Harry Potter and the Princesses for Magic:
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. It's a let-down for me, but it's true. OH, I forgot to say before that Sweetsland if my own idea, modified from that treats shop.... I forgot what it's called.... it's from Hogsmeade.... but it's like a candy-super store. I've got another disclaimer, but I can't say it now 'cause it'll spoil the chapter.
Author's Note: Hey readers! Thanks a bunch, again, to anyone who reviewed! And remember, I appreciate EVERY SINGLE REVIEW. SO REVIEW!!! So, Harry's found out that Voldemort's dead. Yep, gone. Confused how he died? No problemo! That'll be explained just a bit in this chapter, and the whole entire explanation will be done the chapter after that. For this chapter, Harry'll find out the two new students that will change his 6th year, and maybe life! Also including a Sorting Hat song I made up myself. Anyway, hope you like it!
Chapter 5
From Platform 9 3/4 to the Great Hall
with Surprise and Mystery in Between
Harry woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning, cold and clammy from his awful nightmare of his encounters with Voldemort. He shook off his sleepiness, slipped out of his bed and stretched to the ceiling, yawning here and there. All of his crankiness and sorrow from the day before vanished as the crisp autumn air blew through his window. Today would be the day he'd get on that Hogwarts Express and go back to school, where a whole new year was waiting for him, one without (finally!) Voldemort.
"This year'll be a great year!" he said to himself. "No Voldemort or worries, just a great wizarding year ahead of me."
He quickly got dressed and went downstairs, dragging his luggage in the foyer down with him. Remus was already downstairs eating breakfast. Remus looked up from his cup of tea to greet Harry.
"Good morning, Harry!" said Remus. "Ready for your first NEWT year?"
"Of course I am!" said Harry, taking a seat at the table. "Are NEWTs that hard?"
"They can be pretty tough," said Remus, "but it depends on your study habits. You can't be lazy on your homework anymore. You have to really work hard at it."
"You know what, I'm going to do my best this year!" said Harry merrily. "I'll focus on my studies and everything, with no worry of Voldemort coming after me!"
"My are you ever cheery," remarked Remus.
"Yeah, I'm feeling this sudden happiness right now. I guess I just woke up and thought to myself, 'Hey, I've got nothing to fear; Voldemort's gone!'"
"I knew you'd calm down," said Remus. "Now eat your breakfast. It's waiting for you on the counter."
Harry merrily grabbed his plate full of food and glass of juice and sat down at the table. It was a delicious breakfast with sausage, bacon, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs and orange juice. Right after breakfast, Harry rechecked all of the things that he would bring to Hogwarts. By 10 o'clock, they were out the door, in the car and on their way to Kings Cross Train Station. On the way, they listened to the wizard rock band "Boys 'n' Brooms" on the wizard radio while all the Muggles on the road stared at the beautiful, silver Thunderbird.
By 11:30 a.m., they were at the train station. Remus helped Harry put all his luggage onto the trolley and headed to find Platform 9 3/4. Once they found it, they both stood and looked up at the numbers of the two platforms it was in between, Platforms 9 and 10.
"Ah.... Platform 9 3/4. Just how I remember it! The good old days..."
"I'd better get onto the platform," said Harry.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"
"No, it's okay. I'm fine. I've been doing this for more than 6 years, you know."
"Yes, of course. Well, there are your friends!" pointed out Remus as Ron and Hermione were racing their trolleys towards him with their pets (Crookshanks and Pig) clutching onto their luggage and Ginny behind them.
Harry turned around and gave them a warm wave. They finally got to him, panting.
"Ron! Hermione! Ginny! You're finally here!"
"Hey Harry," said Ron. "Oh my goodness, you will not believe the celebrations Ginny and I saw when we went home!"
"It's so pathetic how crazy some witches and wizards act," sighed Hermione. "Muggles could get suspicious!"
"I guess we should go on the platform now," implied Ginny.
"Yes, of course," said Hermione. "Ladies first, as they always say!"
"Ladies first, as they always say!" imitated Ron sarcastically in a low voice so only Harry could hear him.
She concentrated, ran to the platform with her trolley and disappeared into the wall. After came Ginny who did the same thing as Hermione, and so did Ron afterwards. Before Harry went, Remus gave Harry a big hug.
"I'm going to miss you a lot, Harry," said Remus with a warm smile. "This was one of the best summers of my life. You really brought me back to my earlier years. Before you go, I'd like to give you a present."
Remus pulled out a brand new belonging carrier box out of his pocket. Harry's eyes opened with delight.
"Thank you, Remus!" exclaimed Harry. "Thank you so much!"
"Oh your welcome," said Remus. "Here, I'll show you how to use it."
Remus showed Harry how to use the fascinating wizard mechanism. He beamed all the luggage into the box and put it in his pocket (but he didn't beam up Hedwig, of course, that's just cruelty to animals). Remus hugged Harry tightly and said goodbye. Remus looked like he would cry, but he tried to act strong.
Harry ran through the wall separating Platform 9 and Platform 10 and magically appeared onto Platform 9 3/4 where the Hogwarts Express was toot-tooting away with steam as the Hogwarts students packed their luggage onto the train. Harry followed his friends onto the train, glad that he didn't have to put anything in the luggage compartment. When he passed by the luggage compartment, he met his arch-enemy Draco Malfoy and his cronies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
"Well, if it isn't the orphan boy, the cheapo and the Muggle-born!" snickered Draco Malfoy in a sarcastic look.
"Back off, Malfoy!" shouted Harry. "If you're really up to being a Prefect, I suggest acting like one."
"Oh Potter, I think that stupid scar on your head is effecting your brain!" taunted Malfoy. "After all these years we've known each other, might I add those were 5 horrible years, you still actually think I'd take advice from you!"
His two cronies giggled at Malfoy's disgusting joke (obviously because they were too stupid to make up their own).
"Just shut up, Malfoy!" said Harry. "The only people who find your jokes funny are your cronies, in other words, your bodyguards, because they couldn't tell the difference between a good joke or a bad joke if their life depended on it."
"I wouldn't go off saying things like that if I were you," snickered Malfoy, holding up his Prefect badge. "I could report you."
Malfoy suddenly glared at Hermione, Ginny and Ron's trolleys that they'd just recently put in the compartment, and he noticed how Harry didn't have anything but a bird cage with his owl in it.
"Now why isn't Harry Potter putting his luggage in the compartment?" questioned Malfoy mischievously. "Is he afraid the Dark Lord is going to pop up and take him away? Or maybe he doesn't have any luggage, like he doesn't have any parents?"
All three of the evil wizards laughed. Harry was getting a bit ticked off at his remarks.
"First of all Draco, Lord Voldemort is dead," responded Harry. "You should know that, especially your father! Even if I don't have any parents, it's probably a lot better than being brought up with stuck-up people like you! Second, I do have luggage and all of it is in this tiny gizmo in my pocket that Remus Lupin, my mentor who just happens to be one of the Chief Aurors at Headquartres, gave to me, which was imported from Italy!" he said as he pulled out the belonging carrier box. Malfoy scowled with jealousy and awe.
"You have one of those?!?" questioned Draco angrily. "I begged my father to get me one of those! Those are one of the best wizard gadgets imported from there!"
"Well, too bad!" said Harry. "You might have parents, but you don't have an awesome mentor and a belonging carrier box like me."
"This is ridiculous!" said Malfoy, as if he had something better to do (which obviously, he didn't). "I have to leave to the Prefect compartment, something you'll never see, Potter!"
Malfoy strutted into the next car, while Crabbe and Goyle stood cluelessly still. Malfoy opened the door in frustration, and looked at his cronies with angry eyes.
"Well, go on!" he shouted at Crabbe and Goyle, who finally got the message through their thick heads and left. Harry's friends giggled their hearts out once they were gone.
"Oh did you ever show him, Harry!" said Ginny.
"Thanks," said Harry.
"Oh dear," gasped Hermione. "Sorry, Harry, but we have to go to the Prefect Car. You understand, right?"
"Of course," sighed Harry, who was actually quite disappointed that he couldn't spend most of the journey with his friends, which had dimmed his happiness for the new school year. "I guess I'll see you soon."
"Goodbye!" said Ron, as he left to the next compartment with Hermione and Ginny.
Harry sighed and walked through the hall of booths, where Hogwarts students from 1st year to 7th year chatted with friends. Harry wondered who he'd sit with now that Hermione and Ron were gone.
"Harry, over here!" said Neville, a boy in Harry's year, who was waving his hands to signal Harry to sit with him. Harry rushed over to the booth, occupied only by Neville himself. Harry quickly sat comfortably on a seat near the window.
"Wow, Harry!" said Neville astonishingly as he held on tightly to his frog, Trevor. "I never knew you could tell Malfoy off like that! That was fantastic!"
"Thanks," said Harry with a smile.
The train jerked a little bit and then started running on the tracks. The train was now on its way to Hogwarts.
"So, what happened to that Mimbulus mimbletonia?"
"Actually, I've still got it," said Neville as he laid down Trevor and got out the funky-looking plant, which had grown tremendously since the last time Harry saw it. "It's grown now, and I'm really excited to get other ones. They're fascinating you know..."
"Yeah, right," said Harry.
"Are you still banned from Quidditch?" asked Neville.
"No, but I'm not too sure if I'm back on the team," replied Harry happily.
"I think they'll let you back on the team and you'll make Gryffindor captain," said Neville. "Angelina's gone, and you're pretty much the best player on the team."
"Really? You think?"
"Of course! You're fantastic at it! I think you'll definitely be a good captain."
"I hope so," said Harry, as he started to think of how great it would be to be captain.
Suddenly, the trolley lady stopped at their booth with a whole cart filled with wizard sweets.
"Anything you want to buy from the trolley today, sweeties?" asked the lady.
"All right," said Neville, as he pulled out a few Sickles. "I'll have a Chocolate Frog.
Neville gave the trolley lady the Sickles and the lady handed him a Chocolate Frog.
"Would you like anything, dear?" asked the lady to Harry.
"No thank you," replied Harry.
The trolley lady nodded and passed by the next booth. Neville opened his box, quickly ate the Chocolate Frog and looked at the Wizard Card.
"All right!" exclaimed Neville with glee. "I've finally got Sir Lance Herbilious, one of the world's famous herbologists!"
"That's....great," said Harry (although he quite thought the opposite).
"Why didn't you want anything off the trolley?" asked Neville as he put his Wizard Card in his pocket.
"I went to Sweetsland yesterday," replied Harry. "Didn't you go?"
"I wanted to, but my Grams thought that I've been having enough sweets this summer," sighed Neville. "It's a bit silly, you know. I'm 16 years old now."
"I know how you feel," said Harry.
"So," whispered Neville, as he drew closer to Harry, "are you mad?"
"Mad?" asked Harry suspiciously. "Mad about what?"
"You know," whispered Neville, "that you're supposed to kill him?"
"What?" asked Harry. Neville hushed him, and then Harry lowered his voice too. "What?"
"About the Prophecy," answered Neville.
"Y-you know about it?" questioned Harry.
"Oh yeah, my Grams told me when I was younger. She told me about you too. She was quite glad that I wasn't the one, you know, said the wizarding world would be lost if it was in my hands."
Harry was shocked Neville knew. All this time, when Harry had never known why Voldemort tried to kill him, Neville knew all along. It came to Harry as quite a surprise.
