Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 11: The Order of the Phoenix
Soon it was the start of the term again and the trio made their way to King's Cross Station with the rest of the Weasleys. When they got to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Mrs. Weasley sent them through two at a time, so that they didn't attract too much attention, before going through the barrier herself.
On the other side of the barrier Harry saw that the scarlet steam engine was already waiting, but he also noticed that there were a lot more parents on the platform, saying good bye to their children, than usual. Probably because they heard that Voldemort had returned and wanted to make sure that their children made it to the school safely he thought.
"Hurry up, let's get our things onboard. We don't want to be late for our train," Hermione said, pushing her trolley to the end of the train where all the baggage was kept.
"Take care Harry, and Ron, you better set a good example for the other students," Mrs. Weasley called after them.
"Good bye Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for letting me stay over for the summer," Harry said before he followed Hermione to the back of the train with Ron.
Once all their things were stored aboard, they made their way to their usual compartment carrying their robes. Once there, they took turns waiting outside while Harry, Ron and Hermione changed into their school robes. Both Ron and Hermione were prefects and therefore were wearing their badges.
After they had finished changing, they sat in the compartment and Harry and Ron talked between themselves about Quidditch since Hermione had pulled out one of her textbooks and started reading it. Eventually the train started moving and Hermione closed her book.
"Ron, we need to go to the front of the train to meet the other prefects," Hermione said getting up from her seat.
"Alright, we'll see you later ok Harry?" said Ron as he opened the compartment door and walked outside.
"Don't worry Harry, we'll come back," Hermione said reassuringly and she closed the compartment door behind her.
Harry now had the compartment to himself and he felt quite lonely without Ron or Hermione so he looked out the window lost in his thoughts of what the year would be like until a knock on the compartment door drew him back into reality.
He turned his head back to the compartment door and when it opened; it revealed Cho Chang who was already dressed in her black robes.
"Hi Harry," she said, smiling. "Can I join you? I don't have anywhere to sit right now."
"Sure," he replied and smiled back at her.
"Thanks," she said as she sat down across from Harry. "Where are your friends who are usually with you?"
"Ron and Hermione? They're prefects so they're up in the front of the train meeting with the others."
"Oh, how come you didn't get to be a prefect? I'm sure your grades were good enough."
"I don't know. Maybe Professor McGonagall didn't want to play favourites this year and so she picked Ron. He deserves it though. He's been living under the shadow of his brothers for years now. I think it's about time he got to stand in the spotlight for once."
"I see - So Harry, how was your summer? I hope that you haven't been troubled too much by Cedric's death. It must have been hard on you during the summer having to live with it," Cho said, looking at the ground. She looked like she was almost about to cry at the thought Cedric's death.
"I've been doing well Cho. As much as it's true I've had some nightmares about the event I don't think that it's anything for you to worry about," Harry said trying his best to avoid looking like he was feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry that I brought it up. I had no idea -," Cho said before bursting into tears.
"Cedric died a hero Cho, and I want you to know he didn't suffer at all when he died. Besides, Cedric wouldn't want you to feel sad. He'd want you to move on with your life and not dwell too long on the past," Harry said comfortingly and he moved over to sit next to Cho and put his arm around her. She cried into his shoulder and Harry was starting to feel really guilty for answering her question. Unfortunately for him, that was also when Ron burst into the compartment.
"Hey Harry, guess wh -," Ron was about to say before he saw Cho crying with Harry's arm around her. "Oh, hi Cho. Hey, what's wrong with her?"
"Don't ask Ron and it's not what you think," Harry said, looking up at Ron.
"Oh really.," Ron said with a sly grin on his face. "Wait until I tell Hermione about this."
"Ron, wa -," he started to say before Ron ran out of the compartment and shut the door behind him.
*Oh great. There goes my chance with Hermione. Ron, that stupid git. Now the entire school will think something's up and I'll never hear the end of it, * he thought to himself before turning his attention back to Cho.
"Are you alright Cho?" he asked her.
She looked up at him and nodded before leaning her head against his shoulder again. She had stopped sobbing and started to dry her tears when there was yet another interruption. This time it was Malfoy with his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, behind him.
"Hey there Potter. How come Weasley and that mudblood Granger aren't in here with you?" he asked with a malicious look on his face. "Did your mudblood girlfriend decide to dump you for Weasley? His taste in girls is about as bad as yours," he said with a sneer.
"Stuff it Malfoy before I curse you off this train," Harry said, glaring at him. Normally he would ignore it, but insulting Hermione touched a nerve.
"Oh I don't think so Potter. See this?" he said pointing to his prefect's badge.
"It's a prefect's badge. Attacking a prefect will get you instantly expelled. I'm surprised you didn't become a prefect, then again maybe McGonagall finally came to her senses and stopped rewarding you just because of who you are. I'm sure that you fed Dumbledore that story of Voldemort returning and what happened to Cedric. I really think that you set up the whole thing up so that you could kill him because he took Cho to the Yule ball instead of you. That old coot will -," Malfoy was about to continue, but didn't get the chance.
Harry was about to draw out his wand to curse Malfoy when a red beam of light flashed through the compartment hitting Malfoy squarely in the chest. Malfoy started to glow red for a while before the glow subsided and he returned to normal. When he looked around, he saw that Cho was sitting up with her wand drawn and pointed at Malfoy.
"What was that Cho? Is that the best you can do? That curse didn't even work correctly. I wonder what Cedric ever saw in you," said Malfoy laughing.
"Oh it worked. Just look at your two goons standing next to you," Cho said smirking at Malfoy.
Malfoy turned and looked at Crabbe and Goyle, only that they looked enraged and were raising their fists to strike at him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you two? You dare to turn on me? I'll -," Malfoy said as he prepared to draw out his wand. Except that he didn't do so fast enough and a fist from Crabbe struck him across his face and Harry could hear a crack as Malfoy's nose broke, drawing blood, which trickled down the side of his face.
"Oof," he said as another fist from Goyle struck him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Crabbe and Goyle continued to attack Malfoy until he was on the floor, bloodied and knocked out cold before they came to their senses. They then noticed that Malfoy was on the ground beside them and they quickly dragged him out of the compartment.
"If he ever comes back in here and insults Cedric's memory, I'll be sure he gets more than a broken nose," Cho said, fuming.
"That was very interesting Cho. What was it?" Harry asked as he stood up and closed the compartment door returned to his seat.
"It's a curse called 'Confusion.' It makes the people closest to person you cast it on, think that they're their worst enemy and attack them. It comes in handy if you're outnumbered and need a distraction," Cho said before she waved her wand and made all of Malfoy's blood in their compartment disappear.
"Well, I can't say Malfoy didn't have that coming to him. Beaten up by his own goons no less," Harry said laughing as he sat down again. "Thanks to you Cho, I won't get into trouble for attacking a prefect and Malfoy got what he deserved."
"You're welcome," she said now smiling.
They chatted for the remainder of the trip to Hogwarts and Harry started wondering why Ron and Hermione hadn't come back. Probably because Ron told Hermione that he was trying to get together with Cho, when really he was only trying to offer her support.
