Chapter Four: Aboard the Hogwarts Express
On September 1st, Harry woke up with a start. He had had another dream about a phoenix. He knew that it wasn't Voldemort sending these visions, because he had mastered occulmency, and because the phoenix song would be fatal to him. Why was this one phoenix invading his dreams? The phoenix looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it before.
Harry got up, and stumbled into bathroom to take a quick shower. Feeling much more alert, he put on his Hogwarts uniform, shrunk his trunk, released Hedwig, and ventured downstairs. When he got to the kitchen, he found himself looking at a strange girl, about his age.
"Wotcher, Harry," the girl greeted, tripping over the chair as she walked over to the stove. "Are you ready for school?"
"Mornin' Tonks," replied, instantly recognizing the clumsy auror. "I'm as ready as I will be. At least now, I won't stutter like an idiot when Snape asks me a question."
"How's my disguise? And how did you recognize me?" Asked Tonks.
"I think the way the chair seemed to hop into your path was a dead giveaway."
"Anyways, I have two orders of business today. First, you need to wear this at all times," she said, throwing him a box. Harry opened it, and discovered that it was a wand holster, made out of dragon hide and demiguise fur. It prevented the wand from being summoned, and was invisible to everyone but the person it was strapped to.
"Thank you," said Harry, looking up, or rather down, at her.
"It's not from me—it's from Dumbledore. He said that you would know the limits of wandless magic, so I won't bore you with that, but you should have your wand on you at all times, as well as an emergency portkey. To draw your wand, just imagine it coming to your hand, and with a flick of your wrist, is should come right out. Otherwise, it will stay in the holster."
Harry clipped the wand into his holster, and mounted his holster to his upper arm. It would also be mountable on his back, at his waist, or on his leg, but he decided to try it on his arm first. After that was taken care of, and he was getting breakfast, Ron walked in.
"Good morning, Harry and..." Ron trailed off.
"I've been teaching you potions all summer, and you can't even recognize me?" Tonks asked.
"Oh, Good morning Tonks. What's the disguise for?" Ron asked, noticing that she was a few inches shorter than usual, and was wearing Gryffindor school robes.
"I'm going to be riding the Hogwarts Express with you two, just to make sure nothing happens. No sense in alerting any potential death eaters that there will be aurors on the train. Also, I'm sure Harry is going to kill me for this, but I have been assigned to oversee his quidditch practices."
They ate a quick breakfast, and before long, it was time to go to platform nine and three quarters. Ginny, Ron, and Tonks would take a portkey when they got the signal from Mad-Eye. Harry would teleport there, and meet the others in the last compartment on the train. With a swish of his robes, Harry found himself behind the magical gateway at platform nine and three quarters.
"Watch out for that one, "muttered a disembodied voice belonging to Mad-Eye, who was under an invisibility cloak. "He's up to no good."
Harry looked up towards the front of the track, to see Draco Malfoy saying goodbye to his mother, with Crabbe and Goyle right behind him. Harry decided to climb on the train finally, because of Mad-Eye's constant muttering about security. Ron and Hermione were sitting in that compartment with Tonks, Once inside, Moody decided to go back to Grimmauld place, and with the words "Constant Vigilance," he was gone.
They spent to train ride talking about what the upcoming school year would be like. Hermione had studied a lot of theory over the summer, and with a few hours in the room of requirement, she would be up to speed with the rest of them. Tonks entertained them on the train ride by telling them about the dumbest criminals she had arrested.
"So anyways, Kingsley and I are sneaking up on the guy, and I tripped over a log. The guy turns around and asks me if I am his master. I quickly morph into the best Voldemort impression that I can make, since I haven't seen him. I tell him 'Of course I am, you idiot,' and he kisses the hem of my robes. I stunned him right there, and took him to Azkaban. As I left his cell, he was still worshiping me."
They all shared a good laugh over this. The train was traveling through the countryside now, and it was starting to get a little cloudy outside. After ten minutes, it was almost black outside, and streaks of lightning illuminated the mountains.
