Disclaimer: Many of the characters, thoughts and ideas that are in this fan fiction are not of my own design. Though this story is from my imagination, I realize that this is the property of Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling. This is not J. K. Rowling's work. I also read many FFs and if you see something similar to another work it is entirely unintentional. I have posted this on harrypotter.com as well…. There it is complete and filled with cliffies… hence my screen name Princess of cliffies on the Harry Potter boards I go by the name of rebcschult in case you would like to read it in it's original form…. Also this was written preOotP hence the name…. but I decided after much deliberation and coercion from my on line friends who wanted me to post it here that I would finally do so! I am also writing a year six to follow this year five on the boards, which when I'm finished over there and done editing it I will post here as well…
Becky(rebcschult and PrincessOfCliffiesRCS)
P.S. Please read and review! Thank you for your comments and compliments, Tim, Lilly, HongMing, and Manateegirl524!!!
CHAPTER SIX – THE PREDICTION, THE SCAR, THE PIN, AND THE RING
The next morning Harry woke up early to what sounded Dudley snoring, but he knew that was impossible since he was at school. He sat up and pulled back the red curtains on his four poster bed. He grabbed his glasses and put them on to see what was making such a racket. What he saw made him almost laugh out loud.
Ron was laying half on half off of his bed. He was fully clothed. Harry noticed that his head was almost touching the floor. Harry was amazed that Ron was still half on the bed. He looked like he should have fallen off long before then. There was a little drool that was sliding up his cheek. But that was not the most amusing thing. Ron had lipstick smeared all over his cheeks and neck, as well as all over his softly smiling, half-open lips.
Harry got up, trying really hard to hold back his laughter. He walked over to wake up his unknowingly comical best friend. He approached quietly, checking to see if the other three boys in the room were still asleep. The curtains were still drawn around their beds, so Harry assumed that they were. Harry wasn't sure how to wake Ron without startling him, but he knew that he needed to do it quickly, before the others would woke up.
Harry walked over to where Ron was hanging off the bed. He shook Ron's shoulder. Ron jumped as his eyes flew open, and instantly started to fall off the bed. With his lightening fast Quidditch reflexes, Harry caught Ron's legs before he fell completely onto the floor, waking up everyone.
"Bloody hell, Harry. What the devil are you doing?" asked Ron loudly.
Neville stirred on his bed. "Shh. I'll explain in a minute. Come on get up," whispered Harry.
Harry helped Ron get up, as he was very dizzy from sleeping with his head down. "Whoa, head rush." Harry helped Ron into the bathroom and over to the sink.
"Okay, now will you tell me why you woke me up at this obscene hour?" he asked as he glanced at his watch.
"See for yourself," said Harry pointing toward the mirror. Ron looked into the mirror. His face instantly turned a brighter shade of red that his hair as his mouth slowly dropped open. He turned the water on in the sink and washed his face, as Harry finally broke into a hearty laughter that he had been holding back since he saw Ron hanging off his bed.
Ron gave Harry an evil look for laughing. To which Harry tried really hard to contain his laughter, but burst out laughing only moments later. "Thanks for nothing, Harry…"
When Harry finally calmed down he said, "Oh, come on Ron. Who would you have rather found you like that? Me or one of the other three?"
Ron's eyes widened with fear as he realized that it could have been one of the others to find him. "Okay. Okay. I get your point…. Thanks," he said flatly. Just then Neville walked into the bathroom, yawning, hair sticking out at funny angles. He looked at Ron and Harry, who looked at each other and shared a smile. They walked back out and, now fully awake, got dressed and went down to the common room.
They sat quietly chatting in front of the fire until Hermione came down the staircase from the girls' dorm. Harry almost started laughing again when he saw Hermione, but Ron punched him in the arm to get him to shut up.
"You're up early enough," said Ron.
"Obviously so are you, since you two beat me down here. How long have you been sitting there like that?"
Harry tried to look at his watch, but soon realized that that was the one thing he forgot to get when they had been out shopping for supplies in Diagon Alley. His other watch had been damaged in the second task of the Tri-wizard tournament. Harry had had to go into the lake beside Hogwarts to the mer-peoples city to free Ron from them. He had forgotten to take off his watch, so since it had not been waterproofed, it stopped working. Harry had taken it off during the summer and thrown it away. He turned to Hermione and said, "For about two freckles and a hair." Hermione looked indignant and Harry laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't resist…. I forgot to get a new watch, so I don't know."
Ron looked at his watch, "For about an hour."
"What have you been doing for that hour?"
"Just sitting here."
"What? Why weren't you using the time wisely, for studying or something?"
"Oh, come on, 'Mione. Classes haven't even started yet."
"That's not the point, Ron. We've O.W.L.s this year. The earlier that we start studying for them the better off we will be."
"Oh, give it a rest, already. You're not going harp on us all year about this, are you?"
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.
"Ron, of course she is. You know that. She wouldn't be our Hermione if she didn't." Harry ducked as she went to swat at him. "Well, come on then. Why don't we go down to breakfast?"
"But it's only quarter to seven. I wanted to get some studying done."
Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Hermione, in about half an hour this room is going to be filled with people making noise and disturbing you. Why don't you come down now and then when they are just getting to the Great Hall for breakfast, you can be on your way back up here for some good quiet study time?"
