Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter-9 Dumbledore's Announcements

While Harry was flying to Hogwarts on his firebolt, Hermione and the Weasleys were all sitting in the same compartment which Harry left all of his stuff in. Fred, George, and Ron were all playing exploding snap, Ginny was watching them, Ron's owl pigwidgeon was flying around his cage rambunctiously as always, and Hermione was quietly looking out the window and petting Crookshanks, while at the same time wondering where Harry was.

"Hey Hermione," Ron said tugging her on the sleeve, causing Crookshanks to become a bit annoyed. "You sure you don't want to join us? It's a lot of fun."

Hermione just ignored him and continued looking out the window, and petting her cat.

"Come on," Ron persisted. "Are you just going to sit there like that the whole ride? I reckon you can use a nice pick me up."

"Are you sure that all these things belong to Harry?" Hermione asked, obviously not listening to a word that Ron had said.

"Yes I'm sure." Ron answered in complete confidence. "Look." He pointed to the trunk that was standing in the corner. "That is definitely Harry's trunk. And that there," He pointed to an empty cage in another corner. "That is definitely Hedwig's Hedwigless cage."

"Say that five times fast." Muttered Fred.

"I can do it." George spoke up.

"But what about Harry's broom!" Hermione cried, causing all eyes to go back on her. "He'd never go back to Hogwarts without it."

"Hermione," Ron started in a calm voice. "First of all, it's not a broom. It's a firebolt, the best flyer in the world. And I'm pretty sure that there's a good reason for it to missing."

"Well." Hermione said waiting for Ron to continue.

"Well what?" Ron looked at her quizzically.

"What's the good reason?"

"I don't know." Ron stated after a few seconds of silence.

"Just forget it!" Hermione sighed, and turned her head to the window once again.

The entire room remained silent for a few seconds. No said anything, being that no one knew anything appropriate to say at the time.

"Hey, come on," said Fred breaking the silence. "I'm sure everything is okay."

"He's right," Ginny agreed after another moment of silence. "Let's just enjoy the rest of the trip." She turned to Fred ad George and said, "Deal me in."

"You sure you don't want to play?" Asked George, who was looking at Hermione.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Hermione answered nonchalantly.

Unlike all of her friends she wasn't as confident that everything was okay. She had been worried about Harry ever since the night he left her house. She remembered how his eyes looked right before he left her house. They were so cold and frightening, but at the same time it seemed as if he were fighting something inside of himself. It was so hard for her seeing him leave, and knowing that there was nothing she could do to help him.

Hermione raised her right hand and touched the window with her palm. She picked her head up and looked up at the sky, wondering if what happened was her fault. If there was anything she could've done to help. If there was anything she could do in the future, if she got the chance.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a small dot fly straight up into the clouds. 'Odd,' she thought. 'Birds don't fly like that.'

Hermione turned back towards everyone else. Many different thoughts filled her head as she investigated the room they were in.

"Ron!" She suddenly yelled, causing Ron to drop all of his cards.

Ron patiently turned to her and was about to say something, when she interrupted him.

"You were the first one in this room right?" She asked looking a bit anxious.

"Yeah?" Ron replied, giving Hermione a weird look.

"Did you see anything different, or not normal?"

Ron looked at her even more strangely now. "Hermione, what's this about."

"Did you open the window?" She asked, completely ignoring his question.

"No."

"Hey, Hermione," George interrupted. "Care to fill us in on what's going on."

"He couldn't have." Hermione thought out loud.

"Who couldn't have?" Asked Fred.

"He wouldn't have." Hermione continued ignoring Fred.

"Who wouldn't have?" Asked George.

Hermione turned to them and was about to tell them that she believed Harry had flown to school, when the compartment doors opened, and in walked three of the group's least favorite people: Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Crabbe and Goyle, who only seemed to live in order to do Mafoy's bidding, looked exactly the same as they had had in the previous year. They were both tall, had gorilla like arms, and clueless expressions on their faces.

Malfoy, however did not look the same as he did in the previous year. He still had the same haircut and the same sneer on his face, but everything else was different. His chest and arm muscles bulged through his clothes. His eyes had a very grim and determined look in them. Just the way he was standing told the group that there was something different about his guy. That he was not the same overconfident little snob they had grown to loathe so much.

"Well, well, well," Malfoy began to sneer. "What do we have here."

"Looks like someone's been working out." Fred whispered into George's ear.

