Disclaimer: All the following characters belong to J.K.Rowling and we own none of them. We are not making any money out of this.
Chapter 3: A new start
That evening, the three of them sat in the Gryffindor common room, discussing DA matters. However, this time, it was to be called the Defense Association, not Dumbledore's Army. The professor found it much too troublesome.
"Now that it's more serious," remarked Hermione, "Members have to take a solemn pledge to be able to risk his or her life while fighting the dark arts. We can't let everyone know of the DA." Harry nodded.
" There may be spies around."
Ron made no noise, but merely nodded in agreement. His mouth was stuffed with every flavored beans. Hermione looked disgusted, but nevertheless continued with making the plans.
"Of course, we will have to do it secretly, since the educational decrees have still not been lifted, we will use the room of requirement, but we must be careful to not be seen by anyone. After all –"
The Gryffindor common room's portrait of The Fat Lady swung open, and three girls emerged. They were deep in conversation, and Harry thought he heard something like "lau sai". He wondered what it meant.
They looked most exotic. All were of Chinese race, but their looks were not typical of the usual Chinese look he was used to – Cho.
One of them wore braces and had a medium-length dark and bushy ponytail. She was standing next to another with shoulder-length hair. She had a cheerful look on her face. The last girl was adorably plump. Not fat, but plump enough to make her have a jolly and contented look.
When the three girls noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione, their conversation died down and they looked at each other nervously. There were urgent whispers before the bushy-haired girl got pushed forward, looking exceedingly nervous.
Ron stared, Harry stared too. Hermione looked surprised. None of them spoke.
"Erm, are you three Harry, Hermione and Ronald?" asked the girl, fiddling with her hair.
"Yeah," said Ron, somewhat defensively. There was an air of relief among the girls and Harry finally got over his shock and asked,
"What are you all doing here?" He directed it at the shoulder-length hair girl. She did not seem to notice, but instead pointed to a few sofas and told her friends, "Those are so cool, let's go and sit!" She promptly made herself comfortable, and her friends followed suit, giggling happily.
"Huh?" she asked. "What did you say?" He repeated his question.
"Oh," said the plump girl. "OH it's a long story," she smiled and her ponytail shook a little.
The shoulder-length hair girl saw that neither of her friends were going to bother to explain and said "I'm Lishia, she," Lishia pointed to the bushy haired girl "is Jacky and she's Angie. I'm from Malaysia, Angie's from China and Jacky's from Singapore."
Hermione looked interested. Ron scratched his hair, but continued to listen, and Harry leaned forward to hear more.
"You see, Lishia and Angie were top witches in their own countries," said Jacky "and they – "
" We went to Singapore to study, cus the school there is better." Chipped in Angie.
"Dumbledore secretly requested for top witches and wizards from all over the world to come to Hogwarts on the pretext of doing NEWTS. We're supposed to join the DA, actually." Said Lishia.
Hermione seemed enlightened but she pressed on for more.
"We arrived here just a while ago, and were sorted in Dumbledore's office. Only the three of us got into Gryffindor." Lishia said.
"That was good, cus we didn't get separated," said Jacky, and all three girls laughed.
Harry found them interesting enough and looked forward to see the other new students. To think that they came to join the DA and fight Voldemort, when they themselves were top witches and wizards!"
Ron asked them to introduce themselves a bit more.
"When we heard of the requests, we volunteered to take up the challenge, and specially took our OWLS earlier, so we could take our NEWT here. All those who didn't make it had their memories modified." Said Angie.
"Quite sad, actually," sighed Jacky. "but only us and a few other guys represented Asia."
"How old are you?" asked Hermione suddenly and suspiciously.
Angie looked quite taken aback.
"I'm fourteen this year."
"and we're both thirteen," chorused Lishia and Jacky. They all giggled.
"Jinx!" shouted Lishia happily, but Jacky replied indignantly, "Jinx is out!" Angie chipped in gleefully and soon, all six of them were engaged in chatting, playing, and having fun.
