Harry Potter and the Sealed Gateway
Chapter 9: The Second Seer
"But how do they just leave?" Ron asked incredulously.
"I dunno...but they left. Haven't you noticed they were gone?" Hermione replied.
"Have they ever said they wanted to leave before?" asked Borlig.
"Nick seemed to really regret becoming a ghost last spring," said Harry, recalling the conversation he had with the Gryffindor ghost, and noticing a wad of paper in Ron's hand he added, "What's that, Ron?"
"Oh! Right..." said Ron, unfolding the wad of paper, "Read this..."
Ogden's Old-fashioned Firewhiskey
18 sickles a bottle. Brewed from the recipe vault of the Tiberius ogden family.
See other Ogden's Old-fashioned Products: Ogden's Old-fashioned Sherbet Lemon.
Hermione's eyes scanned the paper, her eyes widening. "Do you mean to say...that our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher...is...some sort of alcohol- brewer...who...plays with FURNITURE?"
"Pretty much," said Ron, "It's like a dream come true..."
Harry laughed, but Hermione silenced him with a withering look. "Ron, this isn't funny....Defense Against the Dark Arts is really important stuff...what was Dumbledore thinking?"
"He does train Aurors, though..." said Harry, "and you've got to be really good to do that..."
Hermione grunted, "It's not as if the Ministry has a perfect record on employee decisions..."
It was a good point. Harry noticed that Borlig was digging in his trunk madly.
"What are you doing, Borlig?"
"Ah! here it is...I knew g-I'd heard his name before...here Hermione..."
Hermione scanned the article as Harry and Ron read it over her shoulder. It was an article about two wizards, Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden, resigning in protest of the Ministry's appointment of Delores Umbridge as "The Hogwarts High Inquisitor."
"Well, we know he's on our side then..." observed Ron.
"Well, so is Mundungus Fletcher...and Dedalus Diggle..." said Hermione tersely.
"Well," said Harry, still unsure about Professor Ogden, "he can't be much worse than Umbridge..."
On the evening of August 31st, Nymphadora Tonks (who preferred to be called by her surname only) came to pick up Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Borlig had declined their invitation to go with them.
"Hey Tonks!" they cried as she walked into the Great Hall.
"Wotcher, you three..." she looked exhausted, "GET IN HERE, NOW!" All three of them jumped when she yelled. In hobbled Kreacher, the disgusting, ancient house-elf who used to belong to Harry's godfather, Sirius Black.
"What's he doing here?" asked Harry angrily. Kreacher had told Harry that Sirius was in the Ministry of Magic, a lie which eventually resulted in Sirius's death.
"He's tried escaping twelve times already this summer. Dumbledore says I'm the only one who can take him, being in the family, that can prevent him from escaping." Harry knew that the reason Kreacher couldn't be allowed to escape is that he knew many secrets of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry's blood boiled. It was Kreacher's fault that Sirius was dead, it was Kreacher's fault that he didn't have a godfather anymore.
"Kreacher's new mistress has taken away from his home. Kreacher knows that she'll rot in prison, the traitorous wench..." Kreacher muttered to himself quite audibly, clearly under the impression that no one else could hear him. Ron snorted.
"How're we getting to London, then, Tonks?" asked Hermione nervously, noticing that Harry looked very much like lit fuse.
Tonks looked embarrassed, but Harry knew it wasn't her fault she had to take Kreacher. Sirius and Tonks had been cousins, it was probably hard on her too. But she didn't have to watch him die...she wasn't his godson...came a voice from inside Harry's head. He quickly shook the voice off, as Tonks said, "We're traveling by coach. And she opened the door and pointed outside to a green stagecoach pulled by some kind of gray animal...
"BUCKBEAK!" yelled Ron.
"Yes, Ron," said Tonks, "Dumbledore has removed the warrant from him...he's going to continue to live at Grimmauld Place. He's an incredibly useful watch—thing."
Hagrid had heard Ron yell "Buckbeak" and had run across the Great Hall to see him.
"Oh, Bucky!" Hagrid cried, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I though' I'd never see yer again!" He ran over the Hippogriff, bowed, and proceeded to give it a great hug. They all spent several minutes chatting while Hagrid played fetch with Buckbeak and Kreacher busied himself by dusting the leftover furniture from "Chairs" at Tonks's orders. Hermione looked a bit affronted by Kreacher's labor, but didn't say anything for Harry's sake.
When it was time to go, Hagrid said goodbye to Buckbeak, and they all climbed into the green stagecoach. It was quite cozy inside, with a tea table and a chandelier. Tonks tapped her wand against the side of the stagecoach, muttered an incantation, and said, "Load-Lightening Charm." Hermione asked how to do it, and Tonks, Hermione, Harry, and Ron practiced it the entire way to London. Ron giggled as they played catch with the chandelier as though it were a balloon. Tonks also assured them that Tiberius Ogden was an excellent teacher.
"You'll learn loads," she said, tossing the chandelier back to Ron. Hermione remained unconvinced.
