Author's Note: Surprisingly, I was able to get this chapter up faster, although it isn't very long, so I apologize that it isn't very long. I didn't have much to really put in this chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer and much better. And, I don't own anything having to do with Harry Potter. Heh. I almost forgot that one.
*Chapter 6: Sirius and the New Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher*
Nearly an hour after they had returned to the Burrow, an owl from the Ministry arrived for Mr. Weasley. It announced that the rest of the dueling matches were cancelled, and that the stadium in the air would be taken down and demolished. The Ministry obviously must have considered that their security was very lax and that it would be too hard for them to prepare for another attack, if there would ever be one.
After finally getting to read the memo, Ron tutted loudly. "Cornelius Fudge needs to wake op, or a good smack to the face. The Ministry of Magic should just stop creating special events, because when they do, something goes wrong and bad things happen. First, they organized the Quidditch World Cup and look what happened there. Deatheaters attacked and then Crouch's psychotic son shot the Dark Mark into the sky. Then they organized the TriWizard Tournament, and I don't even need to go into that. And now they come up with the Wizard Dueling Tournament, and yet again, there is a Deatheater attack. When will they all just wake up and realize that You-Know-Who is back?" Ron explained, gathering smirks from Fred and George. Their cuts had healed shut now.
"They will never realize ad accept the truth," Hermione muttered. Shortly after the Ministry memo came, a copy of the Evening Prophet came for Hermione.
"So what does it say?" Harry asked.
After reading over it thoroughly, Hermione threw the magazine aside in utter disgust. "Of course, they covered it up completely. They mentioned the Deatheaters, but they didn't even bother to try to connect it to Voldemort. They just assumed that it was a bunch of Voldemort's old supporters that wanted to have fun and show that they are still at large, just like last year at the World Cup. Imbeciles. Cornelius Fudge most have finally gotten control of the Daily Prophet.
Harry read it after Ron, and he agreed with Hermione, because he was disgusted as well. Mrs. Weasley came up moments later to tell them all that dinner was ready.
Shortly after they had eaten, Harry and Ron passed the time by playing Wizard's chess, while Hermione began reading The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Five by Miranda Goshawk again. They finally went to bed after Harry and Ron finished their sixth game.
Although there was an attempt on is life only hours earlier, Harry was calm enough to fall asleep. However, he did have difficulty staying asleep because he kept having the same graveyard nightmare over and over, each time it progressed further. He also found it difficult because his life was not the only one in danger now that Voldemort was back. He knew other families would suffer, and his worries that he had had at the beginning of the summer were beginning to come back.
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September 1st came closer, and Hermione became very strict towards their schoolwork. Sometimes it was almost unbearable for Harry and Ron to be around her. They would luckily pull themselves away from their rigorous studies to play Wizard's chess or go up to the wood clearing to practice Quidditch, under supervision of course. Apparently, Hermione was very concerned with their upcoming O.W.L.S. at the end of their fifth year. Harry expected that they were going to stay at the Weasley's home until September 1st, but he found out he was wrong. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stopped them in the living room the day before they were to return to Hogwarts. "Boys, you need to get upstairs and pack your things quickly. Dumbledore contacted us just this morning. He wants us all to meet him in the Leaky Cauldron. Go tell the others and then come down for lunch."
After telling Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George, Harry and Ron packed in awkward silence. "Do you think that something bad has happened, thus why Dumbledore wants to meet with us in the Leaky Cauldron?" Ron asked, looking at Harry with a hint of fear and worry in his eyes.
Harry's shoulders shrugged lightly. "Possibly. Then again, maybe he just wants us all to get to Hogwarts safely." He had almost said 'me' instead of 'us'.
After shutting and locking their trunks, the two young men carried them down the stairs. Harry and Ron met Hermione after they retrieved Hedwig and Pigwidgeon from Ron's room. She had her trunks with her, ready to go back to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. "I am very curious to know why he wants to meet us there," Hermione muttered lightly as she set her trunk down next to Ginny's. Ron opened his mouth to give her a possible explanation when Mrs. Weasley strolled into the room. The look upon her face easily told them that she wasn't very happy. Obviously, she was uneasy about the plans that Dumbledore had arranged.
"Dumbledore better have a good reason for having us leave a day early. I still don't understand why the kids can't stay here," Mrs. Weasley muttered to her husband as she got out the small pot containing the Floo powder. She gave each person a handful before ushering them into the fireplace. Harry stepped towards the fire just as Ron disappeared into the green flames. "The Leaky Cauldron!" he cried. He was sucked suddenly in, and the next second he knew it, he was facing Ron in the middle of the small, dark pub. Hermione and the rest of the Weasley's stepped out of the fireplace right after Harry and Ron stepped aside. As usual, Mr. Weasley was carrying all of their trunks, levitating them a few feet from the ground.
