Harry Potter

and the Princesses for Magic

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and I don't own anything I said in the previous disclaimers. And if there's anything else in this chapter or any of the other chapters that belong to someone else, I don't own it.

Author's Note: Hey, people! Here's my 11th chapter of this story (by the way, there are 25 chapters). In the last chapter, there was a Quidditch game where the Slytherins played dirty and Glory showed her temper. Oh, and don't forget that the Quidditch pitch burnt up! In this chapter, Christmas comes to Hogwarts, and while trying out Ron's new Christmas present, they end up in some trouble and overhear an important conversation. DUNDUNDAA!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Chapter 11

Strange Figures

Terror was in everyone after hearing that the Quidditch pitch, the place and pastime that was one of the most enjoyable things to the students of Hogwarts (excluding Glory and Malfoy), was burnt to a crisp. There would be no Quidditch games for at least three long months. Rumours and talk about the flaming field spread even quicker than the flames themselves. No one knew who it could be, but Harry and his friends only had one suspect: Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy's team had been disqualified from the Quidditch games, he had gotten detention and Slytherin lost 10 points because of his last Quidditch game. Wasn't it obvious that the one who would destroy a Quidditch pitch would be the one whose Quidditch year was ruined because of it? Adding to that, Malfoy did mumble with a curled lip and angry look in the Infirmary, "I hate Quidditch". How couldn't he be a suspect?

One day, after the incident of the Quidditch pitch, Harry and his friends were in the Great Hall for lunch, when Glory and Malfoy approached Harry and his friends at the Gryffindor table. All of them recognized the two of them standing behind them, and reluctantly, they laid down their utensils, stopped eating and faced both students, noticing that it looked like they wanted to say something important to them.

"Malfoy has something to say to you all," announced Glory, as she then nudged Malfoy.

"I am so sorry for my ridiculing and ruthlessness," he apologized sorrowfully. "Harry, I am so sorry I made that plot for the Slytherin team to bombard the Gryffindor players with Quidditch balls and I apologize for all the times I said bad things about your fame and your past. Hermione, I apologize for calling you filthy names for muggle-borns. Ron, I apologize for making fun of your family and your lack of money. Ginny," he said, as he looked to her, and recognizing her name, she looked suspiciously at Malfoy, "I'm sorry for getting so angry at you. And Princess Joy, I'm sorry for being so rude to you and I'm sorry for anything else I've caused that wasn't so nice."

Everyone who had heard, known or seen Malfoy and had heard what he had said stood in silence and awe. What was up with Malfoy? Harry thought. Draco Malfoy, or any other Malfoy could never apologize. Man, Glory must be teaching something good to him.

"We forgive you," said Joy finally.

"Now that that's settled," said Glory, "I'm going to eat my lunch. I'm starving!"

Glory turned around to go back to the Ravenclaw table, with Malfoy who was returning back to the Slytherin table. Just when Malfoy was about to leave, Harry stood up caught him by his sleeves.

"What?" questioned Malfoy, tugging away from Harry.

"How come you're suddenly apologizing to everyone?" asked Harry.

"Glory had a talk with me," confessed Malfoy, "and she made me realize how awful I've been. I hope I won't be so awful in the future."

"Wow, I guess you have changed," chuckled Harry, dumbfounded. "But why'd you give in? Aren't Slytherins, or even Malfoys, supposed to be like that?"

"They're not always so evil, just a bit hard-headed and obnoxious," stated Malfoy. "I'm still a bit like that, but I'm just...trying not to be so cruel."

"But, what made you give in?" enquired Harry.

"Hey, if you can't beat them, join them!" said Malfoy.

After saying this, Malfoy walked away, and just when he was almost gone, Ron's eyes lit up.

"I've got it!" shouted Ron.

"You've got what?" questioned Hermione.

"'If you can't beat them, join them!' Maybe that's why You-Know-Who's followers don't seem to be after the monarchy. They want to join forces with them!"

"They could never join forces with us!" chuckled Joy. "We would never let them."

"You might not let them," said Ron, "but Glory might."

"Of course!" said Hermione. "Malfoy's dating Glory! He's probably dating her to gain forces with the monarchy!"

"Oh no!" whimpered Joy. "My sister's in this terrible plot! But if he says he's become nice, how can he still be evil?"

"It's either his father is doing most of it and Malfoy's following along, or Malfoy's following Glory's orders and trying to gain her trust," suggested Ron. "If only Glory knew..."

"Hey, I've got a better idea," said Harry sarcastically. "Maybe Malfoy's just such a weakling that he can't stand up to his girlfriend?"

All three of Harry's friends thought about that idea, and after taking quick glances at each other, concluded their ideas.

"Yeah, you're right," said all three of them in unison to Harry.

*****

Christmas was coming quicker than expected to Hogwarts. Everyone was in the Christmas rush, with presents, stocking, Christmas cookies, etc. Harry had finished all his list of presents, and managed to get them either at Hogsmeade or through Remus. The students were buying wonderful presents for the Princesses again, but they weren't as extravagant, considering that they were all broke from the last occasion.

During one of the days free of classes before the Christmas holidays, Harry and his friends were spending some time in the Great Hall. Harry and Ron were at a game of Wizard Chess, while Joy and Hermione were discussing about their choice of gowns and accessories for Christmas. Glory, in a nice blue robe with books in her hands, and her friends, were approaching them.

"Well how's the Gryffindor foursome during the Christmas holidays?" asked Glory.

"Very well, thank you," said Hermione, "and so are the rest. And you?"

"We're all right."

"Hey, Sis!" greeted Joy with a big smile. "You look lovely. So, have you decided on an idea of what you will be wearing for the bet?"

"A bet? What bet?" asked Ron.

"Joy and I have made a bet to switch fashion styles on Christmas Eve," stated Glory. "I've already chosen what I'll wear. I'll feel very uncovered though."

"I'm not that uncovered!" said Joy. "Anyway, I've picked what I'm wearing too. I'm wearing something with a 17th century French style. Is that okay?"

"It's not exactly my style, but it's the same idea."

"Too bad we won't be able to see what you both look like," said Harry. "You'll probably be off to your palace on Christmas."

"Actually, there might be a possibility that we might be staying here," said Glory.

"Really? Why?"

"Our father's very busy since most of the other Ministers for Magic are still not 100% well, and he has to do a lot of work. It might be better if we stay here and let him work."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Hermione.

"We'll be getting a letter soon from him though," told Joy. "Hopefully, it'll come before Professor Flitwick asks us who's staying over the holidays."

Both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw friends continued their conversations, and later sat down with each other and continued talking. While they were speaking to each other, bowls of candies and Christmas sweets appeared on the tables before them.

"Enjoy the food!" called out Professor Dumbledore to all of them.

"All right!" exclaimed Ron. "Let's dig in."

Everyone took a cookie or two (Ron took 4 cookies). Glory grabbed a cookie from the bowl, and after swallowing a bite out of the cookie, she turned to Joy.

"Do you remember when we used to go to Sweetsland at Nero Gatto," asked Glory, "before Christmas when they had that Christmas sale?"

"Oh yeah!" remembered Joy. "I used to be so excited for that! I remember we used to go to Sweetsland every week-end."

"What are you both chatting about?" asked Harry.

"We were just talking about the times when we went to Sweetsland at our old school."

"You mean you had a Sweetsland at your school?" gasped Ron. "That must have been bloody awesome."

"It was," said Glory.

The letter Joy and Glory had been waiting for came a few days later, as a swoop of owls dropped parcels and letters over the students one morning afterwards. With the owls came Joy's hippogryph and Glory's hippigryph, who flew in royally and landed near each Princess. The hippogryph, with a pouch of parcels, stopped beside Joy near the Gryffindor table. With a glad smile, she took out the letters and boxes in the pouch, and massaged the hippogryph's head.

"Thank you, Buttercup!"

Buttercup nodded, with a little sound of affection from Joy's petting, and flew away. Joy opened one of the many letters before her, the letter which was from her parents. Once opened, she unfolded it and read the letter quickly.

"Oh dear!" said Joy. "We won't be able to go home for Christmas. That's just too bad... Are you all staying too?"

"I am," said Ron.

"Me too," said Hermione. "I decided to stay this year."

"And you, Harry?"

"I usually don't, but it might be different because the Dursleys don't think of me as a terrible monster anymore, or at least they're trying not to act like it. I have to wait until Hedwig comes."

"And there she is now!" pointed out Joy.

