(A/N) Sorry it took so long.

Harry Potter and the Sword of Kuan Ti
Chapter Nine
The Hogwarts Express

Harry... the voice called to him out of the darkness. He did not recognize
it but knew the tone well. Images of violence, terror and hatered flowed
around him. A tall, slim man with velvety black robes stepped out of the
depths of his mind. The robes looked expensive and the embroidered red
dragon running across the shoulders seemed almost alive. Harry... You know
not of the power you posess. Harry watched the man warily as he cirlced
around him.
'Who are you?' Harry asked darkly.
I am Lung Tao-Hu, High Priest of Kuan Ti and ruler of all China. I have
been trapped in that infernal sword for thousands of years and now, you are the
new owner and I will take my revenge on this world through you.
Harry smirked, 'I think not.' he said, brushing off the threat. 'You're
that nutters priest who tried to run everything and failed that Myr told me
about aren't you?' The rage was apperent on the priest's face.
I am also known as the Dark Lord Xiang Yao, you will bow to my commands!
Harry crossed his arms and looked unimpressed. 'You think another Dark
Lord scares me?' he laughed.
Yes, said Xiang Yao, I have seen inside your soul, I know the Dark Lord
Voldemort left a piece there. It's blackness consumes you at time, and
sometimes you even feel it eating away at the 'decency' and 'heroism' that
you strive for. I know you, Harry Potter, I am inside you mind. It is only
a matter of time before I control it and you.
With that the Dark Lord vanished and Harry woke suddenly, scaring Dobby off of the bed.
A cold cloth was on Harry's forehead and he was sweating profusely.
"Harry Potter is awake!" Dobby exclaimed. "Harry Potter must eat." Dobby
conjored a bowl of soup and Harry pushed it away slowly.
"Dobby, what day is it?" Harry asked looking out the window to see that
sun shining merrily.
"It is the first of September." Dobby replied. Harry jumped out of bed,
disturbing the soup and grabbed his jeans and shirt from the bedside
table. As he ran to the bathroom to change he yelled to Dobby. "Go to the Burrow
and collect my things, I need to get going to King's Cross!"
Dobby disappeared with a soft pop and came back as Harry hurried out of
the bathroom.
"What time is it?" Harry asked grabbing his wand off of his trunk and
sticking it in his jeans.
"It is ten o'clock."
"Merlin's Beard!" Harry exclaimed. "Couldn't you have woken me earlier?!"
"Harry Potter need not worry..." Dobby started, but Harry cut him off.
"Dobby, I have an hour to find out how to get to King's Cross."
"Harry Potter forgets, Dobby is a house elf, Dobby can apperate Harry
Potter to the station." Dobby looked pleased with himself. Harry calmed down and
went to his trunk. He pulled out the trenchcoat and sunglasses that he got
from Sirius and then spotted two unopened packages in his trunk. He
realized that he had forgotten to open Ron and Hermione's presents after his
birthday. He sat on the bed and Dobby walked over to him.
"If Harry Potter is needing anything Dobby will be outside in the hall."
Harry nodded and Dobby slipped out the door to his room.
Harry began to tear the wrapping off of Ron's present and a leather belt
and a piece of parchment fell to his bed. Harry picked up the letter and began
to read Ron's familiar scrawl to himself.

Harry,

Well, if we're going to be Aurors we've got to keep out bloody wands in
reach at all times. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! (thought that might give you a
laugh) This is a wand holdster that I found in Ollivander's over the
summer.
Now Moody won't go off saying that we're going to blow off out arses by
sticking our wands in our pockets. I've got one just like it, I had Fred
and George conjour up the medallions set on the buckle. I figure if
Dumbledore's Army has to have a symbol, it had to be the phoenix.

Ron

Harry grinned and examined the holdster, he took his wand out of his
pocket and slipped it in. The leather conformed around the wand to be a perfect
fit and Harry laid it with his trenchcoat. Next, he reached for Hermione's
present. It felt like a thick book but Harry opened it anyways. It was a
thick, leather-bound volume that weighed at least a couple of kilos. Harry
read the loopy writing on the front cover.
"'One Thousand Spells for Household Chores?' Is Hermione off her rocker?"
Harry opened the book and a small parchment fell out. Harry read Hermione's tidy hand.