"I never knew you knew," whispered Harry.
"Well, are you mad?" asked Neville.
"I was angrier yesterday, but not much today," responded Harry. "I'm just glad he's gone."
"Me too," sighed Neville. "Do you still think about, well, that night?"
"Every night," said Harry. "I can't get it out of my head."
"Same here," said Neville. "It was.. really freaky. I never knew what was in me until then. Are you still mourning for Sirius?"
"Yeah I am," sighed Harry, as the thought of his godfather depressed him. "I've been sulking all summer."
"I'm really sorry that happened," said Neville. "Grams knew, she has connections with the Order, since my... my parents were in it. She knew he wasn't bad."
At that moment, all the Prefects walked out of the next car, with Ron and Hermione near the front. Ron and Hermione rushed over to the booth Harry and Neville were at.
"Hey guys!" said Ron as he sat down next to Harry.
"Hello Neville," said Hermione, who took a seat as well.
"Where's Ginny?" asked Harry.
"She'll be sitting in another booth," replied Hermione.
"So, did you eat all your sweets from Sweetsland yet, Ron?" asked Harry.
"No, not all of it. I have a couple of pumpkin crisps and Beaver Tails in my luggage to eat in the common room. I ate a whole lot of sweets yesterday. I had stomach aches all night. I stayed in the loo for 5 hours!"
"That's disturbing, Ron!" scolded Hermione.
"Sorry," said Ron sarcastically.
As Harry looked in the aisle of the train, he saw Pansy Parkinson walking down the aisle. She passed Malfoy's seat and they both gave scowls to each other. Harry became confused.
"Pansy Parkinson and Malfoy scowled at each other," said Harry to his friends. "I wonder why."
"What?"
Pansy Parkinson was passing by their seats until Hermione stopped her by stretching her arm out. Pansy turned to Hermione.
"What do you want, Granger?" she demanded in a rude way.
"Why did you and Malfoy scowl at each other like that?"
"We broke up during the summer, okay? Now go back to your Muggle-born business!"
Hermione was extremely offended by the remark, but instead snickered with Ron and Harry at the news.
"Wow, Pansy and Malfoy broke up!" said Ron. "Malfoy can't keep a girlfriend!"
"First Malfoy gets disses by Harry, then I find out he's got no girlfriend," said Neville giggling. "I never knew I'd see the day when Malfoy'd seem like such a loser compared to me, eh?"
As Harry nodded to Neville, Harry looked at the people in the booths. He saw two girls in the far corner that he'd never seen before. They looked like they would be in their 6th years, but Harry wasn't sure. One girl was very tall with a pointy nose. She had brown eyes and light red hair, like a firy blonde which she had put up in a bun. She was very skinny and had a very dark tan. The other one was very small, had a tan like her sister and was very chubby. She had ratty, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He could tell she was very nervous. She was chewing at her fingernails and squeezing the arm rest with the other hand while blankly looking out the window.
"Guys," whispered Harry, "look at those two strange girls over there."
All three of them peaked at the girls curiously.
"Yeah! I know what you mean!" agreed Ron. "Wow, that chubby one looks really tense. She's not going to have any fingernails afterwards. And the other one, wow. She has a nice hair colour. It's kind of red, a better red than mine in fact!"
"Let's go greet them!" suggested Hermione.
"You three can go, but not me," said Neville. "I'm not great when it comes to greeting people. I'll meet them at school."
"Whatever you say," said Harry.
All of them took their belongings (basically their pets) and walked over to the booth the two strange girls were in. The firy blonde one looked up and smiled. She nudged the other one who looked up and grinned a little bit.
"Hello!" said Hermione with a polite smile. "We noticed we've never seen you here before, and we wanted to say hi."
"Hello, we ara new hera," said the firy blonde in broken English with an Italian accent. "We ara froma Italia. Pleaso to meeta yo!"
"You're from Italy? I was vacationing there!" said Hermione.
"We cana see," said the nervous one, looking at her tan.
"My nama is Maria," said the tall girl. "My sista hera iso Rosa. Yo cana taka a seat, ya know."
"Thank you," said Harry as they all sat down and made themselves comfortable.
"Hi, I'm Ron Weasley," he greeted as he tried to settle down his hyper owl on his head.
"I'm Hermione Granger," she said, stroking her cat.
"And I'm Harry Potter."
When Harry spoke his name, the two sisters' eyes widened. They looked at each other in shock, and then glared back.
"Y-y-ou're Harry Potter?" stuttered Rosa excitedly. "Whya, wer're happya to meet yo!"
She shook his hand very hard, and then laid back with a grin.
"Uhmmm... I'm happy to meet you too," said Harry.
"So, what wizard school did you go to before?" asked Hermione.
"Nero Gatto Catholic Academia for Witches anda Wizards," stated Rosa.
"That school?" exclaimed Hermione. "That's where the Royals go! Have you ever seen them?"
"Yesa, we know thema..." said Maria shyly.
Harry had no idea what they were talking about. He didn't bother to ask though, because they were so much into the conversation that he didn't get a chance to ask.
"I guess this means you're going to have to wear the Sorting Hat," said Ron.
"I guessa so," said Maria. "I hopa I'm ina Gryffindor!"
"What a coincidence!" said Ron. "We're all in Gryffindor too!"
"So, which one do you want to be in, Rosa?" asked Hermione.
"Ravenclaw!" exclaimed Rosa.
"I think that's a good house to be in," stated Hermione. "That's where all the witty students go. I thought I would go there. Do you want me to tell you what kind of students go into each house?"
"No thanka yo," responded Rosa.
"You already know?" asked Ron.
"I've reada Hogwarts, a Historia, Volumes 1 anda 2," said Rosa.
"Well, at least somebody has read that book. I read that book before I came to Hogw... Did you just say Volume 2?" questioned Hermione.
"Yesa, it's new. It includesa the Philosepher's Stona, the Chambera of Secrets, tha Triwizard Tournamente..." said Rosa.
"I never knew!" gasped Hermione. "I have got to read that book!"
"You've got to read every book!" said Ron.
"Anyway, what did you get on your O.W.L.s?" asked Hermione.
"We don'ta like talkinge about ar' marksa," said Rosa. "We lika to keep thema to ourselves."
"Unlike Hermione," muttered Ron.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't be boasting about what we got. It's a bit rude. I heard the Royals got Outstandings in all their subjects, but they weren't completely great in Herbology. I've heard they're really not so great at Herbology. They don't like to get messy, but they still got Outstanding. They must be really smart. I would love to meet them!"
"Yes, don'ta we alla," said Rosa in a strange tone.
"Are you thinking of joining the Quidditch team?" asked Harry.
"Yesi of coursa!" said Maria. "I woulda lova to be za, what do you calla? Oh, seeka!"
"Actually, I'm seeker," said Harry.
"Wella, good for you! It'sa okay! I like alla tha places. Do you know any empty spotsa?"
"Well, if you get sorted into Gryffindor, you might be able to be Beater or Chaser," said Ron. "My brothers were the Beaters before and they graduated last year, although they got replacements and such so we're not too sure if those replacements will stay. We'll have to wait and see. If they are leaving the replaced spots open, you could be a Beater or Chaser."
"What position would you like, Ros-"
"Nothing!" declared Rosa.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, I don'ta like tha gama. It's horribla! Maybe Beater, I lika to hit things."
"All right...."
"Well, if you ever need some help with school, from getting to a classroom to help with homework, we'll help you," said Hermione.
"That'sa greata!" said Maria.
Suddenly, the train jerked and slowed down. They were at Hogwarts, as they could see out the window the majestic mounted castle surrounded by beautiful acres of land and deep lake.
Everyone loaded off the train and hopped onto the platform. Stepping off the train, Harry tried to look back at the sisters. Strangely, they were gone. It was quite mysterious to him.
They said hi to Hagrid, who was calling the 1st years, as they went into the carriages and headed to the castle where they would all meet in the Great Hall. Harry glared at the creatures pulling the carriages: Thestrals, a black horse-like creature with bat-like wings, which was only seen by those who had seen death. At the sight of them, Harry could only think of Sirius... his poor godfather.
Neville, holding his plant and Trevor, caught up to Harry and his friends.
"Sorry about that!" said Neville, panting. As he caught his breath, he spotted the Thestrals pulling the carriage. "Gee, those Thestrals creep me out. I guess we should go in now!"
"Y-yeah," stuttered Harry, as he turned his view away from the Thestrals and got into the carriage with his friends.
It was going to be a great feast. Once in the Great Hall, they took their seats and waited until Professor Flitwick laid the Sorting Hat onto the stool that it usually laid on. Then Professor McGonagoll brought in all the first years. Before they were sorted, the Sorting Hat sang an opening song:
"Fellow students, gather round and put me on your head,
it will be the place where you belong, the house that I will have said.
Every year I figure out which house you will be going,
you should agree with this wise, old hat because I am rather knowing.
Let me see into your brain about where you ought to be,
and then Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin will come out of me.
Gryffindor is for the brave, whom of courageous heart,
Hufflepuff is loyal, whom friendships won't fall apart.
Ravenclaw is witty, whom seek knowledge and are smart,
Slytherin is strong-willed and seek power, though somewhat small at heart.
'So where will you be?' I must ask, and let me find out, it is the rule,
and then you will be sorted and learn in this grand, old school!"
"Thank you," said Professor McGonagoll, as she unrolled her scroll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will come up, put on the hat and be sorted. Abby, Abigail!"
A small blonde girl put on the hat shyly and sat down.
"Hufflepuff!" shouted the Sorting Hat, as the Hufflepuffs cheered and welcome Abigail into their house.
"I wonder which houses those sisters are going to be sorted into," said Harry.
"I hope they're both going to be in Gryffindor," said Ron.
"They don't have to be in the same house," stated Hermione. "Parvarti and Padma are sisters, but they're in different houses."
"By the way, where are they?" asked Ron.
"Ravenclaw!" shouted the Sorting Hat after sorting Gina Greeves.
"I couldn't find them after we were leaving the train," said Harry.
"They were shy," implied Hermione "Everyone is shy on their first day. They probably hid behind some other kids or might have taken another door out."
"But then they would be in the line of 1st years, wouldn't they?" asked Ron.
"Yes, and I don't see any of them," said Harry, peering into the line of 1st years.
"Slytherin!" shouted the Sorting Hat after it sorted Tim Paron.
"Maybe they got lost," suggested Hermione.
"How could they get lost on a train car?" asked Ron.
"It was cluttered with students," said Harry.
"They could have went into the next car," said Hermione. "They could have went all the way to the caboose, out the door and into the grounds. They could be lost out there!"
"But Filch would have found them, wouldn't he?" asked Harry.
"Even so, would you want Filch finding you scurrying around the school yard?" questioned Hermione.
"We should go look for the-"
Suddenly Dumbledore cleared his throat to make his usual beginning-of-the-year announcements.
"Another gracious year has begun, one with amusement for all ages, new beginnings, discoveries, reliving and meeting old things and finding new things, learning the spectacular arts of magic, and all of this in our grand old school we call Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For our 1st years, it will be a year of discovery of yourselves and of a whole new world waiting for you. For our 7th years, it will be a year of preparation and goodbyes, to get you ready for another whole new world, waiting for you.
