Dumbledore was extremely relieved when the beginning of the new school year came, and all the Hogwarts students were back in the castle. Throughout the whole of the holidays, he was half expecting Voldemort to spring up out of nowhere, and destroy him and the school without word or warning. It would take a while to gather the chosen few to be ready for Voldemort's attacks, those who were alive were by now scattered worldwide. Of course, Dumbledore was in constant contact with them all, but he couldn't just summon them all to Hogwarts with a click of his fingers.

He sat through the sorting, more distracted than usual. These first years were so innocent in the ways of the wizarding world; even the purebloods among them weren't completely aware of Voldemort's strength and terror. No, this year Dumbledore was much more interested in the Hogwarts fifth years that the first years.

He scanned the house tables while everyone was eating the start of year feast, going over all the names of the fifth years in his head. He prided himself on his memory and knowledge of the school; he could name, and knew, every student in the school, without having to look down house lists or registers. He was glad to see that everyone was there, looking just like they had done last year, apart from their being slightly taller.

He looked intently at the Gryffindor table, where Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was sitting with his best friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Dumbledore knew it couldn't be Granger – she was from a completely muggle background, but perhaps Severus had been right when he had said that it was strange that Harry was in the "chosen" year. Then again, the Weasleys were all purebloods, as were several other members of the fifth year…

Dumbledore glanced over to the Slytherin table, and immediately spotted who he was looking for. With white blond hair, Draco Malfoy always stood out from the crowd. Flanked, as usual, by his two "friends" Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, he looked extremely weak and vulnerable. This, however, was certainly not true, as the Malfoys were one of the most powerful and pure wizarding families in history. Dumbledore did wonder about whether Draco might be one of the two; he was definitely a pureblood, and he was clever, even though he didn't always show it. Perhaps him and Parkinson, Dumbledore thought, looking over to a fifth year Slytherin girl, Pansy Parkinson. That would make sense… oh well, only time will tell…

***

It was Ron who first spotted the notice that was pinned to the Gryffindor notice board:

Notice to all GRYFFINDOR fifth years

Please may the following students come to the hospital wing at the end of lessons on Friday. Explanations will be given there and then

R. Weasley

H. Potter

N. Longbottom

E. Male

J. Murphy

P. Patil

'What do you think this is about?' Ron asked, showing Harry and Hermione the message.

'Dunno…' Harry said, 'but it's an odd mix. Hermione, you're not there, and neither are Seamus or Dean, or those other Gryffindor girls…'

'It's the purebloods…' Hermione said after staring intently at the message for several minutes. 'You and Harry both had magical parents, so did Neville, and I've heard Emma and Judith talking about what their parents do in the Ministry.  Both my parents are muggles, same as Dean. Lavender and Seamus are half and half.'

Harry and Ron were satisfied by this explanation, but it didn't shed any light on why they had to go to the hospital wing.

***

At the end of Herbology on Friday afternoon, Harry and Ron said goodbye to Hermione at the foot of the staircase in the entrance hall before heading off to the hospital wing.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were already there, but there were no Slytherins yet. Everyone was talking in excited whispers, and everyone seemed to be asking the same question: 'What are we doing here?'

'I hope there not making us do something special…' Harry heard Neville say to the three pureblood Gryffindor girls, Parvati, Emma and Judith. 'I don't think I want to do something special…'

Neville stopped speaking as the Slytherins appeared in the hospital wing. There definitely seemed to be more from Slytherin than any of the other houses, which wasn't that surprising as the founder of Slytherin, Salazar, had always favoured purebloods.

'I'm surprised you've been asked, Potter.' Draco, who had led the Slytherins into the room, said as he spotted Harry and Ron. 'I'm amazed they'd call you a pureblood, wasn't your mother a mudblood?'

'Don't insult my mother, Malfoy.' Harry said, trying to take a step towards Draco, but Ron held him back.

'I'm amazed you actually worked out that it was the purebloods who have been asked for, Malfoy.' Ron said. 'You would actually need a brain to work that one out… that must mean you have one! God, I'd never realised that before!'

'Very funny, Weasel, very funny. You keep that up, you might be able to become a comedian when you leave Hogwarts. That way, you might be able to earn a bit of money, if you know what that is, of course.'

Ron would have told Draco to do something, but at that moment Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey entered the room, so he didn't speak, but just glared at the blond boy.

'Now, you're probably wondering why you're all hear, and I owe you an explanation.' Dumbledore said to the congregated fifth years. Everyone fell silent and turned to look at the headmaster.  'The truth is that there is a nasty, infectious virus going around, and Madam Pomfrey would like to take a small blood sample from you all so she can see if anyone's got it.' Dumbledore knew this was a complete lie, but he had used the same excuse all the other times, and no one had questioned him before. He got the blood samples from Poppy, analysed them, found the two students, summoned them to his office to explain things to them properly, and told all the other students that had been tested that they did not have the virus.

'Why aren't you testing everyone?' Neville asked timidly. Harry and Ron were surprised; they never thought Neville would dare to ask any teacher a question, never mind the head of the school.

'Because, Mr. Longbottom, this virus can only be caught by purebloods.' Dumbledore explained. He had been asked than question before, and had always given that answer in reply. It all made perfect sense to him, so it should do to everyone else. 'Any more questions?' He asked the students. They all shook their heads. 'Fine! Now, everyone make an orderly line, and go and see Madam Pomfrey one by one. She'll take some blood, give you some chocolate, and you can go.'

Madam Pomfrey curtained off one cubicle, and disappeared inside it. The first student, a Ravenclaw boy, went in with her. About a minute later, he came out again, and the next student was called in. Several of the students, mostly the girls, seemed to have gone slightly pale, and Harry and Ron could hear them muttering things like: 'this means needles. I hate needles!'

Neville had also gone rather pale, but this didn't surprise anyone. Harry was sure Neville would be scared of the tooth fairy if he ever met her.

More surprising was Draco Malfoy. He too seemed to have gone even paler than usual, and the gleeful, jaunty look that was usually in his eyes had been replaced with a look of fear, verging on sheer terror.

Harry spotted this and pointed it out to Ron. 'Looks like Dragon Boy is scared of needles.' Harry whispered. Dragon Boy had been his and Ron's nickname for Draco ever since they found out, in the summer holidays, that Draco was actually Latin for dragon.

Draco also spent a considerably longer time with Madam Pomfrey than anyone else had so far. When he emerged from the cubicle about 5 minutes later, Harry and Ron couldn't help noticing that his face was tearstained and his eyes were bloodshot. He hurried out of the hospital wing and down to the dungeons, not waiting for Crabbe and Goyle, and purposefully looking down at the floor to avoid Harry and Ron's eyes.

It was then Harry's turn, and he disappeared into the cubicle. 'Sit on the bed, dear.' Madam Pomfrey said, flicking her wand so that a rather large needle came flying out of a box on the floor and hovered at her side. 'You'll feel a slight prick, and that's it.' She said, and with another flick of her wand, the left sleeve of Harry's robes rolled themselves up, and the needle inserted itself into Harry's arm. It drew up a small bit of blood, before drawing itself out of the arm, and coming to rest on the bedside table. A pen immediately starting writing "H. Potter, Gryffindor" on the needle, and Harry was given a huge slab of chocolate before saying the results would be ready by next week and letting him go.