Malfoy looked at them with an amused expression, turned to Ron and said, "Looks like someone hasn't."

Crookshanks immediately stood on Hermione's lap and started hissing at the trio that had just walked in.

"Careful," Malfoy said, looking at Hermione and her cat, as it jumped off her lap. "It might be rabid." He turned to Crabbe and Goyle for a second, and then turned back to Hermione. "And keep your eyes on the cat as well."

"Damn it Malfoy!" Ron snapped, giving Malfoy a death glare. "Why don't you just get out of here? In fact, why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in death eater school, now that your leader has returned?"

"Ooh, such harsh words Weasley." Malfoy scoffed. "If you're referring to summer school, I'm afraid that's out. Besides how else am I going to get a chance to humiliate all of you if I'm not here."

"Why do you keep coming into our compartment every year Malfoy?" Hermione cried, giving Malfoy a glare. "Don't you have other people you can annoy?"

"I came in to ask if any of you were entering the tournament?" Malfoy said calmly.

The Weasleys and Hermione just stared at him quizzically.

"By the way, where is your crony, Potter? Did a photo shoot cause him to be late for the train or something?" Malfoy asked looking around the room. "No need to ask him if he's entering. He always needs to do something original every year, in order to show off."

"Harry never shows off!" Ginny snapped, as she got up and faced Malfoy. "You're just jealous of him, that's all."

"Yes, I'm sure that must be it." Malfoy said with sarcasm in his voice.

"By the way." He said, turning his face toward Ginny. "I was just wondering, does Potter actually know your name by now?"

Ginny's face started to turn a little red. She lowered her head a little trying to hide it.

"Just as I thought." Malfoy said in triumph. "He still doesn't even know that you exist." Malfoy stopped to chuckle a bit when he saw that Ginny was on the brink of tears. "Don't worry, I'm sure that one day, he'll see you as more than just an annoying little runt. Then again, maybe it would be better if things stay the way they are. I mean, imagine how it would be if you two got together. He'd buy you fancy presents for your birthday, Christmas, and valentines day, and all you'd be able to get him is a handmade card.held together with spellotape!"

"That's it!" Ron snapped. He jumped up and grabbed Malfoy by the front of his shirt with both of his hands, completely surprising everyone in the room, including Malfoy. "Never make my sister cry in front of me, you got it!" he growled.

Malfoy's look of surprise quickly turned into a look of amusement. "Nice grip." He scoffed in a low voice. Malfoy, then put his right hand on Ron's left, and calmly said. "Here, let me show you mine."

Then suddenly before Ron even knew what hit him, he found himself yelling in pain as Malfoy started twisting his left arm. He tried to release his arm from Malfoy's grip, but to no avail.

Fred and George immediately got up in order to try and help their brother, but were pushed back into their seats by Crabbe and Goyle. They continued to hover over Fred and George making sure they didn't interfere. Ron fell to his knees yelling from the pain that Malfoy was making him feel.

"What's wrong Weasley," Malfoy sneered. "Can't take it."

"Stop it!" Ginny yelled, grabbing Malfoy's left arm and started pulling on it.

Malfoy just shifted his left arm a bit, and caused Ginny to lose her balance a fall to the floor. Fred and George were completely enraged now. They both jumped up, and immediately ended up brawling on the floor with Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy just looked down at Ginny and said. "Your brother was stupid enough to pick a fight with me. I have every right to defend myself." He then looked back at Ron and started to laugh a bit.

"Stop!" Hermione yelled, as she took out her wand and pointed it at Malfoy. "Let him go!"

Malfoy just grinned and said, "And if I don't?" He then used his right hand to spin Ron toward his direction, into his awaiting left hand, catching him in a perfect headlock. "Go ahead Mudblood." He tempted. "Let's see how good your aim really is."

Hermione hesitated a bit. She knew that if she fired, she would probably be on target, but for some reason she couldn't do it. She couldn't risk hitting Ron. "You're a coward Malfoy!" She yelled. "Using Ron as a shield."

"I don't need a shield to beat you." He used his left hand to grab hold of Ron's shirt, and then threw him on Hermione, causing her to fall back into her seat with Ron on top of her. "I know you'll be entering, the top four contestants get an O.W.L. accredited towards their academic transcript. There's no way you'd pass up a chance at that."