"To remind you all the school rules, the Forbidden Forest is strictly unauthorized for any students here, for there are many dangers lurking there. Our caretaker Mr. Argus Filch would like to remind you all, that there is to be no magic in the corridors between classes. Quidditch try-outs will be scheduled soon enough when the house captains decide when to hold them, though anyone who is interested in trying out should verify their house captain and Madame Hooche first.
"But even more spectacular this year, better than discoveries, meeting old friends and yes, maybe even better than learning magic (Professor McGonagoll gasped at this point), we now have a wonderful year ahead of us without worry of evil, in other words, Lord Voldemort."
A sudden gasp was heard throughout the Great Hall at the utter of his name. I can't believe some people are still scared to here it, thought Harry. Nonetheless, Dumbledore continued.
"Yes, we have defeated Lord Voldemort successfully this summer in Sicily."
A round of applause filled the Great Hall. Dumbledore grinned in delight at the looks on their faces and once the applauds calmed down, he went on.
"The wizarding world had suffered horribly during the Dark Lord's time in power, and the wizarding world waited and prayed to hear of the results of the war, and what would come of it. The Ministry begs your pardon for keeping you in the dark with no information, but they only did this to assure no information would pass to those on the dark side.
"Alas, I cannot tell the whole entire story of the war, for it is too long and so short a night to say so, and it wouldn't be quite right coming from me. There will be the Daily Prophet tomorrow, and I assure you they will give long explanations for everything."
"Thank goodness!" muttered Ron.
"This war could not have been won with all of those fighting in it, and of course, our two wonderful leaders, which I am sure many know of, though many don't know personally, nor did they know they were a part of the war."
With a long sigh and a twinkle in his eye, Dumbledore told what Harry had longed to find out since he heard of the news.
"Those two wonderful leaders, who are quite young and did a marvelous job,
are the courageous and powerful Princess Glory and Princess Joy, the Royal Highnesses of All Magic."
Rustling and whispers of various different reactions filled the mighty hall. Many of the reactions were gasps of shock, some were confused expressions and whispered questions to fellow students, and some students were excited and giggled with their friends saying such things as, 'I knew it!'. Harry's reaction was one of the few people who were confused. He had never known there had been royalty of the wizarding world, why hadn't anyone told him? Was it them who Hermione was talking about in her letter and on the train? It sounded quite strange to suddenly know you have two Princesses so powerful they defeated Lord Voldemort.
So these were the ones who defeated Voldemort? Two Princesses? He had been ripped of his responsibility by two prissy Princesses? How courageous and powerful were these Princesses? And if they were so powerful, why didn't he know of them? Harry's happiness vanished into despicable and unusual jealousy.
Harry looked over to see Ron and Hermione's faces, who were gasping, giggling and extremely excited, as Hermione was whispering to Ron, 'I had a strong feeling it was them! They weren't at the palace, you know'.
"Many of you know about them, including those who collect Wizard Cards in Chocolate Frogs, though there are still many who have no idea who they are, and there are still many who don't really know them. Because of this, I will let you know a little more about them:
"We do have the Ministry of Magic in each country, but there is a government who controls all Ministries of Magic. It is the Monarchy of Magic. Each monarch is born on Halloween, October 31st. Most monarchs live a thousand years. One can tell if they are a monarch by seeing if they have the shape of stars in their eyes. They are only crowned King or Queen once they are 18 years of age.
"There is no royal family, they just appear. The Monarch is a very powerful witch or wizard. They are 10 times stronger and smarter than a wizard their age. There are so far only 3 wizards that have served as Wizard Monarchs. The Wizard Monarch comes from a line of great wizards, like these Princesses.
"These Princesses are sisters, fraternal twins to be exact. Since they are twins, they will rule together. They live at their wonderful palace in Rome, Italy. You will find this very surprising, but these Royals are my great-great-great granddaughters."
Everyone's jaws dropped in awe. They never knew Professor Dumbledore had children, they didn't know he was also related to royalty. Someone from Hufflepuff fainted from the shock.
"Yes, it might seem shocking. For those of you who don't know who my wife was, I will tell you. The Gryffindors probably know the painting that leads to the Gryffindor common room has a lady in pink. That was my wife."
They were in awe again.
"Yes, she died about 20 years ago, bless her soul. Well, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, I am pleased to announce that these two fine young ladies will be attending this school."
Yet again, more gasps and cheers echoed and ringed throughout the Great Hall. It's as if these people worship them, thought Harry angrily to himself. He couldn't believe what he was thinking: these two girls killed Lord Voldemort and they seemed like extraordinary people. Was he really that jealous of them? He knew how it was like to be famous, and he didn't really like it at all. It was just all those people cheering... and practically worshipping them.... it disgusted him...
"Well, I would like you to introduce these lovely ladies. They are in their 6th year. Their father is the Minister for Magic in Italy. Please welcome Their Royal Highnesses Princess Glorificous Elizabeth Tatiana Victoria Nefertiti and Princess Joysinious Mary Anastasia Matilda Cleopatra, Dumbledore-Illiermo."
The doors opened and revealed two 16-year-old girls. They looked rather much like super models (well they were extremely beautiful, but they didn't look anorexic if you know what I mean). One had a straight face with large hazel eyes and short brown hair that was flipped at the ends. She wore a long necklace of diamonds which ended in a large cross incrusted with gold, rubies and pearls, it stuck out very much. She was extremely tall, maybe even 6 feet or so. Harry didn't know if it was her big, black, miniature boots with buckles on them that gave her that height, or that she really was that tall. She surprisingly had very fair skin, you couldn't tell that she was Italian.
The other one looked the opposite. She had a big smile on her face, apparently she was happy to be there. She had long, wavy blonde hair framing her lovely face with big blue eyes, which were quite familiar to Dumbledore`s. She wasn't as tall as her sister, though she wore stiletto shoes on her feet. Unlike her sister, she had a soft tan (and it wasn't as intense as Hermione's). They both had star shapes in their eyes. Harry was extremely surprised they were related to Dumbledore.
They were about to walk to the Sorting Hat but stopped. They looked at the floor and frowned confusingly.
"Where's the red carpet?" demanded the tall one with an astonishingly British accent.
Right behind them came Filch holding a rolled-up red carpet. He looked fumbly and shy.
"Sorry, Your Royal Highnesses!" said Filch as he bowed. "Here it is."
He quickly flipped it open and let it roll all the way to the front. They walked to the stool where the Sorting Hat was laid.
"First up, Princess Joy!" declared the Sorting Hat.
The blonde and cheery Princess Joy was the first one to put on the Sorting Hat. She smiled and giggled while she put it on.
"Hmm... A great mind! Great heart! But I know where she's ought to be.... Gryffindor!"
The whole Gryffindor table clapped and cheered. Maybe they're not as bad as I thought, thought Harry. He hoped she was friendly and not a show-off. He just couldn't stop thinking of Maria and Rosa.
"Where are they?" he said to himself.
Princess Joy walked to the table and sat right beside Harry.
"Princess Joysinious!" shouted Ron as he shook her hand and bowed. "I'm so glad to meet you! I have all your Wizard Cards framed!"
"Hello, Ron, Hermione and Harry!" said Princess Joy in a British accent as well, with a large smile. "Don't worry, you don't have to call me Princess. Just call me Joy."
"You know our names?" gasped Hermione. "Wow! I guess it is true that you have great psychic abilities!"
"That is true, but you already told me your names. Remember on the train?"
"No," they all said slowly.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you. I'm Maria!"
"You're Maria?" asked Ron.
"Yep, I can change how I look! I'm a Metamorphmagus. Watch this!"
She stood up and took out her wand. She blinked her eyes and magically they turned brown. She also slid her palms down her hair and it also magically turned firy red. She clapped her heels which made her become taller. She scrunched all her hair into a ball and amazingly it became a bun. Then he waved her wand around her and she was back to normal.
"Cool, isn't it?" she said as she sat back down.
"Bloody brilliant!" said Ron.
"I love red hair. I would have liked to be a red-head, it's just that I'm so attached to my blonde hair, you know?"
She winked at Ron, who immediately turned bright red.
"Wait a minute!" said Hermione. "How did you hide the stars in your eyes?"
"Oh, it's this ancient spell that the other Monarchs of Magic used."
"Now, it is Princess Glory's turn!" declared the Sorting Hat.
Princess Glory, the tall brunette, put the hat on her head with a little grin. The Sorting Hat thought for a while.
"Hmm...Now let's see which house you will be in...." said the Sorting Hat.
"Of course," said Princess Glory. "You are so wonderful at sorting students. I wouldn't have been sorted by any other hat. And might I add that was a masterpiece of a song you wrote this year!"
For the first time in his life, Harry saw the Sorting Hat (actually any hat) blush.
"Why thank you, Princess Glory!" thanked the Sorting Hat greatly. "No student has commented on my songs and sorting in years! Now, let's see where you are...hmm....I know! Gry- No, she's not quite that sort. Maybe Slytherin...."
At the table, Harry saw Professor Snape smile as soon as the Sorting Hat said Slytherin.
"...or maybe something else...which one.. Ravenclaw would be great....Now which one? Ravenclaw or Slytherin? I know! Ravenclaw!"
Ravenclaw jumped for joy while Hufflepuff and Slytherin were practically crying. Harry saw Snape scowling immensely (worse than when he scowled at Harry).
Princess Glory walked over to her table right next to a bunch of girls waving their hands.
"Typical!" said Joy in a frustrated tone. "Just typical of her!"
"What's so typical of her?" asked Harry.
"She always does compliments like that to get people to like her. She just can't be happy and perky to make others happy!"
"Did she lie then?" asked Ron.
"No, she doesn't lie. She actually means it, I think. Ah, who knows! But it's the way my twin sucks up is what makes me angry!"
"Dumbledore told us you were twins," said Ron.
"Yes, we're fraternal. But we're very different. I want to make as many friends as I can. She has a small bunch of friends that she loves to hang around with, but instead of actually having 'friends' she has 'allies', people that she's friendly with so when we're Queens we'll have allies to help us out! I keep on telling her that we have two full years before we become monarchs. She always takes things so seriously and doesn't take time to relax. Look, Harry! My sister's staring at you!"
"Really?"
He turned around. Princess Glory was staring at him. She smiled and waved at him. He did the same back.
"Oh, she's hanging around those girls. I know who they are," said Hermione. "I always see them in the library. They're 4 of the top students from our year in Ravenclaw. Their names are Ruth Simmore, Vicky Phlumer, Tiffany Sealious and Lucy Landerville. They're always studying about you two, especially Princess Glory. They practically worship her. They want to be on her Privy Council. Actually, they're really nice girls."
"I wonder if she'll be friends with Cho Chang," pondered Harry.
"Cho Chang? Who's Cho Chang?" asked Joy.
"Cho Chang is this girl in Ravenclaw who's the seeker for their team."
Joy looked at Harry with a suspicious look. Somehow Harry knew that she knew he liked Cho.
"I don't think so. She hates sports. She hates Quidditch with a passion. Bludgers are attracted to her, you see. They hit her whenever she goes to a game of Quidditch. The only sport she really likes is dueling."
"Dueling?" said Harry. "Oh, I've tried that before. It's not for me."
"Well, she's fantastic at it. She won 1st place for the International Dueling Championships 5 times in a row! Most of the wizards and witches she duels are twice her age!"
"But she's probably twice their size!" said Ron.
"Maybe it's those shoes she wears that makes her so tall," suggested Hermione.
