Harry was studying the more in-depth parts of Animagi when his Head of House walked in, as proper and stiff as always, and with a cane in her hand to help keep her on her feet. She still carried an air of someone you should not cross, even if her mobility was somewhat impaired at the moment. The reason why she was in this condition, was because of the woman known as Umbridge had tried to force the half-giant groundskeeper Hagrid to vacate the grounds at the very least, if not going directly to Azkaban where he had spent about two months in Harry's second year. Professor McGonagall had gotten wind of it and set out to stop it. The five Aurors that Umbridge had brought with her had fired stunners at her, which is more than a person her age is able to handle without being affected.
'Mr Potter,' she greeted formally, 'here is your supply list for the year. Congratulations on your OWL scores.'
'Thank you, Professor,' Harry accepted with the most warmth he could muster.
'As you can see, you got into your chosen subjects, it makes me proud that I did not have to persuade Severus to accept you into his class, although he insisted on contacting the Examinations Board to see if you had managed to tamper with your results somehow,' she admitted, her eyes twinkling with pride. 'They would all be as proud of you as I am,' she added.
Harry knew she meant his parents and Sirius without thinking, and simply nodded his agreement.
'I'll leave you to your studies, it would be nice if you contributed to Gryffindor winning the House Cup through the same means that everyone else has to, through knowing the answers and staying in line.'
As McGonagall departed the Library, Harry wrote down another book on his personal shopping list.
That night, as Harry was being forced to eat his supper, Mrs Weasley confirmed Harry's suspicions about his school supplies.
'You'd better give me your lists tonight, and I'll go get everything in the morning,' she said in her usual mother hen tone.
Hermione looked just as disappointed as Harry felt. It had been years since he had last been to Diagon Alley, and he had hoped that he was allowed to go this year.
'I have a personal list, Mrs Weasley, of books I'd like to get in addition to my school books,' Harry said after gaining her attention from a cough. As he saw her hesitate when she saw the titles, he added, 'Either you or someone from the Order will get them for me, or I'll force my way out and get them myself.'
He hated having to set such an ultimatum, but he needed more in depth books on the subjects he studied, and those did not exist within the Black Library.
A range of emotions played across Mrs Weasley's face, before she settled on resigned and nodded, accepting Harry's lists and Gringotts key. Hermione looked shocked that Harry would actually threaten Mrs Weasley of all people with leaving on his own and by force if need be, and was visible restraining a scolding solely because of Harry's near impeccable behaviour so far this summer.
Harry was puzzled. He had awoken early as usual, trained a bit, then gone to the kitchen to see if Mrs Weasley had started breakfast yet. Only, when he got there, none were to be found. Not in Ginny and Hermione's room, not in Ron's room, or any other bedroom. He started feeling miffed, thinking that Mrs Weasley had taken the others to Diagon Alley without him, and headed for the Library, Tonks' nudity be damned.
Harry had just entered the Library when a loud shout of 'SURPRISE!' shocked him backwards into a bookcase. His hand was halfway to his wand before what he saw registered.
In front of him, spread over most of the Library, was a large chunk of the Order of the Phoenix, and a few of Harry's friends, whom he saw daily after arriving here. Hagrid had managed to squeeze his way in through the door along with Madame Maxime, and they had placed themselves behind the table. The twins had on happy or cunning faces, as it was very difficult to pinpoint at this moment in time. Snape and McGonagall were present on either side of Dumbledore, and Lupin was standing with Moody and Tonks not far from the main bulk of the group. Ron and Hermione were standing behind Ginny, all of them grinning with suppressed celebration. On the table he used for studying were presents and foods, and a banner strung above it, proclaiming "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" (were it not for this banner, he'd be confused about whom this was for and why he hadn't been informed, but he couldn't see why anyone would celebrate him like a normal person).
The one person in the room that was the most confused was Harry, as he had forgotten about his own birthday. He had been so busy with training and studying that it had completely slipped his mind.
