Chapter Twenty- Back in the same old Habit
Dumbledore's office was the warmest place inside Hogwarts. A kind of safe and calming aurora engulfed the office, whenever one entered it. Along the walls, circling the entire office, were previous pictures of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. All of them or most of them were sitting in their portrait widely awake, and must have been conversing with Dumbledore before Harry entered. Professor Dumbledore sat behind his desk, in his throne like chair, twiddling his fingers, and looking directly at the door.
"Ah, Harry" he said, stroking his long silver beard. "What brings you to my office, so early in the morning?" he continued calmly.
"I've been sent here, sir. I cursed Pansy Parkinson, and punched Ron in the face" Harry said, trying to control his anger. He knew the last time he had been upset, he ended up throwing Dumbledore's instruments around the room, smashing them.
Dumbledore's eyes seemed to become surprised, when Harry said he had hit Ron. "You hit your best friend?"
"Only because I was angry. I had just read the article-"
"Written by Rita Skeeter about your scar being false?" Dumbledore interjected, causing Harry to look slightly alarmed.
"You read the prophet to, sir?"
"Yes, and I must say, I find that Fred and George Weasley's joke shop seems to be making more money than they ever dreamed of" Dumbledore said, chuckling, as he lifted the edition of the Daily Prophet off of his desk. "Take a seat Harry"
Harry walked over to the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk, and sat down. Some of the anger he had several minutes ago seemed to deflate. Harry saw that Phineas Nigellus was staring at him from his portrait, as well as others.
"I expect you were feeling rather angry that this article has surfaced out of no where, and that it completely false? That is very much understandable Harry. I find that Rita Skeeter has become less believable since her articles several years ago" said Dumbledore. His voice was still calm.
"Is the Daily Prophet still around?" said the witch with long dark hair. "I wish someone would get rid of that degrading paper"
Dumbledore chuckled softly. Harry continued to stare at him. He could see his blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight which shone through the windows. Harry could hardly see what was so funny.
"Harry, let me ask you something" said Dumbledore, turning his focus back to Harry. "Why do you read the Daily Prophet?"
Harry sat up straight. "Because I want to find out what's going on in.and.I want to see if anyone's written about me, particularly Rita Skeeter" he answered, feeling awkward. Why would Dumbledore ask him such a question, in such a cool manner?
"I figured as much," said Dumbledore, standing. "I want to show you something, Harry," he said softly, as he walked over to a large cabinet. He ushered Harry to follow, who stood up and walked over, feeling all of the portraits staring down at him from their frames. Dumbledore opened the cabinet, and Harry let out a cry of amazement.
The large cabinet was decorated with clippings of Daily Prophet articles, each with exotic headlines like "Albus Dumbledore soon to croak! Ministry on high standby" or "Albus Dumbledore: Tied to the Dark Lord, or secretly a Unicorn?" Harry let out small laughs, but as he scanned more of the clippings, he noticed their headlines became more and more up to date. "Ministry seeks to remove Albus Dumbledore; You-Know-Who still dead" And there was an article titled "You-Know-Who returns. Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter key eye witnesses".
"Sir" Harry said, in an almost whisper. "How come you've cut out all of these headlines?"
"You see Harry, the truth is, I too am very interested in what the Daily Prophet says about me. As you can quite see, I fancied their headlines many years ago"
"But why would you keep stuff that makes you look like your some sort of a joke?" Harry asked, confused, as Dumbledore slowly closed the Cabinet.
Dumbledore looked down at Harry, his blue eyes glistening from the warm sunlight. He smiled, and answered "Because it is a joke, Harry" he said. "Do you think I take the Daily Prophet serious? I kept those articles, because, I wanted to know what it felt like to be talked about. Years ago Harry, as you already saw in my cabinet, I was headline news" he continued, walking back to his desk. Many of the portraits on the wall whispered to each other. "And that was of course, before Rita Skeeter joined the Prophet. Now, they have someone more talented in their ranks, and they've chosen another candidate for headline articles.you. Do you think they care that Lord Voldemort is back? They could care less" Dumbledore said, his voice strong and serious.