"Actually," said Joy, "those shoes just make her taller. She's very tall. I wear these high heels because I need to. I'm a little bit short. Anyway, I'm good at dueling but not perfect. She's the smart, serious, dueling, never-break-the-rules-in-her life one and I'm the sweet, fun, perky, smart-but-doesn't-boast-about-it, friendly one."
"Hey look!" shouted Ron. "She's talking to Malfoy!"
They all looked around to see Malfoy was flirting with Princess Glory.
"I can't believe it!" shouted Joy. "I've seen that creep on the train with his big friends. They're bullies!"
"Tell me about it!" said Ron.
"So, can you tell us about that war with Lord Voldemort?" asked Hermione. "I'm dying to know!"
"Well, I don't really want to. You're going to learn about it in Charms this week."
"You're obviously taking Charms for your NEWT classes, right?" asked Ron.
"Actually, I'm taking all the classes, except for Astronomy, Muggle Studies and things like that," said Joy.
"You aren't? Why not?"
"Well, the schooling is a little bit different in Italy. You see, in England and in many other countries you go to wizard school at 11 years old. We, in Italy, actually start at 7 years old. From 7-10 years old, we go to an elementary wizard school. We learn all the wizard subjects that don't actually include doing magic such as History of Magic, Astronomy, Muggle Studies, things like that. Nono Albus, that's what I call Professor Dumebledore, Nono means Grandpa, is letting us skip those classes. But my sister and I are going to talk about the war in History of Magic."
"You're lucky," said Ron. "That's the most boring class ever!"
"What classes are you taking?" asked Joy.
"I'm taking Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Divinations, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I want to be an Auror. But seriously, I have no idea how I got an O in Potions. The O.W.L.s for Potions weren't so bad though. I guess the reason why I wasn't doing great in Potions was Snape."
"I hear you!" agreed Harry.
"And you, Harry?"
"The same subjects as Ron," said Harry. "I want to be an Auror too, although maybe after a few years I could be a teacher at Hogwarts. I could teach Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts. I taught a bit of it last year, and it was so fun."
"Harry, you know that that job is seriously jinxed!" said Ron.
"I know, but it might not jinx me. Teaching that subject is fun."
"And you, Hermione?" asked Joy.
"I want to be a lawyer in the wizarding world, but I'm still going to take all the subjects I already have."
"You're absolutely mad," commented Ron bluntly. "Literally, I have no idea why they haven't chucked you into St. Mungo's yet."
"Well, I guess we shouldn't let this food get cold," said Joy. "Let's dig in!"
They all ate until their hearts were content. Half-way through eating, Harry looked at Princess Glory and was shocked to see her eat a whole turkey.
"Wow! Does your sister eat a lot or what?!" shouted Harry. "She just ate a whole turkey!"
"Yes, she's like that. She has a high metabolism. She eats so much. I'm surprised she's not chubby at all. Others would be over-weight!"
Right after she spoke her sister had eaten a whole bowl of mashed potatoes.
They turned around and kept on eating. Hermione and Ron left early. Once the plates were clean, the headmaster cleared his throat again.
"I dismiss you all to your dormitories," declared Professor Dumbledore. "Although I would like to speak to Harry Potter in my office."
Harry was just about to stand up when he heard his name being called. Why did Dumbledore want him in his office? Was it about the war? As everyone left to their dormitories, Harry, and surprisingly Joy, were left behind.
"Do you want me to go with you?" asked Joy. "You know, as a new friend and everything. I wouldn't want you to go alone, wouldn't want you to be lonely."
"Thanks," said Harry, realizing how nice she really was. "You can come with me."
"Great, it'll help me get to know my way around."
Princess Joy and Harry stood up from their seats and walked out of the Great Hall to Dumbledore's office. Harry pointed out a few of the classes on their way there.
After a while, they finally got to the ugly gargoyle statue in front of the entrance.
"Here it is," sighed Harry, pointing to the entrance.
"This is it? Wow, it's neat. I finally get to see Nono Albus' office. I'll wait out here if you want."
"That'll be great," said Harry.
"Oh, and Harry?" asked Joy.
"Yeah?"
"Before you go in, I wanted to talk to you," said Joy. "I know about the Prophecy, and I kind of expected you to be pretty angry."
"It's like you know everything," sighed Harry.
"Believe me, I don't!" said Joy. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't still mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you," denied Harry.
"I know you're a bit. Harry, I never chose to fight in the war, neither did I want to. You were the one who should have destroyed him, not my sister and I. I think that's what Nono Albus will tell you in there."
"Thanks," said Harry, who really appreciated what Joy had said. The anger he felt towards her and her sister began to fade quickly.
"And about that stuff that Nono Albus said about us. He made us seem so great and perfect in his speech, but we're not, although my sister tries to be perfect. She's a perfectionist, you see. I've got flaws, you know, including being a procrastinator. I'm trying not to do this this year, since it's my NEWT year and everything. Plus, I'm short, and I'm really concerned about my looks, I can get too perky, and and..."
"Joy, you don't need to tell me all your flaws," said Harry. "I get the point."
"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know that we're not perfect. They make us seem so powerful and smart, but I barely use those talents, well, maybe sometimes. I do great in my classes and that's all I need to do. I'm great at academics, but I'm not the type who adores school, a know-it-all or even freaky about homework."
"You're the opposite of Hermione," chuckled Harry. "But I get it. Thanks for telling me that, some people would like to let people think they're perfect."
"No ones perfect, Harry," sighed Joy. "Including me. And that red carpet incident? It's not like we're spoiled, it's just weird not to have an entrance without a red carpet. It's always been like that with us. I just felt weird about it, I don't know why my sister made a big deal. She's been acting strange since the war ended. Oh gee, I think you should go see Nono now."
"Okay- Wait, what's the password?"
"It's 'pumpkin crisps'," stated Joy. "He told us before we came here. He's starting to really like them."
"Okay," said Harry, as he turned to the statue. "Pumpkin crisps."
Suddenly, the gargoyle sprang to life and moved aside, and behind it the walls split open to reveal a spiraling staircase. Harry waved goodbye to Joy and hopped onto the spiraling staircase, which took him up to the door that lead to Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door a couple of times.
"You may enter," said Dumbledore.
Harry slowly opened the door and stepped into the room. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, reading a letter. He looked up and gave Harry a greeting smile.
"Mr. Potter, good evening," greeted Professor Dumbledore "Would you care to sit down?"
Harry walked over to Dumbledore's desk and sat on the chest across from him.
"Professor Dumbledore," started Harry, "why exactly did you bring me here?"
"It was concerning the war," answered Dumbledore. "I remember telling you the Prophecy, and I wanted to explain to you why we planned not to follow it."
Finally, I'll get to find out, said Harry as he sat back to listen.
"When you heard about the war in Sicily, you may have questioned the Prophecy and thought if it was right, that you were the one who could only kill Lord Voldemort. Yes, Mr. Potter, it is only you."
"If it was only me who could defeat him, why did Princesses Joy and Glory try and defeat him?"
"Harry, do you know why there was a war? The reason for it?" he asked Harry.
"It was to destroy Lord Voldemort," said Harry.
"Actually, we didn't fight the war to destroy him," said Dumbledore. "We fought to destroy his army, and to keep him from destroying the Princesses and a world power. Harry, those two girls are one of the most powerful witches in the world, and are two massive threats to Lord Voldemort. He knew that he could only be destroyed by you, so it seemed obvious to him he could stand a chance against the two. We weren't sure that we could destroy him. Everyone else thought he could be destroyed with a large and powerful army with two powerful witches leading them. I tried telling them about the Prophecy, but they didn't believe me. After a while, I thought it could be possible, that maybe, Lord Voldemort could be destroyed. I thought, that the Prophecy meant the one person who could defeat him was you. Maybe very many powerful people at one time could defeat him."
"So, I was still technically the only one person to stop him, right?"
"Of course, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Don't feel sad, Harry. As long as he's gone, we'll all be all right. Besides, that Prophecy revealed that you still had something that could destroy Voldemort, and even though he's gone, you still have that secret power in you. No matter who killed him, Harry, you are still the boy who lived."
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," said Harry.
"That is quite all I wanted to tell you," said Dumbledore. "I wanted to confirm that. You may leave now."
"Thank you," said Harry as he stood up and left his office and went down the spiraling stairs to meet Joy.
"So?" asked Joy. "What did he tell you?"
"About the war," said Harry.
"I knew he would," said Joy with a smile. "It's getting late, we better get to our dormitories."
Harry and Joy walked all the way to the common room, where the Head Boy waiting in the corridors told them that the password would be "dragonus firinus". They found the painting of the fat lady a few minutes after.
"Nona!" exclaimed Princess Joy.
"Joy! I am SO glad to see you! Finally, after all these years of waiting! Do come in! Don't worry about the password."
They entered the common room and saw a few of the Prefects still up in the common room, including Ron and Hermione. Harry was surprised to see red leather couches.
"Nono Albus put leather couches in the common room to make us feel at home," said Joy to Harry.
"Harry! Joy!" said Hermione as she rushed over to them, with Ron following her. "Finally, you're here!"
"Why were you two late?" asked Ron.
"Nono Albus wanted to speak to him," confirmed Joy. "He wanted to clear some things up about the war. Well, I think I should put my luggage in my room. I'm getting my own room. It has luxurious furniture, bathroom and things like that. I told the Professors it was all right, but they insisted."
"You're going to bed now?" questioned Ron.
"Of course! It's a school night, and I need to get my beauty sleep."
As Ron sighed, Joy took out a belonging carrier box out of her pocket.
"I have one of those!" said Harry.
"Really? You have a BCB? I didn't know."
"It's called a BCB?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, the name was shortened. The word 'belonging carrier box' was too long."
"Wow. That's wicked!"
"My sister and I invented it, you know."
"Really?!?"
"Oh yeah! We invent a whole bunch of things. We're also trying to perfect
the potion that keeps werewolves sane during the full moon."
"We used to have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that was a werewolf. Speaking of Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, who's going to be our teacher this year?"
"I don't know, but we'll probably find out tomorrow. Anyway, I'm going to go to sleep. Good night!" she said as she went up to her luxurious room. Harry stayed in the common room with Hermione and Ron until all the younger students were in bed. Then all of them went up to their dormitories.
As Ron quickly put on his pajamas, flopped onto his bed and immediately fell asleep, Harry put on his night wear, and then went to the window and stared out into the night sky.
"What a beautiful night," he mumbled to himself.
As he stared out the window, he saw a peculiar dot moving in the sky. What could it be? he thought, but quickly ignored it. He was too tired to think of the explanation. He thought how lucky he was to be back at school again. He suddenly wondered if Sirius, who had went to school with his father, had felt like this. He spotted at his open luggage on the floor, with the box of Sirius laying there. Oh, Sirius...
He tucked himself in his four-poster beds, and with the awful memory of his godfather's death, cried himself to sleep.
Another disclaimer: Princesses Joy and Glory are my own characters, though I was inspired by the name 'Glory' by the goddess Glory from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character gave me an idea about their powers.
Author's Note: Thanks a bunch for reading! PLEAAAASSSEEEE REVIEEEEEWWWWW!!!!! And next chapter: we find out what really happened during that war, we learn more about the princesses, and we are introduced to the new DADA teacher! (it's actually kinda funny who it is. i bet you that you know this person, he's VERY famous in the Muggle World!).
