Author's Note: I'm sorry this took so long to update, but I really did not feel like writing at all. Then, my parents wouldn't let me go on the Internet, which put me in a really bad mood. Since I took so long in updating, I decided to make it longer than my previous chapters. Anyway, I'd like to inform you all that I got my first flame. I want to take this time to thank/scathingly answer my reviewers, who were:
Chibi-Chingo- I fixed that little mistake at the end. It is now "That thought lingered in his mind as he watched the sky brighten, and noon slowly approached." Thanks for telling me!
Raven Lovelace- You're an idiot. You flame without reading, insult other reviewers, and say that this is a Mary Sue, when it might not be. I've decided that it probably won't be a Mary Sue. You know what that means? That means that you are completely incorrect!
CoLdBlAcKfLaMeS- I don't think that Raven Lovelace was talking about you, even though I wouldn't be surprised if he/she was. After all, they were stupid enough to flame a story without even reading it. She was probably talking about gothendergirl666 and cyk753.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for Trill Destanya, who I am claiming to be mine. I also own this plot, so HA! Okay, sorry 'bout that. Anyway. . .
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"Surprise!"
"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!! What are you guys doing? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Harry Potter had just been woken up by the Weasley's at exactly 12:00 am on July 31st, his birthday. It was actually a good thing that they had woken him up, because he was having another dream about what had happened the previous year. A student, Cedric Diggory had been murdered by Lord Voldemort. (A/N: He was actually killed by Wormtail *argh*, but Dumbledore said it was Voldemort who killed him.) Harry was staying at the Weasley's house for the last half of summer, because Professor Dumbledore had allowed him to go back
"Happy birthday!" the Weasleys all shouted.
The Weasleys included Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Fred, George, Ron- his best friend, and Ginny, who had a huge crush on him. They had decided to get him something for his birthday. Harry then noticed that there was somebody in the crowd that didn't have red hair like the Weasleys did. This somebody happened to have bushy hair, brown eyes, and recently straightened front teeth.
"Hermione? What are you doing here?" Harry asked her in surprise.
"Well, I got here at around 11:00 pm. You had gone to sleep, so I came here by Floo powder for your birthday." she explained. "Never mind all that, just open your presents!"
Harry opened the presents that he had received and thanked everybody. He got a wand polishing kit from Hermione, because of the Wand Weighing ceremony that he had to endure last year. Ron gave him a practice snitch that never went out of a certain boundary. Fred and George gave him some prank foods that they were going to sell at their joke shop that they had opened that summer. They wanted him to test them on somebody. Harry had an idea that he would try to test it on Draco Malfoy, his archenemy. Ginny also gave him a present, a stuffed heart that sang about love every time he pushed it.
After Harry thanked them all profusely, everybody went back to bed. Just as Hermione was about to leave the room, Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard a tapping noise at the window. Ron rushed over to find two owls at the window. He opened the door and they soared in gracefully, landing across the room from Pigwidgeon, who was making a huge racket. They landed next to Hedwig, who looked as though she was trying to prove to the other owls that she was acting like how a proper owl should act. The other two were doing the same, as if agreeing with her, which they probably did.
Harry went over to them to see what they had brought, and found that the large grey owl had four letters tied to its leg. One was addressed to Ron, one to Hermione, and two to himself. One that was addressed to him was his Hogwarts letter, while the other one was from Hagrid. The other owl, which was a small tawny one, had a letter from Sirius, his godfather. Once he took the letters, both of the owls immediately flew off.
He first opened the one from Sirius, eager to see what he had written. He let Ron and Hermione read it too. The letter said:
Dear Harry,
Happy birthday!
I hope you're having a good summer. Buckbeak and I are back in hiding. We decided to leave the place that we had been before, just in case the dementors decided to come back. I'll try to see you either before the break ends at Arthur and Molly Weasley's house, but if I can't, then I might see you at Hogwarts. Well, I have a little more work left to do for Dumbledore. Hope to see you soon.