Not many people were in the small, dark tavern. A few witches whispered to each other in the corner, while Tom, the bartender and room renter, washed down a few tables. Without a word or second glance to anyone, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley's went up the wooden stairwell. Dumbledore came into view once they reached the landing. His long silver beard stood out the most in his appearance. Once his eyes looked at Harry through the half-moon spectacles, Harry thought he saw a tinge of worry in them.
"Ah, you are all here. Good, good," Dumbledore said as he slowly bent over. Wand in hand, Dumbledore began to slide the tip of his wand into what looked to be a normal Muggle plug socket.
"Professor Dumbledore, I'm not sure that what you are doing is such a good idea," Hermione began to say, expecting the headmaster to be shocked suddenly. To Harry's surprise, instead of getting shocked, Dumbledore stood back up. The tip of his wand radiated gold light. Seconds later, a door framed in gold light appeared in the middle of the wall where the plug socket was.
"Quickly, everyone inside," Mr. Weasley said, floating the trunks through the doorway after Dumbledore had opened it and stepped inside. The door disappeared behind them all after they had gotten inside. Harry found himself standing in a small living room with white walls and no windows. It was very odd that a room of this size could fit in between to inn rooms. Harry had the feeling that, somehow, Dumbledore had created this place for special uses with magic. It also occurred to Harry that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been here before, since they knew exactly where they were going. Ron's mother joined Dumbledore in the small kitchen while the Weasley twins helped their father set the trunks aside and began to unroll several sleeping bags that materialized out of thin air.
Sitting on a small couch near the kitchen, Harry could hear Hermione talking to the Hogwart's headmaster. "Professor Dumbledore, how did you create this place?" Harry heard his best friend ask.
The silver bearded headmaster chuckled loudly. "A very good question, Miss Granger. This small apartment like place is hidden by powerful magics, as you may have already assumed. Only I can unlock it and make it appear to others. The process is close to using the Fidelius charm, but in this case, the person who is hiding the specific place can be the only one to make it appear. It does not involve a secret keeper."
Harry was distracted from hearing Dumbledore explain more to Hermione when Ron began to whisper quietly to him. "Charlie told me about a process similar to that. I guess back in the dark days when You-Know-Who was gaining power, a friend of his and his family hid in a place protected by that process, but he was absolutely sure that it wasn't the Fidelius charm," Ron explained.
Acknowledging what his other best friend said, Harry nodded slowly. He wanted to change the subject, because thinking about the Fidelius charm reminded him of his parents, and how Peter Pettigrew, 'Wormtail', had taken them away from him when he told Voldemort that the Potters were hiding in Godric's Hollow.
"Do you think that I will be able to become the Gryffindor Keeper, Harry?"
"I really hope so. It would be excellent to have you on the team. As a matter of fact, as soon as we get free time at school, you and I can go out to the Quidditch pitch and practice before they hold tryouts," Harry said with a small smile.
Dinner was soon ready, and Professor Dumbledore joined Fred and George in shooting off several of Filibuster's Fireworks afterwards. Fred and George, who were even planning on opening their own joke shop after graduating from Hogwarts, had even created their own fireworks. Their plan to open their own joke shop was kept secret from their mother of course, for Mrs. Weasley would murder them if she found out.
The twins enjoyed letting their golden snitch firework fly around the room, followed by a sparkly quaffle and two exploding bludgers. Ginny let out a small squeal when one of the bludgers exploded near her head.
Shortly after dinner, everyone began to get tired. Harry crawled into one of the small sleeping bags and scooted over to lie in between Ron and Hermione. He desperately suppressed a laugh when Hermione began to pull out a book to get some last minute studying in and Ron was frantically hissing at her to put it away. "Honestly, Hermione, term starts tomorrow. Give us a break," Ron said as he rolled over to go to sleep. Listening to Ron, for once, Hermione did slide the book back into her trunk.
"Well, I hope that my tutoring has brought you up to level for our Arithmancy class. Harry is doing excellent," Hermione muttered before also going to sleep. Harry remembered that she had helped tutor them both in the last few weeks at the Burrow. Looking one last time at his best friends before closing his eyes, Harry drifted off to sleep. It wasn't long before he was dreaming. At least, he thought he was dreaming. He felt something soft and furry brushing up against him through the sleeping bag.
