they were willing to use muggle books? Maybe the purebloods could gain some respect for the muggle world. I mean, those books were certainly well respected by basically the entire world. Why should the purebloods be any different?
And speaking of purebloods, Malfoy decided to make an appearance that moment. "Potter. Hey, Potter. You better watch your back this year. You see, unlike you, I have been made a prefect. How does it feel to be second to Weasley?"
"Fuck off, Malfoy. Ron completely deserves this. You see, contrary to the opinion of your head of house, I'm not a stuck up little brat who uses his fame for his own benefit. Clearly the option of your head of house can't be trusted, seeing as he made you a prefect. And unlike you, I actually have friends whom I love and can be proud of. I don't need to be above all of them like you, since Lord knows that as soon as you lose your power, your so-called friends will be gone. I'd suggest you leave now before this goes further."
Malfoy looked like he wanted to do something more, but decided not to, seeing as I had more people with me than he did. If a fight broke out, I would have more witnesses for my side of the story.
"Alright, but one toe out of line, and you'll be in detention so often that you'll never see the light of day again. I'll be dogging your footsteps." With that, he turned around and stalked back to his compartment.
Fuck. Dogging. Did he recognize Sirius? No, that would be impossible. No one knew about his animagus form outside of the Order. Did the Order have a spy? They certainly had one last time, that was how my parents were murdered. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had all gone white as a sheet at Malfoy's parting words, but luckily Luna and Neville remained oblivious to their reactions.
I took to staring out the window for the rest of the train ride. As the journey neared its end, Hermione reminded us to put our robes on. First the girls changed and then the boys. Ron and Hermione pinned their prefect badges to their robes, and both looked pretty damn proud of themselves.
The train stopped at the station, and students poured out of the compartments and onto the platform. The six of us who were in the compartment together stuck by each other, careful not to be separated in the large crowd. I listened for Hagrid's annual call of the first years to the boats, but it never came. Instead, a distinctly feminine voice called out "First years right this way. Mind your step, it's slippery. First years line up here."
In the lantern light, I could make out that it was Professor Grubbly-Plank, who had substituted for Hagrid in the past. Ron, Hermione, and I glanced at each other, worried. None of us had seen Hagrid this summer, even though we were sure he was a part of the Order. Trying to shake the nervousness from my mind, I continued walking towards the horseless carriages that took us to the school.
I stopped and blinked in horror. The horseless carriages were no longer horseless. There were terrifying skeletal, black horses. Black, leathery wings protruded from their backs, and one turned to look at me with a beady eye. I froze in shock.
"Harry, mate, you alright?" Ron looked at me, concerned.
"Wha- what are those things?"
"What things?"
"The bloody horses pulling the carriages!"
"Did you hit your head or something? The carriages are horseless. They always have been."
"You can't see them? But-"
"I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am," Luna tried to reassure me. Somehow, that didn't make me feel better at all.
Ron, Hermione, Neville, and I crowded into a carriage together, and Ginny and Luna left to find another one. We began the bumpy ride to the castle entrance, while thoughts of 'Where's Hagrid', 'Did Malfoy recognize Sirius', and 'Have I finally gone crazy' plagued my mind.
"I can see them too, Harry," Neville mumbled into his lap. "I've been able to see them since second year when we first started taking the carriages. I doubt both of us have gone mad."
That actually did make me feel a bit better. Neville was shy and quiet, but he wasn't insane. There was probably some good explanation. Hopefully everything would be explained some time this year.
The carriage slowed to a stop, and I leapt out, wanting to get inside as quickly as possible so that I could get away from the weird horse things. Ron, Hermione, and Neville soon followed. We walked through the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall.
I halted for a moment to drink in the sight of the Hall. It was beautiful. The pitch black ceiling reflected the night sky, but the floating candles broke up the darkness and created a merry light. The silvery ghosts at the edges of the room gave a supernatural feeling to the Hall which only added to the excitement of the new school year. Spirits were high, despite the rainy weather outside, and everyone was shouting happily at their friends and acting out tales from their summer.
