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