Hedwig flew into the Great Hall with the flock of owls and landed near Harry. Harry took off the newspaper of The Daily Prophet, a letter and a box attached to Hedwig's claws. He first opened the letter (a Muggle letter) and read it silently:

Dear Harry,

We hope you enjoy your Christmas holidays and have a good time at Hogwarts. We'll be visiting Aunt Marge for the whole time, so unfortunately you won't be able to come. We hope you like your present.

The Dursleys

"So?" asked Joy.

"I'm staying," said Harry, as he closed the letter. "The Dursleys are visiting Aunt Marge, and they know how we don't get along. What's in those boxes of yours?"

"It's my present and a box of cookies," stated Joy. "I see Glory has got some, oh no, and she's mad. Uh oh!"

All of them turned to look at her sister at the Ravenclaw table. As they watched, Glory crumpled up the letter to her parents and set it on fire in her hand. She threw the ashes away and hurried to Joy. With a very irritated look, she crossed her arms and looked at Joy.

"Do you know what Father and Mother wrote?" questioned Glory angrily.

"Glory, calm down," encouraged Joy.

"I'm trying to! It's just that they said that they didn't want me dating Draco. How could they say that? They don't even know him. He's really nice inside, he just has to feel so superior and become like his father. He's becoming a lot nicer!"

"I know Draco seems nicer, but you can't blame them. Almost everyone thinks the Malfoys are cruel, and it seems obvious they would."

"If only you all knew!" said Glory. "It's okay though. Draco will be staying for the holidays like us.

"Shoot, I have to go," said Glory as she realized she may have been there for too long. "I have a duel with Professor Flitwick. By the way, Harry, is there any other time we can duel?"

"Maybe during the starting of the new year," suggested Harry, as he thought he would be regretting to have another duel with Glory.

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll see you all later!"

She immediately left the Great Hall, with her parcels and boxes in hand.

"Guys, I think you should see this!" said Hermione, reading the front page of The Daily Prophet.

"What is it, Hermione?" asked Joy.

"Look at what's on the front page on The Daily Prophet! I'll read it:

"Just when the Magical World thought that it would have enough of the strange attacks after the Death Eater incident at Princesses Glory and Joy's birthday ball at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the injuries of almost all Ministers for Magic and the burning down of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, a disappearance has occurred.

"Chico Belroni, a very powerful and wealthy business man in Chile, had disappeared two days ago. No witnesses have reported a kidnapper being spotted or an arrest, and neither has there been any evidence. Mr. Belroni owned many stalk markets in the industries of wands, powerful charms, wizard utilities, etc. He was also the owner of a very powerful gem, the Luxark Diamond, which has the ability to turn any animal into a powerful, mythical creature, which has recently vanished as well.



"It reminds you just a bit of the Philosopher's Stone, doesn't it?" implied Hermione, and then continued on reading:



"Hopefully, this will be the last tragic thing in the Wizarding World, and that they will be able to find Mr. Belroni, the kidnapper and the Luxark Diamond."



Harry and his friends stood in awe as Hermione laid down the newspaper.

"Should we do anything?" asked Ron to the rest of them.

"I say we research on it," suggested Hermione. "We could read about the Luxark Diamond and its owner, maybe even more."

"Sure, let's head to the library!" said Joy.

"I can't go," stated Harry.

"Why not?" asked Ron, as he was standing up from the bench.

"I'm going to meet up with Cho," answered Harry, "and we're going to hang out."

"You already had a date with her yesterday!" said Ron.

"So? She's still my girlfriend."

"Fine, go ahead. We won't be at the library for long."

Ron, Hermione and Joy stood up and skidded off to the library, as Harry went to the Gryffindor common room to get ready to meet Cho. At the entrance, was the Pink Lady (sometimes known as Dumbledore's Wife) having tea with the portrait figures of Joy and Glory from the painting in the Great Hall. The figure of Glory was laying her swollen feet into a small tub of water, with her hair straight and wet as if she had just washed it.

"Hello, Harry!" greeted the Pink Lady. "What brings you to the common room on a frost-covered day like this?"

"I'm going to get ready for a date with Cho," answered Harry. "We decided to hang out together."

"Again?" asked Glory. "Haven't you been on a date with her all week?"

Harry blushed at the moment, knowing that the figure of Glory was right.

"There's nothing wrong with that!" said Joy. "They're in love, and I think it's sweet. Besides, I think Ron and I have to go on a date soon."

"You went a week ago!" commented Glory.

"That's not a lot. Even so, we should go out."

"Are you all right, Glory?" asked Harry. "How come your hair is wet and your feet are in a tub 'o' water?"

"My heels were killing me and the hairspray was giving me headaches," whined Glory, though Harry didn't know how someone in a painting can have headaches. "It's murder!"

"You're crazy!" commented Joy. "You can't stand anything that involves being pretty! By the way, have you put on your make-up lately?"

"Yes."

"Really? Have you?"

"Just a bit, at least."

"You should put more. Have you even tried the lipstick?"

"I like the brown and dark shades."

"That's ridiculous! You need some red! Here, I have a lipstick," said Joy, as she took out a red lipstick from her pocket (though Harry didn't know how she got hold of one). "Put it on!"

"No!"

"Put it on!" demanded Joy, as she was trying to smudge some red lipstick onto her sister. The Pink Lady, very frustrated with their behaviour, tried to split up the fight.

"Calm down, girls! There's no reason to be fighting over lipstick!"

"Oh, I forgot about the password," remembered Harry. "It's 'dragonus firinus'."

"You may enter," said the Pink Lady.

The entrance opened and Harry went into the common room. Gryffindors were exchanging Christmas presents and cards, younger ones tried to figure out what they received and others ate their Christmas baked goods. Harry rushed upstairs to his dorm where Seamus Finnigan was reading a book on the biography of Princess Glory, lying on his four-poster bed.

"You're just mad about her, aren't you, Seamus?" commented Harry.

"I can't stop thinking about her," sighed Seamus. "Her sister's nice and all, but Glory has that....charm....."

"She's taken, you know."

"Unfortunately, by that awful...Malfoy. I hate him!"

"You should try and get over her," suggested Harry, walking to his four-poster bed.

"I can't!"

"But you must."

"Would you get over Cho if she was taken away from you?" asked Seamus, following a long pause.

Harry stood there and thought out that question. Would he be able to get over it if something happened between him and Cho? Would he forget it or just mope about it and never move on, like she had for Cedric? He thought he had gotten over her before, but then the feelings all came back, and now that they were deeper in there relationship, it would be harder for him to forget about her.

"I don't know," replied Harry. "I guess I'd have to find out if it ever happens. I can't say now."

"Something is probably going to happen, Harry," said Seamus. "Cho and you will be separated next year. She will have graduated Hogwarts and you'll still be here, and what if you both find other people?"

"I don't want to think about that now," said Harry in an irritated voice. "I'm going out with Cho tonight."

"Again?"

"You have a problem with that?" questioned Harry angrily.

Seamus shook his head, turned away and hushed up. Harry turned to the mirror as he fixed himself up for his date.

It was moments later after Harry was finally ready that he met Cho near the end of the Grand Staircase. It was a very simple date; they explored the grounds and the hallways together while sharing a conversation.

At 8 o'clock, Cho and Harry went back to their common rooms. Harry went to his dormitory smiling, remembering Cho's beautiful face, as Ron, Hermione and the other prefects patrolled the hallways. Seamus glared at him and looked away, still reading his book on Princess Glory.

*****

It was finally Christmas Eve, the day before the most wonderful and happy celebration of Christmas Day. Everyone was in the merry spirit of the holidays. Harry went down to the common room and joined Hermione and Ron as they walked to the Great Hall. Remembering about the bet that Joy and Glory made, they were quite excited to see the outfits they would be wearing.

They entered the grand feasting hall, where only a few students were sitting down and eating breakfast, sharing with each other the holiday glee. As they approached the Gryffindor table, they saw Joy sitting down, but she looked very different. A part of her hair had been styled into a small bun with the rest of her blonde hair cascading down her shoulder, and a lily-like pin had been put into her bun. She wore a blue18th century-inspired dress robe, which looked a bit like the ones Marie Antoinette wore (but is wasn't as showing or as puffed up). However her style had changed, the most shocking part of Joy's look was that she was as blue as her robes, with veins popping up on her forehead. In worry, the trio quickly rushed to her to see what was the matter.

"What's wrong?" questioned Ron worriedly, seating himself beside her.

"Can't......breath...," gasped Joy in her tight robe. "Corset....suffocating.....me....."

"What do we do?" asked Harry, not knowing how to get her out of a tight corset. He looked at Ron who shrugged with no answer.

