Chapter Six

Harry came out of the fire first, followed by Ron, and then by the two exchange students Leo and Blake. Finally, Arthur emerged, and the green flames disappeared. "Welcome to the House of the Black Family," said Arthur.

"Nice place," said Leo, walking further into the living room and looking around. "So who lives here?"

"Actually, nobody really," said Arthur. "It's the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix you've been recently informed of. Harry here has come to live here for the rest of the summer though, and Myself and my family use it from time to time as well. Ron and his siblings will also be staying here for the rest of the summer holiday."

"It's a very nice house," said Blake.

Mrs. Weasley walked in quickly, obviously tipped off to the party's arrival by the sudden talking from their part of the house. "OH! Welcome everyone. It's so good to meet you all."

"This is my wife, Molly Weasley," said Arthur.

"It's nice to meet you too," said Leo painfully as he was squeezed by the ecstatic mother. Blake got a hug as well. Finally, the rest of the kids came into the room, hurrying to seethe newest guests of Grimauld. Blake and Leo were seemingly overwhelmed with so many people. It was explained to them that the Weasley family was a very big family, and that Harry wasn't really part of their family, though he was considered as an honorary family member, like an adopted child.

"Well, I'm sure there's so much for you kids to discuss," said Arthur as the doorbell rang. He and Molly bustled out, leaving all the kids in the living room. They looked at each other in a strange, uneasy silence for a few seconds.

Finally, Fred and George decided to break the silence. They were the best at breaking the peace anyway. "You guys interested in making a few galleons?" asked Fred.

"We're looking for employees," added George eagerly.

"Money eh?" asked Blake. "Tell me more."

"Later," said Leo, crossing his arms. "I'm a bit more eager to learn as much about this place as possible immediately."

"Yeah," said Ron. "I was wondering when we'd get to that. This place is a lot different that America I'm sure."

Leo nodded his head toward Harry as he spoke. "What makes you so famous?" Everyone stopped talking and looked to Harry. Harry looked at his feet nervously. It was going to be weird, but he had to say it to them eventually.

"It's a… very long story," said Harry. "In England here, we've been having trouble with a rather nasty, evil wizard."

"Voldemort, right?" asked Leo.

"Right," said Harry. "I'm impressed not only that you know his name, but that you don't fear it."

"Fear it?" asked Blake. "It's just a name."

"Well, for the past sixteen or more years, everyone in the country has been so afraid of Voldemort that they dare not even say his name," said Ginny. "He's very powerful…"

"Lots of people were killed by him before I was born," said Harry. "No one could beat him, except perhaps Albus Dumbledore, our Headmaster at school… But Voldemort came after me and my family when I was just a baby. He killed my parents easily, used the forbidden curse, Aveda Kadavre, on them, murdering them. He tried to do the same thing to me, but I was protected by some strange magic I don't even completely understand myself. The spell rebounded and took him out. He lost all his power that instant and went into hiding."

"Wow," said Leo. "I can see why that would make you a hero."

"He disappeared, and everyone was able to live peacefully again," continued Harry. "Everyone mostly thought he was dead, but some, like Dumbledore, knew better… Voldemort successfully returned to full power over a year ago, and he's trying to take over again."

"Ooh," said Blake. "We'd only just heard a few things in letters from Dumbledore. My mom almost didn't let me come because she fond out it was potentially dangerous. Albus had to convince her in a separate letter that Hogwarts was the safest place in England from this dark wizard."

"It'd be impossible to explain to you the severity of things around Lord Voldemort," said Harry. "I'm not saying it's above you, mind you. It's just that, you'd kinda have to be living here for the past sixteen years to really understand it all."

"And this Voldemort guy doesn't like you very much, does he?" asked Leo with a smirk.

"No, no he doesn't," said Harry with a laugh. "He pretty much would like nothing more than to kill me personally. It's what he spends most of his time thinking about nowadays."

"No pressure," said Blake. "God. Talk about fuckin' up your life pretty bad."

"You have no idea," said Harry. "He's taken away everything…" Harry looked down again. He started to feel sad again, and it took all of his ability to suppress his depression and rage. "Voldemort has stolen from me any semblance of a real family I could ever have. My only relatives are hateful, spiteful devils, bastards that want nothing more than to see me locked up in a loony bin somewhere. I could've been so happy, so normal. But now…"

Harry clenched his fists so tightly it began to hurt. Everyone noticed his anger building. Leo's eyes glanced to his fists at his sides, though his head didn't move. "This is obviously not a good topic of discussion anymore," he said slowly and carefully. Perhaps we should find something else of which we can speak."