When they got to London, Tonks forced Kreacher into a large blue handbag, before transforming herself into an eldery old witch dressed completely in blue, with a large blue bonnet. It was nearly 1 o'clock in the morning when they landed in an old street, so Tonks transfigured Buckbeak into a regular horse, and they trotted off to the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom the barkeeper greeted them and showed them their rooms. Everyone said their goodbyes, before Tonks hopped back into the Carriage and they sped off to 12 Grimmauld Place, the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
They awoke the next morning at 9: 00, got dressed, had breakfast, and were picked up by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley at 10:15 to be taken to the Kings Cross.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were accompanied by their youngest, Ginny, and a car had been provided by the ministry for their transportation to Kings Cross. The Ministry must have been a lot friendlier to Mr. Weasley ever since Fudge left, because this year, they rode to the train station in a large, black sports-utility vehicle, complete with a bathroom and a kitchenette. Mr. Weasley looked very pleased indeed. Ron, like Harry, seemed to notice it as well.
"Dad, what're you so pleased about?"
"Oh, it's nothing, really," he said with such a wide grin that Harry was quite sure that he hadn't even convinced himself. They arrived at Kings Cross at 10:40, put their things onto carts, and set off toward the barrier in between platforms 9 and 10. Hedwig attracted much attention as she squawked when Hermione got out of the car.
"Oh! I've left Crookshanks at..."
"Hermione, there you are!" said a middle-aged woman dressed in medical clothes. She was clutching a great orange cat, with some difficulty.
"Mum! Oh, thank you!" cried Hermione, grabbing Crookshanks and giving her mother a hug.
"You've met Harry, and Ron, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and their daughter Ginny," said Hermioned, and each of them bowed in turn.
"Yes. We met a few years back shopping for Hermione's school things," said Mrs. Granger. Mrs. Granger, harry noticed didn't have bushy hair, like her daughter did. She had a short, straight haircut, and rather large front teeth. Mrs. Granger said hello to everyone, and then explained that she had left Mr. Granger with fifteen patients, and needed to get back to work.
"Well, we'd better be going then," said Mrs. Weasley, "we don't want to be late, now."
So they walked through the barrier: Ginny and Hermione first, followed by Harry and Ron, and finally Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They crossed into platform 9 ¾ and found the Hogwarts Express, a red engine, blowing steam and whistling. Harry saw, a few feet to his left, Draco Malfoy and his mother, Narcissa, talking to each other. She was blond, and rather tall, with a morose demeanor. Draco looked malevolently and Harry out of the corners of his eyes, and Mrs. Malfoy must have noticed, because she turned around, and to Harry's great surprise, approached him. Harry became quite nervous and grabbed Ron's arm. Ron turned around to see Mrs. Malfoy approaching them and his facial expression changed to puzzlement, as Draco tried to pull his mother back. Mrs. Malfoy's eyes had begun to water, and she looked quite disheveled.
"You...you...took my husband away from us! You and your bloody friends...we're without a source of income, with a provider...YOU RIPPED OUR FAMILY APART...BUT YOU'LL-YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" By now, nearly everyone in the platform turned to face the raging woman. Harry and Ron were horrified, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ushered Harry and Ron away.
"YOU'LL PAY..."
Hermione joined them, having been talking to several other prefects. "We're supposed to meet on the first coach for instructions from the Head Boy and Girl." And as Mrs. Malfoy went out of earshot, "What on earth was that about?"
"No idea," said Harry.
"She's off her rocker, all right," added Ron. "Hey, you three," said a familiar voice from behind them. They turned around to face Lee Jordan, the former Quidditch commentator and long-time friend of Fred and George Weasley. He was dressed in what was presumably his electric purple uniform for "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."
"I've got to work in an hour," he added as they noticed his uniform, "had to drop Marcus off for his first day of school." A small, scared looking wizard stepped around from behind Lee and smiled feebly.
"Hello, Marcus," said Ron, "I'm Ron and these are my friends Harry and Hermione."
"Ron is Fred and George's little brother," added Lee.
"You'll do fine," said Hermione, "I'll be sure of that." Marcus seemed more confident at Hermione's words of encouragement.
"Blimey, you all had better get onto the train! It's nearly eleven!" cried Lee, "Marcus, go with Hermione to your cabin. Good luck, little bro!"
Hermione, Harry, and Ron led Marcus to a cabin with several other nervous- looking first years in it, and wished him goodbye and good luck.
"He'll be in Gryffindor, won't he?" asked Harry.
"Didn't seem very brave though, did he?" said Ron.
"Oh, honestly Ron, we were all just as nervous as he is," snapped Hermione.
They entered the first coach to find the prefects already there. At once, Harry felt very grateful that Hermione and Ron had left this place to be with him the last year. The room was a violent shade of purple, with silver and gold linings, and thirty-two of the most comfortable-looking chairs Harry had ever seen. Eight were red, adorned with lions, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to sit down next to Ginny, who was also apparently a prefect.
"Ron! Why didn't you tell us?" asked Hermione, giving Ginny a hug.
"Forgot," muttered Ron sheepishly.
Colin Creevey was the other fifth-year prefect. There were also three Gryffindor seventh years seated in the red chairs, Katie Bell being one of them. In front of the red chairs were eight blue ones, adorned with an eagle. Harry recognized several prefects from the lot as former D.A. (the illegal defense organization they created last year): Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Padma Patil. The only empty blue chair was the large throne on the inner aisle, at the front row. Across from it was a very large yellow chair adorned with a badger, one of eight. Harry also recognized D.A. members (Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbot) from the group. Behind the Hufflepuffs' yellow chairs were eight green ones, all filled with nasty looking Slytherins, including Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy (who was looking at Harry with utmost detestation).
