Chapter 5: Students of the Wizarding World
There was no window in his room so Harry had no idea the time he awoke the next morning, although he was sure it was fairly early due to the fact that he couldn't hear a sound anywhere. Or maybe it was always like this.
Dressing from his trunk at the end of the bed he ventured to the kitchen for breakfast, sneaking past the other bedrooms as silently as he could, which was pretty silently considering the layer of dust that muffled his footprints. Taking a glass from the furnished cupboards above the sink he poured himself some milk before beginning his search for some unsuspecting morsel that would fill his grumbling stomach. Cereal became his victim and he decided to finish it off in the meeting room where he could hear the fire crackling. It was there that he met Amilian Maston from Canada.
Strolling leisurely into the warm room he was at first unaware of the girl who stood by the large arm chair to the right of the waving shadows. Suddenly becoming aware of the other presence he spun quickly, wand already in hand.
"Who's there!" he asked in a voice that was just above a whisper.
She walked from the shadows.
"I'm Amilian Maston. I've come from Canada to aid you in the overthrowing of Lord Voldemort. I have studied the art of animal speech and can find those who are lost, in more ways then one." She smiled.
Harry broke his dueling posture and eyed her with curiosity. Chestnut brown hair was what had sparkled in the fire's glow, along with her eyes. They held mischief along with a gentleness that seemed to consume the room. She literally reeked with calm!
"How do I know you're who you say you are?"
She shrugged.
"You could wake Sakura to ask her but please don't, she needs her sleep, you could take a look at the files at the Ministry of Magic under "animal speaker" but since we're supposed to be in hiding that rules that out, or you could just trust me." Her smile was pleading.
There was something appealing about that smile on her that made Harry smile as well. He found he trusted her.
"I'm Harry Potter." He extended his hand for her to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise you Mr. Potter." She shook his hand firmly.
"Harry is what I usually go by," he felt himself falling into a gentleman mode he hadn't realized he'd had, "to Voldemort and his followers I'm referred to as "that Potter boy".
"Very formal aren't you!" Amilian was chuckling at his manly posture which Harry found very uplifting.
"I try." He grinned which caused her cheeks to redden slightly.
"I'm sure you do."
Silence followed their somewhat pointless conversation in which Harry marveled in this new position of enlightenment, watching Amilian fidget awkwardly.
"Is...is there a room I could move myself into?" She finally managed, turning to her trunk.
At first all Harry could concentrate on was her body figure, altered only slightly by the flannel skirt and cream blouse which was wet from the fountain giving a better view of what she'd probably like to keep hidden. She was a medium build, not really thin but not big either. Her legs and arms were long, her waist thin, hips noticeable, chest... he managed to halt his mind there!
"I don't know but I could help you look for one. We're expecting at least four others."
"Thank you." She said, looking as though she wasn't sure if she meant it or not.
He led her along the hallway to the bedrooms, pointing out the occupied rooms and who was inhabiting them. For some reason he noted, with a satisfied smile that when he'd indicated his own room Amilian's cheeks had reddened nicely to a light crimson.
He was enjoying this, although he couldn't really explain why.
The room four doors down and to the left became Amilian's residence and Harry let her settle in as he returned to the meeting room where he was allowed a moment of quiet to smile at his first encounter with the Amilian girl before an extremely edgy Ron entered. Harry watched as the uptight Ron seated himself on the arm chair before standing again and then deciding he really did want to sit.
"What's the matter Ron?" Harry asked, slouching forward toward the fidgety red-head.
"Oh, its just..." but Ron was interrupted by a bouncy Hermione who came dancing into the room as if she had just successfully aced all her exams!
"Good morning Harry!" she cried, skipping slightly as she bounded toward the kitchen. "Good morning Ron..." then she disappeared.
"She's been that way ever since Krum arrived." Ron spoke in an angry whisper. "Hardly pays attention to anyone else."
Harry knew he should probably give some advice or something but his love life with Chow hadn't exactly given him anything useful to go on. He could admit it, his love life stunk!
Soon Ron left to the bathroom and Harry was left once again in the company of his own thoughts (blocking that of Hermione's humming from the picture). Today's thoughts drifted to the relationships of friends and enemies alike. But that was too difficult! Best to keep feelings and emotions alike from the picture since only pain and death lay in his destiny. There, he was successfully getting depressed again! Then the others filed in all at once, leaving him no choice but to put aside his pain for another time.
