A/N - JKR owns all of these people and the original idea, I only own this
particular spin of the idea.
Chapter 3
Perplexed Prefects
Harry couldn't believe his luck and how much he was enjoying the summer holidays with his godfather. Even when he got to see the Quidditch World Cup last summer with the Weasleys he had never had as much fun as he was having now. He felt like the luckiest underage wizard in the whole wide world.
Although Dumbledore occasionally pulled Sirius away for "private chats" Harry found that he was able to spend a lot of time getting to know his godfather. Harry even spent some of his time spent alone finishing his homework assigned during the summer --- Hermione would have been proud of him. For the first time, he knew he didn't have to fear the start of school term.
Besides walking and flying around the school grounds, they talked about everything as well as practiced dueling on a regular basis. Harry enjoyed showing off his dueling prowess to Sirius (who was secretly impressed). And besides, Sirius liked to think that he might be helping Harry hone his skills for whatever unexpected surprises may come in the future. Sirius didn't like to think about things like that in reference to his godson but things seemed to happen to Harry; there was no denying that.
Harry's birthday came and went. Although he received many nice presents from Dobby, Hermione, Hagrid and all of the Weasleys, he was happy not to celebrate it but to just treat it as any other fun-filled day with his favorite adult in his favorite place. (Sirius celebrated the day by letting Harry hex him successfully two or three more times than he might have otherwise been able to do.)
He was especially glad that Hedwig had come to say hello to him. The fact that she remembered his birthday helped Harry realize that she hadn't blamed him for what had happened during the first part of the summer. Harry didn't know how she had dealt with living with the Dursley's but nothing she did surprised him any more. She had probably coped with those first days better than he had.
The next day was probably his most favorite of the entire summer though (they kept getting better and better). Sirius and Harry spent the entire day booby-trapping the Slytherin Tower. Sirius said it reminded him of something he and his father had once done during their sixth year. Apparently the Marauders found a secret passage from the Prefects bathroom to the Slytherin common room thereby negating the need for a password. Sirius said that James insisted that the passageway's secrecy was so important that it shouldn't be included on the map just in case the map ever got into the wrong hands. He said that James had insisted that the right to prank the Slytherins far outweighed the importance of the integrity of the map.
Harry had wanted to jump right into the task at hand but Sirius had insisted that, "proper planning produced perfect pranks". They sat down and objectively discussed how they were going to approach each part of the Slytherin Tower. Harry would never admit it out loud but he had a lot to learn from this man.
They enchanted the boys' bedrooms with loads of different spells. For the seventh years they enchanted the beds so that they would tip out the occupants whenever anyone laid down on them (they had the idea from the carpet trick they pulled with the Dursleys). For the sixth years they made it so that the sheets would wrap themselves around the occupants tight enough that they couldn't possibly get free without help.
Harry stopped Sirius as they entered the fifth years' room.
"Sirius, this is Malfoy's room. We have to do something extra special here. This is the guy who is either a Death Eater or practically a Death Eater already along with his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, who are also in this year. I know that all three of their fathers' are Death Eaters because they were there at the cemetery with me last summer. They need special treatment."
Sirius thought for a minute. "All right, this requires some extra special thought. Let me think for a moment. How about I give you some choices and you decide?"
Harry smiled and responded, "That sounds great. Think like you were trying to prank a fifth year Snape, or maybe a few of them."
"Ok. We could give the beds arms so they wrapped themselves around their victims, we could instead fill their mattresses with a wide variety of not nice things and not nice smells, we could charm the showers to spout out chocolate milk or cranberry juice instead of water, or perhaps you'd rather just enchant their mirrors to constantly insult them or we could even enchant their beds so that when they woke up there was a big wet spot in the middle of each of their beds every day."
Harry was looking at his godfather with a newfound respect. He was almost in awe of him. Sirius was definitely in his element here. He was pretty sure that Ron would have chosen all of the above but he thought that Dumbledore would be less likely to keep Snape at bay if they pushed their luck too much. Harry chose the last option for Malfoy and his classmates.