"Go away, Crookshanks," Harry muttered sleepily. But it continued to brush up against his leg. Finally opening his eyes, Harry found the room to be dark. He could hear Dumbledore sleeping on the couch, a soft snore escaping from him. After waiting a few minutes for his eyes to adjust, Harry could finally see what was brushing up against him as he put on his glasses. A large black dog was silently sitting next to him. "Sirius," Harry whispered. Ron snorted lightly as Harry sat up.
Carefully sliding out of the sleeping bag so that he woke no one up, Harry quickly followed the black dog into the small bathroom down the hallway. After slowly transforming back to his human form, Sirius slowly shut the door behind them both.
Sirius Black was Harry's godfather, and he was still on the run from the Ministry of Magic, although the security had become quite lax over the last few months, according to Ron that is. To Harry's relief, Sirius hadn't been caught yet. He almost wished he could thank Cornelius Fudge for being such an ignorant man.
After sharing a brief hug, Sirius slowly sat down on the small white toilet, while Harry enjoyed resting on the edge of the sink counter. "How did you get here, Sirius?"
"Dumbledore let me in a few hours before you all arrived. I was hiding under the couch out there. He did it so I could see you before…" Sirius started to say.
Harry slowly raised an eyebrow. "Before what?" he asked.
"Nevermind," Sirius sighed. "Anyway, he did me a big favor by letting me come here to see you. Please thank him for me later."
"Well, I'm glad that you're okay, Sirius. I was beginning to worry a little." A little was nowhere near the truth. Besides the nightmares that plagued his mind from last year, Harry had kept his fear that Sirius would be caught by the Ministry deep down inside; he didn't even tell Ron or Hermione, which made him feel bad that he was keeping things from them.
"Listen, Harry. There is a very important reason why I came. I wanted to talk to you about something very important."
Harry quickly swallowed the lump in his throat. "About what?"
"Seeing as Voldemort is alive again, though some people are still having trouble believing it or people like Fudge choose not to, I want you to be extremely careful at school. I know that you might think things would be safe at Hogwarts since Dumbledore is there, but there is bound to be problems. I know it may be painful, but think of last year. Even though he was there, Dumbledore couldn't prevent the events that took place. Also, beware of any Ministry inspectors or workers that might come to Hogwarts. I wouldn't trust any of them. Since Fudge doesn't trust Dumbledore anymore, I wouldn't put it past him to keep a very close eye on the school."
"What about Snape?" Harry asked slowly.
"I wouldn't worry about him too much. I actually have seen him a few times this summer. If Dumbledore trusts Snape, then I believe you should try to do so as well."
Harry sighed loudly. Trust Snape? That would be the hardest thing for Harry to ever do, mostly because Professor Snape deeply hated Harry. He had also hated Harry's father, James Potter, when he was at Hogwarts with him. Remus Lupin had once told Harry before that Snape was jealous of James' skill at Quidditch. Snape also hated Harry's father for a joke that Sirius had played on him, in which James barely saved Snape's life.
"Sirius, did you get to read the article in the Daily Prophet about the incident at the Dueling Tournament at all?" Harry asked, shifting his feet.
"Yes, luckily I did. If you ask me, I am very surprised. You would think that they would want to stay quite, to keep everyone believing Fudge that Voldemort is not back. Honestly, I bet the Deatheaters did it not only for fun, but to throw everyone off. That attack is probably reaffirming that Voldemort is not back in Fudge's mind," Sirius explained, scratching his chin.
"Have you heard anything else, like any rumors?" Harry asked. It looked like his question surprised Sirius.
"Well, Harry, I haven't heard any structured rumors," Sirius replied.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"I mean that the rumors I have heard are either lies or rumors that could possibly have some truth behind them. Dumbledore shares an idea with me concerning some of the rumors and events that took place years ago. We both think that Voldemort is looking for something. We don't know what, but knowing him, he is probably looking for some ancient artifact or something that could make him stronger. That is why he has been quiet. That is the main reason why I want you to be careful."
"Alright," Harry replied, slightly irritated. "I will be careful."
Sirius smiled softly. "Thank you." He looked like he was going to keep on talking until there was a knock on the bathroom door. Harry's heart almost burst from his chest.
"Don't worry, if anything goes wrong at school, write to me, Harry," Sirius whispered. He quickly pulled out a small trinket from his pocket, and with a suddenly loud pop, Sirius suddenly disappeared. Harry didn't think it was possible to apparate out of the secret hideout, but it obviously wasn't apparition since he used an item to do it. Before Harry could stand up, the door was opened lightly by Ron, who stuck his head through the gap.
"What are you doing in here, Harry?" he asked, though looking very tired. Harry felt his cheeks flush.
"Um…I was just thinking to myself."
