Chapter 6 – Returning to Hogwarts

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The morning of September the first dawned dismal and cold, heralding the arrival of autumn. Despite the early morning chill, the residents of the Burrow were a flurry of activity.

Everyone woke to the sound and smell of Mrs. Weasley's magical cooking, and stumbled bleary-eyed down the stairs into the kitchen. They quickly grabbed toast with jam and mugs of hot tea before bolting back upstairs for trunks, owls, and assorted knick-knacks.

In all the chaos Harry managed to step on Crookshanks, bang Hedwig's cage against the banister, and run into Ginny, who was returning his Egyptian amulet after he'd left it on the sofa the night before.

After the usual insanity of cramming eight people, six trunks, four brooms, two owls, and bandy-legged cat in a basket into a pair of sleek, black, Ministry cars – which Mr. Weasley had borrowed from work - they started for London, Kings Cross Station and the Hogwarts Express.

~*~

At ten minutes till eleven, everyone slid through the barrier between platforms nine and ten and onto the wizarding Platform nine and three- quarters. Mrs. Weasley hugged each of them just before they boarded the scarlet steam engine, wishing them luck with the new term and threatening Fred and George to do well on their N.E.W.T.S. or else.

Once they boarded the train the twins sheared off from the others to join their friend Lee Jordan and see whatever new creature he'd managed to sneak on the train. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione moved toward the end of the train in search of an empty compartment.

As the train lurched into motion, Harry pulled out a couple of books and started reading. Over the summer he'd cajoled Professor Lupin or one of the older Weasleys to return to Flourish and Blotts for him several more time and buy more books on Merlin, but he wasn't any closer to finding the Heir or even a name to work with. Professor Lupin had seemed strangely suspicious of his sudden obsession and Sirius had told him to leave it alone several times. That only made him more curious. He suspected they knew far more than they were telling him.

Meanwhile, the book search was frustrating. Many books mentioned Merlin and his achievements; very few mentioned his family. Even Hermione had trouble gleaning much from the references.

Ginny picked up the second book Harry had retrieved from his bag. The sturdy cover had begun to show some wear from being dragged all over. "Vox Veritas Argentum," she read off the cover before opening it to flip through the pages. "Sounds like some sort of spell."

"Not a spell," Harry corrected, barely glancing up from his book. "It's someone who can talk to magical beasts."

"Like Parseltongue then?" Ron asked dubiously, joining the conversation. Parseltongue – the magical ability to speak to snakes - was considered the mark of a Dark wizard by most of the magical community. The fact that Harry was a Parselmouth only made it marginally better in Ron's opinion.

"Sort of. But it's a lot more rare, apparently. There's only been one in the past thousand years: Merlin. Several books mention it. That one's the only one that really explains it, though."

"Do you think this Heir person is one then?" Ron asked. "That would make You-Know-Who go after them, wouldn't it?"

Hermione shook her head. "Probably not, Ron. After all, Merlin lived over a thousand years ago! There may have been over twenty Heirs since then. They can't all be Vox Veritas Argentum."

"Then why's You-Know-Who after them?" Ron countered. "There has to be a reason, Hermione."

"What about the Amulet?" Ginny asked, turning to Harry. "You said You- Know-Who wanted some sort of Amulet in your dream - Echidna or something. What does it do?"

"Achidnae." Harry corrected, leaning forward and flipping to a page in the book Ginny held. "It's listed here."

'The Amulet of Achidnae disappeared from public view twenty years before its creator's demise. This artifact, quite possibly one of the wizard Merlin's greatest works, bestows its wielder with the power to control any magical beast. However, only a witch or wizard with the blood of Merlin may use it safely. Similar to the sword Excalibur (see pg. 516), the Amulet is sealed to Merlin's line by blood-pact. Any other bloodline using the Amulet brings a soul-blight, the equivalent of the Dementors' Kiss. It is suspected Merlin instilled this quality as a security measure.'