Hermione, Ron and Ginny rushed up to him and guided him to the table where a huge cake had been placed, sixteen candles alit above the chocolate icing.
'Go on, mate,' Ron encouraged him, 'blow them all out and make a wish.'
Unfamiliar with this custom, at least from personal experience, Harry tentatively closed his eyes and concentrated on a single thought. I hope the prophecy is more of a guideline than a rule, he thought, then expelled all the air he could from his lungs, extinguishing the candles. Harry felt a tingle run up his back, as though someone were walking on his grave. Fred and George looked disappointed and shocked, but everyone else applauded as one usually did.
'What did you wish for?' asked Ginny, as someone always does.
'Must have been for all the candles to go out, because they were trick candles,' George commented.
'I know they were,' stated their mother with a scowl, 'I replaced them myself.'
Dawning realisation showed on the twins' faces as Tonks carved the first piece of the cake for Harry.
Harry was bullied, although good-naturedly, into sampling the cake first. Apparently, all the resident women, young and old, had contributed to the making of it. Neither Fred nor George had been allowed anywhere near the kitchen during the making of the cake as they were well known to try and make a joke out of things, as the trick candles showed. A goblet of Butterbeer was thrust into Harry's hands to wash down the delicious chocolate & apricot cake with chocolate icing, and Harry was happy to have his favourite beverage again, it felt like an eternity since the last time he'd last had some.
It was one of the happiest days Harry could remember that did not involve Quidditch. A couple of enchanted musical instruments started playing, and everyone celebrated Harry's day of birth.
Harry was congratulated more than once on his day, and even managed to see how disgruntled Snape was with him being accepted into his class. The hook nosed man sneered at the mere sight of Harry, and Dumbledore and McGonagall's boasting of Harry's OWL results were not helping the greasy-haired man relax and feel at home.
After a while, Harry was ushered over to the table once more, and the presents were shoved at him eagerly.
Because of their continued stay within number twelve Grimmauld Place, not many of the younger persons had time to go out and purchase proper presents to Harry, so they had had Mr and Mrs Weasley get him candy, which was the safest and least conspicuous to get.
From Hermione, Harry was given a large slab of Honeyduke's Best Chocolate, and a pack of sugarless gum.
From Ron and Ginny, two large boxes of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and some chocolate frogs.
From the twins, a large sample case of their products, with a request to make Filch's job hell, Dumbledore covered his ears and hummed merrily as this was said, and acted as though nothing of harm had happened. Snape and McGonagall did not agree with the headmaster, and Harry was sure that if any mischief was about at school, he'd be the prime suspect.
Moody gave Harry a proper holster for his wand ('So you won't loose your buttocks,' he stated).
Mr Weasley gave Harry a razor set, ('Don't trust those spells to do a proper shaving, Bill lost most of his hair on the right side of his face when his wand came at a slight angle, and even a small mispronunciation can cause grievous harm,' the experienced father said in a tone of voice most fathers reserve for lectures. 'I've had the liberty of – er – fixing the Muggle razor set for you, cough, you won't have to worry about nicks and cuts, or shaving foam and rubbing alcohol for that matter.') Mrs Weasley had been out of hearing range at the time, but Harry understood.
Dumbledore had gone together with McGonagall and gotten Harry a year's supply of Lemon Drops, and a pair of good socks, mismatched of course.
Lupin had gotten Harry a magical wrist watch, which looked perfectly like a Muggle digital watch, with numerous interesting features (among which was to tell time, show a map of the immediate one mile radius area with intricate detail that could be selected in scale, a star chart that could be shown in an illusion of a model, a dark magic detector, and a never-fail compass).
Hagrid and Madame Maxime had gotten Harry a box of Sugar Quills and a slab of Honeyduke's Best Chocolate.
Snape had, begrudgingly, handed Harry a mortar and pestle of adequate quality.
Tonks was quick to swap Harry's glasses for a pair of sunglasses that were charmed to change according to the sight of the wearer, saying that she had tried to get him a Weird Sisters' T-shirt, but they were sold out.