Soon, they were all tired, and Lishia gave a wide yawn, "I'm so sleepy…" Everyone chorused in agreement, although Harry felt it quite embarrassing to be behaving so childishly. Lishia however, did not seem to notice. Jacky yawned too and said "I think I'll call it a day, let's go to bed." "Fine!" said Lishia, "race the both of you up!" and immediately, the girls ran up, laughing.
"Those girls are awesome, mate," remarked Ron. "Smart, sweet and…"
"Are you trying to hint something?" asked Harry, playfully, as they ascended the steps to their dormitory slowly.
"I mean..you know..so young.." Ron stammered.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I know, but you must admit, they're quite interesting… as in.."
Ron nodded, "I know."
Harry, Ron and Hermione were having breakfast in the great hall the next morning when Angie, Jacky and Lishia can in, giggling as usual. Behind them were three guys, all tall and strong. They sat opposite to the three of them, beside the girls.
"Hi!" the three girls greeted.
"Hi!" Harry replied. Ron and Hermione were too engrossed in staring at the three guys to notice.
"Who are…" Before Harry could finish with his sentence, Lishia cut in.
"Oh! They are the tops boys in our schools. This is Adrian from Malaysia."
"And he is Jason from Singapore," Jacky said pointing to the boy at the utmost right.
"Last but not least, this is Kal from China." Angie said, smiling.
"Guys, this is Harry Potter… Hermione Granger… Ronald Weasley…" Lishia introduced pausing between names for them to shake hands and exchange greetings. After that, they carried on eating their breakfast. Harry felt that there was something strange about them. The way they were treating him was different from the others. Suddenly, he realised what it was. But Hermione apparently sensed it before him.
"Why aren't you staring and gasping at Harry's scar?" Hermione asked, surveying the six of them.
"Why should we?" Lishia said with her mouth full of Shepard's pie.
"Cause that's what everyone does. Oh! That's Harry Potter! The boy who lived!!!" Ron said in a high pitched voice unlike his own.
"Oh! So is it that we have to follow? If it's so, we'll try to stare at his scar." Jacky said reasonably.
"No, no. Please don't. Ron means that…" Harry did not have the chance to finish his sentence before Ron cut in.
"I don't need you to explain to them what I meant." Ron shouted suddenly.
"Ron! Sit down, what's got you? Why are you acting so strange?" Harry asked, concerned.
"It's got nothing to do with you! Prefect Potter! I'm not a baby like what you think. I can take care of myself!" Ron roared.
"I was just concerned about you. If you don't need it, fine!" Harry retorted, his face red with anger.
"Calm down you two, will you? There are teachers here!" Hermione whisper urgently. And sure enough, Dumbledore's, McGonagall's and Snape's eyes were fixed on them.
"YES! I DON'T NEED IT! PREFECT POTTER AND DUMBLEDORE'S FAVOURITE BOY!" Ron snapped back, completely ignoring what Hermione had just said and stormed out of the great hall. The remaining eight of them all stared with mouths wide open.
"Does it happen very often?" Angie asked, looking at Hermione.
" No, it doesn't." Hermione replied.
"Yes it does! What's wrong with me being a prefect? Why is he so jealous? What could he be jealous about? He's a prefect too!" Harry snapped.
" Well," Hermione said taking in a deep breath. "He's not one anymore."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"He gave his badge up in order for you to become a prefect." Hermione sighed.
"What?!"
"Yes. He felt that you are a lot more responsible than him and that you could do better if you were a prefect." Hermione said, biting her lip. Harry stared at Hermione, dumbfounded. Her words had cut right through his heart.
"So you're saying that Ron isn't a prefect anymore because he wants me to be a prefect. Is that right?" Hermione nodded. Harry continued,
"And I yelled at him just now." Hermione nodded again.
"Wait for me here." Harry took to his heels and dashed off, following the way Ron had went. He was out of the great hall when he began to realize that he did not know which way Ron had gone to. Harry looked around and decided for the quidditch pitch, running past peeves who was having a hard time trying to stuff an empty classroom's keyhole with earwax, he headed as fast as he could for the quidditch pitch.