*I'm going to kill him later, * he thought to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the train finally arrived at Hogwarts, he said good bye to Cho and exited the train where he saw that Hagrid was waiting for the first years so that they could make the traditional trip across the lake. He also noticed Malfoy being carried off the train on a stretcher followed by his two goons. Apparently they hurt him a lot more than Harry thought at first.
"Firs' years this way!" Hagrid yelled across the platform before he spotted Harry and smiled. "All right there Harry?"
Harry just waved and smiled at him from a distance, not wanting to draw attention to himself, and started looking for Ron and Hermione. He saw them over by the horseless carriages and went over to meet them.
"Hi Ron - Hermione," he said as he came up behind them. "What happened? I thought you two were going to come back to the compartment on the train."
"Oh, sorry, I thought you might want some time alone with Cho," Hermione said.
"What would make you think I wan - Ron, this has something to do with you doesn't it," Harry said glaring at him.
"Sorry," he said, grinning sheepishly.
"What do you mean?" Hermione said, now turning to face him with a disapproving look on her face.
"Uh. I was going to ask Harry to come and join us in the prefect's compartment, but when I entered, I saw Cho leaning on Harry's shoulder, crying," Ron said as they got into the carriage.
"So why did you tell me that Harry was trying to get with Cho?" Hermione asked irritably.
"Hey, that's what it looked like to me," Ron said defensively.
"Honestly Ron, stop making up stories. For all I know, the entire school will think Harry's going around with Cho."
"I said I was sorry," said Ron apologetically
"Enough. So what did you two talk about, Harry?" Hermione asked and for the remainder of the trip, Harry told them about his chat with Cho and about what she did to Malfoy. Both Ron and Hermione doubled over in laughter at the news that Malfoy was beaten senseless by his own goons.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once they got to the entrance at Hogwarts, they exited the carriages and made their way to the Great Hall where the sorting ceremony was to take place.
When they got to the Great Hall, Harry noticed that there were some students gawking at him and looking at his scar from the tables as he walked down to the Gryffindor table. It really made him uncomfortable, but he kept walking towards the table.
He looked around at the teacher's table for any sign of the new Dark Arts teacher and the Duelling teacher. He saw Dumbledore sitting in the middle of the table with Professor Flitwick to his right, followed by Professor Sprout and Professor Vector. At the far left of the table was Professor Snape, with the same greasy hair that he always had. Did Snape finally get the Dark Arts job? It would be a nightmare for Harry if he did since Snape always did favour his own house, Slytherin. However, Harry looked to the right of Snape and noticed that there were four chairs, one of them currently occupied by Hagrid, who had just come in, and the other, to the left of Dumbledore, obviously reserved for Professor McGonagall. The remaining two were then for the duelling teacher and for the new Potions teacher or the Dark Arts teacher, provided that Snape didn't get the job.
Harry sat in between Ron and Hermione and soon, Professor McGonagall ushered the first year students in.
Professor McGonagall told the first years to wait in the middle of the room while she went to get the sorting hat. Harry noted that most of the first years looked really nervous standing in the middle of the Great Hall with all of the students looking at them. She soon came back with the sorting hat and placed it on the stool. The hat then came to life and started singing a song:
You may think that I'm not pretty,
But don't judge me before you try me on.
You can keep your hats,
For you will never find a smarter hat than me,
The Hogwarts Sorting Hat.
There's nothing you can hide from me,
So try me on and I'll tell you where you ought to be.
You may belong in Gryffindor,
Where the brave at heart dwell,
Or perhaps in Hufflepuff,
Where the just and loyal always have a place,
If you've got a keen sense of wit and learning,
You'll find yourself welcome in Ravenclaw.
Or even in Slytherin for the cunning among you,
Who are not afraid to use any means to achieve their ends.
So try me on! Don't be afraid!
For I won't bite.
The hall burst into applause and some of the first years, Harry noted, started to relax. Then Professor McGonagall pulled out a scroll and ordered the first years to step forward when their names were called, put on the hat, and sit in the stool.
"Burns, David!" she said and a blonde haired boy stepped forward, put on the hat, and sat in the stool.
"Slytherin!" shouted the hat.
Only the Slytherins cheered while the other three tables were less than delighted. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table as the boy ran over and he noticed that Malfoy and his two goons were missing. Probably in the infirmary recovering from the beating he received on the train, he thought.
"Char, Isrand!"
"Slytherin!" shouted the hat, and everyone in the hall groaned while the Slytherins cheered again.
"Davis, Catilin!"
"Ravenclaw!"
This time everyone cheered, for one less Slytherin was always something to be happy about.
"Drakon, Melody!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Edin, Lyonis!"
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted and a small boy with brown hair ran to the Gryffindor table as everyone cheered him.
After a while, the sorting ceremony was finished and Gryffindor had 8 new students, Hufflepuff with 10, Ravenclaw with the least, 6, and finally Slytherin, with the most, 12. Harry was quite disappointed. With the return of Voldemort, he expected that more students would become afraid and not want to be placed in Slytherin.
Professor McGonagall took away the hat and Dumbledore stood up. He cleared his throat and he made sure that all the students were paying attention before he spoke.
"I'm sorry to bother you with an old man's rambling, but I have a few announcements. First of all, the forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students. Second, I would like you all to know that due to Voldemort's (at which everyone flinched, except Harry) return, no student is allowed outside the school without a fifth year or higher escorting them. Third, there will be a duelling class offered this year which all students second year and above will take so that should you need to, you will be able to defend yourselves. Now, one last announcement before you stuff yourselves full of this delicious food. I would like to introduce the duelling professor and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."
He sat down and a door opened off to the side. Two men walked into the great hall. Many of the students gasped in horror at the sight of them as the first one that strode in was dressed entirely in black and had a black cape flowing behind him with a ruby encrusted, golden cape clasp that Harry recognized. He also carried a broadsword sheathed in a black case at his side. The second was also dressed entirely in black, only that he had a skull on either shoulder and was wearing black plate armour with a stylet at his side.
Harry nudged Hermione, who was also looking at them with fear, and she nodded nervously.
Both men walked to their seats, the sound of their boots echoing through the silent hall, and the man wearing the black armour sat down. The other remained standing and spoke in a deep voice that commanded respect from everyone in the hall, including the Slytherins. However Snape looked less than pleased and glared at them from his seat.
"Good evening everyone," he said. "My name is Count Vladimir Sepet and I will be teaching your duelling class this year. I look forward to see how well each of you do and I hope that you will all gain something out of the class."
Once the Count finished his short speech, he sat down and the other man stood up. He too commanded respect from everyone, but unlike the Count, he drew more fearful stares from the students.
"Hello everyone," he said cheerfully, which surprised many of the students, as they were expecting him to be more like the Count based on his attire. "I will be teaching your Defence Against the Dark Arts class. For those of you who are unfamiliar with me, my name is Walter Laikov and I am what some of you would call a necromancer. However, you don't need to fear me since I won't be turning any of you into the undead."
He then sat down and Dumbledore stood up once again.
"Now that we are done with the introduction, by all means, let us feast," he said with his eyes twinkling.
He waved his hands and platters of food appeared at each table. The hall broke into chatter as the students ate happily. It appeared that they had forgotten about the two new teachers sitting at the table.