When they got to the fourth years bedroom Harry decided on a simple hex that would turn the mattresses into stone would suffice. He only hoped the house elves wouldn't have too much extra work on account of them not only because it wouldn't be right but because Hermione would never forgive them.
The third years were going to get the insulting mirrors and the second years were going to find beds that constantly short sheeted them waiting for them on the first night. The fourth year boys and below had never done anything too bad that he knew about so he decided to tailor their pranks. Since the first years hadn't done anything at all to him or any of the Gryffindors yet Harry decided to let them off the hook and start working on the girls' bedrooms. After all, he didn't want to be the one to start inter-house rivalries; he only wanted to be the one to finish them.
For the seventh year girls' room they decided on enchanting the pillows to squirm whenever someone rested their head on them or at least tried. The sixth years were going to find that their beds started trying to play bumper cars whenever anyone sat or laid down in them.
Again though Harry wanted something extra special for the fifth year Slytherin girls who had been so nasty to him and all his friends for the last few years. They thought about this one for a while and finally decided upon creating coloring beds. These beds would cause the sleepers skin to become a rainbow of colors by the time they woke up the next morning.
For the fourth years' bedrooms, which occupants Harry knew tormented Ginny and her classmates a lot, something special also had to be done to them. After talking for a few minutes they decided on making the floor like quicksand so that after they entered the room everyone would sink down to their necks in quicksand. If, by any chance, any girls reached their beds then they would find that they stuck to whatever they touched until daybreak.
For the third years the two quickly decided on a shrinking bed spell that would cause their beds to gradually shrink throughout the night so that by morning the beds would be no longer then one meter long. The second years were going to find their mattresses in jovial moods because they would start bouncing anytime someone would lie down on them.
Once again Harry opted to leave the first years' room alone because they hadn't actually done anything yet. However their task here wasn't complete. There was no way that they could leave the common room pristine.
They hexed everything they saw. They hexed the chairs to scoot around so that they wouldn't allow anyone to sit down in them at least not without a fight. They hexed the tables with a tricky little adhesive spell that would cause them to make any parchments placed on them stick in the hopes that several homework assignments would be ruined. They were going to enchant all the mirrors to constantly insult people but apparently after decades of being in the Slytherin Tower, the mirrors had already learned that particular chore. They even hexed the fireplace so that months from now, the first time they used it, it wouldn't light a fire but instead produce a small snowstorm.
As a parting shot they wanted to do something to both of the bathrooms' before they left. For the boy's loo they decided to enchant all of the faucets and showers so that only cold water would come out. For the girl's loo they decided to enchant all of the toilet paper so that it disappeared as soon as anyone touched it.
What Harry had really admired was Sirius' attention to detail; it was truly inspiring. He liked the way that Sirius had insisted on cutting the wicks off all the candles in the tower so that they couldn't be used, but that no one would notice until they needed them come next fall. He also liked the way that he enchanted all the windows in the tower to constantly show darkness outside (that way some of the Slytherins wouldn't realize that it was time for morning classes until it was too late. He was sure that not all of them could actually tell time.)
They spent the rest of the night celebrating with some leftover butterbeer and congratulating each other for a job well done in the Gryffindor common room. Harry couldn't wait to tell Ron and his brothers about this but more important, he couldn't wait to hear the Slytherin's reactions.
The rest of the vacation seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and in no time they realized that the students would be coming back the next day. The staff had returned a week ago and Sirius had been hiding himself under the invisibility cloak while Harry was gaining a little more notoriety among some of the staff who were beginning to wonder why Harry was always whispering to himself and question if it had anything to do with his recent encounter with You-Know-Who.
They never felt safe going to Hogsmeade with Sirius in his human form but they went often enough with "Snuffles" accompanying Harry. He had bought all of his required books and supplies during the last couple of trips to Hogsmeade. Just as Dumbledore had said it would, all of his stuff has arrived in the bedroom he shared with other Gryffindor students.