Harry hardly read a thing all day, and hardly missed it because of all the fun they were having.
Harry was being chased by a mountain troll, its club raised to strike as they rushed through the enlarged hallways and corridors of Hogwarts. He was all alone against this foe. His wand wouldn't obey his commands, and spells died on his tongue. His only choice was to run on his suddenly sluggish legs, only sheer force of will keeping him going at any speed.
Looking over his shoulder, Harry could see the dragon bearing down on him, a pillar of fire slithering across the ground like a basilisk. Harry ran. The basilisk gained on him, but he wasn't able to look back without being petrified through his glasses.
The troll was nearly upon him, swinging a basilisk as it howled a war cry. The stench was nearly unbearable, and Harry felt his eyes water. A few good cleansing charms sprung to mind, but this really wasn't the time to think about hygiene and smells, as he was about to have his head bashed in by a giant basilisk swung at the hands of a troll.
Suddenly, he was falling through the air, his broom hanging useless from his hand, and his wand just as useless from his other, the wind screaming in his ears as he rapidly neared the ground. Hogwarts could be seen as a growing spot below, the lake twinkling innocently and merrily, the forest looking peaceful and was incredibly large … he never really thought about how large the Forbidden Forest was. The screaming of the wind changed its pitch to that of a woman, and a pair of warm arms snaked themselves around him, screaming defiantly into the cold that surrounded him and these warm arms, this haven of safety. Words had no meaning as these arms protected him from himself and his mind.
Harry sat up blinking, what was that dream again?
He couldn't remember, but it had started out as a nightmare, like he always had.
Noticing that the sun was rising, Harry put on his glasses and started his daily routine of training.
He was in the middle of his jogging routine out in the hallways when he nearly ran into Hermione, causing him to halt in less than a foot of distance.
'Harry!' she exclaimed, startled enough to quicken her breath.
'Sorry, Hermione,' Harry apologised, 'I didn't expect anyone else out at this hour, so I didn't look where I was going.'
'Oh, it's fine,' she breathed, 'I had a dream and didn't feel like sleeping any more.'
Harry nodded absently and gestured for her to accompany him, maybe have a quick bite in the kitchen.
Hermione was in a happy mood this morning, and started up a conversation about conjuring. Harry's birthday, having been over for nearly three weeks, was about the time she discovered that Harry was nearly done with his new books, and had hurried to catch up with him. She had found the theory of conjuring slightly confusing, but then, she hadn't had the time to go over it more than once yet, and having someone to talk to about it helped her understanding somewhat. At least she got a different view about things, and how someone else understood what she had read. Harry's theory was a bit simpler to understand, as he felt conjuring was not really making things out of nothing, but rather transfiguring the air near the intended target area into what you wanted to make.
Harry, not in such a bad mood himself, answered her questions, and asked some in return before they moved on to other subjects.
By the time Mrs Weasley came down, the two had gone through conjuring, Animagi, enchantments, animating objects and several healing draughts. They were talking animatedly about a shield spell when the Weasley matriarch entered to start breakfast. All the two had consumed were a couple of goblets of pumpkin juice, and some Lemon Drops.
By the time breakfast was made, Hermione found out that Harry had applied for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, and was drilling him for details of what he knew and if he though himself ready to take on a NEWT level class of something he hadn't had before.
'I read through, and memorised the very elementary books on both subjects in the Black Library before even considering taking up those subject, Hermione,' Harry defended. 'I've since read a few more, and McGonagall had me take a short test to see if I could keep up with the rest of the class, and she got no negative response from the other professors.'
Hermione bit her lower lip in mild worry anyway.
'Lemon Drop?' Harry offered.
'Are you sure they are sugarless?' she asked dubiously.
'No,' Harry answered honestly, 'but I'm sure that if you brush your teeth after breakfast, you needn't worry about the lasting effect before you turn a hundred and thirty, your dental hygiene taken into consideration. And before it came to that, you'd have gotten something to restore your teeth to normal from some potion or spell.'
