Last Chapter Ending:
They'd been on the tracks for almost an hour when there was a sudden flash of light and an explosion that made the whole train shudder and stop.
Chapter Nineteen:
Harry was on his feet immediately, he could vaguely hear the screams of the other students, and his ears were ringing with the yells of his fellow prefects.
"Quiet for a moment, please," he said softly, and they all quietened immediately. He went over to his trunk and opened Hedwig's cage. He was glad that he'd sent the phoenix along with Sirius; it looked like there was a fight coming up.
"Now, I'm going to go and look and see what I can find out there. I'll be in contact with Eli, and the moment I tell you to, write a note to Sirius and send it with Hedwig, I've already cast a spell that will render her invisible the moment she flies out that window," he pointed on out without pausing his rapid speech.
"Once you've done that, send someone to find the other Young Phoenixes and get out front and centre to help me keep them away from the train, have your wands ready … maybe ask all of the older students to come as well, just in case we need some back up, ok?"
"Got it Harry!" Came the response from everyone. Immediately Harry cast an invisibility charm over himself and ducked into the next cart up, and then further on, making his way to the front of the train.
It was only three carts away, but Harry went slowly and quietly, making sure that no one was in the room in front of him before he actually entered it himself.
What felt like a life time for him – about five minutes – was all it took to reach the front of the train. The moment he entered the driver's compartment, his nose was filled with the stench of fresh blood.
Both the driver and the old witch who managed the food trolley were dead, their killers must have jumped in just after the explosion, for they'd definitely been killed.
Harry recognized the method of killing too, and what he realised made him feel quite scared. 'Elisa! Write to Sirius, tell him there were Seekers here! The driver and the witch with food trolley are both dead and I'm pretty sure that it was Death Eaters who where there. Get the students ready to defend themselves, the attacks will probably come along the whole length of the train – have groups of older students guard the younger ones and get them to keep an eye on Slytherins! I'm going outside to see what I can find out about numbers!'
'Everything's being done. Me and the Prefects are all going along the train, do you want anyone to come out and help you?'
'No, I don't need help, yet, but if I do, I'll tell you immediately. I know you should be out here with me, but you aren't used to sneaking around, or fighting if I have to,' Harry told her.
'I know. I'm more useful where I am. Me, Ron, and Hermione have some of the new first years with us, and we are trying to get more of them into a larger group and get more people to help us defend them – we're in the middle of the train,' Elisa replied.
'I just hope Hedwig can get to Sirius and fast,' Harry remarked softly. 'I don't know how long we can hold out, or how well. Try and get as many people as possible into one space – get one of the Seventh years to make it big for you.'
'Right! Good idea! I'll do that right away – and be careful Harry!' Elisa told him, then he was moving towards the trees – it was a forest, so it was very likely that many 'enemies' were hiding out there.
Being very careful not to make a sound, Harry slipped through the forest to see what he could find. It didn't take him long to reach a Death Eater standing guard.
A quick scout around the area revealed that he was the only one within sight. Harry stunned him with a Wandless and invisible charm, catching the man before he could hit the ground and extending his invisibility to cover the Death Eater as well.
Then he hurried back to the train. 'Eli, open the door, I'm outside and I have an unconscious Death Eater with me,' he sent to his god-sister.
A moment later the door edged a little way open, not enough to attract attention, and continued opening until Harry could slip inside, dragging his burden behind him.
He took off the invisibility charm and waved his hand over the Death Eaters face. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked him, watching almost nervously.
"Casting a truth spell, I can't tell you how I do it though," Harry replied softly. "Everyone, please be quiet, noise helps create panic and stops people who are trying to help you from being able to talk to you properly," he pitched his voice just high enough for everyone to hear him when he said this, and everyone immediately calmed down.
Harry paused to take a look around renovated compartment. It was now a good deal larger, though he knew it hadn't changed on the outside, and had seats so that everyone who wanted to sit down could.