Before he knew it, he was meeting all of his friends at the Welcoming Feast down in the Great Hall. When Ron and Hermione saw him the only word to describe their faces was --- relieved.
"I was afraid the Dursley's locked you up for good," Ron said. "We wanted to invite you over to the Burrow but Dumbledore kept telling Mum not to. He wouldn't tell her anything more specific except that you were fine. She sent so many owls to Dumbledore that she liked to have killed poor Pig."
"And I was afraid that you'd gotten it into your skull to fly another car here," his other friend said.
Ron couldn't contain himself and exclaimed, "What a marvelous idea!" He wasn't to be distracted even when Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Hermione was starting to tell him off when she was interrupted by the sorting.
The doors of the Great Hall banged open as Professor McGonagall let in the new first years. They looked smaller than Harry ever remembered looking. Ron was already complaining that he was starving. Apparently this year the Sorting Hat agreed with Ron and had decided to honor the theme that less was more. Everyone waited in absolute silence. It sang ---
Gryffindor's rule
Hufflepuff's are chic
Ravenclaw's rock
Syltherin's hate weak!
Everyone waited for more but burst into applause as soon as they realized the hat was done singing for another year. As the sorting of the new first years was being accomplished the three friends started catching up from their summer apart. Since none of the three of them had spent any time together since the end of last term, there were many more questions than answers being bandied about. They agreed to catch up later and watch the rest of the sorting.
Ron couldn't resist, "Hermione, who do you think are going to be the new Prefects this year?" (He asked knowing full well that he was one of them.)
"I don't know," she retorted thinking about how fun it would be to lead the two boys on for a bit. "I don't see anyone new wearing the badges this year." It was true. There wasn't anyone at the Gryffindor table wearing the badge this year that hadn't worn it the previous year.
Harry didn't speak up because he didn't want to give anything away to his two friends. He couldn't wait to see the look on both of their faces when they found out that he was one of the new Gryffindor Prefects. He still hadn't decided if he was going to be amused or offended when they were surprised to see him with a Prefect's badge. He waited patiently for Ron or Hermione to say something. He had already decided that he wasn't going to broach the subject.
Even though none of them knew that their two friends were thinking along the same lines, each of them was looking forward to seeing the looks on the faces of the other two when they found out that he or she was now a Prefect at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Apparently the sorting was now over because Dumbledore was standing up and there were twelve new students sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. Each of the trio was lost in his or her own thoughts and didn't realize that the moment of truth was about to come.
Dumbledore rose, as he usually did at the start of the new term, to deliver a few start of term announcements.
"Welcome one and all, new and returning, wizards and witches, students and staff. I have just a few start of term announcements. First, I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students." There was the usual groan from the Weasley twins. "Secondly, I would like to introduce everyone to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher --- " all the students began scanning the staff table for a new face because they hadn't recognized one earlier and it turns out there was a good reason.
There wasn't one.
Dumbledore continued, "But I fear I cannot because we could not get one this year. All the likely candidates that were not previously engaged have been employed in the fight against Voldemort." Although most of the students, and some of the staff, cringed at hearing the name, most of them thought that it was secretly for the best that that was where the energy of the wizarding world was focused. Most of them that is, except for the Slytherins.
"Instead this year," he continued again, "we will utilize the different talents of all the staff and pool their resources and knowledge to make this class better than any in recent past."
All of Gryffindor groaned as they imagined a class partially made up of lessons by Trewlawney and Snape.
"Finally," Dumbledore went on with his last announcement, "I'd like all of the Prefects to stand up so the rest of the students, especially the first years, will know who they are. I would like the student body to join me in offering my congratulations to all our Prefects, especially the twelve new ones."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't control their laughter as they each got to their feet and realized the other two members of their trio were standing as well. Hagrid was clapping the loudest and beaming at the lot of them from the staff table behind his usual tankard of ale.
As they took their seats again, the plates and goblets filled as they always did and everyone ate as much as they possibly could. After a filling meal, the Prefects led their houses to the common room.