"Yeah," said Blake with a nod of his head. "Tell us about Hogwarts. That's what I want to know more than anything else. Your school is apparently very different from our own."

"Oh boy," said Ron. "Where do we start?"

Harry laughed hard out loud, clutching his stomach as he tried to steady himself. Everyone stared at him. "I'm sorry," said Harry. "I just thought of something. We need Hermione here… Just think of how she'd go about answering them. 'You should read Howgwarts: A History.' She's crazy about books, very smart, and sometimes a know it all."

"Annoying huh?" asked Blake.

"Not really," said Ron. "She can be a bit bossy, but she's our best friend. She, Harry and I have been in this since the beginning of our first year at school. We've been inseparable ever since then come to think of it."

"She's always harping on about having read this book all about the school," said Harry, calming his laughter. "She knows everything about it. I mean everything."

"It's protected," said Ron. "Highly protected. It's almost impossible to just break in, even with magic. Even Voldemort would have trouble getting through all the security spells and magical barriers."

"It's impossible to apparate or disapparate anywhere on the school grounds," said Ginny. "Another topic Hermione has brought up several times."

"It's a castle," said Harry, continuing, "and it's been around for hundreds of years, founded by four very powerful wizards, all friends in the beginning."

"The beginning?" asked Leo. "What's that mean?"

"Their alliance fell apart," said Harry. "Their names were Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw."

"The houses," said Blake.

"Right," said Harry. "They cooperated harmoniously for quite some time, leading the school by democracy and community, but someone screwed it up for everyone. His name was Salazar Slytherin. Though wise and powerful, he had some dark ambitions, and he believed that only the purest blood students be taught. He didn't like having anyone muggle-born in Hogwarts. The others disagreed, and their disagreement led to their disbandment. Ever since that day, long ago, the school had been divided, and there has been one Headmaster at a time."

"Slytherin eh?" echoed Leo. "His is the house you guys were warning us about. Does it have to do with his arrogance and such a you just explained."

"Yes," said Ron. "Every dark, evil wizard has come out of that house. There isn't one good wizard or witch in that lot. They're just a bunch of gits."

"And my friends are staying with members of that house!" asked Leo. "How dangerous are these students?" he demanded.

"Hard to say," said Harry. "Some are worse than others. Most of them are on a first-name basis with Voldemort himself though. Watch out for someone with the last name of Malfoy."

"What!" Blake almost shouted. "So they'll be living with those evildoers and being forced to stay in their house during the year?"

"That's what I was warning you about," said Harry with a sigh. "But I wouldn't try and worry too much. Not only will it not accomplish much, but I don't think they're in any real mortal peril, because not many of the wizards out there are willing to let others know what they are. I happen to know because I've been with them while they were with Voldemort. Not many others do."

"Yeah," said Ron. "They're no doubt being extremely cautious because everyone's suspicious of everything with Voldemort's return. The most danger your friends might be in is hearing a whole lot of slanderous words and filthy insults as Harry."

"They don't like you?" asked Leo.

"Nope," said Harry. "I vanquished their hero as a baby. It's got them pretty pissed off."

"That and the fact that they've not held the Quiditch cup since he started playing for Gryffindor," said Ron with a huge grin.

"Quiditch!" asked Blake. "There we go! Something we recognize!"

"You guys play?" asked Fred and George simultaneously.

"Definitely," said Leo with a huge smile. "Quiditch is life. Everything else doesn't matter to us. We love the sport."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Ron. "This is perfect! We have enough for a seven man team! I'm Gryffindor's Keeper."

"Seeker," said Harry, raising his hand slightly.

"A tough occupation on the field," said Leo. "I know. I'm a Seeker too, though I substitute in as a Chaser every now and then."

"Nice one," said Harry.

"We're ex-beaters," said Fred and George together. "The best Gryffindor's had in years. We don't play anymore though. Officially anyways. We've left school to purse a more worthwhile cause in our eyes."

"And I'm unofficially a Chaser," said Ginny meekly. "I played as Seeker last year for a while for Gryffindor, but I'm going to try out as Chaser this year."

"She's a shoo-in," said Harry. "She's brilliant. Hey, you guys got brooms?"

"Yep," said Leo. "Wouldn't go anywhere without them. They're still on the way with our luggage though."

"I too am a Chaser," said Blake. "Leo and I make a great team up."

"Well, it's settled then," said Ginny. "We'll just have to play as soon as your things get here."

"So tell us more about the school," said Leo. "Anything you can think of."