'Veritas'

What? Harry thought. "Veritas." he said aloud as if that would somehow
explain Hermione's sudden madness. Then he felt the book grow warm in his
hands, he dropped the book on the bed as the leather-bound book turned
black, all the way down to the pages. The writing on the cover erased then
came back in gold.

'Four Thousand Ways to Catch a Dark Wizard' by Alastor Moody

Harry smiled. Hermione must have asked Moody for this book, because he had
never seen it before in Flourish and Blott's. Harry set the book in his
trunk and turned to his things. He needed to get ready if he was going to
catch the train.

Harry Potter stepped onto Platform Nine and three-quaters at half-past
ten. He had turned heads in his first year as a wizard when he was eleven
because of his scar, now he was turning heads for another reason. Harry
had worn a regular pair of muggle jeans and a faded tee-shirt that bore the
faces of four Muggle blokes and the legend 'The Clash', but it was what he was
wearing over those that got the heads to turn. He had put on his sunglasses and
trenchcoat that Hagrid had sent, he was also wearing the holdster that Ron had given
him for his birthday. Also, hidden under the coat he had strapped his sword to his
holdster's belt. The sword's weight rested reassuringly against his thigh.
Harry walked down the length of the scarlet steam engine and entered the
first compartment, the prefects always met at the front of the train to be
briefed. A guard stopped him outside the entrance to the prefect's cart,
he was a large, surly man with a mean look. Harry had already thought of a
hundred different ways to take him down before he realised he was thinking
of ways to take him down.
"Where's you're badge?" the guard said menacingly. Harry pulled his coat
to the side and the red and silver Griffindor badge gleamed in the low light.
The guard stepped away from the door and Harry entered silently. The prefect's
cart was decorated lavishly, to say the least. Plush couches lined the
walls and a fully stocked bar with an assortment of butterbeer and snacks stood
in one corner. Harry looked around curiously. There were about twenty people
in the cabin, including himself and he spotted Ron and Hermione sitting on a
red and gold couch with Ginny and some other person, Harry assumed he was
the other fifth-year prefect, he didn't get a good look at him on the
other side of the Griffindor couches were dark green and silver couchs that
Harry knew immediately was for the Slytherins. The Hufflepuff couchs were on his
left, next to the Griffindors and the Ravenclaw's were on his right. Many of
them were milling about talking and eating, but the Slytherins were
keeping to themselves, Harry realized that Draco Malfoy was flirting with a blonde girl
in Ravenclaw robes and shuddered. Hermione glanced over his way and then went
back to her conversation with Ginny, then, she froze, did a double-take
and squealed. Ron turned to follow her line of vision and froze too. Harry
grinned at his friends and walked over to them, he stopped about two feet
away from them when a familiar drawling voice silenced the rest of the cart.
"Oh, wonderful, I guess they couldn't leave out Potter the Hero. He must
have ran to Dumbledore and cried until they gave him a badge." This drew
laughter from the Slytherins and some of the Ravenclaws. Harry turned and

