gladdecease: Don't you worry about all that, it's all explained in this chapter.
Angle-star727: Thanks! I'm glad you like it.
dancingirl13: Fear not, there will be BBRae-ness in this story, as well as RobStar and RonHermione. We jsut have to let the story develope.
Dr. Evans: I'm glad your liking it. I'll try to do better than the other one's that you talked about.
scubagurl: Why are the dementors after Rae? Hmmm, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it. ')
Story Weaver1: lol. I'm glad you liked it, now try this one on for size.
Kit: I know, i love suspense.
gothic kid 13: Sure thing i'll update in 3...2...1...0! And lookI updated!
Rusty Rules: Thank you. I like your sugestion. I believeI used it, if not please feel free to correct me.
Siberian-Tigress: Glad to hear your likeing it.
Aki and Tenshi:Here for you now is the UPDATE! Ta Daaaaaa! lol I'm so lame I know.
Thank you all for your reviews, now on with the chapter. Warning: very long (and hopfully good).
Chapter Two
Curiosity killed the witch
They made their way up the winding staircases and towards their new home away from home. That night Starfire knew what she would be writing in her diary; among other thoughts and feelings she would write about the strangest school with the strangest people she had ever seen.
THE NEXT MORNING………………………..
Robin turned over on his bed and let out a tired moan. He yawned real big and thought about the strange dream he just had. He dreamt they had been attacked by some weird wraith thing that sucks the happiness out of you and taken to a school for wizards and witches.
"Morning Robin," said a boy with jet-black hair.
"Morning Harry." Morning Harry? His eyes snapped open and he say up in bed. He looked around and saw that he, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were in a circular room with a number of other beds, though they were quite empty.
"Both late risers I see," said Harry with a grin.
"Well not usually for me," said Robin getting up. "Where are we?"
"Boy's dormitory, the other two went with Hermione to the girl's room," informed Harry. "We'd better get down, they'll stop serving breakfast in an hour and a half."
"Alright I'll see if I can get these two up and we'll meet you down there," said Robin.
"Right then, uh, do you know the way?"
"Well I don't think the great hall will be that hard to find," said Robin. Harry nodded with a smile and walked off. Robin walked over to his two friends; Beast Boy had taken on the form of a cat and lay curled up in a little ball while Cyborg, having little feel for soft beds, simply lay on the floor. Robin nudged Beast Boy and earned an audible hiss from the green cat.
"Yow BB! Good morning to you too," said Robin pulling his hand back. Cyborg's bodily circuitry lit up blue and he opened his human eye.
"Whoa, are we where I dreamt we are," he asked still lying down.
"If not then we're both stuck in the exact same dream," said Robin lending him a hand. Cyborg took it and with Robin's help got up to his feet. By this time Beast Boy had stretched out and resumed human form. He stretched out his arms and yawned.
"Morning dudes, sorry about that Robin but you shouldn't interrupt a cat nap," he said with a wink. Robin gave him a 'whatever' look and motioned for them to follow him down to the great hall. They walked out of the boy's dormitory and past the common room. It gave them the cheery feeling of their own common room back at Titans Tower. The trio stepped out of the portrait and didn't take seven steps before they heard an "Ohh!" behind them. They turned and saw the fat lady narrowing her eyes at them.
"I don't recall ever seeing you three before either, when is this raid of strange guests going to end," she put a hand to her forehead and whimpered dramatically. Robin blinked a couple of times and stepped back a few paces until he stood in front of Cyborg.
"Cyborg, is the picture talking to us?" The fat lady looked highly affronted and turned up her nose.
"Uhh, I think it's a portrait," said Beast Boy.
"Well thank you," the fat lady smiled down at Beast Boy. "At least one of you has some cultural upbringing." The other two glared at him while Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders and smiled sheepishly.
"Come on," said Robin waving a hand dismissively. They walked on down the stairs leaving the fat lady in a small but noticeable huff.
THE GREAT HALL…………………..
Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy made their way down the marble staircase and onto the ground floor. They stood before a set of large doors and paused for a moment. With a few slightly nervous glances at each other they stepped forward through the door and entered the great hall. At once the hall silenced and thousands of heads turned in their direction. Robin moved his eyes across various parts of the hall, Cyborg cast a nervous smile at everyone while Beast Boy simply stood with one eye twitching.