Harry and Ron did most of the speaking, while the twins and Ginny spoke in turns every now and then. They spent a lot of time talking about most of the teachers, filling them in on their habits and strict rules. They took great delight in tell them how terrible Snape was, and if they had any chance, stay away from him as much as possible.

"It'd be best for you if you act like you hate Harry," said Ron. "It's bad enough that you are in Gryffindor," because he hates Gryffindors, but he hates Harry more. If you act like you loath him, you'll get bonus points with him."

"Nah," said Leo. "Sounds like this Snape guy is a real jerk most of the time. I don't act to please the enemy."

"Yeah," said Blake. "If he is going to hate us, so be it."

"A care-free attitude," said Fred.

"Definitely good for business," added George.

"You'd go real far in our line of work," said Fred.

"You should definitely join us."

"So it's our sixth year," said Harry, which means we begin the first of two years of NEWT level classes."

"We are in the same boat as you then," said Blake. "We had to choose our courses to suit our career aims."

"Have you guys chosen your classes yet?" asked Leo.

"No, we haven't," replied Ron. "It just occurred to me that we haven't even received our OWL reports yet. We don't know what grades we received this past year, so we can't choose yet. I imagine we have to be getting them soon."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I hadn't thought about it at all until now. What have you two got?"

"Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts are the required courses of course," said Leo. "They're required for being an Auror."

"Oh, you're interested in being an Auror?" asked Harry. "Amazing! I'm planning the same career."

"No shit," said Leo. "Well , those four are the one you'll have to take. I'll be in them as well, so we'll have those together."

"I just hope I'll be accepted into the classes I need," said Harry. "McGonagall told me I wasn't doing so well in Snape's Potions class, and I was just below what she accepted in her Transfiguration."

"We also get a couple optional classes," said Leo. "I was contemplating History of Magic lessons with… Binns was it? But I understand he's pathetically boring."

"Tell me about it," said Ron. "Harry and I only survived thanks to Hermione's notes, because we could never stay awake. Even she admitted every now and then that she had trouble paying attention to that ghost of a teacher."

"And then there was Divination," said Blake. "But I have absolutely no capacity for that subject, just like Leo."

"Care of Magical Creatures sounds like fun though," said Leo. "Some guy named Hagreed?"

"Hagrid," said Harry, grinning widely. "His course gets a bit… interesting at times, but it's loads of fun. Hagrid's a great friend of ours too. He's a terrific person. He's also huge compared to a tall human."

"So I picked that with Blake," said Leo. "Looks like fun. And then there was Astronomy, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and a whole lot of classes."

"One of the newer classes caught our eye though," said Blake. "Muggle Concepts and Artifacts. Supposedly it's all about what muggles use in daily life, not being able to use magic, and how the compare to what we use."

"It's sure to be a BS course," said Leo.

"BS?" asked Harry, Ginny, and Ron at once.

"Bull Shit," said Leo, looking at them, confused. They'd evidently not been exposed to the term much.

"Ah," said Harry. "Gotcha. So are those the courses you're taking?"

"Yep," said Leo. "Blake and I picked the same ones in order to be together. We're kind of inseparable, like you and Hermione. Where I go, Blake goes, and vice versa."

"Best buds," said Blake. They slapped each other a high five as a host of guests walked in on them. Harry knew them all. It was Remus Lupin, Tonks, Percy, McGonagall, and to Harry's great displeasure, Severus Snape.

They were all accompanied by Molly and Arthur Weasley.

"Wow," said Fred. "What a crowd."

"To what do we owe the honor?" asked George with a mocking bow.

"That's really cute," said McGonagall. "I'm here with Ronald's and Harry grades from their OWL tests."

"Speak of the Devil," said Leo. "We were just discussing their OWL's, wondering when they'd be arriving."

"You must be Leo Arson and Blake Stintley then," said McGonagall, her eyes darting to them. She smiled sweetly. She gave off the usual aura she always did: Fair, yet strict, friendly, yet always serious. "It's good to meet you both. I am of course to be your Head of House this year. I'm sure the boys here have been or will soon be describing all about Hogwarts and some of their… adventures."

"Not many adventures yet," said Blake with a smile. "But we're learning loads still."

"Well, welcome to England," said Remus with a great smile. He shook their hands. "I'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher this year. I'm also a friend of Harry and the Weasleys, so I daresay you may be seein' me around here often."

The only one of the teachers not yet introduced was the tall, pale man with greasy, long black hair and a pointed goatee on his chin. "Professor Snape," he said coldly, his arms crossed over his chest. He apparently didn't care to shake the exchange students' hands.

