The Dark Mark
Chapter One
A ray of light went through one of the many holes in the curtains of the smallest room at Number 4 Privet Drive ending in the eyes of a 16-year-old boy who had just fallen asleep three hours ago.
Harry woke up. Lately anything woke him up, especially Mrs. Figg's cats during their nightly turns to check on him. He grabbed his glasses from his bedside table and realized that the cage on his desk was still empty. Hedwig had left three days ago.
He got dressed and went down for breakfast. While he walked through the corridor, he could hear Uncle Vernon's loud snores. The Dursleys were still asleep - all of Privet Drive was still asleep at 5:30 in the morning.
The only thing about his holidays that he could not complain about were those long peaceful breakfasts he enjoyed so much. He would sit at the kitchen table, alone, waiting for the day to start all over again, waiting for the news to arrive... He had not ended that thought when they arrived.
A brown owl followed by a white one entered the room through the window. Harry paid the brown owl, who left after dropping the Daily Prophet in the middle of Harry's eggs. The white owl, Harry's own Hedwig dropped two letters on Harry's lap and landed on the table to have some water from his glass.
"Get that stinky bird out of my kitchen!!!!!" Aunt Petunia shouted as loud as she could.
Harry did nothing. Hedwig started flying to Harry's room, meeting Uncle Vernon who jumped the last five steps, landing with loud bang.
"Did the bird bring something interesting?" asked Aunt Petunia, mocking him.
Every morning the same story since the first Muggles died. Scared by the threat that lived in their house, Vernon and Petunia had demanded to know everything that was going on in the magical world concerning Harry and so themselves.
Harry opened the Daily Prophet like he had every morning for the last month. Fifty Muggles dead already; Voldemort was playing some kind of hunting game through the United Kingdom.
"Five more Muggles dead, and one lived pretty close," said Harry while Aunt Petunia dropped the frying pan, making a mess.
"You think you're funny, boy?" said Uncle Vernon in his most threatening voice.
"It's true," said Harry, "why would I lie? See for yourself!" Harry threw the newspaper to his uncle, who took it like a dirty diaper. "I'm gonna get the map."
Actually, Harry could not complain about his aunt and uncle's behavior any more. They had changed a lot since the first time the Dark Mark appeared on the news. Aunt Petunia stopped shouting when she saw it in the TV and, after drinking some brandy, she had said with a stutter, "Tha...Tha...ttt, that used to appear before my sister died. I... I remember when we were at home... if that appeared she would leave immediately. She... she... used to say 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' had attacked, and she... she... would leave. You..." she said, pointing at Harry "you... were telling the truth... It is happening again!"
After that night, reports of the Dark Mark floating above all of the U.K. were the first thing on the news.
Harry entered the kitchen holding a huge map. He drew a green dot everywhere a Muggle had died.
"What are all those marks?" asked Uncle Vernon curiously.
"Every Muggle dead in the last four weeks." His uncle said nothing; Aunt Petunia was standing behind him looking over his shoulder.
"They all seem to surround there," she said pointing the map. "What does it say there, boy?"
"Surrey." Aunt Petunia held her breath.
Harry looked at one of the letters Hedwig had brought and immediately recognized from whom it was.
Harry, the situation is getting too complex. Your departure from your aunt and uncle's house is imminent.
Before Friday someone from the Order will go to pick you up.
Don't trust strangers and tell your aunt and uncle not to let anyone, under any circumstances, get IN the house.
You will get more news soon.
A.D.
PS: Don't use Hedwig anymore, and don't try to look for us or talk to us, we will come to you.
AVOID LEAVING THE HOUSE!!!!!
Harry put the letter aside and opened the other.
Harry, Dumbledore probably already wrote you, but it was to confirm that tomorrow night Moody and I are arriving to bring you home. Don't you trust anyone else!
LEAVE THE HOUSE ONLY WITH MOODY AND ME BOTH, NOT IF WE ARE ALONE!
Take care, and don't leave the house, not even the backyard! And Harry, that's an order you don't disobey!
Remus
Harry left both letters on the map and headed upstairs. He looked at Hedwig's cage and said "Colloportus" shutting the cage door.
"I'm sorry," he said to the owl, "Dumbledore's orders." Hedwig wasn't happy but Harry did nothing. He just turned around and started gathering all his things. He must be ready in case they came before time.
Standing by the door of his room were his aunt and uncle. Vernon was holding both letters, one in each hand and looking at Harry with a "I really, really, really, don't know what's going on" face.
"We want to know why they don't let you go out of the house, and why can't we let anyone in? IT'S OUR HOUSE!!!!" said Uncle Vernon, obviously angry because a violet vein was starting to show in his forehead.
"Do I have to explain everything all over again!?????" (God, you are stupid!! thought Harry.) "Last year Voldemort forced me to get this prophecy that said that I'm gonna kill him or he is going to kill me. That's the only way this can end, ok?? Well, the prophecy got broken and now he doesn't know what it said, but he knows we are bonded, that's why he is trying to find me and kill me. From what I've seen in the map, he is pretty close but there is a charm on the house that doesn't allow him to see I'm here UNLESS you let the person in. That's why you must not let anyone get IN the house, NO ONE!!!!!! You get it now or do I have to start all over again?"
"How come they can't see us? A charm on MY house?????? You never said that, boy! And after all, he is looking for you. We have nothing to do with you!!!!!" Uncle Vernon's vein was turning dark violet.
"Vernon, we are his aunt and uncle!!!!!" shouted Aunt Petunia at her stupid husband.
"So what?"
"Voldemort killed my parents, my godfather, schoolmates, teachers and now he is hunting down Muggles for fun! He isn't even gonna think about killing you both if you are in his way of getting to me!!!!" shouted Harry. He hated thinking about Sirius.
Vernon said nothing and Aunt Petunia kept looking at the corridor, afraid someone would appear at any moment.
"But don't worry, tomorrow I'll be gone and you'll be safe again. All happy, eh?" Harry stared at his aunt and uncle. Obviously they didn't like Harry's mocking tone, so he grabbed a book and he dropped it in his trunk. His aunt and uncle left the room.
The afternoon passed. Aunt Petunia called Dudley to ask him to stay at Marge´s house for a few more days. Dudley didn't complain, he was very afraid of Harry.
In the news they saw two more attacks, but this time the dead Muggles used to live in Surrey, pretty close to Privet Drive.
They had dinner and around 10:30 they were all in bed. Mysteriously Harry fell asleep immediately, maybe it was the thought of leaving Privet Drive... the sooner he fell asleep, the sooner the morning would come.
Harry took a look around; he was surrounded by the Witches and Wizards of the Order of the Phoenix. He had been accepted as one! He was so happy, he was feeling full, and he felt as though everything that he had been through had meant something and all of the sudden everything disappeared. He saw Ginny; eyes wide open, taken by surprise, falling down... dead. Harry woke up, cold sweat running down his back and all over his face. He grabbed his glasses and went to the bathroom.
Every night it was the same, yet different. Different dreams but all ending the same way: Ginny falling dead. It couldn't be happening again! He knew it wasn't real but just the mere thought of seeing her not only dead but hurt frightened him. He didn't know why, actually he didn't want to know.
He threw some water on his face and with his glasses in one hand he tried to grab the towel with the other. He put on his glasses and when he looked up in the mirror he felt it. His scar. It wasn't hurting; it was more like a sting, a warning.
From his aunt and uncle's bedroom came a loud female scream. Harry ran there while taking his wand out of his pajama pocket. Holding it firmly he entered the room. Petunia was hugging Uncle Vernon who was casting a terrified look towards the window. The whole room was lit by a green glow coming in through the curtains. Harry headed to the window and opened them.
In the middle of the air, floating above the house in front of his, was a gigantic green skull with a serpent shaped tongue. When Aunt Petunia saw it, she fainted.
A loud cracking noise came from the corridor. Harry turned and headed that way still holding his wand. Uncle Vernon was not moving, maybe it was because of the mark, maybe it was the fact that his wife was unconscious, maybe it was the noise in the corridor or maybe it was just Harry's wand, but Harry had no time to figure that out.
He realized the noise came from his room. Harry could actually hear his heart beating, he was so excited, a little frightened, but he could feel the adrenaline running through his veins. He was determined to surprise the intruder so when he was two steps away from the door, he jumped.
A brown cat jumped with his four legs and landed with his claws in Harry's pillow.
"Mr. Tibbles, tell Arabella I'm alright, nothing happened here," said Harry feeling kind of sad yet kind of happy it was just that. He wanted to check out how his aunt and uncle were doing and brought Aunt Petunia some Brandy. Then he realized he had to tell Dumbledore what had happened: they had been in Privet Drive, in front of his house, while he was sleeping!!!.
He grabbed a piece of paper and started looking for ink in his trunk. He had to use Hedwig; there was no other way! But then he saw it. Sirius' mirror was at the bottom of the trunk. Harry took it and felt his guts twisting. He had been avoiding everything related to Sirius all summer, but it was the safest way to contact the Order. He took his wand, pointed the mirror and said, "Reparo."
Ever since it was common knowledge that He Who Must Not Be Named had returned, things like the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery had been revoked. Harry always thought Dumbledore was behind it.
Harry grabbed the mirror firmly in front of his face and said "Remus Lupin." He saw nothing in the mirror but himself. He tried again, and nothing. He tried a third time, "Remus Lup..."
"Harry? What's going on?" Lupin was barely awake.
"The Dark Mark just rose in front of my house! They were here, the Death Eaters were in Privet Drive!" There was not a tinge of fear in Harry's voice, he was amazed to discover, but fear reflected clearly in Lupin's face.
"Harry, don't you dare get out of the house! Be quiet and.... just stay there! For the Muggle community and the magic one too, in that house everyone is sleeping! I'm going to alert the Order, I'll be back in a few minutes."
Harry waited. Ten minutes and nothing, fifteen and nothing, twenty, thirty, thirty-five. Harry was about to call Lupin again when Lupin´s face appeared in the mirror.
"Listen to me Harry, this is what you are going to do. Tonks and Mundungus are going to apparate IN the house – don't open the door to anyone! They are carrying a Portkey. It's a spoon. Touch it and you will appear at the Headquarters' door. You still remember the address?"
"Yes," said Harry clearly.
"They'll be there any time soon. See ya."
The mirror reflected Harry's face again. He immediately got dressed and finished packing. From downstairs Harry heard a loud "plop". The next moment he saw Tonks and Mundungus Fletcher running up the stairs. Tonks was carrying an old spoon in her left hand. They both took Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage.
"Ready? The sooner the better!" said Tonks.
"Ready," said Harry grabbing the spoon. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were standing by the door looking at him. Harry said goodbye, and then disappeared.
Miles away, a 16 year-old boy, a pink haired woman, a man dressed in frayed clothes and a white owl appeared in the middle of the street. They stood between two houses and said, "Number twelve Grimmauld Place". A house came out of nowhere answering to that address and as quickly as they could they opened the door and entered the house.
Harry had returned to the magic world.
Together Again
Chapter two
When Moody saw Harry he winked with his good eye and Lupin ran and hugged him. For almost a second Harry thought he was hugging Sirius, but immediately he came to his senses. But it was nice that someone showed him a little affection. No one had so much as even touched his shoulder by accident in more than a month.
Harry sat and said sorry many times for waking everyone up, but they were all too worried to be angry.
"They got too close. We were lucky they chose the opposite side of the street," said Lupin biting his nails.
"There were two more attacks in Little Whinging. Arabella told us minutes before you arrived." Moody, who was wavering in his chair, sat properly and stared at Harry with his good eye while the other spun quickly.
Harry stood up and grabbed something from his trunk. He returned with a long roll and unrolled it so that everyone could see his map. "Here is where I saw it," he drew a green dot on his street. "Where else was it seen?" Moody answered and Harry marked those places. "They just needed one more day to get me," said Harry, indifferent to what that meant.
"You´ve been keeping a record of every location where the mark had been seen?" asked Moody as he analyzed the map closely.
"Yep, every place where Muggles died."
"It´s amazing! We never thought about this. Looking at it one can easily notice how close they were!"
"We were thinking it would take them at least two more weeks to reach Little Whinging," Tonks said as she made her hair grow so she could tie it up.
"Harry, you thought like an Auror when you did this. How come I didn't do this!? I can't understand!" Moody examined the map, amazed and incredulous.
"Where is everyone else? Ron, Hermione?" Harry hadn't heard from them ever since Hogwarts ended.
"They're alright," answered Lupin. "You know they were not allowed to write you until you were safe, Dumbledore's orders. He told you, no?" Harry nodded. "They´ll be here tomorr... well, today. They were going to wait for you, but you arrived first."
"Is everything ok with the Order?"
"Yes, all safe. We have some new Witches and Wizards, although we haven't seen heard from some wizards in a while." Lupin's tone was almost a whisper at the end of the sentence.
"Haven't heard in a while? Who?" Harry asked.
"Snape."
"What? He went back with Vol... with You Know Who?"
"Well, kinda. He is still working for Dumbledore, but he went back with him. We still don't know anything from him. After what happened at the Ministry –" Lupin stopped talking and swallowed, "You Know Who questioned his loyalty so he went away with him. Also it seems like he found out, through you or Snape, about the Oclumency classes he was giving you. He said they were to make you weak and in that way, help him. In conclusion, he had to return."
"And Dumbledore doesn't suspect he might have wanted to return???"
"We don't know why, but Dumbledore trusts him blindly, he even gave him permission to leave for the whole year."
"And what about his classes?"
