Disclaimer: Why is it whenever there is UFO or alien sighting, there is always a nearby military base? You know, because they... oh yeah. Disclaimer. I don't own anything from the Harry Potter universe. It all belongs to JKR, Warner Bros., and a couple of publishing companies. I only have Anita Skeeter.
Chapter 7
Harry woke up the next morning on the floor where he had passed out. He made a move to get up, but was stopped short by the extreme soreness that filled every muscle, bone, and joint in his body. Slowly, he rolled over to the chair by his desk and used it to support himself as he got up. As soon as Harry was standing, he looked around the room. Everything seemed normal; nothing looked as though it was an instrument of Voldemort. Nothing was out of place and there were no foreign objects. How could he know that I ripped up the first letter? There was no one outside, no way he could have been here, or anyone else for that matter. How? The question weighed heavily on Harry's mind and a headache just made it throb. Somehow he managed to get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast.
Harry didn't expect what was about to happen. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were all at the table eating breakfast as usual, but there was something different. Uncle Vernon had a grin that no one would have been able to smack off. Aunt Petunia was simply glowing as she primly sipped her tea. Dudley looked as though he was plotting something. Harry was almost afraid to sit down. Something was going on and he knew it wasn't good.
Cautiously, he asked, "Is something up?"
Uncle Vernon turned and looked at him, not with the usual contempt. This was far more sinister: joy. "Nothing is wrong, you," he said smiling. "In fact, things couldn't be better. Your wonderful aunt is pregnant."
Petunia put down her teacup. "If you even cared to ask, we were at the doctor's yesterday. Soon my precious Duddykins will have a younger sibling. And he'll take good care of his little brother or sister, won't he?"
"Of course I will, mummy," Dudley's saccharine sweetness made Harry queasy. Dudley looked at Harry and a smile crept up on the corners of his mouth. "Mum, where is the baby going to sleep?"
"Oh that's right," she looked at Harry with the expected distaste. He didn't like where this is going.
"Well, the baby will get Harry's room, of course," Vernon announced.
"Wait, where am I going to sleep?" Harry asked.
"There is plenty of room in the attic. You have to move all of you stuff and your bed up there before you go back to... THAT place."
The conversation was apparently over because everyone went back to what they were doing before Harry came in. He quickly ate some toast and went back upstairs. He went into his room and started looking around again, but with different thoughts going through his head. I get out of the cupboard finally, and now I am back just at a different altitude. At least it will be for only two months each year. Hmmm... maybe this Dursley will like me...
Nah.
*****
Finally, it was September 1st. Harry managed to get a ride to King's Cross since the Dursleys were going shopping. Petunia wanted to look at baby items and buy something for Dudley, so he wouldn't get jealous.
Harry didn't care how he got there, just as long as he did. He had spent the rest of his break moving his things and furniture up to the attic, and cleaning his old room in preparation. Aunt Petunia seemed to think that maybe magic was contagious, so she wanted every square inch of the room cleaned and sanitized. That was a day's work in itself for Harry. She made him wear gloves, a hair net, and a dust mask so that nothing of him would come in contact with the room. Harry was just glad she didn't make him wear a level four biocontainment suit.
With all this behind him, Harry gleefully bid farewell to the Dursleys when they got to the station. For the time being, he didn't want to think about the new addition on the way. He rolled his belongings through the station to the barrier for 9 ¾. Nonchalantly, he walked through the brick wall and popped out at the platform for the Hogwarts Express.
There were a few students and parents milling about seeing as how the train wasn't to leave for a bit. Harry decided to sit down on a bench and wait for his friends to show up. As he sat there, more students and families trickled in onto the platform. Harry sat there and watched as mothers and fathers hugged their children and made them promise to be good or make good grades. He watched as one set of parents tried to make a younger sister hug her older brother before he got on the train. It ended with the younger sister running behind the parents and refusing to acknowledge her brother's departure. Harry couldn't help but wonder whether she was just putting up a show because she would miss him, or whether he was being rude to her earlier. Either way, he decided to get up and claim a compartment.
As per usual, Harry claimed one of the compartments closer to the back of the train. Privation was always in short supply when important secret matters needed to be discuss. Harry was hoping to preserve some of it since there was much to tell him friends. Of course, he had to apologize to Hermione, but he also wanted to tell them about the mysterious letters. At least then they would be prepared if the ocurrances continued at Hogwarts. Harry hoped that they wouldn't.
Right as he finished stowing away his trunk, someone came into the compartment. It was Ron.
"There you are! Mum almost thought that you hadn't made it. Come on and show her that you really are here," Ron lead Harry back off the train to where the Weasley clan was saying their good-byes. Mrs. Weasley was going over her list of "don'ts" for the twins, and Mr. Weasley and Ginny were sharing one of those father-daughter type hugs.
"… and please, PLEASE, don't do anything else that might jeopardize your graduating. You cannot get through life with just silly pranks," Mrs. Weasley finally breathed after the last of her warnings. Her features softened a bit as the rant ended. "Make me proud you two."