The first years huddled in the middle of floor looking petrified, and the rest of the people organised themselves into groups, some where house groups and year groups, but the Young Phoenixes stood in a loose circle around the younger students, obviously ready to protect them at need.
In the sudden silence, Harry looked around carefully, marking every face. "You first years – you are frightened, you don't know what's happening, or what you can do to help, am I right?" They nodded. "Even those of you who come from magical families most likely wouldn't be able to work large magics, if there are any of you who know enough that you think you could be a good help, please come over here."
No one stood, though almost everyone fidgeted as if embarrassed. Harry smiled reassuringly at them. "That's ok – I wasn't expecting much of a response to that one anyone – most of the second and some of third years won't be able to help much either, so don't dismiss yourselves as useless," he said. "Since you can't help in the more obvious ways, I'm asking you to help in another. I want you to be quiet and do what the older students ask you to, so that we can keep you safe.
"We are not trying to fight off the full brunt of a Death Eater attack. We are only trying to hold out as long as possible. My friends and I have already sent for help from Hogwarts, who'll contact the Ministry of Magic so that we'll be rescued by them. For now we are concentrating on defence.
"I'm going to find out what I can from this Death Eater here, hopefully he'll have an estimate of how many people are around us, and what their positions and orders are."
Harry delivered this is a calming, but firmly commanding voice that made everyone feel safe and protected, and all of the first years watched him with admiration.
"If you need help, ask one of the people with Prefect badges on – can all of the Prefects please raise their hands –" the Prefects did so. "They'll all do their best to help you. If you see anyone approaching the train, sing out for one of them to see if they are friends or enemies," Harry finished, before walking over to a corner, his prisoner with him and using his 'wand' to create soundless shields around them.
"Harry's just doing that so as not alarm you by anything the Death Eater says, it's likely to be not nice, and a lot of it won't be related to this attack anyone," Elisa explained. Her voice was like Harry's, and everyone's attentions focussed on her now.
"Could all of the Seventh and Sixth years please go the windows, cast spells on them so that we can see through but no one else can see in, and keep an eye out for Death Eaters or Seekers – Harry thinks that some of the Seekers might have joined with Voldemort, since a lot of them are criminals with no love of the light side," she added.
She was rather surprised when everyone did as she'd asked.
Behind his soundproof wall, Harry awoke the Death Eater, keeping a firm hold on several spells he was using to keep the man from escaping, attempting to harm him or lying.
When he woke, the man found that he could not move, the air around him to have solidified. "You can't escape, Death Eater, and you will answer my questions," Harry told him coolly.
The Death Eater pulled lips away from his teeth in a soundless snarl, but didn't speak. "How many are there of you, and what?" Harry asked him coolly.
The Death Eater opened his mouth, undoubtedly to say that he wouldn't answer, but to the mans horror, he blurted out the information that Harry had requestion. "There are fifty Death Eater, one hundred Dementors and five giants who came over to us despite what they're elders decided."
Harry smiled. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, where are they positioned?" He wondered if it was the command in his voice, or the fact that the Death Eater would have been used to anything that resembled someone in control that made the man answer, telling Harry everything, the positions of the forces and their plans.
"My thanks, Death Eater. I will see what I can do about getting you pardoned from a death sentence for the information that you've provided me with," he said. "But I have one last question that I want you to answer of your own free will. If you do not, it does not matter, I do not need the information anyway. That question is: What was the aim of the attack?"
The man considered him for a moment, then
smiled suddenly. "I joined the Death Eaters on a dare more than anything else,"
he told Harry. "I didn't want to tell you anything because I thought that I'd
be killed anyway, but I know that you'll hold to your word. The aim of the attack
was mostly to show the Wizarding World that we were completely ruthless and
that nothing could stop us, but also to deprive the Light side of it's future
warriors."
"My thanks, man. I'm going to leave you
here for safety, that way if something happens and the Death Eaters get inside,
it'll look like you remain a prisoner, and you won't be killed by you're
'master' for it," Harry told him, smiling gently then stepping out of the
barrier.