"You will have a new Potions teacher," answered Lupin and Harry felt happiness running through his veins. "And I'm gonna teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, seeing as I already taught that subject."
They all chatted for a while and around ten in the morning Harry went to bed, and for the first time he was able to rest.
When Harry woke up it was dark outside. There was a delicious smell lingering in the air and a lot of voices coming from downstairs. He got dressed and put on his glasses. One of the voices he recognized as Mrs.Weasley's and the smell he recognized as dinner.
Harry looked in the mirror and tried to fix his hair as much as he could. There was large lock of hair that pointed straight to the ceiling and Harry could not make it change that odd position. "You know she is downstairs," said a voice inside his head.
"I don't know who you are talking about," said Harry to the mirror and left the room.
"Harry!!!!!!!!!!!" Hermione jumped on him grabbing him by the neck. "You're alright! Ohhhh! Harry, this morning I saw on the news what happened yesterday and I almost fainted!!!" Hermione was checking him for injuries.
"I'm alright, nothing happened. Don't worry!" said Harry with his characteristic indifference.
"DON'T WORRY!!!!!?????" Hermione took a step back and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Come here,"said Harry hugging her. "Nothing happened. I'm glad that you were worried about me, but it's over."
"I know, but I wrote to Ron and he didn't know. We couldn't write here and until Arthur came from work we didn't know what was going on. Oh! Harry I really missed you!"
"I missed you too!" said Harry hugging her once more and they both entered the kitchen. There Harry saw a whole bunch of red heads: Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, Charlie, Bill, Ron and Percy.
"Where is she?" said the little voice inside Harry's head.
"Harry dear!!!! You had us all scared!" said Mrs.Weasley, checking him like Hermione had already done.
"Mate!" a familiar voice called out. Harry turned to say hi and had to step back to be able to look his friend in the eyes.
"And I was thinking I was going to be way over you!"
"No mate, I'm the tall one!" said Rom laughing. Harry said hi to everyone else and sat between Ron and Hermione.
"Where is she????" the voice kept asking. Harry tried to ignore it.
"Hey Ron,"said Harry trying not to call anyone's attention. "What's Percy doing here?"
Ron leaned close. "After the Ministry episode he came home one night to talk to my parents. They said that..." Ron started explaining to Harry, but didn't seem to notice that Harry wasn't listening anymore.
Ginny had entered the room. If Ron and Harry had grown, she had grown the same and more. He looked at her face, but the girl he remembered was gone. She was different, her face, her body, the way she moved...Harry couldn't do anything else but look at her. He found himself staring at her. It was wonderful the way her hair moved with each step she took. She sat on the opposite side of the table, three places to Harry's right. She was smiling brushing back her hair from her face.
"Harry"shouted Ron, "are you even listening to me?"
Harry jumped but he wasn't the only one who did. Ginny heard what Ron said and for two seconds he saw the little girl once more. The same surprised expression he saw the first time he stepped in the Burrow was one her face. But those seconds went away quickly and the surprise turned into joy.
"Harry, you're up!" she said enthusiastically. She stood up and went straight to where he was.
Harry felt as though everyone was suddenly looking at him, even though they weren't. Everyone was actually minding their own business, everyone except for Ron that is.ever
"It's so good to see you again!" Ginny smiled. "How were your holidays?"
"Err... Good, pretty good I can say."
"Did the Muggles... your aunt and uncle bother you?"
"No, for the first time in... 15 years?" Harry laughed when he saw her laughing. "They didn't bother me at all." All the nervousness was gone and he was feeling very comfortable talking with her.
"And what about your holidays?" he asked her.
"Boring! Try spending month and a half with my brothers!!!"
"Try spending a month and a half with my uncle!!!!!" They both started laughing out loud.
"Hey what's so funny?" asked Ron angrily.
"Nothing, baby," said Ginny.
"I've told you two thousand, two hundred and fifty-seven times not to call me baby!" Ron's ears were bright red and Harry looked at Ginny in amazement.
That wasn't Ginny at all. That shy, introverted girl was gone forever. Already last year he could sense something changing. She had been the only one able to put him in his place, the only one who faced him. Perhaps it was only natural; after all they both had something huge in common – Voldemort.
Ginny turned her attention from her brother and back to Harry. "After dinner I wanna give you something. It's been a pretty boring summer, and I needed something to do. I think you'll find it interesting."
Harry noticed she was blushing. "Ok, after dinner you give that to me,"said Harry. They were both speaking like if it was a secret.
Dinner was delicious. Harry couldn't reWitch and Wizard eating that much since last year. All summer he had regretted missing out on the year-end feast. As they finished eating, Ginny leaned towards him.
"Come with me upstairs so I can give you what I was taking about," she whispered in his ear and Harry bristled.
They both stood up and left the kitchen while Ron looked straight at them. They went into the girls' room and Ginny took a notebook from her trunk.
"I remember you were angry all the time last year because no one ever told you anything about what was going on. That always happens to me. My brothers, they always leave me aside. So when I arrived home after school let out, I started writing everything I heard about the Ministry, Deatheaters, Hogwarts and Voldemort."
"You dare to say his name?" Harry said, surprised at hearing her use it so casually.
"I got that habit from you," she admitted. "Well, I hope you find it... useful, if not, it helped me spending my time. You know how much I enjoy writing."
"We must be careful with what and where you write!" They both laughed and as they did Harry couldn't do anything else but look at her. He mentally shook himself. He shouldn't this way about her. It's Ginny, he said to himself over and over again, Ginny Weasley, Ron´s little sister.
"What are you both doing?" Ron said as he and Hermione entered the room. Ron was looking from Harry to Ginny to Harry again. Ginny was sitting on her bed and Harry on Hermione´s, one in front of the other. Ron walked straight to them and sat next to his sister. "What's Harry doing with your diary?" he asked her.
"See what I mean? You never listen to me! I told you many times that it wasn't a diary! I was just writing what was going on!!!"
"Ain't that what you do with a diary?"
"No, and I told you it wasn't mine!"
"You didn't told me it was his," said Ron pointing at Harry.
"Are you going to make a scene for this?" asked Ginny.
"Should I??????"
"You both should leave," Hermione interjected, looking towards Harry and Ron. "I wanna go to bed and I can't if you are here so...GOOD NIGHT!"
"Wait! I'm not done here!!!" Ron yelled but Harry grabbed him by the arm and guided him out of the room before
Hermione joined the argument.
"Harry wait!"said Ginny as he was about to leave the room. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hair, Harry could feel the temperature rising inside of him. "That lock of hair was driving me crazy. Now it's better. Good night Harry! Good night baby!!!" she added to Ron.
"Don't call me baby!!!!!!" shouted Ron, but his words hit the door as it closed
Conexions
Chapter Three
Harry and Ron went straight to their room and got into bed. They talked while they waited to fall asleep. They talked about everything, holidays, Quidditch and the year ahead of them.
"Harry, haven't you ever wondered about what the prophecy said?" asked Ron shyly and Harry was sure that if the lights were on, he could have seen the freckles disappear on his friend's face as his cheeks turned red.
Harry knew that sooner or later he was going to be asked about the prophecy. Actually his holidays, if you could call holidays spending a month at Privet Drive, had been so quiet thanks to the fact that they could not talk to each other. That had given him time to prepare many answers to whatever his friends were going to ask. "Many times," Harry said, not even considering telling the truth to his friend.
"Didn't you ask Dumbledore if he knew?" Ron asked in a near whisper.
"I had other things on my mind... I wasn't thinking about that." The way Harry said it left no doubt that the conversation was over.
Fifteen minutes later they were both sleeping. Harry was having a very commonplace dream: no hallways, graveyards or Ginny. Suddenly all images were gone and everything went blank. He started feeling the rage growing inside of him, he saw his long white fingers firmly seizing the back of an armchair, his nails ripping the leather revealing the soft feeling casket.
"What do you mean he disappeared???" Harry shouted in his sleep, waking Ron from his.
"Wha... What?" said the latter, not hearing what he had been asked.
"He´s gone, we lost him in Surrey" a voice full of fear said from behind Harry – "It's as if he had gone up in smoke... If you allow me an observation Sir, I..."
"You are not in a position to make suggestions! I need POTTER!!! You said you could bring him to me, that you knew how to get him!! You disappointed me Draco..." Harry felt the anger growing faster.
"Whatcha talkin´ about?" asked Ron while yawning, still not understanding what was going on.
"We were really close, I dare to say he was just in front of our noses, but HE sent someone to take him away. Next year he´ll be yours... You just wait and see." The explanation came from a voice behind Harry.
"I have no time to loose! I can't wait!!! I only have two years left!!!" yelled Harry, but suddenly his tone changed. "We´ll start with the next plan. If it doesn't work we still have next summer." He wasn't angry anymore; he was kind of enjoying himself. "Now..." he said, grabbing his wand from the table, "I can't let this slip...."
He turned around and saw someone kneeling down in front of him. He pointed his wand to the middle of the platinum blond nape and shouted loud and clear "Crucio!!!!"
Harry´s scar was burning, but he was freezing from a cold sweat. He opened his eyes to find himself sitting on his bed in Grimmauld Place. A pale Ron was looking at him. Harry grabbed his forehead with both hands. It felt his head was about to burst open. He couldn't see; his eyes were full of tears, he could not resist such pain.
"He...knows I'm... gone..." he said to his friend before he screamed in pain. Then suddenly his scream turned into an evil laugh.
The door slammed open. Hermione, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, Lupin and Moody all entered the room.
Harry was squirming in his bed, rubbing his forehead firmly with both hands. His scar was getting hotter and hotter and he could feel it burning his hands.
"I'm not alone... Right Potter?????" shouted Harry.
Hermione had been the first one to enter the room and she she now stood petrified in the middle of the room. Mrs.Weasley tried to hold Harry but it was impossible. He was kicking, squirming, and shouting raving mad. Ron came back to his senses and immediately jumped from his bed and hugged Hermione, who grabbed him firmly and started crying on his shoulder.
On the empty frame hanging on the wall Phineas Nigellus appeared and complained about the noise but when he saw the scene he asked what was wrong.
Lupin and Moody were pointing their wands at Harry not knowing what to do.
"Tell Dumbledore urgently, Harry is under a Conexion!!!" shouted Lupin and Phineas disappeared from the frame.
Everyone was looking at Harry, impotent in front of the situation while Harry screamed in pain. Suddenly the situation got worst. Ginny held her breath, fell on the floor and started shaking roughly. She was squirming just like Harry but in silence.
A loud "pum" came from outside the room and Dumbledore entered. Just like a teenager he jumped to Harry holding his legs tightly with his legs and his head with his left hand. Then with his right hand he made a very complex wand move that not even Hermione was able to do and shouted something in a strange language. From the tip of his wand an orange ray went off and hit Harry in the middle of his scar.
Harry stopped moving, Ginny too. They were both sweating and suffering a terrible headache.
Dumbledore looked at Harry and, standing next to his bed, he touched his forehead with the back of his hand and felt it getting colder. Then he took Harry's right hand and looked at his palm where there was a burning mark shaped like his scar.
"What happened Albus?? What's happening????" shouted Mrs.Weasley unable to decide who to hold, but as Mr. Weasley held Ginny, she decided for Harry.
"Voldemort Molly, that's what happened. He is gaining power, growing up to levels we never thought about. And while he grows, the bond between him and Harry gets shorter. It is getting easier for him to enter Harry´s mind. Harry on the other hand, is fighting him back, which's why this happened. His scar is the point that holds them together and when it gets hot it means there was a fight, a conflict for power. Luckily Harry won."
"And Ginny? What does she have to do with all this?"
"Ginny was under Voldemort´s control once, and that leaves a mark. If I'm not mistaken, when Voldemort tried to control Harry's mind, he fought back so Voldemort had to make a bigger effort. That's when he reached Ginny. The marks on her were... turned on, today. Although Ginny was possessed by a memory of Voldemort, a little of him was left on Ginny´s mind. Tthat's what was turned on when he made such an effort."
"You're saying that Voldemort can hurt Ginny if he wants to?"
"Voldemort can hurt anyone if he wants to, but here the situation is a little more complex. Harry and Ginny, Harry in a major way, are connected with Voldemort. This doesn't mean that if something happens to either of them the others will suffer the consequences too. They are independent, but in a certain and complex level, they are bonded. Now... I'd like to talk to you Harry." Mrs.Weasley gave Dumbledore a threatening look. "The sooner the better. I need Harry´s thoughts to be fresh and clear..."
"How can I forget this?" thought Harry while he followed Dumbledore into another room. Dumbledore made two chairs appear and he sat right in front of him. Harry told Dumbledore everything that had happened and he listened very carefully.
"Draco...are we talking about Draco Malfoy?" asked Dumbledore.
"I'm almost sure it was him from what I saw," said Harry.
"And, what did you feel when the conexion started?"
"Well, he was angry, really angry, and I felt that my head was going to burst open right here,"Harry said touching his scar. "Also it was very hot, and as time went by it kept getting hotter and hotter." He didn't seem to realize he was touching his new lightning shaped scar on his right hand as he spoke. "Oh! For a few moments the intensity went down. I thought it was ending, but then it grew even hotter..."
"That's when Miss Weasley joined in,"said Dumbledore.
"Professor,"said Harry shyly, "if this included Ginny... is something going to happen to her concerning the prophecy?"
"Harry, that includes Voldemort and you only. Don't worry about Miss Weasley. She is safe."
"But you said that we both are bonded to Voldemort. Then if I kill him, are you sure nothing is going to happen to her?" There was a tinge of fear in Harry's voice.