"Harry, this must have been what the Count meant when he would see us again," Hermione whispered to him.
He nodded and looked back at the table. Walter was trying to converse with Snape, who was scowling the whole time and Hagrid was deep in conversation with the Count. He noted that the Count had a plate in front of him full something that looked a bit raw to Harry.
*The Count has really strange taste in food, * Harry thought as Ron started asking him about the man sitting next to Walter.
"Hey Harry, is guy sitting next to Walter the Count you guys were talking about in Romania?" Ron said, stuffing himself full of roast chicken.
"Yes, he's the one who owns the castle we passed on the way to see Charlie."
"I wonder what he's like," Ron said.
"He certainly is well mannered, but I don't know if he'd be a really good teacher," Hermione cut in.
"Really Hermione, can't you think of anything else but school," Ron said.
"If you cared more about school than you did about food, you'd be getting better grades than me. Honestly, I don't know if you really were a good idea to put as a prefect," Hermione said sarcastically.
"I'll prove to you I can by the end of this year that I can be a better prefect than you," Ron retorted.
"We'll see about that one," Hermione challenged.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When dinner was over, Professor McGonagall came over to the Gryffindor table and called them.
"Potter! Granger! Follow me. The Headmaster would like a word with both of you. Weasley, you can take the first years to the tower. I trust you won't get lost," she said sternly.
"First years, follow me. I'll lead you to your dorms," Ron called as Harry and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall out of the hall.
Harry and Hermione talked along the way about what Dumbledore could possibly want with them, until they remembered the letter that Dumbledore sent them during the summer. They were finally going to meet the members of the Order of the Phoenix.
When the got to the gargoyle statue outside of Dumbledore's office, Professor McGonagall said the password, which turned out to be 'Lemon Drops,' and the gargoyle moved aside.
They took the spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upwards, and allowed it to carry them to Dumbledore's office.
Once they got there, they opened the door and saw that Professor Dumbledore was already waiting behind his desk and there were a total of 21 chairs gathered in a circle around the room. The fireplace was roaring and Fawkes, who was sitting perched behind the door as usual, flew to Dumbledore and sat on his shoulder as Harry and Hermione went to sit next to each other by the fireplace.
"Hello Harry - Miss Granger," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "You probably already know why you're here, but no matter, we will start shortly once all the members are here."
"Ah Minerva, please have a seat," Dumbledore continued, waving to a chair next to him.
Professor McGonagall sat down to the left of Dumbledore and a few seconds later, the door to Dumbledore's office opened to reveal Remus Lupin, followed by a large black dog, which Harry recognized as Sirius.
"Hello Professor Lupin," Harry and Hermione said at the same time.
"Hello you two," he replied smiling at them. "It's just Remus now. I'm no longer a professor due to my, er, unique ability."
"It's ok. We missed you. Hello Sirius," Harry said, and the black dog changed into Sirius Black.
"Hello Harry - Hermione. I told you I'd see you again," he said giving them both a hug and sat down in between Professor McGonagall and Remus.
The door opened once again and two people entered. One elderly man dressed in dark brown robes and an elderly woman dressed in emerald green robes. She looked almost too familiar to Harry.
"Mrs. Figg?" he asked in shock. In fact, Harry had fallen out of his seat because he didn't expect to see his old babysitter anywhere near Hogwarts.
"Miss Figg," she corrected and smiled at him. "Hello Harry, I thought I might see you here, but please just call me Arabella."
"I didn't expect to see you here either," Harry said, getting up off the floor. "Why didn't you tell me that you were a witch during all the times that I stayed over at your house and why did you make me look through pictures of all those ridiculous cats?"
"Well," Arabella said chuckling. "I really couldn't let you know who I was yet since it could have been disastrous if You-Know-Who figured I was a witch and that you were staying at my place. As for the pictures of the cats, I didn't really know what to keep you occupied with. At least I faked breaking my leg on Dudley's birthday in hopes that the Dursleys would take you along for once. Did they take you anywhere?"
"Yeah, they did. We went to the zoo and I set a boa constrictor on Dudley. It was really fun. Thank you Miss Figg," Harry said, now laughing at the memory of the horror on Dudley's face when the boa constrictor came near him.
"You're welcome dear," she said and she took a seat on the other side of Remus.
"So she's your babysitter? You never said anything about that before and who's he?" Hermione asked Harry, pointing at the elderly man who had sat down next to Arabella Figg.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself. I'm Mundungus Fletcher, a good friend of Dumbledore's. It's an honour to finally meet you both. I've heard of your exploits against the dark lord and how you've always managed to come out in one piece no less," he said, apparently overhearing Hermione's question.
Harry now looked uncomfortable from the attention he was getting from him, but fortunately the door burst opened once more, only this time it was a very infuriated looking Snape. He went up to Dumbledore and immediately started to talk in a tone that was obviously full of rage.
"Professor, you know that I normally don't question your judgement, but what were you thinking inviting those two to Hogwarts?" he said enraged.
"Serverus," Dumbledore said calmly. "I know how you feel, but Professor Sepet and Professor Laikov are serving as our agents in the International Ministry of Magic. It is important that we keep tabs on everything that is going on in the world. After all, Voldemort (at which Snape flinched) will not just be content to concentrate here on Hogwarts. At any rate, those two are among the best aurors that the International Ministry has to offer. Their methods may be, er, questionable, but there's no denying their efficiency in keeping Voldemort's (Snape flinches again) followers out of his territory. I just ask you to please bide by my judgment despite your reservations."
"I wonder what Dumbledore meant by questionable," Harry whispered to Hermione as they saw the conversation between Dumbledore and Snape.
"I think its obvious Harry. Remember Walter's a necromancer. How many people do you know of that use the dark arts to fight the dark arts without being corrupted by them?" she whispered back.
"None I guess," he said and he turned his attention back to the conversation.
"There is also the matter of the conduct of some of the students in the Order. Mr. Malfoy has been sent to the infirmary by his own goons. It looked like a confusion curse. My sources say that Miss Chang was the one who placed it on him," Snape continued.
"Very well, I'll see to it myself. Now please have a seat," Dumbledore said and Snape went to sit down next to Mundungus Fletcher.
Eventually the door opened once again and Professor Flitwick entered with Professor Laikov and Professor Sepet. They sat down in the three empty seats to the right of Dumbledore and now the room was half full. There were only 10 seats left to be filled.
Once they were seated, the door opened one last time and Harry saw Bill, Arthur, and Percy Weasley, followed by five students that Harry all recognized, enter the room. Cho Chang, Terry Boot, from Ravenclaw, Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley, from Hufflepuff, and Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. If there was supposed to be one more student from Slytherin, it must be Malfoy, Harry thought, but he was in the infirmary. Finally, a familiar clunking sound of wood on stone came and Harry saw the real Mad- Eye Moody enter the room. He looked just like Barty Crouch last year, after he took the polyjuice potion with his wooden leg and eye that could see in all directions, including through invisibility cloaks.
Cho sat down on the other side of Harry with Terry sitting next to her.
"Hello Harry, looks like I'll be working with you," Cho said, smiling while Hermione, looking straight ahead, scowled.