"Open sesame"
Although this password seemed quaint to the older students, the first years found it impressive. The fifth year Prefects, as was the custom, showed the new Gryffindors around their new home. Hermione elaborated on the rules while Ron and Harry focused on more practical matters such as the loo.
After a good night's sleep, Harry and Ron dressed and went in to the common room to look for Hermione before breakfast.
"Big surprise." Ron commented as he spotted Hermione reading a book in the corner. "Oy, Hermione, let's grab breakfast." She got up and the three went to the Great Hall. Harry hadn't told anyone about what he and Sirius had done to Slytherin Tower. That didn't mean though that he wasn't looking forward to seeing their reactions.
Over bacon, eggs and toast the trio started talking about their summer. Hermione hadn't said anything about her visit with Krum. Ron couldn't stop talking. Between harassing Hermione about Victor Krum and telling his friends about all the neat stuff he helped Fred and George invent for the joke shop this summer, there was no getting a word in edgewise. Harry didn't mind though. He was enjoying spending all of his time watching the scowls on the Slytherin's faces as they ate their breakfasts and compared notes about what happened to them the previous night.
Ron had finally run out of things to say about the new Weasley inventions and so the table talk had just turned to Harry and how he spent his summer when George Weasley interrupted.
"Schedules! Everyone make sure they get their schedule before leaving the breakfast table. Does everyone have his or her schedule?"
Hermione looked at George suspiciously. "I thought Prefects handed out the new schedules every year."
Fred smiled broadly. "We're trying to get McGonagall on our good side this year. I think that seven is our lucky number."
Hermione mumbled sarcastically not quite under her breath, "Yeah, this should make up for six years of pranks."
Fred and George glared at her for a second and then switched to an unsuccessful attempt at looking innocent.
The fifth years sitting at the Gryffindor table were used to new and surprising things happening to them fairly regularly but that didn't stop them from being shocked when they read their schedule. It read:
"Friday, last period, report to the Great Hall for your second sorting." That was all the information they had to go on. None of the new fifth year students realized that the Sorting Hat had another purpose besides sorting first years --- it also sorted 5th years.
Was it even the Sorting Hat?
Chapter 3
Perplexed Prefects
Harry couldn't believe his luck and how much he was enjoying the summer holidays with his godfather. Even when he got to see the Quidditch World Cup last summer with the Weasleys he had never had as much fun as he was having now. He felt like the luckiest underage wizard in the whole wide world.
Although Dumbledore occasionally pulled Sirius away for "private chats" Harry found that he was able to spend a lot of time getting to know his godfather. Harry even spent some of his time spent alone finishing his homework assigned during the summer --- Hermione would have been proud of him. For the first time, he knew he didn't have to fear the start of school term.
Besides walking and flying around the school grounds, they talked about everything as well as practiced dueling on a regular basis. Harry enjoyed showing off his dueling prowess to Sirius (who was secretly impressed). And besides, Sirius liked to think that he might be helping Harry hone his skills for whatever unexpected surprises may come in the future. Sirius didn't like to think about things like that in reference to his godson but things seemed to happen to Harry; there was no denying that.
Harry's birthday came and went. Although he received many nice presents from Dobby, Hermione, Hagrid and all of the Weasleys, he was happy not to celebrate it but to just treat it as any other fun-filled day with his favorite adult in his favorite place. (Sirius celebrated the day by letting Harry hex him successfully two or three more times than he might have otherwise been able to do.)
He was especially glad that Hedwig had come to say hello to him. The fact that she remembered his birthday helped Harry realize that she hadn't blamed him for what had happened during the first part of the summer. Harry didn't know how she had dealt with living with the Dursley's but nothing she did surprised him any more. She had probably coped with those first days better than he had.
The next day was probably his most favorite of the entire summer though (they kept getting better and better). Sirius and Harry spent the entire day booby-trapping the Slytherin Tower. Sirius said it reminded him of something he and his father had once done during their sixth year. Apparently the Marauders found a secret passage from the Prefects bathroom to the Slytherin common room thereby negating the need for a password. Sirius said that James insisted that the passageway's secrecy was so important that it shouldn't be included on the map just in case the map ever got into the wrong hands. He said that James had insisted that the right to prank the Slytherins far outweighed the importance of the integrity of the map.