He told the others of the plans. "I only hope that we can hold off this force," he said. "I'm sure that we will be able to, but for how long? We can only hope that it will be long enough."
The first years gave him looks of pure terror, he sighed. "I know it sounds cruel to tell you, but you are old enough and responsible enough to take it. I'm not going to lie to you – your too intelligent lied to like that," he told them.
They held themselves with more pride at that. Harry told them what he'd found out from the Death Eaters – a few of the girls actually feinted – none of the Young Phoenixes, Harry was pleased to note.
"Again, you deserve the truth. The situation is grave, and the attack will come at any minute now, I should wonder. They know which compartment we are in, since this one is fortified, but I can only hope that the fortifications will prove to be enough.
"Now, I'm some of what happens now will seem odd, even to those who know magic, the only thing that I can tell you is that it's something that I learned at the Seekers Academy, and I can't say anything about that, it's forbidden," he told them.
Just at that moment the sentries yelled a warning and Harry bounded to his feet, calling to the Elementals of light, he muttered some nonsense words under his breath and waved his wand as if he was actually doing a spell.
In his hands a ball of what looked like metal appeared, "oh, and what's that going to do Potter?" Malfoy demanded, but Harry had thrown open one of the windows and hurled the object at the for-runners of the Death Eater attack.
"Cover or close your eyes, now!" Harry barked, not turning to see if his orders were carried out, his eyes were for the ball. It hit the ground in the middle of the group, and there was a sudden flash of light that left spots flickering over Harry's vision.
He ordered the Seventh years who took advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts to get to the windows and see what they could do with temporarily – or permanently, for those who were looking right at it and were nearby when the ball exploded – blinded.
He bounded over to the other side to do the same. Even with just those two spells, he could feel the drain of the magical working on him – Light elementals were the hardest of all, to anyone, apparently. This spell was even worse than most of those he'd learnt from Shadow Master.
He just wished that he could use the portal made out of Darkness, but for this many people, that would be impossible if he still wanted to defend those who stayed behind, and it would leave him completely exhausted for far too long if he did attempt it.
Once he'd performed the same on the other side of the carriage, Harry sat down, elbows resting on his knees and tried to recover.
'Harry? What's wrong?' Elisa asked in his mind, not daring to come away from the window where she was hurling spells at the Death Eaters.
"Get back and close the windows, they're retreating, for the moment. They'll be back, but we can't let ourselves be worn out in one attack and then get defeated in the next," Harry called out as loud as he needed to be.
'I'm just tired – working that spell takes it out of me like nothing else. I don't think I could do it again, but I'll see what else there is that I can do,' Harry added to Elisa.
'Right,' Elisa replied, checking to make sure no one had been hurt. "That was amazing! None of ours were even hurt!" She exclaimed. Malfoy was looking sullen, probably because his attempt to slander Harry hadn't worked at all, and he was still seeing spots from watching the ball, since he hadn't paid any attention to Harry's order to look away.
Everyone was far more cheerful now, they'd beaten the Death Eaters back once, and they could do it again! Harry didn't pay much attention to them.
One victory meant next to nothing, the Death Eaters were prepared now, and it would be far harder the next time, but he couldn't break the fragile trust and cheer that had been built up, now he had to think about the next attack … he'd have to try using his Elemental powers and see if he couldn't call up a storm or something …
He also kept a close watch on Malfoy, who'd be suffering about the same as the Death Eaters outside, the Slytherins vision was obvious clearing, which meant that so was the Death Eaters.
Not daring to wait any longer to recover, Harry made it look as if he was tired and was thinking, closed his eyes and sent out his Elemental powers searching for something that he could use against the Death Eaters.
He could have laughed aloud: the was a huge storm brewing about ten miles to the north of them, and it didn't take much to re-arrange the winds and increase their speed – it was easy enough to change things that were already happening.
He opened his eyes again. 'There will be a storm arriving in about in ten minutes,' he told Elisa. 'I hope that you can do something with that, use some spells to make everything harder for the Death Eaters.'