When the rest of the members sat down, Dumbledore stood up and walked to the middle of the room before speaking.
"Now that everyone is present, except for Mr. Malfoy who is in the infirmary, I would like to begin. As you all know, this year, I wanted to form the Order of the Phoenix to resist Voldemort's (at which everyone, but Harry, flinched as usual) new reign of terror. Therefore I have gathered my old group, Remus Lupin, Sirus Black (everyone gasped in surprise at the mention of Sirus), Arabella Figg, and Mundungus Fletcher to represent the wizarding community and provide extra protection for this school," Dumbledore said, motioning at the four seated to the left of Professor McGonagall.
"I have also gathered two members of the International Ministry of Magic, and Professor Sepet and Professor Laikov are the aurors representing them. For the Ministry of Magic of England, I have Mad-Eye Moody, Bill, Percy, and Arthur Weasley. For the school itself, Minerva and Professor Flitwick are present, along with Serverus who will be acting as our spy and keep us up to date on the dark lord's actions. We may have Rubeus Hagrid, come and join us later to report on his mission I sent him on during the summer. Finally, I have 8 students to represent the student community here at Hogwarts, two from each house," Dumbledore continued, now pacing the room within the circle.
"As part of the Order of the Phoenix, you are all sworn to secrecy and that you will carry out your duties as part of this order faithfully," Dumbledore finished. "Now that you're done listening to my rambling, there is only one order of business before you are dismissed. Serverus, could you please inform us of the information you've collected."
"As you wish headmaster," Snape said standing up. "During the summer, I returned to the dark lord under the guise that I had some information for him, however while I was there, I stumbled upon some information that concerns Mr. Potter and this school. Apparently the dark lord has made Mr. Potter his primary target, but he doesn't stop there. He has also been trying to look for ways to enhance his powers quickly so that he can finally overrun all those who would oppose him. Unfortunately, I do not have enough information to know what else he could possibly be planning. "
Snape sat down and Dumbledore stood up once again.
"Thank you Serverus, but I will have to ask you to continue to gather information for us. No doubt the dark lord has asked you to return with some information, so I will give you information that you will present to him. Please see me later regarding that. Now, I have kept you up all long enough. You are all dismissed. However, I would like all the student members of the Order to remain. Professor Flitwick will show you to your rooms."
Everyone, except for the seven students in the room, got up and walked out of the room with Professor Flitwick in the lead chatting happily with Walter. The door closed and the students returned their attention to Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry to have to keep you up later than usual, but I must first ask a question," Dumbledore said, now facing Harry.
"Harry, now that you know that the dark lord has made you the target of his wrath, is there anything that I can do to help you?" he asked.
"Uh, I've encountered him four times in the past and have managed to survive all of them. I'm not feeling uncomfortable with the fact that he wants to kill me since he's wanted to do that for years and I've learned to live with it by now, but thank you for the offer," Harry said as best he could without trying to feel uneasy. Hermione looked over at him encouragingly and he visibly relaxed.
"Very well, but if you need anything, you will know where to go," Dumbledore replied before looking at everyone again. "Now, the seven of you, as part of this order, must not mention anything you hear in here to anyone, not even your best friends. Times like these are very trying and even the person whom you trust the most can turn on you if he is given the proper motive. There are also those among you who you may hold a grudge against. I ask you that you put those aside and that you work together despite your differences. Remember, unity is the key to being able to stand up to the dark lord. United we will triumph, divided, we will fall."
"Now, do you all promise to keep this secret and serve the Order faithfully?" he asked them all.
"We do," the seven of them replied in unison.
"Excellent, now two more things before you are all dismissed. The first is that should we meet again, you will be owled a piece of paper with a phoenix on it and finally, since you eight, once we have Mr. Malfoy back with us, are going to be part of this Order, I have placed you in the advanced duelling class with Professor Sepet. This way, you will be able to learn more advanced methods of defending yourselves. That is all, good night" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling in the firelight.
The seven of them got up and walked downstairs to their respective towers and along the way, Harry talked with Hermione about what they had just seen.
"So, what do you think?" he asked her.
"I don't know, I think that this is a great idea that he formed the order, but I don't agree with putting you in harm's way," Hermione said with a look that was torn between worry and anger.
"I don't think Dumbledore will really let me go up against You-Know- Who unprepared. I mean he's given me enough help to survive all of my encounters with him. I think he'll do so again."
"Still, you should be careful. Remember the mirror in the Count's castle? We don't know what You-Know-Who is planning and the Count is here, in the Order no less. How do we know that he's not working as a spy for him like Snape is doing for Dumbledore."
"We don't, but we'll keep an eye on him as well. Maybe Cho and the other students can help."
"Oh? You sure you don't fancy her?" Hermione said, giving Harry a sly look.
"Yes, I'm sure," he replied, looking at her. "She just happened to be in the order and she was really upset earlier about Cedric's death, though I think she's gotten over it."
"What about Malfoy? We can't trust him or that other Slytherin."
"You're right, but we still have to work with them."
By now, they got to the portrait outside their tower, they saw that Professor McGonagall was waiting for them.
"There you are. It's about time the headmaster dismissed you. It's past your bedtime. The password is 'cometissa," she said and the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open.
They went in and they saw that Ron was waiting in the common room, sitting on the couch. He saw them and went over to greet them.
"What took you guys so long?" he asked sleepily.
"We wanted to see if we could sign up for some new classes," Hermione lied.
"Both of you?" he asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice, but Hermione ignored it. "So what classes did you sign up for?"
"We couldn't because there wasn't enough time," Harry threw in.
"I'm sure Hermione's disappointed," Ron said caustically.
"Yes I am, now I'm going up to bed. Good night," she said glaring at Ron and walked up to the girls' dormitories
"Good night Hermione," Harry called after her and he followed Ron up to the boys' dormitories.
"Really, she can be very troublesome sometimes," Ron said, on the way up.
"Well, it's not like you're helping the situation either," Harry said, defending Hermione.
"Since when did you take such interest in Hermione?" Ron asked demandingly.
"She is my friend as much as yours, Ron, I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't look out for her interests as well," Harry replied calmly.
With that, he opened the door to the dorm, walked in, and closed the door behind him leaving Ron outside to think about what he had just said.
He saw that everyone was already asleep, so he changed into his pajamas, closed the curtains and lay down in bed thinking of Hermione. It was a while before he went to sleep.
A/N: Sorry that this took more than 24 hours, but I think it's one of the best chapters I've written so far. I hope it was worth the wait and I really would like to hear what you think. Since it's how the author presents the story to the reader that's important, your reviews do me an invaluable service. So please R&R.
I'm not entirely sure what Hermione's animagus form should be, so I'll let you guys vote. I have setup a temporary e-mail address. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail it them me at ffsuggestions@yahoo.co.uk. Thank you.
Message to people who reviewed:
"Me": Thank you for reminding me about the disclaimer. It's been added.
"Mikala": We'll see about Hermione's animagus form, I'm still debating on that one. As for Hermione's trip to Paris, I don't know if I can really pull that off. I'll probably need to read up on that one so I can figure out what to do. I plan to do two sequels to this story, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione's 6th and 7th years.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 11: The Order of the Phoenix
Soon it was the start of the term again and the trio made their way to King's Cross Station with the rest of the Weasleys. When they got to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Mrs. Weasley sent them through two at a time, so that they didn't attract too much attention, before going through the barrier herself.