Harry did not know what to say. He wondered why the Prophet would care more about him, than the fact that the most evil wizard ever to walk the planet was back, and the Minister of Magic confirmed it. Dumbledore spoke again, cutting Harrys' thoughts short.
"And I ask you Harry, not to let Rita get to you. Remember that we are only as strong as we are united, than divided. You must control your anger. Overcome the obstacles of life Harry, as you have successfully done for the past sixteen years" said Dumbledore. Harry nodded, grabbed his bag, stood up, and walked over to the door, and went to open it. "Harry,"
He turned around to face Dumbledore, who once again had his hands folded upon his desk. "Yes, Professor?"
"Keep your spirit soaring high"
* * * * * *
The next few days at Hogwarts seemed to be Harry's favorites. For the start of it, he had apologized to Ron, who took his apology without resent, and Harry knew that their friendship had grown stronger than ever. The weather seemed to finally be on Harry's side, because when Saturday came, and it was time for their Hogsmeade Visit, Cho wore a skirt, with a white blouse under her cloak. Harry told himself (as well as Cho) that she looked even prettier than the first time he saw her three years ago. During the Hogsmeade Visit, Harry thought he'd taken the liberty and pleasure of buying Dobby another pair of socks, since it had been so long since he'd given the house-elf a gift. He, Cho, Ron and Hermione had a blast choosing socks. Ron considered buying Dobby a sock, which yelled, "I serve your feet" and told Harry that he'd bewitch the sock to say, "I serve Harry Potter".
Before March ended, Sirius was allowed to go back to number twelve Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore had given him permission, and had told him that the time was right. Harry wondered what this meant, but he was happy that his godfather didn't have to stay hiding in Hogwarts.
By Harry's low standards in Potions, he found himself struggling to receive passing marks. The class was assigned to prepare the Draught of Memories, which was supposed to make the drinker remember things easier. When Neville looked happy about it, Snape assured him that no potion or spell in the world could improve his memory. Professor Trelawney recovered from her sickness, and seemed to be more agitated than ever. She assigned them a rigorous exam in which they were to tell her what would happen to themselves over the course of one week. Ron failed the exam miserably, and Harry managed a passing grade, although Professor Trelawney assured him that he would be meeting death at the end of the week.
Professor McGonagall continued to pile through her lessons as though she were sliding on water. She assured them that they would be learning Human Transfiguration in April and that if they were not ready, they would surely be getting low grades in her class.
Finally, at the end of March, the Quidditch Match that would decide the Gryffindors fate in the last match arrived; Slytherin versus Hufflepuff. The Slytherin spectators only had to endure thirty minutes of painful agony, as they watched their team suffer defeat so miserably. Crabbe and Goyle were instead hitting each other with their bats instead of the Bludgers. The Slytherin Chasers, Malloy, Ulgersy and Kingston were aiming so poorly, Harry thought they were blind. Malfoy had failed to see the Snitch, which was hovering near the left side of his broomstick. The Hufflepuff Seeker snatched it with ease making the score Two Hundred and Seventy, to Fifty.
Breakfast was a noisy affair on Monday, due to the poor performance of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Everyone was talking about how the Hufflepuff Chasers landed goals so easily.
"Wish they would shut up" Ron said irritably, as they sat down at the Gryffindor Table. "They don't hear us talking about our matches for days!"
"Ron, that's a lie. When you won the Quidditch cup last year, you went on for days about how many goals you saved" Hermione said.
Harry nodded in approval.
Moments later, the post owls soared through the ceiling, carrying with them their daily mail and newspapers. Percy's owl Errol crash-landed into the bowl of apples, before regaining himself and waiting for Ron to take the bundle of mail. Hermione collected her Daily Prophet from the Tawny owl, inserted a Knut into the pouch tied to its side, and watched it take flight again. Feeling as though he didn't exist, Harry returned to his bowl of porridge, when Hermione let out a gasp.
"What?" Harry said, looking up at her.
Judging by Hermione's face, Harry knew what she was reading; another article about him. Pansy Parkinson whispered excitedly to her friends. Harry snatched the newspaper from Hermione, and saw himself staring at a picture of him petting a Blast-Ended-Skwert and a large headline that read; "Harry Potter and the Dangerous Beasts he collects".