Hermione seemed to be thinking it over. "Perhaps your right. Alright, let's go." She practically dragged them out of the common room. They walked down to the Great Hall and found, surprisingly, that they were not the first ones down there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shortly after seven the new schedules were passed out. Ron glanced at his schedule as he filled his plate for the second time with sausages. "Damn, we have double Divination first, and this afternoon we have Care of Magical Creatures, still with the Slytherins…. Well, at least there is one good thing today. We have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaw. I can't wait to meet our new teacher," said Ron. Ron quickly moved away from Hermione seeing that she raised her hand to slap his arm at the last comment. But he didn't move fast enough. He smiled sheepishly as he rubbed his arm. Harry simply shook his head.
They were finishing up right when the bulk of the student body was arriving. Hermione prodded Ron to hurry up and finish his fifth helping of sausages, so that they could go back to the tower. Ron had to shove that last sausage into his mouth as Hermione pulled him up and out of the Great Hall. Harry and Ron sat quietly on the couch, as Hermione ran back up to her dorm room to get some books.
When she came back down she said, "You mean to tell me that you are just going to sit there?"
"Yeah," said Ron and Harry in unison. Hermione rolled her eyes and plopped down at the table. She pulled out a book with the title Tips for Success on the O.W.L. Tests. Harry chuckled and shook his head at her tenacity.
Ron and Harry decided to go over their schedules again. After a few moments, Ron noticed that Harry had a funny look on his face. "What is it, mate?"
"There's something strange on my schedule."
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure. But look…." Harry held out his schedule for Ron to look at.
Ron took it and looked it over for a minute. "I don't see anything."
"Look here. Under Thursday."
Ron looked closely at what Harry pointed at. It was a tiny picture of a phoenix and it was moving. "What is that?"
By this time Hermione had looked up from her book. Curious at what was going on, she got up and came over to look at Harry's schedule too. Looking over Ron's shoulder she said, "It looks like a tiny phoenix…. I wonder…." She took out her wand and tapped it.
It wiggled and looked irritated. A small note of a phoenix's song was heard and it quavered in the air momentarily. The words Harry Potter only flashed next to the tiny symbol. They looked at Harry. Harry took his wand out his robes and tapped it. Again the Phoenix wiggled, but then it grew. It flew across the parchment several times. Slowly words were revealed. 7pm – 9pm Advanced Magical Methods and Dueling, taught by various professors. Class by invitation only and should not be discussed with anyone.
Ron and Hermione excited by the possibility of this being true for them, they took out their schedules too. They both noticed that they too had the tiny phoenix. They each tapped their Phoenix with their wands with the same result. Hermione was ecstatic. Ron, though excited by the idea that Dumbledore thought he was ready for Advanced Magic, said, "Great. More studying."
"Oh, Ron. Think of the opportunity this presents you with."
"I know, but…. We already get loads of homework. And as you so frequently point out, 'Mione, we have O.W.L.s coming up this year. How are we going to have time for other things…"
"Like what?"
"Like- like Quidditch."
"Ron, you're not even on the team."
"No, but I was planning on going out for the team this year. There's an opening on the team."
"So?"
"So, I won't have time for it, if I do this class."
"Now you're just making excuses, Ron. Harry's on the Quidditch team already and you don't hear him complaining. I think that you are just afraid to fail."
Harry, who had been quiet up until that point, spoke up. "She's right, Ron. Look, you always seem to get upset when the spotlight is on me and me alone. I've never liked that, but unfortunately I've never had a choice because of who I am. But this time it's on you too. I think it's about time, don't you? Besides think about it this way, you might actually learn something that others won't know and do better on the tests because of it."
Ron looked at Harry in awe. He didn't quite know what to say. He always thought that Harry liked the limelight all to himself. He was shocked to find out how much Harry disliked it. He flushed and nodded his head. Just then the portrait hole opened and Neville rushed in.
"What are you still doing here? We've got Double Divination in two minutes," he said to Harry and Ron breathlessly.
Harry and Ron stood up. Hermione got up so quickly from the table that she spilled all of her books on the floor. "Then why are you here, Neville?" asked Ron.
"Because I forgot my bag!" he exclaimed as he ran up the stairs to the dorm room. Ron gave Hermione a quick peck on the cheek before he and Harry followed Neville to grab their bags too. When they returned to the common room, Hermione had already left for her Arithmancy class. Harry, Ron, and Neville ran up to the North Tower. They barely made it up the tightly spiraled staircase in time.
They leaned against the wall completely out of breath waiting for the circular trapdoor to open in the ceiling above them. Shortly thereafter it opened and Harry, Ron, and Neville had to coax their sore muscles to carry them up the silver stepladder after the rest of their classmates.
The familiar strong scent of sweet perfume emanating from the fire reached their nostrils when they reached the top of the ladder. The heat was stifling and the room had a dim red glow to it, due to the lamps being covered by scarves and shawls and the window curtains being closed. They found their usual chintz chairs and seated themselves at the two empty tables. They looked around the room, expecting Professor Trelawney to appear out of the shadows at any moment.
"Welcome back, dear seers," came her misty voice from right behind Harry. Despite all of his screaming, aching muscles, he jumped up and spun around, seeing light reflect off of her glasses in the darkened corner behind where he had been sitting. She seemed to simply glide out of the shadows. The pitiful expression that she always reserved for when she looked at Harry was peering out from behind the thick glasses that made her eyes look to big for her face.
"You are very jumpy, my dear, as well you should be…." said the very thin woman covered in glittering beads, chains, and bangles. "For I have seen that tragedy will befall you this year…. I daresay that someone close to you will perish…."
Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil gasped and turned the same pitiful expressions to Harry. Harry just rolled his eyes and sighed, shaking his head. It was not unusual for Professor Trelawney to predict Harry's death on a daily basis, so Harry was quite unperturbed about her prediction. She made her way to the large armed wing chair that sat in front of the fire facing the class. She began to lecture on the history of the Tarot and its many different versions of the cards. She was explaining the validity of some and the fraudulent imitation of others in her usual very calm and soothing voice.
Harry tried in vain to take notes. But the sound of Trelawney's voice combined with the warmth, the sweet calming scent of the room, and the fact that Harry had been up early, all made Harry very sleepy. He felt a warmth spread throughout his head beginning at his scar. His eyes began drooping….
Harry felt that he was falling through the floor, though somehow he could still see Professor Trelawney. He felt like the bottom of his stomach was about to drop out, as the speed that he was dropping was increased at a breakneck pace. He started to panic feeling that he was either going to die with the impact at whatever bottom he reached or he was simply going to be lost falling forever.
Suddenly he stopped and Dumbledore with Amelia and Arabella Figg and Hagrid were sitting at a long oval table. Professor Trelawney was still there but she was almost ghost-like; she was transparent, but she still held her color. She wasn't the same misty white like most of the other ghosts of the castle.
Professor Trelawney started changing shape. She was suddenly a Phoenix. She raised above their heads in the center of the room, as it filled with lots of people, both living and ghosts and spirits, many that Harry recognized, even though he did not really know who they were, and others he did not. They were all looking at him.
In front of him, appeared the sword that Harry had pulled from the sorting hat, brought to him by Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes, in his second year to defeat a Basilisk, the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. The Chamber of Secrets was the secret room in the castle that had been created by the one founder, Salazar Slytherin, that did not agree with the way that the school was being run. He had sealed it so that only his Heir was able to get into it. The Basilisk was supposed to rid the school of all the "un-pure" or half blood witches and wizards. Harry had had to defeat the monster in order to save Ginny Weasley from death.
The hilt of the sword turned toward him. He had the urge to take it, but wasn't sure why. He was hesitant. As he raised his hand to take it, he feared that he was under the Imperius Curse, one of the unforgivable curses that Voldemort or one of his death eaters used on a wizard or witch to control their thoughts and actions. Why should I be taking this sword? I don't want to use it on anyone in this room. All of the people here are friends and family, and how I know that, I'm not sure. But, there is no reason for me to take this sword at this time. His hand dropped back to his side and he felt like he was flying back up into his body. There was a voice speaking he couldn't quite hear what it was saying, but it sounded like something about the founders of the school.
He realized he could still see, through his dropping eyes, Professor Trelawney, who transformed back into her thin, bead and bangle covered self. He realized suddenly that Professor Trelawney was on her feet. This made Harry open his eyes wide.
She stood there looking at Harry with wider eyes than usual from behind her glasses and her mouth agape. Harry looked around the room and saw that everyone was looking at him. Embarrassed he asked, "Why is everyone staring at me?"
"Because, my dear, you just made a prediction."
"I did?"
"Yes…. You don't remember what you said?"
"No…." Harry was about to say that he had had a vision, but stopped himself because he didn't want to say too much about what happened until he, himself, understood what it meant.
"I've heard of this sort of thing, but it is a very rare gift of a true seer, an oracle, if you will. Many times it will happen without the knowledge of the person. Often the oracle will start out with dreams that are uncannily accurate to things that are actually happening around them at the exact moment that they are happening. I, myself, must admit that I have never experienced… nor have I have ever seen an oracle's gifts emerge so young. I've never actually seen it happen before in any of my students. Of the few true oracles that I know of, none of them ever had their gifts emerge until they were much older…. I'm sorry, we will have to continue our discussion about the Tarot another day. I must go and consult the Headmaster. If you will excuse me…."
Harry watched as she glided out of the room. Normally Harry would not believe too much of what Professor Trelawney said. But he had witnessed the same thing happen to Trelawney herself in his third year during his test at the end of the year. Not to mention she had told him at the Christmas Luncheon that same year that she almost never came down into the castle, as she felt that the hustle and bustle of the castle clouded her Inner Eye. Harry suddenly found that he had new respect for Professor Trelawney, but not too much. She still seemed very much like a fraud most of the time.
After watching her leave through the trapdoor, he watched where she had been for a few seconds and then looked up and around the room again. He was very embarrassed to realize that everyone in the room was still staring at him. Feeling Harry's discomfort, Ron spoke up, "Alright, show's over!"
As they began to collect their things to leave, murmurs broke out amongst all of them. Several of them kept glancing out of the corner of their eyes at Harry, who rolled his eyes and knew before long this would be all over the school. He did not even want to think what Malfoy would say about all of this…
After everyone had gone Harry turned to Ron, who was still looking at Harry with a shocked expression, himself. "What did I say?"
Ron tried to answer but the words wouldn't come to him. He looked down at the table and noticed that Harry was still somehow holding his quill. He pointed to the paper in front of Harry. Harry looked at the paper in front of him and realized that somehow while having his vision, he had written what he must have predicted.
When he read what he wrote he suddenly understood why everyone had been staring at him and why he had gotten the reaction that he did. It said, "The living Heirs of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff and those from whom they draw their strength must unite, under the semblance of the phoenix and the leadership of the One True Heir, in order for the Heir of Slytherin to fall. The One True Heir must lead them all to victory, or all hope for the world will be lost."
"Did I really say that?" asked Harry.
All Ron could do at first was nod. As he gathered up his books he found his voice. "But that was not the most incredible part, mate."
"Oh?"
