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Harry was in thought until someone patted him on the back. Looking up, he saw Ashley beaming down on him. "Hey captain," she said smiling. "You've daydreamed the whole lunch and its time for the next class."
Harry sat up. "It's time for more classes already?" he asked surprised. He looked down at his watch and confirmed that it was time for the next class.
"Yea daydreamer," Jake said from behind him. He threw a bag over his shoulder. "Next is divination. This will be fun," he remarked sarcastically, before waving goodbye and heading out the Great Hall.
"We have to get to the Quidditch field again," Ashley said.
"You're not going to Divination?" Ron asked as he walked to the side of Harry. Hermione appeared on his other side.
"Of course he's not going to Divination!" Hermione exclaimed. "You really should drop it and join Muggle Studies. Its a lot more useful."
Ron looked at her. "Why would I join a class where I have to actually work to get a good grade? In Divination all I do is make up things and put it onto paper and I pass. Why would I give that up?" he argued.
"Because you should actually learn something that you can use!" Hermione snapped. "Why waste your time with a useless class?" They both walked away still arguing.
"Are they always like that?" Ashley asked taking her place beside Harry. They started walking out of the hall and to the field.
"Pretty much. It drives me crazy. They've been like this ever since they met in our first year," Harry replied.
"That long huh?" Ashley asked before they reached the edge of the field. They saw Stacy over by where the swords were. She looked like she was thinking something over. Harry and Ashley walked over to her. When they were five feet away, she looked up at them.
"How did I know that you two would be the ones to join me?" she asked smiling at the two. Harry just looked between Ashley and himself. He looked around them and noticed that none of the others joined them.
Stacy stood up faced them. "In this class, I'll teach you to use other methods of fighting by adding moves that can be used by people who are flexible." Harry looked at himself. He wasn't flexible. Not that he knew of.
"Doubting yourself already Harry?" Stacy asked looking at him.
He looked up at her. "Definitely," he responded.
Stacy walked up to him and walked around him. "So you don't think you're flexible?" Harry nodded. "I think you are." Harry's head snapped up at her.
"Really?" he asked surprised.
Stacy stopped in front of him. "You look like you are flexible. Let's see." She stepped back from him and folded her arms in front of her chest. "I want you to stand up straight and bend over to touch your feet or farther," she said.
Harry looked at her strangely. How ever strange it was, Harry stood up straight and bent over without bending his legs. He touched his feet with no problem.
"Now try to go farther," he heard Stacy say. Harry reached down and touched the ground without any problems. When he heard Stacy clap, he rose. "That was perfect. Now lean backwards as far as you can," she instructed.
Harry looked behind him before bending back. His hands touched the ground.
More clapping was heard and Harry tried to get up until he realized that he couldn't.
"You can't get up can you?" He heard Stacy ask.
"No," Harry answered trying to get up.
"Don't try. I want you to kick up your feet to go over you head. Get a good grip on the ground with your hands."
"What will that do?" Harry asked.
"Just do it." Harry kicked up with his feet. His feet soared over his head. He landed on the ground on all fours. Standing up he saw Stacy beaming down on him. Ashley was next to him.
"What did I just do?" Harry asked confused.
"This is what you just did," Ashley said before leaning back herself. Her feet soared over her head as she did a backward flip but instead of landing on all fours, she landed on her two feet perfectly. "But with a few differences," she remarked.
"And you said you weren't flexible," Stacy mumbled.
"I did that?" Harry asked flabbergasted. Ashley nodded. "Cool."
For the rest of the class, they continued with flips. Harry was doing a lot better and was learning fast. He learned to do a few flips in a row and was beginning to learn how to do a random of combinations of flips and cartwheels when a figure dressed in the school robes walked over to them. Harry stopped what he was doing and watched as the figure approached. Ashley, who just finished up doing her flips stood next to him and looked where he was looking.
"Who is it?" she asked panting.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know." As the figure approached the outlines of the person came into view. It was none other than Draco Malfoy. "It's Malfoy," Harry sneered.
"Would that be your enemy?" Ashley asked. Harry just nodded.
AS the figure came into voice range, Harry called out, "What are you doing here Malfoy?"
Malfoy just continued walking towards them, not saying a word. Stacy came up beside Harry. "Can I help you Mr. Malfoy?" she asked politely.
Draco continued walking to them before stopping a few feet from them. He looked a bit nervous. Facing Stacy, he said, "Professor, I thought that maybe you could help me with something." Harry continued to watch him.
Stacy looked back in surprise and asked, "What could I help you with?"
Draco looked at his feet. "I heard that you teach people and I need your help." He paused for a few minutes until glancing at Harry who didn't remove his gaze from Malfoy. "If I turn to anyone else for help, I don't know what will happen. I don't trust anyone else."