Fred and George showed off to him their latest invention of the Chewable Eraser (looks like a normal white muggle toy but, it's also edible), Clipable Cheater (clip it to your anti-cheating quill and low and behold you can cheat!) and Nosy Quill (whoever uses it will describe their inner most secrets). They offered him free samples but he politely declined (for good reasons as Neville later describe).
A meeting was scheduled for 10 that morning which arrived fast enough when the other three representatives made their appearance! Richard Foster was a handsome man of around seventeen who was charming (or at least the girls thought so) with a strong sense of right and wrong. Ron whispered after about twenty minutes into his hour long speech on how and why Voldemort was going to be defeated, "I wonder if preaching is his line of work."
Catherine Monue had the shapely appearance of a model but her thought process mainly consisted of sucking up to whoever was the most good looking and worrying about who's side they were on afterward. "Nice girl," Ron commented as she started warming up to Victor Krum, "but thought process the size of a termite."
Greg Smertcian was not the best looking of men but was the smartest of the bunch. His knowledge went beyond his years (twenty-three) and he preferred a reasonable conversation with a girl rather then trying to get her into bed as Harry observed from the hallway. In fact, the only minus to Greg was that he had a weak spot for a certain Amilian Maston who was a glow that shone through the lot of them!
She was also a very learned girl of life's important things for her age of sixteen with her many stories of the talks with her animals. Her and Greg fell into an immediate conversation and Harry could tell he was taken with her from the insistent way he kept her to himself whenever he tried to get a word in edgewise. Not that he himself was around much, just sort of hanging at the back of the room occasionally drifting past the place where the two of them talk when Amilian would laugh in a pleasant, desirable fashion. Not that he was that he was around much...
Finally the meeting rolled around and they all seated themselves on the chairs and the floor, waiting for the Cardmistress to address the purpose of this gathering.
"You have all traveled from your homes to join us here and the Order thanks you!" Sakura stood at the front of the assembled company, the crackling fire at her back. "It is our job as the future generation to insure our kind the safety we ourselves have grown accustomed to. We are the Order's backup in case an emergency arises, most of us that is." She nodded toward Harry. "It is not only our duty to strive to all ends to bring the Dark Lord down but also to protect the young man who sits amongst us for both he and his friends Ron and Hermione have done us a world already, always at the aid of their friend. Let them be a model to you all for if we are all to succeed we must be a close knot of friends. It is the strong emotions of love and goodness that Voldemort cannot understand therefore he is weakest when facing them.
So, back to our schedule now. Up until the time we are called upon we will continue the lessens and teachings of Dumbledore's Army with Harry's guidance if he will lead us."
The group turned to look at him and he contemplated his answer a mere second before agreeing. Applause and cheers of happiness were silenced by Sakura who tucked her Star Card away before continuing.
"Does anyone have any suggestions?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"Yes."
"No one knows about this place except the Order and us right?"
Sakura nodded.
"Well, just in case, is there a back way we can take if a quick escape is required?"
"Wonderful Hermione yes. There is a secret chamber in the stone eagle at the end of the hall. State your reason for its need and it will let you pass. It is fairly simple to get outside after that but hopefully with are alarm system we shouldn't be needing it. Any others?"
"Harry will be staying here if we're called out won't he?" Ernie asked.
"Yes."
"Why!"
All heads turned to an angry Harry who knew that resistance was futile but wouldn't give up without a fight!
"We have to keep you safe..."
"I started the DA and I want to make sure they all make it out alive! I at least owe them that! Besides, its got to be only me and Voldemort! The prophecy clearly stated that that's how it must be!"
"And that's exactly why you must stay here Harry!" Sakura sighed. "At least we can increase your chances of survival by weakening the Dark Lord's forces. If you are the last to face him then at least you'll have a better chance then if you'd fought him at the beginning."
Harry knew he was defeated and looked at the crowd of pleading faces who cared so much and who would surely die because of it.
"I know." He mumbled as he walked from the circle and into the hallway.
For a moment he leaned against the wall but the voices who began pledging allegiance to his protection was too much and he stalked off to his room where he began the ever present ritual of beating up his pillow. Still, it was never quite enough.
