Back to Hogwarts
Harry had seen Voldemort again face to face just last year. He wasn't exactly in a rush to see him again. Voldemort smiled at him. It was a very evil smile but full of delight. Was Voldemort going to kill him in his own dream?
"Harry Potter," he said. "Long time no see. We need to talk about something, Harry." Harry thought he was either crazy or had a very thought out plan in mind. But this was a dream! He wasn't really talking to Lord Voldemort himself. "Harry, let's just cut right to the chase. I'm going to give you a choice and you have to make a decision. Would you rather me kill you or come over onto the Dark Side and be on the same side as me?"
Harry was about to shout, "Die any day" but then he thought that might not be a good idea. He didn't say anything. He knew what Voldemort wanted him to say, but he wasn't going to say it.
"Well?" he said smiling again. "Okay. Maybe your not taking this seriously because it's a dream. This may be a dream for you but this is very real to me. I got inside you dream. This is real, and you must make a decision. I can find and kill you wherever you are right now if you want."
"I'm going back to Hogwarts, and you can't do anything right under Dumbledore's nose," Harry said quietly.
"So, that's you decision is it? Very well!" he said furiously.
Harry awoke with a start. Cold sweat was dripping down his face, and his heart was pounding. Did he believe what he just saw? He got up and felt that his legs were very weak and wobbly. He went over to Ron's bed. But should he tell Ron now? He decided not and went back to bed. There would be plenty of time to talk tomorrow. He went back over to his mattress and laid down. He took him a while to go to sleep but finally he did. He was starting to have a dream about his parents. Good. He could talk to them about what happened. But when he saw them they looked worried as though they already knew.
"Harry!" said his father. "Did you have a dream about...."
"Voldemort?" Harry finished for him. "Yeah. But a really strange one. He said that he got inside my dream somehow."
"What did you say to him?" asked his mother.
"Well I just said that I'd be going back to Hogwarts soon..."
"But did you tell him you would go on his side?" interrupted James.
"Of course not!" Harry said. "Why would I do that? I would never join him. He's tried to kill me four times AND he's the reason I have to live with the Dursleys!"
"Good boy, Harry," said his father while his mother sighed. Then he smiled at him.
"That's the reason you had all of those horrible dreams before. Is to show that you don't need him. You've escaped alive all four times. But this year I want you to be extra careful at Hogwarts."
"Okay," said Harry. What his father just said reminded him exactly of someone he knew. "You sound like Sirius," he told his father. "Last year he always told be to be careful and to not go looking for trouble. I never try to get in trouble it always just happens."
"How is old Padfoot?" his father asked abruptly. There was a deep look of sadness in his eyes. Sirius and James had been best friends ever since their first ride on the Hogwart's Express. Remus Lupin Harry's old teacher also had been their friend. But unfortunately the made friends with Peter Pettigrew who ended up betraying Lily and James. He had also blamed Sirius and faked his own death afterward.
"He's okay. I haven't gotten a letter from him in a while, but when I saw him last year in Hogsmeade he was doing fairly well. Surviving at least," he continued.
"Well," said James beaming at Harry, "something very good is going to happen to Sirius this year."
"James!" Lily cut in, "we're not supposed to tell him anything. Just to warn him and give advice." She sounded very much like Hermione. But then she said, "It is very wonderful, though," with a beautiful smile. "We must be going now, Harry. Good bye!" and they disappeared. Harry slept dreamlessly for the rest of the night.
When he awoke the next morning he wasted no time in waking up Ron and getting Hermione to tell them about his dreams. They were horrified about the one about Voldemort, but Harry told them about the one with his parents Ron was quite as excited as Harry to hear about something good happening to Sirius. Maybe his name's get cleared and I can go live with him! Harry thought hopefully. Hermione however was too worried about Voldemort.
"He tried to kill you last year and almost did. He's definitely going to try again. But he said something about he got inside your dream? That it wasn't real for you but it was for him?" she asked Harry.
"Yeah," he answered who had been talking hurriedly with Ron about Sirius, "he said that maybe I wasn't taking it seriously because it was a dream, and said that it was real for him but not for me. That he got inside my dream somehow."
"Hm," she replied. "We'll have to tell Sirius. You know that right?"
"Of course!" said Ron. "He'll be happy to know something good's going to happen to him soon!"
"No! We need to tell him about Harry's You-Know-Who dream. He'll be much more interested in that. Remember how worried he was last year?"
"Okay, but let's go get some breakfast first. I'm starved!" said Harry. They went downstairs for breakfast and a little leftover birthday cake. Then back upstairs (forced by Hermione) to write to Sirius.
Harry wrote him a short letter and read it out loud to Ron and Hermione.
Dear Sirius,
I hope your doing okay. Last night I had a dream about Voldemort. He was talking to me and said that he would either let me join his side or he would kill me. Please don't get to worried but, he said that maybe I wasn't taking it seriously because it was a dream. Then he said that it was real for him, that he got inside my dream somehow. I don't know what this means, and I remembered last year you would want me to tell you about this.