Stacy looked at him and looked at Harry and Ashley. Harry looked back at her confused but heard Ashley say, "Oh!" and grab his shoulder leading him away. Stacy wanted them to leave and give Draco privacy.
"It's okay. They can stay," Malfoy said. Harry and Ashley stopped walking away. Harry looked at him confused. "They can see this." He looked around the ground before bending over and picking up a stone. "Watch," he said throwing up the stone. Harry watched the stone go toward the sky before it started falling down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco wave his hand. The stone stopped in mid air. Harry's jaw dropped. Looking around, so did everyone else's.
"How long did you know that you could do that?" Stacy asked looking at the stone. It was still suspended in the air.
"This summer," he replied. "I can freeze things. I don't know what it means but when I heard that you trained Harry and the others, I thought that I could turn to you or them for help." Harry looked at Malfoy strange. He just called him Harry.
"Why are you turning to us? How do we know that you won't turn on us?" Harry asked more harshly than intended. Stacy gave him a disapproving glare and Ashley nudged him in the ribs.
Draco looked at him. His expression was blank. He rolled up his sleeve to show a long cut on his arm near his elbow. "To become a Death Eater, the person must be at least fifteen. I turned fifteen in May. During the summer, my father, being who he is, ordered me to go to a meeting with him. I knew what he was going to do. He wanted me to join the dark side. I refused to go. Since I refused to go, he cut my arm," he said looking into Harry's eyes. "I'm nothing like my father, Harry. I'm nothing like him." Harry stared into Draco's eyes for a few seconds until something made him believe him.
"For some strange reason I believe you," Harry remarked.
Draco smiled. "And I thought persuading you would be the toughest thing I had to do," he said. Clearing his throat, he said in a quiet voice, "Listen Harry, I'm sorry for giving you trouble before but I had people looking out for me and writing back to my father with how I was and how I was treating people. Now, I can't fear him. Not with me training with this power. So, can you forgive me?" he asked sticking out his hand.
Harry looked at it. Ashley softly nudged him in the ribs encouraging him. Harry stuck out his hand to grasp Draco's. "Forgiven." Draco smiled brightly. Ashley shook his hand and introduced herself to him. Beside them, Stacy was in her own little world thinking.
"I think I know what you are, Mr. Malfoy," she said. "You can stop time. I think you may actually be an elemental. You control the element of time. It's a very small element that just consists of stopping and restarting time. You could also go into the future and past but it takes a lot of energy." Everyone's mouth opened.
"But his appearance didn't change," Harry noted. Him and the others changed to match their element.
"He's not a shapeshifter. His appearance won't change. He'll just have the power of his element." Stacy said. Everyone was speechless. "I'll have to train you. Let's keep this a secret. No one can know about this." Everyone agreed. Stacy looked down at her watch. "Mr. Malfoy, you need to go to your next class. Ashley, Harry, I have DADA now but you can come with me and help me with the class if you'd like. It's a bunch of sixth years but you can help." Ashley and Harry looked at each other. It was either History of Magic or DADA. DADA won.
"We're in," they said in unison.
Stacy smiled. "I knew you would be. Help me with these swords will." While Ashley and Harry each took a side on the box, Draco was already half way to the castle. They dragged the box of swords across the grounds and through the halls of Hogwarts. Stacy had walked ahead to make it to her class. By the time they had reached the class, all of the sixth years were already there. As they walked the sword box into the room, several sixth years gasped.
"Don't worry, we aren't working with swords today," Stacy confirmed. Groans and sighs of relief filled the room. Ashley and Harry sat on chairs in the front of the room as Stacy stood up and faced the class.
"My name is Professor Miller. I will be teaching you DADA this year. This year, we will be learning about several different types of groups. In Care of Magical Creatures, you will learn about magical animals but this year, here in DADA, you will learn about different types of people." One hand went up. Stacy nodded to him giving him permission to ask his question.
"What types of people will we be learning about?" the boy asked.
Stacy thought about the question for a second then answered, "I will be teaching you about sorcerers, mages, vampires, werewolves and others like it."
"Will we be learning about shapeshifters?" called a girl in the back.
Stacy, Harry and Ashley smiled at this. "You can learn about shapeshifters if they would like you to know about them," she said looking at the two sitting in the front. They shrugged their shoulders. The rest of the class went on. Stacy agreed to teach them about shapeshifters but only in their spare time. The rest of the time, they learned about Vampires. At the end of class, they had a few minutes to ask Harry and Ashley things. They even showed off some of their powers. Finally when class was over, they made their way to the common room.
Giving the Fat Lady the password, the two stepped into the room, walked over to the couches and collapsed on them. They were tired from the day. Everything they did was tiring. Harry closed his eyes and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
A few hours later, Harry woke up to something licking his face. "Snuffles! Get off!" he exclaimed moving the dog aside with his arm. He rubbed his eyes and opened them. He saw Jake and Matt looking at him smiling.
