A/N: All right, this is the second chapter! This was originally my first chapter, then I wrote that other one...*shrugs* But I'm still in desperate need of IDEAS!!! Please? I realize if you had good ideas you could write your own fic...but if you helped me even the TEENSIEST bit I would most definitely give you credit!!! I have a very cool, extremely VAGUE plot set out and I need help with details. Oh and would anyone like to be my beta reader? Email me!
The Guardians
Chapter Two
My Dearest Harry,
I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
SOLO TU BABY!
Love Always,
Fire-Life
Harry reread the note over and over, trying to recognize the handwriting. What was solo tu anyway? It was written in loopy, strange handwriting, with red ink. It scared him. Someone out there loved him? Loved? He was only fifteen. Love was unheard of. Love should've been especially unheard of at this time, when Voldemort was back, powerful, rising, stronger than before. And he, Harry Potter, had helped bring Voldemort back! His own blood had revived him! The very thought made him feel sick. Of course he had not given the blood willingly, but it was a key factor to the rising of the Dark Lord, it was the last and most important step, and-
Suddenly, he noticed the door was rattling furiously. 'Harry! Are you in there? Harry! Professor Dumbledore wants you!'
'Come in,' called Harry, hastily shoving the love note into his school chest.
'I can't! The damn door's locked! I would've entered before this if it wasn't, you doofus!'
The door opened and Hermione Granger, one of his best friends at Hogwarts, the wizarding school he attended, stormed in.
'What are you doing?' she hissed. 'I was knocking for ages, you missed breakfast, the prefect meeting is about to start, you're going to make me late, and I was really looking forward to seeing Professor McGonagall again, I wanted to talk to her about some things, and now that you're a prefect, you're supposed to set a good example, even though no one else is here yet, and how would it look if I was late with you?'
Harry grinned. He was too used to Hermione ranting to be offended too much.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming, let me get dressed." Harry climbed out of bed, forgetting that he was only in his Quidditch boxers. He and Hermione both turned red, though she also looked as though she was hiding a smile. He hurriedly pulled on his new black Hogwarts robes. They had green lining, since Hogwarts had let up on the strict uniform. He suspected it was so they would look less conspicuous if they went anywhere, like Hogsmeade.
Suddenly worry clouded Hermione's pretty face. "You shouldn't be alone at all! Especially with You-Know-Who on the loose! That Ron..." Ron was Harry's other best friend. He shared the prefect role with Harry, which was a rare occurrence, although not surprising, since Ron and Harry always had the same classes and always did their homework together.
Harry smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm fine! See? All in one piece, unfortunately. Now please, let's just get to Professor Dumbledore. I wonder what he wants to see us for." Professor Dumbledore was the headmaster. He was extremely powerful, as Harry had had the privilege of witnessing last year, and was the only one Voldemort had ever been afraid of. Dumbledore always seemed to know what went on around the school grounds, and was one of the few people who believed Harry, Ron, and Hermione about their adventures with Voldemort and Sirius Black, a supposed murderer.
Harry and Hermione headed out of the Gryffindor house and walked towards Dumbledore's tower. Harry slid a sideways look at Hermione. She had become increasingly pretty through the years, and everyone was noticing. She, of course, was still top of every class. She turned around and faced him. "Oh, Harry," she said. "I can't believe You-Know-Who is back...I'm actually scared...books won't help me much now. I mean, when he comes round, I can't exactly throw a book at him and expect that to kill him."
Harry patted her awkwardly on the back. "It's all right, Hermione...we've beaten Voldemort many times...and Dumbledore's here...it'll be ok."
Hermione attempted a small smile. 'No, you have beaten Voldemort many times.' The admiration showed in her tone.
He turned her to him and planted his hands firmly on her shoulders. 'Hermione,' he said, 'I promise you're going to live through this. After all, you're the best student in all our classes, and you know all the spells. You're even better than some of the 6th years!'
She smiled a little and hugged him. 'Thanks, Harry.'
Just then, Ron came walking round the corner. 'There you two are,' he grinned, raising an eyebrow at Harry. 'Looking awfully comfortable, too.'
Embarrassed, Harry and Hermione separated, Harry sending Ron a look that said It's not like that, don't worry. 'Well, come on, let's go,' said Hermione briskly. 'We don't want to end up late for the meeting. Professor McGonagall told me it's even more important than usual this year.'