'I'll talk to Hermione, we'll think of something!' Elisa assured him. 'I'll do what I can to keep you from having to as much, you need to be able to concentrate on your own magic.'
'Thank you,' Harry told her, his relief nearly consuming him for a moment, then he shook that off and took out his wand. Because his magic was being used up with the fight, he could use the wand easier than he could use Wandless, which was a relief, because Wandless wore him out a lot more.
He created drink and some food as well, inviting everyone to eat. "You need to keep up your energy," he told everyone, catching their eyes. "If you don't you won't be able to do much to keep the Death Eaters away."
Everyone ate, except for the Slytherins, who made their own, as if to say that Harry's wasn't good enough for them. Harry couldn't care less, he had better things to do.
"The Death Eaters look they might be re-grouping," one of the sentries said, peering out of the window. "I don't they are going to move immediately though."
Elisa, Ron, Hermione and the students who had elemental powers were grouped together in a corner talking fast. Harry didn't bother to ask what they were talking about, he'd find out when Elisa told him anyway.
A moment later find out he did. 'Harry! It's wonderful! We've got all of the Elemental students forming paths for the lightning to take! Right into the Death Eaters!' Elisa said, practically bouncing up and down with glee.
Harry smiled at her. 'Good, but I need more ideas … I need away of keeping them back for longer, but I can't think of anything!' he was annoyed, he should be able to think of something, he was trained for it, but the only thing he could think of was going out there, and on his own, that would be a suicide.
Overhead the storm broke. "Ha-ha!" a couple of the sentries broke out laughing. "There's lighting that keeps striking in the groups of Death Eaters!" one of yelled.
The rain came too, pouring down in torrents. Harry just hoped that Sirius was close by and wouldn't have to fly or whatever through it for long.
He looked outside, even though it was only around midday, the sky was black and it was very dark outside, the sun completely hidden by the clouds.
The Death Eaters were in great discomfort, and Harry got the younger students, who were feeling useless, to call some fires to keep the train compartment warm and cosy.
Everyone was feeling a lot better now, it seemed, since it was the enemy that was suffering at the moment. Harry turned his attentions to the rest of their 'fort'.
It needed a better defence, since the next thing the Death Eaters – or the Seekers, at least – would try would be to come at them from the corridors outside, having gotten inside through the front and ends of the train, or breaking the windows to clamber in somewhere else.
He used the strongest Wandless magic he could find to seal the doors shut, and the windows from being opened from the outside, or broken, then set about shielding them from Apparation properly, he'd thrown up a few simple wards that would stop the Death Eaters for a moment, but that they'd be able to break through after far to short a time for Harry's liking.
Now he put up wards that were the equal of Hogwarts, which meant hat no one would be getting inside. Having finished that, Harry was feeling more drained than before.
'Harry, don't do any more. I can feel how worn out you are, and if you do much more you'll be out cold for the next week,' Elisa warned him from her seat by one of the windows.
She had a small group of first years clustered around her, and they were watching the lightning flashing from the sky into the Death Eater camps.
Suddenly there was a new flash, colours were leaping around everywhere, and reinforcements had arrived! Harry rushed to the window and stared out thankfully, then remembered the Dementors and drew his wand, throwing one of the windows open and ignoring the gale that was blowing around him.
He focused on the memory of his first ever birthday party and yelled "Expecto Patronum!" though the actual words were lost in the winds. The silver stag exploded from his wand tip and raced away into the night.
Harry pushed himself backwards and inside, slamming the window shut and watching to see what happened. Elisa was right, he was spent now, and could only hope that no one outside would need his help with anything.
It seemed like hours before there was a knock on the door, and Sirius voice yelled out to let them inside. Harry took off the wards and allowed them to enter the chamber.
There were about twenty Aurors and all of the Hogwarts staff present, even Snape, which momentarily surprised Harry, before he realised that the man could easily turn up here and say that he couldn't get away because everyone was watching him.
Sirius came straight over to Harry and Elisa. Harry looked at him. "I'm pretty much spent with magic, it'll take me a few days to recover," he told his godfather wearily. "I can't do anything more now, that's for sure."