"Good nap sleepy head?" Jake asked smiling.
Harry rolled his eyes and sat up. He stretched. Snuffles put his paws on the couch and Harry scratched behind his ears. He saw Caroline and Liz playing chess on one side of the table while Ashley was writing in a notebook on the other.
"What are you writing?" Harry asked. Ashley looked up and smiled. Ashley closed her notebook, stood up and approached Harry. She sat down next to him.
"It's just a letter to my parents," she said. Harry's stomach growled. "Hungry are you?" she asked laughing.
"Harry looked down at his stomach. "I guess so," he responded sleepily. He was still tired.
Ashley looked at her watch. "It's six o' clock. Time for dinner!" she exclaimed. They were about to get up when the portrait opened and in stepped Ron and Hermione. They were talking about something. As soon as they saw Harry awake they quieted up.
"Hey Harry," Hermione said as soon as they were closer.
"Hey mate," Ron said. "I came here before to challenge you to a game of chess but you were sleeping. I was going to wake you up but crazy girl over here," he said pointing to Ashley, "turned into a lion and nearly bit my leg off." Harry laughed as Ashley blushed. "It wasn't funny!" Ron exclaimed. Harry continued laughing.
"Come on, its dinner time," Hermione said. They all headed out of the portrait and down to the Great Hall. When they reached the Great Hall, they walked inside and took their normal seats at the Gryffindor table. They piled their plates and began eating until Dumbledore rose from the staff table and everyone in the hall fell quiet.
Harry looked up at the headmaster. The headmaster looked out upon the students. There was no sparkle in his eyes. As soon as he had everyone's attention, he began talking. "As you may know, just a few hours ago, a wizarding town not far from here was attacked. Some people were killed but many got away." Harry felt anger rush over him.
'He said this when I was sleeping didn't he?' Harry asked telepathically. Some of the others nodded. Snuffles looked down at the floor ashamed that Harry had to find out this way.
"We know that Voldermort," Many people flinched at the name, "will stop at nothing to get people to join the dark side putting everyone in danger. Letters have been sent home to your guardians about something we are planning here at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, there is a lot of protection," he said looking at the shapeshifters, "so here is the best place to keep safe. The Great Hall will be expanded as well as the bedrooms where teachers sleep. The parents will live here." Many people groaned. Dumbledore put up his hands to gain silence. "It's either having them here or going home to no one." Everyone was silent after that.
"Will all parents be living here?" Caroline asked.
"Not all parents. I don't believe any of yours will be living here. It's just for the people who live in the areas of danger. We can expand the school a lot but it means more wards. The wards are also stretched out over a bigger area. If the area is too big, the wards will do nothing. We're stretching them to their limit just to make room for the parents," Dumbledore said. There was anger and fear in his voice.
"When will our parents arrive?" a Ravenclaw asked.
"They should be arriving Thursday evening." He then smiled a small smile. "And I believe that it will be just in time for the Quidditch game Friday morning. We can show them a real game between Slytherin and Gryffindor. I expect a great game as always." Harry smiled. He loved playing Quidditch. He especially loved beating Slytherin. "That is all. Eat up!" He sat back down as conversations arose once more.
Back at the table, Ron and Hermione looked nervous and scared. So did the others. They remained quiet as they ate a little.
"Now we're actually here to provide protection," Caroline mumbled.
"I just wanted to be here for fun," Liz said. As she reached across the table for a dish, Harry saw her hands shaking. She was terrified.
'Are you ok Seal?' he asked her only telepathically. She jumped a little as his voice entered her head. She nodded. 'Then why are your hands shaking?' She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. Harry looked into her eyes and saw the fear in them. She was terrified. They have all trained for this moment but not emotionally. They've never been in a real battle before where it was life or death. 'Everything will be fine,' he said trying to comfort her.
Across the table, he saw Matt notice her hands. 'Shark,' Harry called to him telepathically. 'Comfort Liz. She's terrified.' After a slight, barley noticeable nod, he rose from his seat and walked around the table. He offered Liz his hand, which she took. He then led her out of the Hall.
Looking around the Hall, Harry saw a few people who looked terrified. The Hall was definitely quieter than it was before Dumbledore spoke. Ashley noticed where he was looking. "This is terrible," she said. There was fear in her voice.
"Yes, but we'll get through it," Harry responded.
Ashley nodded before looking up at a screech of two owls. Into the Hall flew Hedwig and Snow. Snow had a Daily Prophet in her claws while Hedwig had a letter in hers. Ashley took the Daily Prophet and gasped at the front page before slamming it down on the table, face down. Harry took the letter off Hedwig and saw that it said,
**Harry- I know you. Don't go looking for danger. This goes for everyone. Don't be left alone for even the shortest amount of time! Even if it's just for a second, be with someone else. Keep safe.