He found Ron sitting in the stands, his head buried in his hands. Harry watched with a pang and he tried to gather the courage to go to him. The world seemed upside down. To think that he was overjoyed when he received his badge. Didn't he remember that only two prefects per year were allowed? He sighed, and walked up to Ron.
"I'm sorry," he said, sitting down beside him, "I didn't know."
"You don't need to be sorry. It's just..Percy. He wrote to me this morning." Ron said, thrusting a piece of paper into Harry's arms. It read:
"My dear brother Ron,
I have recently been informed that you have given up your prefect's badge for Potter. I must advise you again that it is unwise for you to associate yourself with such people. You must consider your future.
Do you not realize what is at stake? You are beginning to act like Potter. Attention seeking, acting hero. Do you not know that to survive in life, you need to be cunning and selfish to a certain extent?
Look at yourself. Do you really want to sacrifice yourself for Potter? Are you really going to give up your future just for him? Think of mom and dad, when you grow up, and are not as accomplished as any of us. Do you want them to be disappointed?
Please. I have your interests at heart. I do not wish to see you suffer. I hope you will consider my words carefully.
Love, your brother
Percy
Harry put it down. Ron's face was still buried in his hands.
"I'm sorry Harry, but I actually took in the rubbish Percy had said about you. I'm really sorry I blew up on you." Ron said, ashamed of himself.
"It's okay Ron, I understand." Harry said, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Geez, thanks mate. Come on, let's go back. I'm getting hungry." Ron got up and pulled Harry up and they went back to the great hall, together.
***************************************************************************************************************
Harry dozed off that night, thinking of quidditch. He wondered who would be the captain of the quidditch team. Was it him? Perhaps not… too much responsibility. Ron then, he decided. Ah..well, it wasn't for him to decide..
He was sitting on the grass beside the lake. The sky was blue and he was speaking to a girl with long dark hair. She looked oddly familiar. Suddenly, as if a dark veil had been lifted, he was sitting on an all too familiar chair, and he was happy… he was more than happy… he was ecstatic. A figure was kneeling in front of him, congratulating him.
"Master, I am glad.."
"Bring them to me. They are still not forgiven." The figure hastened to obey.
"Yes master. I will bring them to you…"
"Shut up and just do it." The figure, apparently a woman, bowed and got out.
Harry woke up. The death eaters. They escaped? It was 5 in the morning. Harry was much more sensible now. He decided to tell Dumbledore.
Harry got out of bed, pulled on his clothes and walked out of the dormitory silently. He walked slowly down the steps, dizzy from his dream, or vision rather. His scar burned, but he didn't really realize it.
As he reached the foot of the stairs, he noticed a movement near the window. By the dim moonlight, he could see a golden phoenix, terribly different from fawkes. It was carrying a golden retriever through the window, and there was a golden chinchilla seated on its back.
Harry was taken aback. What were three golden animals doing in the common room, early in the morning? He continued to stare.
To his horror and utmost surprise, they transformed back into Angie, Jacky and Lishia respectively! Harry still had not completely overcome his shock, and continued to stare at them, apparently speechless.
Just then, Angie noticed him, "Uh-oh!"
Lishia swore and Jacky's eyes widened in shock.
"So you found out," said Lishia slowly,
"Yy-ou're Animagi?" Harry questioned, spluttering.
"Yeah. We need to go out nightly for exercise. And the only way to go out and in –" Lishia continued to say.
"Is through the window." chipped in Angie.
"You won't tell anyone right?" Jacky asked, a little worried.
Harry nodded. "But can I tell Hermione and Ron?"
"Whatever," said Lishia, "but no one else okay?"
"Yeah." Harry promised.
Jacky asked where he was going and he suddenly remembered his purpose.
"Dumbledore." He said "by the way, you're unregistered right?"
Angie nodded. "Don't tell, promise!"
Harry promised again. He made for the door while the three girls made their way up. They waved goodbye.
Harry walked down the corridor, thinking. It was a very eventful night. The discovery of the animagi, which he vowed to report to Hermione and Ron, and the vision, the death eaters were back. It was very disturbing.
He turned at the corner, and arrived in front of the gargoyle. He searched his memory for the password, wondering if Dumbledore was awake. He looked at his watch. 5:30 am. Maybe.