"Nothing is going to happen to her. And Harry..." Dumbledore stopped talking when Lupin opened the door.
"Everything alright Harry?" he asked.
"Everything is fine Remus. By the way, would you do me the favor of going downstairs and bring two cups of the Dreamless Sleep potion Snape left?" Professor Dumbledore asked. Remus nodded and left and Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "I thought we could use some of that."
After five minutes, Lupin was back with two glasses filled with a green substance. Dumbledore took one from him and handed it to Harry. "Take this Harry, it will help you sleep without dreaming. Remus, take the other one to Miss. Weasley."
Harry was about to leave the room when Dumbledore called him. "Harry... you will," he said, finishing the thought he had been trying to communicate to Harry before Lupin initially interrupted them.
"Are you a´'ight mate?" said Ron, yawning as Harry came back to their room. "You got me really really scared."
"Yes... I think... now I just wanna sleep. It must be that potion, some other time... Ron, sorry ´bout Ginny..." he trailed off, falling asleep before Ron could answer him back.
OWLs
Chapter Four
Days at Grimmauld Place went by unnoticed. Nobody spoke about what had happened. Ginny tried to talk to Harry many times, but every time she tried to be alone with him someone would interrupt.
One morning, while Ron was heading towards the stairs, Moody apparated in front of him making him fall backwards. The umbrella stand fell too, rolling through the whole corridor, waking up Mrs. Black and all her family.
"Arthur!! Molly!! Urgent meeting!!! The whole Order is coming!!!" shouted Moody, not even paying attention to Ron.
"Ron, Harry...Upstairs!" Molly ordered, having to shout to be heard over all the noise the Blacks were making.
"Why?" asked Ron while Harry helped him get up. "We're old enough to be allowed in the meetings!!"
"I said up," Mrs. Weasley repeated.
"Mom!!" Ron protested at the same time Harry said, "Mrs. Weasley!!"
"UP...NOW!!!!"
Harry and Ron stomped up the stairs and into the girls' room, slamming the door behind them so hard that a piece of the wall plaster fell down. Ginny was drying her hair with her wand and Hermione had been reading a book, but the sudden slam of the door caused Hermione's book to fly out of her hands and into the air.
"You can knock next time," said Hermione picking up her book and then showing a big smile.
"What happened?" asked Ginny when she saw Harry and Ron's faces.
"Urgent meeting of the Order... Up...Now!!!" said Ron imitating his mother's voice. "We fought more times than them in the last six years, we realized things were going on when they didn't even had an idea, and they leave US outside!!!...Aggrrrhhhh!!!!!!!" Ron screamed so loud it made echo throughout the whole house.
Harry sat on the floor while Ron cursed everyone he could think of. Harry stayed quiet and stared at the floor. Maybe Ron had no right to be at the meeting, but he HAD to be there. Harry was the one they were looking for, he was the one who had to be dead or kill instead, and he was the one who was being possessed. He could not understand why he was still being left out.
"I don't care," Ron said when he finally ran out of things to curse. "I'm gonna hear something. Let's go Harry!"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm sitting already."
"C´mon, don't you wanna know what's so urgent?"
"Yes, but I'm tired of spying to get some information. If they don't want me to know, I won't know."
"Oh Harry!!! Let's go!!!"
"You go and then you tell me!"
Ron glanced in frustration from Harry to the girls. "Ginny? Hermione? Why are you smiling?" he asked when he saw Hermione´s ear to ear smile.
"Since you asked," said Hermione giggling, "I received my OWLs results. Exceeds Expectations in every subject, even in Astronomy... and to think I forgot to name two stars because all that happened with Professor McGonagall and Hagrid."
"How come?" Ron teased. "Those might had been very important stars..."
"How about you two?" asked Hermione, anxious to celebrate with someone.
"We didn't receive the letters," said Harry.
"That's how good we did, we didn't even get the letters!" said Ron.
"Yes you did! I left them on your beds in your room," said Ginny.
Harry and Ron went running and saw them lying just as Ginny had said. They gathered them up and headed back into the girls' room.
"No surprise," said Ron after opening his letter, "I failed Divinations and I only got Acceptable in Potions... Well, my wish to be an Auror ended." Ron seemed disheartened but not too much.
"I failed History of Magic," said Harry and no one said a word, "and also Divinations but..." – Harry read the letter over and over again – "Here it says they recommend me to be an Auror... I got Outstanding in Potions!" Harry was overwhelmed – it couldn't be true. He could not recall a moment when he had been as happy as now. At the bottom of the letter there were a few handwritten lines that made Harry laugh but also feel very proud of himself.
You can consider you will obtain a NEWT on Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Professor Tofty
"Really Harry? Congratulations!" said Ron.
"Congratulations!" said Hermione hugging him. "We are gonna share some classes!"
"Ok...er... let's go!!?" Ron begged, wanting to eavesdrop on the meeting still.
"No.... I'm staying!" said Harry as he sat on the floor once more.
"Oh c'mon Ron, I'll go with you!" said Hermione giving up.
Hermione and Ron left quietly. Harry was staring at the floor once more while Ginny looked at him from the bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked but Harry said nothing. "Harry, you there?"
"Huh? What? Sorry, didn't hear you. What did you say?" Harry was still staring at the floor. Ginny got up and sat next to him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Something's bothering you, I can tell. Aren't you happy?"
"Yeah I am, and nothing is wrong, really."
"Harry, you can talk to me."
Harry was dying to tell her, Dumbledore never said he couldn't, but he always felt the idea was implicit. Harry did nothing, he just stared at the floor for a while and then he tried to get up but she grabbed him by his arm making him look into her eyes.
"Harry, sit and tell me all you can tell. You know you can talk to me. I know I'm not my brother, or Hermione and much less Dumbledore, but you can trust me." Harry smiled at that and Ginny didn't understand why.
"If you were one of them I wouldn't even think whether to tell you or not."
"You'd tell me without hesitating," she said looking down glumly.
"Just the opposite," said Harry as he sat back down near her. "Ron exaggerates everything, Hermione, well, rules apply to everything and book always have the answers, and Dumbledore... he already knows."
"So this has something to do with what happened last year?" Ginny asked and Harry nodded. "Sirius?" Ginny had a very hard time mentioning him; Mrs. Weasley told them to avoid the topic, but Ginny thought it was unavoidable.
"Not directly but..."Harry stopped talking. A huge knot was growing in his throat. He took a deep breath to avoid crying, but a tear escaped.
"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry," said Ginny, touching his shoulder while he dried his eyes. "I didn't want to make you sad..."
"It's all right, don't worry, I have no time to be sad," he said smiling but she was still giving him a worried look. "Trust me, I'm fine."
"I know something is bothering you. If you can't tell me it's fine but there is something."
"Yes but...those are my problems. Better stay out of them – for your own sake."
"If you ever wanna talk, you know I'm here."
"Yes. Thanks."
"Harry?"
"What?"
"You know, Sirius would be proud." Neither said another word. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they both stayed like that for a while.
The door opened slowly and Ron and Hermione entered, closing the door before saying a word. "Harry, you have to hear this," said Ron. "Harry? Where is he?" he asked Hermione.
"Over here," said Harry. "What happened?"
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!!!!"
"What am I doing?" asked Harry.
"What is he doing?" asked Ginny at the same time.
"I don't care, move aside... now!" said Ron, coming to sitting between them.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Hermione and Ginny at the same time.
"Me?" asked an exasperated Ron pointing at himself, "Nothing!" He looked from Ginny to Harry, his face full of excitement now. "Well, shall we tell you?"
"All right," Harry said slowly, surprised by Ron's sudden mood change.
"Yesterday You-Know-Who took Azkaban and set free all the Deatheaters that had been arrested last year."
Hermione jumped in. "Dumbledore said SOMEONE informed Voldemort –"Ron jumped backwards when he heard the name and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Grow up Ron! Anyway, this morning the Azkaban Island was empty, nothing but the Order guard petrified," explained Hermione.
"Dumbledore is furious!" Ron added.
"He says someone in the Order is playing both sides and threatened that the one who's carrying it on will pay," said Hermione.
"If you ask me, it's Snape," said Ron. "Deep inside, he loves being a Deatheater and I'm sure that he is laughing at us with You-Know-Who right now."
"Don't be absurd!!" said Hermione. "It's not that way!"
"Hermione is right, baby, Dumbledore is no fool. He wouldn't let Snape go if he knew he is going to betray him. It has to be someone else." said Ginny.
"But who?" asked Harry.
"I don't know, but not Snape," said Hermione.
"Stop defending him!" said Ron angrily. "It is him, you'll see I'm right... What?" asked Ron when he saw the looks on Hermione and Ginny's faces.
"I don't know about you, but I don't wanna know if it is him or not. You know what that means and I would like to... rest, this year," said Hermione.
No one else spoke. Ron was thinking the same way as Hermione. It would be nice to have one school year without worries or death threats.
Harry felt guilty. If it weren't for him they all would have a common normal life. In the past six years all of them had been in mortal danger because of him. Mrs. Weasley calling them to dinner cut their silence. They didn't speak anymore on the topic after dinner or in the days that followed.
Just like Sirius, Harry spent most of his time feeding Buckbeak. He wasn't comfortable around people so he tried to be alone as much as possible. Ron and Hermione spent most of their afternoons looking for him, but they never could discover his hiding place. Little did they know he was usually locked up in a little room he had found one day while looking for a place to hide. There he would read Ginny's notebook over and over again. Thanks to that he had learned why Percy was there and Kreacher wasn't.
When Sirius died, Kreacher had seen his dreams come true. He had to go either with Bellatrix Lestrange or Narcissa Malfoy, considering the family tree. That could not be allowed, so instead another of his dreams came true, and now he was next to his family in the gloomy corridor.
Percy, Ginny wrote, apparated one night to talk to their parents. He said he had been carried away by power, that everyone knew his goal was to be promoted inside the Ministry and that Fudge gave him the right path to follow. He also claimed that in those days everyone was against Dumbledore and that he wasn't ready to accept that He Who Must Not Be Named was back. But he had learned his lessons and now wanted to help in any possible way, and like that he had joined the Order.
There was one particular day that Harry enjoyed reading again and again and he was pretty sure that Ginny had not realized what she had written.
July 31st
Happy birthday! Today there were only two murders but you already read that in the Prophet. Oh Harry!!! I'd love to be there with you! I'm sure that to spend your birthday with people that care that much about you must be... GREAT? (I'm joking!). Once more, Very Happy Birthday!!!.
Harry always read the same line: "I'd love to be there with you!" and the voice inside his head would answer "And I would had loved to have you there."
Without noticing, he had been in Grimmauld Place for a month and now the summer was over.
"Harry dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "I left all your stuff on your trunk. Now pack. You are all leaving tomorrow after breakfast."
"Any ideas on who the new Potions teacher might be?" asked Ron as he packed all his books.
"Don't know," answered Harry. "He isn't from the Order – if he were we would already know." Harry was packing his robes when he saw Ron placing his Prefect badge on his robes. He could lie to himself all he wanted but deep inside he knew he was still upset about not being a Prefect. But now, being able to be an Auror balanced everything.
Hermione and Ginny entered the room and immediately Ron sat next to Harry. Ron was looking anxiously at Ginny; she was looking at him very calmly.
"So??? What happened?" asked Ron seeing no one was talking.
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.
"Are you a Prefect or not?"
"No baby!" she said, amused.
"And you are happy?!"
"Of course! Who wants to be a Prefect???"
"That means I'm the last Prefect on the family..." Ron said with a smile.
Harry was happy too. At least this year he would have someone to spend his time with. Last year he spent most of it alone while Ron and Hermione were on their Prefects duties, this year he would have some company. He went to bed exited about returning to Hogwarts. Now with all the classes and homework he would be busy, and he wouldn't have to spent his time thinking about what happened, what was happening and what was going to happen.
Back to Hogwarts
Chapter Five
"Harry!!!" shouted Tonks excitedly when he entered the kitchen his last day at Grimmauld Place. "You're going to be an Auror!!!" When Harry looked at
her with a "How can you know that?" expression she immediately said
Hermione had told her.
"Er... yes... I hope I get there..." said Harry shyly, but that answer gave
the wrong impression. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who seemed to be absorbed in their own thoughts stayed in silence. Moody's magic eye fixed on Harry just like his good eye while the chair he was balancing in fell heavily on its
four legs. Lupin poured his coffee and Tonks gave him an angry yet
sympathetic look.
"Oh...I mean, if I'm smart enough, you know?" said Harry trying to fix the uncomfortable situation. Everybody took a deep breath while Ron and Ginny came in for breakfast. Hermione, behind "The Prophet" looked at everyone
cautiously.
Moody broke the uncomfortable silence that had been filling the kitchen.
"You have it Potter, you were born to become an Auror." (And to kill
Voldemort, thought Harry). "Your parents were some of the best of their
time."
Harry thanked him while Tonks said over and over again that if he needed
any help he could count with her. In that very moment the doorbell rang
"Those are the cars from the Ministry," Percy said while he went away to
open the door.
"Locomotor Trunk!" said Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry and their trunks floated some inches above the floor. They all tried not to make any noise but the Black family woke up when one of the trunks hit the hallway walls.
At the doorstep they said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and Lupin who looked like
if he had had one of his nights.
"TAKE CARE!!!" shouted Mrs. Weasley over the noise made by the Blacks, "And
please – DON'T DO ANYTHING!!!!...Just... just study... specially you
Harry!!!!"
All of them said yes but they knew that they weren't sincere.