"That's fine, we've got Portkeys," Sirius replied with a grin, knowing how much Harry hated these instruments of travel. "Come on everyone, ten to each of the adults please!" he added at a yell to get everyone to move.
"Go on, hurry up so that we can all get back to Hogwarts!" Harry added afterwards, injecting as much cheer as possible into his voice. There was a much more noticeable reaction to Harry than there had been to Sirius.
"They're used to doing what I ask," Harry explained to his godfather, who smiled faintly and nodded in agreement.
Menolly was one of the Aurors present, and she approached Harry, Elisa and Sirius now. "See what trouble you get up to when I'm not around to keep an eye on things?" She remarked. "You kids did extremely well for yourselves," she added, surveying the cart and remembering the battlefield outside.
"We just wanted to keep them off, it's thanks to Harry that we are alive," one of the forth year Ravenclaws said. "No one even got hurt, and Harry knew what to do!"
"Harry was trained for it, though he wasn't trained in having more than one person to defend," Sirius replied. "Let's get you to Hogwarts. Everyone! Activate Portkeys!"
A moment later Harry felt the all-too familiar tug behind his navel and a moment later slammed into the Hogwarts school grounds. If it wasn't for Sirius's hand on his arm, he would have collapsed. "Come on, you need to get to the Hospital Wing," Sirius said softly.
Elisa strode to his side. "I go with him," she said firmly, and Sirius nodded in agreement before leading them off up the grounds, the teachers were organising the students, since the normal trip across the lake obviously wasn't happening.
This, however, was not Harry's problem. His problem was keeping on his feet, and he was stubbornly refusing to lean on his godfather. Getting up the stairs, however, was a different matter altogether. Harry was would have fallen right back down them if Sirius and Elisa hadn't been supporting him, and they both refused to let go after that.
They got him up to the Hospital Wing without much fuss, and Madam Pomfrey scowled at Harry. "You're back again are you? What have you done this time?"
"He wore himself out magically keeping all of the students safe when the train was attacked by Death Eaters," Sirius explained.
"Quite a hero then aren't you? Well, you are going to need to rest for a few days to recover from that, because I know that your stores of magic are generally larger than most people," Madam Pomfrey said, urging Harry into a bed.
"Um, do you mind if I stay up here with him?" Elisa asked. "It's just that he's my brother, and he might want the company, I could come back up after the feast."
"Of course dear," Madam Pomfrey smiled at her. "You can have that bed next to when you come back up."
"Thank you!" Elisa hugged the plump little nurse and walked over to the indicated bed to wait for Harry to get undressed and into his.
"Professor, kindly help your godson undress and get him into bed. I've got a potion that will help him gain his strength back a little faster, so I'll go and get that now."
She bustled off and Elisa waited for her father to finish getting Harry into the bed, then he came over to her. "Hey Eli, you'll be alright here? You don't feel too bad do you?"
"No, not too bad," she agreed. "Dad, do you think that I could give Harry some of my strength so that we're both out for tonight but we'd both recover faster that way, wouldn't we?"
"I have a genius for a daughter," Sirius remarked. "Quickly talk to Harry about that, we'll go down and introduce you to the school and watch the Sorting."
"Ok, Harry!" She called a little louder. "What do you think?"
"No reason it shouldn't work, we'll try it once you come back from the Sorting, ok?"
*Elisa's POV*
Walking down to the Great Hall with her father, Elisa felt incredibly nervous, she wished she could turn tail and bolt back up to the Hospital Wing and hide under the bed sheets rather than keep moving in the direction she was travelling in.
She kept walking.
It didn't take them too long to reach the Great Hall, and the First Years had just been led into the Hall. Elisa and Sirius walked up to the Staff Table and her father left Elisa standing slightly behind the new first years.
The woman that Elisa knew to be Professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat gently on a stool in front of the line and stepped back.
The Sorting Hat twitched, opened it's "mouth" and began to sing the this years song.
