Chapter II
Dear Sirius,
Congratulations! I'm so glad that you are now a
free man. I can't wait to live with you, and I would have Christmas break with
you, but since I can't live with you until after the year, I guess I'll be
seeing you at King's Cross Station at the end of the year!
I had this dream last night, and it involved this girl I didn't
know. I was in Hogsmeade, and there was a blizzard going on. Then this girl
comes along, and she says that one day, I will meet her, and she will tell me
something I have been longing to hear. Then Voldemort comes up behind her, he
laughs, there's a flash of green light, and then I woke up. My scar didn't
hurt, but do you think that this is something to do with Voldemort coming
closer?
And
while Dumbledore told me about you, we heard news that Voldemort attacked the
Weasleys. I hope they're all right!
I had better go now, but take
care of yourself!
Love,
Harry.
Harry sealed the letter and
decided to walk up to the Owlery with it. He had written the letter in the
Gryffindor common room, as soon as he was dismissed from Dumbledore's office.
The students still had not arrived.
Harry sighed. He was worried
sick about the Weasleys. What if they were… Harry couldn't bear to even think
about it. The Weasleys were like Harry's family, and Harry wouldn't know what
to do without them. Especially Harry's other best friend, Ron Weasley.
Harry had reached the Owlery,
and he found Hedwig easily. He tied the letter to her leg, and watched her fly
out through the window. Harry decided to walk to the Great Hall; the students
would probably here soon. Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat
down. The golden plates and goblets were already there. The Great Hall's door
swung open and the teachers marched into the Great Hall and sat down at the
Head Table. A few of them threw curious glances Harry's way, but he ignored
them. The dors closed again, and Harry sighed. Dumbledore walked up to Harry.
"Listen Harry, I know that
you're upset about the Weasleys, but don't do anything about it. I know that
you will do anything to help find the Weasleys, but please, don't. You will put
yourself in danger," he said.
"I know, but what happened? I
mean, did they disappear, or did Voldemort kill them?" Harry asked desperately.
"Well, as far as we know, they
disappeared, but we are doing everything we can to find them," Dumbledore said.
Just then, the doors to the Great Hall flew open, and the students (except for
the first years) all poured in, and sat at their tables. Dumbledore headed back
to the Head Table. As soon as Hermione saw him, she rushed to Harry and
enveloped him in a hug.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed.
"Oh, Harry! I heard about the
Weasleys, and I was so worried! Then when I got on the train, and I didn't see
you, I thought you were…" Hermione didn't finish, but she let go of Harry and
tears started pouring down her face. Harry didn't start crying, and he didn't
know why.
"It's all right Hermione, we'll
find Ron," Harry told her, while she sniffled and sobbed at the same time.
"No, it's not! I bet that
Dumbledore was telling you not to go looking for him, wasn't he?" she asked.
"Er… yeah, but did you really
think that I'd go by the rules when it comes to Ron?" Harry asked.
"Well, no…" Hermione admitted.
"That's the spirit. Now, do you
want to hear some good news?" Harry asked Hermione, watching her wipe her eyes
and blow her nose on a handkerchief.
"Yeah! What?" Harry started to
tell her about Sirius, but was quickly interrupted by Professor McGonagall, who
came in with the first years and explained about Sorting. The Sorting Hat and
the stool were already in place. Everybody watched the hat as it started to
sing a song, and then Professor McGonagall started reading the students' names
off a list.
"Aseeda, Gail". The list went
on, and until Professor McGonagall got to her, nobody recognized the girl in
the line that looked tall enough to be in year 7.
"Now, we have a student to be
sorted into year 7. The reason is that she had been going to "The Australian
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". She was born in England, and has moved back
here. Rachel Hay, please put on the Sorting Hat, and sit on the stool."
Professor McGonagall said. Harry couldn't see her face properly, as the Sorting
Hat was hiding her face, but he thought that she looked familiar…
Everybody was staring at the
girl as the Sorting Hat fell over her eyes. The Sorting Hat was silent for a
few seconds, then it shouted, "Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor Table blew up.
At least, that's what it sounded like to Harry. People were cheering at the top
of their lungs. You'd think that they'd won the house cup! Harry expected to
hear the Weasley twins (Fred and George) to shout out something like, "Wahoo!
We got the new girl!" But then Harry remembered that the Weasleys were missing.
Harry sighed.
"Is anything wrong?" Harry
turned to his right. It was the girl who was just Sorted. Harry gasped. It was
the girl from his dream! The girl who had just come to Hogwarts was the girl in
his dream! He had met her, and now she should tell him something that he had
been longing to hear…
"Is anything wrong?" the girl
asked again. Harry noticed that she was sitting in Ron's chair. Harry felt a
pang in his chest. He had to find Ron!
"No, nothing's wrong. I'm Harry
Potter," Harry said, outstretching his hand. The girl laughed.
"I knew that! But you knew that
I'm Rachel Hay, didn't you?" Rachel shook Harry's hand.
"Yeah," Harry replied. Then
Dumbledore stood up and made some announcements, including an announcement
about a Graduation Ball that was to be held at the end of the year, for the
years four to seven. The year sevens would have to lead the ball, like Harry
had to lead the Yule Ball in his fourth year. Harry sighed. He supposed that he
would have to take Hermione. Then Dumbledore told the school about the
Weasleys. Harry sighed again. Hermione then burst into tears again, and Harry
put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Harry still couldn't cry. He didn't
know why.
Then it was time for dinner.
While they ate people all over the Gryffindor table were asking each other to
the Graduation Ball. Harry supposed he might as well ask Hermione now.
"Hermione?"
"Yeah? (Sniffle)"
"Will you go to the Graduation
Ball with me?"
"Oh, Harry, I would, but, well…
I'd rather go with Ron, and even though he's missing, I wouldn't want to hurt
his feelings."
"That's okay," Harry sighed.
Now what would he do? He had no date yet, and he had to lead the ball!
Wait…what about Rachel?
"Uh…um…Rachel?" Rachel looked
up from her dinner. She hadn't said a word to anyone. Harry thought she was
very nice. He and Hermione should become friends with her.
"Yeah?"
"Will you…er…" Harry blushed.
Why was he so bad at this?
"Would I like to go to the
Graduation Ball with you?" she supplied, smiling.
"Yeah," Harry replied.
"Sure! I'd love to," Rachel
cried. For some reason, Harry didn't like Cho Chang that much, anymore…
Suddenly, the door to the Great
Hall flung open, and in walked… the Weasleys! Except for Bill and Charlie. They
didn't disappear.
Hermione screamed and burst
into tears. Harry yelled, "RON!" and ran to him. Hermione and Rachel followed.
"Oh, Ron!" Harry cried, and
hugged him. All of the Weasleys looked as if they had been travelling for days.
Their robes were ripped, their hair was knotted and they had dirt on their
faces. They looked very tired.
"Harry!" Ron cried back, giving
him a hug back. He was limping, so Harry helped to support him. The teachers
all came running over. Dumbledore pulled Harry, Ron and Hermione aside. He
showed them a note that an owl had brought while the Weasleys had made their
appearance. They read it and gasped.
It read:
Beware! I will attack when you
least expect it…
Then there was Voldemort's Dark
Mark on the bottom.
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