Disclaimer: J.K.Rowling and Scholastic own the
characters and settings and all that. I
just own what I made up.
A/N: Here's Chapter Two! Yay! Thanks to everyone
who reviewed Chapter One – Nyias (my first reviewer!!!!), The Great Hermione
Fan, Lilly Potter, Jessica, Solaria, Dark Empress, and anyone who reviews in
the future! Also, Fleur Delacour is in
this chapter, and it was hard to make her dialogue sound French. If it confuses you, then remember this: any word with an apostrophe at the
beginning should have an "h" there (but because she's French, Fleur doesn't
pronounce them). "Zee" means the,
"zose" means those, "zis" means this, and "ozzer" means other. Enjoy the chapter!
Harry Potter and the Prism of Light
CHAPTER TWO
The
morning of the return to Hogwarts, Harry woke up groggy. Then he remembered that he was going back to
Hogwarts and jumped out of bed. Ron was
just waking up, also, and he, too, jumped out of bed when he realized what day
it was. The two boys eagerly packed all
their things and brought them downstairs, setting them just outside the front
door.
Hermione
was already awake, of course, organized and ready to go, when they got
downstairs. Ginny, Fred, and George
came downstairs only after the aroma of Mrs. Weasley's breakfast being cooked
lured them away from their warm, comfortable beds.
Over
breakfast, the group conversed about the upcoming year. After awhile, the topic turned to Voldemort.
"D'you
think You-Know-Who will come back this year?" Ginny said quietly. She had had an unfortunate encounter with
Voldemort (well, with Voldemort when he was a student at Hogwarts) when Harry
was in his second year.
After
Ginny said this, Mrs. Weasley, who had been floating a stack of pots and pans
over to the sink to be washed, let the pans fall to the ground with a clatter.
"Virginia
Weasley!" she exclaimed.
"Virginia?"
Harry said.
"Ginny's
just a nickname for Virginia," Hermione whispered.
"Oh,"
Harry said.
Mrs.
Weasley ranted on. "Mentioning
You-Know-Who in front of Harry after all he went through during that wretched
Triwizard Tournament! Are you out of
your mind?"
"Er,
Mrs. Weasley, it's all right. I'm not
afraid to talk about Voldemort," Harry said.
Everyone
cringed; hardly anyone actually called Voldemort by his name, they were too
scared of him. They usually called him
"You - Know - Who" or "He - Who - Must - Not - Be - Named".
Mrs.
Weasley looked at each of the people around the table seriously and
sternly. "I want each and every
one of you to promise me that you won't do anything that'll put yourselves in
danger this year. It's rather likely
that You-Know-Who is coming back, and I know that you all have a tendency to
attract danger." She looked
pointedly at Harry. "So stay out
of trouble."
Hermione
pointed at the window. "Two
Ministry cars just pulled up. Is that
how we're getting to King's Cross?"
Mrs.
Weasley nodded and looked out the window. "All right, grab your trunks and let's go. You don't want to miss the train."
Harry
dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage outside. The two cars looked a bit old, with their chipped greenish-blue
paint. He and one of the Ministry
drivers opened the trunk of the car and heaved Harry's own trunk inside. Harry plunked Hedwig's cage onto the front
passenger seat and slid into the back seat, followed by Hermione and Ron. Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ginny would
be traveling in the other car.
When
the car started moving down the street, followed by the other Ministry car,
Harry dozed off for a minute. It was,
after all, very early in the morning (since the Weasley's lived rather far from
King's Cross, it would take awhile to get there), and he had stayed up late the
night before, after Ron had fallen asleep, reading the book about his
parents. He dreamt about one of the
interviews with one of his mum's old friends, Madeline Plumme.
"Lily
was the sweetest girl you'd ever meet. She never said a bad thing about anyone, and she was so very loyal to
her friends. She was closest to
Arabella Figg, Jillian Glendigless, and me. Oh, yes, and she was always friends with James, Remus, Peter, and
Sirius. I couldn't believe when I'd
heard that Sirius had betrayed her and James. It still puzzles me. Anyway,
Lily and James were just friends, up until fifth year. Then, all Lily ever talked about was James,
James, and James. They ended up dating
by December of that year, and were inseparable from then on. Oh, Harry, Lily was a wonderful, kind
friend, and she loved you so much. She'd be so proud of you if she could see you now, and I believe that
she can. I believe that she's watching
over you every second of the day, and she always will."
When
Harry awoke, Ron and Hermione were talking in very low voices. Harry guessed they didn't want the Ministry
driver to hear them. "So Dad
hasn't been around much this summer. It's odd; I don't think he's working overtime, since his department is
rarely busy, but he's always at the office. It's confusing," Ron said.