Harry Potter finds himself yet again in a mess he cannot get himself out
of, or deny. Your Daily prophet reported Rita Skeeter has unearthed startling facts about the Boy-Who-Lived, that once again, Albus Dumbledore has failed to reveal to the public, or the Minister of Magic. Potter, who
has been known to form friendships with Werewolves, Giants and other
monstrous creatures, has been seen breeding them!
Potter has been spotted with Bang-Ended-Newts and even Snowcrabs, which
strictly go against the Ministry of Magics' laws which, prohibits such ferocious creatures to be taken care of without a license. Harry Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal has always had a fascination with
creatures that break laws.
"Potter IS a con man" claimed Izadora Kinster, 34 of Palace Gardens,
London. "I personally think HE should be kept in a cage"
"What is this rubbish?" Harry spat out throwing the paper on the table. "How-why in the world is she making up this stuff?"
"Because she has nothing better to do!" said Ginny, who had come over, brandishing her own paper. "And the correct terminology is Firecrab!" she spat.
"Cant the Ministry do something against this?" Ron asked.
"No, because technically, the Daily Prophet is a private newspaper"
"But it wasn't so private last year when they kept writing things about Dumbledore and I!" Harry said angrily. He felt like he was on the verge to explode again. He could never follow Dumbledores' orders and let this stuff simply roll off his back. He whipped out his wand, pointed it at the newspaper and said "Incendio" and fire engulfed the paper, reducing it to cinders.
His bad mood lasted throughout the entire day, even in Charms. Professor Flitwick thought it wise for the class to review the banishing charm. He had given everyone cushions, as he did two years ago, and told everyone to get their cushions into the box. However, Neville's aim was so poor that he kept sending Professor Flitwick flying around the room.
"You know, Voldemorts been a little quiet" Hermione said, as her cushion landed into the box.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I almost feel bad for my scar" Harry said, anger still in his voice. It had been over a month since his scar burned or stinged and he was beginning to wonder whether or not Voldemort had given up on the orbs.
Ron was so better at the Banishing charm than he was two years ago that on his second attempt, made his cushion land in the box along with Harrys and Hermione's. That evening, they dropped their bags in Gryffindor Tower, and headed down to the Great Hall for the evening dinner. Harry noticed that a group of Third year Hufflepuff girls kept whispering behind their hands when he passed, and were giving him nervous looks. Harry ignored them, and continued to the Gryffindor table, and sat down to eat.
Colin Creevy was talking excitedly to his brother, and some fellow fifth year students. "And my mum thinks that he should be given an Order of Merlin for all the superb things he's done in the past six years!" Colin said. He looked up when Harry sat down, and gave him a wink. Harry managed a small smile.
"You know, I think that one has grown attached to you mate" said Ron, as he helped himself to some roast beef.
"Ron, don't!" Hermione said, warningly.
"I can't even talk about one of our fellow Gryffindors?" Ron asked.
"You're a prefect Ron! You're supposed to be setting a good example!" Hermione snapped. Harry agreed. Dinner went by as though someone placed a quickening charm and before long, Harry, Hermione and Ron were heading back to the Gryffindor Tower. They delivered the password to the fat lady, and entered the common room, anxious to start their mountain load of homework.
"I reckon this Essay on Goat liver, and the Properties of Ant Eggs will take all night!" Ron complained, as they looked at the homework they had to do. "He wants a foot and a half!"
"Well, we also have to write the essay on Human Transfiguration" Harry said. "And McGonagall wants a foot"
"Don't forget Binns!" said Seamus, as he joined them, with Dean at his side.
"You'd think that with all the things that have happened before, the teachers would ease up" Dean said, taking out parchment and ink.
"Ha! Snape, ease up? I'd like to see that. He's still upset because we're taking his N.E.W.T class. I can tell he was hoping we'd give up potions after O.W.L year" Ron said, giving a hearty laugh. Hermione scowled, and began to write.
Harry felt like his fingers were slicing open. By midnight, all five of them had finished every homework assignment, and essay. Their hands were blood red, and Ron looked mildly surprised that he didn't need many corrections on his Potions essay.