"I don't know what to do," said Hermione. "I don't know how to work a corset."

"Someone...help......me......"

Harry looked around the room to find someone who could help them, and so doing this, he glanced at a tall figure, an unrecognizable figure. The young lady had a crimson mini-dress robe, with its widening sleeves having splits on both sides of each arm and a low neck-line. She wore matching high-heels, and her hair was full of curls and was pinned up with a diamond clip. A jewelled charm bracelet shimmered on her right wrist, and hanging from her neck was the same giant jewelled cross necklace she always wore.

"Glory?" chocked Hermione. "Is that you?"

"Of course it is!" said Glory, walking towards them (just slightly unsteadily with the high-heels on). "I know, it's a bit different from my style - Oh dear! Joy, what's the matter?"

"Corset.....choking...."

Glory rolled her eyes, went in the back of Joy's dress, unbuttoned the back of her dress robe and broke open the extremely tight corset. As the corset had been loosened, Joy gasped for air. Her face had turned from blue to red, as she tried to re-fill her lungs.

"What were you thinking?" demanded Glory to Joy.

"I put on a corset!" said Joy, gasping for more air. "I had to, that's how you wear one of these dress robes, don't you? I wanted to do it myself and I guess I put it on too tight."

"You bet you did, and you shouldn't have put on a corset."

"But that's how you wear one of these things, don't you?"

"Muggles used to, witches don't," stated Glory. "The dress robes form a corset-like figure once the witch puts the dress on. They're like magic-air corsets that are barely felt. Besides, I don't even put on corsets, except for special occasions. Otherwise, I never where them."

"And you bother to tell me this now?"

"You never asked! Even so, it's a beautiful outfit. Not exactly what I where, but I like it."

"And your outfit!" remarked Joy as she clasped her hands together in glee. "I've fallen in love with it. I don't even wear such beautiful outfits like that. Why don't you dress like this more often? I never knew you had such a fashion sense. I just have to show you off to everyone!"

"No you won't!" declared Gory. "If someone sees us, then fine, they see us. I will NOT show myself off!"

"Come on!"

"NO!"

"Will you stop fighting, please?!" shouted Ron.

Malfoy, who had just entered the Great Hall, spotted Glory, left Crabbe and Goyle, and ran to her immediately.

"Glory, hi!" greeted Malfoy. "I wanted to know if maybe you'd like to come to the Slytherin Christmas Party. You'd obviously be welcome, everyone in Slytherin loves you - What - Why - Why are you wearing - What are you wearing....Huh?"

A face of confusion, happiness and shock sprang up on his face. It was obvious he liked the ensemble.

"Do you like it?" asked Glory shyly.

"L-like it?" stuttered Malfoy. "I love it! Why don't you dress like this more often? Oh Joy, you look lovely!"

"Thank you!" blushed Joy.

"So will you come?"

"I'd only be able to go from 6 o'clock to 7:30," told Glory to Malfoy. "I have to go to the Ravenclaw Christmas party tonight."

"That's fine! Everyone's looking forward to your arrival! Be prepared to get loads of presents."

"Come on, Glory," said Joy. "We have to show you off to the staff. I must show Nono Albus!"

"And Professor Snape, show her to Professor Snape," added Malfoy with a smile.

"You'd better hurry up, Joy," snapped Glory. "I don't want to waste my time showing myself off."

"Don't worry, I have to deliver presents anyway."

"You still haven't delivered them?" questioned Glory. "I already gave out mine."

The twins marched off into the direction of the staff tables. Malfoy gave a goodbye nod (it seemed a bit fake) to Harry, Hermione and Ron and went off to the Slytherin table.

The whole entire day, Harry, Hermione and Ron stayed in the common room to relax and play Wizard Chess. While they were "chilling out", Joy was zooming around giving presents. During the afternoon, while Harry was answering the questions of the younger ones about his adventures at Hogwarts (which had become easier to do after the interview with The Quibbler) and Hermione and Ron were engaged in a game of Wizard Chess, Joy had dropped in exhaustion into one of the sofas in the common room.

"I'm almost finished!" declared Joy as she lay down.

"Almost? What other ones do you have to give?" asked Ron.

"Three of them are yours. Here you go!" she said as she passed wrapped presents to them.

"Any others?" asked Ron, putting his present under the tree mounted with gifts.

"One for Hagrid. Can we go to Hagrid's hut?"

"Now?" questioned Harry.

"Of course! So what I'm tired, I can rest later. Let's go!"

Ron and Hermione put their game aside and Harry said goodbye to the young ones. They all put on their coats and scarves and went outside in the snow-covered grounds of Hogwarts. They hurried to Hagrid's hut to avoid the cold as much as possible. Once they were there, Hermione knocked three times on the large door. The friendly giant opened the large door with a grin.

"'arry! 'ermione! Ron! Princ'ss Joy!" said Hagrid happily. "I've ben waitin' fer a visit from y'all! I've made a tea cake, j'st out of the oven! It's one o' Madame Maxime's recipes. C'm on in! C'm in!"

Hagrid led them in and they all entered the small and cozy hut to seat themselves next to the flickering fire. Hagrid had decorated his hut with simple Christmas decorations and had a small Christmas tree in the corner which had some presents laid under them (they were from his father, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Princess Glory and Dumbledore). Fang, his cowardly blood-hound dog, was laying down in a corner of the hut. Hagrid passed around cups of tea and a slice of thick tea cake to each of them.

"Joy, yev dressed kinda like yer sister," remarked Hagrid. "Ye look wond'rful!"

"We decided to changed fashion styles for today," said Joy.

"That mean I got ter see Glory! She must look surprisin'."

"How's Madame Maxime?" asked Hermione.

"She's fine," said Hagrid, "but 'er school, Beauxbatons that the one, is all scared o' them attacks. I don't blame 'em!"

"By the way, here's my present to you."

Joy pulled out the giant wrapped box she was holding and handed it to Hagrid. Hagrid's face lit up with joy as he held the present in his large hands.

"Thank ye, Joy! Yer sister dropped 'er's off a week ago."

"What was it?"

"Don't know. 'Aven't opened it yet."

"Why didn't you open it?"

"I 'ave to wait 'til Christmas!"

"Not with our presents. You open your present from me today. I won't be here to see your face when you see the present."

"All right!"

Hagrid unfolded the wrapping paper of the gift in his hands, being careful not to rip it.

"I like to save de wrappin'!" he said.

Once he laid down the wrapping, he opened the gigantic box. Inside, there was a large, stylish black robe/coat. As he looked carefully at the gift, Hagrid started to cry.

"Thank ye, Joy! I always wanted one! All I 'ave is that crummy hair bush of a coat!"

"He finally sees how ugly it is," whispered Ron to Harry.

"Try it on!" suggested Joy.

Hagrid took out the coat in the box and put it on. It fit him perfectly.

"This is wond'rful!" said Hagrid. "How'd ye know me sizes?"

"It's a knack I have."

"Thank ye so much! How c'n I ever repay ye?"

"Don't worry, Hagrid! It was my pleasure!

Hagrid took off the coat, put it back in its box and slid the gift with its wrapping under the tree.

"So, what's new with y'all four?"

"We're working on who's behind the attacks, Hagrid," said Harry. "We're going to find the culprit sooner or later."

"Oh no! No! Please don't get in dis business! Yer always snoopin' for an answer once you found somethin' suspicious. Quit it! An' Joy, please don't tell me yer involved?"

"I really want to crack this case, Hagrid!" said Joy. "We have to!"

"We think it's Malfoy," implied Harry.

"Yer always after that boy. I don't like him meself, but even so, y'all should mind yer own business!"

"Oh, Hagrid, the fate of the world might depend on this!" complained Joy.

"Then that's the world's business!" said Hagrid, as Fang ate Hagrid's cake as he wasn't looking.

"We have to go now," said Joy. "It's getting late."

"All right. Bye now, and don't get yerselves in trouble!"

"We'll try not to, Hagrid," said Harry as everyone exited the hut.

"Yeah, we'll try not to get caught," murmured Ron.

They got out of the hut and hurried out of the grounds to the common room just before dinner. Afterwards, they went to the Great Hall to eat their scrumptious meal. When they were done eating, they went back to the common room.

Ron, Hermione and Joy sat in the common room and enjoyed a quiet evening by the fire, while Harry went up to his dorm and read a bit of the dueling manual Glory had given him. As he was in the middle of reading one of the chapters, he heard giant feathers flapping against the wind. He looked out his window to see a giant phoenix soaring through the air, carrying a pouch. Harry knew Dumbledore had a phoenix named Fawkes, which had saved his life at the end of his 2nd year, but he definitely knew this one wasn't Dumbledore's.

