Harry Potter and the Heir of Atlantis
Chapter 1: The Return to Hogwarts
The world was completely dark, and the wind was rushing past him. Harry tried to scream, but the pressure of the air tightly sealed his mouth. He tried to move, but his limbs were restricted. He was falling…until a shining shape swooped up from below. He woke with a start.
"Okay, sleeping beauty, have you awakened yet?" Ron asked in a sarcastic tone. Harry was, once again, aboard the Hogwarts Express, which was skidding along the still-tame countryside.
"That was some dream…" Harry mused.
"Oh no…don't you dare…" Hermione protested.
"Don't we dare what?" Ron quizzed.
"…Go on about all that divination junk. I can't stand all that woolly trash and you know it for a fact."
"Shut up," Harry snapped abruptly.
"What the…" Ron turned around. He didn't even bother to finish his sentence as he spotted a short figure skating along the corridor.
"Hi there!" Cho Chang stuck her head around the door to the compartment where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting. Although Cho had dated Michael Corner during the holidays, he was still feeling friendly.
"Hi, Cho!" Harry replied enthusiastically. He shoved Ron out of the way to make a space for her to sit down. However, Cho parked herself next to Hermione instead, and Harry bit his lip and tried to hide his disappointment. "How are you? How've your holidays been?"
"Nothing much…" Cho drawled, until she was suddenly cut off. "I thought I told you to go off and plonk yourself somewhere!" she resumed angrily, as they turned to face a little girl wearing black platform shoes, blue tights, a very short but ruffled pink skirt, a tight pink shirt, a blue sailor scarf tied with a big red flower-clasp, a little blue cape and what looked like strawberries in her…blue…pigtails. Hermione eyed her with obvious distaste. "Is she an obscure friend of a friend of yours?" she asked Cho.
"She actually happens to be my sister."
"Aaaahhh…how…er…what a…quaint little…costume?" Ron struggled to be polite.
"What a cute little girl!" Harry exclaimed, being more successful in gaining Cho's approval.
"Cute is the only way to describe her, at ten years of age and dressing like Cardcaptor Sakura."
"Who's Cardcaptor Sakura?" Harry was confused.
"A cartoon from a Japanese television show…about a girl who runs around the world trying to capture cards with magical powers…"
"Wait a moment," Hermione interrupted. "Ten? Am I hearing correctly? What day is her birthday next week?"
"Her birthday is December eleventh," Cho answered.
"That's miles away!" Ron shouted.
"Months," snapped Cho, "get it right."
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"I'm in an accelerated program," the girl spoke for the first time. There was a strange slight accent in her voice, which was moderately high-pitched.
"But there aren't any programs at Hogwarts!" Hermione spluttered.
"Well, they gave me permission to enter Hogwarts early…" she replied, in a distinctly Texan drawl.
"Excuse me, I'm going to change into my robes now," Hermione squeaked, as she ran down the corridor.
"Wait!" Harry tried to hold his friend back, but she dashed out of his grip. When he returned to the compartment, the girl was gone and Cho was looking out of the window.
"Where did she go?"
"She? I thought you were looking for Hermione."
"No, your…sister…"
"It's in her nature to be elusive – some game she plays. Leave her alone, she's a one-girl band."
"Let's change the subject," Hermione slipped back into the compartment.
"I thought you were getting changed?"
"No, it's too early," Hermione frowned.
"Never mind…"
"That girl, did you see her slip out, Ron?"
"No," Ron admitted, "I was too busy watching the window…we thought we saw a broomstick fly past…"
"Typical…" Hermione muttered. "Let's change the subject."