"Well, could you please think later, cause I really have to go to the bathroom!" Ron cried lightly, squirming where he stood.
"Yeah, sure," Harry muttered as he quickly walked past Ron. The bathroom door snapped shut, and Harry suppressed a small laugh. After almost stepping on George's head, Harry carefully and quickly climbed back into his sleeping bag without a sound.
So, not only was Dumbledore concerned for his safety, but Sirius was especially worried as well. It deeply bothered him, and the thought of Voldemort searching for an item or weapon to make him even more powerful was beginning to bother him even more than the thought of Dementors did.
Rolling over on to his left side, facing Hermione, Harry hoped that his first day back at Hogwarts would lift his spirits up. Just before he drifted off to sleep, after Ron had come back from the bathroom, one question remained in his mind. What was Sirius doing after his visit to Harry? He had begun to say what it was, but had stopped abruptly.
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The next morning, Harry woke up easily. He surprisingly wasn't feeling groggy or tired. Perhaps the excitement of returning to Hogwarts was finally getting to him. It also helped to know that he would be safe. After the attack at the Dueling tournament, Harry had become more tense and alert. It was almost as bad as the time of the end of the last school year. For the first month of summer, Harry was extremely alert, cautious, and sometimes afraid. He had always carried his wand in his pant's pocket. Bot now Harry was at ease, for he was finally going back to the castle.
Everyone took turns bathing and eating breakfast. Hermione accidentally spilled her hot porridge on Ron's lap when Ginny had tried to dry her hair faster with a spell and it backfired and caused the nearest lamp to burst into flames. Luckily, Ron hadn't showered, and Dumbledore put out the fire with a stream of water shooting out of the tip of his wand.
After Ron left to go take his shower, Harry took a seat next to Hermione, who had gotten a new bowl of porridge. "Good morning," she said with a bright smile. Harry nodded his head to her as he began to eat his own porridge. "By the way, Harry. Don't forget to put your Prefect badge on. Once we get on the Hogwart's Express, we have to attend a short Prefect meeting at the front of the train," Hermione explained. Listening to Hermione's words, Harry nodded and crossed over to his trunk, where he pinned his badge to his school robes.
Dumbledore left the Leaky Cauldron once Alastor Moody and several other wizards that Harry didn't recognize arrived. The large group then walked to King's Cross train station, trying very hard not to look conspicuous. Surprisingly, no one even noticed them, and Harry was sure that either Dumbledore or Moody put a spell on the whole group to hide them. Once reaching the barrier, everyone was able to slip right through with no one witnessing it.
"Have a wonderful year!" Mrs. Weasley cried as she kissed Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny on the cheek. Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley was putting all of their trunks in a compartment. After telling everyone goodbye, the group of students clambered up the steps and made their way down the train to their compartment where Mr. Weasley had stored their trunks. Ginny followed Harry, Hermione, and Ron in, while Fred and George went to visit with their friend Lee Jordan, who was just a few compartments ahead.
The train slowly began to move as Harry set Hedwig's cage down next to him. The station faded from view, ad Harry was only into a few minutes of conversation with Ron about who would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year when Hermione interrupted them by clearing her throat.
"Is there a problem?" Ron asked, seemingly annoyed.
"Not at all. It's just that Harry and I should get going up to the Prefect meeting at the front of the train. I really am curious to see who is Prefect for Slytherin. I swear, if Malfoy got it…" Hermione explained, trailing off with an agitated sigh.
"See you," Harry muttered to Ron as he followed Hermione out of the compartment and down the hallway. He could see that the scenery outside had changed, and that they were now entering the countryside as he looked out windows as they passed several compartments on the way to the front of the train.
After a few minutes of walking past full compartments and running into people they knew (Harry almost tripped and knocked Hermione over when Cho waved to him, surprisingly looking calm and happy), Hermione opened up the wooden sliding door to a compartment that was larger than the others. It didn't seem larger outside, but once you entered, it seemed to be greatly expanded. Harry had the obvious distinct feeling that it had been expanded by magic, just like the inside of Mr. Weasley's old Ford Anglia before it went wild and fled into the Forbidden Forest.
Several people were already in the room, and a rush of hot anger hit Harry as he found Malfoy to be one of them. He was sitting next to Pansy Parkinson, a fellow 5th year Slytherin. They obviously had gotten Prefect badges. Harry noticed that Hermione also looked slightly disgruntled at the sight of Malfoy with a badge.
