Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Thanks for the reviews. Hope you like this chapter as well as the last one. This is not Beta-ed, the correct version will be up as soon as my Beta is finished.

-Chapter Eight-



Voldemort was annoyed; no, scratch that, he was pissed. First there was the idiotic, moronic, stupid, brainless pudding that called himself British Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Here he was trying to take over the world and scare the shit out of everyone, and Fudge didn't believe in his return, giving credit of all Voldemorts hard work to that comedian Rex Chase!

That brought him to the second thing he was pissed off about. Rex Chase. This new martyr had somehow managed to foil almost every blasted plan of his, no matter how smart and cunning the Dark Lord had been. And he had declined Voldemorts offer to join the Death Eaters. Well, they hadn't exactly had the time to talk it over that much, he'd have to remedy that. Maybe a nice little deal between the two of them could insure Chases loyalty to him, or at least keep the annoying pest out of this war. He couldn't afford to have him as an enemy, the Dark Lord had his hands full already with Potter and Dumbledore.

The third thing he was pissed about was the fact that every time he had approached one of the Old Vampires, they had either disappeared or declined to join him trying to assassin him to make their point clear. Most of the younger vampires had happily joined him at once. Voldemort sighed in frustration. The worst thing that could happen was that the Old Vampires had joined with Dumbledore and his little group; the best was if they had decided to stay neutral.

Then there was the issue with a certain Victor Krum. He had been keeping an eye at the boy, and there was something off in the way the star Seeker acted these days. It wasn't the fact that Krum had joined Dumbledores 'secret' group; no, it was something else. He just couldn't pinpoint it.

#Maassssteerrr,# Voldemort looked down at Nagini. The snake was lying by his feet looking up at him, adoration in her eyes. #What'sssss wrong?#

#Nothing my beautiful one,# he replied. #Jussst sssssome problemssss with our enemiessss.#

#The King of the Chassse?# the snake asked.

#You alwaysss were ssssmart Nagini; yesss it'sss with the King and ssssssome otherssss.# Before the great snake could reply there was a knock on the door opposite the Dark Lords throne. "Come in!"

A shaking Death Eater entered slowly, staggered up to the throne and fell to his knees.

"My Lord, we have gotten hold of the thing you asked about." The Death Eater managed to say without stuttering.

"Where is it then?" Voldemort growled.

"In the room where you told us to put it Master, and everything's ready to be used."

"You still have that prisoner you caught a few days ago?"

"Yes My Lord, she's still alive. Narcissa Malfoy has been taking care of her just like you wanted her to."

"Good, for once in your petty lives you idiots have actually done exactly what I wanted." The Dark Lord stood up and walked out of the room followed by Nagini.

The Death Eater took off his white mask and let the hood fall down revealing silver-blond hair and grey, scared eyes. He looked at the mask in his hands first with wonder then with disgust, then with fear. He hurriedly put it back on, pulled the hood up and left the room.

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Hermione sighed as she climbed into her bed. Tomorrow she would go back to Hogwarts, and to tell the truth she couldn't wait. The only downsides to this was that she would once again be close to the Forbidden Forest, and, not to mention, the war against the Dark Lord.

The articles about Rex Chase hadn't really answered any of her questions; the guy mislead the interviewers every time they tried to get something out of him. Colin had gladly supplied her with the picture for the first article, and Professor Dumbledore had agreed to her plan after some persuasion. But the thing that had surprised her the most was the Rita Skeeter had actually kept her side of the deal, and printed exactly what Hermione had told her to.

The Gryffindor girl turned off the light and went to sleep, her head filled with millions of questions and no answers.

~*~

She was running through something green and big. She slowed down and found herself in the middle of a dark forest. The Forbidden Forest, she was sure of it; she remembered that crooked, old tree from her first year.

'Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don-' she looked to her right. A painful yelp had come from that direction, it was quickly followed by another one then something that sounded like cursing in a language she had never heard before.

Hermione walked towards the sound despite herself; her curiosity taking control over her actions. She had to climb over a fallen trunk and up a little mountain, but in the end she stood at the top and looked into the tiny glen underneath her. The place was surrounded by steep huge rocks one every side, and the only way down was a tiny, rocky path right where she was standing. The glen itself had some trees and a brook was merrily floating through, the water looked like silver in the sunlight.

Suddenly her eyes locked with a pair of glowing, yellow-orange inhuman eyes. In fact they didn't look like anything she had seen or read about. The yellow eyes held her gaze, they were filled with pain and sadness, then they looked away, and something black hid them from her sight.

She wanted to cry out, demand the eyes to return; but something pulled at her and the glen was slowly disappearing.

~*~

Hermione woke up to find her mother shaking her.

"Come on dear, if you don't hurry up you'll be late for the Express." Mrs Granger said kindly then went out of the room to let her daughter dress alone.

The bushy-haired girl jumped up, forgetting everything about the dream, and hurriedly began to make herself ready. Despite her fear she couldn't wait to get back!

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'So did you or didn't you do it?' Harry asked the voice in his head as he walked through Kings Cross towards Platform 9 ¾.

'I did it, why wouldn't I?' the voice replied.