"Aww mum, now don't go getting all sappy on us," Fred told her.
" Yeah, we'll graduate. You know that we never would go that far. We'll stop right before we get to that point," George added. They both hugged Mrs. Weasley and turned to get on the train.
"Hey, it's Harry," Fred said with a grin. "There you go, mum. Another person for you to fret over."
"There you are, Harry," Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "We were so worried about you!"
"We, you, what's the difference?" George said under his breath.
"I just wanted to make sure that you got here okay."
"I'm fine. My uncle dropped me off a bit earlier. He, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley had business to take care of here in London today," Harry explained. Mrs. Weasley raised her right eyebrow when Harry said business, but she didn't ask.
"Well, you're here and that's what matters. Have a great year, and be careful," she hugged Harry tightly. He hugged he back to reassure her that he would.
Once good-byes were said and done, everyone went to their proper places. When Harry and Ron got back to the compartment, Hermione was already in there sitting quietly with Crookshanks in her lap. She looked up at the boys when they came and gave a weak hello.
"When did you get here? Didn't you see us out on the platform?" Ron asked.
"I didn't want to be rude and interrupt," Hermione replied and turned to look out the window. Anyone could tell that this was simply a pathetic excuse.
Before Ron could counter this, Harry quickly spoke up. "Look Hermione, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I was just being a self-centered stupid git. Not that that's a good excuse, but… well, I'm sorry."
Hermione didn't move. Harry couldn't tell if he upset her more or what. She turned back around and faced them with the most neutral of all expressions. For a moment or two, she just looked them. Finally Hermione smiled and said, "Apology accepted."
Harry smiled to himself; that went a lot better than he thought would. Hermione had changed a lot since they all first met. She wasn't nearly as overly sensitive about some things, and overall, it seemed as though her whole personality had softened some. Harry even noticed that she was, at that moment, wearing make-up. That's odd. Is she trying to impress someone or something?
Seeing that whatever had occurred was just resolved, Ron took the seat right next to Hermione and Harry right across from them. They rode in silence for a while as Harry tried to find the right way to tell his friends about the letters. After a bit, he figured there was no good way to break this news to them. Now or never…
"So, I've been receiving mysterious letters from Voldemort that have detailed descriptions of what I've been doing all summer as though he has been watching me," Harry blurted out as untactful as possible.
Harry would have thought their looks were priceless if the subject matter didn't have such dangerous implications. Ron had a look of disbelief with his mouth wide open and eyes bigger than hubcaps; Hermione had more of a subtle dear-caught-in-headlights look.
Silence… and then more silence.
Hermione's catatonic state was the first to wear off. "How did… I mean, when did you… why…" she was having trouble deciding what questions to ask after such an outburst.
"Huh?" Ron was back to normal as well.
"Wait wait wait. Start from the beginning and no paraphrasing," Hermione finally said.
Harry took a deep breath and began. He started with the day after his birthday when he got the first letter. Continuing in excruciating detail, he told them about the following correspondence. The whole time Hermione and Ron patiently listened and soaked in every tidbit. Harry had to stop every so often when other students popped in to say hi. Seamus and Dean stopped by to see if Harry had seen the new broom model at Quality Quidditch. The two seemed disappointed when he told them no; they probably had hoped that he had bought it to give the Gryffindor team more of an edge. Before they could ask any more questions, there was a small explosion from somewhere else on the train. Dean and Seamus left to investigate, and Harry finished his story after what seemed like an eternity.
"Oh, and my aunt is pregnant, so I will now live in the attic when I'm back home in the summer," he added.
"Have you told anyone else about all this?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Uncle Vernon just announced it a few days ago, so I haven't had a chance to tell anyone really," Harry answered.
"Not the baby, the letters!" Hermione said exasperated.
Herm
"I did tell Dumbledore the first time it happened, but I haven't told him about the rest or even my arm."
"How in the world is You-Know-Who able to do this? I thought Dumbledore had a ton of protections around your aunt and uncle's house," Ron said.
"I don't know. Whenever it happens, I look around the neighborhood but I never see anyone or anything out of the ordinary."
"Well, as soon as we get to Hogwarts, you need to go the Headmaster and tell him everything," Hermione ordered.
"Yeah, I will," Harry agreed.
Some students ran down the hall of the car. Judging from their yelling, something interesting must have been happening at the other end. Harry thought that it probably had something to do with Fred and George. Ron pulled him away from his thoughts with a question.
"So… your aunt's going to have a baby. How'd that happen?"
*****
The darkening sky and slowing of the train signaled that they had arrived at Hogsmeade Station. A myriad of students in black robes spilled out from the train and split into two groups, first years and the rest. A familiar voice boomed from the end of the platform where the first years were gathering.