~ Sirius**
Just then, Harry noticed that Snuffles wasn't under the table like usual. He passed the note to Ashley who nodded in agreement before passing it to the rest of the group. Harry then picked up the Daily Prophet before Ashley stopped him from looking at the front cover.
"What's the matter?" he asked worried.
Tears were in her eyes. "It's terrible," she responded while removing her hand. Harry looked at the front and gasped. It was a picture of a burnt down town. There were bodies lying everywhere.
*Tragedy Strikes Again: Will This Be the End?*
Not to long ago, a lone wizarding town was attacked by none other than You-Know-Who. Many people died and many were injured before Aurors could get there to help. By the time the Ministry Aurors did arrive, You- Know-Who was gone along with his followers. The Ministry can only give people one piece of advice: Be on your look out. Will this be the end of the threat of the Dark Lord? Will he win? Aurors have begun to train harder to prepare while even students are training to defend themselves-
Harry couldn't read more. He slammed the paper down on the table. Ashley took it and handed it back to Snow and waved her hand. Snow took to flight and flew out of the Great Hall with the paper in her claws.
"So Harry, when's the Quidditch practice and tryouts?" Ron asked changing the subject.
Harry looked up. "It's suppose to be tonight after Dinner. I don't think a lot of people are going to tryout. This is going to be our only practice before the game."
"Well, dinner's almost over so I'll going to get my broom and meet you at the pitch," Ashley said standing up and leaving.
"She's trying out?" Ron asked surprised.
"Yea. She's really good. You should go to the practice and see how good she is," Harry responded. Fred and George walked up to Harry and announced that the captain should leave to go to the pitch. Harry got up along with Ron, and Caroline. Hermione was going to go back to the common room to read and Jake didn't want to watch. He was going to practice with Stacy. Harry and the others walked out of the Great Hall and down to the Quidditch pitch. The only person on the stands was Ashley.
"I don't think anyone remembered tryouts after Dumbledore made his announcement," she said shrugging.
Harry smiled. "That just means more practice time." When the rest of the team arrived, Harry introduced Ashley and they took to the air. They were very impressed by Ashley's skills and told her that she would probably get picked even if there were others trying out. They continued the rest of the time in the air. The chasers were practicing throwing the Quaffel to each other fast and trying to get it through the hoop while Ashley stood guard. No matter how many times they tried, no Quaffle went through. Fred and George were practicing away from the chasers. They were hitting the Bludger back and forth hard. Harry was high above them. He was using telekinesis to throw a golf ball far distances before he flew to get it before it hit the ground. He used a golf ball because it was getting dark and he didn't want to risk actually loosing the snitch. When he was getting tired, he flew to the ground and looked up at the players still practicing. He could see that they were getting tired also.
"Okay everyone! Come on down!" Harry yelled up to them. They quickly came down. Once they were around him, he said, "I think that went well for the first practice and I know we'd do great against Slytherin. This practice is finally over." They walked back to the castle and up to their common room. Harry took a shower up in his room before walking back down to the common room. He found most of his friends sitting and talking around the fire. He noticed that Liz looked a lot calmer than she did at dinner.
When Harry approached them, he heard them quietly talking about their parents coming to Hogwarts and the recent attack.
"How was the practice with Stacy, Bear?" he asked Jake when he came close to him.
Jake looked back at him. "It was boring. All I could do were things that I already knew."
"She didn't teach you more of sword fighting or regular fighting?" he asked sitting down next to Ashley.
"She wanted to wait. She wants to teach all of us at the same time," he replied.
Harry turned to Ashley and saw he looking at the fire in though as if she was pondering over something. "What's the matter?" he asked her.
She looked back at him. "Isn't it strange that it's not really hot in here when there's a fire lit and it's warm outside? We're not even getting hot talking next to it."
"Like everything else in the castle, it has to be magical," Harry replied.
"That's what I thought." Over at a table nearby, Matt was playing Ron in a close game of chess and Hermione was going her homework while looking at Ron and rolling her eyes. She didn't approve of playing games when homework needs to be done. Snuffles came up to him wagging his tail fast. Harry gave him a questioning glance but the dog didn't reply back. He scratched behind the dog's ears for a while before yawning. Ashley caught the yawn.
"Tired?" she asked softly.
Harry nodded. "I don't know why I'm so tired though."
Ashley thought back on the day and said, "Well, the day could've been tiring in it's self, you had sword fighting, martial arts, gymnastics, you teleported in the beginning of the day which took a lot of energy, and you just had Quidditch practice," she summarized.
Harry nodded his head. "Yea you're right. I'm going to bed before I fall asleep on the couch again," he said before saying good night to everyone else and heading up to the boy's dormitories. Ashley said good night and headed up to the girl dormitories.
Once in his room, Harry quickly changed his clothes in a snap of a finger before climbing into bed. Snuffles jumped right onto the bed and laid down by his feet. With a simple good night to his godfather, Harry fell asleep.