'You made such a fuss about it when I first suggested it. Soon we'll know what's wrong with Hermione and when it started.'

'Don't think that it will go that easily Harry. If you want her to trust Quis enough to tell him what's wrong, you'll have to be patient.' The voice advised. 'You know, I'm beginning to wonder if you're going to have time for your studies at all this year.'

'Yeah, me too.' Harry said as he stepped through the barrier separating the magical from the Muggle. 'Thank heavens I read through those books this summer.'

'Yeah, and those other books from the Phoenix Library helped too. I still can't believe you actually would sink down to steeling!'

' 'Steeling' is such a harsh word, I prefer 'borrowed without permission'. And I plan on putting them back before I die.'

'Then I hope they don't need them anytime soon.' The voice mumbled.

'What do you mean with that?' Harry asked curiously as he hauled his trunk down the wagons, trying to find an empty compartment.

'Nothing, nothing. Hey, you just passed an empty one!'

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Harry had been sitting and reading for quite a while before Ron and Hermione joined him. The redhead was talking either about Quidditch or the articles about Rex Chase, while Hermione was looking thoughtfully out of the window at the passing scenery.

"Hey, Herm, you alright?" Ron asked in the end.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were ok? Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm alright. I was just thinking about a dream I had."

"Do tell." Harry said. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No, but thanks for asking anyway. Does any of you know who we'll have as Defence Teacher this year?"

"As long as it isn't a Death Eater imposer, I'll be happy." Ron replied with a grimace.

"You're wrong Ron," Harry said, "I would gladly take a Death Eater imposer any day if it meant that we didn't have to deal with someone like Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, so far we've had imposers, stuttering soul-selling fools, good werewolves, idiotic fame-hunters, and a human over a century old." Ron ticked them off his fingers. "We need a vampire, an Elf and a dwarf to complete the Picture of Crazy DADA Professors."

"Maybe we could ask Binns about who hexed the Defence position." Hermione suggested.

"I can just see it," Ron snorted. "Binns could even manage to make something as that sound stupid and boring. I think Fudge was the only one who paid any attention in that class."

"Why?" Harry asked in amusement.

"The class must've killed all his brain-cells, and that's why he acts like a complete idiot all the time."

"You know, I think you're right."

"You two actually agreed on something for a change." Harry observed, and had a hard time fighting his laughter when he saw his friends horrified faces.

"We did not!" both of them yelled at the same time.

"I rest my case."

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Nothing unusual happened on rest of the journey to Hogwarts, and when the train stopped the trio quickly found an empty horse-less carriage. The trip to the front doors of the majestic castle was soon over, and the three of them walked once again into the Great Hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table.

Harry watched in amusement as the first years were led in through the doors by a very stern-looking McGonagall. As usual they were lined up in front of the Teachers Table, facing the other students. Flitwick hurriedly put the Sorting Hat on its stool, and everyone waited for the usual song that would come. And right one time, as usual, the Hat jumped and happily began to sing as loud as it could.

'You know, those songs are getting worse and worse every year.' The voice in his head commented. 'I told Godric to put some brains into the thing, but does anyone listen to me? Nooooo! They just run off and get themselves killed!'

'You knew Godric Gryffindor?' Harry asked.

'...Gryffindor's the House for you!' the Sorting Hat sang.

'Yep, or at least in the same manner we two know each other. We didn't meet until the guy died.'

'Do you know what happened to the other Founders?'

'Know, and know,' the voice replied. It sounded a bit uncertain about something or other. 'If you want to know what happened, why don't you ask Cian next time you visit him in the shape of Lily?'

'Why the hell should I visit him in the shape of Lily?'

'The staff thinks that he's married, and so will Neville once he hears the last name. They will expect Lily to visit him now and then, or at least send letters.'

'Well, if you put it that way; I can certainly see the logic in it.' Harry concentrated back at the Sorting. Apparently the Hat had just finished as it was bowing to the four House tables amidst loud applause from everyone.

"Now, when I call your names, please step up and put the Hat on your head; it will then decide what House you should be in." McGonagall said then unrolled the list, and looked at the first name. "Abrivan, Aggie!"

A plump little girl with rose-red cheeks stepped over to the Hat and put it on. It took some time before the Hat decided that she was a Hufflepuff.

"Aiko, Chen!"

The Chinese boy quickly walked up to the Hat; and carefully, as if the thing would bite him, put it on his head.

"RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled and the boy ran off to his table after taking it off.

"Alcander, Acacia!"

The only word that described the girl walking up to the Hat, was: Goth! Her hair was short and completely black, it also tuck out like spikes. From coal-black clothes to black lipstick and black eye-shadow to a pentagon- necklace around her neck.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled almost instantly.

The Gryffindors clapped politely albeit a bit uncertainly. Acacia Alcander sat down at the end of the table, right beside Harry. Ron and Hermione looked curiously at her, then turned back to the Sorting when she glared at them.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," he whispered in amusement.

"Thanks man." She replied without looking at him.

"Amaris, Accalia!" the Headmistress called out.

'I wonder...' Harry though as he watched the girl walk up to the Sorting Hat, showing no confidence at all.

