CHAPTER 5
~Unheard Song~
Harry woke up the next morning feeling happy and contented. The sun's rays were shining into the dormitory adding happiness to Harry's mood. He got up and dressed ready to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. There he found Hermione and Ron arguing in hushed voices.
"C'mon Hermione! Don't set that old cow free," Ron was saying to Hermione. "She'll make our lives hell again!"
"Ron, there's just no point in keeping her in there," she pointed to a small jar in her hand which contained a small black beetle. Harry recognised it as the beetle which tried to wreck their lives last year. This beetle was, infact, an Animagus (witches and wizards who could transform into any type of animal) by the name of Rita Skeeter. "She'll just die!"
"So? That would do us all a favour wouldn't it? I mean, remember what she did to you!" he added looking at the stern expression that had come across Hermione's face.
"Oh…well…if you put it that way…" she looked at the jar and sighed. "But everyone in the Ministry's looking for her already, Ron! There's no point worrying them when Bertha Jorkins already disappeared last year!"
"Oh and you think the Ministry's worried do you? They're quite happy to have gotten rid of her if you ask me."
"Ron!" Hermione's said but she seemed to have run out of arguments to say because she did not speak after that except to greet Harry a hello.
"Hey Harry! Guess what we have first up?" Ron asked, his eyes large with excitement.
"What?" said Harry.
"Defence Against The Dark Arts!" Ron practically yelled. "We'll be able to see Professor Kasender…" his voice trailed off, his face in a dreamy expression. Then he cleared his throat, his ears going slightly red because Hermione was looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Oh, yeah and after that we have Herbology with Hufflepuff."
Harry laughed. True, he was quite excited to attend one of Professor Kasender's classes, but Ron seemed like he couldn't wait to see Professor Kasender and but he could wait for her class. While Harry ate his sausages, the usual hundred owls arrived and were circling the four house tables, looking for the person whom their letters were addressed to. And to Harry's amazement, a large, grey owl came fluttering onto the table and dropped a piece of parchment on Harry's lap. He opened the piece of paper to find that it was from his godfather, Sirius:
Harry-
Well, I'm glad that you got to stay over at Ron's. How are they? I'm still in hiding—where: I wont tell you in case this letter gets cut off. Tell me all about your first day back and anything that's unusual. Keep your eyes and ears open and take care. I'll tell you when we can talk--hopefully soon.
-Sirius
"Oh, cool!" Ron whispered excitedly in Harry's ear. Harry jumped back in surprise—he just realised that Ron and Hermione were reading the letter over his shoulder.
"What's cool?"
"We're gonna see Snuffles again!" Hermione said in a that-was-obvious tone. "Snuffles" was a name Sirius had told them to use when talking about him in public. Snuffles being that Sirius was also an Animagus which meant he could turn into a large, black, bear-like dog.
"Oh! Yeah 'course it is!" said Harry quickly. "I can't wait to see him again…it's been a long time…" Harry thought of the last time he had seen Sirius face to face; it was after the Triwizard Tournament last year--and Harry had just escaped Voldemort…again.
Putting the letter safely in his pocket, the three of them set back to the Gryffindor Common Room to get their equipment for the first lesson. Ron grabbed his things rather too quickly and was waiting impatiently for Harry and Hermione outside the Common Room.
"He must really like Kasender then mustn't he?" Hermione whispered to Harry, giggling.
And so they set off to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ron running ahead of them so fast that he eventually dropped his bag, spilling ink all over his new books.
"Oh, no!" Ron cried, bending over his drenched pieces of parchment. "What will Professor think?" he muttered to himself and Hermione giggled so hard that she almost dropped her bag too.
When they finally arrived in the classroom, they were two minutes late and to Ron's disappointment, all the front tables were taken—mostly by the boys who all seemed to be staring up at Professor Kasender with a dreamy expression pasted on their faces. Luckily, Professor Kasender only smiled when the three of them burst into the room.
"So, good morning everyone," she greeted them with a warm smile. "and welcome to this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts. My name is Professor Leanne Kasender as all of you should know." She smiled again and Harry snuck a glance at Ron, who had his chin rested on his hands, staring determinedly at Kasender. She continued, "I am sure all of you are excellent in defending yourself against hexes by now—" and at these words, Harry saw Ron nod his head vigorously as though he wanted to prove right away how good he was with hexes.
"However, being a wizard requires a lot of skills. You are going to learn a lot of things you will need for your life as a wizard. When you will leave this school you will know a lot of spells which make our life easy and desirable." She said looking around the class. "Our first lesson today will be about vampires. How a person becomes a vampire, the vampire's physical appearance, preventing the vampire and saving a victim."
She started to walk down the classroom, between the desks; students' heads following her every move. When she reached the back of the classroom, where Ron, Hermione and Harry were sitting, Harry felt something odd but at the same time, it felt nice…and suddenly, the room was filled once again with the same heavenly song he had heard inside the Hogwarts Express. Harry's eyes began to droop…his mind was completely clear of anything…no…it was just the song that mattered to him…nothing else…the song began to loose its volume again…
No, please don't go…Harry thought again…he opened his eyes…he was expecting, hoping, to see the beautiful phoenix once again…but all he saw were people…people looking strangely at him…but he didn't care…all he cared about was the song…it was nearly gone now…and then, suddenly, and without warning, a high pitched, cruel laugh started ringing in Harry's ears. His hand flew to his scar, his head feeling as though it was about to split open…and then the song stopped…along with the laugh.
Harry looked around the classroom, his green eyes almost blinded by tears, to find Ron and Hermione's faces, both of which were full of concern…Ron was shaking…
"Harry! Are you alright?" he asked in anxiously.
"Yeah…I'm fine—what happened?" Harry asked in a trembling voice.
"Well, you just kind of drifted off," Hermione whispered, her voice edgy. " and then you fell off your chair…then--then you screamed Harry. Then your hands just sort of went stiff and then flew to your scar."
"I—what? But-" Harry lowered his voice, "-you didn't hear anything? You didn't hear the phoenix's song?"
"No," Ron replied shaking his head, still looking as though Harry had just died.
"Potter? Are you alright? Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" said a kind voice. Harry looked around to see Professor Kasender looking at him, her deep blue eyes wide with concern.
"Oh…yeah I think so…yeah…I think I better go to the Hospital Wing," Harry said timidly, gathering his schoolbooks. "Tell Professor Sprout where I've gone," he whispered to Hermione as he walked past her, his cheeks burning with humiliation.