To be continued...
There was no window in his room so Harry had no idea the time he awoke the next morning, although he was sure it was fairly early due to the fact that he couldn't hear a sound anywhere. Or maybe it was always like this.
Dressing from his trunk at the end of the bed he ventured to the kitchen for breakfast, sneaking past the other bedrooms as silently as he could, which was pretty silently considering the layer of dust that muffled his footprints. Taking a glass from the furnished cupboards above the sink he poured himself some milk before beginning his search for some unsuspecting morsel that would fill his grumbling stomach. Cereal became his victim and he decided to finish it off in the meeting room where he could hear the fire crackling. It was there that he met Amilian Maston from Canada.
Strolling leisurely into the warm room he was at first unaware of the girl who stood by the large arm chair to the right of the waving shadows. Suddenly becoming aware of the other presence he spun quickly, wand already in hand.
"Who's there!" he asked in a voice that was just above a whisper.
She walked from the shadows.
"I'm Amilian Maston. I've come from Canada to aid you in the overthrowing of Lord Voldemort. I have studied the art of animal speech and can find those who are lost, in more ways then one." She smiled.
Harry broke his dueling posture and eyed her with curiosity. Chestnut brown hair was what had sparkled in the fire's glow, along with her eyes. They held mischief along with a gentleness that seemed to consume the room. She literally reeked with calm!
"How do I know you're who you say you are?"
She shrugged.
"You could wake Sakura to ask her but please don't, she needs her sleep, you could take a look at the files at the Ministry of Magic under "animal speaker" but since we're supposed to be in hiding that rules that out, or you could just trust me." Her smile was pleading.
There was something appealing about that smile on her that made Harry smile as well. He found he trusted her.
"I'm Harry Potter." He extended his hand for her to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise you Mr. Potter." She shook his hand firmly.
"Harry is what I usually go by," he felt himself falling into a gentleman mode he hadn't realized he'd had, "to Voldemort and his followers I'm referred to as "that Potter boy".
"Very formal aren't you!" Amilian was chuckling at his manly posture which Harry found very uplifting.
"I try." He grinned which caused her cheeks to redden slightly.
"I'm sure you do."
Silence followed their somewhat pointless conversation in which Harry marveled in this new position of enlightenment, watching Amilian fidget awkwardly.
"Is...is there a room I could move myself into?" She finally managed, turning to her trunk.
At first all Harry could concentrate on was her body figure, altered only slightly by the flannel skirt and cream blouse which was wet from the fountain giving a better view of what she'd probably like to keep hidden. She was a medium build, not really thin but not big either. Her legs and arms were long, her waist thin, hips noticeable, chest... he managed to halt his mind there!
"I don't know but I could help you look for one. We're expecting at least four others."
"Thank you." She said, looking as though she wasn't sure if she meant it or not.
He led her along the hallway to the bedrooms, pointing out the occupied rooms and who was inhabiting them. For some reason he noted, with a satisfied smile that when he'd indicated his own room Amilian's cheeks had reddened nicely to a light crimson.
He was enjoying this, although he couldn't really explain why.
The room four doors down and to the left became Amilian's residence and Harry let her settle in as he returned to the meeting room where he was allowed a moment of quiet to smile at his first encounter with the Amilian girl before an extremely edgy Ron entered. Harry watched as the uptight Ron seated himself on the arm chair before standing again and then deciding he really did want to sit.
"What's the matter Ron?" Harry asked, slouching forward toward the fidgety red-head.
"Oh, its just..." but Ron was interrupted by a bouncy Hermione who came dancing into the room as if she had just successfully aced all her exams!
"Good morning Harry!" she cried, skipping slightly as she bounded toward the kitchen. "Good morning Ron..." then she disappeared.
"She's been that way ever since Krum arrived." Ron spoke in an angry whisper. "Hardly pays attention to anyone else."
Harry knew he should probably give some advice or something but his love life with Chow hadn't exactly given him anything useful to go on. He could admit it, his love life stunk!
Soon Ron left to the bathroom and Harry was left once again in the company of his own thoughts (blocking that of Hermione's humming from the picture). Today's thoughts drifted to the relationships of friends and enemies alike. But that was too difficult! Best to keep feelings and emotions alike from the picture since only pain and death lay in his destiny. There, he was successfully getting depressed again! Then the others filed in all at once, leaving him no choice but to put aside his pain for another time.