Then I had a second dream about my parents. It was the third one I've had this summer. They said not to join Voldemort (which of course I said I wouldn't), and my dad said something good was going to happen to you. He didn't say what though. Stay in touch.
They all agreed that the letter was fine and that Sirius would be glad to receive it. After that it just seemed like the last month and a half flew by. Hedwig flew in one night with Sirius's answer, and they all scrambled forward to read what he wrote.
Dear Harry,
I'm very glad you informed me of this but the news is very shocking as it was last year. You must do the same thing as before. Make sure to not get yourself into trouble, and stay with Ron and Hermione when possible.
Inform me if anything else strange happens. I also thank you for telling me what James said. You've gotten me very curious considering that I wrote a letter to the Ministry not long ago.
Take care of yourself,
Before long Harry and Ron were in his room four days before the term started getting ready to go to Diagon Alley. They went downstairs with Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George to the kitchen. Harry figured they'd be using floo powder to get there again this year. He was right.
He stepped into the fire and yelled, "Diagon Alley," and was whooshing off. He found himself standing on the side of the street next to Fred who had gone before him. They waited until everyone was there and split up. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to Flourish and Blotts first. They went inside, found all their books, and went to pay for them when they saw a women purchasing many books about the subject Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry wondered if she could be their new teacher. But he didn't wonder long because Hermione drug him forward to pay for his books. They met everyone else after getting everything else they needed.
Fred and George had obeyed Harry's wish last year and bought Ron some new dress robes with the money he had given them. They were exactly like Harry's but they were a deep navy blue that would look good with his red hair. They returned to the Leaky Caldron to use their fire.
As they stepped inside Harry heard two old wizards arguing.
"I'm telling he's back and he's already killed some people!" one said with a very panicked look on his face. Harry thought he knew who they were talking about when the other one said-
"How can it be most people thought he was dead."
"I heard about the other day. Harry Potter touched a Portkey at the Triwizard Tournament and almost got himself killed again. You-Know-Who killed another kid there, too." Now Harry knew exactly what and who they were talking about. Voldemort. They were referring to last year when Harry and Cedric Diggory touched the Triwizard Cup which had been turned into a Portkey. A Portkey was an object that would transfer you to one place or another when you touched it. They had been taking to a graveyard and Cedric was killed immediately. Harry recalled everything silently and sadly.
He tried to brush down his hair over his scar and looked away from the men hoping none of the Weasleys or Hermione had heard them. They went to the fire and threw in some floo powder. Harry volunteered to go first trying to get away before he was discovered. He stepped into the warm green flames and said, "The Burrow!" He was very relieved that the wizards had not seen him. He was only too used to people gazing at him their mouths hanging open while their eyes wandered up and rested on his scar.
He only just noticed that he was standing in the kitchen when Ron came out of the fire next to him. "Did you hear what those guys said?" he asked him.
"Yeah, thanks for not saying anything."
"Why would I? I know you hate being all famous and everything. That does annoy you doesn't it?" he asked making sure that he had his facts straight.
"Of course. People always say 'Not the Harry Potter! The one who defeated You-Know-Who?' and then they look up at my scar. It all gets very boring after a while."
Ron said nothing. He just nodded and went upstairs. They both packed their new books, and other things into their trunks silently.
The next four days flew by as quickly as the others had. Everyone was dragging their trunks downstairs and making sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Mrs. Weasley had told them that the Ministry would be sending cars this year which was good. Last year they had to go in Muggle cabs and when a firework went off Crookshanks went nuts. He scratched everybody. The cars pulled up and they loaded them up.
The trip to King's Cross wasn't bad but wasn't very eventful. Everyone was pretty depressed because summer was over, but Harry wasn't very sad. He loved Hogwarts. Of course there were small details he didn't like (Snape working there was one) but it was always very pleasant. He wanted to see his four poster bed again. He was also looking forward to seeing Dumbledore again. He had helped Harry out a lot over the last year, and he was very thankful.
They arrived and all strode up toward the barrier. Harry was very used to this by now and had no trouble doing it. He and Ron went together followed by Hermione and Ginny followed by Fred and George. They all got on the train, found an empty compartment, and went back outside to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley.
It wasn't long before the whistle blew and Mrs. Weasley was hugging them all. They got back aboard and waved good-bye again out the window as Mrs. Weasley became a little dot.
"What do you guys want to do?" George asked them. "Exploding Snap or Chess?" Ron agreed to play chess (Ron was better than all of them and always beat them fairly easily). Harry watched and thought about his dream until the lunch trolley came. He bought Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, chocolate frogs, and some cauldron cakes. They all ate happily as the sun slowly set along the horizon. Harry watched out the window and was still thinking when the compartment door opened.