They traveled to the station without problems. Harry and Ron went in one car with Moody, Percy and Mr. Weasley, while the girls were in another car with Tonks, Bill and Charlie. They entered onto Platform 9 ¾ and when the
train was about to leave Moody took Harry aside.
"Listen to me, I'm gonna say this now before you loose your liking for me. I'm not allowed to tell you, but you are going to need a lot of patience
and predisposition towards ANYTHING that's thrown at you if you want to save this year. Remember that EVERYTHING has a reason!! Now let's go before we miss the train." Moody shoved Harry towards one of the student cars and
then headed towards the teachers car.
Harry started looking around for an empty compartment where he could be
alone. He didn't want to see Malfoy. Last year when they were already
pointing at each other with their wands he couldn't imagine where the
situation would have ended if it weren't for McGonagall's arrival. He searched all through the train and ended up in the last compartment of the
last car.
He was just getting used to the peace of being alone when a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. "Harry! I looked all over the train for you. Can
I join or you rather be left alone?" said Ginny.
"No, come in. Ron and Hermione?"
"In the prefects' car. They said they were coming later in the afternoon."
Ginny entered and sat next to him.
They both made themselves comfortable, sitting with their legs stretched across the opposite seat. They talked for a long while and around midday the door opened again. A blond-haired girl appeared in the space between
the door and the wall.
"Luna!" said Ginny.
"Ginny, Harry, how are you?"
"Great how about you?" asked Ginny. "How were your holidays? Did you find
the...those creatures you and your dad were looking for?"
"No, we weren't lucky, but we did see their footprints," she said excitedly. "By the way, have you seen Neville around? I brought him some
plants he asked me for and I wanted to give them to him..." Luna didn't
wait long for an answer. "Well, I'll keep looking, see you later." Luna
waved goodbye and closed the compartment door.
Once she was safely out of earshot, Harry and Ginny started laughing at Luna's oddness. As always she was wearing one of her self-made necklaces,
this time, with calabash seeds.
Ginny took out a magazine and started reading and Harry drew near the window, his mind empty while he saw the trees go by. He started thinking about what Moody had told him, but the landscape, the constant green, the movement of the train and the warmth of the train had a soothing effect on
him. Harry leaned on the window and slowly fell asleep.
"Are you tired?" asked Ginny.
"Eh?" – said Harry drowsily when he realized she was talking to him.
"I asked if you were tired... you were sleeping against the window..."
"Oh, yes, I'm a little tired. I didn't sleep much last night."
"Come here, lean on..." said Ginny tapping her legs.
"No.... don't worry, I'm not gooo...ing to sleep" Harry's words were
interrupted by a huge yawn.
"C'mon, lean on. If you want I can wake you up when the lady with the food arrives." Ginny smiled in such a way that he couldn't say no. Seconds later he found himself sleeping very comfortably, lying with his head on her lap.
Harry wasn't sure how long he'd been sleeping when he heard someone calling his name. He opened his eyes and saw Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom sitting in front of them. They were talking with Ginny who kept trying to
wake him up.
"Harry do you want something to eat?"
"Yes..." he said with a yawn. "Buy me the usual." He reached into his pocket for some coins, and handed them to her without opening his eyes. "If you want, grab something too." And after saying this he fell asleep again.
When Harry woke up hours later, the compartment was very quiet, so he supposed they were alone. He felt Ginny playing with his hair, and for some
reason he didn't want to move, rather he kept pretending he was asleep. When she began to follow his scar outline with her fingers, Harry moved a little and opened wide his green eyes. Without saying a word she gave him
his glasses.
"Where are we?" he asked as he sat up.
"We should be there any moment," she answered.
Harry looked outside and saw it was already nighttime. "Did Ron and
Hermione come?"
"Don't you think you would had known if they had?" she said with a wry
smile.
"Yeah..." said Harry smiling. "Ron and his moods..."
"Hungry?" Ginny said, quickly changing the subject. "I bought you what you
asked for."
They both started eating and talking. Harry had never had such a pleasant
trip. Ginny told him all the details of Luna's expedition to Sweden and they both laughed at the thought of Luna and her dad with a lot of machines
looking for whatever non-existent creature they were looking for.
The door opened and Ron and Hermione entered. "Cake! I'm so hungry!!!" Ron said, taking some of the ones Ginny had bought before she could protest.
"Where's Neville?" he asked around a mouthful.
"I don't know," said Harry.
"He was here a while ago, but he didn't stay long. He didn't want to wake
up Harry," answered Ginny.
"You slept? You have no idea of how much I envy you!" Hermione sighed.
"Yes... until...what? An hour ago?" said Harry looking at Ginny.
"Yes, more or less."
"I'm so tired!" exclaimed Hermione, a yawn escaping from her, proving her
point. "I can't stop thinking of the bed waiting for me at Hogwarts".
"Tired?? Of sitting down and eating? What else do you do at the Prefects'
car?" said Harry and Ginny laughed.
"Well, we have tons to do..."
"EXCUSE ME!!!!!! You two were here all-alone all this time???" asked Ron in
one of his tones.
"No," said Ginny patiently, "Luna and Neville were here for about an hour."
"Ginny, sit there," Ron demanded, pointing at the opposite seat.
"No," Ginny said calmly.
Ron narrowed his eyes and turned towards his best friend. "Harry, sit
there."
Harry stood up only to have Ginny grab his arm and pull him back down. "No
Ron," Ginny said once again.
"Don't you run against me!"
Ginny gave an exasperated sigh. "We-are-friends!!! We talk, and you know
what? We sit next to each other!! Accept it!!"
"Ginevra!!!"
Harry and Hermione looked from one to the other, and luckily the train
stopped right at the moment when Ron's ears, Ginny's cheeks and the
Hogwarts Express were all in the same shade of red.
Hermione pulled Ron away to look for the second year students to guide them
to the carriages. Harry and Ginny were still looking for a carriage for
themselves when Ron and Hermione joined them again.
"Are they still there?" asked Ron who looked as if he had been lectured by
Hermione. "The Thestrals?"
"Yes," said Harry looking at the emaciated horses that moved the carriages.
Once inside, Hermione broke the silence.
"We were told some very interesting things today..." said Hermione.
"Like what?" asked Ginny.
"First, we have a new female teacher for Potions," said Hermione.
"Hope she is not like Umbridge!" said Ron as everyone else nodded in
agreement.
"They also told us we are going to have five hours of Defense Against the
Dark Arts every week."
"Last year we had 3!!" Ginny groaned. "At least we know the real Moody."
"Therefore we know how hard his lessons are going to be," said Ron.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "After all, he is the best Auror. Oh! We also have
a new subject."
"Whatever that is I'm not gonna take it. I'm fine with the subjects I
have," said Ron.
"It's obligatory... Do you ever hear when someone talks?" said Hermione in
annoyance.
"No, you're there for that," Ron smiled at her.
"Isn't it too much change from one year to another? I think Dumbledore is
up to something," said Ginny. "Can he be planning to attack Voldemort?"
Ron jumped on his seat when he heard the name. "WHAT?" – he said when Hermione shot him a look. "I just can't get used to hearing that name!!"
"I think," said Harry who had been listening carefully, "that our club from
last year club now involves the whole school."
"You're saying Dumbledore is actually preparing a wizards army to attack
Voldemort? No offence Harry but that sounds a little crazy... just a
little," said Ron.
"Harry is right," said Hermione. "But not to attack, I think he is
preparing us to defend ourselves."
The carriage stopped and they all headed to the Great Hall. Standing under the main door was Professor McGonagall, walking from side to side looking
for someone.
"Granger, Weasley, I've been looking for you two everywhere. All prefects must go to the room behind the Great Hall, where you waited to be sorted."
"Us?" asked Ron. "Aren't you looking for the NEW prefects?"
"No Mr. Weasley – all! You two," she said looking at Harry and Ginny, "go
to the Great Hall, and you two come with me! We have to start now if we
want to eat this century!!"
"Don't sit together!!!!" shouted Ron while Professor McGonagall dragged him
with her.
Harry and Ginny entered the Great Hall and immediately they noticed something was different there. In the roof, as always, they could see the
sky outside was clear and millions of stars were shining above them. Of course to see them you had to see through the hundreds of candles floating above their heads. That much was the same as ever, but something was most
definitely different.
"Isn't this place...bigger?"
"I was thinking the same thing," said Ginny while they sat on the
Gryffindor table. "Harry... isn't there way too much empty space in the
table? How many first years can they be?"
Harry noticed that there was no student missing and half a table was empty.
The same was happening in the other tables. "This place is definitively
bigger!!"
Neville Longbottom came and sat next to Ginny. Harry looked at him: he was
much taller and thinner, but as usual his thoughts were faster than his
mouth so they couldn't understand what he was talking about. But he was
clearly happy.
"Calm down," said Ginny patiently. "Take a deep breath and start all over
again.'
"Have you heard?" asked Neville, breathing after every word.
"No, what?" Harry and Ginny asked in unison.
"Malfoy isn't in Hogwarts anymore." Neville stopped once more to breath and
Harry and Ginny exchanged amazed looks.
"You are saying he won't be coming to school this year?" asked Harry while
a party exploded inside of him.
"After last year's events and with his father in Azkaban for a while after showing how loyal he was to You Know Who, he left. I heard at Ravenclaw´s table that Dumbledore forgot to send him the letter and now he is going to
Durmstrang."
"A year without Malfoy and Snape..." said Harry, thinking out loud.
"Without Snape?" Neville looked puzzled and about to collapse.
"Do you see him up at the teachers' table?" asked Ginny.
The three of them looked and saw a very slipshod lady sitting where
Professor Snape should be. Harry was sure he knew her, but he couldn't
remember from where.
"When is the feast starting? Some of us are hungry!!" said Neville and
Harry laughed.
"How was your summer? Because today we talked only about Luna's," Ginny
asked. "You are taller and thinner Neville!!" He blushed.
"I had a good summer. I've been very busy helping my grandmother. I worked
a lot," he answered with pride.
"What did you do?"
"Well, you know that my grandmother is a very special person. After what
happened at the Ministry she started acting suspicious of everyone and everything. She says there is some kind of... conspiracy, well, to get to you Harry, and that the Ministry is involved and so on... She also thinks St. Mungos isn't a safe place anymore and she wasn't happy about me running onto Bellatrix and the fact she is still alive. That's why we checked out my parents from St. Mungos and we took them home. I spent my summer helping
Grandma to look after my parents."
"Much to do?" asked Ginny, giving him a sympathetic look.
"They don't do much," said Neville looking down, "but someone has to be there just in case. When we were in the garden we had to be careful cause
they can get lost, you know. In the house we were always watching the stairs – they like to walk a lot. But it was great to spend time with them; my visits were always no longer than an hour and just being there helped a lot. Now my mom calls me by my name, she had never spoken to me before!!!" The joy in Neville's voice was nowhere near the joy he had shown when he
found out about Snape – it was far beyond.
"I'm happy for you Neville," said Harry, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"Finally!!! Thank you!!!" shouted Neville.
The Great Hall doors opened and McGonagall entered carrying a big roll of parchment and the Sorting Hat. Behind her entered the first years. Harry recognized them by the scared and amazed looks on their faces. There were a lot, more than what Harry was used to seeing, but that wasn't all. Behind the first years entered four double lines one for each house starting and
ending with the prefects.
Hermione and Ron came in front of a line of about 20 students of all different ages, all in Hogwarts uniforms, and all students that Harry had
never seen in his 5 years there. The same was happening in the other
tables.
After assuring every student had a seat, Hermione and Ron sat in front of Harry and Ginny. Ron was staring at them but neither realized this, they
were both paying attention to the new Sorting Hat song.
This old hat was created,
Many years ago.
To look inside of you,
And decide to which house you go.
You may not think I'm pretty,
That I'm shattered and unseamed.
You may think I'm aged,
But blessed with wisdom I had been.
I have seen many heads,
Many powerful minds,
Some of which you now fear,
Some of which you admire.
You Know Who wore me once,
And I saw what was in him,
Had no doubt when I decided,
He had to be a Slytherin.
Years later came a boy,
That had survived the Dark Lord.
I hesitated, then decided
He should be a Gryffindor.
Don't be afraid of my power,
This is all that I can do.
I just will see what is in there,
The rest is up to you.
The hat inclined forwards, saluting his audience and all Hogwarts exploded in applause.
"I told you not to sit together," Ron hissed through clenched teeth.
Harry looked aside and Ginny looked straight at her brother and smiled. "Why? Does it bother you?"
"Ginevra..." he said in a warning tone.
"Don't you two start right now!!!" interrupted Hermione and they both shut up.
In the background you could hear the Sorting and every now and then they clapped when a new student was sorted into Gryffindor.
"Where did all those came from?" asked Harry talking about the students.
"Transferred from other institutes," answered Hermione.
"That's weird. New students are always first years," said Ginny, joining the conversation.
"We had to sort them apart, before the feast."
"That's what took you so long!" said Harry. "First years are also a lot."
"McGonagall told us that a lot of new students joined the school and they spent the whole summer putting spells all over the castle so that we could all fit in," said Hermione.
The last student was sorted and Professor McGonagall took away the hat and stool and then took her place on the right of Dumbledore. He stood up and the Great Hall submerged in silence.
"New students, new Professors, new year!! You will be introduced later. And now, what were all waiting for... The feast!!!" It was perhaps the shortest welcome speech ever, but it had been preceded by the longest Sorting. The moment his speech ended the four tables were filled with the most delicious food. The smell spread all over the Great Hall, and minutes later all you could hear were hundreds of students talking and laughing.
