Chapter Three: Erwin Verano

Early next morning, Harry woke up, scar prickling gently. The room was quiet, punctuated only by the snores of the D.A. members. He decided to go eat a quick breakfast.

So much had changed since the last time he was here. The whole manor seemed to have grown large to accommodate the new arrivals, and, as Harry surmised, it was starting to become another Hogwarts.

"Harry?" It was Erwin who spoke from behind him. "I didn't know you also were an early bird. "

Harry saw that Erwin was preparing breakfast for everyone. "And I didn't know you were the cook."

"Ha ha," Erwin retorted, his eyes flashing rainbows of colors again, "I just wanted to take my mind off things, just like you."

Harry immediately stopped laughing. "What do you mean, 'just like me'?"

"You're not the only one who has lost someone dear to you."

Harry stood, lost for words. "Who do you know was lost to you?"

After a long silence, Erwin muttered, ".All of my relatives."

"I'm sorry," said Harry, thunderstruck that someone had lost more than his parents, "I didn't mean to ask."

"Don't worry," Erwin interrupted, "It's been a long time since I told anyone about that. At least the load feels lighter now that it shared with someone else." After that, he smiled and continued to cook breakfast, occasionally asking Harry to help him with some parts of cooking. Harry, who had spent many years cooking breakfast for the Dursleys, was eager to help.

After an hour, the two could hear noises coming from the War Room, indicating that the students were awake. "Good timing that we were able to finish making breakfast," Erwin said while washing his hands. Harry, on the other hand was preparing the plates and utensils. At the same time, the door opened, and Mrs. Weasley, huffing, said, "I'm sorry I woke up late. Now I have to." She stopped, seeing the finished chores. She heaved a sigh of relief, and asked, "Who did this?"

"We did," Erwin answered. At that, Mrs. Weasley beamed at them and hugged them both and ran off to tell the others that breakfast was ready.

"Wow! This is good!" Colin Creevey squealed, and everyone in the room agreed. "Did you really cook these?"

Erwin blushed furiously. "Well, I couldn't have done it without Harry's help." Everyone stared at Harry, and he looked down at his plate. He glanced at Erwin and they both grinned.

After breakfast, Lupin summoned everybody to the den. After everybody was assembled, he cleared his throat and said, "Now that the D.A. is now assembled, we have another guest here. She will be teaching you another kind of magic. Please welcome Ms. Mia Aleina."

After that, there was silence. Harry wondered where would this teacher be, when suddenly, a gasp from the crowd interrupted his reverie. A section of wall behind Lupin shifted and a form seemed to unstick itself from it. The form changed quickly into that of a person . a girl.