"He won't say anything today," said Hermione, glaring at the Slytherins, "especially after his mother's outburst."
"And he hasn't got Crabbe and Goyle with him, the coward," sneered Ron, "I wonder if they got lost, forgot to come on the train without him."
Harry laughed. "Who are those chairs for?"
"The Head Boy and Girl, they're making sure everyone gets onto the train," said Hermione, knowingly.
"Who are—" began Harry, but his question was answered for his as the Head Boy and Girl entered the cabin. The Head Boy strutted in very pompously, saying, "Badges on at all times, Prefects" quite haughtily.
"Zacharias Smith," muttered Harry. Although Zacharias was in the D.A. last year, Harry had always thought he was very arrogant and didn't care for him too much. Ron scowled. The Head Girl turned around and Harry recognized her as Cho Chang, his romantic interest from the year before. She noticed Harry and blushed.
"Firstly," said Zacharias Smith. "I have performed a Protean Charm on your Prefects' badges." He paused, seemingly to allow people to gasp in astonishment. When no one said anything, he continued, "They will glow when it is your turn to patrol the cabins. Please prevent misconduct of any kind, and inform them when we are within ten minutes of Hogwarts. Cho."
Cho pulled her eyes off Harry, and began, "Secondly, fifth year Prefects are to escort the first years up to the common rooms after the feast."
Zacharias Smith continued, this time in a rather pathetic attempt at looking and sounding so grave that people would begin to shake. "Thirdly," he said, and looked around over-dramatically (Harry was strongly reminded of Professor Trelawney), "Professor Dumbledore has opted to have three prefects for the sixth and seventh years. This is because he feels that there is need for more safety this year." He was quite obviously waiting for someone to ask what the nature of the threat was. Still, no one said anything, and he continued, affronted. "I don't what the threat is, but he is going to issue a most severe warning this evening in the Great Hall." This time, several prefects looked around at each other and whispered nervously. Zacharias Smith looked extremely pleased, but then returned to his overly grave voice. "Calm down, everyone," he warned, although the whispering had already subsided. "Cho."
"Fourthly, the password to the Prefects' bathroom is 'Fruity Bats.' The password to the Prefects' lounge is 'Galloping Gargoyle.'" Harry noticed that Cho wasn't very excited at all about her new duties as Head Girl. She looked like someone to be pitied, someone who didn't want to be there at all.
"Fifthly," said Zacharias Smith, "Prefects are reminded that they may only dock points from their own houses. The Head Boy and Head Girl, on the other hand, may dock points from any house. Cho. Cho."
Cho pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Sixthly, and perhaps most importantly," said Cho, "Hogwarts is going to be hosting guests this year. It is Professor Dumbledore's wish that the guests be treated with respect, and that if a Prefect sees disrespect for the guests, to notify a Professor immediately." Several people nodded at this.
Ron leaned into Harry, "They might change their tone when they find out who the guests are..." he whispered very softly.
"Ehem," said Zacharias Smith, "That concludes your instruction. Please spend fifteen minutes patrolling the train when your badge glows." And with that he sat down in the Yellow Throne and Cho sat down in the Blue Throne.
The first people to leave for patrol were Zacharias, Ginny, and Draco. Ginny said she would be back to talk to them after patrol duty, but she would likely talk to Dean for a while first. Ron scowled. After ten minutes of broken discussion, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan approached Harry and Ron, asking if they wanted to play Gobstones. Harry said that he had forgotten his Gobstones.
"Actually, I did too," said Justin, airily. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Well, I do know this one game," Ron began, "called Chairs." Both Hermione and Harry looked sharply at him. "But you need a taller ceiling, so..."
Hannah Abbot, who had blonde pigtails, turned around to face them, saying, "There's this charm...it's called the Roof-Raising Charm...it's for making things fit magically into a small space. It's how tents and things work...but I don't know the incantation..." Harry remembered seeing seemingly small tents that were really luxury houses on the inside at the Quidditch World Cup in his fourth year. He also thought of the magical cars that Mr. Weasley had borrowed from the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione pointed her wand at the ceiling. "Expandum interium." The roof rose to the size of a circus-tent, and every prefect turned to look at them. Harry very much doubted that Hermione would have approved of their playing Chairs if she hadn't been able to prove that she could do the Roof- Raising Charm.
"Wow..." said Hannah.
"So here's what you do..." said Ron, and as the other Prefects, listened, he explained how the game would work. Cho Chang thought it was an excellent idea, and she smiled for the first time and began doubling all the chairs. Hermione was very impressed by the doubling, and she quickly picked it up and began doubling the chairs as well. Soon, except for a patch of space in the center, the whole coach was covered with Chairs. One prefect from each house would stack a chair, and the house that caused it to crumble would be out, leaving the others to decide the winner. Then it would start over again. When Padma Patil sent the first tower of Chairs crashing to the floor, it caused such a ruckus that Zacharias Smith rushed into the cabin, wand out and ready to attack any evildoers that may have been there. He was about to begin reprimanding everyone, but seeing that the Head Girl was a part of the game, he thought better of it.
"Dumbledore invented the game," whispered Hermione. After that, Zacharias Smith quickly proved to be a very excellent Chairs player indeed. Ginny re- entered the cabin just as Harry was called from it, leaving Ron and Hermione to update her on the events of the summer.