Students whispered as I made my way to an empty spot at the Gryffindor table. I knew they were talking about the lies The Daily Prophet had written about me, but I tried to pay them no mind. I wouldn't let them ruin this night for me. We sat down near where Seamus and Dean were already sitting. Seamus glared pointedly at me before promptly turning around. Dean mouthed 'sorry' to me before copying his friend. What on earth? What did I do to him?
Ron, Hermione, and I scanned the teachers' table, and sure enough, Professor Grubbly-Plank was there and Hagrid was nowhere to be found. I desperately hoped he was okay, wherever he was. Strangely enough, I didn't see any other new teachers. Where was the new DADA professor? Strange.
Professor McGonagall entered with the new batch of first years trailing behind her. They were all so small and so terrified. Was I ever like that? I suppose I was certainly terrified before the sorting. And I was pretty small too. McGonagall carried in the stool with the Sorting Hat on top of it, and placed it in front of the entire school. The school waited with bated breath for this year's sorting song. The Sorting Hat then opened its mouth-like rip near the brim wide, and began to sing:
In times of old, when I was new,
And Hogwarts barely started,
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted.
United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach"
The four good friends decided.
And never did they dream that they
Might some day be divided.
For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,
So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there, so I can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry's purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name."
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot
And treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light.
For each of the four founders had
A house in which they might
Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning just like him.
And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest
and taught them all she knew,
Thus, the houses and their founders
Maintained friendships firm and true.
So Hogwarts worked in harmony
For several happy years,
But then discord crept among us
Feeding on our faults and fears.
The Houses that, like pillars four
Had once held up our school
Now turned upon each other and
Divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
Must meet an early end.
What with duelling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend.
And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
Were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be.
And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for.
But this year I'll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong,
Though I must fulfil my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes.
And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
Let the Sorting now begin.
(Direct quote from OOTP)
The Sorting hat finished it's song to loud applause, but there were also whispers and murmurs in the crowd. No one could remember the Sorting Hat ever giving a warning in its song before.
McGonagall began the sorting by calling out "Abercrombie, Euan" but I didn't pay too close attention. I was far more concerned by what the Sorting Hat had said. It didn't want to sort the students? Why not? I supposed the houses really were prejudiced against each other to the point of being ridiculous, but this was how it had always been done.
And what about that warning? It was almost scary. And it was obviously a reaction to Voldemort returning. I wondered if it would be enough to make everyone believe me. It had to be. The students had to be prepared. There was no other option. And where was the DADA professor? It was their job to prepare us for this. I prayed that whoever it was believed me about Voldemort's return. I shuddered to think of what would happen if they believed me to be crazy.
McGonagall finished the sorting with "Zeller, Rose" being sorted into Hufflepuff. With that, she picked up the stool and Sorting Hat and put them away until they would be brought out next year.
Dumbledore stood up to make his announcements: "To our newcomers: Welcome! To our returning students: Welcome back! I am delighted to see all of you here for another year at Hogwarts. Some announcements before we can begin to eat, which I am sure you are all looking forward to."
At that, Ron groaned. He hadn't gotten to eat much on the train, and now there were announcements before the feast appeared. I almost felt sorry for him.
"First, I would like to introduce Professor Grubbly-Plank, our new Care of Magical Creatures professor. Many of you know her, as she substituted for Hagrid last year. Hagrid is currently out of the country, but he will take his spot back when he returns."
So Hagrid was out of the country. What on earth could he be doing? What was so important that he would miss the start of school? Dumbledore didn't look too worried though, so I pushed my fears to the back of my mind.
"Now this year, we're doing something slightly different," continued Dumbldore, "There will be two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers instead of one. They have requested to be called by their first names, so may I introduce Professor Perseus and Professor Annabeth."