He heard footsteps behind him and Harry whirled around. Professor Dumbledore was looking gravely at him, "Here to see me, Harry?"
Having remembered that he had just experienced contact with Voldemort, he did not look directly at Dumbledore. "Yes, I had a dream."
Dumbleore made for his office. "Oreo Cheesecake", he said, beckoning Harry in. They arrived, neither looking at each other while Harry related his vision.
"Very well," he said to the portrait's frame behind Harry, "I'm glad you told me. Why don't you go back to the common room? I expect Jacky to be up. I personally know her as an early riser."
******
Harry woke up the next day, and realised that today would be the first day of school. The holidays were finally over. The whole day was rather uneventful. Lishia was buried in textbooks, assessment books and other Hogwarts related books. Hermione was with her. Ron and Harry played wizards chess, Angie was mainly trying to lose weight, while Jacky was helping Hermione design and SPEW pamphlet.
Harry's mind was rather preoccupied with his dream. He kept losing to Ron, who was indignant. "Harry! Are you paying attention?"
Later that day, they went to the great hall early, chatting. Harry didn't pay attention to what they were saying. If the death eaters were back, wouldn't there be more trouble? What was he to do? The Occlumency lessons were not working either.
The other students soon filed in. They exchanged greetings but stared at the 6 new students, who grinned but said nothing.
Soon, the sorting began and ended, but Harry did not notice any of it, nor the song. Dumbledore stood up, and there was silence.
"Welcome, again, to another year at Hogwarts. A reminder, the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students as some of you may know. As you may have noticed, we have 6 new students, top scholars from Asia. I urge you all to learn from them. And this year, I must stress on inter-house relationships. Last year, I remember the sorting hat saying that we must stand united as a school. Yes, I know that some of you have already tried your best. 3 houses are working harmoniously together, but one house is left out. I hope that this year, we'll include that particular house in. That's all! Dig in!" Dumbledore finished his speech and sat down. At once, food began to appear on the dishes.
Harry didn't eat much. Throughout the whole dinner, he was thinking about Dumbledore's speech. He had this funny feeling that Dumbledore was referring to the DA. The DA had members from all houses except for Slytherin. But what did Dumbledore mean by including Slytherin in the DA?
Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables. Hermione and the three girls were comparing theirs excitedly. "Hey! Ours is the same, except for these spaces," said Hermione, pointing, "You have divination."
"Did I tell you Harry? I'm allowed to take up Muggle Studies again! Now everything is more spaced out! And there will be enough time!"
Harry's and Ron's were rather different, but both had lots of spare time compared to Hermione's or the three girls. He looked at them thoughtful, so smart, cheerful..he remembered them being unregistered animagi. Hermione had expressed that she wasn't surprised, as she saw animagi characteristics in them. Ron had been utterly flabbergasted.
Dinner was soon over. Harry and Hermione reported to Professor McGonagall for their prefect duties. On their way there, they heard a familiar voice.
"Had a nice summer, Potter?" Harry turned around and saw Draco Malfoy standing right before him, Pansy Parkinson at his side.
"You bet. At least I don't have a father who is a wanted criminal. Oh, or should I say, death eater?" Harry said coolly.
Malfoy gritted his teeth and stared at Harry, ready to curse him. Luckily, they reached Professor McGonagall in time, before Malfoy had a chance to attack.
They got their duty list from her, and headed for the Gryffindor tower.
"Password's Unity." Hermione shouted over the heads of the Gryffindor first years.
The portrait flung open to reveal the common room. Harry ushered the first years in while Hermione explained the rules.
It was midnight when the 2 of them were done. They bade each other goodnight, yawning at the same time and went up to their respective dormitories.
A/N: Yay!!! Another chap completed!!! Keep your reviews coming!!! I'm finishing chapter 4.
Skysong, Pandora and Yingz, thanx for all dose reviews!!! You guys totally rock!!! :D
I realli enjoyed writing chap 4. It's sooooooo nice!!!!! Haha. You'll know what I mean later. I'll be posting it in a few days time!!! C ya!!!
