Chapter Five:

Harry awoke feeling more rested than he had in ages. The sour mood he had been in since Professor Lupin had vanished was gone and he couldn't figure out why. He got dressed and woke Ron up. Soon the two of them were in the common room waiting for Hermione, once it was complete the Trio headed down to breakfast. They gasped as the entered the Great Hall, at the staff table sat Professor Lupin looking quite a bit peaky.

The only thing Harry, Ron and Hermione felt like talking about was his return. They were soon joined by Ginny who was just as excited about it. With a great swoosh owls began pouring into the room dropping off letters and parcels to their designated recipients. Harry was quite surprised to see Hedwig and a unknown owl flying towards him. He hadn't sent any letters out using Hedwig and was puzzled trying to figure out where she had gone. He took the note from her and gave her a bit of bacon before she flew away again. The second owl was carring a medium package. He removed it from the owl's leg and waited for it to leave. However, it just sat and stared at him indignantly as though expecting something.

"Oh, I bet your jealous that Hedwig got a piece of bacon, eh? Well, here you are," He said as he handed it a piece. The owl gratefully took it from him and flew out the window.

"Who's all the mail from?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry's answer was cut off as his rival, Draco Malfoy, strolled in through the doors of the Great Hall.

"Ah, yes Potty, who is all the mail from? Surely no one cares enough about a nutter like you to write you anything." he drawled as passed them on the way to the Slytherin table.

"Watch it Malfoy," Hermione warned.

"I think you're the one who better watch it, Granger. Mudbloods like you don't last long in the real world," Malfoy snapped and continued on his way.

"Ignore that little self-righteous git, Hermione. He's not worth it." Ron said quietly.

"Well, one thing's for sure, he's certainly back to normal," Hermione muttered, "So what did you get Harry?"

"This one is from Fred and George." He said pointing to the parcel and while reading the letter, "Their business is doing well and they sent me a free sampler of stuff."

"What about the letter Hedwig dropped off. Who's it from?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure. I didn't send her off to anyone recently," Harry trailed off as he opened the letter in question, "It's from Professor Lupin."

Dear Harry,

I just arrived this morning. I know you have a lot of questions so meet me in the Shreiking Shack at midnight.

See you then,

Remus

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait until tonight to ask questions. Come on, we'll be late for Potions," Hermione reminded them. Groaning the guys got up to follow her.

Draco caught up to Professor Lupin in the Hall.

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked, not bothering with greetings

"It depends on what it is, but I suppose I owe you one for helping to save me last night," the man replied.

"Can you bring her down to the Great Hall for me?"

"If by 'her' you mean Kendra, then yes I can. May I ask why you want me to?"

"I don't feel like talking to her."

"Had another row?" Lupin asked out of curiosity.

Draco ignored the question, muttered his thanks and headed off to bed.

Lupin entered the common room around noon and was surprised to see Kendra sitting in a chair near the fire reading a book.

"Good morning, Kendra," he said.

"Good morning, Mr. Lupin," she replied, looking up from her book.

"How did you sleep?" he asked as he sat in the chair across form her.

"Very well, thank you," she responded as she set the book on the floor next to the chair.

"Do you feel up for a game of wizard's chess?"

"I don't see why not," Kendra said after a moments thought.

Midway into their second game, Lupin asked her a question that had been bugging him for most of the day.

"Kendra, I've been meaning to ask. You said you lived with your grandparents, what happened to your real parents?"

Kendra looked up startled, "My father died when I was young and though our home was safe, it was far away from people and my mother wanted to see the world. She left one day, promising to come back after a year of travel. However, she got tied up in London and was killed by a group of renegade Death Eaters, all of whom were thrown into Azkaban and died shortly after."

"I see," The professor replied, as he moved his bishop across the board, "Check."

Kendra looked at the board for a moment and moved a pawn. "Checkmate."

At about three Kendra retired to her room to get ready for dinner. She glanced at the bed and saw that the house elves had placed a school uniform on the bed for her. She showered and changed. When she glanced in the mirror she decided to leave her hair hanging down. Whenever she got it wet it always developed a slight wave.

She left the room and saw Lupin waiting for her. As they left he began to explain the sorting ceremony to her.

"Well, everyone will already be there. So I expect Dumbledore will make a few announcements and then I'll escort you to a stool sitting up by the staff table. The Sorting Hat talks, so be wary of what it says. The advice is often quite good," Lupin chuckled quietly, "So you sit on the stool and put the hat on your head and it'll tell you what house you belong in. Then you can go sit with you new housemates and follow them back to the house common room. No doubt, Professor Dumbledore will have assigned the female prefect of each house to be your guide depending on what house you're in. They should know which room is yours."