Maybe it's for Joy or Glory, he thought. After he had heard rustling and movement down in the common room, he heard a great amount of sobs and crying. Startled, he rushed downstairs to see what was the matter. He ran into the common room to see Joy pouring waterfalls of tears onto her sister's shoulders. Her sister was letting tears out as well, but not a lot. She was holding in her hand a letter. Hermione and Ron were trying to comfort them both, though seemed almost hopeless at doing so.

"What happened?" demanded Harry in curiosity.

"It's - oh!!!!" blurted Joy as she burst out another round of crying.

"It's this," said Glory, showing the letter.

"What's in it?" asked Harry.

"It's the letter, a message given to us from our mother," mumbled Glory softly. "It states that our father has been attacked."

"What?!?" shouted Harry, in shock. How could their father have been attacked? thought Harry. Wasn't Malfoy trying to join with them?

"It was just last night," said Hermione. "Their father was attacked by five Death Eaters while he was just about to go to bed."

"I don't know how they got in," said Glory, trying to dry a bit of her shoulder from Joy crying on it. Sadly, her new dress robe got wet too. "The palace is heavily guarded with knights and charms."

"Oh, why?!?" cried Joy as she threw herself on Ron's shoulder. His eyes looked at Harry in shock. "Why did it have to be....him....next!"

"There, there Joy!" Hermione said as she tried to calm Joy. "There wasn't anything you could do."

"I wish I saw it coming," murmured Glory. "I saw the Dark Wizard's attack, why didn't I see this?"

"Don't blame it on yourself, Glory," said Harry. "It's not your fault. By the way, how did you come over here?"

"Joy let me in to discuss some inventions we were doing," said Glory humbly. I guess there's no use of continuing any more." Glory gave a long sigh and picked herself up. "I must leave. I have to go to the Slytherin Christmas Party. I don't want to be late."

"Glory, after this?" asked Ron. "Forget about it!"

"Just because something uncalled for has happened, doesn't mean I can't get myself together and forget my responsibilities. I must leave. Good bye."

Glory, wiping the tears from her face, walked slowly out of the common room to the Slytherin party.

"Why didn't she stay?" asked Harry, sitting down next to Joy and comforting her.

"She likes to keep herself busy when she's sad," mumbled Joy as she lifted up her head, her make-up all washed up and streaming down her face. "But... oh!"

It was a long evening of crying and calming down. Thankfully, no one else was in the common room, since most of the Gryffindors were partying in the Great Hall. Joy finally calmed down and went to her dorm. When Harry called it a night and went up to his dormitory, he thought about what had happened. Why, he thought, why did this happen? Are we wrong about Malfoy? Is he maybe against them? What is the plan?

*****

"Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! It's Christmas! By the way, happy Christmas, Harry!"

Harry opened his tired eyes and tried to shake off his sleepiness. Ron, who had jumping like a little kid, had woken him, and most of the other 6th year Gryffindors boys (except Neville, he still slept like a log), from a thought-to-be long and peaceful slumber.

"Ron, could you just let me go to sleep?" asked Harry in an irritated tone. "It's 7 o'clock in the morning! Stop acting like a little kid."

"Yeah, Ron!" yelled Seamus, sitting up on his elbow and glaring angrily at Ron. "Shut up and let us get some shut-eye!"

"Lucky Neville," said Dean. "He's sleeping like a baby all through this racket."

Everyone turned their eyes to Neville Longbottom, who was sleeping on his stomach all over the place, with his mouth open and snoring loudly.

"How can I not be awake?" enquired Ron to all of them. "It's Christmas! It's hard not to act like a child when it's this time of the year. We have to hurry up and open our presents early without the hustle and bustle of all the other Gryffindors."

"Of all the times you sleep so deep that you look dead," said Dean, "now's the time you get up earlier than all of us, at 7 o'clock in the morning, when there's no classes, and tell us to get up?!?"

"Yes!"

"Fine, Ron," said Harry, as he sat up in bed and put on his glasses. "All of you can go back to sleep. I'll sacrifice some sleep and let Ron be quiet."

"Wahoo!" shouted Ron.

Harry shook his head at Ron and they both got dressed. They went downstairs where they met Hermione and Joy who were already in the common room. They were both still in their nightgowns, Hermione wearing a pink sleeping frock and Joy wearing a silky, red nightgown.

"Can we open our presents all ready?" asked Hermione. "Ron and I have Gryffindor common room duty this morning, and I've got some extra homework to do."

"You and your homework!" commented Ron. "Just relax for once, Hermione."

"Fine. Come on, let's open our presents."

All of them hunted for their presents under the tree, passing each other's gifts around once they were found. Harry opened his present from Remus first. He unwrapped his present, opened the box to see an old picture album, which had a lock and key, and its cover was made of blue leather, had gold tips in the corners and in silver embossment said Memories in the middle of the cover.

Harry opened the lock with the key provided. He flipped through the pages of the wonderfully put-together album. In the album, there were pictures of Remus, Sirius and Harry's father. There were pictures of them in their robes during their years at Hogwarts, a picture of James on his broomstick in Quidditch, Remus, Sirius and both of Harry's parents, and more. All characters in the pictures were waving and smiling, except one with Snape in the corner. Trying not to remember the disturbing memory from the Pensieve from the previous year, he turned to the next page rapidly. It was just like the other photo album he had of his parents, but this one made him feel more connected to his roots in a way, with a complete set of pictures of the original Marauders. He pulled out the card that came with it as he read it to himself:



Dear Harry,

I was going mad trying to find the perfect gift for you. But alas, I had the idea of giving you the captured memories of your parents, your godfather and I into a scrapbook.

Try to ignore the pictures with Peter Pettigrew. I know you already have an album of your parents, but even so, I thought you'd want it. I hope you like it, and I hope you have a great holiday.

Your friend,

Remus

Harry felt like he was going to pour out all his emotion in a weep at that moment, but instead, he laid the things from Remus aside and took up the other presents. Mrs. Weasley had given him another jumper, Ron had gotten him a pocket manual on being Quidditch captain (Leader of the Team, A Guide on Being Quidditch Captain by Murphy MacNeeling), a nice batch of cookies from Hagrid and a bottle of the cologne Harry liked from Hermione. Even after all those presents, Harry could still not forget about Remus' gift and how much joy it brought him.

He finally got to Joy's present. He read the singing Christmas card and opened the gift. It was a nice gold chain which in a tiny gold plaque was engraved the name "Harry Potter" and a canary-diamond lightning bolt beside it. It must have cost a lot, thought Harry as he examined the necklace. He put it on and saw it shine in the light, and despite it was a necklace, it was very masculine.

He then opened the present the Dursleys gave him, which was a nice pair of dress shoes which he could wear on special occasions.

He laid it aside and opened Glory's present, which included a charming Christmas card. There were two boxes; one was a very large box and the other was very small. He opened the packaging of the large one and found that it was a broom kit especially made for his Stella-Velocita 29 and manual on how to update the tiny screen on the broom. He once had a broom kit from Hermione, but he had used up everything and it wasn't as great as this.

"Wicked!" he said to himself.

Next, he opened the little box. It was a gold and amethyst watch, with a timer and everything. He was so impressed at how Glory had worked so hard for Harry's present, even if she wasn't one of Harry's very close friends.

"Harry, what did you get?" asked Hermione.

"I got a jumper from Mrs. Weasley."

"As always," said Ron.

"I got a Quidditch captain manual from Ron, a bottle of my favourite cologne from you, Hermione, a nice chain from Joy, cookies from Hagrid, a photo album of my parents with my godfather from Remus and a Stella Velocita 29 kit and watch from Glory."

"Wow, Harry, you got a bunch of neat things," said Ron.

"That album must mean a lot to you, doesn't it?" asked Joy.

"It does, and thanks to all of you for your presents."

"Your welcome, Harry," said Joy. "I just can't believe my sister gave a lot of nice things to you. Was my gift enough?"

"More than enough, Joy. It's beautiful."

Harry, Ron and Hermione showed each other what they got, but as they did so, Joy just sat in the chair she was sitting in, sighing.

"What's wrong, Joy?" asked Ron as he sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Nothing, it's okay."

"Come on, tell me! I'm your boyfriend, I should know these things."

"It's...it's just that I was thinking about my father's attack."

"Joy, do you still need to let out some feelings about that? I could always lend a shoulder for you to cry on."