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. It's a let-down for me, but it's true. OH, I forgot to say before that Sweetsland if my own idea, modified from that treats shop.... I forgot what it's called.... it's from Hogsmeade.... but it's like a candy-super store. I've got another disclaimer, but I can't say it now 'cause it'll spoil the chapter.
Author's Note: Hey readers! Thanks a bunch, again, to anyone who reviewed! And remember, I appreciate EVERY SINGLE REVIEW. SO REVIEW!!! So, Harry's found out that Voldemort's dead. Yep, gone. Confused how he died? No problemo! That'll be explained just a bit in this chapter, and the whole entire explanation will be done the chapter after that. For this chapter, Harry'll find out the two new students that will change his 6th year, and maybe life! Also including a Sorting Hat song I made up myself. Anyway, hope you like it!
Chapter 5
From Platform 9 3/4 to the Great Hall
with Surprise and Mystery in Between
Harry woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning, cold and clammy from his awful nightmare of his encounters with Voldemort. He shook off his sleepiness, slipped out of his bed and stretched to the ceiling, yawning here and there. All of his crankiness and sorrow from the day before vanished as the crisp autumn air blew through his window. Today would be the day he'd get on that Hogwarts Express and go back to school, where a whole new year was waiting for him, one without (finally!) Voldemort.
"This year'll be a great year!" he said to himself. "No Voldemort or worries, just a great wizarding year ahead of me."
He quickly got dressed and went downstairs, dragging his luggage in the foyer down with him. Remus was already downstairs eating breakfast. Remus looked up from his cup of tea to greet Harry.
"Good morning, Harry!" said Remus. "Ready for your first NEWT year?"
"Of course I am!" said Harry, taking a seat at the table. "Are NEWTs that hard?"
"They can be pretty tough," said Remus, "but it depends on your study habits. You can't be lazy on your homework anymore. You have to really work hard at it."
"You know what, I'm going to do my best this year!" said Harry merrily. "I'll focus on my studies and everything, with no worry of Voldemort coming after me!"
"My are you ever cheery," remarked Remus.
"Yeah, I'm feeling this sudden happiness right now. I guess I just woke up and thought to myself, 'Hey, I've got nothing to fear; Voldemort's gone!'"
"I knew you'd calm down," said Remus. "Now eat your breakfast. It's waiting for you on the counter."
Harry merrily grabbed his plate full of food and glass of juice and sat down at the table. It was a delicious breakfast with sausage, bacon, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs and orange juice. Right after breakfast, Harry rechecked all of the things that he would bring to Hogwarts. By 10 o'clock, they were out the door, in the car and on their way to Kings Cross Train Station. On the way, they listened to the wizard rock band "Boys 'n' Brooms" on the wizard radio while all the Muggles on the road stared at the beautiful, silver Thunderbird.
By 11:30 a.m., they were at the train station. Remus helped Harry put all his luggage onto the trolley and headed to find Platform 9 3/4. Once they found it, they both stood and looked up at the numbers of the two platforms it was in between, Platforms 9 and 10.
"Ah.... Platform 9 3/4. Just how I remember it! The good old days..."
"I'd better get onto the platform," said Harry.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"
"No, it's okay. I'm fine. I've been doing this for more than 6 years, you know."
"Yes, of course. Well, there are your friends!" pointed out Remus as Ron and Hermione were racing their trolleys towards him with their pets (Crookshanks and Pig) clutching onto their luggage and Ginny behind them.
Harry turned around and gave them a warm wave. They finally got to him, panting.
"Ron! Hermione! Ginny! You're finally here!"
"Hey Harry," said Ron. "Oh my goodness, you will not believe the celebrations Ginny and I saw when we went home!"
"It's so pathetic how crazy some witches and wizards act," sighed Hermione. "Muggles could get suspicious!"
"I guess we should go on the platform now," implied Ginny.
"Yes, of course," said Hermione. "Ladies first, as they always say!"
"Ladies first, as they always say!" imitated Ron sarcastically in a low voice so only Harry could hear him.
She concentrated, ran to the platform with her trolley and disappeared into the wall. After came Ginny who did the same thing as Hermione, and so did Ron afterwards. Before Harry went, Remus gave Harry a big hug.
"I'm going to miss you a lot, Harry," said Remus with a warm smile. "This was one of the best summers of my life. You really brought me back to my earlier years. Before you go, I'd like to give you a present."
Remus pulled out a brand new belonging carrier box out of his pocket. Harry's eyes opened with delight.
"Thank you, Remus!" exclaimed Harry. "Thank you so much!"
"Oh your welcome," said Remus. "Here, I'll show you how to use it."
Remus showed Harry how to use the fascinating wizard mechanism. He beamed all the luggage into the box and put it in his pocket (but he didn't beam up Hedwig, of course, that's just cruelty to animals). Remus hugged Harry tightly and said goodbye. Remus looked like he would cry, but he tried to act strong.
Harry ran through the wall separating Platform 9 and Platform 10 and magically appeared onto Platform 9 3/4 where the Hogwarts Express was toot-tooting away with steam as the Hogwarts students packed their luggage onto the train. Harry followed his friends onto the train, glad that he didn't have to put anything in the luggage compartment. When he passed by the luggage compartment, he met his arch-enemy Draco Malfoy and his cronies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
"Well, if it isn't the orphan boy, the cheapo and the Muggle-born!" snickered Draco Malfoy in a sarcastic look.
"Back off, Malfoy!" shouted Harry. "If you're really up to being a Prefect, I suggest acting like one."
"Oh Potter, I think that stupid scar on your head is effecting your brain!" taunted Malfoy. "After all these years we've known each other, might I add those were 5 horrible years, you still actually think I'd take advice from you!"
His two cronies giggled at Malfoy's disgusting joke (obviously because they were too stupid to make up their own).
"Just shut up, Malfoy!" said Harry. "The only people who find your jokes funny are your cronies, in other words, your bodyguards, because they couldn't tell the difference between a good joke or a bad joke if their life depended on it."
"I wouldn't go off saying things like that if I were you," snickered Malfoy, holding up his Prefect badge. "I could report you."
Malfoy suddenly glared at Hermione, Ginny and Ron's trolleys that they'd just recently put in the compartment, and he noticed how Harry didn't have anything but a bird cage with his owl in it.
"Now why isn't Harry Potter putting his luggage in the compartment?" questioned Malfoy mischievously. "Is he afraid the Dark Lord is going to pop up and take him away? Or maybe he doesn't have any luggage, like he doesn't have any parents?"
All three of the evil wizards laughed. Harry was getting a bit ticked off at his remarks.
"First of all Draco, Lord Voldemort is dead," responded Harry. "You should know that, especially your father! Even if I don't have any parents, it's probably a lot better than being brought up with stuck-up people like you! Second, I do have luggage and all of it is in this tiny gizmo in my pocket that Remus Lupin, my mentor who just happens to be one of the Chief Aurors at Headquartres, gave to me, which was imported from Italy!" he said as he pulled out the belonging carrier box. Malfoy scowled with jealousy and awe.
"You have one of those?!?" questioned Draco angrily. "I begged my father to get me one of those! Those are one of the best wizard gadgets imported from there!"
"Well, too bad!" said Harry. "You might have parents, but you don't have an awesome mentor and a belonging carrier box like me."
"This is ridiculous!" said Malfoy, as if he had something better to do (which obviously, he didn't). "I have to leave to the Prefect compartment, something you'll never see, Potter!"
Malfoy strutted into the next car, while Crabbe and Goyle stood cluelessly still. Malfoy opened the door in frustration, and looked at his cronies with angry eyes.
"Well, go on!" he shouted at Crabbe and Goyle, who finally got the message through their thick heads and left. Harry's friends giggled their hearts out once they were gone.
"Oh did you ever show him, Harry!" said Ginny.
"Thanks," said Harry.
"Oh dear," gasped Hermione. "Sorry, Harry, but we have to go to the Prefect Car. You understand, right?"
"Of course," sighed Harry, who was actually quite disappointed that he couldn't spend most of the journey with his friends, which had dimmed his happiness for the new school year. "I guess I'll see you soon."
"Goodbye!" said Ron, as he left to the next compartment with Hermione and Ginny.
Harry sighed and walked through the hall of booths, where Hogwarts students from 1st year to 7th year chatted with friends. Harry wondered who he'd sit with now that Hermione and Ron were gone.
"Harry, over here!" said Neville, a boy in Harry's year, who was waving his hands to signal Harry to sit with him. Harry rushed over to the booth, occupied only by Neville himself. Harry quickly sat comfortably on a seat near the window.
"Wow, Harry!" said Neville astonishingly as he held on tightly to his frog, Trevor. "I never knew you could tell Malfoy off like that! That was fantastic!"
"Thanks," said Harry with a smile.
The train jerked a little bit and then started running on the tracks. The train was now on its way to Hogwarts.
"So, what happened to that Mimbulus mimbletonia?"
"Actually, I've still got it," said Neville as he laid down Trevor and got out the funky-looking plant, which had grown tremendously since the last time Harry saw it. "It's grown now, and I'm really excited to get other ones. They're fascinating you know..."
"Yeah, right," said Harry.
"Are you still banned from Quidditch?" asked Neville.
"No, but I'm not too sure if I'm back on the team," replied Harry happily.
"I think they'll let you back on the team and you'll make Gryffindor captain," said Neville. "Angelina's gone, and you're pretty much the best player on the team."
"Really? You think?"
"Of course! You're fantastic at it! I think you'll definitely be a good captain."
"I hope so," said Harry, as he started to think of how great it would be to be captain.
Suddenly, the trolley lady stopped at their booth with a whole cart filled with wizard sweets.
"Anything you want to buy from the trolley today, sweeties?" asked the lady.
"All right," said Neville, as he pulled out a few Sickles. "I'll have a Chocolate Frog.
Neville gave the trolley lady the Sickles and the lady handed him a Chocolate Frog.
"Would you like anything, dear?" asked the lady to Harry.
"No thank you," replied Harry.
The trolley lady nodded and passed by the next booth. Neville opened his box, quickly ate the Chocolate Frog and looked at the Wizard Card.
"All right!" exclaimed Neville with glee. "I've finally got Sir Lance Herbilious, one of the world's famous herbologists!"
"That's....great," said Harry (although he quite thought the opposite).
"Why didn't you want anything off the trolley?" asked Neville as he put his Wizard Card in his pocket.
"I went to Sweetsland yesterday," replied Harry. "Didn't you go?"
"I wanted to, but my Grams thought that I've been having enough sweets this summer," sighed Neville. "It's a bit silly, you know. I'm 16 years old now."
"I know how you feel," said Harry.
"So," whispered Neville, as he drew closer to Harry, "are you mad?"
"Mad?" asked Harry suspiciously. "Mad about what?"
"You know," whispered Neville, "that you're supposed to kill him?"
"What?" asked Harry. Neville hushed him, and then Harry lowered his voice too. "What?"
"About the Prophecy," answered Neville.
"Y-you know about it?" questioned Harry.
"Oh yeah, my Grams told me when I was younger. She told me about you too. She was quite glad that I wasn't the one, you know, said the wizarding world would be lost if it was in my hands."
Harry was shocked Neville knew. All this time, when Harry had never known why Voldemort tried to kill him, Neville knew all along. It came to Harry as quite a surprise.
