A/N - It gets a little gruesome towards the end. I'm glad I gave the story
a PG-13 rating. You have been warned.
Chapter Nine - Another Dream
Professor McGonagall was right. As Harry and Hermione sat down at their table, the last student was sitting on the stool.
"HUFFLEPUFF," the hat yelled, and the table on the other end of the hall cheered. The girl sat down, smiling at the students around her.
Professor Flitwick did not remove the stool and hat like he usually did at that time. Instead, Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome to our new first years, and welcome back to our returning students," he said. All the students in the hall cheered, as though it was a good thing to return to school. Harry was one of the few people who actually believed it.
"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said, trying to quiet the students. "As you may have expected, we have an addition to our staff this year. I believe all of you, except the first years, can tell not only who, but what they will be teaching." Dumbledore smiled. Harry had been to the school for four years, and had four different Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers. This year would make his fifth for both.
Harry scanned the teachers' table to see who the new teacher was. He saw many familiar faces, including Professors Flitwick, Snape, Hagrid, McGonagall, Sprout, and Sinistra. There were a few that Harry knew only by face, since there were a few classes he didn't take. He didn't see Professor Trelawney, but she had previously said that she didn't like being in large groups. She prefered to stay up in her tower and predict people's death, especially Harry's.
Harry then saw the new teacher. It was a girl, and she stood up after a motion from Dumbledore. She was quite young, probably in her early twenties. She looked like she just got out of wizarding college. Other than that, she looked ordinary enough. She wore plain black robes with a blue- green scarf on her neck. It looked more like a piece of cloth cut into a rectangle than a true scarf, but it matched the color of her eyes. Her hair was blonde, and her smile was pleasant.
"This is Professor Foulardoeil, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the year. Or longer, if we set a new trend." Many of the students laughed, and even a few of the teachers.
"We will also have a student teacher this year. We usually do not have student teachers, but she specifically asked for Hogwarts. Assisting with our Transfiguration classes will be Fleur Delacour. Most of you will remember her as a participant of the Triwizard Tournament from Beauxbatons last year."
Harry looked to see Fleur sitting next to Professor McGonagall. She briefly stood up. Harry remembered her saying that she wanted to get a job at Hogwarts to improve her English. Fleur waved to Harry, and he waved back. Ron was staring at Fleur, and Harry remembered how she was part veela.
"We also have one more new person this year. We have a new student." Dumbledore motioned to a girl standing next to him, which Harry hadn't noticed before. She wore the standard Hogwarts uniform, and she had a camera around her neck. She wore a black bandana over her hair, but Harry could see that her hair was a dark red.
"This is Celina Doalus," Dumbledore introduced. Celina nodded slightly, but looked like she would rather be hiding in a corner or something. Celina walked around the table, and to the stool. She picked up the Sorting Hat, sat down, and placed the hat on her head.
The whole hall sat in compete silence for almost two minutes before the hat shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table cheered, and Celina went to sit down with them.
Dumbledore smiled. "I believe almost everything is in order, then. Just a few notices to our new students, and reminders to our older ones. The forest on the grounds is called the Forbidden Forest, and it is by no coincidence that it is forbidden to all students." Many students chuckled.
"No magic is to be used between classes in the hallways, and for those interested, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. If you wish for more details about tryouts, you should contact Madame Hooch."
Dumbledore continued to smile at the students. With a twinkle in his eyes, he concluded, "That will be all. Now, let us enjoy the feast!"
With that, the golden plates that filled the tables were suddenly piled with food. As Harry and his fellow students ate, Harry opened his envelope. It didn't have a whole lot. It just told him that the password to the Gryffindor common room was "cattail." It also gave directions to the Prefect Meeting Room, along with the password. The first meeting was on the third at seven thirty in the evening.
The password reminded Harry about Yllier. He picked up the cat's basket, and petted his small pet. He wondered what kind of test of loyalty there would be. Whatever it was, he didn't have much time to prepare his two pets for it. And if they weren't loyal to him, what could he do? What WOULD he do?
After thinking, Harry thought it would be best to send Hedwig to somebody for the year. But that wouldn't be fair to his owl. She was his first pet, and she would always be his pet. He couldn't just send her away like that. She would probably hate him. She was already a little angry for having her stay at Hermione's for the summer.