Harry and Ron grinned at each other. 'So it's finally coming out in the open,' whispered Ron loudly. 'I knew it couldn't stay a secret much longer. Love just can't hold back.'
Hermione spun around, glaring. 'And what does that mean?'
Ron patted her shoulder sympathetically. 'Don't worry, Hermione, I understand. McGonagall is pretty hot, for someone 20 years older.'
Hermione raised her left eyebrow. 'Oh? Well, you sure would know better than me. I saw you two the other day, in that dark, empty classroom...'
'What?' yelped Ron. 'I was asking something about prefection!'
Harry laughed. Ron and Hermione had seemed to figure out a way to argue without too much bite. He remembered walking in on one of their arguments last year-something he didn't want to do again anytime soon.
They walked up to a gargoyle. 'Earwax,' said Harry. The gargoyle slid aside to reveal a spiraling stairway. They hurried up to the headmaster's office.
'Ah, yes, there you are,' said Dumbledore with a smile. 'Do come in, make yourselves comfortable.' Harry, Ron, and Hermione settled in some rather plush chairs. 'Hallo, Fawkes,' smiled Harry. Fawkes was Dumbledore's phoenix. 'What's going on?' he asked Dumbledore. 'It's Voldemort, isn't it?'
Ron winced at the sound of the dreaded name.
Dumbledore looked very seriously at them. 'Yes. It is. I want you to promise that you will not say a word to anyone about our conversations. Not a word.'
'We promise,' said Hermione solemnly, while Ron and Harry nodded fervently.
'These are going to be hard times in front of us. Quite possibly, worse then 14 years ago. You will finally see the horror of living when your parents did. Maybe then you will take to heart all the precautions that are underhand this year.' continued Dumbledore. 'We, everyone, must unite to resist Voldemort. Especially since Fudge is pretending nothing is happening. He is a fool, not able to see all the plain evidence. We must all put aside our differences, and pull together. This begins with everyone needing to know the truth.
'One by one, I shall introduce the staff to Sirius. He plays a big part, and they need to know the truth about him. Also, you three may be asked to do many tasks on behalf of all of us who wish to live in peace. You shall be the chosen three among the school, since I can quite safely say that you have the most experience fighting dark wizardry. You three are appointed Guardians of this school, to help the teachers and me, and to be role models to the other students. This is a great honor, and along with it, a big responsibility. Can I count on you three?'
Harry whispered vehemently, 'You can, sir.'
Dumbledore smiled. 'I knew I could. Now, hurry off the meeting. You wouldn't be of much use if you didn't even know how to get into your common room! There will often be meetings among us. Here-'
He handed them each of them what seemed like a glowing light. Harry looked more closely, and saw that it was actually a beautiful mini jewel emblem. It seemed to glow with an inner light. It immediately placed itself on his shoulder. Ron's did the same, but Hermione's dropped down her robes. 'It's on my stomach,' said Hermione. 'How inconvenient.'
'This will glow brightly and burn slightly whenever a meeting is needed. It will also scream highly, but only so that you three can hear, if there is someone nearby on the Dark Side. You will find out more as we go along. Oh, yes, and here are new robes. They are to show that you three are the Guardians."
They were much nicer than the usual black. They were silver, except ribbon that tied the robes together. That was green, as was the hood, and across the chest the robes stated 'Guardian' in black lettering.
'Whenever you leave school grounds, the lettering will stop glowing, and your robes will look black.'
Ron, Hermione, and Harry stared, awed at all this new information suddenly thrown at them. And such importantness! They drew themselves up sharply, held tall (yes, even Harry) by pride and a sense of duty. 'Right, then,' said Harry. 'Good day, Professor Dumbledore, sir.'
'And thank you for trusting us,' added Hermione.
And they descended the steps to the prefect meeting.
'Wow,' breathed Ron. 'Can you believe this?'
Hermione shook her head in wonder. 'It's...'she gestured helplessly, at a loss for words. Harry shushed them as they entered the Great Hall, late.
Everyone stared.
Babble broke out immediately.
'Wow! Where'd they get those!'
'They're sensational-'
'Gorgeous-'
'Are they allowed?'