"Your scar and eyes glowed, along with the phoenix pin that you're wearing on your collar. I'm not sure anyone else noticed that, because it was very subtle. Even I did not really notice it until you had finished speaking and the glow faded."
"Well, if you think that's weird…. Wait until I tell you about the vision I had when this was happening."
"So tell me now. We're alone in here."
"No, I'll tell you back at the common room. I feel like this room has eyes and I don't like being in here right now."
"Okay, mate." They quickly gathered the rest of their things and left the room swiftly.
When they reached the common room it was obvious that their classmates had already been talking, because when they entered most conversation stopped and most eyes were now on Harry. Harry was surprised to see so many people in the common room at that time, as he knew that he and his class had been let go early from Double Divination. Then he realized it was the short break that they get between classes and that most of them were just there to grab their books for their next classes.
"How did it spread so quickly?" asked Ron.
Harry just gave him a look and Ron smiled sheepishly at Harry. They waited for the room to clear of all of the people going to their next classes. The only people who were left in the room were their classmates.
Harry and Ron sat in the far corner of the room. But Harry dared not talk about the vision that he had had with the prediction. He was too afraid that the others would try to listen in. They decided to wait until that night to talk about it, when everyone else had gone to bed.
Around the time that Ron and Harry were considering going to lunch, Hermione burst into the common room. She glanced around and when she saw Ron and Harry, she went over to them and pulled them out of the room.
"Hermione, what's this all about?" asked Harry. She just shushed them until they reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a wizard with a confused look on his face and gloves on the wrong hands. Harry recognized that statue as the one that signified where the Prefect's bathroom was. He had visited it once right before the second task of the Tri-wizard Tournament, after being given a tip from Cedric about the clue in the egg that he had had to capture from the dragon's nest in the first task.
They traveled to the fourth door to the left of the statue, where Hermione opened her mouth about to give the password, when Harry spoke, "Why are we here, Hermione?"
"Why are we where?" asked Ron, looking utterly confused.
"The Prefect's bathroom."
"How did you know that Harry?" asked Hermione sharply.
"Don't you remember last year, when I worked out the clue of the egg. I told you that Cedric had told me about it."
"Oh, right," she said softening a bit.
She looked back and forth down the corridor before stating, "Lemon scented." The door creaked open, just as it had the last time Harry had been there. They slipped inside quickly and slid the bolt lock over before turning around and walking into the room.
Ron just stood in awe for a few moments. He glanced around the dimly lit room made entirely of white marble. He walked over to the large rectangular hole that sunk into the middle of the floor, lined with about a hundred golden taps, each with a different glittering jewel upon its handle. He walked along the edge of the pool that looked like it had been recently used, which explained why it felt so humid and hot in the room and why there was a heavy perfume that hung in the air.
Ron looked longingly at the pool and its diving board. Then he noticed the white fluffy towels in the corner and ran over to them picking one up and rubbing it against his face.
"Wicked! I wish I were a Prefect, now," he gushed.
"Yes, well that's not possible. Now, is it? Are you done gawking because I would really like to get started," spat Hermione.
"'Mione, what's gotten into you? You've done nothing but snap at us and drag us around since you got back to the common room. What's going on?"
"And, as I asked before, why are we here?"
She looked pointedly at Harry. Harry immediately knew what was coming.
"Is it true?"
"What?" asked Ron dumbly. Both Harry and Hermione looked at him impatiently. "Oh. You've heard then."
"So, it's true, then?"
Harry nodded.
"Harry, do you know what this means?" asked Hermione.
"I'm not sure I know to what you are referring to. What does what mean?" asked Harry.
"It means you're off the hook! I mean, if there is a One True Heir out there who can defeat You-Know-Who with the combined effort of the other Heirs then you don't have to worry about him anymore!"
"I'm not so sure about that, Ron…"
"Why? Maybe if this gets back to You-Know-Who then he'll stop chasing after you and go after the One True Heir…"
Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at her boyfriend with an aggravated look. "Honestly, Ron…."
"What?"
"That's not at all what I was thinking…."
"So enlighten us then. What do you think that this means?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No."
Harry started feeling warm and drowsy due to the perfume and heat of the room. He began to feel a warm sensation in his scar, again. It wasn't painful, but it was alarming, knowing what had happened the prior time when it got warm. He completely tuned out the lover's quarrel between his two best friends. He had a strange urge to run from this place. He couldn't explain it but he felt as if he were in eminent danger. Just as before he felt leery, like he was being watched.
He got pulled from his thoughts when he heard his name. He only heard part of the question that Hermione asked "…about the One True Heir?"
"I don't know. I just don't know, right now." Harry started backing away.
"Harry, what's going on?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know. I don't feel safe here."
"Why?" asked Ron.
"I'm not sure. It's just a feeling. Like-like we're being watched or something."
"Hermione! Look! Look at his scar!"
"What?" asked Harry.
"Harry, come here to the mirror!"
Harry walked to the mirror and looked at his scar at Hermione's request. It was indeed glowing ever so slightly. He reached up to touch it and noticed that the phoenix pin and his father's ring were glowing as well. He looked at the reflection of his friends in the mirror, wondering if they had noticed too. By the looks on their faces, they had.
To break the awkward moment, Harry spoke up, "Well, perhaps we should head to lunch now." He had made it clear with that simple phrase that the discussion was finished for the time being.