"Ever felt like you're sort of, out of place," whispered Cyborg. Robin raised his eyebrows in response and looked around at the silent room once more. His visual scan stopped when he saw Starfire in the distance jump to her feet and wave at them with her signature cheery-ness. Robin waved back and he saw Raven's hand rise up and pull Star back down to her seat.
"Guess we sit over there," said Robin. He began walking forward along the long tables of students. Cyborg and Beast Boy glanced at each other then started walking themselves. They reached the table where Starfire and Raven were sitting and promptly took their own seats. He looked around at the number of faces that were staring at them and nodded. "Morning." With that the hall erupted into a buzz of talking. Pockets of students here and there huddled together and looked over at them while talking. Trying to ignore it all they turned to their empty plates. A man with a long beard, a crooked nose, and half moon spectacles stood up and got everyone's attention.
"Good morning to you all!" He beamed around at the crowd. "First I would like to give you a rather important announcement. Our defense against the dark arts professor, Professor Frost, has taken a rather sudden though much needed sabbatical from his duties. Effective tomorrow we will have a temporary replacement for Professor Frost so never fear," he added nodding toward Hermione. She smiled and gave a sigh of relief. "I would now like to extend a warm welcome to five young people who will be staying here as guests." He gestured for the Titans to rise and they did. "I would like to introduce to you all; Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. They are the Teen Titans, and they will be staying in Gryffindor house." Various people sitting next to them shook their hands happily. "Now that that's said and done, by all means continue with your meal." He sat back down and when Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy turned back to their seats they saw food had appeared right in front of them.
"Now that's what I call service," said Cyborg digging into some sausage.
"Dude! They've got tofu eggs and soy-milk!" (Not sure if I got that last part right)
"Yep, the house elves weren't quite sure what to make of it but they managed it all the same," said Harry taking a sip of juice.
"I am glad to see you have finally awakened," said Starfire brightly.
"No kidding I thought you guys would never get up," added Raven.
"I'm really not sure what made us so tired," said Robin.
"The shielding," said Hermione.
"The what," asked Beast Boy perplexed.
"Before you entered Diagon Alley Noah put an enchantment on all of you," said Harry. "It makes you immune to all of the anti-muggle spells that are all over the place. It also makes you very tired the first night."
"You're probably the first muggles ever to get it," said Ron.
"Great," said Robin. He took a bite of his toast.
"So you guys know Noah," asked Cyborg. Harry smiled slightly while reading a section of the paper.
"Oh sure, he's a friend of Dumbledore and his son goes here too."
"Really," said Starfire in surprise. "I am having trouble remembering, have we met him before?" Ron and Hermione looked up from their breakfast.
"I doubt it," said Hermione looking down the table. The Titans followed her gaze and they saw a solitary boy with brown hair. He was about Harry's height and had a quiet disposition about him. He sat by himself and ate his meal in silence.
"That's Scott Hayward, keeps to himself most of the time," said Ron. "It's not that nobody likes him, he's got damn near half the Ravenclaw girls after him. He just keeps building up these walls between him and everyone else." Robin looked him over and summed up a pretty good guess as to why he was the way he was. After all, why does anyone wish to be alone?
"What's this Ravenclaw thing you mentioned," asked Raven. Harry pointed to each of the tables.
"Well you see there are four houses in Hogwarts. The students are all divided equally in these houses and they become something like your family. Our house, or the one you're staying in, is called Gryffindor. The one next to us is Hufflepuff. The table next to them is Ravenclaw, and last is Slytherin. We usually get along with each other just fine, we really only have trouble with Slytherin."
"Really? Is that why they keep giving me the evil eye," asked Beast Boy with a mouthful of tofu eggs. The people from the far table were indeed sending looks of malice in their direction. "Who's that pale kid with the Pinocchio nose?" Harry locked eyes with his school nemesis and shook his head.
"A classmate." He tore his gaze away when he felt a pain jab at his fore head. He winced and ducked his head down.
"Harry?" Ron set down his cup and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Is it happening again," asked Hermione. The Titans looked at each other curiously then at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"What's wrong," asked Robin. Harry picked his head up and showed them his scar.
"A birthmark," he said through his pain. "I can tell you everything about it, but I don't expect you to understand."
"Expect the unexpected," said Raven. Raven understood perfectly well what he was feeling in that instant. After all, Harry Potter isn't the only one to have a mysterious birthmark plague him.
"I'll see you guys later," said Harry getting up. He gathered up his bag and walked out of the hall. The Slytherins watched him leave with quiet snickering and shaking of the heads.