Chapter One
A ray of light went through one of the many holes in the curtains of the smallest room at Number 4 Privet Drive ending in the eyes of a 16-year-old boy who had just fallen asleep three hours ago.
Harry woke up. Lately anything woke him up, especially Mrs. Figg's cats during their nightly turns to check on him. He grabbed his glasses from his bedside table and realized that the cage on his desk was still empty. Hedwig had left three days ago.
He got dressed and went down for breakfast. While he walked through the corridor, he could hear Uncle Vernon's loud snores. The Dursleys were still asleep - all of Privet Drive was still asleep at 5:30 in the morning.
The only thing about his holidays that he could not complain about were those long peaceful breakfasts he enjoyed so much. He would sit at the kitchen table, alone, waiting for the day to start all over again, waiting for the news to arrive... He had not ended that thought when they arrived.
A brown owl followed by a white one entered the room through the window. Harry paid the brown owl, who left after dropping the Daily Prophet in the middle of Harry's eggs. The white owl, Harry's own Hedwig dropped two letters on Harry's lap and landed on the table to have some water from his glass.
"Get that stinky bird out of my kitchen!!!!!" Aunt Petunia shouted as loud as she could.
Harry did nothing. Hedwig started flying to Harry's room, meeting Uncle Vernon who jumped the last five steps, landing with loud bang.
"Did the bird bring something interesting?" asked Aunt Petunia, mocking him.
Every morning the same story since the first Muggles died. Scared by the threat that lived in their house, Vernon and Petunia had demanded to know everything that was going on in the magical world concerning Harry and so themselves.
Harry opened the Daily Prophet like he had every morning for the last month. Fifty Muggles dead already; Voldemort was playing some kind of hunting game through the United Kingdom.
"Five more Muggles dead, and one lived pretty close," said Harry while Aunt Petunia dropped the frying pan, making a mess.
"You think you're funny, boy?" said Uncle Vernon in his most threatening voice.
"It's true," said Harry, "why would I lie? See for yourself!" Harry threw the newspaper to his uncle, who took it like a dirty diaper. "I'm gonna get the map."
Actually, Harry could not complain about his aunt and uncle's behavior any more. They had changed a lot since the first time the Dark Mark appeared on the news. Aunt Petunia stopped shouting when she saw it in the TV and, after drinking some brandy, she had said with a stutter, "Tha...Tha...ttt, that used to appear before my sister died. I... I remember when we were at home... if that appeared she would leave immediately. She... she... used to say 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' had attacked, and she... she... would leave. You..." she said, pointing at Harry "you... were telling the truth... It is happening again!"
After that night, reports of the Dark Mark floating above all of the U.K. were the first thing on the news.
Harry entered the kitchen holding a huge map. He drew a green dot everywhere a Muggle had died.
"What are all those marks?" asked Uncle Vernon curiously.
"Every Muggle dead in the last four weeks." His uncle said nothing; Aunt Petunia was standing behind him looking over his shoulder.
"They all seem to surround there," she said pointing the map. "What does it say there, boy?"
"Surrey." Aunt Petunia held her breath.
Harry looked at one of the letters Hedwig had brought and immediately recognized from whom it was.
Harry, the situation is getting too complex. Your departure from your aunt and uncle's house is imminent.
Before Friday someone from the Order will go to pick you up.
Don't trust strangers and tell your aunt and uncle not to let anyone, under any circumstances, get IN the house.
You will get more news soon.
A.D.
PS: Don't use Hedwig anymore, and don't try to look for us or talk to us, we will come to you.
AVOID LEAVING THE HOUSE!!!!!
Harry put the letter aside and opened the other.
Harry, Dumbledore probably already wrote you, but it was to confirm that tomorrow night Moody and I are arriving to bring you home. Don't you trust anyone else!
LEAVE THE HOUSE ONLY WITH MOODY AND ME BOTH, NOT IF WE ARE ALONE!
Take care, and don't leave the house, not even the backyard! And Harry, that's an order you don't disobey!
Remus
Harry left both letters on the map and headed upstairs. He looked at Hedwig's cage and said "Colloportus" shutting the cage door.
"I'm sorry," he said to the owl, "Dumbledore's orders." Hedwig wasn't happy but Harry did nothing. He just turned around and started gathering all his things. He must be ready in case they came before time.
Standing by the door of his room were his aunt and uncle. Vernon was holding both letters, one in each hand and looking at Harry with a "I really, really, really, don't know what's going on" face.
"We want to know why they don't let you go out of the house, and why can't we let anyone in? IT'S OUR HOUSE!!!!" said Uncle Vernon, obviously angry because a violet vein was starting to show in his forehead.
"Do I have to explain everything all over again!?????" (God, you are stupid!! thought Harry.) "Last year Voldemort forced me to get this prophecy that said that I'm gonna kill him or he is going to kill me. That's the only way this can end, ok?? Well, the prophecy got broken and now he doesn't know what it said, but he knows we are bonded, that's why he is trying to find me and kill me. From what I've seen in the map, he is pretty close but there is a charm on the house that doesn't allow him to see I'm here UNLESS you let the person in. That's why you must not let anyone get IN the house, NO ONE!!!!!! You get it now or do I have to start all over again?"
"How come they can't see us? A charm on MY house?????? You never said that, boy! And after all, he is looking for you. We have nothing to do with you!!!!!" Uncle Vernon's vein was turning dark violet.
"Vernon, we are his aunt and uncle!!!!!" shouted Aunt Petunia at her stupid husband.
"So what?"
"Voldemort killed my parents, my godfather, schoolmates, teachers and now he is hunting down Muggles for fun! He isn't even gonna think about killing you both if you are in his way of getting to me!!!!" shouted Harry. He hated thinking about Sirius.
Vernon said nothing and Aunt Petunia kept looking at the corridor, afraid someone would appear at any moment.
"But don't worry, tomorrow I'll be gone and you'll be safe again. All happy, eh?" Harry stared at his aunt and uncle. Obviously they didn't like Harry's mocking tone, so he grabbed a book and he dropped it in his trunk. His aunt and uncle left the room.
The afternoon passed. Aunt Petunia called Dudley to ask him to stay at Marge´s house for a few more days. Dudley didn't complain, he was very afraid of Harry.
In the news they saw two more attacks, but this time the dead Muggles used to live in Surrey, pretty close to Privet Drive.
They had dinner and around 10:30 they were all in bed. Mysteriously Harry fell asleep immediately, maybe it was the thought of leaving Privet Drive... the sooner he fell asleep, the sooner the morning would come.
Harry took a look around; he was surrounded by the Witches and Wizards of the Order of the Phoenix. He had been accepted as one! He was so happy, he was feeling full, and he felt as though everything that he had been through had meant something and all of the sudden everything disappeared. He saw Ginny; eyes wide open, taken by surprise, falling down... dead. Harry woke up, cold sweat running down his back and all over his face. He grabbed his glasses and went to the bathroom.
Every night it was the same, yet different. Different dreams but all ending the same way: Ginny falling dead. It couldn't be happening again! He knew it wasn't real but just the mere thought of seeing her not only dead but hurt frightened him. He didn't know why, actually he didn't want to know.
He threw some water on his face and with his glasses in one hand he tried to grab the towel with the other. He put on his glasses and when he looked up in the mirror he felt it. His scar. It wasn't hurting; it was more like a sting, a warning.
From his aunt and uncle's bedroom came a loud female scream. Harry ran there while taking his wand out of his pajama pocket. Holding it firmly he entered the room. Petunia was hugging Uncle Vernon who was casting a terrified look towards the window. The whole room was lit by a green glow coming in through the curtains. Harry headed to the window and opened them.
In the middle of the air, floating above the house in front of his, was a gigantic green skull with a serpent shaped tongue. When Aunt Petunia saw it, she fainted.
A loud cracking noise came from the corridor. Harry turned and headed that way still holding his wand. Uncle Vernon was not moving, maybe it was because of the mark, maybe it was the fact that his wife was unconscious, maybe it was the noise in the corridor or maybe it was just Harry's wand, but Harry had no time to figure that out.
He realized the noise came from his room. Harry could actually hear his heart beating, he was so excited, a little frightened, but he could feel the adrenaline running through his veins. He was determined to surprise the intruder so when he was two steps away from the door, he jumped.
A brown cat jumped with his four legs and landed with his claws in Harry's pillow.
"Mr. Tibbles, tell Arabella I'm alright, nothing happened here," said Harry feeling kind of sad yet kind of happy it was just that. He wanted to check out how his aunt and uncle were doing and brought Aunt Petunia some Brandy. Then he realized he had to tell Dumbledore what had happened: they had been in Privet Drive, in front of his house, while he was sleeping!!!.
He grabbed a piece of paper and started looking for ink in his trunk. He had to use Hedwig; there was no other way! But then he saw it. Sirius' mirror was at the bottom of the trunk. Harry took it and felt his guts twisting. He had been avoiding everything related to Sirius all summer, but it was the safest way to contact the Order. He took his wand, pointed the mirror and said, "Reparo."
Ever since it was common knowledge that He Who Must Not Be Named had returned, things like the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery had been revoked. Harry always thought Dumbledore was behind it.
Harry grabbed the mirror firmly in front of his face and said "Remus Lupin." He saw nothing in the mirror but himself. He tried again, and nothing. He tried a third time, "Remus Lup..."
"Harry? What's going on?" Lupin was barely awake.
"The Dark Mark just rose in front of my house! They were here, the Death Eaters were in Privet Drive!" There was not a tinge of fear in Harry's voice, he was amazed to discover, but fear reflected clearly in Lupin's face.
"Harry, don't you dare get out of the house! Be quiet and.... just stay there! For the Muggle community and the magic one too, in that house everyone is sleeping! I'm going to alert the Order, I'll be back in a few minutes."
Harry waited. Ten minutes and nothing, fifteen and nothing, twenty, thirty, thirty-five. Harry was about to call Lupin again when Lupin´s face appeared in the mirror.
"Listen to me Harry, this is what you are going to do. Tonks and Mundungus are going to apparate IN the house – don't open the door to anyone! They are carrying a Portkey. It's a spoon. Touch it and you will appear at the Headquarters' door. You still remember the address?"
"Yes," said Harry clearly.
"They'll be there any time soon. See ya."
The mirror reflected Harry's face again. He immediately got dressed and finished packing. From downstairs Harry heard a loud "plop". The next moment he saw Tonks and Mundungus Fletcher running up the stairs. Tonks was carrying an old spoon in her left hand. They both took Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage.
"Ready? The sooner the better!" said Tonks.
"Ready," said Harry grabbing the spoon. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were standing by the door looking at him. Harry said goodbye, and then disappeared.
Miles away, a 16 year-old boy, a pink haired woman, a man dressed in frayed clothes and a white owl appeared in the middle of the street. They stood between two houses and said, "Number twelve Grimmauld Place". A house came out of nowhere answering to that address and as quickly as they could they opened the door and entered the house.
Harry had returned to the magic world.
Together Again
Chapter two
When Moody saw Harry he winked with his good eye and Lupin ran and hugged him. For almost a second Harry thought he was hugging Sirius, but immediately he came to his senses. But it was nice that someone showed him a little affection. No one had so much as even touched his shoulder by accident in more than a month.
Harry sat and said sorry many times for waking everyone up, but they were all too worried to be angry.
"They got too close. We were lucky they chose the opposite side of the street," said Lupin biting his nails.
"There were two more attacks in Little Whinging. Arabella told us minutes before you arrived." Moody, who was wavering in his chair, sat properly and stared at Harry with his good eye while the other spun quickly.
Harry stood up and grabbed something from his trunk. He returned with a long roll and unrolled it so that everyone could see his map. "Here is where I saw it," he drew a green dot on his street. "Where else was it seen?" Moody answered and Harry marked those places. "They just needed one more day to get me," said Harry, indifferent to what that meant.
"You´ve been keeping a record of every location where the mark had been seen?" asked Moody as he analyzed the map closely.
"Yep, every place where Muggles died."
"It´s amazing! We never thought about this. Looking at it one can easily notice how close they were!"
"We were thinking it would take them at least two more weeks to reach Little Whinging," Tonks said as she made her hair grow so she could tie it up.
"Harry, you thought like an Auror when you did this. How come I didn't do this!? I can't understand!" Moody examined the map, amazed and incredulous.
"Where is everyone else? Ron, Hermione?" Harry hadn't heard from them ever since Hogwarts ended.
"They're alright," answered Lupin. "You know they were not allowed to write you until you were safe, Dumbledore's orders. He told you, no?" Harry nodded. "They´ll be here tomorr... well, today. They were going to wait for you, but you arrived first."
"Is everything ok with the Order?"
"Yes, all safe. We have some new Witches and Wizards, although we haven't seen heard from some wizards in a while." Lupin's tone was almost a whisper at the end of the sentence.
"Haven't heard in a while? Who?" Harry asked.
"Snape."
"What? He went back with Vol... with You Know Who?"
"Well, kinda. He is still working for Dumbledore, but he went back with him. We still don't know anything from him. After what happened at the Ministry –" Lupin stopped talking and swallowed, "You Know Who questioned his loyalty so he went away with him. Also it seems like he found out, through you or Snape, about the Oclumency classes he was giving you. He said they were to make you weak and in that way, help him. In conclusion, he had to return."
"And Dumbledore doesn't suspect he might have wanted to return???"
"We don't know why, but Dumbledore trusts him blindly, he even gave him permission to leave for the whole year."
"And what about his classes?"