They rambled on, gossiping about absolutely nothing in particular, until it was night and they reached the station. They clambered into the awaiting carriages and shut the doors quickly, for it was freezing cold for a September night. The driverless carriages started on their slow, journey on the pot-hole-filled road towards Hogwarts from Hogsmeade station. Harry caught sight of the girl once again, through the window. He saw her hand first – a long-fingered one, so white that it was nearly transparent. She rested it lightly on the edge of the door of the train, then lightly skipped the step and jumped over the gap. Harry saw that her trunk was black, with fake glass gems decorating it, and it had little wheels on it so that she dragged it behind her quite easily. As they grouped themselves into boats, she was the one left out. Harry caught a last glimpse of her, standing with her chin held high and her eyes closed. She pulled her hat off, and the Autumn breeze blew her hair out like a flag. It was long, and…navy…Harry tried to put it to a trick of the light, but then he saw her eyes, which stared straight into his.
They were the colour of dancing rainbows.
The Hat sang its song, the food appeared and Hermione began to fervently attack the treatment of the Hogwarts elves. However, this year, she managed to eat her fill without feeling overrun by guilt. Ron stuffed himself as usual, and Nearly Headless Nick reminisced fondly with the new first years. Then Harry noticed something upon the teacher's platform.
"I know," Ron mumbled between mouthfuls. "Lupin's back."
"No, it's not that. Look to his right."
"What?"
"It's a piano." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'd expect you two to be well versed enough in music to be able to recognise such a common instrument."
"Dudley isn't exactly musical, you know. And pianos…they can cost as much as ten thousand each."
"What do you expect? They're huge! And I'd expect that one to cost…I don't know…seventy thousand if it was second hand?"
"What? For a block of wood?"
"It's huge! It's a concert-size!"
Dumbledore rose.
"Surrexit Dumbledorus," Stella-Hermione mouthed in their direction.
"What?" spat Ron.
"I think it's another language."
"Shut up!" Harry hushed, yearning to hear his headmaster's words.
"This year the school will be providing another elective subject, available to only sixth years and above." There were groans from the audience. "It is a senior subject that can be taken for the NEWT examinations. The name of this subject is music."
"What does music have to do with magic?" yelled Draco Malfoy.
"I was just about to inform you of that, before I was interrupted by Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore coolly continued, as usual.
"Otherwise known as scum of the earth," muttered Ron under his breath.
"As I once told some of you four years ago, music is a magic beyond what we teach. We have decided that, as music is a powerful asset. Sixth years may choose to take music as a subject, which will include courses in singing and an instrument of choice. You will be taught by Sephrenia Redwoods, a very experienced and talented student. In fact, she had reached the level of the elite by the time she was ten."
Sephrenia had black hair, black hair and black-rimmed glasses.
"Look! It's like a female version of you!" squealed little Colin Creevey.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and Ron imitated her.
"Actually, I don't like to be called Professor if you please, or Madam, for that matter – you can all see – I'm not old enough to be your mother – I think you should all call me Scout."
"Yes, well, then Scout it shall be," Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes dancing like stars. "I would like to invite Stella-Hermione Chang, an advanced student of Scout's, to play on our newly purchased Steinway concert-size or D-size grand?"
Stella-Hermione Chang tottered over from the Ravenclaw table and sat at the piano, which wheeled itself out to the centre where it was visible to all.
"This is Rondo Alla Turca, by Mozart."
There's something not right about that girl." Ron hissed as they left the hall, genuinely concerned.
"So…we have a girl here who streaks her hair blue, wears radically-coloured contact lenses, seems to be one step ahead of our own Gryffindor Genius, dresses like something out of Sailormoon…"
"Not Sailormoon, Cardcaptors, get it right," growled Ron.
"…Has an obsession with sparkly objects and literally stalks me. I think there's more than something wrong with her." Harry continued.
"Leave her be," Hermione replied. "She's another one of those who've been brought up on Harry Potter the Superhero. She's like a worse-off version of Ginny and Colin combined. She's just another very rebellious techno teen of the mid 90's. She's not dangerous, far from it, in fact."
Just then, Stella-Hermione appeared between Harry and Hermione, who had been standing directly opposite each other with barely a foot in between. However, she vanished before anyone could even grab onto her cloak.
"Correction," Ron pointed out. "She's more than dangerous, she's…life-threatening!"