"I never knew you knew," whispered Harry.
"Well, are you mad?" asked Neville.
"I was angrier yesterday, but not much today," responded Harry. "I'm just glad he's gone."
"Me too," sighed Neville. "Do you still think about, well, that night?"
"Every night," said Harry. "I can't get it out of my head."
"Same here," said Neville. "It was.. really freaky. I never knew what was in me until then. Are you still mourning for Sirius?"
"Yeah I am," sighed Harry, as the thought of his godfather depressed him. "I've been sulking all summer."
"I'm really sorry that happened," said Neville. "Grams knew, she has connections with the Order, since my... my parents were in it. She knew he wasn't bad."
At that moment, all the Prefects walked out of the next car, with Ron and Hermione near the front. Ron and Hermione rushed over to the booth Harry and Neville were at.
"Hey guys!" said Ron as he sat down next to Harry.
"Hello Neville," said Hermione, who took a seat as well.
"Where's Ginny?" asked Harry.
"She'll be sitting in another booth," replied Hermione.
"So, did you eat all your sweets from Sweetsland yet, Ron?" asked Harry.
"No, not all of it. I have a couple of pumpkin crisps and Beaver Tails in my luggage to eat in the common room. I ate a whole lot of sweets yesterday. I had stomach aches all night. I stayed in the loo for 5 hours!"
"That's disturbing, Ron!" scolded Hermione.
"Sorry," said Ron sarcastically.
As Harry looked in the aisle of the train, he saw Pansy Parkinson walking down the aisle. She passed Malfoy's seat and they both gave scowls to each other. Harry became confused.
"Pansy Parkinson and Malfoy scowled at each other," said Harry to his friends. "I wonder why."
"What?"
Pansy Parkinson was passing by their seats until Hermione stopped her by stretching her arm out. Pansy turned to Hermione.
"What do you want, Granger?" she demanded in a rude way.
"Why did you and Malfoy scowl at each other like that?"
"We broke up during the summer, okay? Now go back to your Muggle-born business!"
Hermione was extremely offended by the remark, but instead snickered with Ron and Harry at the news.
"Wow, Pansy and Malfoy broke up!" said Ron. "Malfoy can't keep a girlfriend!"
"First Malfoy gets disses by Harry, then I find out he's got no girlfriend," said Neville giggling. "I never knew I'd see the day when Malfoy'd seem like such a loser compared to me, eh?"
As Harry nodded to Neville, Harry looked at the people in the booths. He saw two girls in the far corner that he'd never seen before. They looked like they would be in their 6th years, but Harry wasn't sure. One girl was very tall with a pointy nose. She had brown eyes and light red hair, like a firy blonde which she had put up in a bun. She was very skinny and had a very dark tan. The other one was very small, had a tan like her sister and was very chubby. She had ratty, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He could tell she was very nervous. She was chewing at her fingernails and squeezing the arm rest with the other hand while blankly looking out the window.
"Guys," whispered Harry, "look at those two strange girls over there."
All three of them peaked at the girls curiously.
"Yeah! I know what you mean!" agreed Ron. "Wow, that chubby one looks really tense. She's not going to have any fingernails afterwards. And the other one, wow. She has a nice hair colour. It's kind of red, a better red than mine in fact!"
"Let's go greet them!" suggested Hermione.
"You three can go, but not me," said Neville. "I'm not great when it comes to greeting people. I'll meet them at school."
"Whatever you say," said Harry.
All of them took their belongings (basically their pets) and walked over to the booth the two strange girls were in. The firy blonde one looked up and smiled. She nudged the other one who looked up and grinned a little bit.
"Hello!" said Hermione with a polite smile. "We noticed we've never seen you here before, and we wanted to say hi."
"Hello, we ara new hera," said the firy blonde in broken English with an Italian accent. "We ara froma Italia. Pleaso to meeta yo!"
"You're from Italy? I was vacationing there!" said Hermione.
"We cana see," said the nervous one, looking at her tan.
"My nama is Maria," said the tall girl. "My sista hera iso Rosa. Yo cana taka a seat, ya know."
"Thank you," said Harry as they all sat down and made themselves comfortable.
"Hi, I'm Ron Weasley," he greeted as he tried to settle down his hyper owl on his head.
"I'm Hermione Granger," she said, stroking her cat.
"And I'm Harry Potter."
When Harry spoke his name, the two sisters' eyes widened. They looked at each other in shock, and then glared back.
"Y-y-ou're Harry Potter?" stuttered Rosa excitedly. "Whya, wer're happya to meet yo!"
She shook his hand very hard, and then laid back with a grin.
"Uhmmm... I'm happy to meet you too," said Harry.
"So, what wizard school did you go to before?" asked Hermione.
"Nero Gatto Catholic Academia for Witches anda Wizards," stated Rosa.
"That school?" exclaimed Hermione. "That's where the Royals go! Have you ever seen them?"
"Yesa, we know thema..." said Maria shyly.
Harry had no idea what they were talking about. He didn't bother to ask though, because they were so much into the conversation that he didn't get a chance to ask.
"I guess this means you're going to have to wear the Sorting Hat," said Ron.
"I guessa so," said Maria. "I hopa I'm ina Gryffindor!"
"What a coincidence!" said Ron. "We're all in Gryffindor too!"
"So, which one do you want to be in, Rosa?" asked Hermione.
"Ravenclaw!" exclaimed Rosa.
"I think that's a good house to be in," stated Hermione. "That's where all the witty students go. I thought I would go there. Do you want me to tell you what kind of students go into each house?"
"No thanka yo," responded Rosa.
"You already know?" asked Ron.
"I've reada Hogwarts, a Historia, Volumes 1 anda 2," said Rosa.
"Well, at least somebody has read that book. I read that book before I came to Hogw... Did you just say Volume 2?" questioned Hermione.
"Yesa, it's new. It includesa the Philosepher's Stona, the Chambera of Secrets, tha Triwizard Tournamente..." said Rosa.
"I never knew!" gasped Hermione. "I have got to read that book!"
"You've got to read every book!" said Ron.
"Anyway, what did you get on your O.W.L.s?" asked Hermione.
"We don'ta like talkinge about ar' marksa," said Rosa. "We lika to keep thema to ourselves."
"Unlike Hermione," muttered Ron.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't be boasting about what we got. It's a bit rude. I heard the Royals got Outstandings in all their subjects, but they weren't completely great in Herbology. I've heard they're really not so great at Herbology. They don't like to get messy, but they still got Outstanding. They must be really smart. I would love to meet them!"
"Yes, don'ta we alla," said Rosa in a strange tone.
"Are you thinking of joining the Quidditch team?" asked Harry.
"Yesi of coursa!" said Maria. "I woulda lova to be za, what do you calla? Oh, seeka!"
"Actually, I'm seeker," said Harry.
"Wella, good for you! It'sa okay! I like alla tha places. Do you know any empty spotsa?"
"Well, if you get sorted into Gryffindor, you might be able to be Beater or Chaser," said Ron. "My brothers were the Beaters before and they graduated last year, although they got replacements and such so we're not too sure if those replacements will stay. We'll have to wait and see. If they are leaving the replaced spots open, you could be a Beater or Chaser."
"What position would you like, Ros-"
"Nothing!" declared Rosa.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, I don'ta like tha gama. It's horribla! Maybe Beater, I lika to hit things."
"All right...."
"Well, if you ever need some help with school, from getting to a classroom to help with homework, we'll help you," said Hermione.
"That'sa greata!" said Maria.
Suddenly, the train jerked and slowed down. They were at Hogwarts, as they could see out the window the majestic mounted castle surrounded by beautiful acres of land and deep lake.
Everyone loaded off the train and hopped onto the platform. Stepping off the train, Harry tried to look back at the sisters. Strangely, they were gone. It was quite mysterious to him.
They said hi to Hagrid, who was calling the 1st years, as they went into the carriages and headed to the castle where they would all meet in the Great Hall. Harry glared at the creatures pulling the carriages: Thestrals, a black horse-like creature with bat-like wings, which was only seen by those who had seen death. At the sight of them, Harry could only think of Sirius... his poor godfather.
Neville, holding his plant and Trevor, caught up to Harry and his friends.
"Sorry about that!" said Neville, panting. As he caught his breath, he spotted the Thestrals pulling the carriage. "Gee, those Thestrals creep me out. I guess we should go in now!"
"Y-yeah," stuttered Harry, as he turned his view away from the Thestrals and got into the carriage with his friends.
It was going to be a great feast. Once in the Great Hall, they took their seats and waited until Professor Flitwick laid the Sorting Hat onto the stool that it usually laid on. Then Professor McGonagoll brought in all the first years. Before they were sorted, the Sorting Hat sang an opening song:
"Fellow students, gather round and put me on your head,
it will be the place where you belong, the house that I will have said.
Every year I figure out which house you will be going,
you should agree with this wise, old hat because I am rather knowing.
Let me see into your brain about where you ought to be,
and then Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin will come out of me.
Gryffindor is for the brave, whom of courageous heart,
Hufflepuff is loyal, whom friendships won't fall apart.
Ravenclaw is witty, whom seek knowledge and are smart,
Slytherin is strong-willed and seek power, though somewhat small at heart.
'So where will you be?' I must ask, and let me find out, it is the rule,
and then you will be sorted and learn in this grand, old school!"
"Thank you," said Professor McGonagoll, as she unrolled her scroll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will come up, put on the hat and be sorted. Abby, Abigail!"
A small blonde girl put on the hat shyly and sat down.
"Hufflepuff!" shouted the Sorting Hat, as the Hufflepuffs cheered and welcome Abigail into their house.
"I wonder which houses those sisters are going to be sorted into," said Harry.
"I hope they're both going to be in Gryffindor," said Ron.
"They don't have to be in the same house," stated Hermione. "Parvarti and Padma are sisters, but they're in different houses."
"By the way, where are they?" asked Ron.
"Ravenclaw!" shouted the Sorting Hat after sorting Gina Greeves.
"I couldn't find them after we were leaving the train," said Harry.
"They were shy," implied Hermione "Everyone is shy on their first day. They probably hid behind some other kids or might have taken another door out."
"But then they would be in the line of 1st years, wouldn't they?" asked Ron.
"Yes, and I don't see any of them," said Harry, peering into the line of 1st years.
"Slytherin!" shouted the Sorting Hat after it sorted Tim Paron.
"Maybe they got lost," suggested Hermione.
"How could they get lost on a train car?" asked Ron.
"It was cluttered with students," said Harry.
"They could have went into the next car," said Hermione. "They could have went all the way to the caboose, out the door and into the grounds. They could be lost out there!"
"But Filch would have found them, wouldn't he?" asked Harry.
"Even so, would you want Filch finding you scurrying around the school yard?" questioned Hermione.
"We should go look for the-"
Suddenly Dumbledore cleared his throat to make his usual beginning-of-the-year announcements.
"Another gracious year has begun, one with amusement for all ages, new beginnings, discoveries, reliving and meeting old things and finding new things, learning the spectacular arts of magic, and all of this in our grand old school we call Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For our 1st years, it will be a year of discovery of yourselves and of a whole new world waiting for you. For our 7th years, it will be a year of preparation and goodbyes, to get you ready for another whole new world, waiting for you.