"No, it's not that. It's just that I know how it feels to be attacked. I was attacked once."

"What?" gasped Ron.

Harry and Hermione turned their focuses and attention to Joy, at hearing her say the phrase, 'I was attacked once', and sat closer to Joy to find out what had happened.

"You were attacked?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, it was before we came to Hogwarts. It was just after the war when we were at our palace."

"You mean, you were attacked by those Death Eaters?"

"No, it wasn't Death Eaters. We had imprisoned all the Death Eaters during the war. It was only at the ball that they had all escaped."

"Then what attacked you?" asked Harry.

"Oh....it was uhm.....a giant snake."

"What?!?!" shouted Harry, Hermione and Ron in unison.

"Lord Voldemort - Oh Ron, give it up, he's gone now! - had a giant snake too," said Hermione. "Did it have something to do with You-Know-Who?"

"We thought that at first, but we didn't think so, considering he was dead."

"How could this be?" questioned Harry. "I thought you killed and imprisoned all of Lord Voldemort's associates."

"You can't imprison a snake, and the snake wasn't part of the war," implied Joy.

"So, Nagini - "

"Who's Nagini?" asked Ron.

"It's Voldemort's snake," said Harry.

"How'd you know the name of his sn-" As Ron said this, Harry gave a frustrated glance at Ron, and realizing the look on Harry's face, Ron stopped. "Sorry about that. You can keep on going."

"Anyway, did 'Voldemort's snake' attack you and your sister?" asked Harry.

"Not my sister, it was just me."

"Why wasn't your sister attacked?"

"She was out somewhere, going to the library or something like that."

"What happened?" asked Hermione.

"Well I was fixing my hair and getting ready for the big party at the palace after the war. I think I was about to apply some lip-gloss until I heard this clinging in the walls, and I heard these strange noises coming from the toilet. I tried to see what was going on, and then suddenly this giant snake's head popped out of the toilet."

"You must have been scared," remarked Hermione.

"I was shocked to the bone. At first, I threw toilet paper at it and soap, not knowing what to do."

"Wait a minute, wouldn't you have died or been petrified if you saw its eyes?" pondered Ron.

"That's a basilisk, Ron," said Harry. "Voldemort's snake is just a really big serpent."

"Oh, sorry," said Ron.

"Afterwards, I got out my wand and did some dueling charms, which stalled it a bit. Once the guards heard my screaming, they rescued me and defeated the snake. I know it's a bit pathetic that I got scared by an oversized snake after defeating the Dark Lord, but at the time I was so relaxed that the war was all over that I was utterly shocked."

"Wow...." murmured Harry in shock. "That's so strange."

"I guess so."

"By the way, I forgot to open your present," said Ron to Joy.

He bent down and picked up the box. He didn't bother to read the card.

"I'll read it later," he excused.

He gently opened the little box and pulled out what contained inside, which he found a small metal gadget, with a tiny buttons, large red button and a little screen.

"A BCB!" shouted Ron happily, carefully holding the gizmo. "This is bloody cool! Thanks a whole lot, Joy."

"It's not just a BCB," said Joy with a smile. "Hold on, I'm going to move everything to make some space."

With a wave of her wand, all the furniture and objects in the common room had pushed aside. She explained to Ron how the BCB worked. After he pressed many buttons, a beam shot out and there appeared an extremely large object. Harry didn't know exactly what it was. It looked very familiar to a sports car, like a red Lamborghini, but it also looked familiar to a small red jet or rocket. On the side of the strange figure it read in gold lettering: Light Lamborghino XL 5.

"Whoa!" said Ron. "It's really neat.....What is it?"

"It's a Light Lamborghino XL 5 of course!" said Joy. "It's the latest model from Light, that's a via-mobile company owned by Alberto and Alessandro Light. It's kind of a wizard car, except it's called a via-mobile."

"A car?" enquired Ron. "Like the flying one we crashed in the 2nd year?"

"What?"

"Uh.... Never mind."

"Anyway," continued Joy, "it's a wizard-adapted version of the Muggle Lamborghini. It's what we use to get around in Italy."

"Why don't you just use broomsticks?" asked Harry.

"Oh please! As if we're going to go place to place on those wooden sticks."

"How is this part of my present?" asked Ron.

"It's yours! I want you to have the via-mobile."

"WICKED!" shouted Ron at the top of his lungs, which Harry thought he had woken up everyone in their rooms. Ron's jaw dropped and his eyes widened to the size of Dobby's golf-ball eyes. Ron was panting with delight, and Joy was delighted at how much Ron liked his present. "THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT I'VE EVER GOTTEN!!! It beats this ugly jumper my mother gave me. Am I the only one who got the car?"

"No, my sister gave a green one to Malfoy."

"Ugh," mumbled Ron under his breath.

"Yeah, it's true. I told her that it's a bad idea to be involved so much with Malfoy, but she didn't listen to me."

"How do I drive this thing?" asked Ron.

"You need a license for that. Don't worry, I'll take you on rides in the beginning, then I'll help you get your license."

"Cool! Can we ride it now?"

"Not today. I think some other Gryffindors are coming down. I don't want anybody to get excited over it," she said as she beamed up the vehicle into the BCB and handed it to Ron.

"Wow, you and Glory give such nice things!" said Hermione. "I love the necklace you have me with the giant diamond pendant. It's gorgeous!"

"Oh, don't mention it."

With another wave of her wand, Joy put all the furniture back in place. All four Gryffindors packed all their presents in their rooms (Ron made sure NO ONE touched his BCB, not than most people knew what was in it). Meanwhile in their rooms, Joy and Hermione hurriedly got dressed for the day's festivities.

All the Gryffindors were joyous and smiling as they savagely opened their presents. Seamus Finnigan was very happy with the presents from Glory and Joy (basically because it was from Glory). Joy had put on a lovely pink-and-purple dress robe for Christmas Day, which had a low neckline to show the simple yet cherished necklace that Ron gave her for her birthday.

Afterwards, they rushed down to the Great Hall for a Christmas breakfast, full of sausages, eggs, toast, bacon, honey-bread, cookies and more. Once the tables were cleared out, everyone settled down to their own small activities. Ron and Joy were engaged in a game of Wizard Chess (which Ron would not give up playing the whole Christmas vacation) in the Great Hall.

"Check mate!" declared Joy as her King chess piece crumbled Ron's queen.

"You always win," huffed Ron sorrowfully, "and I thought I was the King of Wizard Chess."

"You are the King, Ron. You won that giant chess game to get that stone."

"The Philosopher's Stone to be specific," said Ron. "Even if I might be the King of Wizard Chess, you and your sister are the soon-to-be Queens for Magic!"

"Although we should be titled 'Empresses'," said Glory who had just come from the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey, Glory!" greeted Joy. "Happy Christmas! I see you've gone back to your usual clothing, right?"

Glory was wearing a Renaissance-inspired dress robe, which looked very similar to the one Harry had seen a 13-year-old Queen Elizabeth I of England wearing in a painting. It was a red gown, sewn with jewels and other fabrics at the end of the sleeves and underneath the dress robe.

"It's one of my favourite gowns," said Glory. "Do you like it?"

"Of course, you look wonderful!"

"What did you both give each other for Christmas?" asked Harry.

"We gave each other small villas beside the Mediterranean Sea," said Glory.

"Cool!" said Ron. "I wish one of my siblings gave me a villa, or anything that was actually worth anything! You both don't know how lucky you are. You're spoiled!"

"Oh Ron sweetie, you don't know how thankful I am to have this," said Joy. "Ron, it doesn't matter what the value of the presents your sibs give you, it's the thought that counts."

"They could try and get something extra nice for him at least," suggested Glory.

"Now YOU are the spoiled one!" shouted Joy angrily. "You never look at the bright side. You just give a general thought, that's it!"

"It's what we call etiquette and necessity, Joy. It's either you have it or you don't. Those who have it, get through life with class and delight. Those who don't, are cheap."

"You're so mean!"

"What, you don't like my philosophy?"

Joy scowled at Glory hardly, but then sighed and tried to forget about it.

"What did that Malfoy give you?" asked Joy, obligating herself.

"He gave me a remarkable replica of Catherine the Great of Russia's crown. You know, the Muggle tsarina, a former Queen of Russia?"

"Really? That must have been quite expensive. That was very nice of him."

"What did Ron give you?"

"It was something he had given me the night before. We went to the house-elves' headquarters and he planned and got all the house-elves to sing a love song to me. It was so sweet, and it was straight from the heart."