"Looks like we have a big storm brewing here," said Tonks, looking out the window.
"I hope the train makes it through all right," said Harry.
"It will. This is a magical train. It can't be affected by the weather at all."
At that very moment, the lights in the compartment went out. There was the sound of tortured metal, and the train was thrown over onto its side. It was completely black inside the compartment. Harry gingerly stood up, rubbing his head. He was going to have one heck of a headache tomorrow.
With a flick of his wrist, his wand flew into his hand. "Lumos," he said, and the compartment was filled with light. Tonks lay on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from the head. Ron and Hermione were quickly awake from the light, and both drew their own wands. Harry administered a quick healing spell, which slowed the flow of blood from the gash in the auror's head.
"Let's see what's going on, "Hermione said.
"Alohamora," said Ron, pointing his wand at the door. The doorknob glowed green, and a puff of smoke appeared, forming the dark mark. The smoke quickly dissipated. "How do we get out of here?" he asked.
"I don't know, Harry replied, looking at the windows, to find they had been blacked out. "Evanesco," he said, remembering what had happened at the zoo. The spell bounced harmlessly off the wall, and dissipated.
Suddenly, Hermione said "Fracta spells on the count of three. One Two Three. Fracta!"
Three bursts of blue light shot out of their wands, and hit the wall of the train. The combined force of the spells was enough to break through the wards set on the train by death eaters. The entire wall (or ceiling, depending on how you were standing) blew apart, and pieces of metal flew into the death eaters who were standing guard.
"Portus," said Harry, forcing a portkey into Ron and Hermione's hands. They instantly disappeared. He didn't want them to get injured in this battle. "Hey, Bella," he shouted to the killer of his godfather.
"How did you get out here? Avada Kedavra." She was screaming in rage. Some of the students, who were being marched out of the train now gasped.
With a wave of his wand, a fragment of wreckage flew into the path of the spell, completely blowing up in the process. White-hot fragments of metal rained down on the two of them. Sighs of relief were heard from the Hogwarts students. Harry decided to retaliate. "Pridem Dormio," Harry whispered. This was a charm that was unblockable except my one spell, and Bellatrix only cast a standard blocking spell. His curse shot right through her shield, and she fell to the ground. One death eater down, many to go.
Harry fought for about ten minutes, before Fawkes showed up and disappeared just as fast in a flash of blue flames. Harry had stunned five death eaters, and put the sleeping spell on them, when Dumbledore, accompanied by a force of almost twenty aurors, and a ton of normal ministry law enforcement agents, the tables were quickly turned. Upon their arrival, they cast anti-apparition wards, so the Death Eaters couldn't escape. In less than five minutes, all of the Death Eaters were in a pile on the ground, in magical handcuffs, which prevented animagus and metamorphmagus transformations, magic, and apparition from being used by the person in the cuffs.
"Where's Tonks," Dumbledore asked, breaking free of the aurors and walking over to Harry.
"She's unconscious. Follow me." Harry replied.
Dumbledore followed Harry down the tracks until they reached the last car. When they walked through the hole the trio had blasted, Dumbledore took one look at her, and made a portkey to take her to St. Mungo's.
"Go take her to St. Mungo's, and I'll get the students to Hogwarts." Said Dumbledore.
With a familiar jerk at the navel, Harry disappeared with Tonks. They instantly appeared in a very familiar room at St. Mungos. The lobby was a mess. Dozens of students were in there. Harry walked up to the desk.
"I need a healer," he said. "She's in critical condition," he added, motioning to Tonks.
In 30 seconds, a healer in lime green robes showed up, and Harry followed him, levitating Tonks behind him. The healer led him down a hallway, into a wing of St. Mungos that wasn't listed on the map.
"Mr. Potter. I'm afraid that there is nothing more you can do. Why don't you go join your classmates for the feast? She will live, but it may be a while before she is fully recovered." Said the healer, after two hours.
"Ok, but please firecall Professor Dumbledore or me as soon as anything changes."
"Sure, I can do that."
