Author's Rant: I was hoping to get a chapter a week out, but due to things such as: sports (my coach is obsessed with suicides, the running drill), and school (i. e. everything that comes with it), and watching The Mummy Returns more times then I can count, this chapter took longer to write then I expected. And fanfiction.net's down time, and I've been having some e-mail problems that also contributed to the wait for this chapter.

Sirius: Contributed A LOT to the wait!

Whisperer: Thanks, Sirius

Sirius: Anytime

Whisperer: Anyway, your patience waiting will be rewarded with a nice long chapter. Sadly, there is a warning, I have tried, note I said tried, to write a Sorting Hat song and I'm no lyricist so if it's bad, I'm allowing you to throw rotten fruit at . . . Sirius!

Sirius: WHAT!?

Whisperer: *"Sorry, I'm on my lunch break, be back in 5 min.," sing hangs in front of the computer*

Thank you to:

007- Thanks!

Audiaa2- This thing is bond to have more plot twists then even I can keep straight.

Basilisk- Thank you!

Cassie- Glad you liked it

C. p- Thanks you!

Creamy Mimi- I know, but Vernon earned it, especially after hitting Harry, and of course Sirius had to make it humorous.

~*Dumbledore's True Love*~- Thanks!!!!

Gia- Thank you!

Golden Silence- It's okay, I'm happy you enjoyed both stories.

Kyra aku riddle- What's with all the blank reviews?

Jedi Cosmos-- Thank you!

Jessica Black- Thank you!

Liz- Hermione and Ron make an entrance in the chapter.

Lin-z- *grins* No prob. Thanks for reviewing!

Lonely Dove- *grins* I always seem to get my best ideas at one in the morning or at least my craziest.

No-Name- *raises eyebrow* "Poor Dursleys"? Oh, well they did deserve it, right? Thanks for the"that was great"-s!

Oceana- The Dursleys finally got what they deserved, and in a very Sirius way.

Rainbow Fire-Thank you!

rome-Thanks!

Sal-Thanks!

Sandra Solaria Dees- The plot bunnies are holding a convention in my brain for annoying plot twists. Hehe!

Scarlet Phoenix- Only time will tell

Seeker_2000- *grins* More insanity to come!

Shadow- Just image Vernon Dursley at work growling about wizards and then singing something along the lines of, "I love wizards!"

Shayna Black- No problem

summersun- Thanks!

sweets- Vernon Dursley can't sing to save his life, poor Harry and Sirius. They

Tschubi-chan- Oh, Sirius did better then a punch, here's some inside information for everyone; Vernon Dursley during an important convention yelled, "Wizards rock my world!" He then rushed out of the building screaming! *crackles* Thanks! Glad you like The Flu and All in The Family!

vmr-Thank you!

Von- Hehe! I don't think that Sirius would let Uncle Vernon do that to Harry, though.

Special thanks to my beta ~*Dumbledore's True Love*~

Sequel to Harry Potter and the Emerald Eye.( I suggest you read that first, but you don't have to, it's just a good idea.) Harry's in for quite a year when he starts seeing things that no one else can, is it a dream? Or is he really going crazy? Questions start arising like what did Voldemort do to his victim after he killed them? This has it all; mystery, insanity, a lot of Sirius and Remus, and everyone calls Harry a lunatic at least once! ;)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including, but not limited to; Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, as well as Warner Brothers Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter 3: The Welcoming Feast

Harry spent the rest of the summer at Hogwarts, which became one of the most enjoyable of his life. He was allowed to do whatever he liked, but Dumbledore drew the line at blowing up the castle. The castle itself held more twists and turns, and interesting places then Harry had ever realized. Once he had fallen through a trapdoor, and ended up in the teacher's lounge much to displeasure of the Hogwarts' janitor, Argus Filch, since he had smeared grime all over the polished hardwood floor when he had landed.

Today, he was outside practicing Quidditch moves, he did a loop-da-loop then shot into the sky just as he finished the circle. When he came out of his ascent he was high above the clouds, lazily he glided off toward the Forbidden Forest. A small red speck caught his eye, another wizard on a broom. He headed toward it, cautiously, not sure if it was friend or foe.