"You will have a new Potions teacher," answered Lupin and Harry felt happiness running through his veins. "And I'm gonna teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, seeing as I already taught that subject."
They all chatted for a while and around ten in the morning Harry went to bed, and for the first time he was able to rest.
When Harry woke up it was dark outside. There was a delicious smell lingering in the air and a lot of voices coming from downstairs. He got dressed and put on his glasses. One of the voices he recognized as Mrs.Weasley's and the smell he recognized as dinner.
Harry looked in the mirror and tried to fix his hair as much as he could. There was large lock of hair that pointed straight to the ceiling and Harry could not make it change that odd position. "You know she is downstairs," said a voice inside his head.
"I don't know who you are talking about," said Harry to the mirror and left the room.
"Harry!!!!!!!!!!!" Hermione jumped on him grabbing him by the neck. "You're alright! Ohhhh! Harry, this morning I saw on the news what happened yesterday and I almost fainted!!!" Hermione was checking him for injuries.
"I'm alright, nothing happened. Don't worry!" said Harry with his characteristic indifference.
"DON'T WORRY!!!!!?????" Hermione took a step back and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Come here,"said Harry hugging her. "Nothing happened. I'm glad that you were worried about me, but it's over."
"I know, but I wrote to Ron and he didn't know. We couldn't write here and until Arthur came from work we didn't know what was going on. Oh! Harry I really missed you!"
"I missed you too!" said Harry hugging her once more and they both entered the kitchen. There Harry saw a whole bunch of red heads: Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, Charlie, Bill, Ron and Percy.
"Where is she?" said the little voice inside Harry's head.
"Harry dear!!!! You had us all scared!" said Mrs.Weasley, checking him like Hermione had already done.
"Mate!" a familiar voice called out. Harry turned to say hi and had to step back to be able to look his friend in the eyes.
"And I was thinking I was going to be way over you!"
"No mate, I'm the tall one!" said Rom laughing. Harry said hi to everyone else and sat between Ron and Hermione.
"Where is she????" the voice kept asking. Harry tried to ignore it.
"Hey Ron,"said Harry trying not to call anyone's attention. "What's Percy doing here?"
Ron leaned close. "After the Ministry episode he came home one night to talk to my parents. They said that..." Ron started explaining to Harry, but didn't seem to notice that Harry wasn't listening anymore.
Ginny had entered the room. If Ron and Harry had grown, she had grown the same and more. He looked at her face, but the girl he remembered was gone. She was different, her face, her body, the way she moved...Harry couldn't do anything else but look at her. He found himself staring at her. It was wonderful the way her hair moved with each step she took. She sat on the opposite side of the table, three places to Harry's right. She was smiling brushing back her hair from her face.
"Harry"shouted Ron, "are you even listening to me?"
Harry jumped but he wasn't the only one who did. Ginny heard what Ron said and for two seconds he saw the little girl once more. The same surprised expression he saw the first time he stepped in the Burrow was one her face. But those seconds went away quickly and the surprise turned into joy.
"Harry, you're up!" she said enthusiastically. She stood up and went straight to where he was.
Harry felt as though everyone was suddenly looking at him, even though they weren't. Everyone was actually minding their own business, everyone except for Ron that is.ever
"It's so good to see you again!" Ginny smiled. "How were your holidays?"
"Err... Good, pretty good I can say."
"Did the Muggles... your aunt and uncle bother you?"
"No, for the first time in... 15 years?" Harry laughed when he saw her laughing. "They didn't bother me at all." All the nervousness was gone and he was feeling very comfortable talking with her.
"And what about your holidays?" he asked her.
"Boring! Try spending month and a half with my brothers!!!"
"Try spending a month and a half with my uncle!!!!!" They both started laughing out loud.
"Hey what's so funny?" asked Ron angrily.
"Nothing, baby," said Ginny.
"I've told you two thousand, two hundred and fifty-seven times not to call me baby!" Ron's ears were bright red and Harry looked at Ginny in amazement.
That wasn't Ginny at all. That shy, introverted girl was gone forever. Already last year he could sense something changing. She had been the only one able to put him in his place, the only one who faced him. Perhaps it was only natural; after all they both had something huge in common – Voldemort.
Ginny turned her attention from her brother and back to Harry. "After dinner I wanna give you something. It's been a pretty boring summer, and I needed something to do. I think you'll find it interesting."
Harry noticed she was blushing. "Ok, after dinner you give that to me,"said Harry. They were both speaking like if it was a secret.
Dinner was delicious. Harry couldn't reWitch and Wizard eating that much since last year. All summer he had regretted missing out on the year-end feast. As they finished eating, Ginny leaned towards him.
"Come with me upstairs so I can give you what I was taking about," she whispered in his ear and Harry bristled.
They both stood up and left the kitchen while Ron looked straight at them. They went into the girls' room and Ginny took a notebook from her trunk.
"I remember you were angry all the time last year because no one ever told you anything about what was going on. That always happens to me. My brothers, they always leave me aside. So when I arrived home after school let out, I started writing everything I heard about the Ministry, Deatheaters, Hogwarts and Voldemort."
"You dare to say his name?" Harry said, surprised at hearing her use it so casually.
"I got that habit from you," she admitted. "Well, I hope you find it... useful, if not, it helped me spending my time. You know how much I enjoy writing."
"We must be careful with what and where you write!" They both laughed and as they did Harry couldn't do anything else but look at her. He mentally shook himself. He shouldn't this way about her. It's Ginny, he said to himself over and over again, Ginny Weasley, Ron´s little sister.
"What are you both doing?" Ron said as he and Hermione entered the room. Ron was looking from Harry to Ginny to Harry again. Ginny was sitting on her bed and Harry on Hermione´s, one in front of the other. Ron walked straight to them and sat next to his sister. "What's Harry doing with your diary?" he asked her.
"See what I mean? You never listen to me! I told you many times that it wasn't a diary! I was just writing what was going on!!!"
"Ain't that what you do with a diary?"
"No, and I told you it wasn't mine!"
"You didn't told me it was his," said Ron pointing at Harry.
"Are you going to make a scene for this?" asked Ginny.
"Should I??????"
"You both should leave," Hermione interjected, looking towards Harry and Ron. "I wanna go to bed and I can't if you are here so...GOOD NIGHT!"
"Wait! I'm not done here!!!" Ron yelled but Harry grabbed him by the arm and guided him out of the room before
Hermione joined the argument.
"Harry wait!"said Ginny as he was about to leave the room. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hair, Harry could feel the temperature rising inside of him. "That lock of hair was driving me crazy. Now it's better. Good night Harry! Good night baby!!!" she added to Ron.
"Don't call me baby!!!!!!" shouted Ron, but his words hit the door as it closed
Conexions
Chapter Three
Harry and Ron went straight to their room and got into bed. They talked while they waited to fall asleep. They talked about everything, holidays, Quidditch and the year ahead of them.
"Harry, haven't you ever wondered about what the prophecy said?" asked Ron shyly and Harry was sure that if the lights were on, he could have seen the freckles disappear on his friend's face as his cheeks turned red.
Harry knew that sooner or later he was going to be asked about the prophecy. Actually his holidays, if you could call holidays spending a month at Privet Drive, had been so quiet thanks to the fact that they could not talk to each other. That had given him time to prepare many answers to whatever his friends were going to ask. "Many times," Harry said, not even considering telling the truth to his friend.
"Didn't you ask Dumbledore if he knew?" Ron asked in a near whisper.
"I had other things on my mind... I wasn't thinking about that." The way Harry said it left no doubt that the conversation was over.
Fifteen minutes later they were both sleeping. Harry was having a very commonplace dream: no hallways, graveyards or Ginny. Suddenly all images were gone and everything went blank. He started feeling the rage growing inside of him, he saw his long white fingers firmly seizing the back of an armchair, his nails ripping the leather revealing the soft feeling casket.
"What do you mean he disappeared???" Harry shouted in his sleep, waking Ron from his.
"Wha... What?" said the latter, not hearing what he had been asked.
"He´s gone, we lost him in Surrey" a voice full of fear said from behind Harry – "It's as if he had gone up in smoke... If you allow me an observation Sir, I..."
"You are not in a position to make suggestions! I need POTTER!!! You said you could bring him to me, that you knew how to get him!! You disappointed me Draco..." Harry felt the anger growing faster.
"Whatcha talkin´ about?" asked Ron while yawning, still not understanding what was going on.
"We were really close, I dare to say he was just in front of our noses, but HE sent someone to take him away. Next year he´ll be yours... You just wait and see." The explanation came from a voice behind Harry.
"I have no time to loose! I can't wait!!! I only have two years left!!!" yelled Harry, but suddenly his tone changed. "We´ll start with the next plan. If it doesn't work we still have next summer." He wasn't angry anymore; he was kind of enjoying himself. "Now..." he said, grabbing his wand from the table, "I can't let this slip...."
He turned around and saw someone kneeling down in front of him. He pointed his wand to the middle of the platinum blond nape and shouted loud and clear "Crucio!!!!"
Harry´s scar was burning, but he was freezing from a cold sweat. He opened his eyes to find himself sitting on his bed in Grimmauld Place. A pale Ron was looking at him. Harry grabbed his forehead with both hands. It felt his head was about to burst open. He couldn't see; his eyes were full of tears, he could not resist such pain.
"He...knows I'm... gone..." he said to his friend before he screamed in pain. Then suddenly his scream turned into an evil laugh.
The door slammed open. Hermione, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, Lupin and Moody all entered the room.
Harry was squirming in his bed, rubbing his forehead firmly with both hands. His scar was getting hotter and hotter and he could feel it burning his hands.
"I'm not alone... Right Potter?????" shouted Harry.
Hermione had been the first one to enter the room and she she now stood petrified in the middle of the room. Mrs.Weasley tried to hold Harry but it was impossible. He was kicking, squirming, and shouting raving mad. Ron came back to his senses and immediately jumped from his bed and hugged Hermione, who grabbed him firmly and started crying on his shoulder.
On the empty frame hanging on the wall Phineas Nigellus appeared and complained about the noise but when he saw the scene he asked what was wrong.
Lupin and Moody were pointing their wands at Harry not knowing what to do.
"Tell Dumbledore urgently, Harry is under a Conexion!!!" shouted Lupin and Phineas disappeared from the frame.
Everyone was looking at Harry, impotent in front of the situation while Harry screamed in pain. Suddenly the situation got worst. Ginny held her breath, fell on the floor and started shaking roughly. She was squirming just like Harry but in silence.
A loud "pum" came from outside the room and Dumbledore entered. Just like a teenager he jumped to Harry holding his legs tightly with his legs and his head with his left hand. Then with his right hand he made a very complex wand move that not even Hermione was able to do and shouted something in a strange language. From the tip of his wand an orange ray went off and hit Harry in the middle of his scar.
Harry stopped moving, Ginny too. They were both sweating and suffering a terrible headache.
Dumbledore looked at Harry and, standing next to his bed, he touched his forehead with the back of his hand and felt it getting colder. Then he took Harry's right hand and looked at his palm where there was a burning mark shaped like his scar.
"What happened Albus?? What's happening????" shouted Mrs.Weasley unable to decide who to hold, but as Mr. Weasley held Ginny, she decided for Harry.
"Voldemort Molly, that's what happened. He is gaining power, growing up to levels we never thought about. And while he grows, the bond between him and Harry gets shorter. It is getting easier for him to enter Harry´s mind. Harry on the other hand, is fighting him back, which's why this happened. His scar is the point that holds them together and when it gets hot it means there was a fight, a conflict for power. Luckily Harry won."
"And Ginny? What does she have to do with all this?"
"Ginny was under Voldemort´s control once, and that leaves a mark. If I'm not mistaken, when Voldemort tried to control Harry's mind, he fought back so Voldemort had to make a bigger effort. That's when he reached Ginny. The marks on her were... turned on, today. Although Ginny was possessed by a memory of Voldemort, a little of him was left on Ginny´s mind. Tthat's what was turned on when he made such an effort."
"You're saying that Voldemort can hurt Ginny if he wants to?"
"Voldemort can hurt anyone if he wants to, but here the situation is a little more complex. Harry and Ginny, Harry in a major way, are connected with Voldemort. This doesn't mean that if something happens to either of them the others will suffer the consequences too. They are independent, but in a certain and complex level, they are bonded. Now... I'd like to talk to you Harry." Mrs.Weasley gave Dumbledore a threatening look. "The sooner the better. I need Harry´s thoughts to be fresh and clear..."
"How can I forget this?" thought Harry while he followed Dumbledore into another room. Dumbledore made two chairs appear and he sat right in front of him. Harry told Dumbledore everything that had happened and he listened very carefully.
"Draco...are we talking about Draco Malfoy?" asked Dumbledore.
"I'm almost sure it was him from what I saw," said Harry.
"And, what did you feel when the conexion started?"
"Well, he was angry, really angry, and I felt that my head was going to burst open right here,"Harry said touching his scar. "Also it was very hot, and as time went by it kept getting hotter and hotter." He didn't seem to realize he was touching his new lightning shaped scar on his right hand as he spoke. "Oh! For a few moments the intensity went down. I thought it was ending, but then it grew even hotter..."
"That's when Miss Weasley joined in,"said Dumbledore.
"Professor,"said Harry shyly, "if this included Ginny... is something going to happen to her concerning the prophecy?"
"Harry, that includes Voldemort and you only. Don't worry about Miss Weasley. She is safe."
"But you said that we both are bonded to Voldemort. Then if I kill him, are you sure nothing is going to happen to her?" There was a tinge of fear in Harry's voice.
