In which Andrew meets Draco, the students recieve background reading and are supjected to a series of silly names, and things become marginally more confusing.
Disclaimer:Nothing belongs to me except for Andrew, the book, and the plot. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, except for Julian Kestrel, who belongs to Kate Ross, who, sadly, died after writing only four books. The names of the rest of the original defense team and Hrothgar Habbakuk come fully or in part from Remarkable Names of Real People, or How to Name Your Baby. The will also be assorted quotes from, and references to: the Lord Peter Wimsey books, Anything by Jane Austen, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Avalon, Kim, and especially Sluggy Freelance. Anyone who spots a quote gets 50 points, and 20 points for a reference. at the end, I'll add it all up and give a prize to the person with the most points. This chapter will have rather more Hitch-hiker references than usual; Douglas Adams, the author of that "Trilogy in Five Parts" died last week.
Dumbledore continued, "I am going to split you up into teams. I think you will work more efficiently that way. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are already a team, and it would be a shame to split them up. As for the rest of you--"
"Professor," interrupted Draco, I don't see why I have to be here. I'm not a Muggle-Lover, and if I work against the Dark Lord, my father will disown me or something."
"A fact which has been proved by your brother," commented Dumbledore, "But he will be working closely with us, and we thought that you might feel the same way as him."
"Draco stared. "Brother? I don't have a brother."
"Ah, but you do," said Dumbledore with a faint smile, "ANDREW!" he shouted towards the back of the room, "I think Draco deserves an explanation."
Andrew walked back into the room. He stared at Draco for a moment, and then led him back into the room from whence he came. The rest of the students sat quietly for about five minutes while waiting for Andrew and Draco to come back. Finally they re-entered the room. Draco said, "Alright. I'll do it."
"Good," said Dumbledore, "Now we can get down to business."
Ginny's POV I couldn't stop smiling. I felt like we were about to go on an adventure--I guess we were, too. Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't look very excited. I guess they'd been on too many adventures already. Maybe this project thing would let me spend more time with Harry. Draco looked embarrased, confused, and a little scared. Seamus was smiling too, and he looked just like I felt. Padma looked happy too, but in a quieter sort of way. I had a good feeling about Padma, mostly because I had once heard Parvati say that her sister was nothing like her.
I caught Harry's eye and he smiled at me. I was about to go over and talk to him, but Dumbledore started speaking again. "As I was saying, Harry, Ron, and Hermione will continue to work together. As for the rest of you..." Dumbledore appeared to be lost in thought. I hoped he wouldn't put me with Draco. No matter how much confidence Dumbledore had in him, I still didn't trust him. I sort of wanted to work with Seamus, but he seemed to be angry with me for no apparent reason. I decided I'd rather be with Padma, who seemed quite nice.
Dumbledore looked around again and said, "I think you four would do well all together in a group.
Now, I have individual tasks for some of you. Ron," he said, handing ROn a sheaf of papers, "Here is a map of Hogwarts Castle. The map shows all of the secret passages in the castle. I don't think even your older brothers discovered all of them. I trust you not to use this map for breaking any rules." Ron nodded, his eyes wide, and Dumbledore continued, "This passage here collapsed a few years ago. This one can only be used by girls, and this one can only be used on dates ending in 3 or 7 on the calendar of the Vampires. I want you to figure out a good defense system for this castle. I chose you for this because I think it will use the same skills you need for chess."
The Headmaster moved on to Harry. "Harry, I would like you to simply write down everything you recall Voldemort or his supporters telling you. Draco, you will write down anything you recall your father or his friends saying about Voldemort."
Dumbledore walked over to his desk and grabbed some more papers. He handed them to me and said, "Ginny, These are recipes for two potions. One causes darkness, the other enables the user to see in the dark. Unfortunately, the second potion does not affect the first. See what you can do to change this. If you need to experiment, there is a room with a red door on the same hallway as the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. When you go inside, you will find three doors. Go through the door that says "Beware of the Leopard" and you will find everything you need."
"Sure Professor," I answered, "I'll do the best I can." I smiled, even though I felt really nervous.
"Now that thise things are out of the way, I have some books for you all," said the Headmaster. He walked over to his desk and opened and closed the top drawer several times. I tried to catch Seamus' eye, but he turned and started talking to Padma. I was beginning to get really angry at him.
Professor Dumbledore came back with a stack of books. There were seven of them, all bound in dark green leather. as he came closer, I saw that each one had the title Hogwarts' Defense stamped in gold on the cover. Dumbledore handed out a copy to each of us.
"This book is partly why you are all here," Said Dumbledore, looking around at us, "In 1816, a dark wizard known as Vroomfondel tried to take over Hogwarts. The Headmaster, Hrothgar J. Habbakuk, decided to put together a group of students--seven of them--to help him defend Hogwarts. That is what gave me the original idea, but as I began to chose students for my Hogwarts defense team, I discovered that each of you parallels a member of the original team. This book is their story. The story of Rosetta Black, Antonio Thomas Pierre Jullien, Iris September, Epaphroditus Riffington Marsh, Hugh Erchenwine Dysart, Julian Kestrel, and Ophelia Odelin. The book is rather like a mystery novel. It was written bt Tom Jullien, who I had the pleasure of meeting when I was young."
"But what will we be Doing?" asked Ron.
"After going through a brief period of training, you will be sent on various missions across the wizarding world." Answered the Professor, "you will not be required to attend Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, but any other classes you cannot attend will be made up for during the summer. You will all stay here during vacations, and for at least part of the summer. Even if you attend all the classes you can, you will be away from school for long periods of time, and you have to make up for the classes you miss. Education is greatest blessing if of best sort. Otherwise no earthly use. I do not want you to take advantage of this and I do not want the other students to know anything about it. You are all dismissed, and excused from the rest of your classes for today."
We all got up and walked out of the office silently. I followed Seamus. Something was obviously bothering him, and I had to find out what.
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YES! I got my first bad reviews! If I don't get any bad review, I know I must be doing something wrong. So. The evil folks who don't like my story: G.Gito-I fail to see how any of those are plot holes. I thought I made it clear that Harry is in his sixth year. the reason I'm not using seventh years is that that gives them only one year left og Hogwarts. And I'm trying to give Andrew a personality, but it's really hard. Right. the only other person who doesn't seem to like it is Hermione2-Draco's there because I like writing about him. As for the rest of you...Reviews Rule! Percy Weasley-Yes, Seamus is cool and also on his way to becoming my favorite character. Don't mind that he's not in a great mood right now. All will be explained. Hydrana Evila-I quite like Seamus and Padma, but I can't see them as a coouple. I'm trying to stop myself from pairing everyone off, but it's so much fun... Hannah and Sophie- You guys got my references. I should have known nobody else reads Sluggy. Hannah is in the lead after that Avalon reference though. spy_angel-Yes, Ron and Hermione are a must. And I'm gad you like Seamus. Thanks to everyone who reviewed--I've added more quotes and references in the hope that people who don't read Sluggy Freelance will get some points. Not that I'm trying to stop anyone from reading Sluggy. Surf over to Sluggy.com NOW. Next time: Ginny finds out whats up with Seamus, I write my first bit of romance-y type stuff, and we find out who is parallel to which funny name. Melody