It waved at him!

He flew a little faster, it was almost like the speck was magnetically drawing him to it. He was pushing the Firebolt faster than ever now. The speck still wasn't getting any closer, what was up? The speck itself wasn't moving, Harry added more speed, his eyes never leaving the speck. He had lost control over his body now, all he wanted to do was get to that speck. Faster, he willed the broom. Faster.

A flash of black!

"Ahh!"Harry jerked the broom up to avoid hitting his godfather, who had popped up out of no where. He did a complete circle to slow himself down, he stopped into front of Sirius.

Sirius had his arms crossed over his chest, and was looking at him sternly, "New hobby? Flying headlong into trees?"

Confused, Harry looked past Sirius, a thick tree trunk was behind him, if he had crashed into it he might have cracked his head open. "Whoops."

"Whoops? Weren't you paying attention?"

Harry didn't answer, the truth was he hadn't seen the tree at all, it hadn't been there a second ago, had it? He didn't know, he had only been looking at the speck. He directed his eyes toward the broom Sirius was using, an old Nimbus1500, it was a pretty temperamental broom, only very good 7th year flyers used it but usually got thrown off. "You played Quidditch?"

"That isn't the subject."

"You did then," said Harry knowingly.

Sirius shot him a "how-do-you-know-this-stuff?" look.

"Well, you're handling that broom very well, and you haven't been hurled to the ground yet, no one can do it without any formal training, so what position?"

"Beater," Sirius sighed, "now back to the subject at hand-"

"Did you play on the same team as my dad? Were you good? How long have you been playing? Why didn't you tell me? Have you ever flown that broom before?" Harry rambled senselessly. "Would you play a quick game? Please?"

Sirius bobbed his head, taking careful note of each question as Harry rambled, "Yes, I was okay you're a lot better then I'll ever be, since I was young, you never asked, not in a long time, and of course."He gasped for breath, "All done? No more questions?"

"Just one, can we start now?"

"If you want to," said Sirius.

In response Harry sped off toward a goal post. Sirius followed, he had given up on asking Harry why he was speeding headlong into a tree, and summoned a practice Snitch from the ground that Harry had been using earlier. "Ready?"

"Born ready."

Sirius released the practice Snitch, and shot after it, Harry right beside him. Dozens upon dozens of loop-da-loops, dives, feints, and barrel rolls later Harry spotted it lingering near a tree branch. Nonchalantly, he flew towards it, checking to see that Sirius wasn't watching him, then shot after it.

Wind whipping against his face, Harry dived for the Snitch. The small golden ball streaked off toward the left side of the field to avoid capture, but the Firebolt could just about match the Snitch's speed. Making a wild grab for it, he felt to cold metal of the ball in his hand. "Game, set, match," Harry said triumphantly, still grasping the Snitch.

Sirius blinked twice, "Whoa, I didn't even see the Snitch, not bad Harry, not bad at all."

Harry blushed at the raw pride he heard in Sirius's voice, "I . . .er . . . I'm not that great."

"Yes you are, and no digging for complements," Sirius smirked. "So school starts tomorrow, huh?"

Harry groaned, "Already?"

"I thought you liked school."

"Well, sort of, but I could do without Potions or Divination."

"Point taken."

The sun was setting when they finally landed and dismounted from their brooms. Harry raised his eyes to the sky, a blaze of color, as young blackbird flew by. What Harry wouldn't have given to be that bird, wild and free having no idea about the danger that lurked on Earth at this very moment. A war was brewing with himself as the symbol of a victory like a flag or banner. He was trapped in the middle of it all.

He sighed, "Sirius?"

"Umm?"

"What are you going to do now that school's starting?"