"So
is the Ministry doing what Dumbledore said? Removing the dementors from Azkaban? Trying to make peace with the giants?" Hermione was asking.
Ron
shook his head. "Fudge isn't
following any of his advice. He's too
worried about keeping reputation intact to do anything drastic."
"He's
a fool," Harry said.
Hermione
looked at him, surprised. "We
didn't know you were awake," she said.
Harry
shrugged. "How long was I
sleeping?"
Hermione
looked at her watch. "About an
hour."
"Wow. Didn't seem that long," Harry said,
stretching. "So Fudge isn't doing
what Dumbledore said?"
Hermione
and Ron nodded.
"Well,
I'm sure Dumbledore's already taken matters into his own hands. Actually, at the end of last year, when I
was in the hospital wing, Snape was there, and your mum, too, Ron, and Bill,
and," he glanced at the Ministry driver to make sure he wasn't listening;
they were whispering, but he wanted to make sure, just in case. The driver wasn't listening, anyway, so
Harry went on, "Snuffles, and I heard Dumbledore say a few things. He asked Snape if he was ready for
something, and Snape said yes, and he went somewhere. Then he sent Bill to go get your dad, and they had to do
something. And he sent Snuffles to get
'the old gang', as he called it, and he mentioned Lupin, and some woman named
Arabella Figg-"
Harry
stopped. Madeline Plumme had mentioned
one of Lily's old school friends with that name. Could Arabella Figg have also written in for Harry's parents'
book? He'd have to wait until they got
to King's Cross so he could get it out of his trunk to check.
"We're
here," the driver said gruffly. The car stopped in front of the train station, and Harry, Ron, and
Hermione quickly got their belongings out of the trunk of the car. They waited for the rest of the Weasleys and
walked into the station, stopping in between Platform Nine and Platform Ten.
"Now,
Harry, you and Hermione go first. Then
Ron and Ginny can go, and then you two come with me," Mrs. Weasley said,
grabbing Fred and George's arms.
Harry
and Hermione walked briskly to the barrier in between Platforms Nine and
Ten. Instead of bumping into it,
though, they went right through and stopped in front of a large crimson train
with "The Hogwarts Express" written on it in bold white letters.
Harry
smiled. Hogwarts was his home, and he
would be there soon.
The
Weasleys arrived just then, and Mrs. Weasley gave each of her children (and he
and Hermione) a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Have a good year," she said as they boarded the train. "And no trouble!"
Ginny,
Fred, and George went off to find their friends, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron
found a compartment in the middle of the train occupied only by one
person. A very familiar person.
"Fleur?"
Harry said.
The
girl, sitting in the front row of the compartment, turned and her eyes widened
when she saw them. "Oh! Harry! 'ello! 'ow are you?" It
was, as Harry had believed, Fleur Delacour - the Triwizard Tournament's
competitor from Beauxbatons.
"I'm
fine," Harry said. "What're
you doing here?"
"Well,
last year, I said I wanted to get a job here, do you remember?" Fleur
said. "And, lucky for me, there
was an opening! Your 'eadmaster,
Professor Dumbledore, was kind enough to allow me to take the job. I want to improve my English while I am
here. I 'ave improved a bit already,
no?"
Ron
spoke up, "Oh, your English has gotten much better!"
Fleur
smiled, showing her dazzling white teeth. "Thank you very much." She yawned delicately and said, "I am tired. I think I will take a nap. You will wake me when we arrive at Hogwarts,
no?"
"Sure,
sure, of course," Ron said hurriedly.
Hermione
glared at him. Last year, she had been
rather annoyed at Ron for fancying Fleur just for her appearance.
They
took a seat at the back of the compartment. Harry immediately took the book about his parents out of his trunk and
flipped through the pages.
"Did
you write any letters to Arabella Figg when you made this book?" Harry
asked.
Ron
shrugged. "I don't remember. There were so many people, I just don't remember."
"Is
it important?" Hermione asked.
It
was Harry's turn to shrug. "I'm
not sure yet," he said, concentrating on the names on the pages as he
rifled through them.
He
stopped after a minute. Arabella Figg
hadn't written in the book, but his mum's other friend, Jillian Glendigless,
had, and she mentioned something very interesting about Arabella Figg.
"After
Hogwarts, I sort of lost touch with Lily, and our other best friends Madeline
and Arabella. She got married, Madeline
went off to study up on Muggles, I got a job at the Ministry, and Arabella got
the most interesting job. She became an
Unspeakable for the Ministry."