On the other side of the barrier Harry saw that the scarlet steam engine was already waiting, but he also noticed that there were a lot more parents on the platform, saying good bye to their children, than usual. Probably because they heard that Voldemort had returned and wanted to make sure that their children made it to the school safely he thought.
"Hurry up, let's get our things onboard. We don't want to be late for our train," Hermione said, pushing her trolley to the end of the train where all the baggage was kept.
"Take care Harry, and Ron, you better set a good example for the other students," Mrs. Weasley called after them.
"Good bye Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for letting me stay over for the summer," Harry said before he followed Hermione to the back of the train with Ron.
Once all their things were stored aboard, they made their way to their usual compartment carrying their robes. Once there, they took turns waiting outside while Harry, Ron and Hermione changed into their school robes. Both Ron and Hermione were prefects and therefore were wearing their badges.
After they had finished changing, they sat in the compartment and Harry and Ron talked between themselves about Quidditch since Hermione had pulled out one of her textbooks and started reading it. Eventually the train started moving and Hermione closed her book.
"Ron, we need to go to the front of the train to meet the other prefects," Hermione said getting up from her seat.
"Alright, we'll see you later ok Harry?" said Ron as he opened the compartment door and walked outside.
"Don't worry Harry, we'll come back," Hermione said reassuringly and she closed the compartment door behind her.
Harry now had the compartment to himself and he felt quite lonely without Ron or Hermione so he looked out the window lost in his thoughts of what the year would be like until a knock on the compartment door drew him back into reality.
He turned his head back to the compartment door and when it opened; it revealed Cho Chang who was already dressed in her black robes.
"Hi Harry," she said, smiling. "Can I join you? I don't have anywhere to sit right now."
"Sure," he replied and smiled back at her.
"Thanks," she said as she sat down across from Harry. "Where are your friends who are usually with you?"
"Ron and Hermione? They're prefects so they're up in the front of the train meeting with the others."
"Oh, how come you didn't get to be a prefect? I'm sure your grades were good enough."
"I don't know. Maybe Professor McGonagall didn't want to play favourites this year and so she picked Ron. He deserves it though. He's been living under the shadow of his brothers for years now. I think it's about time he got to stand in the spotlight for once."
"I see - So Harry, how was your summer? I hope that you haven't been troubled too much by Cedric's death. It must have been hard on you during the summer having to live with it," Cho said, looking at the ground. She looked like she was almost about to cry at the thought Cedric's death.
"I've been doing well Cho. As much as it's true I've had some nightmares about the event I don't think that it's anything for you to worry about," Harry said trying his best to avoid looking like he was feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry that I brought it up. I had no idea -," Cho said before bursting into tears.
"Cedric died a hero Cho, and I want you to know he didn't suffer at all when he died. Besides, Cedric wouldn't want you to feel sad. He'd want you to move on with your life and not dwell too long on the past," Harry said comfortingly and he moved over to sit next to Cho and put his arm around her. She cried into his shoulder and Harry was starting to feel really guilty for answering her question. Unfortunately for him, that was also when Ron burst into the compartment.
"Hey Harry, guess wh -," Ron was about to say before he saw Cho crying with Harry's arm around her. "Oh, hi Cho. Hey, what's wrong with her?"
"Don't ask Ron and it's not what you think," Harry said, looking up at Ron.
"Oh really.," Ron said with a sly grin on his face. "Wait until I tell Hermione about this."
"Ron, wa -," he started to say before Ron ran out of the compartment and shut the door behind him.
*Oh great. There goes my chance with Hermione. Ron, that stupid git. Now the entire school will think something's up and I'll never hear the end of it, * he thought to himself before turning his attention back to Cho.
"Are you alright Cho?" he asked her.
She looked up at him and nodded before leaning her head against his shoulder again. She had stopped sobbing and started to dry her tears when there was yet another interruption. This time it was Malfoy with his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, behind him.
"Hey there Potter. How come Weasley and that mudblood Granger aren't in here with you?" he asked with a malicious look on his face. "Did your mudblood girlfriend decide to dump you for Weasley? His taste in girls is about as bad as yours," he said with a sneer.
"Stuff it Malfoy before I curse you off this train," Harry said, glaring at him. Normally he would ignore it, but insulting Hermione touched a nerve.
"Oh I don't think so Potter. See this?" he said pointing to his prefect's badge.
"It's a prefect's badge. Attacking a prefect will get you instantly expelled. I'm surprised you didn't become a prefect, then again maybe McGonagall finally came to her senses and stopped rewarding you just because of who you are. I'm sure that you fed Dumbledore that story of Voldemort returning and what happened to Cedric. I really think that you set up the whole thing up so that you could kill him because he took Cho to the Yule ball instead of you. That old coot will -," Malfoy was about to continue, but didn't get the chance.
Harry was about to draw out his wand to curse Malfoy when a red beam of light flashed through the compartment hitting Malfoy squarely in the chest. Malfoy started to glow red for a while before the glow subsided and he returned to normal. When he looked around, he saw that Cho was sitting up with her wand drawn and pointed at Malfoy.
"What was that Cho? Is that the best you can do? That curse didn't even work correctly. I wonder what Cedric ever saw in you," said Malfoy laughing.
"Oh it worked. Just look at your two goons standing next to you," Cho said smirking at Malfoy.
Malfoy turned and looked at Crabbe and Goyle, only that they looked enraged and were raising their fists to strike at him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you two? You dare to turn on me? I'll -," Malfoy said as he prepared to draw out his wand. Except that he didn't do so fast enough and a fist from Crabbe struck him across his face and Harry could hear a crack as Malfoy's nose broke, drawing blood, which trickled down the side of his face.
"Oof," he said as another fist from Goyle struck him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Crabbe and Goyle continued to attack Malfoy until he was on the floor, bloodied and knocked out cold before they came to their senses. They then noticed that Malfoy was on the ground beside them and they quickly dragged him out of the compartment.
"If he ever comes back in here and insults Cedric's memory, I'll be sure he gets more than a broken nose," Cho said, fuming.
"That was very interesting Cho. What was it?" Harry asked as he stood up and closed the compartment door returned to his seat.
"It's a curse called 'Confusion.' It makes the people closest to person you cast it on, think that they're their worst enemy and attack them. It comes in handy if you're outnumbered and need a distraction," Cho said before she waved her wand and made all of Malfoy's blood in their compartment disappear.
"Well, I can't say Malfoy didn't have that coming to him. Beaten up by his own goons no less," Harry said laughing as he sat down again. "Thanks to you Cho, I won't get into trouble for attacking a prefect and Malfoy got what he deserved."
"You're welcome," she said now smiling.
They chatted for the remainder of the trip to Hogwarts and Harry started wondering why Ron and Hermione hadn't come back. Probably because Ron told Hermione that he was trying to get together with Cho, when really he was only trying to offer her support.