Seamus yawned. "Well, I'm off to bed" he said, standing.
"Me too. Good Night!" Dean said, as they went upstairs to the Boys Dormitories. Hermione was slumped in the chair she was sitting in, fast asleep and Ron was packing up his things. Crookshanks leapt off the sofa and walked to the fireplace, staring at it as though he could see someone, and when Harry looked, he let out a small gasp. Sirius's head was poking out of the fire, looking at them smiling.
"Hello"
Ron nearly wet himself, and Hermione, who Harry thought was fast asleep, fell out of her chair and onto the hearthrug below.
"S-SIRUS!" they shouted.
"Shh!" Harry said, afraid that Seamus and Dean might hear them.
"Your-Your alive?" Ron asked.
"Yes. I've been alive for a while you know," Sirius said, chuckling as he swept his long hair out of his face.
"But you-"
"Died? Yes I know, but I came back, thanks to Dumbledore"
"But there's no way that people can come back from the dead" Hermione said.
"That's what most wizards think, but there are ways" and he launched into the story about what happened the night he fell through the veil, and how Dumbledore used the power of the orbs to bring him back. Hermione was in a state of shock, and Ron looked as though he was going to pass out. Both of them however, abandoned asking anymore questions. "So, what brings you to our fire this late?" Harry asked, yawning widely.
"Well, I've been reading the Daily Prophet-"
"Haven't we all" Harry hissed.
"I haven't paid any attention to those stupid articles Rita was writing about you, but I did notice something out of the ordinary. I'm not sure if Dumbledore knows either"
"What is it?" Ron asked.
"Well, there's been another disappearance"
"But wouldn't that have made headline news?" Hermione asked.
"Not if the people who were kidnapped are Muggles"
"Muggles? Why on earth would the Prophet write about Muggles disappearing?" Hermione asked. "Do they have relations with Wizards?"
Sirius nodded, and Harry noticed that he was staring directly at him. His heart seemed to have stopped beating, and his breathing became more and more shallow. He felt his insides go cold and numb. It couldn't be. Voldemort wouldn't dare. Voldemort kidnapped the Dursleys.
Dumbledore's office was the warmest place inside Hogwarts. A kind of safe and calming aurora engulfed the office, whenever one entered it. Along the walls, circling the entire office, were previous pictures of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. All of them or most of them were sitting in their portrait widely awake, and must have been conversing with Dumbledore before Harry entered. Professor Dumbledore sat behind his desk, in his throne like chair, twiddling his fingers, and looking directly at the door.
"Ah, Harry" he said, stroking his long silver beard. "What brings you to my office, so early in the morning?" he continued calmly.
"I've been sent here, sir. I cursed Pansy Parkinson, and punched Ron in the face" Harry said, trying to control his anger. He knew the last time he had been upset, he ended up throwing Dumbledore's instruments around the room, smashing them.
Dumbledore's eyes seemed to become surprised, when Harry said he had hit Ron. "You hit your best friend?"
"Only because I was angry. I had just read the article-"
"Written by Rita Skeeter about your scar being false?" Dumbledore interjected, causing Harry to look slightly alarmed.
"You read the prophet to, sir?"
"Yes, and I must say, I find that Fred and George Weasley's joke shop seems to be making more money than they ever dreamed of" Dumbledore said, chuckling, as he lifted the edition of the Daily Prophet off of his desk. "Take a seat Harry"
Harry walked over to the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk, and sat down. Some of the anger he had several minutes ago seemed to deflate. Harry saw that Phineas Nigellus was staring at him from his portrait, as well as others.
"I expect you were feeling rather angry that this article has surfaced out of no where, and that it completely false? That is very much understandable Harry. I find that Rita Skeeter has become less believable since her articles several years ago" said Dumbledore. His voice was still calm.
"Is the Daily Prophet still around?" said the witch with long dark hair. "I wish someone would get rid of that degrading paper"
Dumbledore chuckled softly. Harry continued to stare at him. He could see his blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight which shone through the windows. Harry could hardly see what was so funny.
"Harry, let me ask you something" said Dumbledore, turning his focus back to Harry. "Why do you read the Daily Prophet?"