'Wonder what?' the voice asked.

'This is just a suspicion, voice, nothing else; but 'Accalia' was the name of the foster mother of Romolus and Remus, those two twins that later founded Roma.'

'Those two who were found by a she-wolf?'

'Yes, those two. And 'Amaris' means 'child of the moon'.'

'You think she's a werewolf?'

'Just a suspicion, voice,' Harry replied. 'But we'll find out soon enough.'

After sitting on the stool for almost ten minutes, the Hat finally decided to put Accalia Amaris in Gryffindor. The girl hurried off to the Gryffindor table, nearly tripping several times before she reached them and sat down right opposite Acacia Alcander. She kept her eyes fixed to the table throughout the rest of the Sorting, and didn't look up when McGonagall asked for silence, nor when Dumbledore began his yearly welcome-back speech.

"Welcome back all of you. Old or new, big or small; it doesn't matter, Hogwarts welcomes back all of her children." The old Headmaster said. "I hope that you are ready for another year of learning, tests, Quidditch, exams; and, of course, fun. Let me state that the Forbidden Forest is just as the name indicates, forbidden; more so in these times with the Dark Lord back for full force."

All of the younger students, mostly the first years though, looked horrified at this. The older ones didn't look too good either, and the teachers quickly put up expressionless masks. Harry looked over at Snape, and found the Potion Professor looking at the place where his Dark Mark would be under the robes. He touched it once before he managed to pull himself together, and once again glared at everyone in the Great Hall. It was then that Harry noticed that Cian wasn't sitting at the Teachers table.

'Probably going to make one hell of an entrance,' he thought in amusement. 'The guy always liked to scare the shit out of everyone with his comings and goings........ Where in heavens name did that thought come from?'

"As usual we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year." Dumbledore continued. "He is going to patrol the Forbidden Forest along with our Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Rubeus Hagrid." Hagrid smiled a bit shyly and waved. "Please welcome Professor Theron Joyleaf."

The doors of the Great Hall opened with a great bang, and the light in the Hall itself went out, leaving only a few lit torches here and there. Every student stared at the tall figure in the doorway. The white shoulder-long hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, the golden eyes sweeping over everyone in the room. The white tailor-made suit set him apart from the rest of them, almost like a knight in shining armour.

//Fancy entrance Cian,// Harry commented calmly. //I think one first year fainted.//

//Ha, ha, Mr Potter, and I think I forgot how to laugh over the centuries// the First Vampire replied just as calmly. //But just you wait 'til classes start; you'll be playing another tune then!//

//I can't wait to see what you may have up your sleeve.//

//You're worse than Athan!// Cian replied as he sat down at the Head Table beside Snape, voice loaded with amusement.

//Well I had, and still have, a good teacher.//

//Why in heavens name did I introduce the two of you to each other?!//

//It's not that bad Cian, we just talked while he was there.//

//And you want me to believe that? Please, I know Athan, and something always happens around him.//

//No, I swear, nothing happened. Athan told me his story; in fact, he isn't even finished yet.//

//That I can believe, that fledgling loves to tell the story of his life. When he is finished come to me and I'll tell you those embarrassing moments that he left out.//

//Deal.//

"Harry? Harry?!" Ron snapped his fingers in front of the green-eyed Gryffindors face.

"Huh? What?"

"Are you alright? You got a kind of far away look in your eyes; we thought that it might be connected to the Dark Lord." Hermione said.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking of the best way to execute the revenge on Malfoy."

"You still haven't given up on that, have you?"

"I'm a Gryffindor Herm," Harry replied. "I fight fire with fire... well, as long as it's inside the rules."

"Since when did you care about rules?" Ron asked suspiciously. "And the rules of what?"

"That's for me to know, and for you not to find out."

"Right, like that's gonna keep us from snooping around."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Herm." Harry warned them, smiling.

"When did that stop you?" she retorted. "I think you've rubbed off on us."

"Well excuse me for corrupting your virgin brain, Ms Granger." Laughing he quickly ducked the chicken leg Hermione threw at him. "Oh, woe me! Innocent Maid Hermione Granger threw food! The world's going to end!"

Even Hermione couldn't keep a straight face any longer. She laughed along with the rest of the table; even some of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were chuckling. The Slytherins were glaring at the merry group. All in all it was a wonderful feast.

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I know, stupid ending; but bear with me people. Now, anyone want to know the story of Athan's life as he told it to Harry? If so, tell me in your review.

Thanks to:

QuidBrm, Naia, Arizosa, Rachel A. Prongs, Lady Phoenix Gryffindor, WolfMoon, Rouge1615, Confuzzler, Harry and Hermione's Daughter, Nkari, JUDGEMENT, RJLL, WeasleyTwinsLover1112, Korinna Myorin, Hermione HP, Amber Evans Potter, coconut-ice agent h/h, daemonhart, Cheddar, Sakura Le, Blizzard, Siri Kat, Arianne, Ruskbyte, Miranda Flairgold, Trance Snape, A- man and Ashley for reviewing.

Thanks to Ryshora for Beta-ing this chapter. And Miranda, I'm neither of them, but thanks for the compliment.