Harry Potter and the Test of Time
Chapter 5 – End of Normalcy
Since there were only two and a half weeks left until the start of term Dumbledore insisted that the three Gryffindors stay at Hogwarts. The trio was only too happy to accept Dumbledore's offer and immediately moved into Gryffindor tower. Sirius and Remus stayed at Hogwarts as well but for completely different reasons. Remus was going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again and needed to start setting up for his lessons. Sirius stayed to be near Harry and so that Dumbledore could keep an eye on him until his trial.
The first few days the trio spent exploring the castle and finishing homework (Hermione's Orders). They didn't venture outside much because it had been nothing but torrential downpour since Harry's first day out of the Hospital wing. Finally, after being at Hogwarts for a long and boring week Remus invited the trio to join him in Diagon Alley so that they could get their school stuff while he picked up a few things for class.
But time's a continuous motion and eventually the clock landed upon September the first. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent their last day of freedom running around the castle and helping Remus to finish setting up the classroom. They were on a mission to find the Huffelpuff common room when they realized that the rest of the student body was arriving and they needed to be in the Great Hall. When they got to the Great Hall they noticed the others already entering so they just filed in with them.
"Hey Dean, Semus, Neville." Harry greeted as he took his usual seat at the Gryffindor table.
"Hey Harry!...Ron, Hermione." Semus greeted
"Where were you three? I didn't see you on the train." Dean commented.
"We were there…we were just hidden." Hermione replied.
"Oh…ok."
"Their conversation was stopped as the doors to the Great Hall opened and McGonagall led the first years in. They watched the yearly ritual of the sorting of the first years into the four houses applauding when necessary. Even thought Harry had only really been present to two before this one, and one being his own, he was still pretty attentive whereas the novelty had worn off for everyone else. When all the new students had been sorted Dumbledore gave his traditional pre-feast speech of gibberish and everyone dug into their food.
"Well so far the year is starting off pretty normal." Ron commented in-between bites of food.
"Really I wonder how long the normalness will last?" Harry joked.
"Dunno." Dean added joining their conversation.
Soon enough they were all full of sweets and meats and the golden plates were returned to their normal glimmering state. The Hall fell silent and obediently faced the front where Dumbledore was rising to his feet.
"Welcome to yet another wonderful year. I trust you all emptied your minds plenty over the holidays and are ready to fill them up yet again. But before you begin learning some of you need to be reminded of the rules and some need to hear them for the first time. The forbidden forest is off limits to all, especially since the unfortunate occurrence last year." Here Dumbledore paused and gazed around the hall before continuing. "Also it has come to my attention that each house has positions to fill on their Quidditch teams. If you wish to join please see you house team captain which are as follows. Mr. Draco Malfoy for Slytherin, Ms. Emma Fitzpatrick for Huffelpuff, Ms. Cho Chang for Ranvenclaw, and Mr. Harry Potter for Gryffindor."
The Gryffindor table cheered quite loudly when Harry was introduced as the Quidditch captain and took some time to calm down afterwards.
"Yes, Yes I know you are all very proud of your house teams but I must state one more thing before I let you all march to bed."
Dumbledore was about to continue when suddenly the doors to the Great Hall were flung open with a deafening bang. Instantly the attention of the whole halls was redirected to the entranceway.
"So much for normal." Dean mumbled.
There in the door way stood two figures sopping wet and each carrying a broom.
"Sorry we're late Headmaster." The one called as they began to advance further into the Hall. Once they were in the Hall and the doors were closed they each cast a spell that dried them instantly and revealed to girls. Each girl wore plain black robes over what looked like muggle jeans and sweaters. The one girl's hair was a deep auburn color, poker straight and fell down to her waist. The other girl had soft chocolate colored curls with streaks of red randomly throughout her hair.
"Quite alright ladies. If you would please proceed to the head table." Dumbledore replied to their apology.
As they walked past the house tables everyone got a better look at not only them but their brooms. The brooms were longer then most brooms and seemed to be silver in color but upon closer inspection they only had a sliver tinge to the wood. Upon the handle in midnight blue script was the name Silver Star 5000. One look and Harry cold tell that this broom was brand new yet he had never even heard of it before.
Finally the girls reached the head table and stood in front of the Headmaster.
"We're terribly sorry Professor…" The red head began.
"But the weather, and the distance…"
"There was no way we could have made the train in time…"
"Besides we forgot to factor in the time difference…" The other girl finished ending their continued stretch of speaking.
"Quite alright, do not fret. Professor Lupin would you and Snuffles be so kind as to show these two ladies to my office I'd like to have a chat with them. I trust you remember the password?" Dumbledore instructed.
"Yes Albus." Remus answered getting up and leading the mystery girls out of the Great Hall.
Once the girls were out of the Great Hall once again Dumbledore resumed his speech as if nothing had happened.
"Yes as I was saying…I will warn you all to be extra safe this year as the threat of darkness grows and I beg you all to keep from repeating a tragedy like last year. Now off to bed all of you, tomorrow will be a busy day."
* * *
The group silently made their way up to the Headmasters office all lost in their thoughts. The dog trailing behind the group was sniffing like mad, not believing the sent he was picking up. The wolf, picking up on the dog's sniffing, was also picking up the sent that was floating through the air. When they reached the Headmasters office they all sat down and stared. As they sat snuffles walked up to the girls to closer inspect them.
"Cute dog." The red head commented.
"Looks older though, how old is he?" the curly aired girl inquired.
"He's a stray I found about three years ago." Remus replied, "But he was a little banged up when I found him."
They lapsed into silence yet again but it was soon broken by the sound of the stone gargoyle moving out of the way for the headmaster. Seconds later the door opened and the aging headmaster strode in with an even brighter twinkle in his eyes.
"Ah yes…our late arrivers. Your brooms are ones I have not seen before." Dumbledore commented as he entered the room.
"They're Silver Stars, American made. Almost exactly like the Firebolt but a bit faster and better balance." The red head answered.
"I do hope you plan on putting them to good use this year?"
Of course we do!" The other answered excitedly.
"Very well Mr. Potter will be pleased."
Remus looked to snuffles and saw the same confused look upon his dog features. Why would Harry be pleased? As far as they both knew Harry didn't know these girls.
"Well now I believe an introduction is in store, for the rest of the room, as well as an explanation of what happened for me if you please." Dumbledore requested.
"Of course my name is Elizabeth Rose Lupin and this is my twin sister Evelyn Ivy Lupin." The curly haired girl responded.
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Ok I know a bit of a cliffy. Now the question is, is it really Eve and Elizabeth and if it is what happened? Sorry about the shortness of the chapters lately but I promise the next one will be longer. I'm going to try to get the chapters out on a regular basis but I'm getting a little busy right now but give me another three weeks and then I'll be free to hopefully write more often. ENJOY!
~Autumn