"That sounds like Dark Magic, that does." Ron swallowed uncomfortably and Hermione nodded her agreement. "Dad's told us about some of the Dark objects he sees at work. That thing sounds worse than most." Ron sounded as though he thought they should give the scheme up now and let Dumbledore handle it. Harry, privately, began to agree when Ginny surprisingly piped up.

"I don't thing the Heir's a Dark wizard, Ron." The others looked at her strangely and she blushed but continued. "What about things like dementors or basilisks or even werewolves? What if the dementors left Azkaban? They can't be killed and not everyone can create a Patronus. Wouldn't it be good to have someone around that could control those creatures? That must be why Merlin created the Amulet!" Ginny concluded. "Merlin wasn't a Dark wizard, but he must have know about them and probably didn't want someone like You-Know-Who or Salazar Slytherin using the Amulet, so he bonded it to his family."

The other three regarded the youngest Weasley with surprise. "You," Ron grinned, "have been spending too much time around Hermione."

~*~

The rhythmic sway and clatter of the Hogwarts Express nearly lulled Harry to sleep as they journeyed through the Scottish countryside. He set his book aside and stretched a bit before picking it back up. Harry flipped idly through the pages, frustrated that the answer was so elusive. At least with Flamel, he thought, they'd had a name to go on.

His eyes wandered about the compartment, sliding quickly away from his two best friends, who were splitting their time between light quarreling and sitting rather close in complete silence. For some reason he found himself a bit uncomfortable with whatever was going on between them. Besides, Harry found his seatmate more interesting, as he caught himself casting surreptitious glances toward her. Ginny, happily curled up with one of his other books, remained oblivious to Harry's attention as she idly split her time stroking Crookshanks and turning pages.

A sudden muffled shout followed by painful sounding thump drew them all to the door and a brewing fight.

"Come on, Longbottom, I'm just going to prove that he flies better than you do." They heard Malfoy drawl and saw him moving toward an open window with Neville's toad dangling by one leg.

"No! Trevor!" Neville shouted, struggling madly between Crabbe and Goyle, who were watching and chuckling evilly.

"Give that here, Malfoy!" Harry demanded, pushing by Crabbe and holding out his hand. Ron barreled through right behind him, eyes hard. Malfoy sneered nastily but stepped back.

"Don't you want to see the Squib's pet fly, Potter?"

"No. Now give it here!" Harry yelled, stepping closer.

"Why don't you follow the flying toad then?" Malfoy grinned. Before Harry closed the distance Malfoy tossed Trevor out the window! Hermione screamed and lunged forward, almost losing her wand in the process.

"Accio, Trevor!" Ginny shouted, pulling the shell-shocked toad smoothly back through the window and into her hands. She turned and trained her wand on Malfoy. Malfoy suddenly found three threatening wands trained on his pointed nose; five, once Hermione reawakened the fainted Neville with a quick: "Enervate."

Malfoy's face darkened as Crabbe and Goyle reluctantly rejoined him and the three edged toward the door. "You'll get yours, Potter," he snarled. "The Dark Lord has returned and this year we won't have some freak for a Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher! We'll see how you fare with someone of proper wizarding blood."

"Malfoy, either make sense or leave," Hermione snapped. "Or better yet, just leave! How would you know who's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?"

"It's Rowan Myfanwy." He smirked. "Father says she even treats our family like Mudbloods and makes us look like paupers." He glanced pointedly at Ron's rather shabby robes and sneered at Hermione. "Imagine what she'll think of you." Malfoy stalked out of the car, trailing his twin trolls and the five relaxed.

"Is the new teacher really Rowan Myfanwy?" Neville asked worriedly, clutching Trevor and shaking.

"Professor Lupin told us she is," Harry confirmed as he and Ron exchanged a look, both remembering Sirius' reaction to the news. Hermione caught the look and shook her head in annoyance.