Sirius smiled mysteriously, "You shall see. You shall see."

~~~~~~~~

September first dawned the start of a new school year, all the professors were back with the exception of Hagrid and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor whom Harry had not seen yet, and the school was bustle of activity. Cleaning spells being shot here and there, Peeves dirtying the places that had just been cleaned, and McGonagall yelling at him for doing it.

Harry, who had been thrown, literally, out of his bed that morning, had seen neither Sirius or Remus all day which was strange since at least one of them always had their eye on him. Although he had had a nasty run-in with Snape which involved scarab skeletons being dropped everywhere.

"Potter! If you think just because your good-for-nothing godfather is here that you can do whatever you like then-"

"Hello Professor Dumbledore," Harry said sweetly as the Headmaster passed.

"Hello Harry, not causing too much trouble are you?" Dumbledore's eye twinkled as Harry shook his head slightly. "Good, Severus would you come with me for a moment."

"Yes Headmaster," Snape followed Dumbledore off toward the dungeons, allowing Harry an escape route the other way.

In search of Sirius or Remus, Harry headed down the Defense corridor. No one had cleaned it yet so Harry figured that no one would be there, as he turned to leave he heard someone shout, "Duck!"

Instinctively, Harry dropped to the ground as a pearly white cleaning spell shot over his head transforming to dingy corridor into a pristine one. Harry rose to his feet, and turned to see who had cast the spell.

A wiry man about Remus's height with dark brown hair and slate grey eyes clad in Hogwarts' teacher's robes stood before him. "Not bad reflexes," he said with a hint of an Irish accent. "I'm the new Defense professor by the way, Davey Gudgeon."

At the sound of the name, Harry remembered Remus mentioning it once, something about a Davey Gudgeon almost losing an eye while trying to touch the Whomping Willow. He looked at Gudgeon's face, sure enough along the outside of the right eye, running from the edge of the eyebrow to the soft skin under the eye, was a thin scar in the shape of a crescent moon.

"Pleased to meet you," Harry said politely.

A thin smile crossed Gudgeon's face, "If you don't mind me asking, I always thought students weren't allowed here during the summer holidays, so why are you here?"

Harry bit his lip, "Er . . ."

"Harry! Would you help me with these!" shouted a voice muffled by the several cardboard boxes in front of his face.

Glad for the person's impeccable timing, Harry excused himself to go help the him. "What's in here?"

"No idea," the person, Remus, said as Harry took the boxes he gave him. "What are you doing down here anyway."

"Escaping Snape."

"In trouble before school starts, Sirius would be proud," Remus muttered. "I spent half my life figuring out how many detentions he has gotten, at least five hundred."

"Still hanging around with the murderer, Lupin," said Gudgeon coldly.

Remus brought his head up sharply, "Davey, what are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are," Gudgeon held his wand tightly, "This time I won't be accepting any of your dares." He turned on a heel, and disappeared down the corridor.

Sighing, Remus said, "He could always hold a grudge."

"Grudge?"

"Remus, we need those boxes down here!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick.

"Coming," Remus grunted adjusting the boxes. "I swear this is Filch's list on what things aren't allowed in the school, unabridged."

Harry laughed, settling the boxes in his arms, "I wouldn't be surprised."

Whilst, Harry, and Remus were dropping off the boxes in the Great Hall, Sirius came running in yelling, "The hardware is marching again!"

"What?!" Harry and Remus asked in unison.

Before Sirius could reply shouts came from behind the doors. They were thrown open half a second later, and at least a dozen suits of armor marched in, thundering,"Left! Right! Left! Right!"

"Sirius Black, what have you done this time?!" McGonagall snapped hotly as she watched the suits of armor march around the Great Hall.

"I didn't do it!" said Sirius quickly, stepping behind Harry.

McGonagall sighed heavily, "I have no idea what Dumbledore was thinking," then she turned toward the suits, who's captain was using poor Professor Flitwick as a banner. "HALT! Back to your stations this instant, and put Ambrose down!"

The suits of armor skidded to a halt, turned, dropped Flitwick to the floor, and marched out of the Great Hall.