*I'm going to kill him later, * he thought to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the train finally arrived at Hogwarts, he said good bye to Cho and exited the train where he saw that Hagrid was waiting for the first years so that they could make the traditional trip across the lake. He also noticed Malfoy being carried off the train on a stretcher followed by his two goons. Apparently they hurt him a lot more than Harry thought at first.
"Firs' years this way!" Hagrid yelled across the platform before he spotted Harry and smiled. "All right there Harry?"
Harry just waved and smiled at him from a distance, not wanting to draw attention to himself, and started looking for Ron and Hermione. He saw them over by the horseless carriages and went over to meet them.
"Hi Ron - Hermione," he said as he came up behind them. "What happened? I thought you two were going to come back to the compartment on the train."
"Oh, sorry, I thought you might want some time alone with Cho," Hermione said.
"What would make you think I wan - Ron, this has something to do with you doesn't it," Harry said glaring at him.
"Sorry," he said, grinning sheepishly.
"What do you mean?" Hermione said, now turning to face him with a disapproving look on her face.
"Uh. I was going to ask Harry to come and join us in the prefect's compartment, but when I entered, I saw Cho leaning on Harry's shoulder, crying," Ron said as they got into the carriage.
"So why did you tell me that Harry was trying to get with Cho?" Hermione asked irritably.
"Hey, that's what it looked like to me," Ron said defensively.
"Honestly Ron, stop making up stories. For all I know, the entire school will think Harry's going around with Cho."
"I said I was sorry," said Ron apologetically
"Enough. So what did you two talk about, Harry?" Hermione asked and for the remainder of the trip, Harry told them about his chat with Cho and about what she did to Malfoy. Both Ron and Hermione doubled over in laughter at the news that Malfoy was beaten senseless by his own goons.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once they got to the entrance at Hogwarts, they exited the carriages and made their way to the Great Hall where the sorting ceremony was to take place.
When they got to the Great Hall, Harry noticed that there were some students gawking at him and looking at his scar from the tables as he walked down to the Gryffindor table. It really made him uncomfortable, but he kept walking towards the table.
He looked around at the teacher's table for any sign of the new Dark Arts teacher and the Duelling teacher. He saw Dumbledore sitting in the middle of the table with Professor Flitwick to his right, followed by Professor Sprout and Professor Vector. At the far left of the table was Professor Snape, with the same greasy hair that he always had. Did Snape finally get the Dark Arts job? It would be a nightmare for Harry if he did since Snape always did favour his own house, Slytherin. However, Harry looked to the right of Snape and noticed that there were four chairs, one of them currently occupied by Hagrid, who had just come in, and the other, to the left of Dumbledore, obviously reserved for Professor McGonagall. The remaining two were then for the duelling teacher and for the new Potions teacher or the Dark Arts teacher, provided that Snape didn't get the job.
Harry sat in between Ron and Hermione and soon, Professor McGonagall ushered the first year students in.
Professor McGonagall told the first years to wait in the middle of the room while she went to get the sorting hat. Harry noted that most of the first years looked really nervous standing in the middle of the Great Hall with all of the students looking at them. She soon came back with the sorting hat and placed it on the stool. The hat then came to life and started singing a song:
You may think that I'm not pretty,
But don't judge me before you try me on.
You can keep your hats,
For you will never find a smarter hat than me,
The Hogwarts Sorting Hat.
There's nothing you can hide from me,
So try me on and I'll tell you where you ought to be.
You may belong in Gryffindor,
Where the brave at heart dwell,
Or perhaps in Hufflepuff,
Where the just and loyal always have a place,
If you've got a keen sense of wit and learning,
You'll find yourself welcome in Ravenclaw.
Or even in Slytherin for the cunning among you,
Who are not afraid to use any means to achieve their ends.
So try me on! Don't be afraid!
For I won't bite.
The hall burst into applause and some of the first years, Harry noted, started to relax. Then Professor McGonagall pulled out a scroll and ordered the first years to step forward when their names were called, put on the hat, and sit in the stool.
"Burns, David!" she said and a blonde haired boy stepped forward, put on the hat, and sat in the stool.
"Slytherin!" shouted the hat.
Only the Slytherins cheered while the other three tables were less than delighted. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table as the boy ran over and he noticed that Malfoy and his two goons were missing. Probably in the infirmary recovering from the beating he received on the train, he thought.
"Char, Isrand!"
"Slytherin!" shouted the hat, and everyone in the hall groaned while the Slytherins cheered again.
"Davis, Catilin!"
"Ravenclaw!"
This time everyone cheered, for one less Slytherin was always something to be happy about.
"Drakon, Melody!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Edin, Lyonis!"
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted and a small boy with brown hair ran to the Gryffindor table as everyone cheered him.
After a while, the sorting ceremony was finished and Gryffindor had 8 new students, Hufflepuff with 10, Ravenclaw with the least, 6, and finally Slytherin, with the most, 12. Harry was quite disappointed. With the return of Voldemort, he expected that more students would become afraid and not want to be placed in Slytherin.
Professor McGonagall took away the hat and Dumbledore stood up. He cleared his throat and he made sure that all the students were paying attention before he spoke.
"I'm sorry to bother you with an old man's rambling, but I have a few announcements. First of all, the forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students. Second, I would like you all to know that due to Voldemort's (at which everyone flinched, except Harry) return, no student is allowed outside the school without a fifth year or higher escorting them. Third, there will be a duelling class offered this year which all students second year and above will take so that should you need to, you will be able to defend yourselves. Now, one last announcement before you stuff yourselves full of this delicious food. I would like to introduce the duelling professor and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."
He sat down and a door opened off to the side. Two men walked into the great hall. Many of the students gasped in horror at the sight of them as the first one that strode in was dressed entirely in black and had a black cape flowing behind him with a ruby encrusted, golden cape clasp that Harry recognized. He also carried a broadsword sheathed in a black case at his side. The second was also dressed entirely in black, only that he had a skull on either shoulder and was wearing black plate armour with a stylet at his side.
Harry nudged Hermione, who was also looking at them with fear, and she nodded nervously.
Both men walked to their seats, the sound of their boots echoing through the silent hall, and the man wearing the black armour sat down. The other remained standing and spoke in a deep voice that commanded respect from everyone in the hall, including the Slytherins. However Snape looked less than pleased and glared at them from his seat.
"Good evening everyone," he said. "My name is Count Vladimir Sepet and I will be teaching your duelling class this year. I look forward to see how well each of you do and I hope that you will all gain something out of the class."
Once the Count finished his short speech, he sat down and the other man stood up. He too commanded respect from everyone, but unlike the Count, he drew more fearful stares from the students.
"Hello everyone," he said cheerfully, which surprised many of the students, as they were expecting him to be more like the Count based on his attire. "I will be teaching your Defence Against the Dark Arts class. For those of you who are unfamiliar with me, my name is Walter Laikov and I am what some of you would call a necromancer. However, you don't need to fear me since I won't be turning any of you into the undead."
He then sat down and Dumbledore stood up once again.
"Now that we are done with the introduction, by all means, let us feast," he said with his eyes twinkling.
He waved his hands and platters of food appeared at each table. The hall broke into chatter as the students ate happily. It appeared that they had forgotten about the two new teachers sitting at the table.