"That was sweet, even if you can't keep it... What are you and Ron doing there?"

"We were playing a game of Wizard's Chess," responded Joy.

"And she won!" scowled Ron. "Do you want to play, Glory?"

"No thanks. I'm more into another game."

"Which one?" asked Ron curiously.

"Here, I'll show you," said Glory, as she pulled out her wand and flicked it, and there appeared a large nicely-decorated box for a board game.

"What's this?" enquired Ron, running his fingers along the sides of the box.

"It's my favourite game, called 'Battle for the Mystic Empire'," she said as she unpacked the board game.

It was a board game full of drawings of forests, mystic creatures and such nicely painted details onto the board. It had a giant raised mountain in the middle with a castle, and in the mountain there was a glittering mini-crystal ball.

It wasn't like a Muggle board game at all. There were raised objects such as trees, waterfalls, etc, and everything was moving. The water was flowing, fish were swimming, demons in caves were growling... It seemed like an exciting game.

Glory laid out blue and purple cards all around the board in certain selected areas. She also put 4 groups of marble figurines (which looked like the chess pieces except with little armies). Watching and examining every fascinating detail of the game, everyone was eager to play this fascinating pastime.

"All right," said Glory after she finished setting up the game. "The game starts off with a little story.

"There was a powerful king named King Wence, who lived on the top of Mount Fierce and controlled the Mystic Empire. The King had four children, and the Empire was divided into four kingdoms for each child to govern. The King possessed two special things: the Crown of Knowledge, which gave the wisdom and wit to rule to the one who wore it, and the Sword of Strength, which gave the power, courage and strength to rule to the one who possessed it.

"But one day, an evil sorcerer named Trissle-theif destroyed King Wence at the top of Mount Fierce and took over the Empire and brought evil and fear to all who dwelled there. The only one who can stop him are the King's four children, all of us players, who are his legal heirs.

"The object of the game is to bring your army on a journey through the Empire's lands to Mount Fierce to destroy the evil sorcerer and become King, or Queen, of the Mystic Empire before the others can. Everyone has 100 points to start off. The more your army and you are hurt by attacks, the less points you have. You can gain points from witch doctors around the board. If you lose all your points, your out of the game. Who wants to play?"

"All the others can play except for me," said Joy. "I've played this game more than once with you, and you always win. Let the other three have a chance."

"I suppose I was right," said Glory, looking down at her board game. "Two female leaders and two male leaders."

The Gryffindor trio huddled around the divine game board with Glory, and they sat down at each corner of the board.

"They all have different characteristics," remarked Hermione, examining her play pieces. "Do they have different names?"

"Absolutely!" responded Glory. "I have Duchess Elizabeth of Henceburg. You, Hermione, have Duchess Guinevere of Dunetaine. Ron has Duke David of Tintletone, and Harry has Duke John of St. Stellinghoward. We should all roll to see who goes first."

Glory took out the pair of dice beside the board game and gave everyone a chance to roll the dice. Hermione got 2, Ron had received 6, Harry got 12 and Glory rolled last and got 10. Since he had 12, the largest number, Harry rolled first.

The game turned out to be quite thrilling and carefully thought-out. Their armies went through dark jungles, which they could have been attacked by trolls or healed by witch doctors. Ron was attacked so many times by evil creatures (especially swarms of Cornish Pixies) that he lost all his points in a few minutes. At the end, it happened to be Princess Glory who had won control of the Mystic Empire.

"Wow, that was fun!" said Hermione.

"Of course it is!"

"Even if I lost," sighed Ron. "Is it just me, or am I suddenly losing at all games?"

"Don't let yourself down, Ron!" encouraged Joy.

"Maybe we can play this another time," suggested Harry.

"Maybe so, but I have a meeting with General Arthur of the British Wizard Army. He wants to see some of my latest inventions in defense."

"Are they those invisibility bands?" asked Joy.

"What?" questioned Ron.

"Invisibility bands," explained Glory. "They're bands which stick to your wrist and make you invisible, and when you flick them some amount of times it stops to stick and you're visible. I've also got some stuff like reflector tanks, which when hit by an explosion, the explosion bounces off, curse-proof armour, and a lot more things. Armies are incredibly interested in them, so much that because of it, my wage has raised 3 times more than I usually earn."

"That's why we're spending so much this year," commented Joy. "Believe me, we've spent more than we usually spend each year."

"I suppose I should go," said Glory as she packed up the board-game. "Bye, everyone!"

Once the game was packed up, Glory left and the Gryffindor's leisurely Christmas Day activities continued. Joy and Ron played another game of Wizard Chess (even though Ron knew he would lose) and Harry and Hermione were talking about the presents they received.

A few days later, it was New Years' Eve. All the students and staff were in the Great Hall, counting down until midnight. Ron was with Joy, Malfoy was with Glory, Hermione was with her books (sadly, Krum couldn't go to the celebration) and all the other couples and friends were together. Of course, Harry was with Cho, having a wonderful time just being in each other's presence.

At the front of the Great Hall, there was a giant shield with the Hogwarts coat of arms on a pole with the number of the year at the bottom, which was used to count down to the new year, just like the gigantic ball in Time Square in New York for New Year's Eve. When it was only a minute until midnight, the crest started to lower down, and everyone counted down in unison.

"Ten...nine..." counted down all those in Hogwarts, "eight... seven... six.... five... four... three... two...one!"

When the Hogwarts crest reached the bottom, the number lit up and confetti and balloons flew up in the air and covered the Great Hall.

"Happy New Year!"

Everyone, delighted the new year had begun, was hugging each other happily. Harry and Cho hugged each other tightly, telling each other happy new year. Doing so, they pulled away from each, looked to each other's eyes, and joined back for a warm and romantic kiss.

It was an absolutely magical evening that New Year's Eve. Harry thought that this new year would bring all the happiness and joy he'd ever wanted. As long as he was with Cho, he knew it would be a wonderful new year.

*****

"I'm not sure about this."

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I'm scared. I've never been on one before."

"Me neither."

"Let's go! It would be a new experience!"

"Speak for yourself, Hermione."

The whole gang, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Joy were outside in the Hogwarts grounds with Ron's new via-mobile. Joy had wanted very much to give her friends a ride in Ron's new via-mobile that evening, and to demonstrate to Ron how to drive one.

The glowing moon was clear and full, nestled up high in a sky of darkness, the air was cold and fresh, and snow covered the terrain. Everyone was excited, and quite nervous, especially Ron. After a lot of encouragement and proof that Joy knew how to drive a via-mobile, and that she knew how to drive a via-mobile very well, they decided they'd take a nice drive in it.

Joy had brought the BCB outside and had beamed out the shiny red via-mobile, that was slightly hovering from the frosty ground. Harry and the others hopped into this modernized way of wizard transportation, ready for a relaxing ride.

The inside was very similar to a Muggle car, except with a futuristic touch. The 5 seats in there were white leather, and there was a black wheel and many colourful buttons, almost like a spaceship, at the front of the vehicle.

"Cozy," remarked Harry as he sat in the backseat and looked around.

"I've seen these when I went to Italy," told Hermione as she sat in the back with Harry. "The cabs are like this too, except not so classy and stylish."

"And to think that this is mine," recalled Ron as he sat in the front, right next to Joy who was seated at the wheel.

"Now that you've seen this thing," said Joy, "let's start the ride! Where should we go? Over the lake, above the castle, around the grounds...."

"Everywhere," stated Ron proudly. "I want to see it ALL."

"Sure thing," agreed Joy. "Now Ron, try to observe some of the things I do so you'll have an idea how to operate one of these. You'll be tested sooner or later."

Ron gulped down a ball of worry as everyone buckled up their seatbelts. Joy turned the key and pressed down at the peddle. Suddenly, the jets blew and the via-mobile hovered higher into the air.

"This reminds me of my father's flying car," remarked Ron.

"Except that it's not an ugly Ford Anglia," added Harry (no offense to Ron).

Joy pushed down more on the lever beside her and up and away they went. With a poised yet powerful takeoff and flight, Joy flew them all around the grounds of grand old Hogwarts. In the via-mobile, they passed Hagrid's house, who waved out of his window with Fang slobbering on it. They had passed over the dark and slightly-iced waters of the moat, with the sea monster peering with an eye from a space in the ice to see the flying aircraft. They also flew over all the frosty terrain of winter snow, glistening in the beams of moonlight, as if the stars weren't the only ones twinkling that night.