Professor McGonagall rapped the table sharply. 'Silence! All will be explained tonight at dinner. Right now, we need to discuss your privileges.'
Gratefully, the Guardians slipped into their seats.
'The prefect baths are located by the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password is dark chocolate. That's all for now. You are dismissed.'
Dearest Harry,
I looked into your eyes the other day, but did you notice me? No. You were looking at the silly Ginny. I do hope you two are not together. I would be devastated.
Fire-Life
Oh yes, and don't bother trying a handwriting spell, or a send-back owl to find out who I am. It won't work, I've made sure of that.
The second note was running over and over in Hermione's head. Harry had received it today, Monday, and he had shown her and Ron the two notes, in hopes they might recognize the handwriting or know whom it was. Obviously the person wasn't stupid, to be able to think of tracing spells and warding them away. They had tried the send back owl first, then the handwriting trace. The first time they had been led to a gnome, the second time it claimed the handwriting was Dumbledore's. They had canceled out that possibility immediately, though Ron had relentlessly poking fun at the idea. Now Hermione also had her suspicions about Harry and Ginny. She walked into Transfiguration class eagerly.
'Turn to page 356 in your textbooks,' said Professor McGonagall, her voice ringing with authority. 'You are now on the level where you may start transfiguring other live objects. Especially at this time, it may be needed.
'Transfiguring living things is extremely difficult, much more than transfiguring rocks. First of all, you need whatever you're transfiguring to co-operate with you, otherwise the transfiguring will not work. You must figure out a way to calm it down. Then, you must picture what you wish to change your object into with the utmost clarity. You must picture every detail. Only then should you shout 'Transfigurious Livimondo!' Also, for best results, your wand should be waved like this-'
Professor McGonagall raised her wand sharply in the air, then brought it down at perfect 45° angle, then looped it in a circle twice, before pointing it at a trembling Neville. He relaxed when the Professor did not shout any transfiguring spell. She smiled, and said,
'For your objects, Hagrid has very kindly agreed to let us use his nifflers. Come on, follow me, now.'
Ron looked delighted to be with the nifflers again. Nifflers were cute, furry, cuddly little animals that sought out gold as easily as bloodhounds sought their prey.
'Mornin'!' called out Hagrid, a huge, friendly man. He taught Care of Magical Creatures, as he had a great fondness for the nastiest, meanest animals. Hagrid grinned when he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione's silver robes. 'I got the nifflers right over 'ere.' The class ran over eagerly, as they had all liked the nifflers and were eager to start transfiguring.
Professor McGonagall spoke out over the babble. 'Now, remember, it's Transfigurious Livimondo! And remember how the wand must be waved, and to picture the transfiguring extremely clearly. I don't expect any of you to get it today, so don't worry too much. However, I will expect every single one of you to be able to do this by Thursday. I want all of you to try to transfigure these nifflers into anything but humans! Go!'
'Well, what are you going to try, Harry?' asked Hermione.
'I'm going to try my hand at turning it into a house-elf.' replied Harry. 'I can picture one all too well!'
'Good idea,' said Ron. 'I was going to try a baby dragon-ugh-I can remember Norbert-that day he bit me-'
Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully. 'I don't think you should do a dragon. That's too hard. Why don't we all do a house-elf?' She grinned. 'We'll have a head start, the nifflers and elves both have such long noses!'
Harry concentrated on his niffler. 'Calm down, now, yes, you want to go to sleeeeeep, nice easy sleeeeeep,' he crooned, stroking the soft fur. "You just want some looooonngg rest, don't you?"
'Let your heart be light
Push your troubles away
Lie down and drift in honeyed dreams,
Dearest'
Ron looked at Hermione, astonished. 'I didn't know you sang so well.'
She grinned. 'Thanks. I think we should nudge Harry.'
Harry opened his eyes. 'I wasn't sleeping. I was just resting.'
While Hermione had sang, the nifflers twitched less, and finally settled comfortably at the trio's feet, emitting little snuffling noises. Due to Hermione's excellent singing, nifflers within 15 feet of her had all drifted off. Hermione smiled. 'Oh, they are darling, aren't they?'