Hermione was about to take a Lemon Drop when Mrs Weasley came over and placed plates of food in front of them, with a mountain of content on them, saying that they shouldn't spoil their appetites with candy.
Harry and Hermione ate their breakfast under the stern and watchful eye of Mrs Weasley, who still thought Harry was all skin stretched over bones, although the three youngest women of the house might argue this, as Harry had gained weight, and kept his muscles in training so they got hard and strong, although not overly large. Of the three young women, Tonks was the only one brave enough to comment on it every time she saw him. Harry took this as some sort of joke, as he hardly felt any different, nor did he see any difference when he looked in the mirror. And he didn't trust the judgement of his mirror after it claimed he came from a prolonged stay in a Nazi labour camp, as it lately had developed a habit of making a sort of moaning sound when he came within view, followed by smacking of lips. He found it very disturbing. Mr Weasley had been up to check the mirror nearly twenty times, and there was nothing wrong with it that he could find, but Harry still wasn't certain of the elder wizard's judgement.
As the two ate, the rest of the house started waking and coming down one or two at a time, and Mrs Weasley expertly set out the plates and mountains of food for them to eat.
'What are you two conspiring about?' asked a sly twin, as it had come so fast, Harry couldn't tell which one had said it.
'We're merely comparing notes,' Hermione answered and washed down the eggs with some pumpkin juice. 'It's always good to be prepared when the NEWTs get here.'
'But that's nearly two years from now!' Ron exclaimed indignantly. 'Don't say you plan on pestering us about studying all this year and next!'
'What else is there for me to do?' asked Harry morosely.
'Quidd-' Ron started to say, but stopped quickly, remembering the ban.
Fred and George also suddenly saddened as they thought of the game they weren't allowed to play any more.
'The Defence Association!' Ginny chirped in. 'You could continue the DA! That's something to do!'
Harry's spirits lightened somewhat. 'That is something,' he agreed, 'and I have been preparing a training schedule …'
'Oooh, I'll help you go over it!' Hermione offered excitedly.
Ron groaned and let his head fall to the thick table with a dull thump.
'Maybe we could even get the Defence Association sanctioned by Dumbledore himself, so we wouldn't have to sneak about so much!' Ginny chirped in again, seeing that her idea was starting to grow roots. 'I know there are more students that would like to join, even if we do get a competent Defence Against the Dark Arts professor this year.'
'It sounds tempting, and a lot more fun than continually studying, not that I haven't already covered much of what we're bound to get for assignments already,' he added at seeing Hermione starting to sour. 'But I'll only do it if we do things my way, not protests or questions about my motives. The plans I have for the DA this year are a lot harsher than they were last year, and people will hate me for a while after the new plans are implemented.'
'What do you mean?' asked Hermione cautiously. There was a gleam in Harry's eyes as he spoke. It could be passion for his plan, or insanity.
'Physical exorcise, proper duelling in teams of odd numbers, not that sort of Duelling Club that Lockhart had, but training every single day, to give everyone a chance at survival!' Harry explained, his tone becoming more and more passionately empowered without realising it. 'What we need to do is to learn proper fighting, a real battle is never fair, and opponents never stand idly by to wait for you to get ready, they would rather kill and be done with it! That is what they need to learn, and I'll be learning right along side them!'
At the end of his speech, Tonks, Fred and George stood from their seats and theatrically applauded him, wolf whistling and cheering, making Harry aware of the presence of half the Weasley clan also present.
'Isn't that a bit drastic?' asked Ron. 'I mean, having the DA every day, what about homework and Quidditch?'
'Ron, get your priorities straight!' Hermione scolded, 'If Harry trains himself and all of us to be fit, that will reflect on your Quidditch skills, so you needn't put so much energy into Quidditch training. And as for homework – you should do them as soon as you can, or even during idle moments in class. The NEWTs are coming up sooner than you think, and the better prepared you are, the better you will do, and the better your chosen vocation will be!'