Fred and George showed off to him their latest invention of the Chewable Eraser (looks like a normal white muggle toy but, it's also edible), Clipable Cheater (clip it to your anti-cheating quill and low and behold you can cheat!) and Nosy Quill (whoever uses it will describe their inner most secrets). They offered him free samples but he politely declined (for good reasons as Neville later describe).
A meeting was scheduled for 10 that morning which arrived fast enough when the other three representatives made their appearance! Richard Foster was a handsome man of around seventeen who was charming (or at least the girls thought so) with a strong sense of right and wrong. Ron whispered after about twenty minutes into his hour long speech on how and why Voldemort was going to be defeated, "I wonder if preaching is his line of work."
Catherine Monue had the shapely appearance of a model but her thought process mainly consisted of sucking up to whoever was the most good looking and worrying about who's side they were on afterward. "Nice girl," Ron commented as she started warming up to Victor Krum, "but thought process the size of a termite."
Greg Smertcian was not the best looking of men but was the smartest of the bunch. His knowledge went beyond his years (twenty-three) and he preferred a reasonable conversation with a girl rather then trying to get her into bed as Harry observed from the hallway. In fact, the only minus to Greg was that he had a weak spot for a certain Amilian Maston who was a glow that shone through the lot of them!
She was also a very learned girl of life's important things for her age of sixteen with her many stories of the talks with her animals. Her and Greg fell into an immediate conversation and Harry could tell he was taken with her from the insistent way he kept her to himself whenever he tried to get a word in edgewise. Not that he himself was around much, just sort of hanging at the back of the room occasionally drifting past the place where the two of them talk when Amilian would laugh in a pleasant, desirable fashion. Not that he was that he was around much...
Finally the meeting rolled around and they all seated themselves on the chairs and the floor, waiting for the Cardmistress to address the purpose of this gathering.
"You have all traveled from your homes to join us here and the Order thanks you!" Sakura stood at the front of the assembled company, the crackling fire at her back. "It is our job as the future generation to insure our kind the safety we ourselves have grown accustomed to. We are the Order's backup in case an emergency arises, most of us that is." She nodded toward Harry. "It is not only our duty to strive to all ends to bring the Dark Lord down but also to protect the young man who sits amongst us for both he and his friends Ron and Hermione have done us a world already, always at the aid of their friend. Let them be a model to you all for if we are all to succeed we must be a close knot of friends. It is the strong emotions of love and goodness that Voldemort cannot understand therefore he is weakest when facing them.
So, back to our schedule now. Up until the time we are called upon we will continue the lessens and teachings of Dumbledore's Army with Harry's guidance if he will lead us."
The group turned to look at him and he contemplated his answer a mere second before agreeing. Applause and cheers of happiness were silenced by Sakura who tucked her Star Card away before continuing.
"Does anyone have any suggestions?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"Yes."
"No one knows about this place except the Order and us right?"
Sakura nodded.
"Well, just in case, is there a back way we can take if a quick escape is required?"
"Wonderful Hermione yes. There is a secret chamber in the stone eagle at the end of the hall. State your reason for its need and it will let you pass. It is fairly simple to get outside after that but hopefully with are alarm system we shouldn't be needing it. Any others?"
"Harry will be staying here if we're called out won't he?" Ernie asked.
"Yes."
"Why!"
All heads turned to an angry Harry who knew that resistance was futile but wouldn't give up without a fight!
"We have to keep you safe..."
"I started the DA and I want to make sure they all make it out alive! I at least owe them that! Besides, its got to be only me and Voldemort! The prophecy clearly stated that that's how it must be!"
"And that's exactly why you must stay here Harry!" Sakura sighed. "At least we can increase your chances of survival by weakening the Dark Lord's forces. If you are the last to face him then at least you'll have a better chance then if you'd fought him at the beginning."
Harry knew he was defeated and looked at the crowd of pleading faces who cared so much and who would surely die because of it.
"I know." He mumbled as he walked from the circle and into the hallway.
For a moment he leaned against the wall but the voices who began pledging allegiance to his protection was too much and he stalked off to his room where he began the ever present ritual of beating up his pillow. Still, it was never quite enough.
To be continued...