Sirius
P.S. There is a birthday present for you enclosed inside. By the way, I made them myself. When you're a Marauder, you have to be able to make things like this. After all, we were banned from most of the stores in Hogsmeade, because we made too much trouble in them, at one time or another. Hope you like them. I have some advice for you: Use them well.
Harry looked inside the envelope and found a huge bag of homemade dungbombs. The envelope had been made to hold more than it normally could. Because of this, everything was able to fit inside it easily. He broke into a grin, thinking that Malfoy would enjoy having the dungbombs blown up in his face, along with tasting the prank food that Fred and George had given him. He took them out to show Ron and Hermione.
When Ron saw what Sirius had given him, a sudden dreamy look crossed his face, as though he was thinking about how they would use them. Hermione had a look of disapproval on her face, knowing what Ron was probably thinking about. She sighed, being aware that they would all get into a lot of trouble if they used them.
Harry then carefully opened the letter from Hagrid, hoping that whatever he gave him wouldn't be something too dangerous. He first read the letter that said in Hagrid's messy scrawl:
Dear Harry,
Happy birthday!
Hope you like the gift I gave you. I know that Hedwig will like it.
See you at Hogwarts. Visit me at my house when you get here.
All the best,
Hagrid
He cautiously looked inside to see what Hagrid had given him. He was surprised to see that it didn't look dangerous at all. In fact, it was only a box of Owl Treats that were specially formed to look like tiny mice. He then understood why Hagrid thought that Hedwig would like it.
Harry was about to open the box to give one to Hedwig, but the moment the box was slightly opened, he heard squeaking sounds. It appeared as though the treats were alive! When Hedwig heard the squeaking the treats were making, she immediately flew over to see what Harry was doing. He warily took one of the treats out; afraid of what it might do, considering that it was from Hagrid. The treat bit his hand right away, causing Harry to throw it across the room, at Pigwidgeon, who dived for the treat. Pigwidgeon instantaneously flew away, because the treat had clawed at him, trying to keep the tiny owl away from itself.
Hedwig looked at Pigwidgeon disdainfully and went after the treat herself. She went swiftly and quietly, so as to surprise the odd treat. She also snuck up on it from behind. The treat didn't hear or see her, so it had basically no chance of being able to fight. Hedwig quickly swooped up when she caught it in her talons. The treat stopped squeaking and moving once she had caught it. It seemed like it had been made to put up a fight until the last moment, which is when it was caught. Hedwig glanced at Pigwidgeon, who was looking sulky for not being able to get the treat. Hedwig gave him a superior look and ate the treat right in front of him, which made Pigwidgeon even more resentful.
Finally, they all opened their Hogwarts letters. Harry read his and looked at it in confusion. Hermione looked smug, because she had been declared a prefect, something that she had been aspiring to become ever since their first year. Ron just looked at his letter, shaking his head, because of all the books that they needed to buy.
"Well, did any of you guys get to be a prefect too?" Hermione questioned.
"Hermione, do you actually think that I would have become a prefect? You probably did, though." Ron said, looking at Hermione as though she were crazy.
"What? What did you guys say?" Harry asked, seeming to be dazed.
"Hermione just asked if either of us became a prefect. I was just asking her if she had suddenly lost all her marbles. So, did you become a prefect anyway?"
"What? Oh, um...yeah, I did. I have no idea how, but I did. But . . ." was his dubious answer.
"Oh, come on. What's wrong? Just tell us." Hermione said, getting impatient.
"Well, it asks if I could be at the Leaky Cauldron this afternoon at 3:00 pm. Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore will be there, along with two other people. I have to reply to them, but I don't know if I can go. Ron, do you think that your parents will let me go tomorrow?"
"They probably will, but if they can't drive you there, you could probably go by Floo powder. We could go ask them right now. They probably haven't fallen asleep yet."