It seemed like a perfect ride to Harry, who was in the back seat with Hermione, relaxing and enjoying the view (and by the way, he DID, in fact, have big windows). He felt like he was floating on air, with the comfort of his cushioned seat and the beauty of the scenery out his window. The ride could not be more calm.

They were right at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, flying overtop of the scenery of giant, bare trees and dark depths of magical creatures and mystery. It seemed so tremendously beautiful, except for a strange figure flying in the distance.

"Joy, what's that?" asked Harry, looking at the strange object out his window. "I don't know," she replied, who was looking through the front window at the strange figure. "It looks like there's more than one thing out there."

"More than one?" questioned Ron in a scared tone.

"Yeah, and I think they look like some kind of flying creatures!" added Hermione.

Their via-mobile, at a quick speed, was approaching the flock of strange creatures

in front of them, which seemed like they were carrying objects. When Harry tried to look at them a bit more closely, he suddenly recognized the objects in relief.

"Wait a minute, I know what they are!" shouted Harry. "It's the owl post! Those are owls!"

"Oh, the owls," Joy sighed in relief, but suddenly realizing something, Joy looked up quite frightened. "Oh no, owls!"

Harry didn't know what Joy was panicking for, and neither did anyone else, but then his eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw that the via-mobile was heading straight into the flock! The birds were shrieking, and so were Harry and his friends. Ron, who had been slightly tensed before, was panicking immensely.

"AH, WE'RE GONNA HIT 'EM!" shouted Ron in panic. "WE'RE GOING TO BE RUINED! I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE COME IN HERE!"

"Oh will you stop it?!?" screamed Joy.

The birds, who had noticed the via-mobile was heading towards them as well, were flapping their wings and hovering in place; they were too scared to move.

"Here we go!" called out Joy.

She pulled the lever, and just as they would have collided into the owls, they went straight below them. All four of them were calm for a second, but then they noticed that they were falling at a rapid sped. They screamed at the top of their lungs in terror, but then Joy turned up the via-mobile and starting to fly. She was trying to fly straight, calm and steady, but then another flock of owls came in front of her.

"Oh no, not again!" shouted Harry.

Joy ducked under the other flock of owls, and the via-mobile dived straight into the Forbidden Forest. Everyone was screaming, once again. Joy was so petrified with horror that she couldn't do anything.

The via-mobile plummeted into the trees with a steep drop. The via-mobile hit a branch and turned, and then another branch. Finally, Joy wasn't so petrified anymore and turned the wheel, and the via-mobile started flying straight again. Everyone was a bit calmer, but then a large tree appeared right in front of them. Joy turned the via-mobile another time, but while she turned, she hit a branch and fell spinning.

Finally, the via-mobile made a large thud as it hit the frozen ground floor of the Forbidden Forest. All of them could feel their hearts beating speedily from the fright. Joy laid her head on the wheel of the via-mobile sorrowfully, and suddenly, she burst out crying.

"Why didn't I see those owls!" she cried, making the steering wheel very wet and soggy. "I put all your lives in danger!"

"It wasn't your fault, Joy," said Ron, calming down Joy, though he was still scared stiff. "You couldn't see that there were owls coming. It's the owls' faults!"

Joy howled and cried even more.

"And it's just not that!" continued Joy. "I landed the via-mobile in the Forbidden Forest!"

Harry looked through his window to see a dark, mystifying and unsettling forest. He knew the via-mobile had landed in the Forbidden Forest after a long time of falling, but it just hit him then, even though he had been there very many times (practically every year at Hogwarts), that it was 'forbidden'. Harry, of course, knew it was forbidden, but he had realized they could get expelled or suspended if caught, and he also remembered why it was called the Forbidden Forest.

He just remembered the scary things, monstrous creatures and evil dwellers that were hidden in those woods (even though he had completely forgotten this on his other adventures). It was probably one of the first times of his 6 years that he, or he and his friends, had come into the Forbidden Forest by accident, and had realized the dangers and very many secrets it held, and no matter how many times you've been there, there would be still more to be scared about. It was remembering that which sent a sharp chill up his back and through his neck.

"Maybe you can try and start it up again," suggested Hermione.

Joy lifted her face off the wheel, sat up straight and tried to start up the via-mobile and make it move. Unfortunately, nothing was happening, so she just turned it off once again.

"It doesn't work!" she said, bursting with more tears.

"We're not supposed to be in the Forbidden Forest!" complained Hermione.

"Maybe someone should check out the via-mobile and see what's wrong," suggested Ron.

"Who?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know, but someone."

"We don't know how it works!"

"It's a lot like a Muggle car. Plus, it doesn't take a Muggle nor a wizard or witch to see that something's broken."

"But who's going out?"

"I will," volunteered Harry. "I've been here loads of time, though in this situation I still haven't lost my fright for it. Even though this place still gives me the chills, I know this place the most out of all of us."

"No, don't go!" shouted Joy. "It's my fault, I'll go."

"No, you're staying here, Joy," said Ron.

"Harry can't go alone!"

"I'll go with him," volunteered Hermione too. "I'm a top student, and I'm probably the one who's paid the most attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts since we've started Hogwarts. Even so, I have been in the Forbidden Forest a couple of times. Ron, you take care of Joy."

"It's more like she's going to take care of 'me'," implied Ron. "And what about when you were complaining and saying: 'We're not supposed to be in the Forbidden Forest!'?" imitated Ron.

"Exactly," said Hermione. "I'm checking out the via-mobile so we can get out of here as soon as possible. Come on, Harry."

Harry followed Hermione out the back of the via-mobile and into the forest. They both cast 'lumos' spells on their wands, and searched around the via-mobile. There weren't any bumps, nor scratches, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it either.

"I don't get it," said Hermione. "It looks okay."

"We should check near the engine," suggested Harry, "right under the cover of the car."

"Sure," agreed Hermione.

They both walked over to the front of the cover, where the engine would be. Just when Harry was going to lift it up, strange banging and hooting noises were made under it.

"What's that sound?" enquired Harry.

"Sounds like something's in there. We should look under it."

Harry grabbed the tip of the cold cover of the via-mobile, and then he silently and gently opened it. Tangled in wires, a white, snowy owl with a small pouch was hooting and flapping its wings like mad.

"It's Hedwig!" stated Harry cheerfully, as he untangled the wires and freed the owl. The bird flapped his wings and perched on Harry's shoulder. "Should we go send Hedwig to get help?"

"No, I think we'll be fine."

"Go to the Owlery, Hedwig!"

Hedwig flapped his wings and flew away to the castle. Harry and Hermione were about to go back into the via-mobile, until they heard whispering noises.

"Is there something else under the cover?" asked Harry.

"I don't think so."

"Did Joy and Ron hear anything?"

"No, Ron's too busy calming down Joy. They probably didn't hear a thing."

"We should go investigate."

"No!" whispered Hermione harshly. "We have to go now! The via-mobile's okay now. We can leave!"

"I'm going," said Harry, walking away and trying to follow the location of the whispers.

"You're so stubborn," she sighed, and reluctantly followed him.

With their lit wands and the trail of sounds, the two tried to find where the noise was coming from. When they were an eighth of a mile away from the via-mobile, they stopped in their tracks as they found where the noises were coming from.

Three figures were standing in the darkness in the middle of surrounding trees. Harry could see the smallest of the figures, which seemed to look like a teenager. The smaller figure was standing next to a taller, adult-like figure, who was standing in front of a large figure, which Harry nor Hermione could figure out who it was. At that moment, Harry's scar began to slightly throb.

"Master, what will we do?" asked the teenager. "Some students are getting suspicious at the school. They're trying to snoop around."

"And the aurors are on our tail, I know it," said the adult. "How long can we keep this up?"

"Relax," hissed the strange figure. "Neither of the people mentioned are even close to finding out what we're up to. They're still cloaked in mystery and confusion. They'll never find out what's going on."

"Who do you think those shadows are?" whispered Harry, who was hiding behind a group of crowded trees with Hermione.

"I don't know," responded Hermione. "The smaller one looks like a teenager, probably a boy. The one standing beside him is probably a male adult. The other shadow, I don't know. I have no idea if it's a woman or a man!"

"I think it's a woman," suggested Harry. "It has female features."

"It has a masculine voice, though. I think it's a guy, but their voices aren't too familiar."

"Just a bit," said Harry, who felt he heard the voice of the strangest figure before. "Maybe it's a he-she."

"Stop acting so silly!" scolded Hermione. "Listen!"

They turned around and focused once again on the conversation, which was still taking place.

"Potter and his friends are snooping around again," said the teenager. "They found out your plans before. They could do it again."