Oh! And I apologize for any grammatical errors!!!
Chapter 3: A new start
That evening, the three of them sat in the Gryffindor common room, discussing DA matters. However, this time, it was to be called the Defense Association, not Dumbledore's Army. The professor found it much too troublesome.
"Now that it's more serious," remarked Hermione, "Members have to take a solemn pledge to be able to risk his or her life while fighting the dark arts. We can't let everyone know of the DA." Harry nodded.
" There may be spies around."
Ron made no noise, but merely nodded in agreement. His mouth was stuffed with every flavored beans. Hermione looked disgusted, but nevertheless continued with making the plans.
"Of course, we will have to do it secretly, since the educational decrees have still not been lifted, we will use the room of requirement, but we must be careful to not be seen by anyone. After all –"
The Gryffindor common room's portrait of The Fat Lady swung open, and three girls emerged. They were deep in conversation, and Harry thought he heard something like "lau sai". He wondered what it meant.
They looked most exotic. All were of Chinese race, but their looks were not typical of the usual Chinese look he was used to – Cho.
One of them wore braces and had a medium-length dark and bushy ponytail. She was standing next to another with shoulder-length hair. She had a cheerful look on her face. The last girl was adorably plump. Not fat, but plump enough to make her have a jolly and contented look.
When the three girls noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione, their conversation died down and they looked at each other nervously. There were urgent whispers before the bushy-haired girl got pushed forward, looking exceedingly nervous.
Ron stared, Harry stared too. Hermione looked surprised. None of them spoke.
"Erm, are you three Harry, Hermione and Ronald?" asked the girl, fiddling with her hair.
"Yeah," said Ron, somewhat defensively. There was an air of relief among the girls and Harry finally got over his shock and asked,
"What are you all doing here?" He directed it at the shoulder-length hair girl. She did not seem to notice, but instead pointed to a few sofas and told her friends, "Those are so cool, let's go and sit!" She promptly made herself comfortable, and her friends followed suit, giggling happily.
"Huh?" she asked. "What did you say?" He repeated his question.
"Oh," said the plump girl. "OH it's a long story," she smiled and her ponytail shook a little.
The shoulder-length hair girl saw that neither of her friends were going to bother to explain and said "I'm Lishia, she," Lishia pointed to the bushy haired girl "is Jacky and she's Angie. I'm from Malaysia, Angie's from China and Jacky's from Singapore."
Hermione looked interested. Ron scratched his hair, but continued to listen, and Harry leaned forward to hear more.
"You see, Lishia and Angie were top witches in their own countries," said Jacky "and they – "
" We went to Singapore to study, cus the school there is better." Chipped in Angie.
"Dumbledore secretly requested for top witches and wizards from all over the world to come to Hogwarts on the pretext of doing NEWTS. We're supposed to join the DA, actually." Said Lishia.
Hermione seemed enlightened but she pressed on for more.
"We arrived here just a while ago, and were sorted in Dumbledore's office. Only the three of us got into Gryffindor." Lishia said.
"That was good, cus we didn't get separated," said Jacky, and all three girls laughed.
Harry found them interesting enough and looked forward to see the other new students. To think that they came to join the DA and fight Voldemort, when they themselves were top witches and wizards!"
Ron asked them to introduce themselves a bit more.
"When we heard of the requests, we volunteered to take up the challenge, and specially took our OWLS earlier, so we could take our NEWT here. All those who didn't make it had their memories modified." Said Angie.
"Quite sad, actually," sighed Jacky. "but only us and a few other guys represented Asia."
"How old are you?" asked Hermione suddenly and suspiciously.
Angie looked quite taken aback.
"I'm fourteen this year."
"and we're both thirteen," chorused Lishia and Jacky. They all giggled.
"Jinx!" shouted Lishia happily, but Jacky replied indignantly, "Jinx is out!" Angie chipped in gleefully and soon, all six of them were engaged in chatting, playing, and having fun.