On the other hand, he couldn't abandon his little kitten, either. Yllier barely knew him, and you couldn't just dump a kitten on somebody for the school year.
"So," Ron said, interrupting Harry thoughts, "what do you think's with our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
Harry looked at Ron, having no idea what kind of answer he wanted. "You know, we've had somebody that was a host for You-Know-Who, a total fake, a werewolf, and a Death Eater in the disguise of an Auror," Ron explained. "What do you think will be with our teacher this year?"
"Dunno," Harry said. "She doesn't LOOK like there's anything with her. I suppose we'll have to wait until we have class to see. But, who knows? Maybe Dumbledore chose a good teacher for once."
Ron shrugged. Noticing Harry's badge for the first time, he said, "You didn't tell me you're a prefect."
"Oh, sorry Ron. I just remembered how Percy seemed to brag about it, and I was trying to find a way to say it without sounding like I'm bragging." Harry looked apologetically at his friend.
"I understand Harry, but it'd be nice if you told me. All you had to do was say it once, and that's it. I mean, once and only once. Percy said it a million times, that's what bugged me." Ron looked over at Hermione. "I see she's one, too. Say, weren't you two supposed to be in the front two compartments? Aren't they reserved for prefects?"
"They might have been, but so? Why would we go there if we can't be with you?"
"You guys are great friends. I tell you, Percy wouldn't even have any friends that weren't prefects, let alone choose to sit with them instead of with the prefects. Where would I be without you guys?"
Harry smiled. "I hope you never find out, Ron."
"I hope so too, Harry."
By then, the desserts had cleared, and it was time for everybody to go to their common rooms. Harry, Hermione, and the other four prefects, were put in the leadership role.
"New Gryffindors, this way, please," one boy said. Harry and Hermione went to join him, while the other three stayed to the back to take care of any laggers. Together, the three of them led their way up to the Gryffindor common room on the seventh floor. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, the boy stepped aside, allowing Harry to be in front. He figured that the boy wanted to "share the wealth," or something like that.
"Cattail," Harry said, so that all of the other Gryffindors, new and old alike, could hear him. The Fat Lady's portrait swung forward, and Harry led the group into the common room.
Hermione took the chance to be the leader. "This," she said dramatically, "is the Gryffindor common room. Only Gryffindors are allowed in, so be sure to keep the password a secret. The boys' dormitories are through the door on the left, and the girls' are through the door on the right." She led the way for the girls, while Harry and the seventh year led the way for the boys.
Harry and the four other fifth year Gryffindor boys entered their dormitory, and it was like returning home after a long trip for Harry. The five four-poster bed with red, velvet curtains were there, just as Harry remembered them. All their trunks were in the room, brought up by house elves, no doubt.
The house elves reminded Harry of how obsessed Hermione was with giving house elves rights and salaries last year. As he took the top completely off Yllier's basket (it was partially open so Yllier could begin to learn where everything was), Harry also remembered her club, the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, or S.P.E.W. He desperately hoped that she had forgotten all about it.
On the other hand, Harry made a mental note to remember to visit Dobby in the kitchens. Dobby was a house elf who had tried to save Harry's life by nearly killing him in his second year. Dobby had, however, saved Harry some serious humiliation by giving Harry a way to go underwater to rescue Ron during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament last year. Even if it wasn't really Dobby's idea, Harry was grateful.
Harry changed into his pajamas, and got in bed. Yllier, having examined every bit of the room he could fit into (which was pretty much everything), jumped onto the bed and curled up on Harry's feet. Harry had noticed that his small kitten like sleeping on his feet or on his legs.
That night, Harry had another dream.
**********
Harry found himself inside a small room. There were two other people there, both in their early thirties. They stood looking at a simmering cauldron.
"You first," one said. The other man nodded. He put his right arm on a cutting board. The first man held up a knife. Looking at it catch light from the moon for a moment, he quickly brought it down, cutting off the hand of the other man.
Harry almost screamed, but caught himself. It wasn't until a moment later that he remembered that nobody would hear him.
The man who lost his hand picked up the severed hand with his still attached left one. Amazingly, his right arm was not bleeding. He tossed his hand into the cauldron, which hissed.
The man who still had both his hands placed his own right arm on the board. Harry knew what would happen, but couldn't move.
"It's too bad I'm right-handed," the man with only a left hand said.