Harry
snapped the book shut. An
Unspeakable? How did that help
him? He barely knew what Unspeakables
were, let alone what they did. Well,
whatever they were, they weren't helping Harry find out about Voldemort's plans
at the time. He quickly explained what
he knew to Hermione and Ron, and they decided to forget about the situation for
the time being; it wasn't that important.
"Hey,
Hermione?" Ron asked.
"Hmm?"
she said. She was deeply engrossed in
an enormous book.
"Whatever
happened to Krum?"
Hermione
was so surprised she dropped her book on the floor. It landed on Ron's foot with a loud thump that shook the entire
compartment, and Ron howled in pain.
"Sorry,
Ron!" Hermione said. "Are you
all right?"
Ron
rubbed his foot and winced, but nodded.
"So
what happened to Krum?" Harry asked curiously.
"Yeah,
did you visit him this summer?" Ron asked.
Hermione
shook her head and sighed. "When I
asked Mum and Dad, they told me that I absolutely could not go. 'He's far too old for you' was what they
told me. Anyway, Viktor owled me and
said that I couldn't come, anyway, because he was going on the Hucklesnoof
World Quidditch Tour. He's spending
this year participating in exhibitions and things like that."
All
three teenagers were quiet for a moment, but Harry noticed that Ron, despite
his swelling toes, looked especially cheerful.
For
the rest of the journey, Harry, Ron, and Hermione focused on meeting up with
their other school friends- Neville Longbottom (who had a piece of string tied
around the neck of his toad, Trevor, and around his wrist so he didn't lose
him), Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and many others.
Finally,
they arrived at Hogwarts. Hagrid, who
was herding the first years to the boats that would take them across the lake,
gave Harry a jolly wave. Harry waved
back and climbed into a carriage that would take them to the school with
Hermione, Ron, and Neville.
After
the short and bumpy ride, their carriage stopped in front of the large doors
that were the entrance to Hogwarts. The
students filed into the Great Hall and took their seats at the House tables. As soon as they were settled, the first
years were led into the Hall and the Sorting Hat was placed on its stool. As Harry expected, the flap on its front
that vaguely resembled a mouth began to move.
"I'm black, pointed, and all torn up,
I'm much older than all you,
I was chosen to Sort Hogwarts
Years ago, when I was new.
Each of the Four Founders
Chose the students of their house by hand
They examined each and every child
To see if they fit their House's demands.
They needed something to do this
For them when they had left
As they grew, older, slow, less sprightful
For the job, they thought me best.
So, d'you belong in Hufflepuff
Diligent and loyal?
These students are good-hearted
They're humble and don't act royal.
Perhaps you'll be in Gryffindor,
Where the red and gold belong
These chaps and gals are filled with courage
And fight against the wrong.
Maybe you should be in Ravenclaw
Where go the clever of mind
These people are quick-witted
And they never fall behind.
Maybe still you belong in Slytherin
Where go the silver and green
This crowd of ambitious, cunning folk
Prides their blood on being so-called
"clean".
So pop me on your head, young folks,
And I'll see what I can see,
Don't be afraid, I sure don't bite,
I'll put you where you should be!"
Harry
clapped along with the rest of the students and listened closely as Dumbledore
began his annual beginning of term speech.
"We
have a few changes this year in the staff at Hogwarts. Naturally, there as a new Defense Against
the Dark Arts teacher, as Professor Moody is here no longer…"
Harry
scanned the staff table. Next to Fleur
was a woman with wavy light brown hair. Harry guessed that she was the new teacher, but he wasn't expecting what
he heard next.
"...so
I am pleased to introduce to you Professor Arabella Figg."
Harry's
eyes widened as he heard this. Arabella
Figg? His mum's friend Arabella Figg?
The
woman smiled modestly as the students applauded politely. Dumbledore continued his speech.
"I
also have some unfortunate news for those of you who enjoy Potions class,"
Dumbledore said. Harry heard Ron snort
with laughter.
Dumbledore
continued, "Due to an unfortunate incident in Professor Snape's life, he
will not be teaching Potions this year. Some of you may remember Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion for
last year Triwizard Tournament. She
will be taking Professor Snape's position."
The
entire Hall was silent; the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors in shocked
glee, and the Slytherins in astonished dismay. Finally, an urgent whisper spread throughout the Hall.
"Snape
without Potions... Potions without Snape," Ron was repeating in a happy
trancelike voice.
Harry
grinned. This was just getting better
and better.
"Now,
on to the Sorting," Dumbledore said.
"Algronne,
Francesca!" McGonagall called.