Sirius ran a hair through his hair sheepishly, "I always wondered what Flitwick's first name was."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donning his school robes, Harry headed down to the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast. Eager to see Ron, and Hermione he decided to wait for them near the oak doors. He did not have long to wait, soon enough the two doors were flung open and a flash of red and brown running toward him.

"Harry!!!!!!" Ron and Hermione screamed as they hugged him.

"Sirius is free!" Ron yelled.

"Have you talked to him?" Hermione asked, a prefect badge pinned to her robes.

"It was all over the Prophet! Have you seen him?"

"Where have you been all summer?"

"You forgot to write!"

"Have you been here all summer?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Guys, calm down," Harry laughed. "Yes I know Sirius is free, I had something to do with it, I had very interesting summer, sorry about not writing, and just part of it."

"What do you mean by interesting?" said Hermione, knowing that by interesting Harry really meant dangerous.

"Ever heard of the Emerald Eye?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

"It's not just a legend," Harry said, lunching it the tale of his summer adventures, and also adding the part about how Sirius cursed Uncle Vernon.

"H-he d-didn't!" Ron gasped, trying not to laugh.

"Before we left Uncle Vernon was sing a lovely, NOT, song about how great wizards are," Harry said holding back his own laughter.

This proved too much for Ron, who fell to the floor laughing until tears came to his eyes, and even Hermione joined in.

"But he could have really gotten in trouble for it," she reminded them.

"Hermione! He's Sirius Black, he was one of the Marauders, the guys who Fred and George idolize and mind they have done stuff worse then what Sirius did to the Dursleys," Ron scolded.

Harry quickly asked what Fred and George had been up to.

"You'll never believe it, they bought me dress robes! I don't where they got the money but they did, and they got a ton of other stuff too."

"Like what?" Harry smiled slyly, last year he had given the twins his winnings from the Tri-Wizard Tournament, one-thousand Galleons.

"Well, for mum they got-"

Hermione cut him off by saying that they better go to the Great Hall before they were trampled on. Grudgingly, Harry and Ron agreed and they headed for the Great Hall.

They gasped when they entered the Hall; it looked even more magnificent then ever, the four house banners and the school banner shown vibrantly from their customary walls, the golden silverware gleamed in the light that the thousand candles provided from all around the Hall. The enchanted ceiling was an ebony black, and the stars twinkled merrily.

Harry looked up at the staff table; Dumbledore, Flitwick, Sprout, Trelawney, Snape, and Gudgeon were already seated, but he noticed that there an extra seat that had never been placed there before.

"Is that the new Defense professor?" asked Ron, pointing at Gudgeon.

"Yeah," Harry said, thinking about had happened earlier. "I think-"

"Harry, old boy!" Ron's seventeen- year-old twin brothers who were entering their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Fred and George came hurrying over grinning their heads off. "Come with us," they each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him out of the Hall.

"What?" Harry asked as soon as they had let go of his arms.

Fred and George traded identical grins before Fred said, "Since this is the last Welcoming Feast we'll ever see we are going to make it memorable. George?"

"Yes, we are planning to blow up the Hall!"

"What?!"

"Well, not the Hall per say but you'll see, during the feast we'll give you a signal then duck under the table, and you won't be hurt. And don't tell anyone about this," Fred warned.

"All right," agreed Harry, having no idea what Fred and George were up to.

"Better get back to the Hall, don't want to miss our last Sorting Ceremony," George brushed away some fake tears.

"It's too sad," Fred sobbed into Harry's robes.

Harry rolled his eyes, as he heard McGonagall explaining the Sorting Hat to the new first years. "Come on you two or we'll all miss it."

"Quite right, let's go."

With that Harry, Fred, and George rejoined Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, just in time to hear the aged Sorting Hat sing;

Oh, I may look old, and tattered,

but what I look like does not matter.

For it is I who decides what house,

You ought to be a part!

How about good old Gryffindor?

Where den the stout of heart?

Not, your cup of tea?

How about proud Ravenclaw?

Where the sharp and clever are sure to be.