Next, Harry pictured a house-elf very clearly in his mind. He pictured the tennis ball eyes, the pencil shaped nose, the elephant sized ears, the long fingers and feet. He concentrated very hard, brought his wand up, then flicked it down at a 45° angle, looped twice, and pointed it at his niffler, hissing, "Transfigurious Livimondo!" The niffler twitched, and with a burst of gray smoke, developed huge ears. Harry sighed. 'Damn, I was close.'
Similar things had happened to Ron and Hermione's nifflers. Ron's niffler had sprouted long feet, and Hermione's had tennis ball eyes and a pencil shaped nose. She concentrated again, summoning all her energy, waved her wand, and shouted, 'Transfigurious Livimondo!'
This time, her niffler burst with a haze of pink smoke, and when the smoke cleared, it was a house-elf!
'Oh, look here, everyone! Miss Granger's done it!' McGonagall pointed out to everyone. 'And Harry and Ron are quite close.'
Suddenly Neville fainted. Everyone turned around, and to their amazement, next to him stood a beautiful hippogriff! Professor McGonagall choked out, 'and Neville seems to have succeeded with a beautiful hippogriff! Excellent work today. Class time is over, I'll take Mr. Longbottom to Madame Pomfrey.'
Hagrid rushed over to Harry and his friends, beaming. 'So, the three Guardians, eh? Ye look great- 'Arry, yer dad and mum would've been dead proud! Guardians of the school!'
Harry grinned. 'Thanks, Hagrid.'
'I should go owl my parents right away about this! Mum'll love it.' added Ron. 'And I can't wait to see George and Fred's faces, they've always complained about the robes-'
'Come on,' said Hermione impatiently. 'We've go to get to class now! Good bye, Hagrid!'
'Yea, see you later!' chorused Harry and Ron.
They walked off, with Hagrid smiling at their backs.
Then his smile slowly faded. It was coming...Dumbledore had now appointed Guardians. Voldemort was back; there was no denying it. He hoped the kids knew the responsibility lying on their shoulders.
THANKS TO: HersheyKisses (why'd you have to find me?!), BATTGURL, Byte (thanks for an honest opinion! Originally it wasn't Harry, it was no one, and I wanted it to be a guy but I didn't want Draco in the picture yet. So Harry became momentarily weak.), Melissa, Vampiress01 (Sorry that not everyone killed themselves! I'm going to make a lot of people die later)
The Guardians
Chapter Two
My Dearest Harry,
I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
SOLO TU BABY!
Love Always,
Fire-Life
Harry reread the note over and over, trying to recognize the handwriting. What was solo tu anyway? It was written in loopy, strange handwriting, with red ink. It scared him. Someone out there loved him? Loved? He was only fifteen. Love was unheard of. Love should've been especially unheard of at this time, when Voldemort was back, powerful, rising, stronger than before. And he, Harry Potter, had helped bring Voldemort back! His own blood had revived him! The very thought made him feel sick. Of course he had not given the blood willingly, but it was a key factor to the rising of the Dark Lord, it was the last and most important step, and-
Suddenly, he noticed the door was rattling furiously. 'Harry! Are you in there? Harry! Professor Dumbledore wants you!'
'Come in,' called Harry, hastily shoving the love note into his school chest.
'I can't! The damn door's locked! I would've entered before this if it wasn't, you doofus!'
The door opened and Hermione Granger, one of his best friends at Hogwarts, the wizarding school he attended, stormed in.
'What are you doing?' she hissed. 'I was knocking for ages, you missed breakfast, the prefect meeting is about to start, you're going to make me late, and I was really looking forward to seeing Professor McGonagall again, I wanted to talk to her about some things, and now that you're a prefect, you're supposed to set a good example, even though no one else is here yet, and how would it look if I was late with you?'
Harry grinned. He was too used to Hermione ranting to be offended too much.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming, let me get dressed." Harry climbed out of bed, forgetting that he was only in his Quidditch boxers. He and Hermione both turned red, though she also looked as though she was hiding a smile. He hurriedly pulled on his new black Hogwarts robes. They had green lining, since Hogwarts had let up on the strict uniform. He suspected it was so they would look less conspicuous if they went anywhere, like Hogsmeade.
