10/16/03: Finally, the plot is revealed (although it's also in the summary, but that's besides the point).
3. A New Year and A New View
Harry's stay at 12 Grimmauld Place quickly came to an end. His lessons with Snape continued, and Ron and Ginny had come to spend the last few days with them. To Harry's relief, Ron kept conversation to topics like Quidditch and lunch, carefully skirting around any mention of Sirius.
"C'mon, let's go let's go!" Lupin's voice echoed throughout the house. Harry quickly shoved the last of his books into his trunk and dragged it downstairs.
"It's about time!" Tonks said. "My goodness Harry, even Ginny and Hermione beat you."
Harry shrugged and smiled. "At least I beat Ron," he said, as the person in question came running down the stairs, chasing his trunk.
"Ok, let's get a move on. We don't want to be late," Moody said gruffly. The four students and their escorts piled into a Ministry car and set off for King's Cross Station.
"Excited?" Hermione asked as they rode.
"Definitely!" Ron said. "No more OWLs!"
"Speak for yourself," Ginny said glumly.
"Aw, don't worry Gin. You've got big brother watching out for you."
"That's what I'm afraid of," she said teasingly.
"What about you, Harry? Excited to go back to school?"
Harry nodded and made a noncommittal noise. While he was indeed happy to return to the only real home he'd ever known, part of him dread the return as well, wondering what new peril or danger he would inevitably encounter this year, and wondering if he would live to see the end of it. But thoughts like that were best kept to oneself.
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Harry settled into his compartment as Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left to attend the prefect meeting. To Mrs. Weasley's delight, Ginny was the 5th year girl prefect for Gryffindor. Harry thought that perhaps he should feel some sort of resentment about not being a prefect, especially given Dumbledore's reason for not making him one. But frankly, Harry couldn't bring himself to care. After all, how important was being a prefect when compared with being the only one able to defeat Voldemort? Harry sat alone in his compartment, watching the countryside pass by. Although he loved being with his friends, he missed the privacy that the Dursleys provided and that he hadn't had while at 12 Grimmauld Place. His solitude was broken when the sliding of the door.
"Hmm..so, all alone, are we Potter? Abandoned by your friends after almost getting them killed, I see."
Harry looked at the source of the interruption. "Malfoy," he said grimly.
Draco Malfoy only looked at Harry, clearly relishing the opportunity of getting Harry alone. As always, Crabbe and Goyle flanked their leader, looking as menacing as ever, as the three Slytherins entered the compartment. "This time you'll pay, Potter. No one to save you," he said, drawing his wand. Harry only watched, his own wand in his hand the moment he heard Malfoy's voice. Harry prepared to cast a shielding charm, but it proved unnecessary.
"You might want to think about that, Malfoy," Harry heard. Malfoy turned, and was greeted with the sight of a crowd of people standing outside the compartment, many with wands drawn. Although difficult to see past Crabbe and Goyle's immense bulk, Harry spotted Susan Bones, Terry Boot, and Dean Thomas; he assumed the rest of the DA members weren't far behind. Malfoy gave them an irritated look before pushing his way back into the hallway, Crabbe and Goyle following dutifully behind.
"You Ok, Harry?" Lavender asked him.
Harry nodded and made a show of holstering his wand. "Thanks everyone."
"Our pleasure," piped up Justin Finch-Fletchley. "We were just waiting for Malfoy to pull something, the greasy git!"
Harry laughed, and he exchanged small talk with the DA members (those who were not prefects, at least) until Ron, Hermione, and Ginny returned. The compartment became crowded as everyone exchanged greetings and pleasantries until the four Gryffindors were left alone. Hermione and Ginny talked of mysterious girl-things while Harry and Ron played a game of Exploding Snap until they reached the castle.
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Harry trudged his way to the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office. It was a few hours past the end of the great feast, and Hedwig visited Harry in the Gryffindor common room with a letter, requesting Harry's presence in the Headmasters office.