Harry set out down the train, peeping in windows and feeling rather stupid, when he heard yelling. "Give it back!" The voice was a fellow Gryffindor fifth year, Neville Longbottom. His voice was joined by the protests of two others: Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. "Come off it, Crabbe...give it up!"
Harry rushed into the cabin to put an end to the problem (and hopefully have an excuse to curse Crabbe), but was shocked by what he found that Crabbe had. Goyle was laughing as Crabbe held up a squirming...Harry didn't recognize what it was...over his head. When Goyle took his wand out to poke it, Neville shrieked. "DON'T! DON'T YOU SEE WHAT THAT IS? IT'S A MIMBULUS—ack." Goyle had poked it, as Dean, Seamus, and Neville covered their faces with their robes, and Harry leapt from the cabin. Goyle and Crabbe fled the cabin screaming and covered in Stinksap, as Seamus magically cleaned it up from the cabin.
"Hello, Harry!" said Seamus and Dean.
"How do you like my mimbulus mimbletonia?" asked Neville, quite proudly.
"It's...er...changed..."
"Yep!" said Neville excitedly, for indeed, the mimbulus mimbletonia had now grown large tentacles that sprung from its body, and the tentacles were covered with stinksap pores.
"Well...nice seeing you guys...got to get back to the Prefects' cabin." They wished him goodbye and he stepped out into the hall to hear Pansy Parkinson's shrieks of laughter from the next cabin. Sensing that she was up to no good, Harry walked down the aisle to get to it, and was met by Hermione, coming from the other way.
"Your patrol's over, Harry," she said, "but let's check out what that cow is up to..."
It seems that Pansy had enchanted a girl's books to fly around the room and try to escape from her trunk. The girl looked up, looking slightly exasperated but not upset, and Harry recognized those permanently-surprised eyes as Luna Lovegood's. Harry very badly wanted to hit Pansy, but Hermione muttered the counter-curse and told her to get out or else she would go straight to Professor McGonagall. Pansy made a face (Harry supposed in an attempt to imitate Hermione), but it just made her look more stupid. As she was leaving, Harry made a book hit her in the back of the head. She scowled at them and stormed off.
"Are you all right, Luna?" asked Harry sympathetically.
"Yes. It's fine. None of my books escaped...but where is...where's Emily?"
Hermione gave Harry a confused look.
"Erm...who's Emily?"
"My pet."
Harry swallowed. Any pet of Luna's was likely to be not a pet at all.
"What...sort of pet is it, Luna?"
"It's a..."
But just then, a small animal appeared midair and flew at Harry's face. Harry ducked just in time, and the animal ran right into the door. Harry flinched, but the animal turned around and jumped a rather astonishing height, for its size (about as big as a shoe), all the way into the overhead compartments.
"What is that thing?" asked Hermione curiously. It was a good question. It had the body of a monkey, with a tail, but the head of a Jack Russell terrier, and on it's forehead was a small, forked horn.
"She," said Luna, "is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"I thought you told me that those were the size of trees..." said Hermione suspiciously.
"Emily is just a baby."
The cabin door opened, and Ron entered. "You two have been gone ages..." he began, but he stopped, and looked curiously at Emily the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.
"Erm...hello, Luna," said Ron, looking at Hermione for an explanation, but he got none.
"Eh...Luna," began Hermione, "where did you get that."
But Luna didn't answer. She was gazing at the door behind them, and not blinking at all.
"From within the Unsealed Gateway," she said, in a voice that was not hers at all. The voice was very deep, and quite strong. Ron, Hermione, and Harry stared. Ron started to back toward the door, reaching for his wand, but Hermione kicked him hard.
"From within the Unsealed Gateway, there will come the Prince of Two Bloods...to take back what was taken from him...he must have the Great Survivor...The Prince of Two Bloods will come in the Year the Silver Depart to reclaim what was stolen from him...he must have the Great Survivor..."
Luna stirred. "What was I saying?" she said dottily.
"Good-bye," said Hermione, her eyes wide open and not moving from Luna, "We have to return to the Prefects' Cabin right now. See you later."
The stepped out of the cabin and walked down the aisle a bit. Hermione pulled them in and hissed, "Harry...was that a propechy?"
Harry nodded. It was similar to the experience he had in his third year, when his Divination teacher had prophesized the return of Lord Voldemort.
"Well?" said Hermione anxiously, "What do you make of it?"
"I reckon...that... 'The Prince of Two Bloods' means he's a really important half-blood," said Harry.
"Harry, do you think it means...Voldemort?" she said this very quietly, but Ron still let out a high squeak. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Yeah...that's what I reckon." Harry's eyes suddenly flashed back to the prophecy he had heard last spring, in Dumbledore's office. It had said either he must kill Voldemort or vice versa, in the end. He swallowed hard. What if the thing that was stolen from him was his invincibility? Did it mean Voldemort was coming to get him?
"But, at any rate, we won't have to worry about it until all of Hogwarts' silver gets stolen."
"Oh, honestly, Ron...weren't you listening? It said, 'the silver depart.' No 's.' The silver isn't a thing...it's a group."
"But...there haven't been any silver people at Hogwarts...while we've been here." Ron was quite puzzled.
"Yes, there have been," said Harry, "and they've already left."
Understanding dawned on Hermione's face. "The Ghosts."