But when he began to take a step toward the door the warmth in his head overtook him. His eyes began to droop and the feeling of falling came back to him. Again he stopped in the room and all of the people who had been there before reappeared. But there were more than before, some that Harry didn't expect to see. Standing on the back the chair that Dumbledore was sitting in, was Fawkes the phoenix, but also his own owl, Hedwig. And in the headmaster's lap was Crookshanks, Hermione's cat. He was stroking the cat with a knowing smile on his face. Harry looked at them questionably. He knew that there was something about them, something important…. It was almost as if they were trying to tell him something.
Lupin and Sirius stepped out of the shadows and next to the others. Professor Fletcher and Snape were also there. Hermione and Ron were in the background, but they too stepped to the front and sat at the table. If he was baffled at who was there in the room, he was even more surprised at who were not there in spirit… his parents.
Harry didn't have much time to think about why he wasn't seeing his parents. Suddenly the sword was again in front of him with the hilt toward him. He still felt that he needed to take it, but fought the urge once again and was pushed up once again.
When he opened his eyes he was on the floor in the prefects bathroom, with Hermione and Ron standing over him. "Are you alright, Harry?" asked Ron cautiously.
"Yes… yes, I'm fine." Though as he sat up he felt a sharp pain go through his head from where he had hit it on the floor. "I didn't say anything strange while I was out this time, did I?"
They both shook their heads. "Maybe you should go to the nurse," said Hermione with concern.
"Now, come on. Don't start treating me like I'm delicate. I'll be fine. I just think that we need to leave from here."
"But Harry are you sure…"
"I'll be fine, Hermione. Now, let's go grab a quick lunch. We have to get going to Care of Magical Creatures."
"Yeah with the Slytherins," said Ron disgustedly, pulling a face.
After their lunch they wandered out onto the grounds, towards the little hut by the Dark Forest, where Hagrid lived. They had almost reached the hut when a familiar cold voice drawled, "So the Potty has begun to see that there is no hope for the future."
They stopped and turned around. They came face to face with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
Malfoy leaned in and said in a sneer, "So have you seen your death yet, Potter? Or how about the death of your… friends?"
"On the contrary, Malfoy," said Harry as he glared at the pale boy with a pointed face, standing in front of him. "What I saw gave me hope…"
"Maybe, you haven't really seen anything then. Maybe you're really a fake! Nothing but a lying sack of sh…"
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK, MALFOY," roared Ron, who had had enough of Malfoy's lip. Ron took a step toward him. Crabbe and Goyle stepped in front of him. "You weren't there! You didn't see what happened," Ron continued as Harry and Hermione tried to restrain him and pull him away from the other three boys. As they pulled him far enough away from the other three, Ron turned around, muttering a few chose words ending with, "…. Evil loving git."
"Come on, Ron," Harry hissed in his ear, "Don't let him get to you."
"Easy for you to say, Harry," said Ron bitterly.
"Actually it's not, if you think about it, Ron. After all, it was me that he was referring to…."
"You're right, Harry. I'm sorry. But how can you let him talk to and about you like that."
"Because I don't really care about his opinion anymore. One thing that I have to say about this new ability that has begun to emerge… I have a feeling that he will get what's coming to him. And soon." He smiled slyly at Ron.
Ron looked at him and said, "Yeah let's hope that Hagrid has a really interesting creature, like maybe one that'll eat him." Harry laughed and Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. They almost laughed when they realized how close to the truth Ron had come…
When they got to the paddock Hagrid was standing there with a very wide grin, visible behind his wiry beard. Harry knew that grin. He had seen it before. Twice. Once in his first year and once last year at Hogwarts. He stopped in his tracks as the thing he suspected appeared ever so briefly from behind Hagrid.
"Harry, what is it?" asked Ron.
"I think you might just have gotten your wish Ron."
"What are you on about, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"If I'm right, I think I just saw a dragon emerge from behind Hagrid a moment ago."
The other two looked back at their beloved Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher. They saw something off in the distance behind Hagrid. It appeared to be a black leathery looking spiny wing, very similar to the wings of Norbert, the dragon that Hagrid had won from the "stranger" in Harry's first year.
They slowly approached and when they got to the paddock, Hagrid said, "Goo' day! Everyone gather 'round! Yeh'll no' want ter miss this." As everyone came close to the half giant he stepped out of the way. The sight that met their eyes was quite amazing.
There curled up on the far side of the paddock was indeed a dragon. It lifted its head as Hagrid stepped out of the way. Not knowing how it would react if they stared into its eyes, most of them decided to not to look directly at the beast. Harry was the only one who slowly approached the paddock.
"Hold it there, Harry. Don' wan' yeh ta ge' too close. He's never had this many people lookin' at 'im before." He turned and addressed the class, "This is Norbert. He's a Norwegian Ridgeback." Hagrid turned and looked lovingly at the beast. Norbert seemed somehow to remember Hagrid too because even the harsh hard face of the young dragon seemed to soften a bit, at least as much as a dragon's face could soften. After sharing a quiet moment looking at each other, Hagrid turned back to the group.
"Okay. Dragons're very smar'…."
"Probably smarter than the big dumb oaf teaching the class," muttered Malfoy just loud enough to make most of the other students hear him. Harry and Ron were visibly irritated by Malfoy's comment. Ron's fists were opening and closing as if he really was trying to keep himself from going over and pounding the smile on Malfoy's face into his skull.
Harry's hands were clenched so tightly that he felt his nails digging into his palms. Realizing the fact that both Harry and Ron looked like they were about to pounce on Malfoy, Hermione said, "Steady you two. Remember what you said earlier about Malfoy getting his own."