"All right, if they're awake, we'll ask. If they're not, I'll ask them tomorrow."
All three of them left Ron's room to go ask Mr. and Mrs. Weasley if Harry could go. They quietly padded down to their room and found that they weren't in their room. They all wondered where they had gone when they heard a clatter from downstairs. They quickly went down the stairs and saw that there was a light on in the kitchen. They peeked into the kitchen to see who was inside and found that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were making something. They stepped into the kitchen, startling the two that were working.
"Oh! Hello dears. What are you all doing here? You should be up in bed." said a surprised Mrs. Weasley.
"Er...well, we just wanted to know if I could go to the Leaky Cauldron for a meeting with Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and two other people. Er . . .what are you guys doing?" a confused Harry said.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked as though they had suddenly gone through a storm of flour. Somehow, they had spilled flour all over the floor. They were also both dusted with flour from head to toe. It seemed that in one hour they were able to create a sort of chaos in their kitchen.
"Well, this was supposed to be a surprise, but we were making a homemade cake for you. Since it's your birthday, we wanted to make it without using any magic, but it seems to be very difficult. I really don't know how these muggles bake anything at all!" Mr. Weasley said, looking abashed.
"Dear, you can barely bake anything, even using magic." Mrs. Weasley reminded him.
"That's not necessarily true! You're only saying that because you never let me-" Mr. Weasley suddenly stopped, quelling under the look that his wife was giving him. "I mean...that- You are absolutely correct!" he said with a charming smile.
"Hmmm..." was her sceptical answer.
"Er...Thanks for trying to make a cake for me. Er . . . I don't want to interrupt, but I wanted to know if I could go or not."
"What was that you said? Oh, yes. Of course you can go! In fact, we'll all go tomorrow. You three, Fred, George, and Ginny all need to get next year's school supplies. Now off to bed, you three. You three need to get your sleep for tomorrow." She then turned around to clean up the mess that they had created.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned around to leave, Mrs. Weasley called after them. "Harry, do you mind if your cake is made with magic instead of the muggle way?"
"Er...of course not. I don't mind at all. Well, goodnight."
After everybody said goodnight to each other, they went to bed. However, before Harry went to bed, he quickly wrote out a letter, saying that he could go to the Leaky Cauldron at 3:00 the next day, and gave it to Hedwig. The last thought that lingered in his mind was how he had become a prefect, despite breaking so many rules.
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At The Leaky Cauldron:
Draco Malfoy arrived at the Leaky Cauldron with his father first, about half an hour early. Lucius had wanted to make sure that they weren't late for the meeting. His father and him used Floo Powder to get to Diagon Alley, and then went out to the Leaky Cauldron. They didn't want to go through the London underground to get to the famous pub.
When they arrived there, Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape greeted them. It appeared as though they had been there for a while, because Dumbledore immediately went back to the conversation that he had been having with Tom, the landlord. Snape looked as though he wanted to kill somebody, while McGonagall came across as being bored out of her mind, despite the conversation that she was trying to have with Snape. Draco guessed that that was why Snape looked ready to murder somebody.
When Snape saw Draco, he decided to leave McGonagall to talk with Draco a bit. Draco was his favourite student, not only because he was in Slytherin, but also because he was the smartest of all the Slytherins in his year. For some strange reason, all of the Slytherins that were going into their fifth year weren't too bright, while the second year students seemed perfectly normal. (A/N: No offence, but Lucius said that Draco's grades weren't doing too well in the second book.)
"Hello Draco. It's nice to see you again. So, what did you do over the summer?" said Snape.
Draco looked at him and answered politely. His lord, Voldemort, believed that he had decided to return to them, so his father naturally trusted him. After all, they had been friends at Hogwarts, and while they were Death Eaters fourteen years before. Draco, on the other hand, wasn't exactly sure of what he thought of him. He knew that it was very difficult to deceive the Dark Lord.