Soon, they were all tired, and Lishia gave a wide yawn, "I'm so sleepy…" Everyone chorused in agreement, although Harry felt it quite embarrassing to be behaving so childishly. Lishia however, did not seem to notice. Jacky yawned too and said "I think I'll call it a day, let's go to bed." "Fine!" said Lishia, "race the both of you up!" and immediately, the girls ran up, laughing.
"Those girls are awesome, mate," remarked Ron. "Smart, sweet and…"
"Are you trying to hint something?" asked Harry, playfully, as they ascended the steps to their dormitory slowly.
"I mean..you know..so young.." Ron stammered.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I know, but you must admit, they're quite interesting… as in.."
Ron nodded, "I know."
Harry, Ron and Hermione were having breakfast in the great hall the next morning when Angie, Jacky and Lishia can in, giggling as usual. Behind them were three guys, all tall and strong. They sat opposite to the three of them, beside the girls.
"Hi!" the three girls greeted.
"Hi!" Harry replied. Ron and Hermione were too engrossed in staring at the three guys to notice.
"Who are…" Before Harry could finish with his sentence, Lishia cut in.
"Oh! They are the tops boys in our schools. This is Adrian from Malaysia."
"And he is Jason from Singapore," Jacky said pointing to the boy at the utmost right.
"Last but not least, this is Kal from China." Angie said, smiling.
"Guys, this is Harry Potter… Hermione Granger… Ronald Weasley…" Lishia introduced pausing between names for them to shake hands and exchange greetings. After that, they carried on eating their breakfast. Harry felt that there was something strange about them. The way they were treating him was different from the others. Suddenly, he realised what it was. But Hermione apparently sensed it before him.
"Why aren't you staring and gasping at Harry's scar?" Hermione asked, surveying the six of them.
"Why should we?" Lishia said with her mouth full of Shepard's pie.
"Cause that's what everyone does. Oh! That's Harry Potter! The boy who lived!!!" Ron said in a high pitched voice unlike his own.
"Oh! So is it that we have to follow? If it's so, we'll try to stare at his scar." Jacky said reasonably.
"No, no. Please don't. Ron means that…" Harry did not have the chance to finish his sentence before Ron cut in.
"I don't need you to explain to them what I meant." Ron shouted suddenly.
"Ron! Sit down, what's got you? Why are you acting so strange?" Harry asked, concerned.
"It's got nothing to do with you! Prefect Potter! I'm not a baby like what you think. I can take care of myself!" Ron roared.
"I was just concerned about you. If you don't need it, fine!" Harry retorted, his face red with anger.
"Calm down you two, will you? There are teachers here!" Hermione whisper urgently. And sure enough, Dumbledore's, McGonagall's and Snape's eyes were fixed on them.
"YES! I DON'T NEED IT! PREFECT POTTER AND DUMBLEDORE'S FAVOURITE BOY!" Ron snapped back, completely ignoring what Hermione had just said and stormed out of the great hall. The remaining eight of them all stared with mouths wide open.
"Does it happen very often?" Angie asked, looking at Hermione.
" No, it doesn't." Hermione replied.
"Yes it does! What's wrong with me being a prefect? Why is he so jealous? What could he be jealous about? He's a prefect too!" Harry snapped.
" Well," Hermione said taking in a deep breath. "He's not one anymore."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"He gave his badge up in order for you to become a prefect." Hermione sighed.
"What?!"
"Yes. He felt that you are a lot more responsible than him and that you could do better if you were a prefect." Hermione said, biting her lip. Harry stared at Hermione, dumbfounded. Her words had cut right through his heart.
"So you're saying that Ron isn't a prefect anymore because he wants me to be a prefect. Is that right?" Hermione nodded. Harry continued,
"And I yelled at him just now." Hermione nodded again.
"Wait for me here." Harry took to his heels and dashed off, following the way Ron had went. He was out of the great hall when he began to realize that he did not know which way Ron had gone to. Harry looked around and decided for the quidditch pitch, running past peeves who was having a hard time trying to stuff an empty classroom's keyhole with earwax, he headed as fast as he could for the quidditch pitch.
He found Ron sitting in the stands, his head buried in his hands. Harry watched with a pang and he tried to gather the courage to go to him. The world seemed upside down. To think that he was overjoyed when he received his badge. Didn't he remember that only two prefects per year were allowed? He sighed, and walked up to Ron.
