Harry Potter and the Brethren of Ares

By: Merusa

Chapter 3: Enter At Thine Own Risk

"Well, Potter," she continued, as though there had been no interruptions, "if you are indeed serious in this ambition, I would advise you to concentrate hard on bringing your Transfiguration and Potion grades up to scratch...."

-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, American Version, Chapter 29: Career Advice

Harry woke up quite late the next morning. As he was trotting down the stairs, he caught his own eye in a mirror- and stopped walking. He turned to his reflection, and got a good look at himself. He wasn't fooling anybody- his eyes looked haunted, and the bags under them were very pronounced. Dudley's clothes hung off his lanky frame like a nervous sky diver hung onto an airplane. He noticed that he was a bit taller- he still wasn't near Ron's 6'1, though. The mirror spoke, "Oiy, vain boy! You're extremely shaggable, alright? Just go away already!"

Shaking his head at his 'vanity', Harry continued his jog down the stairs. He paused on the last landing, however, when it became apparent that a loud argument was taking place. He didn't want to listen in on a Weasley row, but he then realized that the door to Ginny's room was open, and both of the girls were missing from it. That most likely meant that Hermione was down there, as well...he crept closer to the stairs, and listened.

"I'm really worried about him. He had a nightmare; I could tell." Ron's voice.

"We're all worried about him, Ron. But we all know that the chances of him opening up aren't very high." Hermione's voice.

Harry frowned. Nightmares? Opening up?

It was George who spoke next. "Harry? Opening up? The chances of that are slim, zilch, little or none, take your pick."

Harry felt a flash of annoyance. They were talking about him.

"That poor, poor dear." Mrs. Weasley... "He looked so utterly tired when he came. I've never seen a boy so happy about a birthday party, though!" She sniffed. "That poor baby..."

"Mum, he's not a child." Harry instantly decided that Ginny was his new best friend.

"Ginny's right, Mum. Harry's seen too much to be considered a little boy." Harry had never realized just how cool Bill was.

"I know...but I just want to baby him! He's seen too much, he is too young for what he is going to face."

Harry froze.

"Whadya mean, Mum?"

She knew...she knew about the prophecy...

"Never you mind, Charlie. Eat, eat!"

Harry had decided not to tell anyone about the prophecy just yet. Dumbledore hadn't said it was necessary, so he didn't feel the need to. It was very painful to talk about the night Sirius died for Harry, and that's when the prophecy was founded.

He slammed a fist against the wall behind him. How dare they walk about him? What he was feeling and thinking was none of their business...He slammed his foot back against the wall, and the added pain of it made him grunt in surprise

He took a deep breath, and pushed it away- pushed all the anger, just pushed everything away, bottling it up inside of him- the same thing he'd been doing all summer.

Harry determined that eavesdropping further would not do him any good. There was a lull in the conversation downstairs. He tromped down the set of steps, perhaps a bit more loudly then he would have done in other circumstances, to make sure they were fully aware of his pending arrival.

He was greeted by a chorus of "Good morning!"

"Morning," he muttered, pretending to still be half asleep. He poured himself some pumpkin juice as three owls swooped into the room, landing in front of Ron, Hermione, and himself.

"I know what those are!" said Molly cheerfully.

"O.W.L. results!" Hermione squealed. "Oh, I hope I did alright in Arithmancy-"

"Hermione, really, we know you've probably broken a bunch of records, so just shut up and open your results!"

She huffed.

Harry opened his letter up.

Dear Mr. Potter:

The following are your O.W.L. results.

Charms: Acceptable, 1 O.W.L.

Transfiguration: Acceptable, 1 O.W.L

Potions: Acceptable, 1 O.W.L

Divination: Dreadful, no O.W.L.

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding, Extra Credit, 4 O.W.L.'s

Astronomy: Poor, no O.W.L.

History of Magic: Dreadful, no O.W.L.