'You don't need to have your NEWTs to get a good job!' Ron protested, 'Just look at Fred and George! They never took their NEWTs and they own the most successful joke shop in Diagon Alley and are on the verge of pressing Zonko's out of the market!' the redheaded boy was ignorant to his mother's disapproving stare, or Fred and George's gestures of not bringing them into this argument. 'And then there's Harry, who has been guaranteed a perfect career even before he started Hogwarts, and has more money than even the Malfoy family without having to dirty his hands for a single knut! Now, tell me how important the NEWTs are!'
Without waiting for a response, or to offer apologies, Ron strode out of the kitchen, steaming.
Silence ruled the kitchen for nearly a full minute as they heard the muffled stomping of Ron, followed by the distant slamming of a door.
'How did you manage to open a joke shop and get a loan without having completed your NEWTs?' Mrs Weasley asked Fred, a suspicious twinkle in her eye as she balled up her fists and perched them on her hips. Fred looked to his twin and saw the same slight fear of their mother.
'Oh … er …' he started. 'That is …'
'Yes?'
'We had a backer,' George finished, then plugged his ears with his fingers, as though waiting for an explosion. His twin followed, and soon their explosion came.
'WHAT!' Mrs Weasley screamed. 'WHO WOULD LEND MONEY TO A PAIR OF FRESHLY-OUT-OF-SCHOOL TEENAGERS! DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE DANGERS OF BORROWING MONEY FROM STRANGE PEOPLE! THEY COULD BE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DARK LORD, YOU-KNOW-WHO! THEY COULD DEMAND YOU JOIN THEIR RANKS AS PAYMENT FOR YOUR LOAN, AND THEN YOU'D BE HARD PRESSED TO GET OUT OF IT!'
'Mum-'
'YOU TWO HAVE DONE SOME REALLY IRRESPONSIBLE THINGS IN YOUR TIME, BUT THIS CERTAINLY TAKES THE CAKE!'
'Mrs Weasley-'
'NOT ONLY ARE YOU ENDAGERING YOURSELVES, BUT YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, WITH YOUR STUNTS!'
'MUM!' the twins chorused.
'YES?' Mrs Weasley answered, then stopped herself. 'Yes?'
'We know our backer very well, and he isn't in league with You-Know-Who.' George stated in a placating tone.
'And how do you know that?' asked Mrs Weasley. 'With You-Know-Who about, you never know whom to trust.'
'Because-'
'I'm their backer, Mrs Weasley,' Harry answered, drawing attention to himself. This was it, the secret was out, and he awaited judgement. He was very surprised to be swept into a very strong and warm maternal hug by Mrs Weasley.
She was very relieved about her sons' business not being backed by Death Eaters, and made sure that her sons didn't take advantage of Harry's generosity, and would either pay him back or make him partner of their shop. The twins quickly agreed to this just to get their mother to stop pestering them about it, as she was certain to do.
Harry groaned at the thought of more money in his already filled vault, and contemplated donating to the S.P.E.W.
'And you'd better not be giving it away if you know what's good for you!' Fred chirped in. 'We know how much you dislike money, but if we catch wind of you throwing away your money, even for a good cause, we'll declare war on you until you surrender and hoard your gold like a proper wizard is supposed to!'
This was all said in a humorous tone to let Harry know he was both serious and joking at the same time.
The first of September arrived quicker than Harry had thought, and soon he woke to it, and found that he had already packed the night before to avoid the madness of doing it that morning. He quickly went through his routines before going to the kitchen for breakfast, dropping off his trunk and Hedwig's cage in the entrance hall. Mrs Weasley was the only one up apart from him and Mr Weasley, and Harry soon had a mountain of food in front of him, which he was forced - through guilt - into eating.
Hermione was the first of the students apart from Harry to arrive, as neat and orderly as always, and she was also presented with a mountain of food. She had apparently had the same idea as Harry had, as he saw her trunk standing next to his as the two finished their meals and sat down to wait in the entrance hall.
