Chapter 4: The New Girl

Disclaimer: I forgot to put this on the first chapter. I do NOT own the rights to Hogwarts, Harry Potter, etc. (Ha, in my dreams.) Ms. Joanne Rowling created

them, so don't even think I made them up. The only thing I came up with is Azar Zundel and the plot of the story. This disclaimer stands for the rest of the

chapters, etc. Okay, onto the next chapter!

Chapter 4: The New Girl

"Harry…"

Harry spun around, squinting at the misty woods for any sign of the origin of the voice. "I'm right here," he called back.

A girl began to materialize from the fog. Harry squinted, trying to make out her face. He jumped when he recognized who it was.

"And where is here?" Azar asked, smiling.

Before Harry could answer, she ran off into the woods.

"Wait!" Harry cried, going after her.

He followed the sound of her laughter, but it soon seemed to come from everywhere, and then disappeared. He stood a moment, confused. Suddenly, the fog began to collect itself around him. Harry didn't move, watching it warily. Gradually, three figures were made from the fog; a wolf, a dog, and a stag.

"Moony…Padfoot…Prongs…" Harry murmured.

He reached out to Moony. The wolf howled, then dissolved into the ground. Harry jumped, then quickly turned to Padfoot. A sudden breeze came up, blowing the mist dog away. Harry spun around to Prongs.

"No, Dad!" he cried, racing toward the stag.

Just as he reached it, the stag burst into many shards and disappeared. In its place was a scrawny rat. Harry recognized it instantly.

He dove at it, saying, "Wormtail, you scum!"

Wormtail scampered out of his reach, but stayed within sight. Harry dove at him again, hitting the ground hard, but the rat was too fast. Getting up, Harry ran at him. Wormtail ran too, keeping just a few feet in front of him. Pushing through some hanging branches, Harry spotted the rodent at the base of a large mirror.

Harry screeched to a halt, staring into it. Instead of his reflection, he saw a whole group of people. Surprised, Harry realized he knew them.

They were all his friends; Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George, and Cho and so many more that not an inch of the mirror's surface didn't contain a smiling face.

Suddenly, they all began merging together until they became one face, one body, one person. Harry gaped, staring at the horrific reflection of Voldemort.

Voldemort smiled in a way that could make anyone whimper. He raised one hand, his wand hand. Harry wanted to run, but felt rooted to the spot.

"Avada Kedavra," the image mouthed.

A green light came from the mirror, and Harry woke.

He quickly got his composure and slipped silently from bed. He went straight to the mirror, splashing water on his face. Putting on his glasses and night robe, Harry noiselessly went out the door and into the common room.

Sitting on an armchair near the fire, Harry pensively watched the flames.

"Hey, Harry."

He spun around, spotting Angelina Johnson sitting on a chair near his. She had a small, sad smile unlike any Harry had ever seen her wear.

"Hello, Angelina. Is there something…wrong?"

She heaved a heavy sigh. "Well, not in the context you would think. So many people have lost family to Voldemort. They have a right to be sad, yet I'm the one sitting up late."

"Why are you sitting up late?"

"There's so much to think about, Harry," she said, giving him a worried glance, "This is my last year at Hogwarts. I never thought it would come. I don't know what I'll do without it. Where will I be in a year? I don't even know where I want to be."

"Playing quidditch for England?" Harry asked, smiling.

"No, surprisingly not. So many kids dream of being quidditch stars or minister of magic or even a Hogwarts teacher. I don't know what I want to be."

"I'm sure you could be anything, Angelina. You just need to find out what you like to do."

She smiled up at him. "Yeah. I guess I'm just blowing it way out of proportion. It's just, sometimes I feel so lost. Well, 'enough about me. Why are you up at dawn?"

"Had a strange dream," he answered, pulling his hand through his hair, "Didn't really feel like going back to sleep."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No…not really."

"Okay."

The two sat together, engulfed in their own thoughts, until their groggy peers started coming down the stairs. Then, with a small "see you later", they each went back to their own dormitories.

****

The entrance to the Great Hall was particularly crowded that morning, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione chatted as the waited for the line to move in.

"Hey! You're Hermione Granger!"

Hermione turned around to find herself facing Azar.

"Y-yes. I am," she answered, looking thoroughly confused.

"I'm Azar Zundel. I got the lowdown from some girls last night and they said you're the smartest person in our class, if not the school."

Hermione blushed, smiling. "Well, I-"

"I was hoping for some competition," Azar interrupted, "I was always by far the smartest in my other schools."

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence, which Hermione broke by saying, "Tell us about finding you had magical powers. That's supposed to be extremely rare."

"Oh, it is. Never two in a century, they say. It was a huge surprise because all the rest of my family is normal. Oh wait, I'm supposed to call them 'muggle', aren't I? You're from a muggle family too, aren't you, Herm?"

"Uh, yes."

"Hey," Azar went on, turning to the boys, "Want to introduce us?"

"My name's Ron Weasley."

"I'm Harry Potter."

Harry waited for her to glance at his forehead, but she didn't. Instead, she simply grasped each of their hands firmly.

"Well, I look forward to our classes together. Especially you, Herm. Should be interesting."

She then walked off back to a Ravenclaw group, leaving the trio staring.

"Different kind of girl, eh?" Ron commented.

"I'll say," Harry replied, "Her mouth goes a mile a minute."

They walked into the Great Hall and sat down to breakfast. "Hey, what did you think of her, Hermione?" Ron asked.

Hermione was busy with her own thoughts. "Competition indeed. I'll slaughter her."

Ron and Harry glanced at her, then at each other. Azar was right. Classes with her probably would be very interesting.

~*~*~

A/N: This chapter really bugged me because I could have put this exciting scene

at the end of it, but it didn't fit so I kind of did a cop-out. *sigh*

I promise you, people. This does get exciting. I just have to figure out

how to get to that point. ^-^

Oh, and thank you all for reviewing:

Tinabedina- Thanks

Jeanne- Thanks. Can't wait for you to get your fanfic up and going.

Kelzery- Oh, very good deduction. Of course, death isn't the only way

to break a family.

Lady Grizabella- Book 5 like this? Wow! Thank you very much!

xXHermioneXx- See? I wrote more! ^-^ Thanks.

KT- Thanks.

Jona- Of course, it's not as good as yours. Good luck on your exam.

me- O_o

Val- Thanks!

Daphne Black- Oh…you'll find out. Mwa-ha-ha!!!

Thank you all!

-Ady