Harry instantly teleported directly to the doors outside the Great Hall. He didn't want to cause a lot of disruptions by appearing in the Great Hall. He saw the first years coming up the steps behind him. Ignoring all of the stares, he walked to the Gryffindor table, and sat down between Ron and Hermione.
"How's Tonks?" Asked Hermione.
"She's not looking very good now, but the healer says that she'll be fine. Magical medicine is really good." Harry replied.
"I know," said Ron. "Once Dad told me about this muggle who actually died from the Flu. Can you believe that? Here Madam Pomfrey can give you a potion, and you will be better in five minutes."
Hermione opened her mouth, but at that time the hall quieted down. McGonagall was leading a group of scared looking first years in. The hat was set on the stool, and described the houses. This was the first year that it didn't sing. In total, Gryffindor got 7 new students, Ravenclaw got 5, Hufflepuff got 6, and Slythern got 8.
Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. First years should know that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits. All students should note that there is a 10:30 curfew in effect, because of the increased threat of Lord Voldemort. He attacked the train, and who knows what will happen next. On a lighter note, I am pleased to announce the return of Professor Lupin as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry Potter will be filling in for him at the full moon. Nomel Spord."
Food appeared, and they ate, while discussing the attack on Hogwarts. After the feast, the fifth year students took the first years to the feast, and the Trio followed Dumbledore to his office. However, by the time they got to it, the Gargoyles had already closed.
"Start naming candies." Said Harry.
"What?" Asked Hermione.
"Chocolate Frog," said Ron.
"Lemon Drop"
"Sherbet Lemon"
"Mars Bars"
"Skiving Snackboxes?"
The gargoyles jumped aside. "Skiving Snackboxes?" Hermione asked, shaking her head.
They ascended the chairs. "Come in," said Dumbledore. "It was most amusing watching you attempting to gain entrance to my office. Skiving Snackboxes are very useful for the boring staff meetings. I need to stock up on them, he said, jotting something down on a sheet of parchment."
"Anyways, Professor Dumbledore, We were wondering if there was any way that we could take all of our NEWTS this year."
"We know that this would require a lot of work outside of classes, but there's always the room of requirement, where we can put up a time spell, if needed."
"I think that you should have no problem with arranging that. You have my permission to be out after the curfew, not that you need it, being an assistant professor." he said, nodding to Harry. "We never sent your Hogwarts letters, because you all ready had all of your books."
"You can add and subtract points, as well as assign detentions at all times, not just when you are teaching, but I ask you to be fair about it. Ron, you are still prefect, and the other prefect is obviously still Hermione. There will be a prefect meeting tomorrow morning, since the one on the train never happened."
"Thank you," said Harry.
"Now, for your NEWTS. Ron and Harry, you will take Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration over the Christmas break, so you might want to keep in practice. Tonks has agreed to prepare you for this in the Room of Requirement with the usual time spell, Friday at 7:00 until 10:00 outside time. You will take the rest of your NEWTS again at the end of the year. This year, you three will be taking classes with the seventh years. Even though you all can easily do all of the spells, I ask that you pretend to have some difficulty, so Voldemort's spies don't' get too suspicious."
"Thank you, sir." Said Harry. "Is there any way that I could take the Muggle Studies OWL and NEWT?"
"I'm sure that could be arranged. That may be helpful for applying to become an auror. You will need to know how to communicate with muggles. Anyways, I need to go buy some Lemon Drops before the store closes. Before, I go, Harry, here is your assistant Professor badge. The curfew doesn't apply to any of you. I believe your father liked that particular advantage when he was Head Boy."
The Trio stifled a laugh at Dumbledore's addiction to Lemon Drops.
"Thank you," said Harry and Hermione at the same time. "Well, I hope you make it on time," Said Hermione, trying hard not to laugh.
Dumbledore disappeared with a swish of his cloak. Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked down the steps. It was past curfew, and they decided to patrol the halls for a while and talk. As they passed the entrance hall, they heard voices. Harry threw his invisibility clock to Hermione and Ron, and became invisible himself. They walked into the room. In the middle was Vincent Crabbe, and he was talking to a man in a black cloak.