Harry's attention was drawn to the charred portion of wall where Mrs Black's painting had been hanging. Apparently, Tonks had lost her wand and was searching in the dark for it with a lit candle, and accidentally set fire to the curtains around the deranged painting, incinerating it and the painting to the horrible sounds of the batty old witch as her canvas started bubbling from the heat before it caught fire. Since no one liked her, or her painting, everyone were elated to see something managing to remove it from the wall, and did nothing to stop the fire, but merely stopped it from spreading to anything else. Tonks later claimed to have done it on purpose, but everyone knew the truth anyway.
Not five minutes after the two had seated themselves at the front door, it opened to admit Moody and Shacklebolt, half their advance guard to King's Cross. Lupin was waiting in the car, and Tonks was eating breakfast as she stood next to the two teens.
Mrs Weasley yelled angrily up the stairs for the two youngest Weasleys to get a move on or they'd be late.
Ginny came bounding down mere moments before Ron did. Ron soon came back up from the kitchen with a piece of toast in his mouth as he went about searching for his quills and parchment, then his missing socks and books. Ginny merely needed to find her socks before she was all packed and joined Harry and Hermione while eating a stack of toast and sipping from a bottle of pumpkin juice as they all watched Ron in action.
The twins came down the stairs in time to see Ron chase Pigwidgeon – Ron's hyperactive minute owl - through the entrance hall with a cage in hand and a piece of toast in his mouth.
'Ah,' Fred said and leaned on his twin, batting his eyes in a theatrical fashion, 'to be young and in a hurry again.'
'Yes,' George agreed in a sigh, 'feels like only last year that we were in such a hurry to catch the Hogwarts Express.'
'It was,' commented Fred.
'Now that you mention it, it was,' agreed George after pretending to think, 'I thought it was a short while ago …'
'Oh, shut it you two and help me get Pig!' Ron snarled and tripped on the edge of the carpet.
'If you insist,' the twins chorused and waved their wands. The over excited and minute owl suddenly transformed into a great pig and landed heavily on Ron's back. Harry couldn't hold in his chuckles at the scene, and Ginny and Hermione weren't much better, snickering behind their hands.
After some chastising from Mrs Weasley, the two identical Weasleys returned Pig to his rightful state, and helped cage him, while Ron got off the ground and dusted himself off.
By now they were starting to run late, and Moody had to admit defeat in taking the long and twisted road to shake off possible trackers, because there was no time for it. The entire group trooped up at King's Cross thirty minutes later, winded from the pace and weight, and none of the four students had time to say proper farewells to the adults as they tried to hurry through the barrier without looking conspicuous.
On the other side, Harry separated from the others, as they had their Prefect meeting, and sought out the back compartments.
Harry found an empty compartment and effortlessly lifted his trunk up to the rack above the seats, keeping Hedwig down with him. He opened the bag he had brought reading material in, and dug out a book on Apparation, which he promptly started to read.
He soon felt the train start to move, and was only distracted a short moment from his book because of it.
Some while later, Neville came in and asked if there was room for him. Harry nodded that there was room for him without looking up from his book. Luna came by as well, having been shunned from every other compartment, and was allowed to stay with them. She started talking to Neville while reading the Quibbler upside down, and Neville spoke with her as he divided the rest of his attention between Trevor, his pet toad, or his Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Neither bothered Harry because he looked very busy with his studying.
An hour passed in relative silence, Harry had nearly finished his book by the time Ron, Ginny and Hermione arrived in his compartment.
'That was boring,' Ron stated and plopped down in a seat, not noticing that Luna was in the next one.
'No it wasn't Ron,' Hermione protested, 'it was informative.'
'If you call falling asleep after the first three minutes interesting …' Ron snorted.
'Ron, you are a prefect, you are supposed to set a good example!'
'I am,' Ron stated tersely, 'I haven't hexed Malfoy yet even if his ugly face grew even uglier when he saw Ginny with her badge.'
