Chapter Five:

He lay on the cold, hard floor of his cell. His clothes were tattered and torn, exposing raw cuts and gashes in his skin. His teeth chattered, and his nose bled. Footsteps echoed in the dungeon, drawing closer to him. When the footsteps stopped a shadow blocked out the trickle of moonlight that was cast on his weak body. The man slowly raised his head. A moldy piece of bread was thrown at him. He pushed himself to sit up, carefully trying to avoid his broken ankle, and picked the bread up. He brought it up to his mouth with trembling hands, and chewed it slowly.

"You look so pathetic, Lupin. With your shabby robes and empty eyes. I could almost pity you."

Remus said nothing. The expression on his faced stayed the same, empty. His eyes, on the other hand, were filled with emotion.

"I saw Potter tonight. That Weasley friend of his as well. Set the Cruciatious on that one. Curious how they were both their in one nightmare. Makes things much more easier on me."

Peter Pettigrew looked down at his prisoner.

"Why are you doing this, Wormtail? Why don't you just let me go like Harry let you go?"

"Shut it, Lupin. You are fortunate enough that I have no yet exposed Potter's little secrets to the Dark Lord."

Remus sighed, "but what use am I to you?"

Wormtail laughed, " I think those beatings have slowed you down a bit. Still have not learned, have you? Harry will come to your aide like he came to Black's. Then I'll have him in my clutches. Then I can hand him over to the Dark Lord once and for all, and gain more power. Gain power over the Dark Lord himself, think of all the possibilities! I can show the world who Peter Pettigrew really is."

"A true idiot." Remus said.

Wormtail was about to unlock the cell to beat Remus when a sharp pain hit his arm. The Dark Mark was burning.

"You're fortunate the Lord calls," his face was contorted with pain. "But be aware I will not be so easy on you next time.

Wormtail spat at Remus and apparated to Voldemort's headquarters.

Along with September first came the dismal weather that served as a reminder that summer was in fact over. Harry awoke to the sound of raindrops pelting the window like rocks. The high-speed winds sounded eerily like a human cry, and every tree in sight threatened to snap like a twig.

"Ronald!"

Harry sat up and winced as Mrs. Weasley's voice hit his eardrums. She marched into the room, and to Ron's bed where she stripped him of his maroon covers. Ron blindly reached out for them, but instead found that he had taken hold of his mother's hand. Mrs. Weasley pulled until Ron sat up groggily.

"Up. Now," she scowled at her lazy son.

Ron yawned, "but we haven't even got a train to catch."

"Which is why I allowed you to sleep in."

Harry reached for his glasses and put them on. He was surprised to find Ron's clock read half past eleven, well past the time he usually got up.

After a bit more of Mrs. Weasley's chiding, Ron finally got dressed and went downstairs for a late breakfast. Harry had just finished his. Ron comfortably sat down at his usual spot at the table, and was about to bite into a scone he drowned in jam.

Harry seemed to be staring into space. "Mrs. Weasley, what time are we leaving for Hogwarts?"

"At 3:30, Dear."

Harry was subdued in his thoughts for a few moments but spoke up again shortly after. "Could...could we leave now?"

"Now?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Now? Are you mad? I haven't finished my breakfast yet." Ron greedily bit into his scone. Drops of jam dropped onto his plate.

"I know, but- nevermind."

Hermione looked up from her book, which she was reading in the far corner of the kitchen. " Harry? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I just thought that...no, never mind. It's silly."

Mrs. Weasley placed a hand on Harry's back. "No, Harry. Tell us."

Harry sighed and pushed away his empty plate. "I just had this dream last night. Well, it was more of a nightmare."

"Of what?"

"Of...the Burrow. Death Eaters came. A lot of them, and they..." Harry shook his head.

Ron paled greatly and dropped his scone. "You don't think that's really going to happen, do you?"

"I'm not sure. It felt so real, like all the others."

Mrs. Weasley bit her lip, "Why didn't you wake myself or Arthur, Dear. We would have been willing to get up at any hour, no matter how uncivilized."

"You know I wouldn't. I couldn't. It wasn't that bad. It was probably just a normal nightmare. My scar didn't even burn."

"It's ok, Harry. Perhaps leaving now isn't such a bad idea. I'm sure Dumbledore would be more than happy to have us over a bit sooner than expected."

Mrs. Weasley took Harry and Ron's plates to the sink, and sent them upstairs to have them ensure that none of their possessions had been left behind. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley then flooed to Hogwarts, followed by Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. After a brief explanation to Dumbledore, the fellow Gryfindors were told the current password (gillyweed), and were directed to go to their common room.

"Mr.Potter?"

Harry groaned inwardly and stopped at the doorway, his back still to the headmaster.

"If I could have a word with you after the feast?"

"Yes, sir." Harry answered and walked away, picking up his pace for a moment until he reached his friends.

"What did he say?" Ron asked.

"He wants to talk to me after the feast," Harry said with exasperation.