"Nothing is going to happen to her. And Harry..." Dumbledore stopped talking when Lupin opened the door.
"Everything alright Harry?" he asked.
"Everything is fine Remus. By the way, would you do me the favor of going downstairs and bring two cups of the Dreamless Sleep potion Snape left?" Professor Dumbledore asked. Remus nodded and left and Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "I thought we could use some of that."
After five minutes, Lupin was back with two glasses filled with a green substance. Dumbledore took one from him and handed it to Harry. "Take this Harry, it will help you sleep without dreaming. Remus, take the other one to Miss. Weasley."
Harry was about to leave the room when Dumbledore called him. "Harry... you will," he said, finishing the thought he had been trying to communicate to Harry before Lupin initially interrupted them.
"Are you a´'ight mate?" said Ron, yawning as Harry came back to their room. "You got me really really scared."
"Yes... I think... now I just wanna sleep. It must be that potion, some other time... Ron, sorry ´bout Ginny..." he trailed off, falling asleep before Ron could answer him back.
OWLs
Chapter Four
Days at Grimmauld Place went by unnoticed. Nobody spoke about what had happened. Ginny tried to talk to Harry many times, but every time she tried to be alone with him someone would interrupt.
One morning, while Ron was heading towards the stairs, Moody apparated in front of him making him fall backwards. The umbrella stand fell too, rolling through the whole corridor, waking up Mrs. Black and all her family.
"Arthur!! Molly!! Urgent meeting!!! The whole Order is coming!!!" shouted Moody, not even paying attention to Ron.
"Ron, Harry...Upstairs!" Molly ordered, having to shout to be heard over all the noise the Blacks were making.
"Why?" asked Ron while Harry helped him get up. "We're old enough to be allowed in the meetings!!"
"I said up," Mrs. Weasley repeated.
"Mom!!" Ron protested at the same time Harry said, "Mrs. Weasley!!"
"UP...NOW!!!!"
Harry and Ron stomped up the stairs and into the girls' room, slamming the door behind them so hard that a piece of the wall plaster fell down. Ginny was drying her hair with her wand and Hermione had been reading a book, but the sudden slam of the door caused Hermione's book to fly out of her hands and into the air.
"You can knock next time," said Hermione picking up her book and then showing a big smile.
"What happened?" asked Ginny when she saw Harry and Ron's faces.
"Urgent meeting of the Order... Up...Now!!!" said Ron imitating his mother's voice. "We fought more times than them in the last six years, we realized things were going on when they didn't even had an idea, and they leave US outside!!!...Aggrrrhhhh!!!!!!!" Ron screamed so loud it made echo throughout the whole house.
Harry sat on the floor while Ron cursed everyone he could think of. Harry stayed quiet and stared at the floor. Maybe Ron had no right to be at the meeting, but he HAD to be there. Harry was the one they were looking for, he was the one who had to be dead or kill instead, and he was the one who was being possessed. He could not understand why he was still being left out.
"I don't care," Ron said when he finally ran out of things to curse. "I'm gonna hear something. Let's go Harry!"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm sitting already."
"C´mon, don't you wanna know what's so urgent?"
"Yes, but I'm tired of spying to get some information. If they don't want me to know, I won't know."
"Oh Harry!!! Let's go!!!"
"You go and then you tell me!"
Ron glanced in frustration from Harry to the girls. "Ginny? Hermione? Why are you smiling?" he asked when he saw Hermione´s ear to ear smile.
"Since you asked," said Hermione giggling, "I received my OWLs results. Exceeds Expectations in every subject, even in Astronomy... and to think I forgot to name two stars because all that happened with Professor McGonagall and Hagrid."
"How come?" Ron teased. "Those might had been very important stars..."
"How about you two?" asked Hermione, anxious to celebrate with someone.
"We didn't receive the letters," said Harry.
"That's how good we did, we didn't even get the letters!" said Ron.
"Yes you did! I left them on your beds in your room," said Ginny.
Harry and Ron went running and saw them lying just as Ginny had said. They gathered them up and headed back into the girls' room.
"No surprise," said Ron after opening his letter, "I failed Divinations and I only got Acceptable in Potions... Well, my wish to be an Auror ended." Ron seemed disheartened but not too much.
"I failed History of Magic," said Harry and no one said a word, "and also Divinations but..." – Harry read the letter over and over again – "Here it says they recommend me to be an Auror... I got Outstanding in Potions!" Harry was overwhelmed – it couldn't be true. He could not recall a moment when he had been as happy as now. At the bottom of the letter there were a few handwritten lines that made Harry laugh but also feel very proud of himself.
You can consider you will obtain a NEWT on Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Professor Tofty
"Really Harry? Congratulations!" said Ron.
"Congratulations!" said Hermione hugging him. "We are gonna share some classes!"
"Ok...er... let's go!!?" Ron begged, wanting to eavesdrop on the meeting still.
"No.... I'm staying!" said Harry as he sat on the floor once more.
"Oh c'mon Ron, I'll go with you!" said Hermione giving up.
Hermione and Ron left quietly. Harry was staring at the floor once more while Ginny looked at him from the bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked but Harry said nothing. "Harry, you there?"
"Huh? What? Sorry, didn't hear you. What did you say?" Harry was still staring at the floor. Ginny got up and sat next to him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Something's bothering you, I can tell. Aren't you happy?"
"Yeah I am, and nothing is wrong, really."
"Harry, you can talk to me."
Harry was dying to tell her, Dumbledore never said he couldn't, but he always felt the idea was implicit. Harry did nothing, he just stared at the floor for a while and then he tried to get up but she grabbed him by his arm making him look into her eyes.
"Harry, sit and tell me all you can tell. You know you can talk to me. I know I'm not my brother, or Hermione and much less Dumbledore, but you can trust me." Harry smiled at that and Ginny didn't understand why.
"If you were one of them I wouldn't even think whether to tell you or not."
"You'd tell me without hesitating," she said looking down glumly.
"Just the opposite," said Harry as he sat back down near her. "Ron exaggerates everything, Hermione, well, rules apply to everything and book always have the answers, and Dumbledore... he already knows."
"So this has something to do with what happened last year?" Ginny asked and Harry nodded. "Sirius?" Ginny had a very hard time mentioning him; Mrs. Weasley told them to avoid the topic, but Ginny thought it was unavoidable.
"Not directly but..."Harry stopped talking. A huge knot was growing in his throat. He took a deep breath to avoid crying, but a tear escaped.
"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry," said Ginny, touching his shoulder while he dried his eyes. "I didn't want to make you sad..."
"It's all right, don't worry, I have no time to be sad," he said smiling but she was still giving him a worried look. "Trust me, I'm fine."
"I know something is bothering you. If you can't tell me it's fine but there is something."
"Yes but...those are my problems. Better stay out of them – for your own sake."
"If you ever wanna talk, you know I'm here."
"Yes. Thanks."
"Harry?"
"What?"
"You know, Sirius would be proud." Neither said another word. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they both stayed like that for a while.
The door opened slowly and Ron and Hermione entered, closing the door before saying a word. "Harry, you have to hear this," said Ron. "Harry? Where is he?" he asked Hermione.
"Over here," said Harry. "What happened?"
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!!!!"
"What am I doing?" asked Harry.
"What is he doing?" asked Ginny at the same time.
"I don't care, move aside... now!" said Ron, coming to sitting between them.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Hermione and Ginny at the same time.
"Me?" asked an exasperated Ron pointing at himself, "Nothing!" He looked from Ginny to Harry, his face full of excitement now. "Well, shall we tell you?"
"All right," Harry said slowly, surprised by Ron's sudden mood change.
"Yesterday You-Know-Who took Azkaban and set free all the Deatheaters that had been arrested last year."
Hermione jumped in. "Dumbledore said SOMEONE informed Voldemort –"Ron jumped backwards when he heard the name and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Grow up Ron! Anyway, this morning the Azkaban Island was empty, nothing but the Order guard petrified," explained Hermione.
"Dumbledore is furious!" Ron added.
"He says someone in the Order is playing both sides and threatened that the one who's carrying it on will pay," said Hermione.
"If you ask me, it's Snape," said Ron. "Deep inside, he loves being a Deatheater and I'm sure that he is laughing at us with You-Know-Who right now."
"Don't be absurd!!" said Hermione. "It's not that way!"
"Hermione is right, baby, Dumbledore is no fool. He wouldn't let Snape go if he knew he is going to betray him. It has to be someone else." said Ginny.
"But who?" asked Harry.
"I don't know, but not Snape," said Hermione.
"Stop defending him!" said Ron angrily. "It is him, you'll see I'm right... What?" asked Ron when he saw the looks on Hermione and Ginny's faces.
"I don't know about you, but I don't wanna know if it is him or not. You know what that means and I would like to... rest, this year," said Hermione.
No one else spoke. Ron was thinking the same way as Hermione. It would be nice to have one school year without worries or death threats.
Harry felt guilty. If it weren't for him they all would have a common normal life. In the past six years all of them had been in mortal danger because of him. Mrs. Weasley calling them to dinner cut their silence. They didn't speak anymore on the topic after dinner or in the days that followed.
Just like Sirius, Harry spent most of his time feeding Buckbeak. He wasn't comfortable around people so he tried to be alone as much as possible. Ron and Hermione spent most of their afternoons looking for him, but they never could discover his hiding place. Little did they know he was usually locked up in a little room he had found one day while looking for a place to hide. There he would read Ginny's notebook over and over again. Thanks to that he had learned why Percy was there and Kreacher wasn't.
When Sirius died, Kreacher had seen his dreams come true. He had to go either with Bellatrix Lestrange or Narcissa Malfoy, considering the family tree. That could not be allowed, so instead another of his dreams came true, and now he was next to his family in the gloomy corridor.
Percy, Ginny wrote, apparated one night to talk to their parents. He said he had been carried away by power, that everyone knew his goal was to be promoted inside the Ministry and that Fudge gave him the right path to follow. He also claimed that in those days everyone was against Dumbledore and that he wasn't ready to accept that He Who Must Not Be Named was back. But he had learned his lessons and now wanted to help in any possible way, and like that he had joined the Order.
There was one particular day that Harry enjoyed reading again and again and he was pretty sure that Ginny had not realized what she had written.
July 31st
Happy birthday! Today there were only two murders but you already read that in the Prophet. Oh Harry!!! I'd love to be there with you! I'm sure that to spend your birthday with people that care that much about you must be... GREAT? (I'm joking!). Once more, Very Happy Birthday!!!.
Harry always read the same line: "I'd love to be there with you!" and the voice inside his head would answer "And I would had loved to have you there."
Without noticing, he had been in Grimmauld Place for a month and now the summer was over.
"Harry dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "I left all your stuff on your trunk. Now pack. You are all leaving tomorrow after breakfast."
"Any ideas on who the new Potions teacher might be?" asked Ron as he packed all his books.
"Don't know," answered Harry. "He isn't from the Order – if he were we would already know." Harry was packing his robes when he saw Ron placing his Prefect badge on his robes. He could lie to himself all he wanted but deep inside he knew he was still upset about not being a Prefect. But now, being able to be an Auror balanced everything.
Hermione and Ginny entered the room and immediately Ron sat next to Harry. Ron was looking anxiously at Ginny; she was looking at him very calmly.
"So??? What happened?" asked Ron seeing no one was talking.
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.
"Are you a Prefect or not?"
"No baby!" she said, amused.
"And you are happy?!"
"Of course! Who wants to be a Prefect???"
"That means I'm the last Prefect on the family..." Ron said with a smile.
Harry was happy too. At least this year he would have someone to spend his time with. Last year he spent most of it alone while Ron and Hermione were on their Prefects duties, this year he would have some company. He went to bed exited about returning to Hogwarts. Now with all the classes and homework he would be busy, and he wouldn't have to spent his time thinking about what happened, what was happening and what was going to happen.
Back to Hogwarts
Chapter Five
"Harry!!!" shouted Tonks excitedly when he entered the kitchen his last day at Grimmauld Place. "You're going to be an Auror!!!" When Harry looked at
her with a "How can you know that?" expression she immediately said
Hermione had told her.
"Er... yes... I hope I get there..." said Harry shyly, but that answer gave
the wrong impression. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who seemed to be absorbed in their own thoughts stayed in silence. Moody's magic eye fixed on Harry just like his good eye while the chair he was balancing in fell heavily on its
four legs. Lupin poured his coffee and Tonks gave him an angry yet
sympathetic look.
"Oh...I mean, if I'm smart enough, you know?" said Harry trying to fix the uncomfortable situation. Everybody took a deep breath while Ron and Ginny came in for breakfast. Hermione, behind "The Prophet" looked at everyone
cautiously.
Moody broke the uncomfortable silence that had been filling the kitchen.
"You have it Potter, you were born to become an Auror." (And to kill
Voldemort, thought Harry). "Your parents were some of the best of their
time."
Harry thanked him while Tonks said over and over again that if he needed
any help he could count with her. In that very moment the doorbell rang
"Those are the cars from the Ministry," Percy said while he went away to
open the door.
"Locomotor Trunk!" said Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry and their trunks floated some inches above the floor. They all tried not to make any noise but the Black family woke up when one of the trunks hit the hallway walls.
At the doorstep they said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and Lupin who looked like
if he had had one of his nights.
"TAKE CARE!!!" shouted Mrs. Weasley over the noise made by the Blacks, "And
please – DON'T DO ANYTHING!!!!...Just... just study... specially you
Harry!!!!"
All of them said yes but they knew that they weren't sincere.