He groaned. He knew it would be Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle who blessed them with their presence on every Hogwarts ride Harry could remember. But when he turned around he saw Lavender Brown and her best friend Parvati Patail. They were accompanied by someone Harry didn't know. She was pretty with silvery blonde hair that looked like moonbeams, very fair pale skin, and striking blue eyes. She was already in her new Hogwarts robes. She looked very familiar....
Lavender and Parvati glared at Hermione for a moment. They were both very impressed by the Divination teacher Professor Trelawney whom Hermione thought to be an old fraud. She had walked out of class in their third year and never went back.
"This is Lune Delacour. She's new at Hogwarts. Lune this is Harry Potter, Hermione Granger (Lavender said this through slightly gritted teeth), and Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley."
"'Ello everyone," she said rather shyly.
"Lune has just moved here from France. I think we all hope that you are in Gryffindor, Lune," Lavender continued and Parvati nodded. They said good-bye and left.
"Do we know her?" said Ron staring after them at the door. "She looks so familiar......"
"Oh, Ron!" said Hermione. "Isn't it obvious! I especially thought you would know. She's related to Fleur. From Beaxbatons," she replied impatiently. "But she can't be her sister because Harry pulled her sister out of the lake last year," she murmured mostly to herself.
"Maybe she's a cousin," suggested Harry.
"Could be," said Harry and turned to watch George and Ron finish their last game of Chess. They all talked about the upcoming year at Hogwarts and who would be on the new Qudditch team until they arrived in Hogsmeade station.
They left their trunks and everything on the train and went up to the entrance. Harry, Ron, and Hermione waved hello to Hagrid who was herding 1st years onto the boats. He waved back but didn't say anything because a 1st year had just fallen into the lake and he had to direct his attention to the little boy.
Harry followed everyone else inside and sat down at Gryffindor's House table. He was very looking forward to the sorting of the 1st years and the feast. He had only been to two sortings. One at his own in his 1st year and the one last year. In his 2nd year Dobby the house elf had blocked the barrier to the Hogwarts Express, so they flew his dad's car and got caught. In his 3rd year he and Hermione had been brought into Professor McGonagall's office. She was trying to make Harry go to the hospital wing because he had fainted when a dementor came. She also wanted to give Hermione the Time-Turner that would let her get to all her classes.
Just the Professor McGonagall came trooping in with the new terrified looking first years. One of them was sopping wet. He guess that that was the boy who fell in the lake. He looked over at Dennis and Colin Creevy who were eagerly awaiting for everyone to be sorted. They brought out the hat, it sang its song, and they started calling names.
"Avery, Jennifer!" she yelled and a girl walked forward.
She hadn't barely put the hat on at all when it shouted "RAVENCLAW!" and she went and sat down. The line moved fairly quickly.
"Brown, Emerald!" was called and made Gryffindor. The girl came and sat down next to Lavender and Parvati and Harry guessed she was Lavender's sister.
"Gremald, Taylor!" was made Slytherin.
"Kalamalski, Meghan!" was Hufflepuff.
"Smith, Timothy!" was made Gryffindor. And soon the sorting was all done but they didn't remove the stool with the hat on it as usual.
Professor McGonagall walked up and said, "We have a new student here today that has just moved with her Aunt and Uncle. Please welcome Lune Delacour, everyone," she continued and Lune stepped up to the hat while everyone applauded politely.
She put on the hat and everyone waited....and waited.....and waited. I wonder what's taking so long Harry thought.
Up on the stool the hat was whispering in Lune's ear and trying to make up its mind.
"You would definitely do good in Ravenclaw," it said. "But you have as much bravery as a true Gryffindor. This is the hardest one I've had in years! Okay then. GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted loudly to everyone and Harry applauded loudly with the other Gryffindors.
As she sat down she said she would tell Hermione, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, and Harry after Dumbledore's speech.
"The beginning of another year. We all hope to do our best and pray that things won't get dark. Now I won't waste any more of your time. Please, dig in!" and with that the plates filled with food. Lune wasted no time in explaining.
"It kept whispering in my eer!" she said very surprised. "It said I would to good in Ravenclaw but I 'ad bravery of a Gryffindor."
"Well, I think we're all glad your in Gryffindor, Lune," said Lavender. And everyone nodded because their mouths were too full to talk. The feast was excellent as usual. When everyone had had their full and the dishes had returned to their usual sparkling clean state Dumbledore rose.
"I would just like to wish you all a happy year before you go off to bed. So now that I've done that off you go!" he said his blue eyes twinkling upon all of them. Harry rose and walked off to Gryffindor tower with Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Emerald, and Lune. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady she said-
"Password?" and a new prefect pushed his way through.
"Squiggle muffins," he said and her frame pushed open.
They all went inside and said good night. Harry was so tired. He didn't know from what though. He didn't even remember putting on his pajamas. All he knew was that he was asleep as soon as he laid down.