Meanwhile Hagrid had gone on without even noticing Malfoy's insolence. "Now, iffin yer wan'in' ter approach der paddock ter see 'im a little closer, then yer gon ta have ta approach very slow like. Dragons'll attack summat that moves fast. See." Hagrid continued to explain how to approach the dragon and what to do to show him respect.
Just as in their third year however, Draco and his two cronies were not listening to the instructions. This had been a big mistake on Draco's part during their third year. Draco had ended up getting attacked by a hippogriff named Buckbeak because he had insulted the beast badly. This caused Buckbeak to be put on trial and sentenced to death by front of the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures Council. Luckily Harry had intervened and gotten Buckbeak away before he had been killed. In fact Buckbeak was the one that had carried his godfather out and away from danger after he had found out the truth about what had happened the night Harry's parents were killed.
Harry shivered internally as he thought about how close he had come to losing his godfather that night. Watching Draco make the same mistake again made Harry very nervous. He did not want Hagrid to lose another Magical Creature, especially one that meant so much to him.
"So who wan's ter come an' see Norbert up close?"
Harry stepped forward slowly and made sure that he did everything that Hagrid had explained. Slowly Norbert got up and walked over to Harry. Norbert put his nose so close to Harry that he could feel the heat and smell the brimstone scent that Hagrid had said would be on the dragon's breath. Harry slowly lifted his hand and touched Norbert's nose. It was amazing how much the scales felt like a snake's.
Harry finished touching Norbert's nose, Harry remembered that he needed to thank Norbert for the opportunity to do so. Because he had just been thinking about snakes though, he unknowingly slipped into Parseltongue. Norbert seemed to become very still. Everyone in the paddock became still, waiting with baited breath to see what sort of reaction Harry was going to get from the dragon.
Norbert lifted his head and pulled back his head slightly almost as if he were about to strike. Harry started to step slowly back from Norbert. By now everyone else had stepped back about forty feet knowing that a four year old dragon could not shoot fire past thirty feet. Hagrid was about to intervene when Norbert's head shot forward.
Hagrid was heard screaming, "Norbert, no!!!"
Harry was about to turn and run until he realized that Norbert was not attacking him but trying to stop him from leaving. He had stepped as far as he could without stepping out of the paddock and stretched his neck out as far as he could to block Harry's retreat with his head. Harry stood very still looking into the large eye that was right next to him. And though he knew he was in peril where he was, he somehow felt a sense of calm.
When Norbert was sure that Harry was not going anywhere he pulled his head back so that he could look at Harry with both eyes again. He stuck out his forked tongue and almost seemed to lick Harry with it. And then many strange sounds emitted from the dragon, that no one else but Harry could understand.
"Wh-h-h-o are you and h-h-h-how do you know my language?" hissed Norbert at Harry.
"I'm Harry Potter and I'm not sure what you mean about your language."
"You are s-s-speaking in the S-s-sacred S-s-serpent Tongue, s-s-spoken only by s-s-serpents-s-s-s."
"You mean serpents like snakes?"
"Yes-s-s-s."
"Well, there are some wizards who have a rare gift, the ability to speak to snakes, using Parseltongue. They call these wizards, Parselmouths. I just happen to be one…."
"I s-s-s-see…. I am very honored to have you address-s-s-s me in my own tongue. Es-s-s-specially after that very eloquent ex-x-xpress-s-s-sion of pleasure that you jus-s-st gave to me for allowing you to touch my nos-s-s-se. I must s-s-s-say that I was-s-s-s a bit s-s-s-surprised though and you s-s-s-saw my reaction. I apologiz-z-ze if I frightened you."
"Not at all." Harry smiled at Norbert while the rest of the group just stood there with their mouths hanging open, watching the exchange between them in silence. Even Hagrid had surprise hanging in his eyes. Harry was lost in his own thoughts for a few moments. He thought about how much easier the first task of the Triwizard tournament would have been if he had know that he could have talked to the Hungarian Horntail that he had had to get past.
When Harry realized it was quiet he turned around and Norbert turned his head slightly to see everyone staring at them.
"So, wh-h-h-ho are all of the people s-s-s-standing over there with my Papa," hissed Norbert quietly.
"Your Papa?"
"Yes-s-s. The tall man that hatched me."
"Oh, you mean my friend, Hagrid…."
"Yes-s-s-s."
"Okay, well of the others half of them are Gryffindors like me…."
"What do you mean 'Gryffindors-s-s-s'?"
Harry took a moment to explain to Norbert about how Hogwarts worked.
"And you say that the S-s-s-slytherins-s-s-s have a s-s-s-snake as their mascot, but you are a Gryffindor whos-s-s-se mas-s-s-scot is-s-s-s a lion…. How is-s-s that poss-s-sible if you can s-s-s-speak the Pars-s-seltongue?"
Harry then explained what he knew about why he could speak the language.
"Ah, I s-s-s-see." Norbert turned his head and looked at the group again. "Perhaps-s-s-s you had better s-s-s-start ex-x-xplaining this-s-s-s to your fellow s-s-students-s-s. They look a little nervous-s-s-s."
"Right." Harry turned to the group and explained what the exchange was about. Hagrid was visibly excited at the prospect of being able to communicate with the dragon that had once been his. "Harry, do yeh think yed be able teh introduce everyone teh Norbert there?"
Harry turned and spoke to Norbert. The dragon nodded its head and Harry smiled. Harry turned back to the group and said, "Norbert would like that very much."
Slowly the others came forward and Harry introduced them all to Norbert. Eventually excitement spread throughout the group as they had just been personally introduced to a Dragon and lived to tell the tale.