Leo didn't care much for what Snape wanted though, it seemed.

He held his hand out to Snape, leaving it extended for a few seconds as Snape stared at him. "I understand that I may not be acquainted with your customs, but it is polite to properly introduce oneself by shaking a man's hand. You can shake my hand, Professor, or I can give you a hug." Leo grinned wickedly at the incensed man towering over him.

Snape couldn't just stand there and look like an idiot in front of everyone, so he was forced to give the boy a handshake. "The name's Leo Arson," said Leo. "I look forward to my Potions classes with you, Sir."

Snape withdrew his hand as Blake extended his own to him. Snape rolled his eyes and sighed, forced again to shake hands and be decent.

"Anyway, back to business boys," said McGonagall tersely. She handed Ron an Harry a piece of paper each, obviously a report card of sorts with their courses from last year listed along with the grades they received from their exams.

Name of Student: Harry Potter

Courses Taken:

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Potions: O

Astrology: A

History of Magic: P

Divination: P

Trasfiguration: E

Charms: O

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Selected Career Aim: Auror

Required Courses for 6th Year: Defense Against the Dark Arts; Potions; Transfiguration; Charms; two Electives

You have been permitted to take all of the above courses at NEWT level due to attaining grades appropriate for advancement in your sixth year of education.

If you have any questions about the classes, or should you want to change your career and learn more about other options, contact the Ministry via owl only, or visit anytime between the hours of 9am and 9pm, Monday through Saturday, noon to seven on Sundays.

"Wow," said Harry. "This doesn't seem possible." He looked up at his teachers. He had felt comfortable about some classes when coming out of the exams of course, but didn't think he had attained the necessary grade of an O in Potions, and he even had a little doubt about his grade in Transfiguration, which he had to have at least an E in to be accepted for NEWT.

"Believe me," said Snape coldly. "I was just as surprised as you are now. Perhaps you proved yourself to not be as dimwitted as you let on in my classes."

"Now, now, Snape," said Remus with a smile. "Please try and contain your glee." Snape scoffed audibly, but everyone ignored him.

"I'm very proud of you Harry," said McGonagall. "I have, of course, accepted you into my NEWT class this year and look forward to you doing well. I must warn that it will be very difficult, but I have all confidence in you. My promise still stands from last year's meeting. I will give you whatever help you need."

She turned to face Ron, who seemed to be equally as pleased with his own marks. "You did very well also Ronald," she said with a smile. "Should you so choose, you will be accepted into my Transfiguration class as well." She turned and walked out of the room with Mrs Weasley.

"Of course, I wasn't the least bit surprised about your grade in DATDA," said Lupin. "This year will also be a little more difficult, but it's nothing you can't handle. Patronuses are NEWT level, and you didn't have much trouble there, did you?"

Harry beamed at him, smiling without reserve. He was as happy as he could be. He had a chance at being an Auror! He was going to pass, no matter what it took. "It's very nice to meet you both," said Remus to the new boys. "It'll be interesting to see how you do with my classes."

Remus left as well. Snape lingered for a moment, staring down at Harry. Harry had the feeling that Snape had still not forgotten that he had witnessed Snape's worst memory of his father when they were students. Harry felt immediately after a strong pang of guilt. Though he hated to admit it, and though he knew Snape wasn't the nicest kid in school either, he knew he didn't deserve the torture he suffered. Harry would be pissed too if he were in Snape's shoes.

The professor stalked out of the room without a word. Percy was there with Arthur and Tonks. The introduced each other until the two boys were well enough acquainted.

"Your luggage's arrived," said Arthur as they ended. "Got here just as everyone else did. All your stuff is in the front hall."

"Dad!" said Ron quickly. "Can we go outside and play Quiditch with Leo and Blake, now that their brooms are here?"

"Of course," said Arthur.

"All right!" said Ginny, dashing out of the room, presumably to get her broom.

"As soon as you help Leo and Blake unpack their things," added Mr Weasly quickly.

End Chapter Six

Ten pages! Holy hell! That's got to be the longest ever. Well, not much going on, except a little characterization of the two new main characters. For anyone who is wondering, Leo and Blake, and perhaps some of their American friends, will be playing a major role in this story. They won't get all the spotlight mind you, but they are very important to the story. They've got some strange customs of their own magical world up their sleeve that they have yet to reveal.

One of those strange customs is the long flat case slung over Leo's shoulder. What is it, you ask? You'll have to read the next chapter or two to find out. Ha!