"What the hell are you talking about Malfoy?" Ron said I a weak voice. His arm was still in agony from Malfoy's torture treatment, and he was trying his best to not show it.

Malfoy looked back and saw that Fred and George were still fighting with Crabbe and Goyle on the floor, that Ginny was just getting up, and that Hermione was holding Ron in place to keep him from charging at Malfoy.

"Listen up!" He yelled, causing everyone to stop what he or she was doing and look up at him. "Unlike some people," He immediately turned his eyes toward Ron. "I haven't been slacking off this summer! I am not the same person I was last year! If any of you wish to enter, I will crush you! I promise you this!"

He looked around and saw that everyone was silent, and he continued. "Make sure you give this message to Potter when you see him."

"Okay, fine." George said in a trembling voice, as he got up to sit back in his seat.

Fred looked at him in an awkward way. He was wondering why George was acting so wimpy right now. He got his answer when George shifted his eyes, and pointed them towards something on Goyle's left-hand side.

"Look," Fred started in the same trembling that George used. "You can do anything you want to us, just don't drink that vial over there." He finished pointed to a covered jug on Goyle's right.

Malfoy immediatley gave one of those 'you gotta be kidding me looks', while Crabbe and Goyle just smiled at each other.

"It's the only thing that makes my little sister happy." George added in.

"It is?" Ginny said with an oblivious voice.

"Yes it is!" Fred growled at her.

"Oh please Weasley!" Malfoy started. "How old do you think we are? There's no way we'd be stupid enough to drink that."

But before Malfoy could finish his sentence, Goyle took the vial and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp.

"Goyle! You idiot!" he scolded, turning a little red. "It was a trick, that's probably some kind of potion."

"Huh." Goyle said, giving Malfoy the same confused face that he gave the teachers whenever they asked him a question.

"Well, it's too late now." Fred said with a chuckle. Take a look at what it's doing to his face.

Immediately everyone turned to Goyle, and saw that his head was getting smaller.

Suddenly, everyone except Hermione and Goyle burst with laughter. Even Malfoy (who was still red in the face), and Crabbe were laughing at Goyle's stupidity.

"Come on," Malfoy said in a half embarrassed, half amused voice. "Let's get out of here."

With that, the trio left the room, while everyone else (except Hermione) continued to laugh.

The laughter died down after a few seconds, but there were still a few chuckles in the air.

"Can you believe that guy?" Ron said, trying to keep himself from bursting out in laughter again. "How can anyone be so stupid?"

"I knew one of them would drink it," George sneered, having already have calmed down. "That's why I said that line specially, to make him look like a complete idiot."

"Well, I hope you're pleased with yourself," Hemione said with a hint of sarcasm. "Now if you don't mind can we get back to what we were talking about?"

"What, Harry?" Ron said casually. "I'm telling you not to worry. His stuff is here so he's probably somewhere on the train. Everyone needs some time to be by themselves."

"Somehow, I doubt that's it." She said to herself.

"What was that?" asked George.

Hermione took a deep breath, exhaled, and just said, "Nothing." Hermione had decided to keep her assumption to herself. Besides, even if she told them it wouldn't matter. Fred, George, and Ron would think that it was cool, and Ginny would think that Harry would never do such a thing.

The group remained silent for about a minute.

"Say," Ginny said breaking the silence. "What do you think Malfoy meant when asked us if we were entering?"

"I have no idea." Hermione said in a low voice.

"That reminds me," Ginny said, looking towards Ron. "Are you okay? How's your arm?"

"It's alright." Ron said casually. He swung his hand around a bit to show that there was nothing wrong with him. "See, I'm not hurt."

"You shouldn't picked a fight with him though." Hermione scolded.

"Well I couldn't let him get away with all the things he said."

"So you let him beat you up instead."

"Yeah, that's about right."

Hermione was about to give Ron a lecture about how irresponsible and stupid he was being, when the door to their compartment swung open again. Hermione, and the others looked at the door expecting to see Malfoy again, but instead they all saw someone else.

"Olivea!" Hemione said with a little enthusiasm.

"Hey," Olivea said giving the whole group a wink.

"Well how do you like it? Did you meet a lot of people?" Asked Hermione.

"Yeah everyone was very nice." Olivea answered. "The only people I didn't like were those three guys I saw in the hallway. They knocked me down and didn't even apologize."

"Did one of those three have an unusually small head?" Asked Fred.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" She asked, giving Fred a quizzical look. "And how did his head end up like that anyway?"