"'Firs' years, over 'ere. C'mon now," Hagrid was herding all the new students to where he was. Harry stopped and waved frantically so that Hagrid would see him through the crowd. It took a bit, but the giant saw him and waved back. Satisfied, Harry caught up with his friends and got in one of the enchanted carriages that would take them up to the castle. Since there were four to a carriage, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ron's sister Ginny shared one. On the way to the castle, Ginny was telling them all the rumors she had heard about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"I heard some Ravenclaws saying that Snape finally got the job," Ginny told them. "But I somehow doubt that. Anyway, one of my friends told me that Dumbledore was going to teach it himself. That wouldn't be too bad. I'm sure he would be an excellent teacher. Fred and George tried to convince me that since we had a werewolf once, that we would now have a vampire."
"I seriously doubt that. In fact, I doubt any of those," Hermione said. "I am sure Dumbledore and Snape are too busy with Voldemort affairs, and a vampire teacher is perhaps the silliest thing I've ever heard of."
"Too bad we can't have Lupin again," Ron sighed.
"Yeah, that would be great," Harry added. "At least with him, we learned something."
The carriage came to a stop at the front steps of Hogwarts. Everyone got out of their carriages and made their way up the front steps and into the entrance hall. Candles were lit, illuminating the way to the Great Hall where the start-of-term feast was always held. All of the students came in and sat down at their designated house tables. There were four in all: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Harry's house, Gryffindor. As soon as all of the students and staff members were all in the Hall and in their proper places, Professor McGonagall went out to go bring the first years in to be sorted.
While they were sitting there, Harry and Ron were looking up and down the staff table to see who the new Dark Arts teacher was. They saw many familiar faces, including Snape's. Harry was slightly relieved to see that he looked just as displeased as usual; apparently, he was not given the coveted position. Harry pointed this out to Ron.
"That's all well and good, but then who's the new teacher? I don't see anyone new," Ron observed.
"Maybe Dumbledore'll announce who it is after dinner," suggested Harry.
At that moment, McGonagall walked in with the first years right behind. Once they got to the front of the hall, the first years stopped as McGonagall went to get the Sorting Hat to begin the Sorting Ceremony. Harry couldn't help but remember his own sorting, and the massive amounts of nervousness he felt. He remembered how he could've almost been in Slytherin but asked the Hat not to put him in there. That would've been something if I was put into Slytherin. That would support the theory that I am the next Dark Lord for sure. And being around Malfoy all the time, jeez! I probably would've put my head in a boiling cauldron by now.
Before everyone knew it, the ceremony was over, and it was time for some announcements. All of the students including the new ones sat down and turned their attention to the staff table. Dumbledore stood up and immediately there was silence. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Welcome back old students, and welcome first years. Once again, it is time for a new term to begin here at Hogwarts. Now, I know you all are rather famished after the long journey, but it is better to get formalities out of the way before the more enjoyable aspects of the evening. As usual, Mr. Filch has a sizable list of rules for you all to observe that includes the usual no magic in the hallways and in between classes. They will be posted in the main hall this year so that you may view them at your leisure. And also no one should go near or in the Forbidden Forest, hence the word "forbidden" in the name.
"Now for the bad news: there will not be any trips to Hogsmeade this year. I know that this is disappointing but some other recreation event will be planned in their place.
"Well, what else? Ah yes! There is a new member on the Hogwarts staff. As everyone may know, the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was left often open once again last year. We have hired a new teacher, but I am afraid that they are running a bit late. As soon as they arrive, an introduction will be made. Now without further ado, the feast!" Dumbledore clapped his hands and food magically appeared on the tables. Everyone began talking and eating, and soon the Great Hall was filled with a glorious noise.
"That stinks about the Hogsmeade trips," Ron said through a mouth of food. "How are we going to get our supplies of sweets this year?"
"Always thinking about the important things, aren't you?" Hermione said. "I wonder when our new teacher will get here."
Right as Hermione said this, the door to the Great Hall opened with a bang. All turned around to see who had just walked in. Harry, Hermione, and Ron did as well, and when they laid eyes on the newcomer, looks of convoluted surprise were frozen on their faces.
Author's Note: Man, do I suck or what! I know that everyone is going to hate me b/c of this, but maybe if I had planned out where I am trying to go with this (ultimately), this horrible cliffhanger would not have occurred. Oh well. That's why they have review thingies. Anywho, sorry for the long wait. Christmas was less than productive and now classes have begun again. Taking a "lighter load" does not mean I have more time to do stuff apparently. No matter. Just remember that reviews do help me to post more often. Special thanks to Agent 99 and Ice Queen; your pleas for another chapter actually got me off my lazy bum. Hey and everyone swing by and read Agent 99's fic, "Harry Potter and the Flesh of the Jade Guardian" and any of Camille's (I hope you're doing ok!) Wow this is the first time I've really named names in my AN. Nifty. I guess I should thank my beta Rebecca, so thanks! Alrighty, I have to go to class. Fun fun fun… Or a lack thereof. Until next time, you've got to know your chicken!