"To remind you all the school rules, the Forbidden Forest is strictly unauthorized for any students here, for there are many dangers lurking there. Our caretaker Mr. Argus Filch would like to remind you all, that there is to be no magic in the corridors between classes. Quidditch try-outs will be scheduled soon enough when the house captains decide when to hold them, though anyone who is interested in trying out should verify their house captain and Madame Hooche first.
"But even more spectacular this year, better than discoveries, meeting old friends and yes, maybe even better than learning magic (Professor McGonagoll gasped at this point), we now have a wonderful year ahead of us without worry of evil, in other words, Lord Voldemort."
A sudden gasp was heard throughout the Great Hall at the utter of his name. I can't believe some people are still scared to here it, thought Harry. Nonetheless, Dumbledore continued.
"Yes, we have defeated Lord Voldemort successfully this summer in Sicily."
A round of applause filled the Great Hall. Dumbledore grinned in delight at the looks on their faces and once the applauds calmed down, he went on.
"The wizarding world had suffered horribly during the Dark Lord's time in power, and the wizarding world waited and prayed to hear of the results of the war, and what would come of it. The Ministry begs your pardon for keeping you in the dark with no information, but they only did this to assure no information would pass to those on the dark side.
"Alas, I cannot tell the whole entire story of the war, for it is too long and so short a night to say so, and it wouldn't be quite right coming from me. There will be the Daily Prophet tomorrow, and I assure you they will give long explanations for everything."
"Thank goodness!" muttered Ron.
"This war could not have been won with all of those fighting in it, and of course, our two wonderful leaders, which I am sure many know of, though many don't know personally, nor did they know they were a part of the war."
With a long sigh and a twinkle in his eye, Dumbledore told what Harry had longed to find out since he heard of the news.
"Those two wonderful leaders, who are quite young and did a marvelous job,
are the courageous and powerful Princess Glory and Princess Joy, the Royal Highnesses of All Magic."
Rustling and whispers of various different reactions filled the mighty hall. Many of the reactions were gasps of shock, some were confused expressions and whispered questions to fellow students, and some students were excited and giggled with their friends saying such things as, 'I knew it!'. Harry's reaction was one of the few people who were confused. He had never known there had been royalty of the wizarding world, why hadn't anyone told him? Was it them who Hermione was talking about in her letter and on the train? It sounded quite strange to suddenly know you have two Princesses so powerful they defeated Lord Voldemort.
So these were the ones who defeated Voldemort? Two Princesses? He had been ripped of his responsibility by two prissy Princesses? How courageous and powerful were these Princesses? And if they were so powerful, why didn't he know of them? Harry's happiness vanished into despicable and unusual jealousy.
Harry looked over to see Ron and Hermione's faces, who were gasping, giggling and extremely excited, as Hermione was whispering to Ron, 'I had a strong feeling it was them! They weren't at the palace, you know'.
"Many of you know about them, including those who collect Wizard Cards in Chocolate Frogs, though there are still many who have no idea who they are, and there are still many who don't really know them. Because of this, I will let you know a little more about them:
"We do have the Ministry of Magic in each country, but there is a government who controls all Ministries of Magic. It is the Monarchy of Magic. Each monarch is born on Halloween, October 31st. Most monarchs live a thousand years. One can tell if they are a monarch by seeing if they have the shape of stars in their eyes. They are only crowned King or Queen once they are 18 years of age.
"There is no royal family, they just appear. The Monarch is a very powerful witch or wizard. They are 10 times stronger and smarter than a wizard their age. There are so far only 3 wizards that have served as Wizard Monarchs. The Wizard Monarch comes from a line of great wizards, like these Princesses.
"These Princesses are sisters, fraternal twins to be exact. Since they are twins, they will rule together. They live at their wonderful palace in Rome, Italy. You will find this very surprising, but these Royals are my great-great-great granddaughters."
Everyone's jaws dropped in awe. They never knew Professor Dumbledore had children, they didn't know he was also related to royalty. Someone from Hufflepuff fainted from the shock.
"Yes, it might seem shocking. For those of you who don't know who my wife was, I will tell you. The Gryffindors probably know the painting that leads to the Gryffindor common room has a lady in pink. That was my wife."
They were in awe again.
"Yes, she died about 20 years ago, bless her soul. Well, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, I am pleased to announce that these two fine young ladies will be attending this school."
Yet again, more gasps and cheers echoed and ringed throughout the Great Hall. It's as if these people worship them, thought Harry angrily to himself. He couldn't believe what he was thinking: these two girls killed Lord Voldemort and they seemed like extraordinary people. Was he really that jealous of them? He knew how it was like to be famous, and he didn't really like it at all. It was just all those people cheering... and practically worshipping them.... it disgusted him...
"Well, I would like you to introduce these lovely ladies. They are in their 6th year. Their father is the Minister for Magic in Italy. Please welcome Their Royal Highnesses Princess Glorificous Elizabeth Tatiana Victoria Nefertiti and Princess Joysinious Mary Anastasia Matilda Cleopatra, Dumbledore-Illiermo."
The doors opened and revealed two 16-year-old girls. They looked rather much like super models (well they were extremely beautiful, but they didn't look anorexic if you know what I mean). One had a straight face with large hazel eyes and short brown hair that was flipped at the ends. She wore a long necklace of diamonds which ended in a large cross incrusted with gold, rubies and pearls, it stuck out very much. She was extremely tall, maybe even 6 feet or so. Harry didn't know if it was her big, black, miniature boots with buckles on them that gave her that height, or that she really was that tall. She surprisingly had very fair skin, you couldn't tell that she was Italian.
The other one looked the opposite. She had a big smile on her face, apparently she was happy to be there. She had long, wavy blonde hair framing her lovely face with big blue eyes, which were quite familiar to Dumbledore`s. She wasn't as tall as her sister, though she wore stiletto shoes on her feet. Unlike her sister, she had a soft tan (and it wasn't as intense as Hermione's). They both had star shapes in their eyes. Harry was extremely surprised they were related to Dumbledore.
They were about to walk to the Sorting Hat but stopped. They looked at the floor and frowned confusingly.
"Where's the red carpet?" demanded the tall one with an astonishingly British accent.
Right behind them came Filch holding a rolled-up red carpet. He looked fumbly and shy.
"Sorry, Your Royal Highnesses!" said Filch as he bowed. "Here it is."
He quickly flipped it open and let it roll all the way to the front. They walked to the stool where the Sorting Hat was laid.
"First up, Princess Joy!" declared the Sorting Hat.
The blonde and cheery Princess Joy was the first one to put on the Sorting Hat. She smiled and giggled while she put it on.
"Hmm... A great mind! Great heart! But I know where she's ought to be.... Gryffindor!"
The whole Gryffindor table clapped and cheered. Maybe they're not as bad as I thought, thought Harry. He hoped she was friendly and not a show-off. He just couldn't stop thinking of Maria and Rosa.
"Where are they?" he said to himself.
Princess Joy walked to the table and sat right beside Harry.
"Princess Joysinious!" shouted Ron as he shook her hand and bowed. "I'm so glad to meet you! I have all your Wizard Cards framed!"
"Hello, Ron, Hermione and Harry!" said Princess Joy in a British accent as well, with a large smile. "Don't worry, you don't have to call me Princess. Just call me Joy."
"You know our names?" gasped Hermione. "Wow! I guess it is true that you have great psychic abilities!"
"That is true, but you already told me your names. Remember on the train?"
"No," they all said slowly.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you. I'm Maria!"
"You're Maria?" asked Ron.
"Yep, I can change how I look! I'm a Metamorphmagus. Watch this!"
She stood up and took out her wand. She blinked her eyes and magically they turned brown. She also slid her palms down her hair and it also magically turned firy red. She clapped her heels which made her become taller. She scrunched all her hair into a ball and amazingly it became a bun. Then he waved her wand around her and she was back to normal.
"Cool, isn't it?" she said as she sat back down.
"Bloody brilliant!" said Ron.
"I love red hair. I would have liked to be a red-head, it's just that I'm so attached to my blonde hair, you know?"
She winked at Ron, who immediately turned bright red.
"Wait a minute!" said Hermione. "How did you hide the stars in your eyes?"
"Oh, it's this ancient spell that the other Monarchs of Magic used."
"Now, it is Princess Glory's turn!" declared the Sorting Hat.
Princess Glory, the tall brunette, put the hat on her head with a little grin. The Sorting Hat thought for a while.
"Hmm...Now let's see which house you will be in...." said the Sorting Hat.
"Of course," said Princess Glory. "You are so wonderful at sorting students. I wouldn't have been sorted by any other hat. And might I add that was a masterpiece of a song you wrote this year!"
For the first time in his life, Harry saw the Sorting Hat (actually any hat) blush.
"Why thank you, Princess Glory!" thanked the Sorting Hat greatly. "No student has commented on my songs and sorting in years! Now, let's see where you are...hmm....I know! Gry- No, she's not quite that sort. Maybe Slytherin...."
At the table, Harry saw Professor Snape smile as soon as the Sorting Hat said Slytherin.
"...or maybe something else...which one.. Ravenclaw would be great....Now which one? Ravenclaw or Slytherin? I know! Ravenclaw!"
Ravenclaw jumped for joy while Hufflepuff and Slytherin were practically crying. Harry saw Snape scowling immensely (worse than when he scowled at Harry).
Princess Glory walked over to her table right next to a bunch of girls waving their hands.
"Typical!" said Joy in a frustrated tone. "Just typical of her!"
"What's so typical of her?" asked Harry.
"She always does compliments like that to get people to like her. She just can't be happy and perky to make others happy!"
"Did she lie then?" asked Ron.
"No, she doesn't lie. She actually means it, I think. Ah, who knows! But it's the way my twin sucks up is what makes me angry!"
"Dumbledore told us you were twins," said Ron.
"Yes, we're fraternal. But we're very different. I want to make as many friends as I can. She has a small bunch of friends that she loves to hang around with, but instead of actually having 'friends' she has 'allies', people that she's friendly with so when we're Queens we'll have allies to help us out! I keep on telling her that we have two full years before we become monarchs. She always takes things so seriously and doesn't take time to relax. Look, Harry! My sister's staring at you!"
"Really?"
He turned around. Princess Glory was staring at him. She smiled and waved at him. He did the same back.
"Oh, she's hanging around those girls. I know who they are," said Hermione. "I always see them in the library. They're 4 of the top students from our year in Ravenclaw. Their names are Ruth Simmore, Vicky Phlumer, Tiffany Sealious and Lucy Landerville. They're always studying about you two, especially Princess Glory. They practically worship her. They want to be on her Privy Council. Actually, they're really nice girls."
"I wonder if she'll be friends with Cho Chang," pondered Harry.
"Cho Chang? Who's Cho Chang?" asked Joy.
"Cho Chang is this girl in Ravenclaw who's the seeker for their team."
Joy looked at Harry with a suspicious look. Somehow Harry knew that she knew he liked Cho.
"I don't think so. She hates sports. She hates Quidditch with a passion. Bludgers are attracted to her, you see. They hit her whenever she goes to a game of Quidditch. The only sport she really likes is dueling."
"Dueling?" said Harry. "Oh, I've tried that before. It's not for me."
"Well, she's fantastic at it. She won 1st place for the International Dueling Championships 5 times in a row! Most of the wizards and witches she duels are twice her age!"
"But she's probably twice their size!" said Ron.
"Maybe it's those shoes she wears that makes her so tall," suggested Hermione.