Chapter 1: The Return to Hogwarts
The world was completely dark, and the wind was rushing past him. Harry tried to scream, but the pressure of the air tightly sealed his mouth. He tried to move, but his limbs were restricted. He was falling…until a shining shape swooped up from below. He woke with a start.
"Okay, sleeping beauty, have you awakened yet?" Ron asked in a sarcastic tone. Harry was, once again, aboard the Hogwarts Express, which was skidding along the still-tame countryside.
"That was some dream…" Harry mused.
"Oh no…don't you dare…" Hermione protested.
"Don't we dare what?" Ron quizzed.
"…Go on about all that divination junk. I can't stand all that woolly trash and you know it for a fact."
"Shut up," Harry snapped abruptly.
"What the…" Ron turned around. He didn't even bother to finish his sentence as he spotted a short figure skating along the corridor.
"Hi there!" Cho Chang stuck her head around the door to the compartment where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting. Although Cho had dated Michael Corner during the holidays, he was still feeling friendly.
"Hi, Cho!" Harry replied enthusiastically. He shoved Ron out of the way to make a space for her to sit down. However, Cho parked herself next to Hermione instead, and Harry bit his lip and tried to hide his disappointment. "How are you? How've your holidays been?"
"Nothing much…" Cho drawled, until she was suddenly cut off. "I thought I told you to go off and plonk yourself somewhere!" she resumed angrily, as they turned to face a little girl wearing black platform shoes, blue tights, a very short but ruffled pink skirt, a tight pink shirt, a blue sailor scarf tied with a big red flower-clasp, a little blue cape and what looked like strawberries in her…blue…pigtails. Hermione eyed her with obvious distaste. "Is she an obscure friend of a friend of yours?" she asked Cho.
"She actually happens to be my sister."
"Aaaahhh…how…er…what a…quaint little…costume?" Ron struggled to be polite.
"What a cute little girl!" Harry exclaimed, being more successful in gaining Cho's approval.
"Cute is the only way to describe her, at ten years of age and dressing like Cardcaptor Sakura."
"Who's Cardcaptor Sakura?" Harry was confused.
"A cartoon from a Japanese television show…about a girl who runs around the world trying to capture cards with magical powers…"
"Wait a moment," Hermione interrupted. "Ten? Am I hearing correctly? What day is her birthday next week?"
"Her birthday is December eleventh," Cho answered.
"That's miles away!" Ron shouted.
"Months," snapped Cho, "get it right."
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"I'm in an accelerated program," the girl spoke for the first time. There was a strange slight accent in her voice, which was moderately high-pitched.
"But there aren't any programs at Hogwarts!" Hermione spluttered.
"Well, they gave me permission to enter Hogwarts early…" she replied, in a distinctly Texan drawl.
"Excuse me, I'm going to change into my robes now," Hermione squeaked, as she ran down the corridor.
"Wait!" Harry tried to hold his friend back, but she dashed out of his grip. When he returned to the compartment, the girl was gone and Cho was looking out of the window.
"Where did she go?"
"She? I thought you were looking for Hermione."
"No, your…sister…"
"It's in her nature to be elusive – some game she plays. Leave her alone, she's a one-girl band."
"Let's change the subject," Hermione slipped back into the compartment.
"I thought you were getting changed?"
"No, it's too early," Hermione frowned.
"Never mind…"
"That girl, did you see her slip out, Ron?"
"No," Ron admitted, "I was too busy watching the window…we thought we saw a broomstick fly past…"
"Typical…" Hermione muttered. "Let's change the subject."