"I ordered you to form a plan to destroy him at the Quidditch match," said the stranger, "but you failed!"

"I know. I tried to get the Slytherin team to hurt him, then when he was alone in the Infirmary, I would finally destroy him."

"Maybe you should find a better plan. And you," it said to the adult, "what do you mean by that the aurors are on our tail?"

"They're very suspicious, and they're snooping around a lot. They're asking questions to every single ex-Death Eater, and they're starting to find clues from the kidnapping of those two wizards."

"Yes, have you kept them in a safe place?"

"Of course. No one will ever know where they are."

"Excellent."

"What about all the attacks from the Ministers of Magic?" asked the teenager. "They're going to heal soon, and you never know if they may take it out on the monarchy. The attack did take place at their sixteenth birthday."

"They aren't going to take down the monarchy. With royalty joined with me, nothing can stop us. You're forgetting Princess Glory is the strongest witch in the world

these days. She could wipe out a whole entire nation by the snap of her finger. And her knowledge, no one can outsmart her."

"What about Princess Joy?"

"Her? She's no good. That perky little girl could never be supreme. She might be extremely strong, but she could never use it so willingly, nor would she do any form of the Dark Arts. She's no match compared to Princess Glory."

"Do you think Princess Glory will find out what's happening? You said she's extremely smart. She could find out what's going on and destroy us all."

"That's true, but she'll never suspect this," said the stranger to the teenager. "It's right under her nose. She loves you, and nothing can stop her if she wants to have her way. You're the only one who can bring us to power, you and I. You're the most important person in this mission, and it's all up to you. All we have to do is wait less than two years, and then we'll finally gain power. You, Princess Glory and I will rule over the empire, and bring evil and fear to everyone. And you," it said to the adult, "will make sure everything comes to plan."

"I won't disappoint you," said the teenager. "I'll conquer the world with Princess Glory, and bring you back to power."

"Wonderful.... However, there's another task we have to do. We have to bring back my pet.... That would bring us more power. If only Princess Joy hadn't got it slaughtered."

"Yes, Master."

"What do they mean by 'pet'?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," responded Hermione. "If we knew who all three of them were, we'd know what the pet was."

"Who do you think they are?"

"There's no doubt who the teenager is. It's Draco Malfoy, absolutely. The strange figure was telling that Glory loved him, and that it was up to him to gain power."

"Malfoy's Glory's boyfriend too. And that part of him gaining power, I don't get that."

"I don't kn- I've got it! What if Malfoy's trying to gain power with Princess Glory's help? With her by his side, it will be impossible to be defeated, but what happens in two years? I didn't understand that, Harry."

"In two years... What's going to happen to Joy and Glory in two years? By then, we'll be out of Hogwart- Of course! They'll be crowned Queens, and probably Malfoy's going to try and marry Glory, then he'll be King! But if the teenager's Malfoy, who's the adult?"

"I'm guessing it's Lucius Malfoy. He's an ex-Death Eater, or maybe he still is one, I'm not sure, but he would know if the aurors were involved after the ex-Death Eaters. They're probably asking Lucius Malfoy a whole bunch of questions, but I'm not too sure who the strange shadow is."

Harry didn't even have to think on that question. He already recognized that voice, from all the encounters and terrorizing nightmares that haunted him at night, and that throbbing scar reassured him of it too. He knew who the figure was, with no doubt whatsoever.

"Who is it?" asked Hermione.

"There's only one person who it could be," said Harry shakily. "Voldemort."

"How?" questioned Hermione confusingly (which she rarely did). "He's dead! Glory and Joy killed him. There's no way it could be him, is there?"

"I don't know, but I think he came back somehow," uttered Harry in a low voice. "We just have to find out. Maybe they killed his body, but his spirit is still lurking." "Perhaps, but what did they mean by 'pet'? I don't recall Lord Voldemort having a pet..."

"Of course he does! Or 'did'..."

"What are you talking about, Harry?"

"You should know! Joy told us about it on Christmas morning."

"What?"

"Nagini!"

"That? Oh, I remember! How could he bring him back, though? I understood Lord Voldemort coming back, because after all these years I've noticed the dude won't die, and he's had his come-backs many of times."

"I'm not too sure, but we can discuss it with Joy and Ron. Do you think the kidnappings of the hypnotist and the business man have anything to do with this?"

"To gain power, supposedly. That business man had a lot of power. Less power for the world, more power for Voldemort. And that hypnotist. Not too sure about-"

"Master, what's that sound?" asked the adult figure.

"I don't know," said the mysterious shadow.

"Oh no!" whispered Hermione in panic. "They heard us!"

"We should go," whispered Harry back.

The figures stared into the area of forest surrounding them, looking closely for any movement or for anything which could have made the noise. Once the three shadows continued their conversation and ignored the search, Harry and Hermione crept quietly back to the via-mobile. They made sure they didn't make any sounds, for the consequence could have been fatal.

Harry opened the door of the via-mobile to see Joy and Ron kissing in the front seats. Joy and Ron quickly noticed that they were back, and pulled away from each other. All four stared alarmingly at each other, Joy and Ron looking a bit embarrassed.

"You WERE taking long!" said Ron as an excuse. "Anyway, what was wrong with the via-mobile?"

"Harry's owl was tangled in the wires," answered Hermione.

The couple went back to their seats to make everything seem like nothing had happened (or specifically, to make everything seem that nobody was caught smooching someone else in a via-mobile), as Harry and Hermione jumped in the back of the vehicle. Joy turned on the key (which successfully made the car start), pulled the lever, and the via-mobile hovered higher and higher and then flew away to the castle.

Joy parked the via-mobile at the Hogwarts entrance. Everyone got out of the via-mobile, and once they were all out of there, Joy beamed it into the BCB and handed it to Ron. They sneaked through the entrance, into the hallways and back to the Gryffindor corridors until they were standing right in front of the painting of the Pink Lady.

Just when they were about to say the password, a gigantic (more than 6-feet tall) flame appeared right in front of them, frightening them all (including the Pink Lady). Princess Glory stood, with her arms crossed, where the flame was, and rage was smeared across her face.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THE FORBIDDEN FOREST?!?!?" she demanded.

"W-what?" stuttered Harry in shock. "H-how did you know?"

"I have my ways," responded Glory seriously. "Now answer my question: What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?"

"We were flying the via-mobile," explained Joy, "and yes, we did have permission from Nono Albus. We almost collided into a flock of owls, and we crashed into the Forbidden Forest. Harry and Hermione checked out what was wrong with the via-mobile and we found that there was Harry's owl stuck in the wires. Then we went back to the castle."

Princess Glory stared at them very suspiciously. She knows we didn't just do that, thought Harry. He felt a quivering feeling inside of him, with drops of cold sweat dropping down his neck. Glory, however, stopped staring at them and instead stared up at the wall in thought.

"What are you doing?" asked Ron.

"I'm thinking of how I should tell the Headmaster what you did," she answered, still looking up in thought.

"You can't tell on us!" shouted Joy. "It was a simple accident. You've got to cover for us."

"Fine, I will," sighed Glory. "Just promise me you will NEVER, EVER step foot in that forest again! I don't want anyone to get hurt or anything bad happening because of some silly actions. Understood?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Very well."

"Glory, is that duel on Saturday still on?" asked Harry.

"Absolutely. Perhaps I should leave now. Goodbye, everyone."

With another startling swirl of flames, Glory apparated out of their sight from the Gryffindor entrance.

"You're not going to say anything, are you?" asked Ron to the Pink Lady.

"No, I believe you," said the figure in the painting with a kindred smile. "It was purely an accident."

"All right. Green williwig," said Ron, which was the new password for the new year.

The painting opened to the Gryffindor entrance, and all four of them entered the common room, thankful the terrifying night would soon be over. They walked up the stairs to their dormitories before the two girls and two boys would separate to go to their rooms.

"How did Glory know we were in the Forbidden Forest?" asked Harry.

"She's psychic, isn't she?" said Hermione. "By the way, Harry and I have something to tell you."

Harry and Hermione told Ron and Joy about the conversation they had heard from the strange figures. Both Ron and Joy were shocked to hear what they had to say. Could Voldemort have risen from the dead? Could he have gaining power and would take advantage of Glory's relationship between his follower, Malfoy? And even so, how was he doing all this?

Author's Note: Hope you liked it. PLEEEAAASSSEE REVIEW!!!!!!!!! Oh, and next chapter: Harry had that duel with Glory that they mentioned before. Also, a little something happens to Cho. IT'S A HUGE PART IN THE STORY!!!