Disclaimer: Ok, look, fact of the matter is, I only have $15, do you
honestly think I own one of the most popular book series in the world?! Of
course not! All I own is my two cats, and my computer.
A/N: Happy to say Sam (who makes an appearance in Chapter 5) is out of the hospital and ok so I'm in a MUCH better mood. I'm sad, however, that I didn't get any new reviews _. I feel unloved! Please, if you would, review with your comments, questions, mistakes you've found, or maybe a suggestion for the fic! Well, I'm wasting too much time on this thing, on to the fic!
Chapter 3
Captain Weasley
Sleep wasn't exactly good for Harry. He kept having nightmares of everyone he cared about being sucked up by the veil. He also kept having another odd dream, one he had been having for the past week or so, where a red-robed man, in a large, black hat, said something, and pulled something out of his pocket. However, it was as if he was watching a through a window, he couldn't hear what was being said, or see what was happening.
But the days at the Order headquarters were certainly much more enjoyable than those at Number 4, Privet Drive. Even if Hermione kept nagging him to study, as much as it annoyed him, he knew he had missed it. He spent the days playing chess with Ron, or talking about quidditch, or catching up with people he hadn't seen all summer.
Harry was full of questions, and unlike last summer, most of them were answered with relative ease. The death eaters they had captured at the Ministry of Magic last June had, of course, escaped. From what he had heard, so far Voldemort hadn't been up to too much, except getting his old death eaters back, and killing a few muggles.
One thing that Harry found strange, however, was every time he ran into Dumbledore, the headmaster wouldn't tell any of them who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. Dumbledore merely said things like, "I expect he'll be a good teacher, and I expect you'll enjoy being around him very much."
The next few days seemed really uneventful, in terms of both happenings at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, and in the wizarding world. A few random aurors had been in and out of the headquarters, but nothing really special had happened until Sunday.
Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Ernie, and Neville all sat in a large room on the 3rd floor that was similar to a living room. Ernie and Neville sat across from each other, playing chess, Ginny sitting along side, watching, Hermione had homework spread out onto the floor, Harry was flipping through the book Tonks had given him, and Ron sat in a recliner, skimming through The Daily Prophet for any significant news.
"'Man in China Charms Pig to Fly'? Honestly, who cares? 'Holyhead Harpies hire new head coach' Some guy named Drew Williams...I never heard of him...says he used to be a chaser for Kenmare Kestrels...Won his first game as coach, too, beat Wimbourne 200-10."
"Ron, we want news about the death eaters, not about some stupid quidditch guy who'll never play any role whatsoever in defeating Voldemort!"
"Sorry, it's just there's nothing in here!"
There was a creaking on the stairs coming up to the room. Everyone except Hermione turned to see Mrs. Weasley climbing up.
"Honestly...these stairs are going to be the death of me...Harry, dear, a letter just came from you." Mrs. Weasley tossed the letter like a Frisbee across the room to Harry, who caught it.
The letter looked as though it had been sent through the muggle mail marked "fragile". It had 3 different sets of claw marks torn into it, a couple of tea stains, a burn mark on the lower right corner, something that looked distinctly like a blood stain, and something that might have very well been a bullet hole.
"Can you tell who it's from, Harry?" Ron asked, setting down the paper.
"Er..." Harry looked down at it, "There's an A...then a large black mark...then the name ends in an a...it looks like there might be an L in it too..." Harry squinted down at it. "And maybe a z if you look really close..."
"Harry," Hermione said slowly, "Just open it."
Harry nodded and ripped it open. Luckily, the letter itself wasn't in nearly as bad of shape as the envelope. Harry unfolded it, and with everyone in the room's attention, began to read out.
"'Dear Harry, How's your summer been? Hope you did good on your O.W.L.s, I heard McGonagall saying you were going to be an auror. I just got an awesome job with the Ministry, and now I'm the Junior Assistant Magical Photographer for the Department of Sports & Leisure.'" Harry looked down at the end. "It's from Angelina."