Harry had wanted to jump right into the task at hand but Sirius had insisted that, "proper planning produced perfect pranks". They sat down and objectively discussed how they were going to approach each part of the Slytherin Tower. Harry would never admit it out loud but he had a lot to learn from this man.
They enchanted the boys' bedrooms with loads of different spells. For the seventh years they enchanted the beds so that they would tip out the occupants whenever anyone laid down on them (they had the idea from the carpet trick they pulled with the Dursleys). For the sixth years they made it so that the sheets would wrap themselves around the occupants tight enough that they couldn't possibly get free without help.
Harry stopped Sirius as they entered the fifth years' room.
"Sirius, this is Malfoy's room. We have to do something extra special here. This is the guy who is either a Death Eater or practically a Death Eater already along with his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, who are also in this year. I know that all three of their fathers' are Death Eaters because they were there at the cemetery with me last summer. They need special treatment."
Sirius thought for a minute. "All right, this requires some extra special thought. Let me think for a moment. How about I give you some choices and you decide?"
Harry smiled and responded, "That sounds great. Think like you were trying to prank a fifth year Snape, or maybe a few of them."
"Ok. We could give the beds arms so they wrapped themselves around their victims, we could instead fill their mattresses with a wide variety of not nice things and not nice smells, we could charm the showers to spout out chocolate milk or cranberry juice instead of water, or perhaps you'd rather just enchant their mirrors to constantly insult them or we could even enchant their beds so that when they woke up there was a big wet spot in the middle of each of their beds every day."
Harry was looking at his godfather with a newfound respect. He was almost in awe of him. Sirius was definitely in his element here. He was pretty sure that Ron would have chosen all of the above but he thought that Dumbledore would be less likely to keep Snape at bay if they pushed their luck too much. Harry chose the last option for Malfoy and his classmates.
When they got to the fourth years bedroom Harry decided on a simple hex that would turn the mattresses into stone would suffice. He only hoped the house elves wouldn't have too much extra work on account of them not only because it wouldn't be right but because Hermione would never forgive them.
The third years were going to get the insulting mirrors and the second years were going to find beds that constantly short sheeted them waiting for them on the first night. The fourth year boys and below had never done anything too bad that he knew about so he decided to tailor their pranks. Since the first years hadn't done anything at all to him or any of the Gryffindors yet Harry decided to let them off the hook and start working on the girls' bedrooms. After all, he didn't want to be the one to start inter-house rivalries; he only wanted to be the one to finish them.
For the seventh year girls' room they decided on enchanting the pillows to squirm whenever someone rested their head on them or at least tried. The sixth years were going to find that their beds started trying to play bumper cars whenever anyone sat or laid down in them.
Again though Harry wanted something extra special for the fifth year Slytherin girls who had been so nasty to him and all his friends for the last few years. They thought about this one for a while and finally decided upon creating coloring beds. These beds would cause the sleepers skin to become a rainbow of colors by the time they woke up the next morning.
For the fourth years' bedrooms, which occupants Harry knew tormented Ginny and her classmates a lot, something special also had to be done to them. After talking for a few minutes they decided on making the floor like quicksand so that after they entered the room everyone would sink down to their necks in quicksand. If, by any chance, any girls reached their beds then they would find that they stuck to whatever they touched until daybreak.
For the third years the two quickly decided on a shrinking bed spell that would cause their beds to gradually shrink throughout the night so that by morning the beds would be no longer then one meter long. The second years were going to find their mattresses in jovial moods because they would start bouncing anytime someone would lie down on them.
Once again Harry opted to leave the first years' room alone because they hadn't actually done anything yet. However their task here wasn't complete. There was no way that they could leave the common room pristine.