"What is wrong with him, he will be okay," asked Starfire. Hermione and Ron each took a deep breath before going into the story of how when Harry was a baby both his parents were murdered and only he survived with a lighting bolt shaped scar. They soon got into his godfather, Peter Pettigrew, what happened at the end of the tri-wizard tournament, and finally Voldemort actually resurfacing at the end of their past year.
"So this big bad guy has been chasing Harry ever since he was a baby," asked Robin.
"Well for a while V-Voldemort was vapor and only had the ability to posses others," said Hermione. She still had some difficulty with getting used to saying the name. Robin was about to repeat the name when the students began to rise from the table and head out of the great hall. "Looks like breakfast is over, time for classes," said Hermione happily.
"Unbelievable," said Ron. Though at the core he looked forward to hearing her go on about how learning and studying was so important. The Titans rose and followed the Gryffindors out of the hall.
THE GIRLS DORMITORY………………………….
Hermione fumbled with her bag trying to stuff her books into the space which her bag provided. She, Lavender, and Pavati prepared to go off to class when they noticed Raven sorting through an assortment of books. Hermione strode over to her and sat down next to her. Raven glanced over her shoulder.
"Don't you have classes you have to be at," she asked in no particular tone.
"Not for another fifteen minuets," replied Hermione. She eyed each of Raven's books and read the covers eagerly. They were poetry (dark), horror stories, old books containing equally old tales, and many other books that looked interesting. But the one that caught Hermione's eye was a white one buried beneath a few others. She reached forward and picked up the book. She was about to look inside the cover when the book was suddenly snatched out of her hands. She looked up and saw a look of anger, worry, and apprehension on Raven's face.
"Don't-ever! Touch this book," she said a bit harshly.
"I'm sorry Raven, I didn't know." Raven relaxed and threw the book back into the trunk they had given her.
"Now you do. Listen carefully, all of you," Raven now spoke to Lavender and Pavati as well. "Please don't even come near that book." She closed her trunk and began walking out of the room.
"Why," asked Lavender.
"Trust me, just stay away from it." Raven walked out leaving the three girls speechless. Lavender and Pavati shrugged it off and pulled Hermione out along with them. As she left Hermione cast a glance back at the trunk, and what was contained within.
THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC……………………
Noah sat in chair outside of an office. Wizards in various robes walked back and forth performing an array of duties. A thin woman poked her head outside of the office and tapped Noah on the shoulder.
"Sir, you may go in now."
"Oh, thank you," said Noah getting to his feet.
"Do you need anything else sir," asked the woman politely.
"Fetch us a cup of tea would you," he asked glancing back. She nodded and walked off. Noah knocked on the door and voice inside told him to come in. He walked inside and removed his tri-corn hat. "Lieutenant Noah Hayward reporting as ordered sir." The man looked up from his desk and pointed to a chair.
"Sit down." Noah sat and the man looked over at some parchment, which had a quill quickly writing on it. He snapped his fingers and the quill stopped then fell over as if dead. He read over the parchment and pursed his lips together. "I received an owl from your superior not but two minuets ago." He gave Noah a stern look.
"Fudge….."
"You let it go," interrupted the Minster of Magic.
"I had to help them Minister. The girl would have surely suffered a great deal more had I not stayed and helped.
"The accidental magical reversal squad would have been along shortly to do that very thing." Noah scratched his head. "Their memories would have been modified, as you were ordered to do, and the matter would have been closed. Instead you've taken it upon yourself to decide Ministry policy." Noah looked up in surprise. "Oh yes, I know all about the muggles that you brought into our midst. Tell me one thing." He rose from his desk. "Just what the bloody hell were your thinking!" He spat at Noah.
"Well obviously I didn't have Ministry policy on the mind." Fudge gave him an angered look.
"Well your going to make up for it, yes indeed you are."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know your son's defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor Frost?"
"I've met him but I wouldn't say I know him," said Noah. "Why?"
"You're going undercover. You're going to take his place at Hogwarts and be our eyes and ears."
"Hold on there Minister," said Noah rising out of his chair. "Why don't you get Frost to be your 'eyes and ears' it was his old job after all."
"Hayward, Adrian Frost was found dead early this morning," said Fudge cutting him off. Noah's mouth slacked open. "He was found down Knockturn Alley." Noah shook his head slightly. The woman poked her head inside.
"Your tea sir."
"Not the best time."