"I'm sorry," he said, sitting down beside him, "I didn't know."
"You don't need to be sorry. It's just..Percy. He wrote to me this morning." Ron said, thrusting a piece of paper into Harry's arms. It read:
"My dear brother Ron,
I have recently been informed that you have given up your prefect's badge for Potter. I must advise you again that it is unwise for you to associate yourself with such people. You must consider your future.
Do you not realize what is at stake? You are beginning to act like Potter. Attention seeking, acting hero. Do you not know that to survive in life, you need to be cunning and selfish to a certain extent?
Look at yourself. Do you really want to sacrifice yourself for Potter? Are you really going to give up your future just for him? Think of mom and dad, when you grow up, and are not as accomplished as any of us. Do you want them to be disappointed?
Please. I have your interests at heart. I do not wish to see you suffer. I hope you will consider my words carefully.
Love, your brother
Percy
Harry put it down. Ron's face was still buried in his hands.
"I'm sorry Harry, but I actually took in the rubbish Percy had said about you. I'm really sorry I blew up on you." Ron said, ashamed of himself.
"It's okay Ron, I understand." Harry said, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Geez, thanks mate. Come on, let's go back. I'm getting hungry." Ron got up and pulled Harry up and they went back to the great hall, together.
***************************************************************************************************************
Harry dozed off that night, thinking of quidditch. He wondered who would be the captain of the quidditch team. Was it him? Perhaps not… too much responsibility. Ron then, he decided. Ah..well, it wasn't for him to decide..
He was sitting on the grass beside the lake. The sky was blue and he was speaking to a girl with long dark hair. She looked oddly familiar. Suddenly, as if a dark veil had been lifted, he was sitting on an all too familiar chair, and he was happy… he was more than happy… he was ecstatic. A figure was kneeling in front of him, congratulating him.
"Master, I am glad.."
"Bring them to me. They are still not forgiven." The figure hastened to obey.
"Yes master. I will bring them to you…"
"Shut up and just do it." The figure, apparently a woman, bowed and got out.
Harry woke up. The death eaters. They escaped? It was 5 in the morning. Harry was much more sensible now. He decided to tell Dumbledore.
Harry got out of bed, pulled on his clothes and walked out of the dormitory silently. He walked slowly down the steps, dizzy from his dream, or vision rather. His scar burned, but he didn't really realize it.
As he reached the foot of the stairs, he noticed a movement near the window. By the dim moonlight, he could see a golden phoenix, terribly different from fawkes. It was carrying a golden retriever through the window, and there was a golden chinchilla seated on its back.
Harry was taken aback. What were three golden animals doing in the common room, early in the morning? He continued to stare.
To his horror and utmost surprise, they transformed back into Angie, Jacky and Lishia respectively! Harry still had not completely overcome his shock, and continued to stare at them, apparently speechless.
Just then, Angie noticed him, "Uh-oh!"
Lishia swore and Jacky's eyes widened in shock.
"So you found out," said Lishia slowly,
"Yy-ou're Animagi?" Harry questioned, spluttering.
"Yeah. We need to go out nightly for exercise. And the only way to go out and in –" Lishia continued to say.
"Is through the window." chipped in Angie.
"You won't tell anyone right?" Jacky asked, a little worried.
Harry nodded. "But can I tell Hermione and Ron?"
"Whatever," said Lishia, "but no one else okay?"
"Yeah." Harry promised.
Jacky asked where he was going and he suddenly remembered his purpose.
"Dumbledore." He said "by the way, you're unregistered right?"
Angie nodded. "Don't tell, promise!"
Harry promised again. He made for the door while the three girls made their way up. They waved goodbye.
Harry walked down the corridor, thinking. It was a very eventful night. The discovery of the animagi, which he vowed to report to Hermione and Ron, and the vision, the death eaters were back. It was very disturbing.
He turned at the corner, and arrived in front of the gargoyle. He searched his memory for the password, wondering if Dumbledore was awake. He looked at his watch. 5:30 am. Maybe.