"Honestly!" She chided. "Why are you trusting Malfoy? Professor Myfanwy's brilliant! She developed the Wolfsbane Potion and Dumbledore hired her! How bad can she be?"

"Snape's brilliant at potions too, Hermione," Ginny pointed out quietly. "And Dumbledore hired Lockhart and Moody."

"And Quirrell!" Ron added stubbornly. "So we could be getting a vampire this time!"

"Morgaine wasn't a vampire, Ron!" Hermione argued. "That's Professor Myfanwy's sister and she didn't seem horrid, did she?" Hermione sounded the faintest bit insulted over how much Ron and the other boys hadn't found Morgaine Myfanwy horrid. "In fact she seemed quite . . . nice."

Yes, Harry thought silently, Morgaine Myfanwy seemed very nice. But his mother, Lily Potter, had also been very nice and had Petunia Dursley for a sister!

Their blossoming argument ended as the train ground to a halt and compartment doors began opening and spilling forth students.

"Well, looks like we're about to find out either way." Ginny noted. "We're here."

~*~

Even though Professor Lupin had told him months earlier, Harry entered the Great Hall halfway sure that somehow Snape would still be in his customary spot, glaring hatefully at them and Lupin. Many students already whispered amongst themselves, pointing toward the front of the Great Hall and its conspicuously full staff table. Professor Lupin sat near the end of the staff table, speaking quietly with a raven-haired witch in silver-edged white velvet robes. This, Harry realized, could only be Professor Myfanwy. Harry thought she resembled the pictures he'd seen of Morgan Le Fay from his Merlin books. Professor Myfanwy radiated an aura of cool aristocracy in everything from her refined movements to her pale eyes and dark hair. She was a pale and distinctly cold-looking copy of her younger sister Morgaine. She certainly looked the part Malfoy described.

Professor Dumbledore rose and cleared his throat, his merry blue eyes sparkling as he smiled at the assemblage. "Best clear a few announcements out before we are all befuddled by our most excellent feast! I'm pleased to welcome a new addition to our staff table this year as well as a returning member.

"First, Professor Myfanwy has agreed to brave the position of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." The witch nodded and smiled coolly at the students, her crystal-pale blue eyes scanning them; they rested longer on Harry than on anyone else, flickering to his green eyes and lightning scar before moving on. Harry felt the urge to flatten his bangs across it.

"Professor Snape is abroad doing some crucial work right now and won't be able to return for a few months. Professor Myfanwy has kindly agreed to take his place for the time being and will be teaching your Potions classes until his return. Many of you, I'm sure, remember Professor Lupin. He will handle the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes for Professor Myfanwy until Professor Snape returns." There was scattered applause at this announcement, most of it from Gryffindor and most of it because Snape was gone.

"I understand several positions are available on each of the House Quidditch teams. Trials will be held the second week of term. All interested students must contact Madam Hooch before that time. I must also remind all students that the Forbidden Forest and the village of Hogsmeade are forbidden unless you are accompanied by a teacher." Dumbledore gazed at them all sternly for a moment before he smiled again and waved them to their plates. "Let the feast begin."

~*~

After dinner, the students drifted sleepily off to their dormitories and bed. Several groups whispered amongst themselves, amazed, delighted or terrified at their werewolf teacher's return. Harry and Ron, who had known that Professor Lupin was returning for over a month, made a last-ditch attempt to persuade Hermione, who still insisted that Professor Myfanwy wouldn't be as horrid as they assumed. Ron rolled his eyes at her and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Lockhart".

"She could be really nice, you know" Hermione objected, but even she didn't sound too hopeful. "Professor Lupin said she wasn't that bad."

"Not that bad?" Ron replied incredulously. "In comparison to what? You heard what Malfoy said! She's really rich! And she has a really old wizarding bloodline! And did you see those eyes?" He shuddered slightly, remembering the teacher's cold sapphire eyes sweeping over him. "Creepy! She looks like a pale-eyed vampire!"

Hermione glared at him, but didn't disagree with his assessment.

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