PROLOGUE

Breakfast that morning in the Great Hall was noisy, as usual. Ron and Hermione sat on either side of an empty seat, waiting for Harry to join them. As they'd walked down to the Hall that morning, Ron had pointed out the absence of Harry's hat, which feature Harry sprinted back to receive. But he still had not returned.

"If he doesn't come soon, he's going to miss breakfast," said Hermione worriedly as she looked around the rapidly emptying Great Hall.

Ron said something that sounded like "Opporing, Er-my-knee" as he took another bite out of his toast.

"What?" Hermione asked distractedly, her eyes fixed on the entrance to the Great Hall.

"I said, stop worrying, Hermione," Ron repeated after a moment. "He'll get here."

"I guess so," said Hermione, turning back to her half-eaten breakfast.

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After tearing his dormitory apart for his hat, Harry had finally remembered leaving it in the Common Room. Taking the steps two at a time, he ran downstairs, grabbed his hat, and slid out of the portrait hole. He sprinted down the hallway – faster than he'd ever run before, he was sure – until he bumped into a Prefect he hadn't seen before. Deep disapproval etched into the older student's face, Harry was given a severe reprimand and told to get to his class. Dispiritedly, Harry changed direction and headed toward Transfiguration just as his stomach gave a loud rumble.

He hoped to meet up somewhere with Ron and Hermione, but the halls seemed strangely deserted as he made his way toward Professor McGonagall's room. Funny, he thought, Where are all the students this morning?

As he passed the door into the Charms class, he felt something small and hard hit him between the shoulder blades. Spinning around angrily, he watched as Peeves zoomed away down the hall, cackling gleefully. Harry picked up the missile, but before he could take a good look at it it had flown from his fingers, buzzing loudly. Curious now, and already late, Harry jumped after it. Buzzing still more violently, the object whizzed toward the roof and Harry fell against the wall with a crash. He threw his arm up to steady himself, and was startled as it slid sideways off the wall. The hall was spinning madly around him, the portraits and doorways just blurs of color in the spinning wheel. Harry gave a shout as the floor beneath him opened up, and he lost consciousness.

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'Where IS Harry?'

Ron read the note and shook his head slightly at Hermione. A worried crease appeared in the latter's forehead, and she scrawled another note.

"Accio," Ron whispered, and the note slid discreetly from Hermione's desk to his own. 'D'you think we should tell Professor McGonagall?' this one read.

Again, Ron shook his head. Sliding his quill out of the inkpot, he scribbled on the back of Hermione's note – 'C'mon, he's probably still looking for his hat.'

Hermione Summoned the small sheet of paper, glancing toward the front of the room as she slid it under her hand and peeked at it. Professor McGonagall, oblivious to the silent conversation that was being carried on between the two friends, proceeded to turn a large green parrot into an umbrella and back again. "You will each have a turn," she informed them. "First – Mr. Weasley."

Ron rose, looking rather nervous as he approached the front of his room. "Alitis Abeo!"

With a squawk, the parrot's wings flew open and a handle grew from its head. It gave a half-hearted flap before falling off the perch to lie on the desk, immobilized.

"You annunciated very poorly," McGonagall told Ron severely. "Miss Granger, would you like to try to undo this damage?"

Beaming, Hermione rushed to the front of the room. "Alitis Abeo!" she cried, and with a puff of smoke, a black umbrella appeared in place of the parrot.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," said McGonagall. "Miss Granger, you may resume your seat." Turning to the umbrella, she murmured 'Reparo!', and the green parrot flew back to its perch, much shaken.

Lavender Brown went next, followed by Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom. Seamus and Lavender managed reasonable umbrellas, though neither could get rid of the feathered green décor, but Neville merely caused the harassed fowl to give an aggravated squawk and fly to the opposite side of the room.

Heaving a great sigh, McGonagall turned back to the class. "Mr. Potter – your turn," she said, as the bird flew back to its desk perch. There was no answer.

"Potter? Where is Harry Potter?" she asked sternly, glaring at the class.

Hermione raised a timid hand. "Professor, he went to get his hat," she said. "He'd left it in Gryffindor Tower."

"When was this?" McGonagall asked suspiciously. Shooting Ron a nervous glance, Hermione delivered her timid reply.

"Breakfast time, Professor."

"Hmm," said McGonagall. "Well, ten points from Gryffindor for his absence."

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When he regained consciousness, Harry found himself lying in a long dungeon-like room, made of cold grey stone. The room was lined with small pictures, seeming to shimmer weirdly in the dim light. Curiously, Harry rose and drew closer to one of the pictures, squinting to see the shimmering image more clearly. It was a drawing of a girl with long, blond hair, surrounded by five boys, with four other girls hanging back slightly. Unlike most wizard pictures, this one was not actively moving, but only flickering slightly. Trying to get a better view of the picture, Harry pressed his face closer and closer, until his nose had made contact with the parchment.

With a flash of light and a whirl of color, he experienced a sensation not unlike being pulled through a large vacuum tube. A moment later, he found himself back in the Gryffindor Common Room.