Harry was in thought until someone patted him on the back. Looking up, he saw Ashley beaming down on him. "Hey captain," she said smiling. "You've daydreamed the whole lunch and its time for the next class."
Harry sat up. "It's time for more classes already?" he asked surprised. He looked down at his watch and confirmed that it was time for the next class.
"Yea daydreamer," Jake said from behind him. He threw a bag over his shoulder. "Next is divination. This will be fun," he remarked sarcastically, before waving goodbye and heading out the Great Hall.
"We have to get to the Quidditch field again," Ashley said.
"You're not going to Divination?" Ron asked as he walked to the side of Harry. Hermione appeared on his other side.
"Of course he's not going to Divination!" Hermione exclaimed. "You really should drop it and join Muggle Studies. Its a lot more useful."
Ron looked at her. "Why would I join a class where I have to actually work to get a good grade? In Divination all I do is make up things and put it onto paper and I pass. Why would I give that up?" he argued.
"Because you should actually learn something that you can use!" Hermione snapped. "Why waste your time with a useless class?" They both walked away still arguing.
"Are they always like that?" Ashley asked taking her place beside Harry. They started walking out of the hall and to the field.
"Pretty much. It drives me crazy. They've been like this ever since they met in our first year," Harry replied.
"That long huh?" Ashley asked before they reached the edge of the field. They saw Stacy over by where the swords were. She looked like she was thinking something over. Harry and Ashley walked over to her. When they were five feet away, she looked up at them.
"How did I know that you two would be the ones to join me?" she asked smiling at the two. Harry just looked between Ashley and himself. He looked around them and noticed that none of the others joined them.
Stacy stood up faced them. "In this class, I'll teach you to use other methods of fighting by adding moves that can be used by people who are flexible." Harry looked at himself. He wasn't flexible. Not that he knew of.
"Doubting yourself already Harry?" Stacy asked looking at him.
He looked up at her. "Definitely," he responded.
Stacy walked up to him and walked around him. "So you don't think you're flexible?" Harry nodded. "I think you are." Harry's head snapped up at her.
"Really?" he asked surprised.
Stacy stopped in front of him. "You look like you are flexible. Let's see." She stepped back from him and folded her arms in front of her chest. "I want you to stand up straight and bend over to touch your feet or farther," she said.
Harry looked at her strangely. How ever strange it was, Harry stood up straight and bent over without bending his legs. He touched his feet with no problem.
"Now try to go farther," he heard Stacy say. Harry reached down and touched the ground without any problems. When he heard Stacy clap, he rose. "That was perfect. Now lean backwards as far as you can," she instructed.
Harry looked behind him before bending back. His hands touched the ground.
More clapping was heard and Harry tried to get up until he realized that he couldn't.
"You can't get up can you?" He heard Stacy ask.
"No," Harry answered trying to get up.
"Don't try. I want you to kick up your feet to go over you head. Get a good grip on the ground with your hands."
"What will that do?" Harry asked.
"Just do it." Harry kicked up with his feet. His feet soared over his head. He landed on the ground on all fours. Standing up he saw Stacy beaming down on him. Ashley was next to him.
"What did I just do?" Harry asked confused.
"This is what you just did," Ashley said before leaning back herself. Her feet soared over her head as she did a backward flip but instead of landing on all fours, she landed on her two feet perfectly. "But with a few differences," she remarked.
"And you said you weren't flexible," Stacy mumbled.
"I did that?" Harry asked flabbergasted. Ashley nodded. "Cool."
For the rest of the class, they continued with flips. Harry was doing a lot better and was learning fast. He learned to do a few flips in a row and was beginning to learn how to do a random of combinations of flips and cartwheels when a figure dressed in the school robes walked over to them. Harry stopped what he was doing and watched as the figure approached. Ashley, who just finished up doing her flips stood next to him and looked where he was looking.
"Who is it?" she asked panting.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know." As the figure approached the outlines of the person came into view. It was none other than Draco Malfoy. "It's Malfoy," Harry sneered.
"Would that be your enemy?" Ashley asked. Harry just nodded.
AS the figure came into voice range, Harry called out, "What are you doing here Malfoy?"
Malfoy just continued walking towards them, not saying a word. Stacy came up beside Harry. "Can I help you Mr. Malfoy?" she asked politely.
Draco continued walking to them before stopping a few feet from them. He looked a bit nervous. Facing Stacy, he said, "Professor, I thought that maybe you could help me with something." Harry continued to watch him.
Stacy looked back in surprise and asked, "What could I help you with?"
Draco looked at his feet. "I heard that you teach people and I need your help." He paused for a few minutes until glancing at Harry who didn't remove his gaze from Malfoy. "If I turn to anyone else for help, I don't know what will happen. I don't trust anyone else."