Chapter 9: The Second Seer
"But how do they just leave?" Ron asked incredulously.
"I dunno...but they left. Haven't you noticed they were gone?" Hermione replied.
"Have they ever said they wanted to leave before?" asked Borlig.
"Nick seemed to really regret becoming a ghost last spring," said Harry, recalling the conversation he had with the Gryffindor ghost, and noticing a wad of paper in Ron's hand he added, "What's that, Ron?"
"Oh! Right..." said Ron, unfolding the wad of paper, "Read this..."
Ogden's Old-fashioned Firewhiskey
18 sickles a bottle. Brewed from the recipe vault of the Tiberius ogden family.
See other Ogden's Old-fashioned Products: Ogden's Old-fashioned Sherbet Lemon.
Hermione's eyes scanned the paper, her eyes widening. "Do you mean to say...that our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher...is...some sort of alcohol- brewer...who...plays with FURNITURE?"
"Pretty much," said Ron, "It's like a dream come true..."
Harry laughed, but Hermione silenced him with a withering look. "Ron, this isn't funny....Defense Against the Dark Arts is really important stuff...what was Dumbledore thinking?"
"He does train Aurors, though..." said Harry, "and you've got to be really good to do that..."
Hermione grunted, "It's not as if the Ministry has a perfect record on employee decisions..."
It was a good point. Harry noticed that Borlig was digging in his trunk madly.
"What are you doing, Borlig?"
"Ah! here it is...I knew g-I'd heard his name before...here Hermione..."
Hermione scanned the article as Harry and Ron read it over her shoulder. It was an article about two wizards, Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden, resigning in protest of the Ministry's appointment of Delores Umbridge as "The Hogwarts High Inquisitor."
"Well, we know he's on our side then..." observed Ron.
"Well, so is Mundungus Fletcher...and Dedalus Diggle..." said Hermione tersely.
"Well," said Harry, still unsure about Professor Ogden, "he can't be much worse than Umbridge..."
On the evening of August 31st, Nymphadora Tonks (who preferred to be called by her surname only) came to pick up Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Borlig had declined their invitation to go with them.
"Hey Tonks!" they cried as she walked into the Great Hall.
"Wotcher, you three..." she looked exhausted, "GET IN HERE, NOW!" All three of them jumped when she yelled. In hobbled Kreacher, the disgusting, ancient house-elf who used to belong to Harry's godfather, Sirius Black.
"What's he doing here?" asked Harry angrily. Kreacher had told Harry that Sirius was in the Ministry of Magic, a lie which eventually resulted in Sirius's death.
"He's tried escaping twelve times already this summer. Dumbledore says I'm the only one who can take him, being in the family, that can prevent him from escaping." Harry knew that the reason Kreacher couldn't be allowed to escape is that he knew many secrets of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry's blood boiled. It was Kreacher's fault that Sirius was dead, it was Kreacher's fault that he didn't have a godfather anymore.
"Kreacher's new mistress has taken away from his home. Kreacher knows that she'll rot in prison, the traitorous wench..." Kreacher muttered to himself quite audibly, clearly under the impression that no one else could hear him. Ron snorted.
"How're we getting to London, then, Tonks?" asked Hermione nervously, noticing that Harry looked very much like lit fuse.
Tonks looked embarrassed, but Harry knew it wasn't her fault she had to take Kreacher. Sirius and Tonks had been cousins, it was probably hard on her too. But she didn't have to watch him die...she wasn't his godson...came a voice from inside Harry's head. He quickly shook the voice off, as Tonks said, "We're traveling by coach. And she opened the door and pointed outside to a green stagecoach pulled by some kind of gray animal...
"BUCKBEAK!" yelled Ron.
"Yes, Ron," said Tonks, "Dumbledore has removed the warrant from him...he's going to continue to live at Grimmauld Place. He's an incredibly useful watch—thing."
Hagrid had heard Ron yell "Buckbeak" and had run across the Great Hall to see him.
"Oh, Bucky!" Hagrid cried, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I though' I'd never see yer again!" He ran over the Hippogriff, bowed, and proceeded to give it a great hug. They all spent several minutes chatting while Hagrid played fetch with Buckbeak and Kreacher busied himself by dusting the leftover furniture from "Chairs" at Tonks's orders. Hermione looked a bit affronted by Kreacher's labor, but didn't say anything for Harry's sake.
When it was time to go, Hagrid said goodbye to Buckbeak, and they all climbed into the green stagecoach. It was quite cozy inside, with a tea table and a chandelier. Tonks tapped her wand against the side of the stagecoach, muttered an incantation, and said, "Load-Lightening Charm." Hermione asked how to do it, and Tonks, Hermione, Harry, and Ron practiced it the entire way to London. Ron giggled as they played catch with the chandelier as though it were a balloon. Tonks also assured them that Tiberius Ogden was an excellent teacher.
"You'll learn loads," she said, tossing the chandelier back to Ron. Hermione remained unconvinced.