The Welcoming Feast had been as sumptuous as ever. Harry watched with a sense of amusement as the tiny first years were sorted. He and Ron had traded many jokes about the little students, enduring the disapproving glare of Hermione (though, Harry did suspect a twitch in the corners of her mouth, as if she were doing her best to refrain from giggling). It was just that the newest batch of Hogwarts students is so small. It's not that Harry was huge by any means; when compared to Ron, he was tiny himself, though standing next to Hermione often made him feel better. Harry had to admit to feeling a bit of uncharacteristic "coolness"; after all, he remembered how he felt as a first year when he looked down the table at all the older students. And without OWLs or NEWTs to gobble up his time, Harry was certain that this year would be the best every…aside from the annual plot to take his life. Harry looked around the Gryffindor table and realized with a start how few of his own Housemates he really knew. True, he was friendly with everyone in his year, but he hardly knew any of the seventh years, and aside from Ginny, the little Creevey boy, and the new Quidditch players, Harry didn't know anyone in the lower years. Harry vowed that this year, he would do his best to get to know his house better, along with the other sixth years in all the houses. It's what Sirius would have wanted.
The stone gargoyle was already revolving, revealing the staircase to Dumbledore's office, by the time Harry arrived. Harry climbed the winding stairs and knocked on the door. He heard a muffled "Come in," and Harry pushed open the door.
"Ah, welcome, welcome Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said as Harry approached his desk. Harry half-heartedly smiled in return, still somewhat wary of his headmaster. Despite the claim of revealing everything to him, Harry still felt there were things Dumbledore was keeping from him "for his own good." He was also still resentful from being kept in the dark about so much in the past.
"Headmaster," Harry said in return.
Dumbledore's smile flickered only a second at Harry's curt response. "First, let me say I've heard good things from Professor Snape about your Occlumency lessons. He has informed me that you are now capable of resisting Lord Voldemort's attempts enter your dreams." Harry only nodded, so Dumbledore continued. "I also want to reiterate my apologies from last term. I now know that I should have kept you informed of Lord Voldemort's activities, and of your role in his defeat. I promise you that this year I will be more forthcoming with information." Harry softly grunted, but if Dumbledore heard him, he chose to ignore it. "I also want to tell you that you can come to me, at anytime, if you have anything you wish to talk about, whether it is about Voldemort, Sirius, or your feelings."
At this, Harry openly snorted. "With all due respect, I have no desire to speak about my feelings to anyone, least of all you," he said icily. "I thank you for your time, Headmaster." Harry stood abruptly and left his office, ignoring the look of pain in the Headmaster's face. Harry returned to Gryffindor tower and went to immediately to sleep.
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"C'mon Potter! Let's go, you're gonna miss breakfast!"
Harry groaned, then buried himself deeper into the warmth and comfort of his bed. "Five more minutes," he mumbled sleepily. All of a sudden, his pleasant world of soft blankets disappeared in flash as the covers were torn from his bed, accompanied by a cackling laugh. Harry sat up, supremely irritated by the sudden change. He looked angrily over at his best friend Ron, preparing a few choice words.
But it wasn't Ron who held his blankets. Harry stared in shock at the sight of Draco Malfoy standing over him, laughing gleefully. "Malfoy!" Harry roared. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing! Get out of here!"
The look of glee on Malfoy's face changed abruptly to one of hurt, then indignation. "Fine!" he said, throwing Harry's blankets to the floor. "Just trying to help," he said moodily as he tromped out of the dorm room. Harry could only watch him leave, clearly expecting a retort or something ominous to occur.
Harry shook his head. "What a way to start the new school year," he mumbled into his hands. Harry shook his head, trying to getting rid of the last vestiges of sleep. Harry noticed it was still rather dark in the dorm room, no doubt a gloomy day for the first day of school. Grabbing for his glasses, Harry stood and made his way to the bathrooms. As Harry went about his morning bathroom ritual, he noticed things were slightly…off. It was hard to pinpoint, especially given his sleep-befuddled mind, but things were very different yet very familiar at the same time. Harry shrugged and attributed his odd feelings to the fact that this was his first time back at school since the spring. Harry hurriedly finished brushing his teeth and ran a perfunctory comb through his hair. He returned to his room, grabbed his robe and shrugged into it as he walked towards the door. Giving only a cursory glance at the mirror, Harry stepped through the door. In a sudden flash of realization, Harry stopped dead in his tracks and returned to his room, facing the mirror. In the second shock of the morning, Harry stared at his reflection. Things started to fall into place. Seeing Malfoy in the morning, the darkness of the dorm room, things slightly out of place - Harry was dressed in Slytherin robes.
A/N: Yep, it's one of those Harry's-in-Slytherin stories, with a twist, of course. How did he get into Slytherin? Why do things seem familiar if he's never been in the Slytherin dorm room?
Also, updates for this story will be much slower than my last. I had my first story mostly written by the time I posted it (at any given time, I generally had at least 10 chapters on my computer that weren't posted).
Thanks for reading!