In times remote and ancient,
When we still lived in clans,
Young wizards and young witches learned
Their elders' skills by chance.
The lands were bare and empty
No halls of learning stood
On these deserted moors, until
The Founders said they should.
They built up Hogwarts Castle
Most magical of schools,
Then thought up a curriculum
To bind their powers in rules.
But when they started teaching,
They found they disagreed
On magic's nature and its aim,
On Hogwarts' magic creed.
So by the by, they wondered
Which spells and charms to teach:
"What's magic, and which powers," they asked,
"Should be within our reach?"
Sweet Hufflepuff just chuckled:
"'tis strange that you should ask,
I've known since first I raised my wand
That magic is a task."
But Gryffindor, the warrior
Said: "Magic is a
blade;
To fight all evil is the truest
Magical crusade."
Wise Ravenclaw retorted:
"No, Magic is a lore,
Is learning and is knowledge
With power in its core."
Coy Slytherin did not agree:
"True magic is a tool,
To shape the world, the people, too,
To bend them to your rule."
The founders talked and argued
All day, and through the night,
Until they found that magic's aim
Was not theirs to decide,
Because their magic students
Would put their powers to use
In their own ways: The aim of them
Is each of yours to choose.
The artisan, the scholar
Both have a task to do;
Adventurers and strategists,
Our time needs all of you.
My task is now to sort you
According to your strength.
It's up to you to find your powers,
To find yourselves at length.
(AN: This song was NOT written by me, it was written by any, and taken from her fic 'Unplottable' found here, the music notes to this song can be found ; here. This was borrowed and used here with the permission of the original author)
The Professor stepped forward again, unrolling a piece of parchment that undoubtedly had the names of the students on them. She tuned out and contacted Harry. 'You alright mate?' she asked him.
'Yeah,' Harry voice returned, a little strained. 'Took the potion that she gave me, and she's trying to make to me take a dreamless sleep potion, but I've told her that I'll sleep once you've come up again.'
'Ok, I'll do my best to eat fast and come back, I want to try that me giving you strength thing,' Elisa told him.
'Are you sure that you want to? It could hurt you in any number of ways, it's completely unattempted before us,' Harry sounded a little nervous now, and she could only guess that he'd been thinking before she talked to him.
'It'll be fine, Harry!' She told him. 'Besides, your welfare is my main concern, and getting you better should be both of our priorities. You need to get back to classes, even if it's just to show the new students – and the older ones for that matter – that Death Eaters will hardly affect you. It gives them hope.'
'Ok, you're probably right there. I'll look forward to your returning,' Harry said, and she sensed a smile. 'How is the Sorting going?'
'Good, they've got about half way through. Does the hat sing a new song every year?' Elisa asked.
'Yeah, I've only heard two of the six it's sung since I came here,' she sensed his laughter again. 'I heard it in the first year, the second year Dobby wouldn't let me catch the train, so we missed it, the third year was when the Dementors were on the train and Professor McGonagall took me and Hermione up to her office to ask if I was alright, I heard it in forth year, and in fifth I was at the Academy – I'm really going to try and get there again next year,' Harry told her.
She smiled faintly. 'You don't have much luck with catching the Sorting, do you?' She remarked.
'Nope,' he replied cheerfully. 'Nearly your turn now.'
He was right – there were only three more students to Sort, and one of those was on the stood already. Those three were done with far quicker than she would have liked, and Dumbledore stood up.
"Students, before I can give notices or start the feast, we have a new student to welcome to our school – Elisa Black, daughter of our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, has come with her mother from America recently and has joined our ranks of Gryffindor Students after passing the O.W.L.'s over the holidays so that she could join Sixth Year!"
The Gryffindor students went wild as Elisa walked over and took her place next to Hermione at the table, a little embarrassed by the well wishes of her house.
The notices that Dumbledore said seemed like gobbledegook to her, since she didn't know half of what he was talking about, but he finally gave them leave to eat.
Elisa ate a little of the food, but it didn't take much to fill her up, since she'd eaten on the train, and when she'd finished the food, she got up and left the Hall, heading back to the Hospital Wing.