"Actually," said Joy, "those shoes just make her taller. She's very tall. I wear these high heels because I need to. I'm a little bit short. Anyway, I'm good at dueling but not perfect. She's the smart, serious, dueling, never-break-the-rules-in-her life one and I'm the sweet, fun, perky, smart-but-doesn't-boast-about-it, friendly one."
"Hey look!" shouted Ron. "She's talking to Malfoy!"
They all looked around to see Malfoy was flirting with Princess Glory.
"I can't believe it!" shouted Joy. "I've seen that creep on the train with his big friends. They're bullies!"
"Tell me about it!" said Ron.
"So, can you tell us about that war with Lord Voldemort?" asked Hermione. "I'm dying to know!"
"Well, I don't really want to. You're going to learn about it in Charms this week."
"You're obviously taking Charms for your NEWT classes, right?" asked Ron.
"Actually, I'm taking all the classes, except for Astronomy, Muggle Studies and things like that," said Joy.
"You aren't? Why not?"
"Well, the schooling is a little bit different in Italy. You see, in England and in many other countries you go to wizard school at 11 years old. We, in Italy, actually start at 7 years old. From 7-10 years old, we go to an elementary wizard school. We learn all the wizard subjects that don't actually include doing magic such as History of Magic, Astronomy, Muggle Studies, things like that. Nono Albus, that's what I call Professor Dumebledore, Nono means Grandpa, is letting us skip those classes. But my sister and I are going to talk about the war in History of Magic."
"You're lucky," said Ron. "That's the most boring class ever!"
"What classes are you taking?" asked Joy.
"I'm taking Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Divinations, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I want to be an Auror. But seriously, I have no idea how I got an O in Potions. The O.W.L.s for Potions weren't so bad though. I guess the reason why I wasn't doing great in Potions was Snape."
"I hear you!" agreed Harry.
"And you, Harry?"
"The same subjects as Ron," said Harry. "I want to be an Auror too, although maybe after a few years I could be a teacher at Hogwarts. I could teach Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts. I taught a bit of it last year, and it was so fun."
"Harry, you know that that job is seriously jinxed!" said Ron.
"I know, but it might not jinx me. Teaching that subject is fun."
"And you, Hermione?" asked Joy.
"I want to be a lawyer in the wizarding world, but I'm still going to take all the subjects I already have."
"You're absolutely mad," commented Ron bluntly. "Literally, I have no idea why they haven't chucked you into St. Mungo's yet."
"Well, I guess we shouldn't let this food get cold," said Joy. "Let's dig in!"
They all ate until their hearts were content. Half-way through eating, Harry looked at Princess Glory and was shocked to see her eat a whole turkey.
"Wow! Does your sister eat a lot or what?!" shouted Harry. "She just ate a whole turkey!"
"Yes, she's like that. She has a high metabolism. She eats so much. I'm surprised she's not chubby at all. Others would be over-weight!"
Right after she spoke her sister had eaten a whole bowl of mashed potatoes.
They turned around and kept on eating. Hermione and Ron left early. Once the plates were clean, the headmaster cleared his throat again.
"I dismiss you all to your dormitories," declared Professor Dumbledore. "Although I would like to speak to Harry Potter in my office."
Harry was just about to stand up when he heard his name being called. Why did Dumbledore want him in his office? Was it about the war? As everyone left to their dormitories, Harry, and surprisingly Joy, were left behind.
"Do you want me to go with you?" asked Joy. "You know, as a new friend and everything. I wouldn't want you to go alone, wouldn't want you to be lonely."
"Thanks," said Harry, realizing how nice she really was. "You can come with me."
"Great, it'll help me get to know my way around."
Princess Joy and Harry stood up from their seats and walked out of the Great Hall to Dumbledore's office. Harry pointed out a few of the classes on their way there.
After a while, they finally got to the ugly gargoyle statue in front of the entrance.
"Here it is," sighed Harry, pointing to the entrance.
"This is it? Wow, it's neat. I finally get to see Nono Albus' office. I'll wait out here if you want."
"That'll be great," said Harry.
"Oh, and Harry?" asked Joy.
"Yeah?"
"Before you go in, I wanted to talk to you," said Joy. "I know about the Prophecy, and I kind of expected you to be pretty angry."
"It's like you know everything," sighed Harry.
"Believe me, I don't!" said Joy. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't still mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you," denied Harry.
"I know you're a bit. Harry, I never chose to fight in the war, neither did I want to. You were the one who should have destroyed him, not my sister and I. I think that's what Nono Albus will tell you in there."
"Thanks," said Harry, who really appreciated what Joy had said. The anger he felt towards her and her sister began to fade quickly.
"And about that stuff that Nono Albus said about us. He made us seem so great and perfect in his speech, but we're not, although my sister tries to be perfect. She's a perfectionist, you see. I've got flaws, you know, including being a procrastinator. I'm trying not to do this this year, since it's my NEWT year and everything. Plus, I'm short, and I'm really concerned about my looks, I can get too perky, and and..."
"Joy, you don't need to tell me all your flaws," said Harry. "I get the point."
"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know that we're not perfect. They make us seem so powerful and smart, but I barely use those talents, well, maybe sometimes. I do great in my classes and that's all I need to do. I'm great at academics, but I'm not the type who adores school, a know-it-all or even freaky about homework."
"You're the opposite of Hermione," chuckled Harry. "But I get it. Thanks for telling me that, some people would like to let people think they're perfect."
"No ones perfect, Harry," sighed Joy. "Including me. And that red carpet incident? It's not like we're spoiled, it's just weird not to have an entrance without a red carpet. It's always been like that with us. I just felt weird about it, I don't know why my sister made a big deal. She's been acting strange since the war ended. Oh gee, I think you should go see Nono now."
"Okay- Wait, what's the password?"
"It's 'pumpkin crisps'," stated Joy. "He told us before we came here. He's starting to really like them."
"Okay," said Harry, as he turned to the statue. "Pumpkin crisps."
Suddenly, the gargoyle sprang to life and moved aside, and behind it the walls split open to reveal a spiraling staircase. Harry waved goodbye to Joy and hopped onto the spiraling staircase, which took him up to the door that lead to Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door a couple of times.
"You may enter," said Dumbledore.
Harry slowly opened the door and stepped into the room. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, reading a letter. He looked up and gave Harry a greeting smile.
"Mr. Potter, good evening," greeted Professor Dumbledore "Would you care to sit down?"
Harry walked over to Dumbledore's desk and sat on the chest across from him.
"Professor Dumbledore," started Harry, "why exactly did you bring me here?"
"It was concerning the war," answered Dumbledore. "I remember telling you the Prophecy, and I wanted to explain to you why we planned not to follow it."
Finally, I'll get to find out, said Harry as he sat back to listen.
"When you heard about the war in Sicily, you may have questioned the Prophecy and thought if it was right, that you were the one who could only kill Lord Voldemort. Yes, Mr. Potter, it is only you."
"If it was only me who could defeat him, why did Princesses Joy and Glory try and defeat him?"
"Harry, do you know why there was a war? The reason for it?" he asked Harry.
"It was to destroy Lord Voldemort," said Harry.
"Actually, we didn't fight the war to destroy him," said Dumbledore. "We fought to destroy his army, and to keep him from destroying the Princesses and a world power. Harry, those two girls are one of the most powerful witches in the world, and are two massive threats to Lord Voldemort. He knew that he could only be destroyed by you, so it seemed obvious to him he could stand a chance against the two. We weren't sure that we could destroy him. Everyone else thought he could be destroyed with a large and powerful army with two powerful witches leading them. I tried telling them about the Prophecy, but they didn't believe me. After a while, I thought it could be possible, that maybe, Lord Voldemort could be destroyed. I thought, that the Prophecy meant the one person who could defeat him was you. Maybe very many powerful people at one time could defeat him."
"So, I was still technically the only one person to stop him, right?"
"Of course, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Don't feel sad, Harry. As long as he's gone, we'll all be all right. Besides, that Prophecy revealed that you still had something that could destroy Voldemort, and even though he's gone, you still have that secret power in you. No matter who killed him, Harry, you are still the boy who lived."
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," said Harry.
"That is quite all I wanted to tell you," said Dumbledore. "I wanted to confirm that. You may leave now."
"Thank you," said Harry as he stood up and left his office and went down the spiraling stairs to meet Joy.
"So?" asked Joy. "What did he tell you?"
"About the war," said Harry.
"I knew he would," said Joy with a smile. "It's getting late, we better get to our dormitories."
Harry and Joy walked all the way to the common room, where the Head Boy waiting in the corridors told them that the password would be "dragonus firinus". They found the painting of the fat lady a few minutes after.
"Nona!" exclaimed Princess Joy.
"Joy! I am SO glad to see you! Finally, after all these years of waiting! Do come in! Don't worry about the password."
They entered the common room and saw a few of the Prefects still up in the common room, including Ron and Hermione. Harry was surprised to see red leather couches.
"Nono Albus put leather couches in the common room to make us feel at home," said Joy to Harry.
"Harry! Joy!" said Hermione as she rushed over to them, with Ron following her. "Finally, you're here!"
"Why were you two late?" asked Ron.
"Nono Albus wanted to speak to him," confirmed Joy. "He wanted to clear some things up about the war. Well, I think I should put my luggage in my room. I'm getting my own room. It has luxurious furniture, bathroom and things like that. I told the Professors it was all right, but they insisted."
"You're going to bed now?" questioned Ron.
"Of course! It's a school night, and I need to get my beauty sleep."
As Ron sighed, Joy took out a belonging carrier box out of her pocket.
"I have one of those!" said Harry.
"Really? You have a BCB? I didn't know."
"It's called a BCB?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, the name was shortened. The word 'belonging carrier box' was too long."
"Wow. That's wicked!"
"My sister and I invented it, you know."
"Really?!?"
"Oh yeah! We invent a whole bunch of things. We're also trying to perfect
the potion that keeps werewolves sane during the full moon."
"We used to have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that was a werewolf. Speaking of Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, who's going to be our teacher this year?"
"I don't know, but we'll probably find out tomorrow. Anyway, I'm going to go to sleep. Good night!" she said as she went up to her luxurious room. Harry stayed in the common room with Hermione and Ron until all the younger students were in bed. Then all of them went up to their dormitories.
As Ron quickly put on his pajamas, flopped onto his bed and immediately fell asleep, Harry put on his night wear, and then went to the window and stared out into the night sky.
"What a beautiful night," he mumbled to himself.
As he stared out the window, he saw a peculiar dot moving in the sky. What could it be? he thought, but quickly ignored it. He was too tired to think of the explanation. He thought how lucky he was to be back at school again. He suddenly wondered if Sirius, who had went to school with his father, had felt like this. He spotted at his open luggage on the floor, with the box of Sirius laying there. Oh, Sirius...
He tucked himself in his four-poster beds, and with the awful memory of his godfather's death, cried himself to sleep.
Another disclaimer: Princesses Joy and Glory are my own characters, though I was inspired by the name 'Glory' by the goddess Glory from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character gave me an idea about their powers.
Author's Note: Thanks a bunch for reading! PLEAAAASSSEEEE REVIEEEEEWWWWW!!!!! And next chapter: we find out what really happened during that war, we learn more about the princesses, and we are introduced to the new DADA teacher! (it's actually kinda funny who it is. i bet you that you know this person, he's VERY famous in the Muggle World!).