They hexed everything they saw. They hexed the chairs to scoot around so that they wouldn't allow anyone to sit down in them at least not without a fight. They hexed the tables with a tricky little adhesive spell that would cause them to make any parchments placed on them stick in the hopes that several homework assignments would be ruined. They were going to enchant all the mirrors to constantly insult people but apparently after decades of being in the Slytherin Tower, the mirrors had already learned that particular chore. They even hexed the fireplace so that months from now, the first time they used it, it wouldn't light a fire but instead produce a small snowstorm.
As a parting shot they wanted to do something to both of the bathrooms' before they left. For the boy's loo they decided to enchant all of the faucets and showers so that only cold water would come out. For the girl's loo they decided to enchant all of the toilet paper so that it disappeared as soon as anyone touched it.
What Harry had really admired was Sirius' attention to detail; it was truly inspiring. He liked the way that Sirius had insisted on cutting the wicks off all the candles in the tower so that they couldn't be used, but that no one would notice until they needed them come next fall. He also liked the way that he enchanted all the windows in the tower to constantly show darkness outside (that way some of the Slytherins wouldn't realize that it was time for morning classes until it was too late. He was sure that not all of them could actually tell time.)
They spent the rest of the night celebrating with some leftover butterbeer and congratulating each other for a job well done in the Gryffindor common room. Harry couldn't wait to tell Ron and his brothers about this but more important, he couldn't wait to hear the Slytherin's reactions.
The rest of the vacation seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and in no time they realized that the students would be coming back the next day. The staff had returned a week ago and Sirius had been hiding himself under the invisibility cloak while Harry was gaining a little more notoriety among some of the staff who were beginning to wonder why Harry was always whispering to himself and question if it had anything to do with his recent encounter with You-Know-Who.
They never felt safe going to Hogsmeade with Sirius in his human form but they went often enough with "Snuffles" accompanying Harry. He had bought all of his required books and supplies during the last couple of trips to Hogsmeade. Just as Dumbledore had said it would, all of his stuff has arrived in the bedroom he shared with other Gryffindor students.
Before he knew it, he was meeting all of his friends at the Welcoming Feast down in the Great Hall. When Ron and Hermione saw him the only word to describe their faces was --- relieved.
"I was afraid the Dursley's locked you up for good," Ron said. "We wanted to invite you over to the Burrow but Dumbledore kept telling Mum not to. He wouldn't tell her anything more specific except that you were fine. She sent so many owls to Dumbledore that she liked to have killed poor Pig."
"And I was afraid that you'd gotten it into your skull to fly another car here," his other friend said.
Ron couldn't contain himself and exclaimed, "What a marvelous idea!" He wasn't to be distracted even when Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Hermione was starting to tell him off when she was interrupted by the sorting.
The doors of the Great Hall banged open as Professor McGonagall let in the new first years. They looked smaller than Harry ever remembered looking. Ron was already complaining that he was starving. Apparently this year the Sorting Hat agreed with Ron and had decided to honor the theme that less was more. Everyone waited in absolute silence. It sang ---
Gryffindor's rule
Hufflepuff's are chic
Ravenclaw's rock
Syltherin's hate weak!
Everyone waited for more but burst into applause as soon as they realized the hat was done singing for another year. As the sorting of the new first years was being accomplished the three friends started catching up from their summer apart. Since none of the three of them had spent any time together since the end of last term, there were many more questions than answers being bandied about. They agreed to catch up later and watch the rest of the sorting.
Ron couldn't resist, "Hermione, who do you think are going to be the new Prefects this year?" (He asked knowing full well that he was one of them.)
"I don't know," she retorted thinking about how fun it would be to lead the two boys on for a bit. "I don't see anyone new wearing the badges this year." It was true. There wasn't anyone at the Gryffindor table wearing the badge this year that hadn't worn it the previous year.
Harry didn't speak up because he didn't want to give anything away to his two friends. He couldn't wait to see the look on both of their faces when they found out that he was one of the new Gryffindor Prefects. He still hadn't decided if he was going to be amused or offended when they were surprised to see him with a Prefect's badge. He waited patiently for Ron or Hermione to say something. He had already decided that he wasn't going to broach the subject.