When she entered, Madam Pomfrey approached her. "You probably spent a lot of your energy on the train too, dear, Mr. Potter was kind enough to remind me of that a moment ago, so you should probably have some of this potion to gain strength too," she said.
Elisa smiled brightly and took the potion. "Thank you so much!" she said happily, hurrying over to her bed.
Madam Pomfrey smiled to herself that one will be a heartbreaker, whether she wants to be or not … she thought, heading back to her office.
Lying down in the bed, Elisa contacted Harry. 'Let's try now, shall we?' she sent.
'Good idea … now we just have to work out how …'
This proved to take a while, but almost an hour later they managed it, Elisa had the unpleasant feeling of her strength draining away from her, and suddenly she and Harry were fighting to stop it.
They managed it, but only just. 'That was close, I don't think we should do that again unless the situation is really bad,' Harry remarked.
'I think that is a very good idea,' Elisa said, a little dazed.
'Take the potion,' Harry advised, the one in silver is a dreamless sleep potion, take the other one first.'
Once the potions were taken, she fell into the welcome depths of sleep.
*Harry's POV*
The next morning Harry didn't wake until late, and he still felt somewhat exhausted, but a lot better than the night before.
'Hey Harry! Well done yesterday!' Lily said. 'I'm sorry we weren't around to talk with you and help, but we had to go and speak with Lady Lilith and Lord Jaram, they are about to have their first child!'
'Wow, but hasn't it only been a few hours since I left, according to their time?' Harry asked.
'No, it only runs that way when one of the Potter's is there,' James explained. 'Otherwise the time is the same as it is here.'
'Ah. Elisa, are you alright?' He heard her stirring and waken.
'Yeah, still tired, but I'm fairly good,' she replied. 'Are we going to lessons today, or staying here?'
'That all depends on whether Madam Pomfrey thinks we are well enough,' Harry replied.
'Next time you see Lilith and Jaram, give them my congratulations,' he added to his parents.
'Will do!' James assured his son. 'We'll be around for today, so we can have a long talk about what happened yesterday, maybe I can help you and Elisa some help with the bond-thingy.'
'Ok, we'll talk later then!' Harry said, smiling slightly. At that moment Madam Pomfrey came bustling over.
"You may leave this morning, the Headmaster believes that it is best for Miss Black to go to all of her classes, and that you should probably be moving around and using some magic to help you recover," she replied, lips pursed.
Harry nodded and swung out of the bed, a charm that he used his wand for had him dressed in no time, he used a very simple spell and said the words aloud so that Madam Pomfrey knew this.
Elisa stood up, still wearing what she'd been wearing the night before, and quickly changed into her Hogwarts robes, which Sirius had brought in the night before when they'd both been sleeping.
"Come on, I'll show you around, just stick by me and you won't get too lost," Harry said, grinning.
"I like the too in that sentence," Elisa replied with a laugh and they headed out the door laughing and joking. Madam Promfrey stared at them, and at the door they'd exited for quite some time after they'd disappeared, thinking so like their fathers at that age.
As the entered the Great Hall, everyone turned to them, and raised a spontaneous cheer. Harry was sorely tempted to leave – quickly, and he knew that Elisa felt the same, despite the fact that she'd been there the night before. He managed to stay, however, keeping his face blank.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Black, the school – and indeed the entire magical world – owes you a great dept of gratitude. You, and your group, the Young Phoenixes, I believe it's called, will receive a trophy for special services to the school, and an Order of Merlin, Second Class," Dumbledore said gravely.
The Young Phoenixes stared at each other. There was no one there age who'd ever gotten an Order of Merlin Third Class before! But then, it was a very difficult thing they'd done.
"The Ministers of Magic are organising the Orders of Merlin as we speak, and the Trophy has been placed in the Trophy room. House points would be given, but the school year hadn't started at the time of the event," Dumbledore added.