Suddenly worry clouded Hermione's pretty face. "You shouldn't be alone at all! Especially with You-Know-Who on the loose! That Ron..." Ron was Harry's other best friend. He shared the prefect role with Harry, which was a rare occurrence, although not surprising, since Ron and Harry always had the same classes and always did their homework together.
Harry smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm fine! See? All in one piece, unfortunately. Now please, let's just get to Professor Dumbledore. I wonder what he wants to see us for." Professor Dumbledore was the headmaster. He was extremely powerful, as Harry had had the privilege of witnessing last year, and was the only one Voldemort had ever been afraid of. Dumbledore always seemed to know what went on around the school grounds, and was one of the few people who believed Harry, Ron, and Hermione about their adventures with Voldemort and Sirius Black, a supposed murderer.
Harry and Hermione headed out of the Gryffindor house and walked towards Dumbledore's tower. Harry slid a sideways look at Hermione. She had become increasingly pretty through the years, and everyone was noticing. She, of course, was still top of every class. She turned around and faced him. "Oh, Harry," she said. "I can't believe You-Know-Who is back...I'm actually scared...books won't help me much now. I mean, when he comes round, I can't exactly throw a book at him and expect that to kill him."
Harry patted her awkwardly on the back. "It's all right, Hermione...we've beaten Voldemort many times...and Dumbledore's here...it'll be ok."
Hermione attempted a small smile. 'No, you have beaten Voldemort many times.' The admiration showed in her tone.
He turned her to him and planted his hands firmly on her shoulders. 'Hermione,' he said, 'I promise you're going to live through this. After all, you're the best student in all our classes, and you know all the spells. You're even better than some of the 6th years!'
She smiled a little and hugged him. 'Thanks, Harry.'
Just then, Ron came walking round the corner. 'There you two are,' he grinned, raising an eyebrow at Harry. 'Looking awfully comfortable, too.'
Embarrassed, Harry and Hermione separated, Harry sending Ron a look that said It's not like that, don't worry. 'Well, come on, let's go,' said Hermione briskly. 'We don't want to end up late for the meeting. Professor McGonagall told me it's even more important than usual this year.'
Harry and Ron grinned at each other. 'So it's finally coming out in the open,' whispered Ron loudly. 'I knew it couldn't stay a secret much longer. Love just can't hold back.'
Hermione spun around, glaring. 'And what does that mean?'
Ron patted her shoulder sympathetically. 'Don't worry, Hermione, I understand. McGonagall is pretty hot, for someone 20 years older.'
Hermione raised her left eyebrow. 'Oh? Well, you sure would know better than me. I saw you two the other day, in that dark, empty classroom...'
'What?' yelped Ron. 'I was asking something about prefection!'
Harry laughed. Ron and Hermione had seemed to figure out a way to argue without too much bite. He remembered walking in on one of their arguments last year-something he didn't want to do again anytime soon.
They walked up to a gargoyle. 'Earwax,' said Harry. The gargoyle slid aside to reveal a spiraling stairway. They hurried up to the headmaster's office.
'Ah, yes, there you are,' said Dumbledore with a smile. 'Do come in, make yourselves comfortable.' Harry, Ron, and Hermione settled in some rather plush chairs. 'Hallo, Fawkes,' smiled Harry. Fawkes was Dumbledore's phoenix. 'What's going on?' he asked Dumbledore. 'It's Voldemort, isn't it?'
Ron winced at the sound of the dreaded name.
Dumbledore looked very seriously at them. 'Yes. It is. I want you to promise that you will not say a word to anyone about our conversations. Not a word.'
'We promise,' said Hermione solemnly, while Ron and Harry nodded fervently.
'These are going to be hard times in front of us. Quite possibly, worse then 14 years ago. You will finally see the horror of living when your parents did. Maybe then you will take to heart all the precautions that are underhand this year.' continued Dumbledore. 'We, everyone, must unite to resist Voldemort. Especially since Fudge is pretending nothing is happening. He is a fool, not able to see all the plain evidence. We must all put aside our differences, and pull together. This begins with everyone needing to know the truth.
'One by one, I shall introduce the staff to Sirius. He plays a big part, and they need to know the truth about him. Also, you three may be asked to do many tasks on behalf of all of us who wish to live in peace. You shall be the chosen three among the school, since I can quite safely say that you have the most experience fighting dark wizardry. You three are appointed Guardians of this school, to help the teachers and me, and to be role models to the other students. This is a great honor, and along with it, a big responsibility. Can I count on you three?'