After about fifteen minutes of being there, Draco saw a lot of people enter the Leaky Cauldron. To be specific, he saw six redheads, one bushy haired girl, and a black haired boy. When he saw all of them, he sneered, thinking that they were going to get their supplies for school.
Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George all went through the London Underground, because Mr. Weasley had been begging to go through there. He was obsessed with things that had to do with Muggles, so he had immediately wanted to go through there. Therefore, they all had to put up with going the long way to the Leaky Cauldron.
Fred and George had been laughing most of the trip. The reason for their laughter was all the odd things that the Muggles had thought up of doing. However, their father, who said that Muggles had to somehow make up for not having any magic, scolded them.
When they all went into the Leaky Cauldron and saw Lucius and Draco Malfoy, they immediately wondered what they were doing there, especially since it seemed as though they were going to stay there for a while. As soon as they entered, Professor Dumbledore paused the conversation that he had been having with Tom, and went over to greet them. Professor McGonagall also said hello to them, and decided to talk to Hermione, who was very happy to talk with her. All that Snape did was nod to them, as if acknowledging that they were there. However, he didn't say anything to them.
Dumbledore said to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy, "The other professors and I are going to have to speak to Harry alone, along with Draco and a young lady that is coming from America. Therefore, you all should probably leave. This is something that I believe that we should speak to them alone about. However, it is very likely that they will want to tell you about it later, but please make sure that you do not pressure them to speak about what we are going to talk about." He waited to see what their replies would be.
Mr. Weasley and Lucius simply nodded their heads, while Mrs. Weasley looked over at Harry, who was talking to Ron about Quidditch. She loudly announced that they would all be leaving, except for Harry, who needed to stay for a while. They left the Leaky Cauldron, agreeing to return in two hours.
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Meanwhile...
"Trill! Hurry up and get down here! It's nearly nine o'clock!" Mrs. Destanya hollered from the bottom steps.
Trill was upstairs, trying to decide which clothes she would wear to go to Diagon Alley. She found that all of her clothes were black, while her jewellery had been changed to silver. For her top, she decided to wear a long-sleeved shirt that flared out at the elbow. She wore a skirt that went down just above her knees, along with her knee-high boots. Trill decided to put on a few bracelets and a pair of dangling earrings, which had a silver teardrop at the end.
When she heard her mother yell at her, she stormed down the stairs. At that exact time, a man suddenly appeared in the middle of their living room. This man wasn't any ordinary man. Quite the contrary, he was a giant of a man. Her mother started to scream, but the man interrupted her.
"Sorry fer startlin' yeh, miss. I'm here to take Trill Destanya to Diagon Alley. Sorry if I'm a bit late, but I had to stop somewhere on me way here. Anyway, are yeh ready yet?" He paused to see how they would react. When he saw both Trill and her mother looking at him in shock, he added, "Oh, by the way, me name's Rubeus Hagrid. Call me Hagrid. I'm a teacher and keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts. Ready to go, then?"
"Excuse me? Do you actually expect me to allow my daughter to go with you, of all people? What kind of-" Mrs. Destanya was practically shouting before she was interrupted.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go. Don't worry, mom. I'm sure I'm gonna be fine. So, what do I have to do to leave?"
"All yeh have to do is touch this here portkey. It'll take us to Diagon Alley, where we'll meet up with Dumbledore."
Trill touched the rubber tire, waiting for something to happen. Hagrid explained to her that they would leave in about a minute. Suddenly, they disappeared, and reappeared at the Leaky Cauldron, where two young men were surprised to see her there.
"Wow! Well, that was fun. I wanna do that again sometime." Trill exclaimed while picking herself off the floor. "So, what am I here for, anyway?"
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The next chapter should explain most of the plot. So, how was it? Was it good or not? Please review. I don't want to get down on my knees and beg, but... *gets down on knees* Please! Please! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll wuv you fo'eve' an' eve'. Thank you for reading... and REVIEWING!!!!!!!! ;)