Care of Magical Creatures: Acceptable, 1 O.W.L.

Your ambition was to be an auror. However, the Ministry of Magic has upped the standards required to allow a student to study this difficult branch of law enforcement, due to the newly declared war. Because you did not get Outstanding O.W.L.'s in Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions, all of which are priceless to this field, you may not enter the Auror program. Please accept our deepest apologies.

Please contact your Head of House, stating your new ambition, or that you are still thinking about what you now want to do.

The N.E.W.T. classes you have been accepted in are:

Advanced Charms (although you still cannot become an Auror)

Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts

Advanced Transfiguration (see side note for Advanced Charms)

Advanced Care of Magical Creatures

Please note that you are also back on your house Quidditch Team. Also, new clubs will be open to you this year that will take up the rest of the time you are not in class or Quidditch. These clubs include a Muggle Poetry study, and a Charms tutorial.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Zende

Regulator of Magical Student O.W.L. Ambition

Future of Our World Office, Ministry of Magic

Harry had felt his heart drop slightly at the mention that he couldn't be an Auror, but quickly recovered. He'd known his chances were slim. Anyway, eight O.W.L.'s- that was pretty good! The average was five.

Next to him, Hermione squealed with excitement. "I got an O.W.L. in every class, and three in Charms and Transfiguration! Fourteen O.W.L.'s!"

Ron grinned cheekily. "Go Mione, that's more than Percy got! I failed Divination, Potions, Astronomy, and History of Magic. I got two in Transfiguration- go figure! Four isn't so bad, higher than Gred and Forge. What did you get, Harry."

Harry's face flushed. "Eight."

Ron whooped and whacked him on the back. "Go Potter! Specifics?"

"Failed Divination, Astronomy, and History of Magic. I got four in DADA- what?"

For the Weasley clan had all dropped their jaws in perfect unison.

Ginny had gone white, but looked pleased. "Harry- no one's gotten four O.W.L.'s in over a century. That's one for the record books."

Harry groaned and let his head bang on the table. "Great, another thing I'll be known for..."

"But Mione over here- Fourteen O.W.L.'s, that's a new record- that'll go in Hogwarts, A History!"

To the surprise of everyone, Hermione burst into tears. "I'm going to be in a BOOK!"

***

Dear Professor McGonagall,

Hello, Professor, its Harry Potter. I hope your holiday is going well.

I received my O.W.L. results today. Yes, I have given some thought as to what I'll do since I can't be an auror- you do not have to follow through on your threat to Umbridge.......

***

Coughing and sputtering, Harry stumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. He mentally cursed the person who invented Floo Power as he hacked up ash.

With an almost lazy wave of her wand, Mrs. Weasley removed the blackened soot from Harry. He thanked her, then helped Ron catch Hermione by the arms before she cracked her head open on the floor.

"Thanks, boys."

Ron and Harry grinned, momentarily catching each other's eyes. "You're welcomed, Lady Mione," they answered in perfect unison. She swatted their shoulders.

"Oiy, Weasleys, Potter, and Granger!" Neville had run up to them as they stepped through the magical barrier to Diagon Alley, followed by...Luna?

"Hello, Neville, Luna!" said Ginny cheerfully. She appeared to have wasted no shock over Neville and Luna being at Diagon Alley together.

"Hullo, Harry..." said Luna dreamily. Harry smiled. "Hello, Luna, how was your summer."

"You're Harry Potter."

"I noticed."

However, Harry's dry comments were cut off by a whispering that seemed to have broken out around the group. Their fellow witches and wizards were openly pointing at and discussing Harry.

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground.

He heard a slight shuffling as his friends moved around him. He felt a slight lump in his throat as they surrounded him, protecting him from the jeers and ponderings of the crowd. It was the six of them now, he realized. That night so few weeks ago had seen to that.

Ron, who was frowning, motioned with his head. "C'mon, let's go to Gred and Forge's new shop."