Harry sat up straight. "Because I want to find out what's going on in.and.I want to see if anyone's written about me, particularly Rita Skeeter" he answered, feeling awkward. Why would Dumbledore ask him such a question, in such a cool manner?
"I figured as much," said Dumbledore, standing. "I want to show you something, Harry," he said softly, as he walked over to a large cabinet. He ushered Harry to follow, who stood up and walked over, feeling all of the portraits staring down at him from their frames. Dumbledore opened the cabinet, and Harry let out a cry of amazement.
The large cabinet was decorated with clippings of Daily Prophet articles, each with exotic headlines like "Albus Dumbledore soon to croak! Ministry on high standby" or "Albus Dumbledore: Tied to the Dark Lord, or secretly a Unicorn?" Harry let out small laughs, but as he scanned more of the clippings, he noticed their headlines became more and more up to date. "Ministry seeks to remove Albus Dumbledore; You-Know-Who still dead" And there was an article titled "You-Know-Who returns. Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter key eye witnesses".
"Sir" Harry said, in an almost whisper. "How come you've cut out all of these headlines?"
"You see Harry, the truth is, I too am very interested in what the Daily Prophet says about me. As you can quite see, I fancied their headlines many years ago"
"But why would you keep stuff that makes you look like your some sort of a joke?" Harry asked, confused, as Dumbledore slowly closed the Cabinet.
Dumbledore looked down at Harry, his blue eyes glistening from the warm sunlight. He smiled, and answered "Because it is a joke, Harry" he said. "Do you think I take the Daily Prophet serious? I kept those articles, because, I wanted to know what it felt like to be talked about. Years ago Harry, as you already saw in my cabinet, I was headline news" he continued, walking back to his desk. Many of the portraits on the wall whispered to each other. "And that was of course, before Rita Skeeter joined the Prophet. Now, they have someone more talented in their ranks, and they've chosen another candidate for headline articles.you. Do you think they care that Lord Voldemort is back? They could care less" Dumbledore said, his voice strong and serious.
Harry did not know what to say. He wondered why the Prophet would care more about him, than the fact that the most evil wizard ever to walk the planet was back, and the Minister of Magic confirmed it. Dumbledore spoke again, cutting Harrys' thoughts short.
"And I ask you Harry, not to let Rita get to you. Remember that we are only as strong as we are united, than divided. You must control your anger. Overcome the obstacles of life Harry, as you have successfully done for the past sixteen years" said Dumbledore. Harry nodded, grabbed his bag, stood up, and walked over to the door, and went to open it. "Harry,"
He turned around to face Dumbledore, who once again had his hands folded upon his desk. "Yes, Professor?"
"Keep your spirit soaring high"
* * * * * *
The next few days at Hogwarts seemed to be Harry's favorites. For the start of it, he had apologized to Ron, who took his apology without resent, and Harry knew that their friendship had grown stronger than ever. The weather seemed to finally be on Harry's side, because when Saturday came, and it was time for their Hogsmeade Visit, Cho wore a skirt, with a white blouse under her cloak. Harry told himself (as well as Cho) that she looked even prettier than the first time he saw her three years ago. During the Hogsmeade Visit, Harry thought he'd taken the liberty and pleasure of buying Dobby another pair of socks, since it had been so long since he'd given the house-elf a gift. He, Cho, Ron and Hermione had a blast choosing socks. Ron considered buying Dobby a sock, which yelled, "I serve your feet" and told Harry that he'd bewitch the sock to say, "I serve Harry Potter".
Before March ended, Sirius was allowed to go back to number twelve Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore had given him permission, and had told him that the time was right. Harry wondered what this meant, but he was happy that his godfather didn't have to stay hiding in Hogwarts.
By Harry's low standards in Potions, he found himself struggling to receive passing marks. The class was assigned to prepare the Draught of Memories, which was supposed to make the drinker remember things easier. When Neville looked happy about it, Snape assured him that no potion or spell in the world could improve his memory. Professor Trelawney recovered from her sickness, and seemed to be more agitated than ever. She assigned them a rigorous exam in which they were to tell her what would happen to themselves over the course of one week. Ron failed the exam miserably, and Harry managed a passing grade, although Professor Trelawney assured him that he would be meeting death at the end of the week.