Harry whispered vehemently, 'You can, sir.'
Dumbledore smiled. 'I knew I could. Now, hurry off the meeting. You wouldn't be of much use if you didn't even know how to get into your common room! There will often be meetings among us. Here-'
He handed them each of them what seemed like a glowing light. Harry looked more closely, and saw that it was actually a beautiful mini jewel emblem. It seemed to glow with an inner light. It immediately placed itself on his shoulder. Ron's did the same, but Hermione's dropped down her robes. 'It's on my stomach,' said Hermione. 'How inconvenient.'
'This will glow brightly and burn slightly whenever a meeting is needed. It will also scream highly, but only so that you three can hear, if there is someone nearby on the Dark Side. You will find out more as we go along. Oh, yes, and here are new robes. They are to show that you three are the Guardians."
They were much nicer than the usual black. They were silver, except ribbon that tied the robes together. That was green, as was the hood, and across the chest the robes stated 'Guardian' in black lettering.
'Whenever you leave school grounds, the lettering will stop glowing, and your robes will look black.'
Ron, Hermione, and Harry stared, awed at all this new information suddenly thrown at them. And such importantness! They drew themselves up sharply, held tall (yes, even Harry) by pride and a sense of duty. 'Right, then,' said Harry. 'Good day, Professor Dumbledore, sir.'
'And thank you for trusting us,' added Hermione.
And they descended the steps to the prefect meeting.
'Wow,' breathed Ron. 'Can you believe this?'
Hermione shook her head in wonder. 'It's...'she gestured helplessly, at a loss for words. Harry shushed them as they entered the Great Hall, late.
Everyone stared.
Babble broke out immediately.
'Wow! Where'd they get those!'
'They're sensational-'
'Gorgeous-'
'Are they allowed?'
Professor McGonagall rapped the table sharply. 'Silence! All will be explained tonight at dinner. Right now, we need to discuss your privileges.'
Gratefully, the Guardians slipped into their seats.
'The prefect baths are located by the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password is dark chocolate. That's all for now. You are dismissed.'
Dearest Harry,
I looked into your eyes the other day, but did you notice me? No. You were looking at the silly Ginny. I do hope you two are not together. I would be devastated.
Fire-Life
Oh yes, and don't bother trying a handwriting spell, or a send-back owl to find out who I am. It won't work, I've made sure of that.
The second note was running over and over in Hermione's head. Harry had received it today, Monday, and he had shown her and Ron the two notes, in hopes they might recognize the handwriting or know whom it was. Obviously the person wasn't stupid, to be able to think of tracing spells and warding them away. They had tried the send back owl first, then the handwriting trace. The first time they had been led to a gnome, the second time it claimed the handwriting was Dumbledore's. They had canceled out that possibility immediately, though Ron had relentlessly poking fun at the idea. Now Hermione also had her suspicions about Harry and Ginny. She walked into Transfiguration class eagerly.
'Turn to page 356 in your textbooks,' said Professor McGonagall, her voice ringing with authority. 'You are now on the level where you may start transfiguring other live objects. Especially at this time, it may be needed.
'Transfiguring living things is extremely difficult, much more than transfiguring rocks. First of all, you need whatever you're transfiguring to co-operate with you, otherwise the transfiguring will not work. You must figure out a way to calm it down. Then, you must picture what you wish to change your object into with the utmost clarity. You must picture every detail. Only then should you shout 'Transfigurious Livimondo!' Also, for best results, your wand should be waved like this-'
Professor McGonagall raised her wand sharply in the air, then brought it down at perfect 45° angle, then looped it in a circle twice, before pointing it at a trembling Neville. He relaxed when the Professor did not shout any transfiguring spell. She smiled, and said,
'For your objects, Hagrid has very kindly agreed to let us use his nifflers. Come on, follow me, now.'
Ron looked delighted to be with the nifflers again. Nifflers were cute, furry, cuddly little animals that sought out gold as easily as bloodhounds sought their prey.