The other man laughed. "If I didn't trust you, I would have gone first." In one swift motion, the knife was raised and brought down, severing off the hand of the waiting man. Harry recoiled, shocked and disgusted.
He lifted up his right arm, inspecting the cut. "Not bad," he commented. "You were right on." He picked up his hand and tossed it in the cauldron. Harry nearly vomited. They were cutting each other's hands off, and acting as though it was no big deal.
One of the men stirred the potion, while the other one got a ladle and cups. When the first man was done stirring, the other man began ladling the potion into the cups.
"Remember," the other man said, "this has to be exactly even."
"Oh, don't you worry," the first one said, "I wouldn't cheat you of your share." He watched himself ladle. "One for me, one for you."
When he had given out the whole potion, they picked up their glasses. They looked at each other, and nodded. At the same time, they both drank their share of the potion.
Harry could only imagine how nasty the potion tasted. He had thought that the Polyjuice Potion was bad enough, with only a little bit of Goyle's hair.
Both men set their glasses down at the same time. A bright green glow came from where they used to have hands. To Harry's amazement, he watched as the hands grew back. The two men watched, not really surprised by the result. The each held up their right hand, and put them together.
They smiled at each other. When they put their hands down, one commented, "Well, we're halfway done."
The other one thought for a moment. "Yes, we are. And that was the easy half." Harry couldn't even imagine what the other half would be.
As the two men began to laugh, or more appropriately, cackle, Harry's scar began to hurt. Not badly, probably only half of what it usually was. But then, everything around Harry began to fade.
**********
Harry realized that the pain must have been what woke him up. It wasn't that bad, though. He could feel a cold sweat on his face. Harry sat up, and realized that Yllier was still on his feet. He gently picked up the kitten and placed him down, not on his feet. Harry got out of bed, and went to the window. Everybody else in the dorm was sound asleep.
Harry remembered that Sirius told him that if his scar every hurt, he should go talk to Professor Dumbledore. Harry didn't think it was appropriate at this time. It was probably two in the morning, and Dumbledore would be fast asleep. It didn't even hurt that badly. Yawning, Harry got back into bed. He decided that he would consider it in the morning.
Special Thanks.
To Saffron Halifax again. What more can I say?
Chapter Nine - Another Dream
Professor McGonagall was right. As Harry and Hermione sat down at their table, the last student was sitting on the stool.
"HUFFLEPUFF," the hat yelled, and the table on the other end of the hall cheered. The girl sat down, smiling at the students around her.
Professor Flitwick did not remove the stool and hat like he usually did at that time. Instead, Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome to our new first years, and welcome back to our returning students," he said. All the students in the hall cheered, as though it was a good thing to return to school. Harry was one of the few people who actually believed it.
"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said, trying to quiet the students. "As you may have expected, we have an addition to our staff this year. I believe all of you, except the first years, can tell not only who, but what they will be teaching." Dumbledore smiled. Harry had been to the school for four years, and had four different Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers. This year would make his fifth for both.
Harry scanned the teachers' table to see who the new teacher was. He saw many familiar faces, including Professors Flitwick, Snape, Hagrid, McGonagall, Sprout, and Sinistra. There were a few that Harry knew only by face, since there were a few classes he didn't take. He didn't see Professor Trelawney, but she had previously said that she didn't like being in large groups. She prefered to stay up in her tower and predict people's death, especially Harry's.
Harry then saw the new teacher. It was a girl, and she stood up after a motion from Dumbledore. She was quite young, probably in her early twenties. She looked like she just got out of wizarding college. Other than that, she looked ordinary enough. She wore plain black robes with a blue- green scarf on her neck. It looked more like a piece of cloth cut into a rectangle than a true scarf, but it matched the color of her eyes. Her hair was blonde, and her smile was pleasant.
"This is Professor Foulardoeil, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the year. Or longer, if we set a new trend." Many of the students laughed, and even a few of the teachers.
"We will also have a student teacher this year. We usually do not have student teachers, but she specifically asked for Hogwarts. Assisting with our Transfiguration classes will be Fleur Delacour. Most of you will remember her as a participant of the Triwizard Tournament from Beauxbatons last year."
Harry looked to see Fleur sitting next to Professor McGonagall. She briefly stood up. Harry remembered her saying that she wanted to get a job at Hogwarts to improve her English. Fleur waved to Harry, and he waved back. Ron was staring at Fleur, and Harry remembered how she was part veela.