"Right sir." She said quickly. She left and Noah re-faced Fudge.
"And you think You-Know-Who is responsible?"
"There is no evidence as of yet to suggest He-who-must-not-be-named had anything to do with the matter."
"Minister I would not be so blind if I were you."
"As it is you are not I." Fudge gave him a piercing look. He picked up a roll of parchment and handed it to Hayward. "Here, this is your background and cover story. I expect to hear from you shortly. And…..in great detail how you sent back the muggles that you brought with you." Hayward nodded reluctantly and took his leave.
ON THE BANKS OF THE LAKE……………..
"Well well well, who or what do we have here?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione closed their eyes in annoyed dread. The cold drawl they heard could only have been uttered from one other person. They turned around and came face to face with Draco Malfoy. He stood with his usual amount of pride with his two goons Crabbe and Goyle.
"Who's that," asked Robin. Malfoy's eyes darted over to Robin. He smiled evilly then looked back at Harry.
"Riddle me this Potter; do you and Weasley insist on consorting with the lowest of life forms for a reason?" He shot Hermione and the Titans a sideways glance. "Or is it simply that it makes your life easier having others around who are more of a loser than you are?" He directed the last part to Harry in particular.
"Malfoy why don't you leave before you hurt yourself," said Ron. Malfoy's head snapped in Ron's direction.
"You look different Weasley, new hair cut? Or maybe it's another inch of dirt on your face or perhaps yet another patch adorns your hand me down robe." He stepped closer. "Or could it be your mother's side of the family is finally beginning to show." It took Harry, Hermione, Cyborg, and Robin to hold Ron back. Malfoy put up his hands and backed away mockingly. "Put a leash on your dog Potter."
"Why do you speak such mean words," asked Starfire. "If we are going to be living with each other for a while then we should learn to get along yes?"
"Law of the jungle," he said. He arched an eyebrow and took a good look at her from head to toe and vice versa. "And what's your name?"
"None of your business," said Robin stepping in front of Malfoy.
"Tsk, and who do you think your are, this is between me and her."
"No, I'm between you and her," said Robin. They both narrowed their eyes at each other. Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched intently at how this whole scene might turn out.
"Heyyyy I remember you," said Beast Boy. "You're that Pinocchio kid." Cyborg put his hand to his mouth to hide his spurt of laughter. Malfoy looked over at him with an annoyed glance.
"Hey yeah your right BB," said Cyborg. "He does have really pointed nose."
"Excuse me, muggle, but why don't you mind your business," spat Malfoy.
"Sure thing……..Pinocchio," he added quickly. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Beast Boy burst out laughing. Even Raven was getting to the point were this was too much to keep bottled up. She smiled and shook slightly from her attempts to calm her laughter. Malfoy gritted his teeth and instead of a verbal retaliation he shot Starfire a flirting look. Hermione whipped her tears of laughter away just in time to see Robin fuming over Malfoy's actions. She took out her wand and walked up to the pale boy.
"You know Draco, this really could be a new look for you." She flecked his face with the tip of her wand and he staggered backward. When he stood back up he watched open mouthed as his nose stretched a good seven inches.
"I believe I am now understanding the Pinocchio," said Starfire. "Yes indeed it is very humorous!" She laid a hand to her mouth while giggling. Malfoy glanced down at his nose then back to Hermione.
"RUDDY MUDBLOOD!" He took out his wand but when he brought it down he saw that it was cut in half. He looked over at Robin and saw a bird-a-rang return to his hand. "Oh it's on." He started to charge at the boy wonder but was held back by his cronies. Robin watched him being dragged away with a small smirk. As he was lead away from the group Malfoy hissed under his breath; "The only I hate more than muggles, are American muggles." Harry strode up to Robin and smiled.
"How's your head," asked Robin.
"Better now, thank you." They then began to walk back up to the castle.
THAT NIGHT………………..
Harry sat in his bed lightly rubbing his fore head. Ron came over and nodded to him. "Are you all right?" Harry nodded. "Did you see anything?"
"No, only voices."
"You-Know-Who's?"
"And another man; he had a deep and commanding voice. Aside from the deep part it was not unlike Voldemort's." Ron winced slightly at the name's utterance. "There was something about releasing something trapped, other than that it was all murmuring." Ron looked around the room before asking his next question.
"Why didn't you tell them?" Harry looked up at Ron. "Why didn't you tell the Titans?" Harry thought for a moment then removed his glasses.
"To be honest, I don't completely trust them."