When they got to London, Tonks forced Kreacher into a large blue handbag, before transforming herself into an eldery old witch dressed completely in blue, with a large blue bonnet. It was nearly 1 o'clock in the morning when they landed in an old street, so Tonks transfigured Buckbeak into a regular horse, and they trotted off to the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom the barkeeper greeted them and showed them their rooms. Everyone said their goodbyes, before Tonks hopped back into the Carriage and they sped off to 12 Grimmauld Place, the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
They awoke the next morning at 9: 00, got dressed, had breakfast, and were picked up by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley at 10:15 to be taken to the Kings Cross.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were accompanied by their youngest, Ginny, and a car had been provided by the ministry for their transportation to Kings Cross. The Ministry must have been a lot friendlier to Mr. Weasley ever since Fudge left, because this year, they rode to the train station in a large, black sports-utility vehicle, complete with a bathroom and a kitchenette. Mr. Weasley looked very pleased indeed. Ron, like Harry, seemed to notice it as well.
"Dad, what're you so pleased about?"
"Oh, it's nothing, really," he said with such a wide grin that Harry was quite sure that he hadn't even convinced himself. They arrived at Kings Cross at 10:40, put their things onto carts, and set off toward the barrier in between platforms 9 and 10. Hedwig attracted much attention as she squawked when Hermione got out of the car.
"Oh! I've left Crookshanks at..."
"Hermione, there you are!" said a middle-aged woman dressed in medical clothes. She was clutching a great orange cat, with some difficulty.
"Mum! Oh, thank you!" cried Hermione, grabbing Crookshanks and giving her mother a hug.
"You've met Harry, and Ron, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and their daughter Ginny," said Hermioned, and each of them bowed in turn.
"Yes. We met a few years back shopping for Hermione's school things," said Mrs. Granger. Mrs. Granger, harry noticed didn't have bushy hair, like her daughter did. She had a short, straight haircut, and rather large front teeth. Mrs. Granger said hello to everyone, and then explained that she had left Mr. Granger with fifteen patients, and needed to get back to work.
"Well, we'd better be going then," said Mrs. Weasley, "we don't want to be late, now."
So they walked through the barrier: Ginny and Hermione first, followed by Harry and Ron, and finally Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They crossed into platform 9 ¾ and found the Hogwarts Express, a red engine, blowing steam and whistling. Harry saw, a few feet to his left, Draco Malfoy and his mother, Narcissa, talking to each other. She was blond, and rather tall, with a morose demeanor. Draco looked malevolently and Harry out of the corners of his eyes, and Mrs. Malfoy must have noticed, because she turned around, and to Harry's great surprise, approached him. Harry became quite nervous and grabbed Ron's arm. Ron turned around to see Mrs. Malfoy approaching them and his facial expression changed to puzzlement, as Draco tried to pull his mother back. Mrs. Malfoy's eyes had begun to water, and she looked quite disheveled.
"You...you...took my husband away from us! You and your bloody friends...we're without a source of income, with a provider...YOU RIPPED OUR FAMILY APART...BUT YOU'LL-YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" By now, nearly everyone in the platform turned to face the raging woman. Harry and Ron were horrified, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ushered Harry and Ron away.
"YOU'LL PAY..."
Hermione joined them, having been talking to several other prefects. "We're supposed to meet on the first coach for instructions from the Head Boy and Girl." And as Mrs. Malfoy went out of earshot, "What on earth was that about?"
"No idea," said Harry.
"She's off her rocker, all right," added Ron. "Hey, you three," said a familiar voice from behind them. They turned around to face Lee Jordan, the former Quidditch commentator and long-time friend of Fred and George Weasley. He was dressed in what was presumably his electric purple uniform for "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."
"I've got to work in an hour," he added as they noticed his uniform, "had to drop Marcus off for his first day of school." A small, scared looking wizard stepped around from behind Lee and smiled feebly.
"Hello, Marcus," said Ron, "I'm Ron and these are my friends Harry and Hermione."
"Ron is Fred and George's little brother," added Lee.
"You'll do fine," said Hermione, "I'll be sure of that." Marcus seemed more confident at Hermione's words of encouragement.
"Blimey, you all had better get onto the train! It's nearly eleven!" cried Lee, "Marcus, go with Hermione to your cabin. Good luck, little bro!"
Hermione, Harry, and Ron led Marcus to a cabin with several other nervous- looking first years in it, and wished him goodbye and good luck.
"He'll be in Gryffindor, won't he?" asked Harry.
"Didn't seem very brave though, did he?" said Ron.
"Oh, honestly Ron, we were all just as nervous as he is," snapped Hermione.
They entered the first coach to find the prefects already there. At once, Harry felt very grateful that Hermione and Ron had left this place to be with him the last year. The room was a violent shade of purple, with silver and gold linings, and thirty-two of the most comfortable-looking chairs Harry had ever seen. Eight were red, adorned with lions, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to sit down next to Ginny, who was also apparently a prefect.
"Ron! Why didn't you tell us?" asked Hermione, giving Ginny a hug.
"Forgot," muttered Ron sheepishly.
Colin Creevey was the other fifth-year prefect. There were also three Gryffindor seventh years seated in the red chairs, Katie Bell being one of them. In front of the red chairs were eight blue ones, adorned with an eagle. Harry recognized several prefects from the lot as former D.A. (the illegal defense organization they created last year): Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Padma Patil. The only empty blue chair was the large throne on the inner aisle, at the front row. Across from it was a very large yellow chair adorned with a badger, one of eight. Harry also recognized D.A. members (Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbot) from the group. Behind the Hufflepuffs' yellow chairs were eight green ones, all filled with nasty looking Slytherins, including Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy (who was looking at Harry with utmost detestation).