"Harry, this must have been what the Count meant when he would see us again," Hermione whispered to him.
He nodded and looked back at the table. Walter was trying to converse with Snape, who was scowling the whole time and Hagrid was deep in conversation with the Count. He noted that the Count had a plate in front of him full something that looked a bit raw to Harry.
*The Count has really strange taste in food, * Harry thought as Ron started asking him about the man sitting next to Walter.
"Hey Harry, is guy sitting next to Walter the Count you guys were talking about in Romania?" Ron said, stuffing himself full of roast chicken.
"Yes, he's the one who owns the castle we passed on the way to see Charlie."
"I wonder what he's like," Ron said.
"He certainly is well mannered, but I don't know if he'd be a really good teacher," Hermione cut in.
"Really Hermione, can't you think of anything else but school," Ron said.
"If you cared more about school than you did about food, you'd be getting better grades than me. Honestly, I don't know if you really were a good idea to put as a prefect," Hermione said sarcastically.
"I'll prove to you I can by the end of this year that I can be a better prefect than you," Ron retorted.
"We'll see about that one," Hermione challenged.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When dinner was over, Professor McGonagall came over to the Gryffindor table and called them.
"Potter! Granger! Follow me. The Headmaster would like a word with both of you. Weasley, you can take the first years to the tower. I trust you won't get lost," she said sternly.
"First years, follow me. I'll lead you to your dorms," Ron called as Harry and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall out of the hall.
Harry and Hermione talked along the way about what Dumbledore could possibly want with them, until they remembered the letter that Dumbledore sent them during the summer. They were finally going to meet the members of the Order of the Phoenix.
When the got to the gargoyle statue outside of Dumbledore's office, Professor McGonagall said the password, which turned out to be 'Lemon Drops,' and the gargoyle moved aside.
They took the spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upwards, and allowed it to carry them to Dumbledore's office.
Once they got there, they opened the door and saw that Professor Dumbledore was already waiting behind his desk and there were a total of 21 chairs gathered in a circle around the room. The fireplace was roaring and Fawkes, who was sitting perched behind the door as usual, flew to Dumbledore and sat on his shoulder as Harry and Hermione went to sit next to each other by the fireplace.
"Hello Harry - Miss Granger," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "You probably already know why you're here, but no matter, we will start shortly once all the members are here."
"Ah Minerva, please have a seat," Dumbledore continued, waving to a chair next to him.
Professor McGonagall sat down to the left of Dumbledore and a few seconds later, the door to Dumbledore's office opened to reveal Remus Lupin, followed by a large black dog, which Harry recognized as Sirius.
"Hello Professor Lupin," Harry and Hermione said at the same time.
"Hello you two," he replied smiling at them. "It's just Remus now. I'm no longer a professor due to my, er, unique ability."
"It's ok. We missed you. Hello Sirius," Harry said, and the black dog changed into Sirius Black.
"Hello Harry - Hermione. I told you I'd see you again," he said giving them both a hug and sat down in between Professor McGonagall and Remus.
The door opened once again and two people entered. One elderly man dressed in dark brown robes and an elderly woman dressed in emerald green robes. She looked almost too familiar to Harry.
"Mrs. Figg?" he asked in shock. In fact, Harry had fallen out of his seat because he didn't expect to see his old babysitter anywhere near Hogwarts.
"Miss Figg," she corrected and smiled at him. "Hello Harry, I thought I might see you here, but please just call me Arabella."
"I didn't expect to see you here either," Harry said, getting up off the floor. "Why didn't you tell me that you were a witch during all the times that I stayed over at your house and why did you make me look through pictures of all those ridiculous cats?"
"Well," Arabella said chuckling. "I really couldn't let you know who I was yet since it could have been disastrous if You-Know-Who figured I was a witch and that you were staying at my place. As for the pictures of the cats, I didn't really know what to keep you occupied with. At least I faked breaking my leg on Dudley's birthday in hopes that the Dursleys would take you along for once. Did they take you anywhere?"
"Yeah, they did. We went to the zoo and I set a boa constrictor on Dudley. It was really fun. Thank you Miss Figg," Harry said, now laughing at the memory of the horror on Dudley's face when the boa constrictor came near him.
"You're welcome dear," she said and she took a seat on the other side of Remus.
"So she's your babysitter? You never said anything about that before and who's he?" Hermione asked Harry, pointing at the elderly man who had sat down next to Arabella Figg.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself. I'm Mundungus Fletcher, a good friend of Dumbledore's. It's an honour to finally meet you both. I've heard of your exploits against the dark lord and how you've always managed to come out in one piece no less," he said, apparently overhearing Hermione's question.
Harry now looked uncomfortable from the attention he was getting from him, but fortunately the door burst opened once more, only this time it was a very infuriated looking Snape. He went up to Dumbledore and immediately started to talk in a tone that was obviously full of rage.
"Professor, you know that I normally don't question your judgement, but what were you thinking inviting those two to Hogwarts?" he said enraged.
"Serverus," Dumbledore said calmly. "I know how you feel, but Professor Sepet and Professor Laikov are serving as our agents in the International Ministry of Magic. It is important that we keep tabs on everything that is going on in the world. After all, Voldemort (at which Snape flinched) will not just be content to concentrate here on Hogwarts. At any rate, those two are among the best aurors that the International Ministry has to offer. Their methods may be, er, questionable, but there's no denying their efficiency in keeping Voldemort's (Snape flinches again) followers out of his territory. I just ask you to please bide by my judgment despite your reservations."
"I wonder what Dumbledore meant by questionable," Harry whispered to Hermione as they saw the conversation between Dumbledore and Snape.
"I think its obvious Harry. Remember Walter's a necromancer. How many people do you know of that use the dark arts to fight the dark arts without being corrupted by them?" she whispered back.
"None I guess," he said and he turned his attention back to the conversation.
"There is also the matter of the conduct of some of the students in the Order. Mr. Malfoy has been sent to the infirmary by his own goons. It looked like a confusion curse. My sources say that Miss Chang was the one who placed it on him," Snape continued.
"Very well, I'll see to it myself. Now please have a seat," Dumbledore said and Snape went to sit down next to Mundungus Fletcher.
Eventually the door opened once again and Professor Flitwick entered with Professor Laikov and Professor Sepet. They sat down in the three empty seats to the right of Dumbledore and now the room was half full. There were only 10 seats left to be filled.
Once they were seated, the door opened one last time and Harry saw Bill, Arthur, and Percy Weasley, followed by five students that Harry all recognized, enter the room. Cho Chang, Terry Boot, from Ravenclaw, Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley, from Hufflepuff, and Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. If there was supposed to be one more student from Slytherin, it must be Malfoy, Harry thought, but he was in the infirmary. Finally, a familiar clunking sound of wood on stone came and Harry saw the real Mad- Eye Moody enter the room. He looked just like Barty Crouch last year, after he took the polyjuice potion with his wooden leg and eye that could see in all directions, including through invisibility cloaks.
Cho sat down on the other side of Harry with Terry sitting next to her.
"Hello Harry, looks like I'll be working with you," Cho said, smiling while Hermione, looking straight ahead, scowled.