Harry and Hermione sat slightly away from the others. Some of the new Prefects from the other houses glared at him. He recognized Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch Fletley from Hufflepuff, and they smiled warmly. Hermione opened her mouth to greet them but a tall boy to their left stood up. The badge on his chest read Headboy, and from the color of his robes, he was in Ravenclaw. "Now listen up, you lot. You have been given the great honor of becoming Prefects. My name is Brian Abernathy. I am the new Headboy for Hogwarts, and I am in Ravenclaw should you need to contact me. You are all here to be told the rules and responsibilities to being Prefects," he rambled on.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Malfoy roll his eyes. He would have laughed, because he also thought this Brian Abernathy was boring, but laughing at something that Draco Malfoy thought was funny was actually very crude.
For the next twenty minutes, Harry toned out what Brian was saying about Prefects not being able to dock points from Houses, that they were only allowed to give warnings. However, there was a small loophole that allowed them to take points away and give detentions only in extreme circumstances.
Eventually, the meeting finally ended, and the new Prefects followed by the Headboy and Headgirl began to file out of the compartment. Just as Harry and Hermione reached the door, Brian turned around and noticed him. "Ah, well, if it isn't Harry Potter. It must be so convenient for you now that Dumbledore has made you a Prefect," he sneered before stepping rudely past Hermione and walking the opposite way.
"What's his problem?" Hannah asked as she watched Brian disappear into a compartment.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "No clue," he muttered as he walked back towards the compartment where Ron and Ginny were.
"You think that being Headboy would make you respect others," Hermione said as they slid open the door and took their seats with their friends.
"So how did it go?" Ron asked as he opened a chocolate frog package. "Oh, don't worry. Ginny and I got snacks for you two also."
After sitting down, Harry and Hermione explained about the meeting, much to Ron's amusement.
"Seriously, Ron. This Brian Abernathy would make Percy look like Fred or George. He is that strict," Hermione said with a small glare.
"And the way he talked to me, he and Malfoy could become best friends," Harry breathed out as he grabbed a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"Speaking of Malfoy, did he get a Prefect badge?" Ron asked.
Both Harry and Hermione remained silent.
"Damnit," Ron muttered, looking very disgusted. He was so disgusted; he stopped eating the snacks that they bought.
"Well, at least he can't take points away from people whenever he wants," Harry said as he reached for a pasty.
"None of us can," Hermione whispered before staring at Ginny.
The young red head was coughing violently before she finally spit out a small chewed up jellybean. "Disgusting," she managed to get out as she frantically grabbed for a chocolate frog to make the bad taste go away.
"Um, Ginny. Could you please tell me what flavor that bean was?" Ron asked.
"Why?" Ginny asked angrily.
Ron's ears turned a light pink color. "Well, I'd rather have you tell me so that I don't have to try tasting it myself."
Harry laughed and Hermione looked slightly like she was going to gag.
The topic of discussion finally got away from the coughed up jellybean and moved on to other subjects. As usual, Hermione immersed herself in The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Five. Harry even joined her for a few minutes when she was reading over how to apply the Lumos and Nox spells to other objects besides wands. She even demonstrated on the lamps above (Nox candles!), and Harry followed suit by turning them back on after a few tries. Although Ron hated studying early, he eventually gave in, trying the spells out himself.
The sun soon fell on the horizon, and Harry was getting especially anxious to see the many towers of the old castle.
"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes," the driver announced over the train's magical COM.
After hurriedly putting books, snacks, and other items back into their trunks, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny left their compartment as the train came to a halt. Following after students down the steps off of the train, Ginny left them to join other fourth years. Reaching the carriages, Harry climbed in after Hermione, followed by Ron and Neville. Unfortunately, Harry didn't see or hear Hagrid.
"Hello Harry, Ron, Hermione," Neville said cheerfully.
They all welcomed him warmly, and Hermione took the inniative to say what Harry was about to. "Oh Neville, I am so happy for you." Harry and Ron quickly nodded, indicating that they were happy for him too. Neville beamed.
"Thanks," he whispered as the carriages hurtled forward. Just as they began to get closer to the castle, a steady rain began to fall. Professor McGonagall allowed them to enter the Great Hall after clambering out of the carriages.
Harry shook the rainwater off of his cloak as he sat down at the Gryffindor table. It felt incredibly great to be back for Harry. The huge hourglasses, the thousands of candles floating above; all of it eased Harry. Ron joined him in looking up at the staff table. Professor Dumbledore sat in his high chair. Both of their eyes trailed down the seats. Snape was still indeed sitting in his usual chair, much to their disgust. Next to him was a man that Harry curiously recognized. After trying to remember who he was for several minutes, it finally clicked in his mind. He glanced over at Neville, who was smiling and waving up to the man. Frank Longbottom, Neville's father, was to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.