Even though none of them knew that their two friends were thinking along the same lines, each of them was looking forward to seeing the looks on the faces of the other two when they found out that he or she was now a Prefect at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Apparently the sorting was now over because Dumbledore was standing up and there were twelve new students sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. Each of the trio was lost in his or her own thoughts and didn't realize that the moment of truth was about to come.
Dumbledore rose, as he usually did at the start of the new term, to deliver a few start of term announcements.
"Welcome one and all, new and returning, wizards and witches, students and staff. I have just a few start of term announcements. First, I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students." There was the usual groan from the Weasley twins. "Secondly, I would like to introduce everyone to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher --- " all the students began scanning the staff table for a new face because they hadn't recognized one earlier and it turns out there was a good reason.
There wasn't one.
Dumbledore continued, "But I fear I cannot because we could not get one this year. All the likely candidates that were not previously engaged have been employed in the fight against Voldemort." Although most of the students, and some of the staff, cringed at hearing the name, most of them thought that it was secretly for the best that that was where the energy of the wizarding world was focused. Most of them that is, except for the Slytherins.
"Instead this year," he continued again, "we will utilize the different talents of all the staff and pool their resources and knowledge to make this class better than any in recent past."
All of Gryffindor groaned as they imagined a class partially made up of lessons by Trewlawney and Snape.
"Finally," Dumbledore went on with his last announcement, "I'd like all of the Prefects to stand up so the rest of the students, especially the first years, will know who they are. I would like the student body to join me in offering my congratulations to all our Prefects, especially the twelve new ones."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't control their laughter as they each got to their feet and realized the other two members of their trio were standing as well. Hagrid was clapping the loudest and beaming at the lot of them from the staff table behind his usual tankard of ale.
As they took their seats again, the plates and goblets filled as they always did and everyone ate as much as they possibly could. After a filling meal, the Prefects led their houses to the common room.
"Open sesame"
Although this password seemed quaint to the older students, the first years found it impressive. The fifth year Prefects, as was the custom, showed the new Gryffindors around their new home. Hermione elaborated on the rules while Ron and Harry focused on more practical matters such as the loo.
After a good night's sleep, Harry and Ron dressed and went in to the common room to look for Hermione before breakfast.
"Big surprise." Ron commented as he spotted Hermione reading a book in the corner. "Oy, Hermione, let's grab breakfast." She got up and the three went to the Great Hall. Harry hadn't told anyone about what he and Sirius had done to Slytherin Tower. That didn't mean though that he wasn't looking forward to seeing their reactions.
Over bacon, eggs and toast the trio started talking about their summer. Hermione hadn't said anything about her visit with Krum. Ron couldn't stop talking. Between harassing Hermione about Victor Krum and telling his friends about all the neat stuff he helped Fred and George invent for the joke shop this summer, there was no getting a word in edgewise. Harry didn't mind though. He was enjoying spending all of his time watching the scowls on the Slytherin's faces as they ate their breakfasts and compared notes about what happened to them the previous night.
Ron had finally run out of things to say about the new Weasley inventions and so the table talk had just turned to Harry and how he spent his summer when George Weasley interrupted.
"Schedules! Everyone make sure they get their schedule before leaving the breakfast table. Does everyone have his or her schedule?"
Hermione looked at George suspiciously. "I thought Prefects handed out the new schedules every year."
Fred smiled broadly. "We're trying to get McGonagall on our good side this year. I think that seven is our lucky number."
Hermione mumbled sarcastically not quite under her breath, "Yeah, this should make up for six years of pranks."
Fred and George glared at her for a second and then switched to an unsuccessful attempt at looking innocent.
The fifth years sitting at the Gryffindor table were used to new and surprising things happening to them fairly regularly but that didn't stop them from being shocked when they read their schedule. It read:
"Friday, last period, report to the Great Hall for your second sorting." That was all the information they had to go on. None of the new fifth year students realized that the Sorting Hat had another purpose besides sorting first years --- it also sorted 5th years.
Was it even the Sorting Hat?