"'Anyhow, I hope you're good. Now, to the point of this letter. Since that'- wow, Angelina doesn't really try to avoid unfriendly language, does she? '...Umbridge banned you from quidditch(Thought you might like to know, she lost her job with the ministry), I am pleased to announce that the 1996 Gryffindor Lions quidditch captain is none other than...' RON IT'S YOU!!!"
Herminie, Ginny, Neville, and Ernie gave Ron a small round of applause. Ron just sat there, astonished. "You sure I can handle that, mate?"
"Of course you can. You'll have to, I mean you're the only person on the team this year that has even a full year experience." Ron looked at his, looking unconfident. "I'll help you out, too, if you want me to."
"...Of course...." Ron suddenly left the first few seconds of shock and it finally set in, "COOL! I'M QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN!!!!!!" Ron bolted up an ran down the stairs, tripping on the 4th step and rolling the rest of the way down.
The rest of the room tried to hold in laughter. "Honestly," Ernie said, "How can he stay on a broom if he can't even walk down a flight of stairs?"
Over the next couple of days, Ron developed what Fred deemed "OWS- Oliver Wood Syndrome". He spent the majority of his time using the charmed marker board Lupin had given Harry to draw up plays. What made Ron look like even more of an idiot was the fact that Ernie got a letter the next day, naming him Hufflepuff captain, and he didn't go through the same sudden obsession as Ron did.
All this quidditch talk, however, made Harry dread going back to Hogwarts. As far as he knew, he was still banned for life from quidditch. Angelina said that she had written a letter to Professor McGonagall, recommending his reinstatement, as innocent as he was, he didn't expect Professor McGonagall to budge.
On the other hand, however, Harry couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts. The headquarters brought back horrible memories, gave Harry horrible nightmares, then there were other dreams Harry kept having, about the red-robed man. Not to mention the constant secrecy that was all over the place, Kreacher the you-know-you-could-kill-him-but-Hermione-won't-let- you house elf, and Mrs. Black's portrait going off every time some random idiot rang the doorbell.
Ron didn't help things either. It seemed at least once a day he flooed both Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, and every other day insisted the twins personally coach them. Harry wasn't the only one that was getting annoyed by Ron's "Oliver Wood Syndrome" either, Ernie MacMillan seemed to be getting rather peeved to.
"You know," he said to Harry one day as Ron was running on to Andrew Kirke about the time Fred knocked out one of Marcus Flint's teeth, "If I had my head stuck in a fireplace, talking to Ryan Montali half as often as Ron does to his stupid beaters, I think the Montalis would have blown up their fire place by now."
Hermione wasn't being very helpful either. It seemed as though every time Harry looked over his shoulder, Hermione was nagging on him to study. At first, it had just seemed typical Hermione, but as the days went on, he realized she was even being too scholarly for herself.
Ginny seemed to have kept her head, except for the fact that most of the time, you had to repeat everything you said to her at least twice. Hermione had been brewing a potion to cure Ginny, but it needed the newt's tail to soak in a different potion for three weeks, so it wasn't done yet.
That pretty much left Ernie and Harry as the only people with their heads on straight in the house. As Harry got to know Ernie, he realized that Ernie was the poster boy for Hufflepuff: Loyal, hard-working, and just, and, as Harry realized, for somebody who 4 years ago thought Harry was ordering a basilisk to kill people, Ernie was surprisingly likeable.
A/N: Here's something nifty I found...perhaps it could inspire a fic...I doubt I'm that inspirational though.
What happened to Sally-Anne Perks?
In the 5th book, when they take the O.W.L.s and they call the students alphabetically, they call Pansy Parkinson, Padma and Parvati Patil, then Harry Potter. However, when their year is getting sorted in the 1st book, the names, also being called alphabetically, are called in the order Pansy Parkinson, Padma and Parvati Patil, then somebody named Sally-Anne Perks, then Harry. So, my question is, where was Sally-Anne Perks when they were taking the O.W.L.s?
A/N: Ok...slowly but surely getting better. In case you're missing the psychotic spaz-out Harry, he goes on a good rant next chapter, so don't worry!