"He won't say anything today," said Hermione, glaring at the Slytherins, "especially after his mother's outburst."
"And he hasn't got Crabbe and Goyle with him, the coward," sneered Ron, "I wonder if they got lost, forgot to come on the train without him."
Harry laughed. "Who are those chairs for?"
"The Head Boy and Girl, they're making sure everyone gets onto the train," said Hermione, knowingly.
"Who are—" began Harry, but his question was answered for his as the Head Boy and Girl entered the cabin. The Head Boy strutted in very pompously, saying, "Badges on at all times, Prefects" quite haughtily.
"Zacharias Smith," muttered Harry. Although Zacharias was in the D.A. last year, Harry had always thought he was very arrogant and didn't care for him too much. Ron scowled. The Head Girl turned around and Harry recognized her as Cho Chang, his romantic interest from the year before. She noticed Harry and blushed.
"Firstly," said Zacharias Smith. "I have performed a Protean Charm on your Prefects' badges." He paused, seemingly to allow people to gasp in astonishment. When no one said anything, he continued, "They will glow when it is your turn to patrol the cabins. Please prevent misconduct of any kind, and inform them when we are within ten minutes of Hogwarts. Cho."
Cho pulled her eyes off Harry, and began, "Secondly, fifth year Prefects are to escort the first years up to the common rooms after the feast."
Zacharias Smith continued, this time in a rather pathetic attempt at looking and sounding so grave that people would begin to shake. "Thirdly," he said, and looked around over-dramatically (Harry was strongly reminded of Professor Trelawney), "Professor Dumbledore has opted to have three prefects for the sixth and seventh years. This is because he feels that there is need for more safety this year." He was quite obviously waiting for someone to ask what the nature of the threat was. Still, no one said anything, and he continued, affronted. "I don't what the threat is, but he is going to issue a most severe warning this evening in the Great Hall." This time, several prefects looked around at each other and whispered nervously. Zacharias Smith looked extremely pleased, but then returned to his overly grave voice. "Calm down, everyone," he warned, although the whispering had already subsided. "Cho."
"Fourthly, the password to the Prefects' bathroom is 'Fruity Bats.' The password to the Prefects' lounge is 'Galloping Gargoyle.'" Harry noticed that Cho wasn't very excited at all about her new duties as Head Girl. She looked like someone to be pitied, someone who didn't want to be there at all.
"Fifthly," said Zacharias Smith, "Prefects are reminded that they may only dock points from their own houses. The Head Boy and Head Girl, on the other hand, may dock points from any house. Cho. Cho."
Cho pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Sixthly, and perhaps most importantly," said Cho, "Hogwarts is going to be hosting guests this year. It is Professor Dumbledore's wish that the guests be treated with respect, and that if a Prefect sees disrespect for the guests, to notify a Professor immediately." Several people nodded at this.
Ron leaned into Harry, "They might change their tone when they find out who the guests are..." he whispered very softly.
"Ehem," said Zacharias Smith, "That concludes your instruction. Please spend fifteen minutes patrolling the train when your badge glows." And with that he sat down in the Yellow Throne and Cho sat down in the Blue Throne.
The first people to leave for patrol were Zacharias, Ginny, and Draco. Ginny said she would be back to talk to them after patrol duty, but she would likely talk to Dean for a while first. Ron scowled. After ten minutes of broken discussion, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan approached Harry and Ron, asking if they wanted to play Gobstones. Harry said that he had forgotten his Gobstones.
"Actually, I did too," said Justin, airily. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Well, I do know this one game," Ron began, "called Chairs." Both Hermione and Harry looked sharply at him. "But you need a taller ceiling, so..."
Hannah Abbot, who had blonde pigtails, turned around to face them, saying, "There's this charm...it's called the Roof-Raising Charm...it's for making things fit magically into a small space. It's how tents and things work...but I don't know the incantation..." Harry remembered seeing seemingly small tents that were really luxury houses on the inside at the Quidditch World Cup in his fourth year. He also thought of the magical cars that Mr. Weasley had borrowed from the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione pointed her wand at the ceiling. "Expandum interium." The roof rose to the size of a circus-tent, and every prefect turned to look at them. Harry very much doubted that Hermione would have approved of their playing Chairs if she hadn't been able to prove that she could do the Roof- Raising Charm.
"Wow..." said Hannah.
"So here's what you do..." said Ron, and as the other Prefects, listened, he explained how the game would work. Cho Chang thought it was an excellent idea, and she smiled for the first time and began doubling all the chairs. Hermione was very impressed by the doubling, and she quickly picked it up and began doubling the chairs as well. Soon, except for a patch of space in the center, the whole coach was covered with Chairs. One prefect from each house would stack a chair, and the house that caused it to crumble would be out, leaving the others to decide the winner. Then it would start over again. When Padma Patil sent the first tower of Chairs crashing to the floor, it caused such a ruckus that Zacharias Smith rushed into the cabin, wand out and ready to attack any evildoers that may have been there. He was about to begin reprimanding everyone, but seeing that the Head Girl was a part of the game, he thought better of it.
"Dumbledore invented the game," whispered Hermione. After that, Zacharias Smith quickly proved to be a very excellent Chairs player indeed. Ginny re- entered the cabin just as Harry was called from it, leaving Ron and Hermione to update her on the events of the summer.