"But Harry Dumbledore let them in. Isn't that proof enough?" Harry walked over to the window and sighed.
"I'm not sure Ron, but I've got a bad feeling that something's about to happen."
At that moment in the girl's dormitory Hermione rolled onto her back and lay wide awake. Ever since she had first laid eyes on Raven's mysterious book she had been unable to shake it out of her mind. She sat up and took a look around the room. Everyone, Starfire, and most importantly Raven, were all asleep. She quietly climbed out of her bed and tip toed her way towards Raven's trunk.
"What do you think your doing?" Hermione nearly fainted. She spun around and saw Lavender and Pavati out of their beds. Hermione bit her lip and chose to ignore them. She walked up to Raven's trunk and carefully opened it. The two other girls looked at each other confused.
"Your in Raven's trunk, you should probably not be in Raven's trunk," warned Pavati.
"I just need to see it for a moment," said Hermione with fervor. She rummaged through the assortment of capes and books until she unearthed Malchior's book. She looked at it with a small smile. "It-It has a nice cover, don't you agree?"
"Put it back," said Lavender. Hermione looked at her as though she were crazy and strode over to her bed. "Honestly Hermione your strange love of books is scary sometimes."
"If Raven didn't want me to look at it then she should not have made such a fuss about it."
"Yeah silly Raven," said Pavati. Hermione rolled her eyes at Pavati and took a deep breath before opening the book. She flipped through the pages and read the fine lines.
"It tells of a gallant wizard defeating a foul sorcerer dragon," reported Hermione. "Dragons like that are supposed to have been extinct for almost a thousand years." She read on some more and put on a smile. "It's a child's story," said looking up at Lavender and Pavati.
"But there must be some reason why she didn't want us to read it," said Lavender.
"Oh Lavender what harm could a muggle book possibly do," replied Hermione dismissively. She closed the book but found she didn't want to put it away. 'It's alright young maiden. You can trust me.' She and she alone heard a faint voice speak to her. Entranced she gripped the sides of book and smiled dreamily.
"Hermione?" A strange aura formed around the book binding Hermione's hands to the side. Her smile faded when the force grew stronger. "Hermione put it down. Let it go!"
"I-I can't!" She suddenly stood up with her eyes shut tight and her teeth barred as though in great pain. She staggered backward until she collided with the wall.
"HERMIONE!" Lavender ran up to her and tried prying the book from her grasp. As soon as she touched it Lavender felt her strength leave her and she fell over unconscious. Hermione continued to grip the book and dry heave. Pavati looked around franticly and instantly laid eyes on Raven.
"RAVEN HELP!" Raven woke up and upon seeing Hermione she stretched out her hands.
"Azerath Metrion ZINTHOS!" The book flew out of Hermione's hands and into Raven's. She then threw it back into the trunk and slammed it shut. "Damn it Hermione!" She turned back around but saw the brown haired girl had sunk to floor. By this time Lavender had regained herself and the other girls had awoken and gathered around. Raven knelt down before Hermione and held her face in her hands trying to find some warmth. She used her healing powers somewhat and Hermione blinked out of her trance. She darted her eyes around the room then focused on Raven.
"Raven I'm so s-sorry."
"I told you not to touch it, did you think I was joking or something." Raven scolded her not out of anger but more out of concern. "You need some water; I think that might help to settle your nerves."
"I think I can manage," said Hermione getting up.
"Arrre you sure," asked Raven.
"Positive," said Hermione with a smile. She opened the door and came face to face with the boys. "You shouldn't be in here."
"I…I mean we had to see if you were all right and all," said Ron.
"Hermione, you are sure you are okay," asked Starfire. Hermione looked at her for a moment then gave her a nod.
"I just need some water then I'll just have a sit down for the rest of the night." She walked past everyone and left them all slightly bewildered. Raven narrowed her eyes after her; something just wasn't right.
Hermione entered the bathrooms and as she walked she put on a rather sly grin. She bent over the sink and washed her face lightly.
"Well it's a start," she said. She looked up into the mirror and her eyes glowed a faint red. "Dear sweet Raven it will be just like old times. You have no idea much I'm going to enjoy this." Unknowingly possessed Hermione curved her mouth into a malicious grin and she walked out of the bathroom.
Whoa! That took me a while to get done with. Please tell me what you think of it up to now. Sorry you havent seen much of the teachers, but we'll get to them soon. Thanks for reading so far. Laters!