Each person made sure that did everything that they were told to show respect. When Harry introduced Ron and Hermione, he made sure to tell Norbert that they were his best friends, but explained that they were unable to speak Parseltongue. Norbert hissed that he was honored to meet the friends of the Parselmouth wizard, Harry Potter. When Harry relayed the message they bowed and stepped away.
As the group of them were waiting to be introduced, Hagrid talked a bit more about the dangers of wild untamed dragons, "Da Dragon's Stare is da look dat a dragon give to its prey jus' afore it cooks it with its fire breath, so dat da prey don' move. Da Stare make all o' da muscles in da prey's body stop workin'. Dat's why yeh shouldna look inter der eyes. Even der tame ones can do it. So iffin yer feelin' like yeh can' move, let me know."
There was some Slytherins muttering amongst the others waiting in the crowd when Hagrid finished his speech, "If we got the Dragon's Stare, how are we supposed to let him know that we are frozen?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe he's looked in the eyes of a dragon to often and now his brain is frozen…." This phrase got a reproachful stare by Hermione who was standing nearby. It was Ron's turn to remind her that they couldn't do anything about the Slytherins.
Hermione muttered under her breath, "Don't be too sure…. I am a prefect after all."
~~~~~~~~~~~
The only three that stood apart, not wanting to be personally introduced to the beast by Harry, were Malfoy and his two cronies.
"Who are thos-s-s-se three?" hissed Norbert indicating Draco and his friends with his head, between introductions. Harry took a quick glance at where Norbert had indicated.
"Those are the bullies of my year. They are Slytherin and my archenemies, Draco Malfoy is the smaller one in the middle, and the two big dumb looking ones flanking him are Crabbe and Goyle," hissed Harry with a bite to his voice.
Harry was surprised to see what looked like a smile spread across the dragon's face. "Would you like me to s-s-s-scare them?"
Harry smirked and laughed at the idea of having a dragon willing to scare the pants off of his enemy. "Not right away. But when you do perform that feat make sure that you don't hurt him, because he has a father with very high influence and he already nearly had another wonderful magical creature destroyed because of his manipulation. Luckily I was able to set the creature free, before it was beheaded as it was slated to be…."
A cold calculated look entered the dragon's eyes, "I s-s-s-see. I will heed your warning Harry Potter, but if an opportunity aris-s-s-ses-s-s-s then I will c-c-c-certainly take it…"
Harry smiled at him and continued the introductions. When everyone but Malfoy and his thugs had been introduced, Malfoy sauntered over to the paddock with a brazen strut. "I'll take my introductions from here, Potter…"
Hagrid stuck out a huge hand before Malfoy got to the paddock to stop him. "Malfoy, I think yeh'd better let Harry do the introductions," said Hagrid a bit worried. Fear was evident on his face and Harry was sure that he was thinking about Buckbeak.
The pale-haired boy rounded on the half giant and said, "I think I pride myself in knowing a bit more about these… beasts than you, sir."
"How do yeh figure on tha'?"
"Well, I am named after them, after all." Draco turned back to Norbert.
Hagrid muttered, "Jus' 'cause yer named fer 'em. Don' make you no expert, but yeh've got ter make yer own mistakes, I guess." Though he did stand close by in case he needed to restrain Norbert for any reason.
Harry turned to say something to Norbert, when a weird sort of hissing emitted from Draco. Harry almost laughed when he heard what Draco said in an odd sort of botched up mixture of Parseltongue gibberish and English, "Me…. Draco…. You…. Ignorant… serpent."
"Uh, Malfoy…. I would quit while you're ahead, if I were you," Harry said, as Norbert pulled his head back trying to listen to and understand the English part of the conversation.
"Why are you threatened by my superior skills at speaking Parseltongue?"
Harry held back a snicker. "Erm… How do you know Parseltongue anyway?" asked Harry, in mock amazement.
Draco raised his nose in the air and with pride stated, "My father started teaching it to me." Draco lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Harry. "He says that it will be a very useful tool to be able to communicate and understand snakes and other serpents, being that I am a Slytherin. He says that I am very good already. Obviously, better than you." Draco glared at Harry.
Harry frowned as he glared back at his enemy and thought, I'm sure I know the reason why your father wants you to know this language, too, Malfoy. To better serve your Master. But you do not know the language as well as you think you do.
Norbert had heard quite enough to understand that the Draco human was trying to insult his new friend, Harry Potter. As if in slow motion, Norbert shot his head forward directly at Draco. Crabbe and Goyle, who were eyeing the dragon nervously, tapped Draco's arm, pointed at the dragon when he asked them impatiently what they wanted, and then took off like bats out of hell.
When Draco realized the dragon was going to attack him he screamed like a baby and started running backwards. He didn't get too far before he tripped and fell flat on his behind. Watching the dragon's head still approaching him he tried to slide backwards, but couldn't get very far, due to his cloak getting snagged on whatever it was that he tripped over. He covered his face with his hands and continued to scream.
"Norbert, no!" hissed Harry loudly, to stop his new friend from doing something that he could regret….
Norbert's head stopped an inch from Draco's head. Feeling the hot breath of the dragon on his arm he looked out from between his fingers. "Boo," hissed Norbert in Parseltongue. Harry laughed hysterically, knowing that Draco had no clue as to what was going on. Norbert kept his head there breathing his hot breath on Draco's arm for a few more seconds.
Draco realizing that Norbert hadn't eaten him yet, brought his hands down away from his face slightly. Harry stopped laughing and watched his new friend trying to instill fear into his enemy with a look. But emboldened by the fact that the dragon hadn't eaten him, Draco put his hand's down on the ground and was about to get up. Norbert realizing the fact that Draco really didn't fear the look in his eyes, put on the Dragon's Stare, before taking in a deep breath.