Harry set out down the train, peeping in windows and feeling rather stupid, when he heard yelling. "Give it back!" The voice was a fellow Gryffindor fifth year, Neville Longbottom. His voice was joined by the protests of two others: Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. "Come off it, Crabbe...give it up!"
Harry rushed into the cabin to put an end to the problem (and hopefully have an excuse to curse Crabbe), but was shocked by what he found that Crabbe had. Goyle was laughing as Crabbe held up a squirming...Harry didn't recognize what it was...over his head. When Goyle took his wand out to poke it, Neville shrieked. "DON'T! DON'T YOU SEE WHAT THAT IS? IT'S A MIMBULUS—ack." Goyle had poked it, as Dean, Seamus, and Neville covered their faces with their robes, and Harry leapt from the cabin. Goyle and Crabbe fled the cabin screaming and covered in Stinksap, as Seamus magically cleaned it up from the cabin.
"Hello, Harry!" said Seamus and Dean.
"How do you like my mimbulus mimbletonia?" asked Neville, quite proudly.
"It's...er...changed..."
"Yep!" said Neville excitedly, for indeed, the mimbulus mimbletonia had now grown large tentacles that sprung from its body, and the tentacles were covered with stinksap pores.
"Well...nice seeing you guys...got to get back to the Prefects' cabin." They wished him goodbye and he stepped out into the hall to hear Pansy Parkinson's shrieks of laughter from the next cabin. Sensing that she was up to no good, Harry walked down the aisle to get to it, and was met by Hermione, coming from the other way.
"Your patrol's over, Harry," she said, "but let's check out what that cow is up to..."
It seems that Pansy had enchanted a girl's books to fly around the room and try to escape from her trunk. The girl looked up, looking slightly exasperated but not upset, and Harry recognized those permanently-surprised eyes as Luna Lovegood's. Harry very badly wanted to hit Pansy, but Hermione muttered the counter-curse and told her to get out or else she would go straight to Professor McGonagall. Pansy made a face (Harry supposed in an attempt to imitate Hermione), but it just made her look more stupid. As she was leaving, Harry made a book hit her in the back of the head. She scowled at them and stormed off.
"Are you all right, Luna?" asked Harry sympathetically.
"Yes. It's fine. None of my books escaped...but where is...where's Emily?"
Hermione gave Harry a confused look.
"Erm...who's Emily?"
"My pet."
Harry swallowed. Any pet of Luna's was likely to be not a pet at all.
"What...sort of pet is it, Luna?"
"It's a..."
But just then, a small animal appeared midair and flew at Harry's face. Harry ducked just in time, and the animal ran right into the door. Harry flinched, but the animal turned around and jumped a rather astonishing height, for its size (about as big as a shoe), all the way into the overhead compartments.
"What is that thing?" asked Hermione curiously. It was a good question. It had the body of a monkey, with a tail, but the head of a Jack Russell terrier, and on it's forehead was a small, forked horn.
"She," said Luna, "is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"I thought you told me that those were the size of trees..." said Hermione suspiciously.
"Emily is just a baby."
The cabin door opened, and Ron entered. "You two have been gone ages..." he began, but he stopped, and looked curiously at Emily the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.
"Erm...hello, Luna," said Ron, looking at Hermione for an explanation, but he got none.
"Eh...Luna," began Hermione, "where did you get that."
But Luna didn't answer. She was gazing at the door behind them, and not blinking at all.
"From within the Unsealed Gateway," she said, in a voice that was not hers at all. The voice was very deep, and quite strong. Ron, Hermione, and Harry stared. Ron started to back toward the door, reaching for his wand, but Hermione kicked him hard.
"From within the Unsealed Gateway, there will come the Prince of Two Bloods...to take back what was taken from him...he must have the Great Survivor...The Prince of Two Bloods will come in the Year the Silver Depart to reclaim what was stolen from him...he must have the Great Survivor..."
Luna stirred. "What was I saying?" she said dottily.
"Good-bye," said Hermione, her eyes wide open and not moving from Luna, "We have to return to the Prefects' Cabin right now. See you later."
The stepped out of the cabin and walked down the aisle a bit. Hermione pulled them in and hissed, "Harry...was that a propechy?"
Harry nodded. It was similar to the experience he had in his third year, when his Divination teacher had prophesized the return of Lord Voldemort.
"Well?" said Hermione anxiously, "What do you make of it?"
"I reckon...that... 'The Prince of Two Bloods' means he's a really important half-blood," said Harry.
"Harry, do you think it means...Voldemort?" she said this very quietly, but Ron still let out a high squeak. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Yeah...that's what I reckon." Harry's eyes suddenly flashed back to the prophecy he had heard last spring, in Dumbledore's office. It had said either he must kill Voldemort or vice versa, in the end. He swallowed hard. What if the thing that was stolen from him was his invincibility? Did it mean Voldemort was coming to get him?
"But, at any rate, we won't have to worry about it until all of Hogwarts' silver gets stolen."
"Oh, honestly, Ron...weren't you listening? It said, 'the silver depart.' No 's.' The silver isn't a thing...it's a group."
"But...there haven't been any silver people at Hogwarts...while we've been here." Ron was quite puzzled.
"Yes, there have been," said Harry, "and they've already left."
Understanding dawned on Hermione's face. "The Ghosts."