"We knew because those three are jerks." Ron answered.

"And the small head is our doing." George answered with pride in his voice.

"Olivea, did you see Harry anywhere on the train?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.

"Harry? No I didn't see him." She answered. "Why, you can't find him?"

"It's a long story." Ron said.

"So." Olivea started as she took a seat near Hermione, and petted Crookshanks [on the floor] a bit. "How long is this ride?"

"Not much longer." Answered George. "Just another couple of hours."

"After that." Fred continued. "All the first years take boats to the castle, and all the others take horseless carriages."

"Wow." Olivea said in an amazed voice. "That's really amazing. Too Bad I didn't get a chance to be a first year here. You know, take a boat ride and everything."

"Oh don't worry." Ron drawled. "The whole thing is done only to single you out, and get you all nice and scared for the Sorting ceremony."

"What do you mean?" Olivea asked. "All you do is put on a hat, and it decides where you go. Or at least that's what Dumbledore did to me in his office."

"Yeah we know that, but the first years don't know that." George said slyly.

"How about a game of exploding snap?" Fred offered. "You in, Olivea?"

"Yeah."

"Hermione?"

"No thanks." Hermione answered, turning to the window once again.

The group remained this way for the rest of the trip.

A few hours later the train had finally arrived at Hogsmead station. By that time the sky was already dark.

Hermione, Olivea, and Ron got out of the train and waited by the exit, hoping that Harry would come by. When he didn't, both Hermione, and Ron began to worry a bit.

"Where do you think he could be?" Ron asked.

Hermione didn't say anything. She just shook her head a bit.

"Relax." Olivea said, lightening the mood a bit. "He probably got out before us. Let's just go to the dining hall, and I'm sure we'll find him there."

Hermione and Ron both agreed, because neither could come up with a better plan at the time.

As they headed toward the carriages, Hermione and Ron heard a familiar yell.

"Firs' years this way! Firs' years this way!" It was Hagrid, the Gamekeeper, and Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Hogwarts. He was twice as tall as any normal man, and about ten times as wide. This was okay for him of course, because Hagrid was a half giant.

"Firs' years this way!" He continued to yell.

"A'right there yeh two!" He yelled, as he saw Hermione and Ron.

"Hey Hagrid!" Ron yelled back at him.

"'ey, where's Harry?" Hagrid asked looking around the crowded row of students.

"He's already headed towards the carriages." Hermione lied. "He said he was very tired and wanted to get to the castle as soon as possible."

"A'right then." He said turning away. "Firs' years this way!"

"Come on guys." Olivea said. "Let's go."

"So who was that guy anyway?" Olivea asked, as they approached the carriages.

"That's Hagrid." Ron answered as he followed Hermione into the carriage.

"So what does he do here? And why is he so. you know. big?" Olivea asked when they were all seated in the carriage.

"He teaches our the Care of Magical Creatures class, and he's also the gamekeeper around here." Hermione answered.

"And the reason he's so big is because he's a half giant." Ron added.

"A half giant!" Olivea snapped out of surprise.

"Don't worry." Hermione reassured. "Hagrid is a very sweet man."

"Ok, whatever." Olivea said sounding unsure.

After a few minutes the carriages came to a stop right I front of the castle, and all the students exited the carriages, and entered to castle.

As soon as Olivea entered the castle, her jaw dropped from amazement. The castle was glowing brightly, there were ghosts flying through walls, the armors were all singing, and the portraits were all talking to each other.

"Wow!" She said, looking completely in awe. "It's not like this during the summer."

"Wait till you see the dining hall." Ron said with a smirk.

"I can't wait, let's go."

With that they all headed towards the dining hall.

As soon as they arrived in the dining hall corridor, they noticed that whole crowds of students were standing outside the dining hall.

"What's going on?" Hermione thought out loud. "Why isn't anyone going in?"

"It's Peeves." A voice came from Hermione's right side. Hermione turned and saw that it was Ginny.

"Who's Peeves?" Asked Olivea.

"Peeves is the school poltergeist." Ginny answered casually. "It seems that this time Peeves has decided to take the passive approach."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"Come up and see." Ginny said, as she tried to squeeze to the front herself.

Hermione, Ron, and Olivea followed her through the line. As soon as they were able to get to the front they saw what Ginny meant.