"We also have one more new person this year. We have a new student." Dumbledore motioned to a girl standing next to him, which Harry hadn't noticed before. She wore the standard Hogwarts uniform, and she had a camera around her neck. She wore a black bandana over her hair, but Harry could see that her hair was a dark red.
"This is Celina Doalus," Dumbledore introduced. Celina nodded slightly, but looked like she would rather be hiding in a corner or something. Celina walked around the table, and to the stool. She picked up the Sorting Hat, sat down, and placed the hat on her head.
The whole hall sat in compete silence for almost two minutes before the hat shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table cheered, and Celina went to sit down with them.
Dumbledore smiled. "I believe almost everything is in order, then. Just a few notices to our new students, and reminders to our older ones. The forest on the grounds is called the Forbidden Forest, and it is by no coincidence that it is forbidden to all students." Many students chuckled.
"No magic is to be used between classes in the hallways, and for those interested, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. If you wish for more details about tryouts, you should contact Madame Hooch."
Dumbledore continued to smile at the students. With a twinkle in his eyes, he concluded, "That will be all. Now, let us enjoy the feast!"
With that, the golden plates that filled the tables were suddenly piled with food. As Harry and his fellow students ate, Harry opened his envelope. It didn't have a whole lot. It just told him that the password to the Gryffindor common room was "cattail." It also gave directions to the Prefect Meeting Room, along with the password. The first meeting was on the third at seven thirty in the evening.
The password reminded Harry about Yllier. He picked up the cat's basket, and petted his small pet. He wondered what kind of test of loyalty there would be. Whatever it was, he didn't have much time to prepare his two pets for it. And if they weren't loyal to him, what could he do? What WOULD he do?
After thinking, Harry thought it would be best to send Hedwig to somebody for the year. But that wouldn't be fair to his owl. She was his first pet, and she would always be his pet. He couldn't just send her away like that. She would probably hate him. She was already a little angry for having her stay at Hermione's for the summer.
On the other hand, he couldn't abandon his little kitten, either. Yllier barely knew him, and you couldn't just dump a kitten on somebody for the school year.
"So," Ron said, interrupting Harry thoughts, "what do you think's with our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
Harry looked at Ron, having no idea what kind of answer he wanted. "You know, we've had somebody that was a host for You-Know-Who, a total fake, a werewolf, and a Death Eater in the disguise of an Auror," Ron explained. "What do you think will be with our teacher this year?"
"Dunno," Harry said. "She doesn't LOOK like there's anything with her. I suppose we'll have to wait until we have class to see. But, who knows? Maybe Dumbledore chose a good teacher for once."
Ron shrugged. Noticing Harry's badge for the first time, he said, "You didn't tell me you're a prefect."
"Oh, sorry Ron. I just remembered how Percy seemed to brag about it, and I was trying to find a way to say it without sounding like I'm bragging." Harry looked apologetically at his friend.
"I understand Harry, but it'd be nice if you told me. All you had to do was say it once, and that's it. I mean, once and only once. Percy said it a million times, that's what bugged me." Ron looked over at Hermione. "I see she's one, too. Say, weren't you two supposed to be in the front two compartments? Aren't they reserved for prefects?"
"They might have been, but so? Why would we go there if we can't be with you?"
"You guys are great friends. I tell you, Percy wouldn't even have any friends that weren't prefects, let alone choose to sit with them instead of with the prefects. Where would I be without you guys?"
Harry smiled. "I hope you never find out, Ron."
"I hope so too, Harry."
By then, the desserts had cleared, and it was time for everybody to go to their common rooms. Harry, Hermione, and the other four prefects, were put in the leadership role.
"New Gryffindors, this way, please," one boy said. Harry and Hermione went to join him, while the other three stayed to the back to take care of any laggers. Together, the three of them led their way up to the Gryffindor common room on the seventh floor. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, the boy stepped aside, allowing Harry to be in front. He figured that the boy wanted to "share the wealth," or something like that.
"Cattail," Harry said, so that all of the other Gryffindors, new and old alike, could hear him. The Fat Lady's portrait swung forward, and Harry led the group into the common room.