"It sounds easy enough." Kendra said as they reached the doors to the Great Hall and heard Dumbledore begin his speech.

"Tonight will go a bit differently for others. As many of you have noticed, the Sorting Hat sits before you. We will be welcoming a new student to our school. I trust you will all make her feel at home here. Kendra, will you please step forward?"

"That's your cue," Remus whispered.

As Kendra walked into the room her hair fanned out behind her, sparkling in the candlelight. She walked with such confidence and grace that she hardly seemed to touch the ground. She paused near the hat, as the brim split open and it began to speak.

"This night we add one,

Who will finish what was begun.

Before the year has passed

Two must do what is asked.

By year's end eight shall

Disappear from our midst,

To complete a quest

If you get the jidst.

Though you may not understand it

Take heed to this prophecy

One and all.

For the Heirs among us

Must save us all.

Ap Elvahim mit ven twa morna,

Sa Morgan kenimira avorna,

Kwan him un mel mit fa abay,

Ap tem twa kardum twa kenday.

Kwan mora apven da twa gola,

Wan kit Thomasi sunu sola

Un kit Morgani ven ap nilo,

Kwi fin Thomas Morganun vilo.

Unma twa vili unkrindono,

Asami si soll yun tiomo

Un fin twa vi sodan un poro

Un porodan indo twa koro.

Paro, vol kard Moragani tay,

Vili un him mit fa abay.

Un vay si him soloway

Kwi Elvahim mit unfaray."

Kendra stared at the hat. She wasn't surprised that it talked, magical things were the norm at her house; she was merely surprised by what it had said. Shrugging her shoulders and storing away the information for later thought, she picked it up, sat on the stool, and placed the tattered hat on her head.

"Hmmm...," said a quiet voice near her ear, "You have quite a puzzling past, child. I don't recall ever having this much trouble placing a student in a house before. You're bright enough for Ravenclaw; you have much to teach everyone. You're loyal enough for Hufflepuff; you've certainly stuck by your friends and family. You're brave enough for Gryffindor; you'll need that bravery before you're done here. And you are definitely ambitious enough for Slytherin, a strong desire for revenge and success. This is a puzzle..."

'How does it know all of this about me?' Kendra thought, bemused by the hat's obvious confusion.

"I know because I was made to know. There's nothing in your head that I can't see. Your bravery and ambition are the two strongest suits you have to play off of... I think though, that for the time being we'll just have to put you in..."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Kendra sighed, saddened that she would have to stay at the school, and placed the hat back on the stool. She glanced around and found the table that was cheering her on. A girl ran up to her and tugged on her arm.

"C'mon, after dinner I'll show you where your new room is. Just a tip though, try to ignore the rest of the school, they aren't too fond of us. Something to do with ancient rivalries between the founders or whatever. It's not like they actually gave the rest of us a chance or anything. They think we're all the same. Oh by the way, my name's Pansy," the black haired girl explained, leading her to the table.

"Kendra..."

All eyes were on Kendra, but she didn't seem to notice. However not all of the looks were nice. A lot of the girls were shooting jealous glares at her and the guys were just flat out staring in wonder. Hermione kicked Harry and Ron under the table, breaking them from their trance.

"Ow! Hermione, you don't have to be so violent all the time," Ron complained, rubbing his shin.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't be if you would stop drooling all over the place," Hermione retorted.

"I wasn't drooling all over the place," Ron replied.

Hermione shrugged and began eating the food that had filled her plate.

Draco was late, he knew he'd be in big trouble but he didn't care. He silently slipped into the Great Hall and headed to his usual spot. He and his friends had isolated themselves from the rest of the house so that they wouldn't have to deal with their difference of opinions on certain matters. As he neared his table mates he began to greet his three friends...

'Wait a minute! Since when were there three of them!'

"So anyways, tell us about your home. Oh, hi Draco. This is Kendra, she's a new student here," Blaise piped up, noticing his friend's silent entrance.

"We've met," Draco said shortly, his good mood was fading fast.

Dinner suddenly became a silent, awkward affair. Blaise and Pansy spent the first half of dinner trying to make small talk with the two but soon gave up, letting the silence engulf their end of the table.

After dinner was finished, Draco abruptly stood and left the table, not even waiting for desert. Kendra was led to her new room by Pansy. Since she was new and there were no spaces left an extra bed had been added to the Prefect's room. Pansy and Kendra didn't speak much as they both prepped for bed and the day that lie ahead of them...