Peeves was standing in front of the door wearing what looked like sumo underwear, holding a sign that read 'Give Me Dinner, Or Give Me Life', and chanting "Heck no, I won't go!", and whenever a student tried to walk past him, he would hit them with the sign.

Hermione just looked at him in a disgusted manner. "I can't believe he's trying to compare himself with Mahatma Gandhi."

"Who?" Ginny asked looking at her quizzically.

Hermione just shook her head and said, "Nevermind, it's a muggle thing.

"Peeves!" she called out to him in a scolding voice. "What are you doing?"

Peeves looked at her and said. "They're not letting Peeves inside for dinner. So until they do, Peeves is going on a hunger strike!"

Hermione put her right hand on her forehead, as if she were having a headache.

"Why is he referring to himself as the third person?" Olivea whispered into Hermione's ear. "Olivea thinks that's creepy."

"Peeves!" Hermione yelled, completely ignoring Olivea. "If you don't move right now, I am going to call a teacher!"

Peeves just ignored her and started singing "I shall not be moved".

"Okay Peeves, you win." An all-familiar voice came from Hermione left. Hermione looked and saw that it was Malfoy. "But it's not our call on whether you get in or not, it up to the house ghosts." Malfoy continued. "But don't worry, I'll talk to the BLOODY BARON for you, and see what he thinks of your little protest."

"OH NO!" Peeves yelled out in horror. "Not his bloodiness, Peeves will be good, Peeves will be good!" And with that Peeves immediately vanished from sight.

"You see," Malfoy sneered. "You just have to know how to talk to beings like those. Hmph. A Hunger strike." Malfoy just chuckled a bit a headed towards the door.

"I would've handled it!" Hermione called out after him.

"Come on!" Olivea said excitedly, while grabbing Hermione by her right arm. "I can't wait to see the dining hall!"

"Yeah, and I'm starving." Ron added.

As soon as they entered the dining hall, Olivea's jaw dropped once again. The house tables were all decorated with cloths colored with the corresponding house colors. On top of the cloths stood beautiful golden plates, goblets, knives, and forks. There were candles hovering all throughout the room lighting up every single inch of the room. And the ceiling was made to look like the night sky, which that night was clear, so the students were easily able to see the stars. All the teachers [except for Professor McGonagall] were already seated at the teachers table right in front of all the house tables.

"Yeah, I have to admit, it is pretty impressive." Hermione said with a hint of pride in her voice. "Come on, let's take our seats.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm really glad you're in Gryffindor."

"Yeah me too." Ron agreed. "It's a good thing that you didn't get in Slytherin. That's the worst house here."

"Yeah, I heard." Olivea said.

The trio took their seats at the Gryffindor table, right near the Weasley twin, and their friend Lee Jordan; a Black seventh year with dreadlocks; and across from them was Neville Longbottom, a portly, forgetful, accident prone, fifth year, and Dean Thomas, a tall, black, Muggleborn fifth year.

"So what happens now?" Olivea asked looking at Hermione.

Hermione didn't answer right away. She was distracted, because she was trying to find Harry, in the crowd. "He's not here." She whispered to herself.

"Hello, Hermione." Olivea said while waving her hand in front of Hermione's face.

"Sorry," Hermione said quickly, as if she had just come out of a trance. "I was trying to find Harry."

"Where is he anyway?" Ron said looking around the table.

"Hermione just shook her head, and said, "I don't know."

"Relax." Olivea said. "I'm sure that Dumbledore knows where he is, or else he wouldn't just be sitting up front doing nothing."

"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. So what happens now?"

"Now all the first years will be sorted into all the different houses. Then we're going to eat."

"I can't wait for the food." Ron said, drooling a bit. "I wonder what the house elves made tonight?

"Speaking of which." He turned to Hermione. "Whatever happened to 'spew', you haven't mentioned anything about your little club all this time."

"What's spew?" Olivea asked.

"It's not spew!" Hermione said, getting irritated. "It's S.P.E.W., the So."

"Basically," Ron interrupted. "Hermione had this thing about house elves last year. She was trying to get them to start a riot."

"I was not!" Hermione yelled, causing heads to turn towards her. When she saw this, she lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "I was only trying to help them secure a future of financial security, and liberation."

"In other words you were trying to get them to riot."

"Well Dobby like his life the way it is now."

"Dobby was working for the Malfoys. Anyone could go insane there."