They rambled on, gossiping about absolutely nothing in particular, until it was night and they reached the station. They clambered into the awaiting carriages and shut the doors quickly, for it was freezing cold for a September night. The driverless carriages started on their slow, journey on the pot-hole-filled road towards Hogwarts from Hogsmeade station. Harry caught sight of the girl once again, through the window. He saw her hand first – a long-fingered one, so white that it was nearly transparent. She rested it lightly on the edge of the door of the train, then lightly skipped the step and jumped over the gap. Harry saw that her trunk was black, with fake glass gems decorating it, and it had little wheels on it so that she dragged it behind her quite easily. As they grouped themselves into boats, she was the one left out. Harry caught a last glimpse of her, standing with her chin held high and her eyes closed. She pulled her hat off, and the Autumn breeze blew her hair out like a flag. It was long, and…navy…Harry tried to put it to a trick of the light, but then he saw her eyes, which stared straight into his.
They were the colour of dancing rainbows.
The Hat sang its song, the food appeared and Hermione began to fervently attack the treatment of the Hogwarts elves. However, this year, she managed to eat her fill without feeling overrun by guilt. Ron stuffed himself as usual, and Nearly Headless Nick reminisced fondly with the new first years. Then Harry noticed something upon the teacher's platform.
"I know," Ron mumbled between mouthfuls. "Lupin's back."
"No, it's not that. Look to his right."
"What?"
"It's a piano." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'd expect you two to be well versed enough in music to be able to recognise such a common instrument."
"Dudley isn't exactly musical, you know. And pianos…they can cost as much as ten thousand each."
"What do you expect? They're huge! And I'd expect that one to cost…I don't know…seventy thousand if it was second hand?"
"What? For a block of wood?"
"It's huge! It's a concert-size!"
Dumbledore rose.
"Surrexit Dumbledorus," Stella-Hermione mouthed in their direction.
"What?" spat Ron.
"I think it's another language."
"Shut up!" Harry hushed, yearning to hear his headmaster's words.
"This year the school will be providing another elective subject, available to only sixth years and above." There were groans from the audience. "It is a senior subject that can be taken for the NEWT examinations. The name of this subject is music."
"What does music have to do with magic?" yelled Draco Malfoy.
"I was just about to inform you of that, before I was interrupted by Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore coolly continued, as usual.
"Otherwise known as scum of the earth," muttered Ron under his breath.
"As I once told some of you four years ago, music is a magic beyond what we teach. We have decided that, as music is a powerful asset. Sixth years may choose to take music as a subject, which will include courses in singing and an instrument of choice. You will be taught by Sephrenia Redwoods, a very experienced and talented student. In fact, she had reached the level of the elite by the time she was ten."
Sephrenia had black hair, black hair and black-rimmed glasses.
"Look! It's like a female version of you!" squealed little Colin Creevey.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and Ron imitated her.
"Actually, I don't like to be called Professor if you please, or Madam, for that matter – you can all see – I'm not old enough to be your mother – I think you should all call me Scout."
"Yes, well, then Scout it shall be," Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes dancing like stars. "I would like to invite Stella-Hermione Chang, an advanced student of Scout's, to play on our newly purchased Steinway concert-size or D-size grand?"
Stella-Hermione Chang tottered over from the Ravenclaw table and sat at the piano, which wheeled itself out to the centre where it was visible to all.
"This is Rondo Alla Turca, by Mozart."
There's something not right about that girl." Ron hissed as they left the hall, genuinely concerned.
"So…we have a girl here who streaks her hair blue, wears radically-coloured contact lenses, seems to be one step ahead of our own Gryffindor Genius, dresses like something out of Sailormoon…"
"Not Sailormoon, Cardcaptors, get it right," growled Ron.
"…Has an obsession with sparkly objects and literally stalks me. I think there's more than something wrong with her." Harry continued.
"Leave her be," Hermione replied. "She's another one of those who've been brought up on Harry Potter the Superhero. She's like a worse-off version of Ginny and Colin combined. She's just another very rebellious techno teen of the mid 90's. She's not dangerous, far from it, in fact."
Just then, Stella-Hermione appeared between Harry and Hermione, who had been standing directly opposite each other with barely a foot in between. However, she vanished before anyone could even grab onto her cloak.
"Correction," Ron pointed out. "She's more than dangerous, she's…life-threatening!"