When the rest of the members sat down, Dumbledore stood up and walked to the middle of the room before speaking.
"Now that everyone is present, except for Mr. Malfoy who is in the infirmary, I would like to begin. As you all know, this year, I wanted to form the Order of the Phoenix to resist Voldemort's (at which everyone, but Harry, flinched as usual) new reign of terror. Therefore I have gathered my old group, Remus Lupin, Sirus Black (everyone gasped in surprise at the mention of Sirus), Arabella Figg, and Mundungus Fletcher to represent the wizarding community and provide extra protection for this school," Dumbledore said, motioning at the four seated to the left of Professor McGonagall.
"I have also gathered two members of the International Ministry of Magic, and Professor Sepet and Professor Laikov are the aurors representing them. For the Ministry of Magic of England, I have Mad-Eye Moody, Bill, Percy, and Arthur Weasley. For the school itself, Minerva and Professor Flitwick are present, along with Serverus who will be acting as our spy and keep us up to date on the dark lord's actions. We may have Rubeus Hagrid, come and join us later to report on his mission I sent him on during the summer. Finally, I have 8 students to represent the student community here at Hogwarts, two from each house," Dumbledore continued, now pacing the room within the circle.
"As part of the Order of the Phoenix, you are all sworn to secrecy and that you will carry out your duties as part of this order faithfully," Dumbledore finished. "Now that you're done listening to my rambling, there is only one order of business before you are dismissed. Serverus, could you please inform us of the information you've collected."
"As you wish headmaster," Snape said standing up. "During the summer, I returned to the dark lord under the guise that I had some information for him, however while I was there, I stumbled upon some information that concerns Mr. Potter and this school. Apparently the dark lord has made Mr. Potter his primary target, but he doesn't stop there. He has also been trying to look for ways to enhance his powers quickly so that he can finally overrun all those who would oppose him. Unfortunately, I do not have enough information to know what else he could possibly be planning. "
Snape sat down and Dumbledore stood up once again.
"Thank you Serverus, but I will have to ask you to continue to gather information for us. No doubt the dark lord has asked you to return with some information, so I will give you information that you will present to him. Please see me later regarding that. Now, I have kept you up all long enough. You are all dismissed. However, I would like all the student members of the Order to remain. Professor Flitwick will show you to your rooms."
Everyone, except for the seven students in the room, got up and walked out of the room with Professor Flitwick in the lead chatting happily with Walter. The door closed and the students returned their attention to Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry to have to keep you up later than usual, but I must first ask a question," Dumbledore said, now facing Harry.
"Harry, now that you know that the dark lord has made you the target of his wrath, is there anything that I can do to help you?" he asked.
"Uh, I've encountered him four times in the past and have managed to survive all of them. I'm not feeling uncomfortable with the fact that he wants to kill me since he's wanted to do that for years and I've learned to live with it by now, but thank you for the offer," Harry said as best he could without trying to feel uneasy. Hermione looked over at him encouragingly and he visibly relaxed.
"Very well, but if you need anything, you will know where to go," Dumbledore replied before looking at everyone again. "Now, the seven of you, as part of this order, must not mention anything you hear in here to anyone, not even your best friends. Times like these are very trying and even the person whom you trust the most can turn on you if he is given the proper motive. There are also those among you who you may hold a grudge against. I ask you that you put those aside and that you work together despite your differences. Remember, unity is the key to being able to stand up to the dark lord. United we will triumph, divided, we will fall."
"Now, do you all promise to keep this secret and serve the Order faithfully?" he asked them all.
"We do," the seven of them replied in unison.
"Excellent, now two more things before you are all dismissed. The first is that should we meet again, you will be owled a piece of paper with a phoenix on it and finally, since you eight, once we have Mr. Malfoy back with us, are going to be part of this Order, I have placed you in the advanced duelling class with Professor Sepet. This way, you will be able to learn more advanced methods of defending yourselves. That is all, good night" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling in the firelight.
The seven of them got up and walked downstairs to their respective towers and along the way, Harry talked with Hermione about what they had just seen.
"So, what do you think?" he asked her.
"I don't know, I think that this is a great idea that he formed the order, but I don't agree with putting you in harm's way," Hermione said with a look that was torn between worry and anger.
"I don't think Dumbledore will really let me go up against You-Know- Who unprepared. I mean he's given me enough help to survive all of my encounters with him. I think he'll do so again."
"Still, you should be careful. Remember the mirror in the Count's castle? We don't know what You-Know-Who is planning and the Count is here, in the Order no less. How do we know that he's not working as a spy for him like Snape is doing for Dumbledore."
"We don't, but we'll keep an eye on him as well. Maybe Cho and the other students can help."
"Oh? You sure you don't fancy her?" Hermione said, giving Harry a sly look.
"Yes, I'm sure," he replied, looking at her. "She just happened to be in the order and she was really upset earlier about Cedric's death, though I think she's gotten over it."
"What about Malfoy? We can't trust him or that other Slytherin."
"You're right, but we still have to work with them."
By now, they got to the portrait outside their tower, they saw that Professor McGonagall was waiting for them.
"There you are. It's about time the headmaster dismissed you. It's past your bedtime. The password is 'cometissa," she said and the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open.
They went in and they saw that Ron was waiting in the common room, sitting on the couch. He saw them and went over to greet them.
"What took you guys so long?" he asked sleepily.
"We wanted to see if we could sign up for some new classes," Hermione lied.
"Both of you?" he asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice, but Hermione ignored it. "So what classes did you sign up for?"
"We couldn't because there wasn't enough time," Harry threw in.
"I'm sure Hermione's disappointed," Ron said caustically.
"Yes I am, now I'm going up to bed. Good night," she said glaring at Ron and walked up to the girls' dormitories
"Good night Hermione," Harry called after her and he followed Ron up to the boys' dormitories.
"Really, she can be very troublesome sometimes," Ron said, on the way up.
"Well, it's not like you're helping the situation either," Harry said, defending Hermione.
"Since when did you take such interest in Hermione?" Ron asked demandingly.
"She is my friend as much as yours, Ron, I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't look out for her interests as well," Harry replied calmly.
With that, he opened the door to the dorm, walked in, and closed the door behind him leaving Ron outside to think about what he had just said.
He saw that everyone was already asleep, so he changed into his pajamas, closed the curtains and lay down in bed thinking of Hermione. It was a while before he went to sleep.
A/N: Sorry that this took more than 24 hours, but I think it's one of the best chapters I've written so far. I hope it was worth the wait and I really would like to hear what you think. Since it's how the author presents the story to the reader that's important, your reviews do me an invaluable service. So please R&R.
I'm not entirely sure what Hermione's animagus form should be, so I'll let you guys vote. I have setup a temporary e-mail address. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail it them me at ffsuggestions@yahoo.co.uk. Thank you.
Message to people who reviewed:
"Me": Thank you for reminding me about the disclaimer. It's been added.
"Mikala": We'll see about Hermione's animagus form, I'm still debating on that one. As for Hermione's trip to Paris, I don't know if I can really pull that off. I'll probably need to read up on that one so I can figure out what to do. I plan to do two sequels to this story, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione's 6th and 7th years.