Professor McGonagall continued to pile through her lessons as though she were sliding on water. She assured them that they would be learning Human Transfiguration in April and that if they were not ready, they would surely be getting low grades in her class.
Finally, at the end of March, the Quidditch Match that would decide the Gryffindors fate in the last match arrived; Slytherin versus Hufflepuff. The Slytherin spectators only had to endure thirty minutes of painful agony, as they watched their team suffer defeat so miserably. Crabbe and Goyle were instead hitting each other with their bats instead of the Bludgers. The Slytherin Chasers, Malloy, Ulgersy and Kingston were aiming so poorly, Harry thought they were blind. Malfoy had failed to see the Snitch, which was hovering near the left side of his broomstick. The Hufflepuff Seeker snatched it with ease making the score Two Hundred and Seventy, to Fifty.
Breakfast was a noisy affair on Monday, due to the poor performance of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Everyone was talking about how the Hufflepuff Chasers landed goals so easily.
"Wish they would shut up" Ron said irritably, as they sat down at the Gryffindor Table. "They don't hear us talking about our matches for days!"
"Ron, that's a lie. When you won the Quidditch cup last year, you went on for days about how many goals you saved" Hermione said.
Harry nodded in approval.
Moments later, the post owls soared through the ceiling, carrying with them their daily mail and newspapers. Percy's owl Errol crash-landed into the bowl of apples, before regaining himself and waiting for Ron to take the bundle of mail. Hermione collected her Daily Prophet from the Tawny owl, inserted a Knut into the pouch tied to its side, and watched it take flight again. Feeling as though he didn't exist, Harry returned to his bowl of porridge, when Hermione let out a gasp.
"What?" Harry said, looking up at her.
Judging by Hermione's face, Harry knew what she was reading; another article about him. Pansy Parkinson whispered excitedly to her friends. Harry snatched the newspaper from Hermione, and saw himself staring at a picture of him petting a Blast-Ended-Skwert and a large headline that read; "Harry Potter and the Dangerous Beasts he collects".
Harry Potter finds himself yet again in a mess he cannot get himself out
of, or deny. Your Daily prophet reported Rita Skeeter has unearthed startling facts about the Boy-Who-Lived, that once again, Albus Dumbledore has failed to reveal to the public, or the Minister of Magic. Potter, who
has been known to form friendships with Werewolves, Giants and other
monstrous creatures, has been seen breeding them!
Potter has been spotted with Bang-Ended-Newts and even Snowcrabs, which
strictly go against the Ministry of Magics' laws which, prohibits such ferocious creatures to be taken care of without a license. Harry Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal has always had a fascination with
creatures that break laws.
"Potter IS a con man" claimed Izadora Kinster, 34 of Palace Gardens,
London. "I personally think HE should be kept in a cage"
"What is this rubbish?" Harry spat out throwing the paper on the table. "How-why in the world is she making up this stuff?"
"Because she has nothing better to do!" said Ginny, who had come over, brandishing her own paper. "And the correct terminology is Firecrab!" she spat.
"Cant the Ministry do something against this?" Ron asked.
"No, because technically, the Daily Prophet is a private newspaper"
"But it wasn't so private last year when they kept writing things about Dumbledore and I!" Harry said angrily. He felt like he was on the verge to explode again. He could never follow Dumbledores' orders and let this stuff simply roll off his back. He whipped out his wand, pointed it at the newspaper and said "Incendio" and fire engulfed the paper, reducing it to cinders.
His bad mood lasted throughout the entire day, even in Charms. Professor Flitwick thought it wise for the class to review the banishing charm. He had given everyone cushions, as he did two years ago, and told everyone to get their cushions into the box. However, Neville's aim was so poor that he kept sending Professor Flitwick flying around the room.
"You know, Voldemorts been a little quiet" Hermione said, as her cushion landed into the box.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I almost feel bad for my scar" Harry said, anger still in his voice. It had been over a month since his scar burned or stinged and he was beginning to wonder whether or not Voldemort had given up on the orbs.