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Amerwick,
Lucrezio!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Boochel,
Beatrice!
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Harry
cheered as "Corazon, Duilia" became the first new Gryffindor. He didn't pay attention until there was one
last, very familiar person left to be Sorted; it was the girl Draco was with at
the ice cream shop in Diagon Alley.
"Aurora
Malfoy, a fifth year, will be joining us this year, transferring from
Durmstrang Institute because of special circumstances," Dumbledore said,
glancing at the girl (Draco's sister, Harry guessed).
The
Slytherins began clapping loudly; the new Malfoy was most likely going to be in
Slytherin.
Aurora
sat on the stool, put the hat on her head, and waited. After at least a minute, the hat shouted out
its answer.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The
entire Hall collectively gasped and then became silent. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? Had the Sorting Hat made some kind of
mistake? Then, slowly, growing louder
and louder, everyone but the shocked Slytherins began applauding.
"Maybe
she's nice," Hermione said. "You never know. After all,
all Malfoys can't be bad, can they?"
"Move,"
a voice said to Hermione, who was sitting at the end of the table. "I want to sit at the end."
Aurora
Malfoy was standing there. Harry could
see the family resemblance; she was pale, with very light blonde, straight,
wispy hair. Her silvery-gray eyes
gleamed with some emotion Harry couldn't identify.
"Move,"
she repeated, since Hermione just sat there, staring at her. "I want to sit there."
Hermione
slowly stood up, then moved to sit at the open seat across from Ron and Harry.
"I
take back what I just said," Hermione sighed, glancing at Aurora.
***
Harry
woke up early the next morning and headed down to breakfast with Ron and
Hermione.
"Looks
like we've got History of Magic first. Oh, no, we're with the Slytherins!" Ron exclaimed, groaning.
Harry
bit into a piece of toast. "Oh,
well, it can't be all that bad. Binns
will probably bore us all to sleep, anyway."
Hermione
raised her eyebrows. "History of
Magic is an extremely important class."
After
breakfast, the trio hurried off to History of Magic.
***
Hermione,
Harry, and Ron arrived at the History of Magic classroom and slid into their
seats. The Slytherins cast them dark
looks; the two Houses hated having class together.
The
class got ready for a long, boring lesson of listening to Professor Binns (the
only teacher at Hogwarts that was a ghost; he had simply died one day, but
continued teaching) drone on and on. Surprisingly, though, he did not.
"The
following are the partners for a new assignment. You will work with one person on a presentation about a famous
person in wizarding history. When I
read off your name, you are to sit next to your partner," Professor Binns
said slowly.
He
began reading off names. "Hermione
Granger and Ron Weasley."
Both
looked pleased with their assigned partner; they hadn't wanted to end up with a
Slytherin.
Harry,
however, was not so lucky. "Harry
Potter and Draco Malfoy."
Harry
groaned, and Ron and Hermione shot him pitying looks. Harry sat in the empty desk next to Malfoy, who sneered at him
and said sarcastically, "Oh, hooray, I get to work with smart, brave, perfect
Potter."
Binns
finished reading the names, and then he gestured at a jar on his desk. In here are the names of subjects written on
parchment, along with what you are to do for the presentation. Please use a Summoning Charm to choose
one."
Draco
waved his wand. "Accio
parchment," he said lazily. A
piece of parchment came out of the jar and landed on Draco's desk. He glanced down at it and his eyes widened
in horror. He looked at Harry and
shoved the parchment at him.
Harry
looked at the parchment. "Your
subject is Harry Potter, the boy who defeated You-Know-Who. Please write a skit describing Harry's life
and perform it in front of the class."
Harry
shut his eyes. How embarrassing would
this be? Doing a skit about... himself?
"Potter,
let's make this as quick and painless as possible. Meet me in the library after dinner and we'll start this
thing," Malfoy said."
Harry
just nodded and rubbed his forehead. This was giving him a headache.
***
After
History of Magic, the Gryffindors had Potions (thankfully without the
Slytherins). They headed toward the
damp, gloomy Potions dungeon and were immediately greeted by Fleur.
"Oh,
'arry, Ron, 'ermione! 'ello!" she
said. "Sit, sit anywhere."
They
chose seats near the middle of the room. The rest of the Gryffindor fifth-years filtered in throughout the next
few minutes, and the class began.
"Good
morning!" Fleur said cheerfully. "I 'ope some of you remember me from last year, at zee Triwizard
Tournament. For zose of you who do
not," she said, glancing at Aurora when she said this, "I am Fleur
Delacour, and I will be your Potions teacher zis year, since Professor Snape
'as ozzer business to attend to."