"Light Charms on three. One, Two, Three." Said Harry.
"Lumos Solaris," They whispered. The combined light illuminated the massive hall. The cloaked figure started to run, but he saw a stunning spell flying at him. He began to duel to Harry. They fought like crazy. Spells basted holes in the wall, and neither one showed signs of giving up. Crabbe was trying to escape, but Ron and Hermione stunned him, and joined Harry. Finally, Harry fired four spells in rapid succession confusing the cloaked figure, "Expecto Patronum Stupefy Dormio Flippendo." A silver stag erupted from his wand, masking the other spells. The cloaked figure never had a chance. He was stunned, and blasted into a wall. He fell to the ground.
Snape emerged from the shadows. "Just what are you doing?"
He found three wands in his face. "For your information, I'm now an assistant professor, Hermione and Ron are Prefects. We are allowed to be out after curfew, and we just caught one of your students out after curfew, conversing with a cloaked stranger in the entrance hall, who didn't have a visitor badge."
"Well, if that's the case, why the mess?"
"He was conversing with a cloaked figure, who we now know is a Death Eater."
"Prove it." Snape Sneered.
Harry withdrew a bottle of veritaserum, and put three drops in Crabbe's mouth. Snape looked like he was about to have a heart attack, after seeing Harry armed with veritaserum.
"What's your name?"
"Vincent Lucius Crabbe."
"Who were you talking with?"
"I have no idea. My father told me to meet some one down here at 11:30."
"Are you a Death Eater?"
"No, but I plan to become one someday."
Harry administered an antidote. "Is that enough for you," He asked Snape. "This is a matter for the Headmaster. Portus, he said, pointing his wand at a piece of wreckage.
"Now let's get this cleaned up. Dobby," Harry called. With a loud crack, Dobby appeared.
"Yes Harry Potter Sir," the elf said excitedly.
"Would you please get this cleaned up tonight? If you can work it into your schedule, I will get you a lot of socks, so you can mix and match."
"Thank you Harry Potter sir. You is being too kind."
The Trio, Crabbe, Snape, and the Prisoner grabbed the portkey, and reappeared in Dumbledore's office. Snape even looked mildly impressed at Harry for making a portkey, before his face returned to its usual sneer. Ten minutes later, Dumbledore appeared, with a giant bank of Lemon Drops over his shoulder.
"What brings such an unlikely group to my office?" Dumbledore asked.
The Trio explained what they had found. They interrogated Crabbe again, then decided to find out who the cloaked figure was a Death Eater. They called the Ministry, and Dumbledore told the auror who arrived that Harry had dueled him. The auror said that he would put in a recommendation for Harry to become an auror. Dumbledore sent them to bed, advising them that they would be able to skip the first day of classes, just fine, and that when they woke up, they were to go straight to his office. Finally, at seven in the morning, they stumbled through the portrait. Hermione walked up the girl's staircase, and Harry and Ron walked up the boy's staircase. When they got there, their dorm mates were up, and asked what had happened. They briefly told them before falling asleep in their robes.
Review Responses:
Milky Neon: Thanks for catching a little error. Harry got 8 OWLS, and Ron got 7. I was copying and pasting, so I guess I completely forgot to change that number at the bottom. I've added it to my to-do list, and it will be fixed sometime. I'm kinda doing this outside my schoolwork, because I have to keep my grades up, so I generally have to write this in the evenings. That's why there are so many typos...As always, Thanks for reviewing.
Egyptian Flame: Thank you for reviewing. Remember that they are in a room with a time spell, so one day outside is almost a month inside. I needed for Harry to do a lot of training over the summer, but didn't like the idea of time turners, because 25 Harry's is the last thing we need. ;-). I decided to invent (?) a time spell, which would change the way time flows in a room. This won't be a super-power Harry story, and his wandless magic will be limited, but he will be more powerful than Dumbledore.
Next Update: Before September 29. Please check my profile for updates.