They traveled to the station without problems. Harry and Ron went in one car with Moody, Percy and Mr. Weasley, while the girls were in another car with Tonks, Bill and Charlie. They entered onto Platform 9 ¾ and when the
train was about to leave Moody took Harry aside.
"Listen to me, I'm gonna say this now before you loose your liking for me. I'm not allowed to tell you, but you are going to need a lot of patience
and predisposition towards ANYTHING that's thrown at you if you want to save this year. Remember that EVERYTHING has a reason!! Now let's go before we miss the train." Moody shoved Harry towards one of the student cars and
then headed towards the teachers car.
Harry started looking around for an empty compartment where he could be
alone. He didn't want to see Malfoy. Last year when they were already
pointing at each other with their wands he couldn't imagine where the
situation would have ended if it weren't for McGonagall's arrival. He searched all through the train and ended up in the last compartment of the
last car.
He was just getting used to the peace of being alone when a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. "Harry! I looked all over the train for you. Can
I join or you rather be left alone?" said Ginny.
"No, come in. Ron and Hermione?"
"In the prefects' car. They said they were coming later in the afternoon."
Ginny entered and sat next to him.
They both made themselves comfortable, sitting with their legs stretched across the opposite seat. They talked for a long while and around midday the door opened again. A blond-haired girl appeared in the space between
the door and the wall.
"Luna!" said Ginny.
"Ginny, Harry, how are you?"
"Great how about you?" asked Ginny. "How were your holidays? Did you find
the...those creatures you and your dad were looking for?"
"No, we weren't lucky, but we did see their footprints," she said excitedly. "By the way, have you seen Neville around? I brought him some
plants he asked me for and I wanted to give them to him..." Luna didn't
wait long for an answer. "Well, I'll keep looking, see you later." Luna
waved goodbye and closed the compartment door.
Once she was safely out of earshot, Harry and Ginny started laughing at Luna's oddness. As always she was wearing one of her self-made necklaces,
this time, with calabash seeds.
Ginny took out a magazine and started reading and Harry drew near the window, his mind empty while he saw the trees go by. He started thinking about what Moody had told him, but the landscape, the constant green, the movement of the train and the warmth of the train had a soothing effect on
him. Harry leaned on the window and slowly fell asleep.
"Are you tired?" asked Ginny.
"Eh?" – said Harry drowsily when he realized she was talking to him.
"I asked if you were tired... you were sleeping against the window..."
"Oh, yes, I'm a little tired. I didn't sleep much last night."
"Come here, lean on..." said Ginny tapping her legs.
"No.... don't worry, I'm not gooo...ing to sleep" Harry's words were
interrupted by a huge yawn.
"C'mon, lean on. If you want I can wake you up when the lady with the food arrives." Ginny smiled in such a way that he couldn't say no. Seconds later he found himself sleeping very comfortably, lying with his head on her lap.
Harry wasn't sure how long he'd been sleeping when he heard someone calling his name. He opened his eyes and saw Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom sitting in front of them. They were talking with Ginny who kept trying to
wake him up.
"Harry do you want something to eat?"
"Yes..." he said with a yawn. "Buy me the usual." He reached into his pocket for some coins, and handed them to her without opening his eyes. "If you want, grab something too." And after saying this he fell asleep again.
When Harry woke up hours later, the compartment was very quiet, so he supposed they were alone. He felt Ginny playing with his hair, and for some
reason he didn't want to move, rather he kept pretending he was asleep. When she began to follow his scar outline with her fingers, Harry moved a little and opened wide his green eyes. Without saying a word she gave him
his glasses.
"Where are we?" he asked as he sat up.
"We should be there any moment," she answered.
Harry looked outside and saw it was already nighttime. "Did Ron and
Hermione come?"
"Don't you think you would had known if they had?" she said with a wry
smile.
"Yeah..." said Harry smiling. "Ron and his moods..."
"Hungry?" Ginny said, quickly changing the subject. "I bought you what you
asked for."
They both started eating and talking. Harry had never had such a pleasant
trip. Ginny told him all the details of Luna's expedition to Sweden and they both laughed at the thought of Luna and her dad with a lot of machines
looking for whatever non-existent creature they were looking for.
The door opened and Ron and Hermione entered. "Cake! I'm so hungry!!!" Ron said, taking some of the ones Ginny had bought before she could protest.
"Where's Neville?" he asked around a mouthful.
"I don't know," said Harry.
"He was here a while ago, but he didn't stay long. He didn't want to wake
up Harry," answered Ginny.
"You slept? You have no idea of how much I envy you!" Hermione sighed.
"Yes... until...what? An hour ago?" said Harry looking at Ginny.
"Yes, more or less."
"I'm so tired!" exclaimed Hermione, a yawn escaping from her, proving her
point. "I can't stop thinking of the bed waiting for me at Hogwarts".
"Tired?? Of sitting down and eating? What else do you do at the Prefects'
car?" said Harry and Ginny laughed.
"Well, we have tons to do..."
"EXCUSE ME!!!!!! You two were here all-alone all this time???" asked Ron in
one of his tones.
"No," said Ginny patiently, "Luna and Neville were here for about an hour."
"Ginny, sit there," Ron demanded, pointing at the opposite seat.
"No," Ginny said calmly.
Ron narrowed his eyes and turned towards his best friend. "Harry, sit
there."
Harry stood up only to have Ginny grab his arm and pull him back down. "No
Ron," Ginny said once again.
"Don't you run against me!"
Ginny gave an exasperated sigh. "We-are-friends!!! We talk, and you know
what? We sit next to each other!! Accept it!!"
"Ginevra!!!"
Harry and Hermione looked from one to the other, and luckily the train
stopped right at the moment when Ron's ears, Ginny's cheeks and the
Hogwarts Express were all in the same shade of red.
Hermione pulled Ron away to look for the second year students to guide them
to the carriages. Harry and Ginny were still looking for a carriage for
themselves when Ron and Hermione joined them again.
"Are they still there?" asked Ron who looked as if he had been lectured by
Hermione. "The Thestrals?"
"Yes," said Harry looking at the emaciated horses that moved the carriages.
Once inside, Hermione broke the silence.
"We were told some very interesting things today..." said Hermione.
"Like what?" asked Ginny.
"First, we have a new female teacher for Potions," said Hermione.
"Hope she is not like Umbridge!" said Ron as everyone else nodded in
agreement.
"They also told us we are going to have five hours of Defense Against the
Dark Arts every week."
"Last year we had 3!!" Ginny groaned. "At least we know the real Moody."
"Therefore we know how hard his lessons are going to be," said Ron.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "After all, he is the best Auror. Oh! We also have
a new subject."
"Whatever that is I'm not gonna take it. I'm fine with the subjects I
have," said Ron.
"It's obligatory... Do you ever hear when someone talks?" said Hermione in
annoyance.
"No, you're there for that," Ron smiled at her.
"Isn't it too much change from one year to another? I think Dumbledore is
up to something," said Ginny. "Can he be planning to attack Voldemort?"
Ron jumped on his seat when he heard the name. "WHAT?" – he said when Hermione shot him a look. "I just can't get used to hearing that name!!"
"I think," said Harry who had been listening carefully, "that our club from
last year club now involves the whole school."
"You're saying Dumbledore is actually preparing a wizards army to attack
Voldemort? No offence Harry but that sounds a little crazy... just a
little," said Ron.
"Harry is right," said Hermione. "But not to attack, I think he is
preparing us to defend ourselves."
The carriage stopped and they all headed to the Great Hall. Standing under the main door was Professor McGonagall, walking from side to side looking
for someone.
"Granger, Weasley, I've been looking for you two everywhere. All prefects must go to the room behind the Great Hall, where you waited to be sorted."
"Us?" asked Ron. "Aren't you looking for the NEW prefects?"
"No Mr. Weasley – all! You two," she said looking at Harry and Ginny, "go
to the Great Hall, and you two come with me! We have to start now if we
want to eat this century!!"
"Don't sit together!!!!" shouted Ron while Professor McGonagall dragged him
with her.
Harry and Ginny entered the Great Hall and immediately they noticed something was different there. In the roof, as always, they could see the
sky outside was clear and millions of stars were shining above them. Of course to see them you had to see through the hundreds of candles floating above their heads. That much was the same as ever, but something was most
definitely different.
"Isn't this place...bigger?"
"I was thinking the same thing," said Ginny while they sat on the
Gryffindor table. "Harry... isn't there way too much empty space in the
table? How many first years can they be?"
Harry noticed that there was no student missing and half a table was empty.
The same was happening in the other tables. "This place is definitively
bigger!!"
Neville Longbottom came and sat next to Ginny. Harry looked at him: he was
much taller and thinner, but as usual his thoughts were faster than his
mouth so they couldn't understand what he was talking about. But he was
clearly happy.
"Calm down," said Ginny patiently. "Take a deep breath and start all over
again.'
"Have you heard?" asked Neville, breathing after every word.
"No, what?" Harry and Ginny asked in unison.
"Malfoy isn't in Hogwarts anymore." Neville stopped once more to breath and
Harry and Ginny exchanged amazed looks.
"You are saying he won't be coming to school this year?" asked Harry while
a party exploded inside of him.
"After last year's events and with his father in Azkaban for a while after showing how loyal he was to You Know Who, he left. I heard at Ravenclaw´s table that Dumbledore forgot to send him the letter and now he is going to
Durmstrang."
"A year without Malfoy and Snape..." said Harry, thinking out loud.
"Without Snape?" Neville looked puzzled and about to collapse.
"Do you see him up at the teachers' table?" asked Ginny.
The three of them looked and saw a very slipshod lady sitting where
Professor Snape should be. Harry was sure he knew her, but he couldn't
remember from where.
"When is the feast starting? Some of us are hungry!!" said Neville and
Harry laughed.
"How was your summer? Because today we talked only about Luna's," Ginny
asked. "You are taller and thinner Neville!!" He blushed.
"I had a good summer. I've been very busy helping my grandmother. I worked
a lot," he answered with pride.
"What did you do?"
"Well, you know that my grandmother is a very special person. After what
happened at the Ministry she started acting suspicious of everyone and everything. She says there is some kind of... conspiracy, well, to get to you Harry, and that the Ministry is involved and so on... She also thinks St. Mungos isn't a safe place anymore and she wasn't happy about me running onto Bellatrix and the fact she is still alive. That's why we checked out my parents from St. Mungos and we took them home. I spent my summer helping
Grandma to look after my parents."
"Much to do?" asked Ginny, giving him a sympathetic look.
"They don't do much," said Neville looking down, "but someone has to be there just in case. When we were in the garden we had to be careful cause
they can get lost, you know. In the house we were always watching the stairs – they like to walk a lot. But it was great to spend time with them; my visits were always no longer than an hour and just being there helped a lot. Now my mom calls me by my name, she had never spoken to me before!!!" The joy in Neville's voice was nowhere near the joy he had shown when he
found out about Snape – it was far beyond.
"I'm happy for you Neville," said Harry, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"Finally!!! Thank you!!!" shouted Neville.
The Great Hall doors opened and McGonagall entered carrying a big roll of parchment and the Sorting Hat. Behind her entered the first years. Harry recognized them by the scared and amazed looks on their faces. There were a lot, more than what Harry was used to seeing, but that wasn't all. Behind the first years entered four double lines one for each house starting and
ending with the prefects.
Hermione and Ron came in front of a line of about 20 students of all different ages, all in Hogwarts uniforms, and all students that Harry had
never seen in his 5 years there. The same was happening in the other
tables.
After assuring every student had a seat, Hermione and Ron sat in front of Harry and Ginny. Ron was staring at them but neither realized this, they
were both paying attention to the new Sorting Hat song.
This old hat was created,
Many years ago.
To look inside of you,
And decide to which house you go.
You may not think I'm pretty,
That I'm shattered and unseamed.
You may think I'm aged,
But blessed with wisdom I had been.
I have seen many heads,
Many powerful minds,
Some of which you now fear,
Some of which you admire.
You Know Who wore me once,
And I saw what was in him,
Had no doubt when I decided,
He had to be a Slytherin.
Years later came a boy,
That had survived the Dark Lord.
I hesitated, then decided
He should be a Gryffindor.
Don't be afraid of my power,
This is all that I can do.
I just will see what is in there,
The rest is up to you.
The hat inclined forwards, saluting his audience and all Hogwarts exploded in applause.
"I told you not to sit together," Ron hissed through clenched teeth.
Harry looked aside and Ginny looked straight at her brother and smiled. "Why? Does it bother you?"
"Ginevra..." he said in a warning tone.
"Don't you two start right now!!!" interrupted Hermione and they both shut up.
In the background you could hear the Sorting and every now and then they clapped when a new student was sorted into Gryffindor.
"Where did all those came from?" asked Harry talking about the students.
"Transferred from other institutes," answered Hermione.
"That's weird. New students are always first years," said Ginny, joining the conversation.
"We had to sort them apart, before the feast."
"That's what took you so long!" said Harry. "First years are also a lot."
"McGonagall told us that a lot of new students joined the school and they spent the whole summer putting spells all over the castle so that we could all fit in," said Hermione.
The last student was sorted and Professor McGonagall took away the hat and stool and then took her place on the right of Dumbledore. He stood up and the Great Hall submerged in silence.
"New students, new Professors, new year!! You will be introduced later. And now, what were all waiting for... The feast!!!" It was perhaps the shortest welcome speech ever, but it had been preceded by the longest Sorting. The moment his speech ended the four tables were filled with the most delicious food. The smell spread all over the Great Hall, and minutes later all you could hear were hundreds of students talking and laughing.