"Now, this is Elisa Black, sorted into Gryffindor during the holidays, she completed the O.W.L.'s and will join the Sixth Years of her house in their lessons from now on. I know you'll treat her well," Dumbledore sat down and Harry and Elisa hurried to their seats at the Gryffindor Table.
"Remind to come in early from now on," Harry grumbled.
"Does that happen often?" She asked.
"It's never happened on the first day before," Harry replied. "Usually closer to the last, if I have to win anything."
She laughed slightly and sat down beside Hermione with Harry beside Ron three seats down. The Gryffindors congratulated them and the Head Boy and Girl (AN: I know I put Cho Chang in the wrong year *shrugs* I stuffed myself up with the Atlantis thing *grins* oh well.) were handing out the time tables.
Harry looked at his and grinned – Defence Against the Dark Arts was first. 'Come on,' he said to Elisa. 'Let's go rig the classroom while Sirius is eating.'
'Won't he know it was us?' Elisa asked doubtfully.
'Of course, but we are Marauders, and he's been teaching us to play pranks almost the entire summer,' Harry pointed out. 'He'll be proud, and he'll pretend not to know who did it too.'
'Ok, let's go then. Don't we have to go up to Gryffindor Tower to get our stuff first though?'
'That is exactly our excuse for leaving early, but a simple summoning charm will bring those,' Harry replied impatiently. 'Let's go!'
'Oh, fine! I hope you aren't going to use too much magic with this, otherwise I'll have to stop you,' Elisa warned.
'I know – we'll mostly be doing Muggle stuff, but hide them with magic,' Harry replied, standing up and delivering their excuse for leaving.
The pair of them hurried off, Harry using a summoning spell almost the moment they were out of the Hall, and continued quickly to the class room.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Elisa demanded.
"Yeah, because I'm using a wand, not wandless," Harry explained. "For a little while I'll actually be able to use this thing, which is a pleasant change, it'll be easy enough."
"Ah, ok then. Let's get started!" Elisa said, taking out her own wand, she charmed a bucked of sand over the door and hid it with an invisibility charm.
Harry put invisible strings criss-crossing all over the class room, tied to the chairs and tables so that when the people walked to their desks they'd trip over and have all of the furniture pulled around everywhere, Harry grinned, imagining the pandemonium that would follow, and quickly performed another charm that made it so the people who sat at the front (Sirius included) would get almost all the way there while the rest of the class would nearly get to their seats, and then they'd all trip over.
"We have to think of a reason to be late to class," Harry said thoughtfully.
"We'll just go up to the Gryffindor tower and come down again," Elisa said with a shrug, "that'll take long enough, and it'll be believable too."
"Yeah, but we'll have to run to make sure we get here soon enough that it won't put suspicion on us," Harry agreed.
Finishing up, the pair of mischief makers hurtled upstairs to the Gryffindor Common room, skidded to a halt just in front of the Fat Lady's portrait and headed back down at a run.
They arrived in front of the door gasping for breath, grinning at the sand all over the floor in front of them, and flung open the door to look onto a scene of unfolding chaos.
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Aftermath of the prank next chapter …
Thanks To:
Tasidia, Narcissa Malfoy, fantasydima, Nerwen, Orion, Ian, Aensland, phoenixrising, Dog Stars Crush, Songbreeze Swifteye, Temporary Insanity, Queen of Redwall, Lady Valura, LadyD, Clare, Mercury Girl, hyper yoyo boy, SnakeBoy, Thelvyn, theauthorthatwrites, pamela-potter-24, Black Dragon, Ashura the Destroyer, Blue Saiyan, sew2100, sew2100, sew2100, etfrompo, JerseyGirl03, Xirleb70, Fay Stone, naïve, the little bluebird, princess55, Bridgette and Destruxion!
Wicked! 36 reviews! Updates coming faster now, since I'm getting closer to finished! Guess what! I'm over 100,000 words! Whoo hoo! *celebrates briefly* and now I only need 9 reviews to have over 600 of them!
I really wanna get over 1000 reviews for this story, so please help!!
~WolfMoon~