Ron was so better at the Banishing charm than he was two years ago that on his second attempt, made his cushion land in the box along with Harrys and Hermione's. That evening, they dropped their bags in Gryffindor Tower, and headed down to the Great Hall for the evening dinner. Harry noticed that a group of Third year Hufflepuff girls kept whispering behind their hands when he passed, and were giving him nervous looks. Harry ignored them, and continued to the Gryffindor table, and sat down to eat.
Colin Creevy was talking excitedly to his brother, and some fellow fifth year students. "And my mum thinks that he should be given an Order of Merlin for all the superb things he's done in the past six years!" Colin said. He looked up when Harry sat down, and gave him a wink. Harry managed a small smile.
"You know, I think that one has grown attached to you mate" said Ron, as he helped himself to some roast beef.
"Ron, don't!" Hermione said, warningly.
"I can't even talk about one of our fellow Gryffindors?" Ron asked.
"You're a prefect Ron! You're supposed to be setting a good example!" Hermione snapped. Harry agreed. Dinner went by as though someone placed a quickening charm and before long, Harry, Hermione and Ron were heading back to the Gryffindor Tower. They delivered the password to the fat lady, and entered the common room, anxious to start their mountain load of homework.
"I reckon this Essay on Goat liver, and the Properties of Ant Eggs will take all night!" Ron complained, as they looked at the homework they had to do. "He wants a foot and a half!"
"Well, we also have to write the essay on Human Transfiguration" Harry said. "And McGonagall wants a foot"
"Don't forget Binns!" said Seamus, as he joined them, with Dean at his side.
"You'd think that with all the things that have happened before, the teachers would ease up" Dean said, taking out parchment and ink.
"Ha! Snape, ease up? I'd like to see that. He's still upset because we're taking his N.E.W.T class. I can tell he was hoping we'd give up potions after O.W.L year" Ron said, giving a hearty laugh. Hermione scowled, and began to write.
Harry felt like his fingers were slicing open. By midnight, all five of them had finished every homework assignment, and essay. Their hands were blood red, and Ron looked mildly surprised that he didn't need many corrections on his Potions essay.
Seamus yawned. "Well, I'm off to bed" he said, standing.
"Me too. Good Night!" Dean said, as they went upstairs to the Boys Dormitories. Hermione was slumped in the chair she was sitting in, fast asleep and Ron was packing up his things. Crookshanks leapt off the sofa and walked to the fireplace, staring at it as though he could see someone, and when Harry looked, he let out a small gasp. Sirius's head was poking out of the fire, looking at them smiling.
"Hello"
Ron nearly wet himself, and Hermione, who Harry thought was fast asleep, fell out of her chair and onto the hearthrug below.
"S-SIRUS!" they shouted.
"Shh!" Harry said, afraid that Seamus and Dean might hear them.
"Your-Your alive?" Ron asked.
"Yes. I've been alive for a while you know," Sirius said, chuckling as he swept his long hair out of his face.
"But you-"
"Died? Yes I know, but I came back, thanks to Dumbledore"
"But there's no way that people can come back from the dead" Hermione said.
"That's what most wizards think, but there are ways" and he launched into the story about what happened the night he fell through the veil, and how Dumbledore used the power of the orbs to bring him back. Hermione was in a state of shock, and Ron looked as though he was going to pass out. Both of them however, abandoned asking anymore questions. "So, what brings you to our fire this late?" Harry asked, yawning widely.
"Well, I've been reading the Daily Prophet-"
"Haven't we all" Harry hissed.
"I haven't paid any attention to those stupid articles Rita was writing about you, but I did notice something out of the ordinary. I'm not sure if Dumbledore knows either"
"What is it?" Ron asked.
"Well, there's been another disappearance"
"But wouldn't that have made headline news?" Hermione asked.
"Not if the people who were kidnapped are Muggles"
"Muggles? Why on earth would the Prophet write about Muggles disappearing?" Hermione asked. "Do they have relations with Wizards?"
Sirius nodded, and Harry noticed that he was staring directly at him. His heart seemed to have stopped beating, and his breathing became more and more shallow. He felt his insides go cold and numb. It couldn't be. Voldemort wouldn't dare. Voldemort kidnapped the Dursleys.