Harry was grateful to them all as he lost himself in the chatter of the crowd.

***

'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes,' proclaimed a sign hanging over the doorway of number ninety-three, Diagon Alley. The strange building was an oddly shaped place, with random turrets and mini towers. Each side of the building was painted a different color- the front, a loud tangerine, the sides' tickle-me-pink and turquoise, respectively, the back a subtle maroon. The structure was intimidating, and you could almost see the lighting and hear the thunder above the roof. Knowing Fred and George, you probably could. Sprawled across the front two windows and main doors was "Enter at Thine Own Risk" in curly handwriting.

"We'd better lock arms," said Neville nervously.

"Wise." Harry linked arms with Luna and Ginny, who took Neville and Ron's arms, who took Hermione's.

"Let's go!" Ginny cried, just as an actually bolt of lightning crackled over the shop's roof along with a crash of thunder.

"You know, these coincidences are getting a bit too realistic for my comfort."

"Oh, come on, Ron, it's just Fred and George!" Hermione had taken charge. Dragging her companions and pulling out her wand simultaneously, she cried out many a spell, disabling every prank Fred and George had left in the entrance hall.

"Hermione!" Two voices cried out. Fred looked at her in amazement as George- the brains- ran to the entranceway to rebuild the traps.

Harry looked around in amazement. The store was much bigger inside. The floors, walls, and ceiling were orange, but a nice shade rather than a gaudy one. Shelves of all shapes, sizes and colors that were filled to the brim were scattered about the room, surrounding a main path to the cash register, which Fred- the flashy salesman- was standing behind. Looking up at the ceiling, Harry realized that galaxy-like swirls of stars were floating above there heads, slowly rotating.

Walking up to Fred, Harry grinned.

"You two are brilliant!"

***

Later in Diagon Alley, the group was eating ice cream outside Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, when they heard a familiar voice.

"Harry! Hermione, Ron!"

The friends turned to see a group of Ravenclaw girls, all walking towards their small table. Harry grinned when he saw Padma, who winked at him. Cho was hanging back with the rest of the girls, who were walking behind Padma. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna all greeted Padma with hugs.

"Hello, all!" she said cheerfully. She whacked Harry on the shoulder playfully. He rubbed his shoulder and pouted at her. She laughed. "Read the Quidditch book yet?" Harry smiled at her. "Yea, it was really helpful, thanks for that." She winked at him again. His stomach performed a few amazing acrobatics.

Cho nodded at him. "Hello, Harry."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Cho."

Ginny was grinning. "How's Michael, Cho?"

Cho frowned at her. "We broke up."

Ginny innocently tilted her head. "Why? Not big enough?"

Harry snickered.

Cho scowled. "Padma, we've really got to get moving..."

Harry look back to Padma, frowning.

"Yea, you're right. See you, Harry, everyone!" They walked away, Padma throwing a grin over her shoulder at Harry.

Harry looked down at his ice cream, grinning.

Ron was smirking, and spoke in a sing-song voice. "Harry's got a cr-ush, Harry's got a cr-ush, and it's sickeningly obvious...."

Harry dumped his ice cream on Ron's head.

***

Dear Mr. Potter,

I must say, that is an excellent career choice, one that suits you very well....

***

Review Responses (I'd forgotten how much I loved getting reviews...):

Graphicrockstar: Everyone was there for Harry's party- if you look closely, you'll even see his new crush....but, I do solemnly promise here and now that this will not be an extremely fluffy fic.

Hermione "DB" Granger: I'm assuming that you're Paula? I'm not revealing anything about Bill's love life yet, but, I may very well do a Bill/OC series if I get a chance, after this series is completed. Girl, leave the details in your (shameless plug) latest review!

Yay, you two! I have decided to give you each a cameo. Leave the names you want to go by in your (another shameless plug) review, and I'll write you in an upcoming chapter. Hermione "DB", you're in the next one.

Review? Please?