Hermione was about to argue, but thought better of it. She just stayed quiet until the Professor McGonagall came in holding the sorting hat, and led a group of very scared looking first years into the great hall.

As they passed the table and headed for the front, Fred and George both pretended to slit their own throats with their knives, causing a few of the first years to shiver a bit.

As soon as all the first years were up at the front of the room, Professor McGonagall placed the hat onto the chair.

At first the hat just sat there not doing anything, which calmed some of the nervous first years. But then after a few seconds the hat came to life, and started singing, which scared all the first years.

"I'm the sorting hat

I may not look cute

But if you want to know where you belong

Then there's no one more astute

"There are four different houses for me to choose from,

And only one certain house in which you belong

Everyone has certain house, which they belong in

You may not even be in the same house, as your identical twin

"It all depends on your personality

The characteristics and choices that make you unique

It could your brains, it could your brawn

That'll help me decide, in which house you belong

"So, hello new class, and welcome to school

No need to be afraid, just sit on the stool

On your head is where, you will put me on

It's really that easy, so let's get it on

"I might put you in Gryffindor

Home of the noble and stout

Because nobility, and bravery

Is what Gryffindor's about

"Or maybe in Ravenclaw

Is the best place for you

Where wisdom and knowledge

Are highly valued

"Or maybe in Hufflepuff

Home of the loyal and kind

Cause in Hufflepuff

It's things like that that you will find

"Or maybe in Slytherin

Is where you belong

Where they all believe

That cleverness makes you strong

So put me on, don't be afraid

Don't worry, I won't bite

I'm just going place in the house

In which I'm sure you'll feel right."



As soon as the hat finished, the entire school erupted in applause.

"Can you believe it?" Ron said low enough just for Hermione to hear over the applause. "That hat keeps getting worse every year. That was the most horrible one yet."

"I'd like to see you try to come up with a new song every year for a few centuries." Hermione shot back at him.

As soon as the applause died down, Professor McGonagall, opened the parchment full of names, and began to read aloud. "ADAMS, JASON!"

A boy with dirty blond hair, and a smirk on his face walked up to the stool, sat on it and let professor McGonagall put the hat on his head. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat yelled after a few seconds. As the boy headed towards his table, everyone at the Slytherin table started applauding him.

"AQUINSA, HARRIET!"

A small shaking girl went up and took a seat on the stool. "HUFFELPUFF!"

"CROSSMAN, EDWARD."

"Say Hermione," Ron whispered so low that only she could hear. "Do you know who our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?"

Hermione just shook her head. She looked up at the table and saw that there was an empty seat, with no plate or goblet next to it. "Maybe they haven't been able to find a new one?"

"I hope this doesn't mean that we'll have Snape as our new teacher." Ron groaned. "There's no way I'd be able to survive this year if he is."

Hermione just nodded in agreement. Professor Snape was the Potions master at Hogwarts; a tall, burly man, with greasy black hair. All the students, except those in his house-Slytherin, hated him.

After about a half an hour, after all the students were sorted into their houses, Professor the Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts; A tall, thin man, with a hooked nose and a very long white beard, stood up in order to address the whole school.

"Before we start with out meal, I would like to say a few words." The entire room became quiet. After waiting for a few seconds and making sure that he had everyone's attention, he once again opened his mouth, and said, "And here they are: 'a few words', thank you."

The entire room burst into applause, Dumbledore sat down, and the food immediately appeared onto the plates.

The foods consisted of honey-roasted chicken, roast turkey, pork, veal, beef, potatoes, pasta, salads, everything you'd need to feed a hundred armies was there.

"Wow," Olivea sighed, and licked her lips. "Everything looks so good. I don't know where to start." She took some salad, potatoes and chicken, and put it on her plate.

Ron just topped off his plate with a bit of everything, while Hermione just took some salad and chicken. It's true that she was hungry, but she was still very worried about Harry, which suppressed her appetite a bit.

After all the students were finished with their dinner and desert, and the plates were all cleared from the table, Dumbledore once again stood up to address the school.

"Settle down, students settle down!" As soon as he saw that the room had quieted, he lowered his voice a little.

"I trust that you all enjoyed your meal tonight, I know that I definitely have." He said with a chuckle.

"Now, I have a few start of the term notices to announce.

"First of all, let the first years note that the Forest outside of the school building is forbidden to all students.