The
lesson began, and it turned out that Fleur was actually a very good
teacher. She was patient and gave good instructions,
and she didn't take any points from Gryffindor. It was the first Potions class that Harry had been to in which no
Gryffindor points were lost!
"After
you add zee pixie dust, zee potion should be a lavender color," Fleur
said.
"Why
d'you think Snape's not here?" Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron as she
sprinkled the shimmery gold powder into her simmering cauldron.
Ron stirred his cauldron carefully. "I don't have a clue and I really don't
care, as long as he's not here," he responded matter-of-factly.
Harry
began to respond, but Fleur swept by, glancing at their Calming Potions.
***
After
that class, an uneventful Transfiguration lesson, and lunch, it was time for
Care of Magical Creatures. Harry
couldn't wait to talk to Hagrid; he wanted to find out why Snape wasn't in
school.
It
seemed that Hagrid had decided to play it safe for the first lesson; there didn't
seem to be anything dangerous in sight. Tiny, pastel colored, puffy creatures were bouncing around, giggling.
"What
are they?" Ron asked.
"Pink
cotton balls with eyes," Harry said, dodging one that was heading for his
head.
"Ron,
Hermione, Harry, 'lo! Do yeh like the
Oofflegles?" Hagrid said, plodding over to them.
"Oofflegles?"
Ron asked.
"Yeah,
Oofflegles. They're from Belgium. Pretty rare, and hard to catch, but I got my
hands on some."
"Very
nice," Hermione said hastily. She
hesitated before continuing. "So,
Hagrid, do you happen to know why Professor Snape isn't here?"
Hagrid,
who had been lovingly petting an Oofflegle, snapped his head around to look
carefully at Hermione. "O' course I
know, but it's none of any of yer business. Don't go meddling around trying to dig up information. All you'll get yourselves is trouble."
The
class began. "Attention, everyone,"
Hagrid said, his loud voice booming. Everyone stopped chattering, and Hagrid continued. "Our firs' lesson will be about Belgian
Oofflegles. Does anyone know anything
'bout Oofflegles?"
Hermione,
naturally, shot her hand up into the air instantly. Harry waited for her to be called on, but he was surprised to
hear Hagrid call on someone else.
"Aurora
Malfoy," Hagrid said, pointing at the girl, who sat in the very back, one arm
raised.
"A
Belgian Oofflegle is a rare species. It
is actually the opposite of a dementor; it eats away evil, unhappy, or negative
thoughts and replaces them with happy ones when you hold one in the palm of
your hand," she said lazily.
"Right,
five points to Gryffindor," Hagrid said cheerily. "Now, I want everyone to take out their books and read the lesson
on Oofflegles. It's on page six hundred
seventy two. When yer done, yeh can
come up to me and I'll give yeh an Oofflegle to try out."
Harry,
Ron, and Hermione each read the lesson quickly and went up to Hagrid to receive
their Oofflegles. Harry's was a pale
blue color, and it made a funny giggling noise when he held it in his palm.
"Think
of somethin' that really bugs yeh," Hagrid instructed.
Harry
closed his eyes and an image of Draco Malfoy swam into his mind. "Oh, hooray, I get to work with smart,
brave, perfect Potter," Malfoy was saying. Harry felt a burst of anger.
Suddenly
the image of Malfoy went out of focus for a moment. When it returned, it was a ferret. A smile crept onto Harry's face as he recalled the time the
previous year that Malfoy was turned into a ferret.
Harry
felt the Oofflegle hop out of his hand and he opened his eyes.
After
everyone had tried out an Oofflegle, the class ended. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to talk to Hagrid. By the look in Hermione's eyes, Harry could
tell she had a plan.
"So,
Hagrid, it doesn't matter that you're not going to tell us about Snape. I already know where he is," Hermione said
confidently.
Harry
looked at her, confused, but then realized what her plan was.
"I
know for a fact that Snape is away caring for his mother because she is ill,"
Hermione said.
Hagrid's
eyebrows furrowed. "No, that's not
right," he said.
Harry
joined in on the conversation. "Well, I
heard he left to teach at Durmstrang," he said.
Ron
suddenly caught on. "No, you're not
right! He's left to, er, live in the
Muggle world!"
Hagrid
scratched his head. "You're all
wrong! Snape's not doing any of those
things! He's working against Voldemort
for Dumbledore! He's gone back to
Voldemort and the Death Eaters, pretending he wants to join them again!"
Harry,
Ron, and Hermione's jaws dropped and they stared at Hagrid, speechless.
"Oh,
no," Hagrid said, clapping a hand over his mouth.