Next Chapter:
Chapter 4 Luna's Return
A/N: Happy to say Sam (who makes an appearance in Chapter 5) is out of the hospital and ok so I'm in a MUCH better mood. I'm sad, however, that I didn't get any new reviews _. I feel unloved! Please, if you would, review with your comments, questions, mistakes you've found, or maybe a suggestion for the fic! Well, I'm wasting too much time on this thing, on to the fic!
Chapter 3
Captain Weasley
Sleep wasn't exactly good for Harry. He kept having nightmares of everyone he cared about being sucked up by the veil. He also kept having another odd dream, one he had been having for the past week or so, where a red-robed man, in a large, black hat, said something, and pulled something out of his pocket. However, it was as if he was watching a through a window, he couldn't hear what was being said, or see what was happening.
But the days at the Order headquarters were certainly much more enjoyable than those at Number 4, Privet Drive. Even if Hermione kept nagging him to study, as much as it annoyed him, he knew he had missed it. He spent the days playing chess with Ron, or talking about quidditch, or catching up with people he hadn't seen all summer.
Harry was full of questions, and unlike last summer, most of them were answered with relative ease. The death eaters they had captured at the Ministry of Magic last June had, of course, escaped. From what he had heard, so far Voldemort hadn't been up to too much, except getting his old death eaters back, and killing a few muggles.
One thing that Harry found strange, however, was every time he ran into Dumbledore, the headmaster wouldn't tell any of them who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. Dumbledore merely said things like, "I expect he'll be a good teacher, and I expect you'll enjoy being around him very much."
The next few days seemed really uneventful, in terms of both happenings at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, and in the wizarding world. A few random aurors had been in and out of the headquarters, but nothing really special had happened until Sunday.
Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Ernie, and Neville all sat in a large room on the 3rd floor that was similar to a living room. Ernie and Neville sat across from each other, playing chess, Ginny sitting along side, watching, Hermione had homework spread out onto the floor, Harry was flipping through the book Tonks had given him, and Ron sat in a recliner, skimming through The Daily Prophet for any significant news.
"'Man in China Charms Pig to Fly'? Honestly, who cares? 'Holyhead Harpies hire new head coach' Some guy named Drew Williams...I never heard of him...says he used to be a chaser for Kenmare Kestrels...Won his first game as coach, too, beat Wimbourne 200-10."
"Ron, we want news about the death eaters, not about some stupid quidditch guy who'll never play any role whatsoever in defeating Voldemort!"
"Sorry, it's just there's nothing in here!"
There was a creaking on the stairs coming up to the room. Everyone except Hermione turned to see Mrs. Weasley climbing up.
"Honestly...these stairs are going to be the death of me...Harry, dear, a letter just came from you." Mrs. Weasley tossed the letter like a Frisbee across the room to Harry, who caught it.
The letter looked as though it had been sent through the muggle mail marked "fragile". It had 3 different sets of claw marks torn into it, a couple of tea stains, a burn mark on the lower right corner, something that looked distinctly like a blood stain, and something that might have very well been a bullet hole.
"Can you tell who it's from, Harry?" Ron asked, setting down the paper.
"Er..." Harry looked down at it, "There's an A...then a large black mark...then the name ends in an a...it looks like there might be an L in it too..." Harry squinted down at it. "And maybe a z if you look really close..."
"Harry," Hermione said slowly, "Just open it."
Harry nodded and ripped it open. Luckily, the letter itself wasn't in nearly as bad of shape as the envelope. Harry unfolded it, and with everyone in the room's attention, began to read out.
"'Dear Harry, How's your summer been? Hope you did good on your O.W.L.s, I heard McGonagall saying you were going to be an auror. I just got an awesome job with the Ministry, and now I'm the Junior Assistant Magical Photographer for the Department of Sports & Leisure.'" Harry looked down at the end. "It's from Angelina."