Still not right? There's always faithful Hufflepuff,

where the kind and caring dwell, and are made of tough stuff!

And let's not forget Slytherin,

A house for the cunning it has always been.

Don't worry, I have never yet been wrong,

And I do believe it's time to end this little song.

So pop me on your head, a few minutes is all it takes,

To enter a house where great friends, you are sure to make!

The Hall burst into a thunderous applause at the end of the song, as the hat hopped around on its stool, bowing to each table.

McGonagall began calling the frightened first years up to be sorted, "ALLEN, AMBER!"

A tall girl with light red hair detached herself from the gang of first-years, and placed the Sorting Hat on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat declared a moment later. Allen, Amber hurried over to the cheering Ravenclaw

Harry spotted Cho Chang, a pretty sixth-year Ravenclaw that he had had a crush on since third-year, and a wave of guilt passed over him. Last year Cho's boyfriend Cedric Diggory had competed along with Harry during the Tri-Wizard, and during the Third task both Cedric and him had been transported to a graveyard where Harry had witnessed Lord Voldemort had been reborn and Cedric's murder.

"O'CONNELL, ALEXANDER!" (A/n: I couldn't resist :) brought Harry out of his reverie.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The sandy blonde headed boy rushed over to the applauding Gryffindor table.

"Where's Hagrid?" Hermione said scanning the Staff's table.

"Don't know, I haven't seen him since I've been here, you think he went to visit the giants?" whispered Harry.

"Maybe, oh good only two left, then we can eat."

"Is all you think about is food, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

Harry sighed, as he watched the last two being sorted.

"Finally," Ron breathed as Wade, Dennis became a Slytherin.

Dumbledore stood up, and a wave of silence swept through the crowd; "Welcome to a new school year. I have been told to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden to all the student body, and magic should not be used in the corridors between classes. Also Mr. Filch asked me to tell you to please keep the chronic prank playing down to a minimum," he looked at the Weasley twins. "And I would also like to present our three new professors that will be joining our staff. First, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Gudgeon, who we sincerely hope will be with us for more then a year."

There was respectable applause for Gudgeon as he stood up, he bowed briefly then returned to his seat.

"It is my sad duty," Dumbledore continued. "That Hagrid will not be with us this school year, (Harry was sure he heard faint clapping from the Slytherin table at this news) he is away on certain business that I am afraid I cannot go into detail about. So filling his place, I am most pleased to welcome back an old favorite of ours, Professor Lupin." Remus stood up meekly.

A thunderous applause and cheers greeted him, and a large part of the students, including Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindors, stood up. By the time the Hall had settled down Remus's face had turned crimson.

"And we have one more Care of Magical Creatures' teacher who will be helping Remus, I am proud to present to you one of the brightest students to ever graduate from Hogwarts,

Sirius Black."

An unnatural hush fell across the Hall as if from thin air appeared Sirius at the empty chair at the Staff Table. Several people, including Harry gasped, either at his entrance or at the idea that Dumbledore had actually hired a former fugitive to teach them Care of Magical Creatures. What surprised them even more was when he smiled, as if all trances of Azkaban were gone from him.

Slowly, everyone started to started to applaud.

Sirius bowed with a showman's flair, then sat down, catching Harry's eye.

Harry mouthed, "Why did you tell me?"

He smirked back, mouthing, "It was a surprise."

Harry sighed, and gave him a reassuring smiled.

"Sirius is teaching Care of Magical Creatures?" Ron said in disbelief, "Dumbledore has finally gone off his rocker."

Dumbledore added one more thing,"Finally before we dig into our mouth-watering feast, I only have to touch on one more note, Vamos comer. Thank you." He sat down as food appeared upon all the tables. Midway through the feast Fred and George gave Harry a little wave and a nod.

Harry intentionally knocked his fork off the table muttering, "Whoops," he ducked below the table the same time the Weasley twins did. Below the table he heard the sound of silverware clattering, people talking, elbows knocking against the wood, and then-