Hermione took the chance to be the leader. "This," she said dramatically, "is the Gryffindor common room. Only Gryffindors are allowed in, so be sure to keep the password a secret. The boys' dormitories are through the door on the left, and the girls' are through the door on the right." She led the way for the girls, while Harry and the seventh year led the way for the boys.
Harry and the four other fifth year Gryffindor boys entered their dormitory, and it was like returning home after a long trip for Harry. The five four-poster bed with red, velvet curtains were there, just as Harry remembered them. All their trunks were in the room, brought up by house elves, no doubt.
The house elves reminded Harry of how obsessed Hermione was with giving house elves rights and salaries last year. As he took the top completely off Yllier's basket (it was partially open so Yllier could begin to learn where everything was), Harry also remembered her club, the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, or S.P.E.W. He desperately hoped that she had forgotten all about it.
On the other hand, Harry made a mental note to remember to visit Dobby in the kitchens. Dobby was a house elf who had tried to save Harry's life by nearly killing him in his second year. Dobby had, however, saved Harry some serious humiliation by giving Harry a way to go underwater to rescue Ron during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament last year. Even if it wasn't really Dobby's idea, Harry was grateful.
Harry changed into his pajamas, and got in bed. Yllier, having examined every bit of the room he could fit into (which was pretty much everything), jumped onto the bed and curled up on Harry's feet. Harry had noticed that his small kitten like sleeping on his feet or on his legs.
That night, Harry had another dream.
**********
Harry found himself inside a small room. There were two other people there, both in their early thirties. They stood looking at a simmering cauldron.
"You first," one said. The other man nodded. He put his right arm on a cutting board. The first man held up a knife. Looking at it catch light from the moon for a moment, he quickly brought it down, cutting off the hand of the other man.
Harry almost screamed, but caught himself. It wasn't until a moment later that he remembered that nobody would hear him.
The man who lost his hand picked up the severed hand with his still attached left one. Amazingly, his right arm was not bleeding. He tossed his hand into the cauldron, which hissed.
The man who still had both his hands placed his own right arm on the board. Harry knew what would happen, but couldn't move.
"It's too bad I'm right-handed," the man with only a left hand said.
The other man laughed. "If I didn't trust you, I would have gone first." In one swift motion, the knife was raised and brought down, severing off the hand of the waiting man. Harry recoiled, shocked and disgusted.
He lifted up his right arm, inspecting the cut. "Not bad," he commented. "You were right on." He picked up his hand and tossed it in the cauldron. Harry nearly vomited. They were cutting each other's hands off, and acting as though it was no big deal.
One of the men stirred the potion, while the other one got a ladle and cups. When the first man was done stirring, the other man began ladling the potion into the cups.
"Remember," the other man said, "this has to be exactly even."
"Oh, don't you worry," the first one said, "I wouldn't cheat you of your share." He watched himself ladle. "One for me, one for you."
When he had given out the whole potion, they picked up their glasses. They looked at each other, and nodded. At the same time, they both drank their share of the potion.
Harry could only imagine how nasty the potion tasted. He had thought that the Polyjuice Potion was bad enough, with only a little bit of Goyle's hair.
Both men set their glasses down at the same time. A bright green glow came from where they used to have hands. To Harry's amazement, he watched as the hands grew back. The two men watched, not really surprised by the result. The each held up their right hand, and put them together.
They smiled at each other. When they put their hands down, one commented, "Well, we're halfway done."
The other one thought for a moment. "Yes, we are. And that was the easy half." Harry couldn't even imagine what the other half would be.
As the two men began to laugh, or more appropriately, cackle, Harry's scar began to hurt. Not badly, probably only half of what it usually was. But then, everything around Harry began to fade.
**********
Harry realized that the pain must have been what woke him up. It wasn't that bad, though. He could feel a cold sweat on his face. Harry sat up, and realized that Yllier was still on his feet. He gently picked up the kitten and placed him down, not on his feet. Harry got out of bed, and went to the window. Everybody else in the dorm was sound asleep.
Harry remembered that Sirius told him that if his scar every hurt, he should go talk to Professor Dumbledore. Harry didn't think it was appropriate at this time. It was probably two in the morning, and Dumbledore would be fast asleep. It didn't even hurt that badly. Yawning, Harry got back into bed. He decided that he would consider it in the morning.
Special Thanks.
To Saffron Halifax again. What more can I say?