"Uh oh..." Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Yea, I know. Whenever things like this happen both of us leave in a foul mood."

"Oh, Harry, that's not fair..."

"Shut it, 'Mione. You don't know half of it."

Hermione pursed her lips and stopped talking. Their way back to the common room was silent from that point on.

"Maybe he wants to give you your broom back, and tell you the Quidditch ban has been lifted," Ron said, throwing his luggage (which had a featherweight charm on it) in a heap next to his favorite chair.

"Or maybe," Hermione added, "He wants you to take up the DA."

"Hopefully it's both." Harry smiled at the thought of riding his broom once again.

Several hours later, a great number of voices could be heard approaching the castle. After a quick change into school robes, the four friends ventured into the Great Hall, which was just beginning to fill up with students who were drenched from the rain. The Great Hall looked magnificent with its enchanted ceiling that was bewitched to show a salmon pink sunset, similar to the real sunset outside. Ron eyed his empty golden plate with hunger, giving Harry the unpleasant image of Dudley before dinner time. He shuddered at the thought. After a few moments of Ron's complaining of the feast not starting soon enough, a terrified group of first years were ushered into the Great Hall by Mcgonagall. Harry could not believe how young they looked.

'Don't tell me we looked like that once, " he said.

"I supposed we have. Oh, they're adorable!" Hermione squeled.

"You've got to be kidding me. " Ron rolled his eyes.

Hermione shushed him just as Mcgonagall called out the first name.

"Anderson, Penny!"

A short, thin girl with auburn hair in plaits stepped up to the platform and sat down on the stool. Mcgonagall put the Sorting Hat on her head. It was so big it nearly covered her neck. A few other first years laughed at this.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called out.

"Benson, Francine!"

"Ravenclaw!"

Thirty students later, the last first year was sorted into Gryfindor. Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood up, causing his long beard to spill over onto the table. He picket it off his plate and began to speak.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. To those who are new to us, I hope you enjoy your time here, and look forward to coming back. There are just a few things I would like to go over before we begin the feast."

Ron's stomach growled, earning him a few stares and laughs. His face reddened as he shrugged. Harry could have sworn Dumbledore looked at the Gryfindor table and smiled.

"Mr. Filch has asked me to announce that the Forbidden Forest is off limits. This is for your own safety, so I hope that I am right in thinking this rule will be respected. Now, to move on to something I am sure many of you are concerned about. Last year we have had many new rules and regulations which many of us have found to be unfair, such as the Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four, which states that all student organizations and clubs are prohibited. Myself and other staff members here at Hogwarts have persuaded the Ministry to terminate these, if I may say, ridiculous rules."

The rest of Dumbledore's words were drowned out by the cheering of the students, with an exception of the confused first years. Dumbledore decided he had lost the students' attention, so with a wave of his hand allowed the food to appear. Ron's eyes lit up as he grabbed a slice of carrot cake, and downed an entire goblet of pumpkin juice in one shot.

Harry let his eyes wander to the staff table. He spotted Hagrid, who had made eye contact with Harry and nodded. Harry smiled back feebly. He decided to apologize to Hagrid for his harsh behavior before the end of last term next time he had a chance to talk to the giant in person. Next to Snape was an empty seat.

"Hey, guy?"

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.

"There's no Defense teacher..."

"You're right. I wonder why. Obviously it's a difficult position to fill, but Dumbledore never failed to."

"Yea..."

Harry spent the rest of the feast pondering why Dumbledore had not appointed a new DA teacher. It was an important subject, perhaps the most vital for the students to learn at this time. Harry's questions were soon answered at the feast's end when Dumbledore stood up.

"Before I send the prefects to direct the rest of the students off to bed, I would like to briefly discuss something," Dumbledore paused and glanced around the Great Hall before beginning again. "Some of you may have noticed as you were eating that there is an empty seat among our staff. I have chosen a very good friend of mine to fulfil the position of teaching Defense Against Dark Arts , however I regret to say they are currently taking on another job and unable to be with us. For the time being their replacement will be another friend of mine, a young woman I am sure all of you will like. Her name is Professor Tonks, and she will begin teaching next week. For the time being your Defense Against Dark Arts time will free time."

Some students cheered at this. Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione changed looks of surprise. Harry, though thrilled, noticed the sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. The first professor hired was Remus. His friends must have realized this too, because they all stopped smiling and hung their heads low.

"...lead our new comers to their common rooms, and would the rest of us please follow"

Harry snapped out of his brief lapse of deep thoughts, and stood up to follow the rest of his house back to the Gryfindor Tower.

"Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Professor, I almost forgot."

Harry did an about-face and followed the headmaster to his office, dreading the conversation he would have to take part in.
A/N: For some reason I found this chapter difficult to write. But here it is...

I don't know how frequently I can post since I'm grounded at the moment. Depends on how often I am able to sneak onto my computer to write my story and go online. Well, enjoy.