He heard footsteps behind him and Harry whirled around. Professor Dumbledore was looking gravely at him, "Here to see me, Harry?"
Having remembered that he had just experienced contact with Voldemort, he did not look directly at Dumbledore. "Yes, I had a dream."
Dumbleore made for his office. "Oreo Cheesecake", he said, beckoning Harry in. They arrived, neither looking at each other while Harry related his vision.
"Very well," he said to the portrait's frame behind Harry, "I'm glad you told me. Why don't you go back to the common room? I expect Jacky to be up. I personally know her as an early riser."
******
Harry woke up the next day, and realised that today would be the first day of school. The holidays were finally over. The whole day was rather uneventful. Lishia was buried in textbooks, assessment books and other Hogwarts related books. Hermione was with her. Ron and Harry played wizards chess, Angie was mainly trying to lose weight, while Jacky was helping Hermione design and SPEW pamphlet.
Harry's mind was rather preoccupied with his dream. He kept losing to Ron, who was indignant. "Harry! Are you paying attention?"
Later that day, they went to the great hall early, chatting. Harry didn't pay attention to what they were saying. If the death eaters were back, wouldn't there be more trouble? What was he to do? The Occlumency lessons were not working either.
The other students soon filed in. They exchanged greetings but stared at the 6 new students, who grinned but said nothing.
Soon, the sorting began and ended, but Harry did not notice any of it, nor the song. Dumbledore stood up, and there was silence.
"Welcome, again, to another year at Hogwarts. A reminder, the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students as some of you may know. As you may have noticed, we have 6 new students, top scholars from Asia. I urge you all to learn from them. And this year, I must stress on inter-house relationships. Last year, I remember the sorting hat saying that we must stand united as a school. Yes, I know that some of you have already tried your best. 3 houses are working harmoniously together, but one house is left out. I hope that this year, we'll include that particular house in. That's all! Dig in!" Dumbledore finished his speech and sat down. At once, food began to appear on the dishes.
Harry didn't eat much. Throughout the whole dinner, he was thinking about Dumbledore's speech. He had this funny feeling that Dumbledore was referring to the DA. The DA had members from all houses except for Slytherin. But what did Dumbledore mean by including Slytherin in the DA?
Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables. Hermione and the three girls were comparing theirs excitedly. "Hey! Ours is the same, except for these spaces," said Hermione, pointing, "You have divination."
"Did I tell you Harry? I'm allowed to take up Muggle Studies again! Now everything is more spaced out! And there will be enough time!"
Harry's and Ron's were rather different, but both had lots of spare time compared to Hermione's or the three girls. He looked at them thoughtful, so smart, cheerful..he remembered them being unregistered animagi. Hermione had expressed that she wasn't surprised, as she saw animagi characteristics in them. Ron had been utterly flabbergasted.
Dinner was soon over. Harry and Hermione reported to Professor McGonagall for their prefect duties. On their way there, they heard a familiar voice.
"Had a nice summer, Potter?" Harry turned around and saw Draco Malfoy standing right before him, Pansy Parkinson at his side.
"You bet. At least I don't have a father who is a wanted criminal. Oh, or should I say, death eater?" Harry said coolly.
Malfoy gritted his teeth and stared at Harry, ready to curse him. Luckily, they reached Professor McGonagall in time, before Malfoy had a chance to attack.
They got their duty list from her, and headed for the Gryffindor tower.
"Password's Unity." Hermione shouted over the heads of the Gryffindor first years.
The portrait flung open to reveal the common room. Harry ushered the first years in while Hermione explained the rules.
It was midnight when the 2 of them were done. They bade each other goodnight, yawning at the same time and went up to their respective dormitories.
A/N: Yay!!! Another chap completed!!! Keep your reviews coming!!! I'm finishing chapter 4.
Skysong, Pandora and Yingz, thanx for all dose reviews!!! You guys totally rock!!! :D
I realli enjoyed writing chap 4. It's sooooooo nice!!!!! Haha. You'll know what I mean later. I'll be posting it in a few days time!!! C ya!!!
Oh! And I apologize for any grammatical errors!!!