Stacy looked at him and looked at Harry and Ashley. Harry looked back at her confused but heard Ashley say, "Oh!" and grab his shoulder leading him away. Stacy wanted them to leave and give Draco privacy.
"It's okay. They can stay," Malfoy said. Harry and Ashley stopped walking away. Harry looked at him confused. "They can see this." He looked around the ground before bending over and picking up a stone. "Watch," he said throwing up the stone. Harry watched the stone go toward the sky before it started falling down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco wave his hand. The stone stopped in mid air. Harry's jaw dropped. Looking around, so did everyone else's.
"How long did you know that you could do that?" Stacy asked looking at the stone. It was still suspended in the air.
"This summer," he replied. "I can freeze things. I don't know what it means but when I heard that you trained Harry and the others, I thought that I could turn to you or them for help." Harry looked at Malfoy strange. He just called him Harry.
"Why are you turning to us? How do we know that you won't turn on us?" Harry asked more harshly than intended. Stacy gave him a disapproving glare and Ashley nudged him in the ribs.
Draco looked at him. His expression was blank. He rolled up his sleeve to show a long cut on his arm near his elbow. "To become a Death Eater, the person must be at least fifteen. I turned fifteen in May. During the summer, my father, being who he is, ordered me to go to a meeting with him. I knew what he was going to do. He wanted me to join the dark side. I refused to go. Since I refused to go, he cut my arm," he said looking into Harry's eyes. "I'm nothing like my father, Harry. I'm nothing like him." Harry stared into Draco's eyes for a few seconds until something made him believe him.
"For some strange reason I believe you," Harry remarked.
Draco smiled. "And I thought persuading you would be the toughest thing I had to do," he said. Clearing his throat, he said in a quiet voice, "Listen Harry, I'm sorry for giving you trouble before but I had people looking out for me and writing back to my father with how I was and how I was treating people. Now, I can't fear him. Not with me training with this power. So, can you forgive me?" he asked sticking out his hand.
Harry looked at it. Ashley softly nudged him in the ribs encouraging him. Harry stuck out his hand to grasp Draco's. "Forgiven." Draco smiled brightly. Ashley shook his hand and introduced herself to him. Beside them, Stacy was in her own little world thinking.
"I think I know what you are, Mr. Malfoy," she said. "You can stop time. I think you may actually be an elemental. You control the element of time. It's a very small element that just consists of stopping and restarting time. You could also go into the future and past but it takes a lot of energy." Everyone's mouth opened.
"But his appearance didn't change," Harry noted. Him and the others changed to match their element.
"He's not a shapeshifter. His appearance won't change. He'll just have the power of his element." Stacy said. Everyone was speechless. "I'll have to train you. Let's keep this a secret. No one can know about this." Everyone agreed. Stacy looked down at her watch. "Mr. Malfoy, you need to go to your next class. Ashley, Harry, I have DADA now but you can come with me and help me with the class if you'd like. It's a bunch of sixth years but you can help." Ashley and Harry looked at each other. It was either History of Magic or DADA. DADA won.
"We're in," they said in unison.
Stacy smiled. "I knew you would be. Help me with these swords will." While Ashley and Harry each took a side on the box, Draco was already half way to the castle. They dragged the box of swords across the grounds and through the halls of Hogwarts. Stacy had walked ahead to make it to her class. By the time they had reached the class, all of the sixth years were already there. As they walked the sword box into the room, several sixth years gasped.
"Don't worry, we aren't working with swords today," Stacy confirmed. Groans and sighs of relief filled the room. Ashley and Harry sat on chairs in the front of the room as Stacy stood up and faced the class.
"My name is Professor Miller. I will be teaching you DADA this year. This year, we will be learning about several different types of groups. In Care of Magical Creatures, you will learn about magical animals but this year, here in DADA, you will learn about different types of people." One hand went up. Stacy nodded to him giving him permission to ask his question.
"What types of people will we be learning about?" the boy asked.
Stacy thought about the question for a second then answered, "I will be teaching you about sorcerers, mages, vampires, werewolves and others like it."
"Will we be learning about shapeshifters?" called a girl in the back.
Stacy, Harry and Ashley smiled at this. "You can learn about shapeshifters if they would like you to know about them," she said looking at the two sitting in the front. They shrugged their shoulders. The rest of the class went on. Stacy agreed to teach them about shapeshifters but only in their spare time. The rest of the time, they learned about Vampires. At the end of class, they had a few minutes to ask Harry and Ashley things. They even showed off some of their powers. Finally when class was over, they made their way to the common room.
Giving the Fat Lady the password, the two stepped into the room, walked over to the couches and collapsed on them. They were tired from the day. Everything they did was tiring. Harry closed his eyes and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
A few hours later, Harry woke up to something licking his face. "Snuffles! Get off!" he exclaimed moving the dog aside with his arm. He rubbed his eyes and opened them. He saw Jake and Matt looking at him smiling.