immediatly felt a hand on his arm. He knew at once it was Ginny, it was a
warm, caring touch that he knew only she could give him.
"Oh, and it looks like he's found himself a girlfriend, too. I wonder if
he pays for her to shag him, Merlin knows she could use the money!" This
drew even more raucous laughter from the Slytherin crowd. Harry lunged at
Malfoy and had him by the throat in a spilt second. Malfoy made a strange sound
like a kind of half-choke, half-whimper and Harry pulled his glasses down
with his free hand. A couple of Slytherins thought to move in on Harry,
but a quick, withering glance stopped them dead. Harry turned his bottle-green
eyes that were now cold and black as death back to Malfoy.
"If I ever hear you insult Ginny again," He said, his voice a deadly
whisper, "I will not think twice about cursing your worthless hide into
oblivion." Malfoy looked into his eyes defiantly and knocked Harry's hand
away. "You wouldn't dare, Potter." He seethed, "Because that mudblood-lover
Dumbledore would have your arse and you know it." Harry brushed his hand
over the sword at his waist so Malfoy could glimpse it.
"Try me..." Harry dared. They were stareing daggers at each other when a
loud noise from the doorway took their attention. "Is there a problem here, Potter?"
A tall, swarthy boy was walking towards them from the door. Harry backed away from
Malfoy and glared at the newcomer. It was Dean Montague, from Slytherin, and he had the Head Boy badge pinned to his robes.
"No problem at all..." Harry lied.
"Good. Sit down, the prefect's meeting is about to start."
"Montague!" came a familiar voice down the hall. Harry turned his head to
see Katie Bell rushing towards them. She had a disgruntled expression and
a Head Girl's badge and Harry knew that she would help him.
"What's going on here?" she asked looking from Harry to Montague suspiciously.
"Potter was just going to sit, now." He replied, indicating Harry to sit.
Harry moved over to the Griffindor couches and flopped down between Ron and Ginny.
Ginny rubbed Harry's arm and kissed him on the cheek.
"Good," said Katie turning to face everyone. "Now that I see we are all here we can start
the meeting..."
Harry began to look around already knowing this was going to be painfully
boring.

After the meeting Katie handed the Griffindors and the Hufflepuffs their
common room passwords for the month and Montague took care of the
Slytherins and the Ravenclaws. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face
it's owner. The mousy brown hair was all too familiar to Harry, he was
looking into the face of Colin Creevey.
"All right, Harry?" He asked, much like any other year.
"Colin? You're a prefect?" Harry asked, almost disbelievingly.
"Yeah, isn't it great! My dad was real excited, even though he didn't know
what a prefect was." Colin chuckled. Harry felt two small arms wrap around
his waist and leaned back, Ginny put her chin on his shoulder and rested
her head in the crook of his neck. Colin stood, looking down at his two
friends and shook his head, smileing. Then he walked towards the Hufflepuff
sitting area.
"You know, Potter," Ginny whispered in his ear, "this whole tall, dark and
mysterious thing you've got going is really sexy." She ran her tongue over
his earlobe and nuzzled his neck.
Harry grinned and turned his head to face her. "You know we've got all
year to 'explore' the castle, what do you say we do a little exploration
tonight after the feast?" Harry leaned back and put his arm around Ginny and she
shifted positions keeping her arms around his torso, head resting on his chest.
"Finally you two did the logical thing and got together." Harry looked up
at the speaker, Luna Lovegood was already in her school robes and had the
latest issue of the quibbler in her hand, her wand was still perched
behind her ear like a pencil.
"Obviously." Said Ginny, sounding slightly annoyed tthat her snogging session
with her boyfriend had been interuppted. "So, Luna, did you find any of the
Scrumpet-Horn Whatsits?" Ginny asked.
"No," said Luna, in the same, familiar dreamy voice,
"father said next year we'll have to search in another area." Luna sighed and
walked off, in her own little world. Harry couldn't help but grin. Ginny looked
at him and hit him playfully on the chest.
"She's your friend, too."
"I didn't say a word." Harry protested, still grinning. Ginny sat up and
smiled at him.
"I know what you are thinking, Mr. Potter."
"Oh, yeah?" Harry asked, "What am I thinking right now?" Ginny leaned in
and kissed him softly, running her hands through his hair. (This drew several
whoops and cat-calls from most of the cart's occupants.) When they broke
Harry smiled.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, nothing. It's just, I thought Lavander and Parvati were the future
psychics..."

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, I am in the process of applying to
film schools and trying to put together a yard sale. Plus my computer's
broke so I have to use my step-dad's.
Special thanks to Emily who is going to be beta-ing for me. I have a whole
list of the prefects, I figured it would be two from each House, boy and
girl. Oh well, not exactly canon but, neither are the movies. Thanks.
Jay