'Mornin'!' called out Hagrid, a huge, friendly man. He taught Care of Magical Creatures, as he had a great fondness for the nastiest, meanest animals. Hagrid grinned when he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione's silver robes. 'I got the nifflers right over 'ere.' The class ran over eagerly, as they had all liked the nifflers and were eager to start transfiguring.
Professor McGonagall spoke out over the babble. 'Now, remember, it's Transfigurious Livimondo! And remember how the wand must be waved, and to picture the transfiguring extremely clearly. I don't expect any of you to get it today, so don't worry too much. However, I will expect every single one of you to be able to do this by Thursday. I want all of you to try to transfigure these nifflers into anything but humans! Go!'
'Well, what are you going to try, Harry?' asked Hermione.
'I'm going to try my hand at turning it into a house-elf.' replied Harry. 'I can picture one all too well!'
'Good idea,' said Ron. 'I was going to try a baby dragon-ugh-I can remember Norbert-that day he bit me-'
Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully. 'I don't think you should do a dragon. That's too hard. Why don't we all do a house-elf?' She grinned. 'We'll have a head start, the nifflers and elves both have such long noses!'
Harry concentrated on his niffler. 'Calm down, now, yes, you want to go to sleeeeeep, nice easy sleeeeeep,' he crooned, stroking the soft fur. "You just want some looooonngg rest, don't you?"
'Let your heart be light
Push your troubles away
Lie down and drift in honeyed dreams,
Dearest'
Ron looked at Hermione, astonished. 'I didn't know you sang so well.'
She grinned. 'Thanks. I think we should nudge Harry.'
Harry opened his eyes. 'I wasn't sleeping. I was just resting.'
While Hermione had sang, the nifflers twitched less, and finally settled comfortably at the trio's feet, emitting little snuffling noises. Due to Hermione's excellent singing, nifflers within 15 feet of her had all drifted off. Hermione smiled. 'Oh, they are darling, aren't they?'
Next, Harry pictured a house-elf very clearly in his mind. He pictured the tennis ball eyes, the pencil shaped nose, the elephant sized ears, the long fingers and feet. He concentrated very hard, brought his wand up, then flicked it down at a 45° angle, looped twice, and pointed it at his niffler, hissing, "Transfigurious Livimondo!" The niffler twitched, and with a burst of gray smoke, developed huge ears. Harry sighed. 'Damn, I was close.'
Similar things had happened to Ron and Hermione's nifflers. Ron's niffler had sprouted long feet, and Hermione's had tennis ball eyes and a pencil shaped nose. She concentrated again, summoning all her energy, waved her wand, and shouted, 'Transfigurious Livimondo!'
This time, her niffler burst with a haze of pink smoke, and when the smoke cleared, it was a house-elf!
'Oh, look here, everyone! Miss Granger's done it!' McGonagall pointed out to everyone. 'And Harry and Ron are quite close.'
Suddenly Neville fainted. Everyone turned around, and to their amazement, next to him stood a beautiful hippogriff! Professor McGonagall choked out, 'and Neville seems to have succeeded with a beautiful hippogriff! Excellent work today. Class time is over, I'll take Mr. Longbottom to Madame Pomfrey.'
Hagrid rushed over to Harry and his friends, beaming. 'So, the three Guardians, eh? Ye look great- 'Arry, yer dad and mum would've been dead proud! Guardians of the school!'
Harry grinned. 'Thanks, Hagrid.'
'I should go owl my parents right away about this! Mum'll love it.' added Ron. 'And I can't wait to see George and Fred's faces, they've always complained about the robes-'
'Come on,' said Hermione impatiently. 'We've go to get to class now! Good bye, Hagrid!'
'Yea, see you later!' chorused Harry and Ron.
They walked off, with Hagrid smiling at their backs.
Then his smile slowly faded. It was coming...Dumbledore had now appointed Guardians. Voldemort was back; there was no denying it. He hoped the kids knew the responsibility lying on their shoulders.
THANKS TO: HersheyKisses (why'd you have to find me?!), BATTGURL, Byte (thanks for an honest opinion! Originally it wasn't Harry, it was no one, and I wanted it to be a guy but I didn't want Draco in the picture yet. So Harry became momentarily weak.), Melissa, Vampiress01 (Sorry that not everyone killed themselves! I'm going to make a lot of people die later)