"'Anyhow, I hope you're good. Now, to the point of this letter. Since that'- wow, Angelina doesn't really try to avoid unfriendly language, does she? '...Umbridge banned you from quidditch(Thought you might like to know, she lost her job with the ministry), I am pleased to announce that the 1996 Gryffindor Lions quidditch captain is none other than...' RON IT'S YOU!!!"
Herminie, Ginny, Neville, and Ernie gave Ron a small round of applause. Ron just sat there, astonished. "You sure I can handle that, mate?"
"Of course you can. You'll have to, I mean you're the only person on the team this year that has even a full year experience." Ron looked at his, looking unconfident. "I'll help you out, too, if you want me to."
"...Of course...." Ron suddenly left the first few seconds of shock and it finally set in, "COOL! I'M QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN!!!!!!" Ron bolted up an ran down the stairs, tripping on the 4th step and rolling the rest of the way down.
The rest of the room tried to hold in laughter. "Honestly," Ernie said, "How can he stay on a broom if he can't even walk down a flight of stairs?"
Over the next couple of days, Ron developed what Fred deemed "OWS- Oliver Wood Syndrome". He spent the majority of his time using the charmed marker board Lupin had given Harry to draw up plays. What made Ron look like even more of an idiot was the fact that Ernie got a letter the next day, naming him Hufflepuff captain, and he didn't go through the same sudden obsession as Ron did.
All this quidditch talk, however, made Harry dread going back to Hogwarts. As far as he knew, he was still banned for life from quidditch. Angelina said that she had written a letter to Professor McGonagall, recommending his reinstatement, as innocent as he was, he didn't expect Professor McGonagall to budge.
On the other hand, however, Harry couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts. The headquarters brought back horrible memories, gave Harry horrible nightmares, then there were other dreams Harry kept having, about the red-robed man. Not to mention the constant secrecy that was all over the place, Kreacher the you-know-you-could-kill-him-but-Hermione-won't-let- you house elf, and Mrs. Black's portrait going off every time some random idiot rang the doorbell.
Ron didn't help things either. It seemed at least once a day he flooed both Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, and every other day insisted the twins personally coach them. Harry wasn't the only one that was getting annoyed by Ron's "Oliver Wood Syndrome" either, Ernie MacMillan seemed to be getting rather peeved to.
"You know," he said to Harry one day as Ron was running on to Andrew Kirke about the time Fred knocked out one of Marcus Flint's teeth, "If I had my head stuck in a fireplace, talking to Ryan Montali half as often as Ron does to his stupid beaters, I think the Montalis would have blown up their fire place by now."
Hermione wasn't being very helpful either. It seemed as though every time Harry looked over his shoulder, Hermione was nagging on him to study. At first, it had just seemed typical Hermione, but as the days went on, he realized she was even being too scholarly for herself.
Ginny seemed to have kept her head, except for the fact that most of the time, you had to repeat everything you said to her at least twice. Hermione had been brewing a potion to cure Ginny, but it needed the newt's tail to soak in a different potion for three weeks, so it wasn't done yet.
That pretty much left Ernie and Harry as the only people with their heads on straight in the house. As Harry got to know Ernie, he realized that Ernie was the poster boy for Hufflepuff: Loyal, hard-working, and just, and, as Harry realized, for somebody who 4 years ago thought Harry was ordering a basilisk to kill people, Ernie was surprisingly likeable.
A/N: Here's something nifty I found...perhaps it could inspire a fic...I doubt I'm that inspirational though.
What happened to Sally-Anne Perks?
In the 5th book, when they take the O.W.L.s and they call the students alphabetically, they call Pansy Parkinson, Padma and Parvati Patil, then Harry Potter. However, when their year is getting sorted in the 1st book, the names, also being called alphabetically, are called in the order Pansy Parkinson, Padma and Parvati Patil, then somebody named Sally-Anne Perks, then Harry. So, my question is, where was Sally-Anne Perks when they were taking the O.W.L.s?
A/N: Ok...slowly but surely getting better. In case you're missing the psychotic spaz-out Harry, he goes on a good rant next chapter, so don't worry!
Next Chapter:
Chapter 4 Luna's Return