"Good nap sleepy head?" Jake asked smiling.
Harry rolled his eyes and sat up. He stretched. Snuffles put his paws on the couch and Harry scratched behind his ears. He saw Caroline and Liz playing chess on one side of the table while Ashley was writing in a notebook on the other.
"What are you writing?" Harry asked. Ashley looked up and smiled. Ashley closed her notebook, stood up and approached Harry. She sat down next to him.
"It's just a letter to my parents," she said. Harry's stomach growled. "Hungry are you?" she asked laughing.
"Harry looked down at his stomach. "I guess so," he responded sleepily. He was still tired.
Ashley looked at her watch. "It's six o' clock. Time for dinner!" she exclaimed. They were about to get up when the portrait opened and in stepped Ron and Hermione. They were talking about something. As soon as they saw Harry awake they quieted up.
"Hey Harry," Hermione said as soon as they were closer.
"Hey mate," Ron said. "I came here before to challenge you to a game of chess but you were sleeping. I was going to wake you up but crazy girl over here," he said pointing to Ashley, "turned into a lion and nearly bit my leg off." Harry laughed as Ashley blushed. "It wasn't funny!" Ron exclaimed. Harry continued laughing.
"Come on, its dinner time," Hermione said. They all headed out of the portrait and down to the Great Hall. When they reached the Great Hall, they walked inside and took their normal seats at the Gryffindor table. They piled their plates and began eating until Dumbledore rose from the staff table and everyone in the hall fell quiet.
Harry looked up at the headmaster. The headmaster looked out upon the students. There was no sparkle in his eyes. As soon as he had everyone's attention, he began talking. "As you may know, just a few hours ago, a wizarding town not far from here was attacked. Some people were killed but many got away." Harry felt anger rush over him.
'He said this when I was sleeping didn't he?' Harry asked telepathically. Some of the others nodded. Snuffles looked down at the floor ashamed that Harry had to find out this way.
"We know that Voldermort," Many people flinched at the name, "will stop at nothing to get people to join the dark side putting everyone in danger. Letters have been sent home to your guardians about something we are planning here at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, there is a lot of protection," he said looking at the shapeshifters, "so here is the best place to keep safe. The Great Hall will be expanded as well as the bedrooms where teachers sleep. The parents will live here." Many people groaned. Dumbledore put up his hands to gain silence. "It's either having them here or going home to no one." Everyone was silent after that.
"Will all parents be living here?" Caroline asked.
"Not all parents. I don't believe any of yours will be living here. It's just for the people who live in the areas of danger. We can expand the school a lot but it means more wards. The wards are also stretched out over a bigger area. If the area is too big, the wards will do nothing. We're stretching them to their limit just to make room for the parents," Dumbledore said. There was anger and fear in his voice.
"When will our parents arrive?" a Ravenclaw asked.
"They should be arriving Thursday evening." He then smiled a small smile. "And I believe that it will be just in time for the Quidditch game Friday morning. We can show them a real game between Slytherin and Gryffindor. I expect a great game as always." Harry smiled. He loved playing Quidditch. He especially loved beating Slytherin. "That is all. Eat up!" He sat back down as conversations arose once more.
Back at the table, Ron and Hermione looked nervous and scared. So did the others. They remained quiet as they ate a little.
"Now we're actually here to provide protection," Caroline mumbled.
"I just wanted to be here for fun," Liz said. As she reached across the table for a dish, Harry saw her hands shaking. She was terrified.
'Are you ok Seal?' he asked her only telepathically. She jumped a little as his voice entered her head. She nodded. 'Then why are your hands shaking?' She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. Harry looked into her eyes and saw the fear in them. She was terrified. They have all trained for this moment but not emotionally. They've never been in a real battle before where it was life or death. 'Everything will be fine,' he said trying to comfort her.
Across the table, he saw Matt notice her hands. 'Shark,' Harry called to him telepathically. 'Comfort Liz. She's terrified.' After a slight, barley noticeable nod, he rose from his seat and walked around the table. He offered Liz his hand, which she took. He then led her out of the Hall.
Looking around the Hall, Harry saw a few people who looked terrified. The Hall was definitely quieter than it was before Dumbledore spoke. Ashley noticed where he was looking. "This is terrible," she said. There was fear in her voice.
"Yes, but we'll get through it," Harry responded.
Ashley nodded before looking up at a screech of two owls. Into the Hall flew Hedwig and Snow. Snow had a Daily Prophet in her claws while Hedwig had a letter in hers. Ashley took the Daily Prophet and gasped at the front page before slamming it down on the table, face down. Harry took the letter off Hedwig and saw that it said,
**Harry- I know you. Don't go looking for danger. This goes for everyone. Don't be left alone for even the shortest amount of time! Even if it's just for a second, be with someone else. Keep safe.