"It's just Percy," a voice said from behind the doors.
Everyone looked over as the doors opened to show the two most attractive people I had ever seen. Both were tall and clearly in good shape. The man (Professor Percy I guess) looked exactly how I wanted to look when I grew up. He had black, windswept hair and eyes that looked like the color of the ocean. He had a tan that clearly came from being out in the sun all day, and obvious muscles in his arms. He had his arm around Professor Annabeth in a way that made it clear that they were together.
Professor Annabeth had long blonde hair in a ponytail that made her look almost like a princess. She, like Professor Percy, had clearly defined muscles in her arms. Her eyes were a startling gray and looked like she was taking in the entire room and assessing for weaknesses. The two of them had the most powerful aura of any person I had ever felt, including Dumbledore.
This made no sense: they clearly weren't older than maybe 18; how could they be that powerful? I looked around to those near me to see if they felt their power too. Hermione and Ron were just staring at them open-mouthed, but Neville had gone as pale as a ghost. Strange. The professors walked towards the head table and stopped.
"Hey everyone," Professor Percy said, "we're really looking forward to teaching all of you, and ummm yeah."
"The students who were chosen to help show us around the school because we were never students here can just meet us up at the head table after the feast," Professor Annabeth said, "You already know who you are."
Wait, why wasn't I chosen as one of the people to show them around? I mean I was clearly the best person to represent Hogwarts. "Are either of you the people showing the new professors around?" I whispered to Ron and Hermione.
"Nope," replied Ron, still staring at the new professors.
"I'm not either," said Hermione, "which is strange considering the fact that Ron and I are prefects. I wonder how they were chosen."
"Of course, there are a few more announcements, but they can wait until after we've had our fill. And with that being said, let the feast begin." As Dumbledore spoke, platters filled themselves with all sorts of delicious food.
"Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked, "You look awfully pale."
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," he replied, "It's just that I'm one of the people showing the new professors around and I completely forgot that I was supposed to be doing that. And the new professors seem so powerful. I don't want them to realize I forgot about them."
Neville's words made sense, and… and… wait what? Why was Neville one of the people to be chosen to show them around? There was nothing impressive about him. I mean, he got us those points in our first year and I suppose he was good at herbology, but why should he be showing these two clearly powerful people around. Who on earth chose him?
"How were you chosen to do that?" Hermione vocalized what we were all thinking.
Neville gulped: "Well I don't really know. I suppose they chose people who did well enough but didn't have a ton on their plates, like the new prefects or you Harry. I don't know who else was chosen."
Ah that explained it. I turned to my food, the two new professors quickly forgotten. Ron also began to stuff himself, but Hermione was still staring at the professors with a contemplative look in her eye. She glanced between Neville and the professors, and then scanned the rest of the school to see if anyone else looked a little funny. I guess she didn't find anyone because with one last look at the professors, she turned to her food and began to eat.
"So Nick," Hermione turned to the Gryffindor ghost. "Has the Sorting Hat ever given a warning to the school before?"
"Why yes it has. Every so often, it will give one to the school when it deems it necessary. I assume this time it's because of the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It's always the same warning too. It's always about inter-house unity, and standing strong together. Not that anyone in the school ever heeds it. The rivalries run too deep."
"You're damn right they do," Ron spoke up through a mouthful of food. "There's no way I'm ever cooperating with a slimy snake."
Hermione looked annoyed. "Ronald, that is specifically what the Sorting Hat was warning us against. We're supposed to not give into the house rivalries."
"He has a point, Hermione. There's no way Malfoy and I will ever work together. I can't think of a single good Slytherin besides Merlin," I defended Ron. I mean, maybe there were more good Slytherins, but I had yet to meet any.
Soon, everyone finished their suppers, and the plates were cleared. Dessert appeared, and I helped myself to loads of treacle tart. All too soon, the deserts were gone too, and everyone was anxious to get back to their common rooms.