"Also this year, the seventh floor in the western tower is undergoing renovation. There will be spells and enchantments flying throughout the entire floor. Therefore, the teachers and myself have decided that it would be better if we closed off the entire tower from the students. The last thing anyone one of us would want is to have our noses and mouths transformed into bricks or pieces of wood. It would be quite a while before you can find someone who can help you if you're in the tower, and you'll probably die from lack of air. So like I said before, the western tower is forbidden to all students."

Dumbledore stopped for a moment to take a breath.

"On a lighter note," He continued. "I would like to say that we will have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher arriving tomorrow.

"Also I would like to announce that this year, the school will host a school wide wizards duel, in which all students fourth year and above can enter. The top four will get an O.W.L. accredited to them. And the winner will receive a trophy and his name will be remembered in this school forever."

All the students immediately started whispering to each other.

"Please, Please. You will all have time to talk about this later, I am not finished yet.

"The details of the duel will be explained later," Dumbledore continued.

"Now, about all those petitions that all you girls sent in last year. I would have you know now that they have been." the entire room quieted down to hear this. "Accepted, and we will have another dance this year similar to that of the Yule Ball!"

At that, the entire room started cheering and clapping louder than they had all night (including Hermione). Dumbledore tried to calm them down but saw that all of his efforts were fruitless, so he just gave the prefects the go ahead to take their houses back their dorms.

Meanwhile, while all of the students were cheering inside of the great hall, Harry was by the lake leaning against a tree, and looking towards the building.

"Judging by the sound of their cheers, it looks like Dumbledore has going all out in order the keep happiness in hogwarts." Harry said to himself. "Too bad I can't be in there with them."

Harry had been outside all throughout the celebration. Being that all of his Hogwarts clothes were locked away in his room, and because he didn't know the password yet he couldn't get them out. The whole time he was outside, Harry was hoping that none of the teachers noticed that he was missing. It was highly improbable, but not impossible.

As soon as Harry heard that the cheering had died down, and the school song being sung, he knew the students were going to be heading up to their Dormitories.

"Only a few more minutes," Harry sighed to himself. " And then I'll go and meet everyone at the entrance."

Harry continued to stand there, when all of a sudden he noticed something sparkling across the lake. He looked across and saw a white flash of light sparkling directly into his eyes. The light was so bright, that it blinded Harry for a few seconds causing him to almost involuntarily cover his face with his hands.

It took Harry, about a minute to regain his vision. When he did he looked back across the lake and realized that whatever that white light was, was now gone.

Harry didn't make too much of this. A little bit of bright light was not really anything unusual in Hogwarts.

Harry continued to stand there, waiting for the right moment to go back to his tower.

As he continued to stand near the tree, he noticed that he began hearing some kind of unknown beat in his ears. Harry just ignored this. He assumed that it must have been from fatigue and hunger. He continued to stand and ignore the beat, even though it was getting faster with every passing second.

Harry thought that now was the perfect time to head up towards the castle, but as soon as he took a step away from the tree, he realized that his foot was as heavy as if it were made out of lead. He tried with all of his might to move his legs, but for some reason, his legs just stayed in one place. He tried harder, only causing himself to trip and fall face first into the lake. Harry struggled to tread water, but his legs were not able to move for some reason. In desperation, Harry grabbed a part of the tree and tried to pull himself onto the shore, but then he realized that his left hand had stopped functioning as well. Once again Harry was starting to sink to the bottom. Harry immediately used his available hand to take out his wand. He pointed it to the bark of a tree, yelled out a spell (only bubbles came out of his mouth), and turned that tree bark into snake. He yelled out another spell, which caused a wave around him allowing him a few seconds above water.

"HELP ME!" Harry yelled to the snake in parseltongue.

The snake immediately went in the water after him, while having its tail tied to the end of the tree.

After a few minutes the snake was able to pull Harry out onto land.

"Thanks," Harry muttered, as he turned it back into a tree bark.

As soon as he finished casting the spell, he realized that he has lost use of his right hand as well. Harry continued to try and get his body parts to move, but nothing he was doing was working. It was only tiring him out.

Then he noticed that it was getting harder for him to breathe. Harry knew that if he didn't get some help he might end up dead. He tried to crawl toward the castle on his stomach. But it wasn't working, and his hoarse breathing only became worse.

Then the entire field in front of him started to become blurry, and darker than before. His hoarse breathing became faster as the field was becoming blurrier, until finally everything turned completely dark, and Harry's breathing stopped completely.