~ Sirius**
Just then, Harry noticed that Snuffles wasn't under the table like usual. He passed the note to Ashley who nodded in agreement before passing it to the rest of the group. Harry then picked up the Daily Prophet before Ashley stopped him from looking at the front cover.
"What's the matter?" he asked worried.
Tears were in her eyes. "It's terrible," she responded while removing her hand. Harry looked at the front and gasped. It was a picture of a burnt down town. There were bodies lying everywhere.
*Tragedy Strikes Again: Will This Be the End?*
Not to long ago, a lone wizarding town was attacked by none other than You-Know-Who. Many people died and many were injured before Aurors could get there to help. By the time the Ministry Aurors did arrive, You- Know-Who was gone along with his followers. The Ministry can only give people one piece of advice: Be on your look out. Will this be the end of the threat of the Dark Lord? Will he win? Aurors have begun to train harder to prepare while even students are training to defend themselves-
Harry couldn't read more. He slammed the paper down on the table. Ashley took it and handed it back to Snow and waved her hand. Snow took to flight and flew out of the Great Hall with the paper in her claws.
"So Harry, when's the Quidditch practice and tryouts?" Ron asked changing the subject.
Harry looked up. "It's suppose to be tonight after Dinner. I don't think a lot of people are going to tryout. This is going to be our only practice before the game."
"Well, dinner's almost over so I'll going to get my broom and meet you at the pitch," Ashley said standing up and leaving.
"She's trying out?" Ron asked surprised.
"Yea. She's really good. You should go to the practice and see how good she is," Harry responded. Fred and George walked up to Harry and announced that the captain should leave to go to the pitch. Harry got up along with Ron, and Caroline. Hermione was going to go back to the common room to read and Jake didn't want to watch. He was going to practice with Stacy. Harry and the others walked out of the Great Hall and down to the Quidditch pitch. The only person on the stands was Ashley.
"I don't think anyone remembered tryouts after Dumbledore made his announcement," she said shrugging.
Harry smiled. "That just means more practice time." When the rest of the team arrived, Harry introduced Ashley and they took to the air. They were very impressed by Ashley's skills and told her that she would probably get picked even if there were others trying out. They continued the rest of the time in the air. The chasers were practicing throwing the Quaffel to each other fast and trying to get it through the hoop while Ashley stood guard. No matter how many times they tried, no Quaffle went through. Fred and George were practicing away from the chasers. They were hitting the Bludger back and forth hard. Harry was high above them. He was using telekinesis to throw a golf ball far distances before he flew to get it before it hit the ground. He used a golf ball because it was getting dark and he didn't want to risk actually loosing the snitch. When he was getting tired, he flew to the ground and looked up at the players still practicing. He could see that they were getting tired also.
"Okay everyone! Come on down!" Harry yelled up to them. They quickly came down. Once they were around him, he said, "I think that went well for the first practice and I know we'd do great against Slytherin. This practice is finally over." They walked back to the castle and up to their common room. Harry took a shower up in his room before walking back down to the common room. He found most of his friends sitting and talking around the fire. He noticed that Liz looked a lot calmer than she did at dinner.
When Harry approached them, he heard them quietly talking about their parents coming to Hogwarts and the recent attack.
"How was the practice with Stacy, Bear?" he asked Jake when he came close to him.
Jake looked back at him. "It was boring. All I could do were things that I already knew."
"She didn't teach you more of sword fighting or regular fighting?" he asked sitting down next to Ashley.
"She wanted to wait. She wants to teach all of us at the same time," he replied.
Harry turned to Ashley and saw he looking at the fire in though as if she was pondering over something. "What's the matter?" he asked her.
She looked back at him. "Isn't it strange that it's not really hot in here when there's a fire lit and it's warm outside? We're not even getting hot talking next to it."
"Like everything else in the castle, it has to be magical," Harry replied.
"That's what I thought." Over at a table nearby, Matt was playing Ron in a close game of chess and Hermione was going her homework while looking at Ron and rolling her eyes. She didn't approve of playing games when homework needs to be done. Snuffles came up to him wagging his tail fast. Harry gave him a questioning glance but the dog didn't reply back. He scratched behind the dog's ears for a while before yawning. Ashley caught the yawn.
"Tired?" she asked softly.
Harry nodded. "I don't know why I'm so tired though."
Ashley thought back on the day and said, "Well, the day could've been tiring in it's self, you had sword fighting, martial arts, gymnastics, you teleported in the beginning of the day which took a lot of energy, and you just had Quidditch practice," she summarized.
Harry nodded his head. "Yea you're right. I'm going to bed before I fall asleep on the couch again," he said before saying good night to everyone else and heading up to the boy's dormitories. Ashley said good night and headed up to the girl dormitories.
Once in his room, Harry quickly changed his clothes in a snap of a finger before climbing into bed. Snuffles jumped right onto the bed and laid down by his feet. With a simple good night to his godfather, Harry fell asleep.