Dumbledore stood up to finish his standard beginning of the year announcements. "Before you all have fallen asleep, I'll just remind you of a few quick rules. The Forbidden Forest is, as its name suggests, forbidden. Any students found there will face severe consequences. Mr. Filch would like to remind everyone that there is absolutely no magic to be used in the hallways, and that the list of banned items can be found in his office. I believe the number of banned items has reached a grand total of 327 items. Quidditch tryouts for house teams will be scheduled by your team captains and head of house. I believe that's all I have for tonight, so good night. Off you all trot."
Sudden noise filled the Hall as the students got up to leave for their common rooms. Ron and I were about to head out the door, when Hermione pulled him back.
"Ron, we're prefects. We have to show the first years to the dorm. You're alright Harry; you can go. The password is mimbulus mimbletonia. You know, that awful plant that Neville had with him on the train."
"Right of course. Oi, you lot- midgets. Follow me back to the common room. Keep up or you'll get lost, and I'm too tired and full to go looking for you."
I shook my head. Really, who thought that Ron would make a good prefect? This could all have been avoided if someone else, I don't know, say me, was made prefect instead. No- bad Harry. No being jealous of Ron. He's going to do a great job. He's just having a rough start. "See you later Neville! Have fun showing the new professors around." I turned around and exited the hall, ready to fall asleep as soon as I could.
Five minutes after I made it back to the common room, Ron and Hermione, followed by all the first years, flooded into the room.
"Alright you guys. Girls dorms are this way; boys are that way. Make sure you get a good night's rest tonight: you don't want to be sleepy for your first day of classes." Hermione was pretty good at the whole prefect thing. The first years listened to her without question and plodded off to their dorm rooms.
As soon as they were gone, Hermione grabbed Ron and me and dragged us to the corner of the room. "There's something up with those two professors. Every time I look at them, I get the strangest feeling in my chest. I can't say if it's good or bad, but it's certainly new. And there's definitely more to them than what meets the eye. Neville knows something about them; I'm sure of it. I want to find out what."
"Well, what do you propose we do?" Ron asked.
"I want to go spy on their supposed 'tour' around the school. I'm certain that they aren't doing what they're saying they're doing."
"Blimey, Hermione. You want to spy on them? No way, count me out. Did you feel how much power they had when they came in? What if you got caught?" Ron protested heavily to her suggestion, and I was inclined to agree with him.
"Yeah, I already have enough on my plate with Voldemort's return. I don't need two scary professors to add to my problems."
Hermione frowned. She had been sure we would agree. "Aren't you guys Gryffindors? Where's your sense of adventure? Besides, we won't get caught. And if we do, we can say we're going to the kitchens."
"You want us to break rules and then lie about it? Who are you, and what have you done with Hermione? But seriously, I really don't want to stalk the new professors on our first night here. If they start acting suspicious, we can look more into them. But right now I just want to go to sleep." Hermione frowned, and I began to feel a little badly. "Look, if you're dead set on investigating them, you can borrow my invisibility cloak tonight. Just don't get caught."
Hermione sighed. "Alright, I guess that's good enough. Thanks, Harry. But if I hear anything suspicious you guys have to promise that you'll help me find everything you can about them."
"Alright, alright, we promise," I doubted she would find anything anyway. It probably was just a tour of the castle. I ran upstairs to grab my cloak to give to her. She smiled and took it, then disappeared out the portrait hole. Ron and I looked at each other and in silent agreement, turned and walked up to our dorm.
Seamus was still glaring at me, but at the moment, I was too tired to care. He could be a prat if he wanted; see if I cared. I crashed onto my bed without even bothering to take off my robes and fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.
AN: Thank you all for reading! I would like to make it clear that I do plan of having Umbridge as a part of this story, but not just yet. She'll come in later. Please, please, please leave a review; it is greatly appreciated.Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far; your kind words mean the world to me. Until next time!