"Norbert, what are you doing?" hissed Harry at the dragon.
"Finding my opportunity," hissed Norbert back to Harry, just after he began taking in his breath. Harry stood there in awe and suddenly smirked. He could hear the dragon's thoughts. He knew what he was about to do. He didn't hesitate. He stepped back.
The other students who were watching the scene had backed off again, completely unsure about what was about to happen to the repugnant boy from Slytherin. When they saw Harry step back, after Norbert had taken part of his deep breath and said something in Parseltongue, they all followed suit. Except for Draco, who could not take his eyes off of the dragon. Draco knew that something was about to happen, but was frozen to the spot.
As if in slow motion, the mouth of the dragon opened. Draco still frozen to the spot by fear, looked past the huge powerful jaws that most likely spelled out his death, down into the gullet of the dragon that he was sure was about to eat him….
Suddenly a tremendous, horrible roar emitted from the Dragon, making Draco instantly put his hands over his ears. Everyone else followed suit. Draco's face, unbelievably, paled more than usual, as he began screaming at the top of his lungs. He couldn't even hear his own voice above the roar of the dragon. Forgetting to shut his eyes he continued to look straight into the creature's mouth. Draco watched the saliva of the dragon as it was blown out of the dragon's mouth with the sheer force of the roar and landed all over his robes.
For a full half a minute the roar went on. Then as suddenly as it began, it stopped. He could finally hear his own scream, which he instantly stopped. The dragon's mouth closed, but only slightly. Though Draco's mouth stayed open as if in a silent scream. He was breathing hard and feeling woozy and shaky. Draco paled more, as he did not have any idea what the dragon was going to do next.
Everyone stood there with their eyes wide and ears ringing. They all watched as Norbert brought his neck back in toward his body and stepped back, retreating to the back of the paddock. He hissed something to Harry, who smiled widely, before curling up into a rather large ball, closing his eyes as if to fall asleep.
Since Norbert had stopped looking at Draco, he realized he could move again. Draco started trying to get up. Harry smirking, tried to help up his shaky enemy, but was pushed away from him. Crabbe and Goyle cautiously approached and lifted Draco to his feet. Once on his feet, he shoved his two big cronies away, realizing too late that he was unable to stand on his own two feet due to his jiggling nerves. He grabbed for Goyle and accidentally pulled the huge boy on top of him. Crabbe ran to assist his friends as the Gryffindor onlookers all got a hearty chuckle over the scene of Goyle sitting on Draco. The Slytherins were all standing there trying to maintain composure, as they all thought the scene was humorous, but didn't want to laugh at someone in their own house, with those from their rival house.
Once Crabbe had gotten Goyle off of their leader and had pulled Draco to his feet, They looked toward Hagrid with venom in their eyes. "I think yeh'd better take 'im to the Hospital wing," said Hagrid, who was very obviously amused and trying to keep some semblance of composure. Crabbe and Goyle half dragged Draco up to the school.
Several of the teachers had emerged from the castle to see what had happened. Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, was there as well. As Draco and his cronies approached most of the teachers curled up their noses and stepped as far away from them as they could. Madam Pomfrey directed the boys into the school with her face scrunched up like she had just eaten a lemon and trying to give them a wide berth.
McGonagall came running over to the group to find out what had happened to the Slytherin boy. She looked very cross until she got the entire story explained to her by Hagrid and Harry. The look on her face showed surprise and then a slight amusement before she regained enough composure to state, "Yes, well. I'm sure that the Headmaster will want a full report of this incident. We do not want another magical creature to be needlessly accused and found guilty of something he did not do."
"Tha' would never 'appen, Minerva. This here's a Norwegian Ridgeback. Very rare an' un'er da prote'tion o' da Endangered Magical Creature's Protection Act that were passed las' year. B'sides it were all Malfoy's fault fer not listenin' ter me an' Harry. An' dis time I gots loads o' witnesses dat would back up me story."
McGonagall sighed and nodded. She left swiftly and purposefully. Hagrid turned to the rest of the group who were now eager to learn more about dragons, but as it was time to leave Hagrid dismissed the class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hung back to talk to Hagrid for a few minutes. They all were curious how Hagrid had managed to get Norbert back to do the lesson.
"After the firs' task las' year, I asked Charlie iffin it would be alrigh' fer me ter borrow a dragon ter teach yeh abou' 'em. He was willin' and we planned it fer the star' o' this year. He had though' it only fittin' dat it should be Norbert, seein' as it had been me that raised him for the first month o' his life, and all. Do he remember dat, Harry? Do yeh know?"
"Yeah, he called you his Papa." Hagrid beamed with pride as tears glistened at the corners of his eyes. "So how long are you going to have Norbert here Hagrid."
"I've gots an agreemen' wid Charlie. Norbert is going ter be here half o' da school year, just so long as there's no problem's wid him. An' wid how Malfoy acted today I be hopin' dat dis won't get 'im in trouble or nothin'."
"Don't worry, Hagrid. We'll vouch for your story. In fact I think all of the Gryffindors will protest to him being sent away," said Hermione. Hagrid smiled at them and told them to be on their way.
As they walked away from the paddock curiosity got the best of Ron. "Harry, what did Norbert say to you, just before you tried to help Draco up?"
Harry laughed and then said, "Just that he hoped that Draco had a change clothes some place nearby." They all laughed.