BOOM!

SMASH!

FLOP!

BOOM!

"ARGH!"

"WHAT THE--?!"

CRASH!

"What did you do?" Harry whispered, "what is that?"

"Nothing much," said George, "just all the food and plates exploding."

"Oh, that's all? Here I thought it was something serious."

"WEASLEY! WEASLEY!" McGonagall bellowed.

"And Harry," Fred sniggered.

"POTTER!"

"Thanks Fred."

"And now for our grand entrance,"they each grabbed one of Harry's arm, and dragged him off.

Above the table, most of the students were either terrified, or laughing their heads off, and everything was being covered in food. As soon as the commotion had come to a lull, McGonagall bellowed, "Harry Potter! George Weasley! Fred Weasley! Front and center this INSTANT!!!!"

"As you wish," called a voice from above, and everybody looked up to see Harry, and the twins jumping down from the massive chandelier. They landed, and bowed like circus performers' accepting their applause.

"After. The. Feast. My. Office." she hissed dangerously.

"Yes, ma'am," the trio muttered, walking back to their seats, ironic grins plastered on their faces.

Dumbledore sighed, "So much for our futile attempt at keeping your pranks to a minium, Misters Weasley and Mister Potter. Any other things we should know about?"

To puncture Dumbledore's question several windows were thrown open. Thinking this was a part of the prank everyone looked at Harry, Fred and George for an explanation, but their faces remained blank. Their eyes, like everybody else's were raised to the windows. A dead silence descended upon the Hall, only interrupted by the drip-drip of fallen mash potatoes, and the flapping of . . . wings?

In through the windows like a bats out of hell flew the most grotesque things many had ever seen. With metal-studded wings as black as the night itself that slashed the ceiling, flew birds with the faces of hags with snaky hair, red hot eyes, yellow teeth, and their mouths and noses had been welded together to form a beak sharp enough to spear through a man's heart and rip it out whole. Down they dived, aiming to wipe the flesh off their victim's bones. They were Furies.

"Pandoris!" shrieked two voices, Dumbledore and Sirius.

Like a giant cubed spider web chords of purple surrounded the students and the professors, the moment one Fury touched the web thousands upon thousands of small scaly lizard like creatures swarmed up, and wiped the Fury of its flesh leaving only a bare skeleton. Soon only one Fury remained, and it had it's prey picked out, Sirius Black.

It shot at him, she would not be killed. Black had lapsed in protecting himself, the idiot. Her deadly beak was only a few yards away from his neck.

"Sirius, LOOK OUT!" Harry yelled.

Just in time Sirius ducked to avoid the Fury's deadly beak. The Fury turned for another try. "Pandoris!" Sirius yelled, and purple light exploded from the end of his wand, wiping the flesh from the Fury and shattering its skeleton.

"Search the castle, leave no room unchecked, no dark corner forgotten!" Dumbledore bellowed, "make sure they are all gone! Kill any that aren't! Mr. Dawson and Ms. Johnson you're in charge!" The Head Boy and Girl rushed to the front as the professors ran out different doorways.

A din broke out in the Hall the second the doors had been closed, while Dawson, a Hufflepuff, and Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor who was a Chaser on the Quidditch team, tried to calm them down, but to no avail.

A half an hour later the professors returned with the news that no Furies were found. Dumbledore told the students they could return to their common rooms, since no one felt like eating much anymore. Harry raised his head to catch Sirius's eye to find out what had happened, but Sirius avoided them.

Wearily, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way out of the Great Hall, and up to the Gryffindor common room. They bid farewell as the ascended their separate staircases.

Harry groaned when he remembered that he was suppose to meet McGonagall after the feast, finally deciding that his punishment could wait until morning.

Ron said goodnight as he climbed into bed.

"Night," Harry replied as he pulled back his covered to see a singed scrap of parchment on his pillow, written in green ink. Hesitantly, he picked it up to read it;

Thanks to your worthless godfather and that buffoon of a headmaster 's quick thinking you and your little friends have escaped my minions for now.

Remember this, I will soon hold all of my enemies power in the palm of my hand.

Pleasant dreams, Potter, for they may be your last.

Lord Voldemort