'Ron, I can take care of myself,' Ginny argued, scowling at her brother.
Harry ignored this argument, as they had been bickering about Ginny's blossoming all the time Harry had been at number twelve Grimmauld Place. That deal with Ginny dating Dean had been a real eye-opener to Ron, and he refused to have anyone paw on her sister, although he did try to push the girl over on Harry instead. Harry assumed this was because of the old adage; "Better with the fool you know, than with one you do not". In this case, the "fools" represented the male population of the world, and Harry was the only one Ron would trust with his baby sister.
About ten minutes in, Ginny had to go on patrol, just as Malfoy and his cronies came by.
'So, Potter,' ha started in his usual drawl, Harry could sense that the boy, as Malfoy still had some mental growing up to do, was still peeved about Harry's friends cursing him and his cronies on the way back from Hogwarts, 'you're the only one of your little friends not to make Prefect, eh? Lonely?'
The mirth was evident in the theatrical note of sympathy. Harry pretended like he never heard anything as he read.
'I asked you a question, Potter!'
Harry kept ignoring the boy, and pointedly turned a page. The compartment's occupants were silently watching this scene unfold.
'What's the matter, Potter?' Malfoy asked after a moment, Harry could feel the beginnings of a smirk on the blonde boy that had declared himself Harry's nemesis. 'You look like your dog died.'
This remark would most definitely have gotten a rise out of Harry before summer, but Harry ignored it. Hermione and Luna had to restrain Ron from lunging at Malfoy and force those words back down his throat, or any other orifice he could find. Harry was well aware of that Malfoy was baiting him to attack so Harry would get into trouble, and he did not intend to play into the boy's hands.
'Why don't you go do what you're supposed to do, Malfoy?' Hermione asked through gritted teeth from both frustration over wrestling her own emotions, and wrestling Ron back into his seat. 'Patrol the corridors, for instance?'
Malfoy growled in annoyance and turned on his heel. Crabbe and Goyle followed wordlessly, as they always did.
Harry remained the same until the witch with the trolley arrived, then he bought several of everything, before sharing with them all. Ron kept to the Chocolate Frogs, while Hermione sat and chewed on the end of a Sugar Quill. Luna toyed with making a necklace out of a great deal of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, much like her Butterbeer cap necklace, and putting it in her mouth every now and again just to get the flavour, like an innocent child. Neville was merely happy to chew on a Liquorice Wand.
Cho Chang decided to visit, but unfortunately for her, the Mimbulus Mimbletonia had gotten a fright from a bee that had landed on it, and squirted stink sap in her direction, drenching the young woman completely. She left not many seconds after that, groaning and moaning in disgust.
As it started to grow darker, Hermione reminded them all to start changing into their uniforms.
The women then commanded the men out, and closed the door and drew down the blinds so they could change in peace. The roles were reversed when the women were done.
Not long after, the train pulled to a stop, and the group of six exited the train into the throng of students.
'First' years! Firs' years over 'ere! Come now, don' be 'fraid! Firs' years this way!'
Harry was very happy to hear the deep and booming voice of the half-giant groundskeeper, whom he didn't have much time to speak with at his birthday party.
''Lo Harry!' Hagrid greeted as he waved his lantern, timid little first years flocking about him, making him look even bigger.
'Hello Hagrid!' Harry returned, waving over the heads of many of his fellow students.
'Bes' get on with me work, we'll chat later!' the friendly man called and went back to gathering the first years.
Harry nodded in understanding and went with his friends to the Thestral drawn carts. The six of them got a cart of their very own, seeing as Luna scared most away by starting to pat the horse like creature's flank, and as only those who has seen and come to terms with someone's death can see them, they thought she was only patting air.
The journey from the Hogsmeade Station to Hogwarts was surprisingly short to Harry, who was on the last chapter of his book, and itching to start another. Hermione and Ron were all too aware of this, and Ron looked like he was on the verge of ripping the book from Harry's hands and slap him to death with it if he didn't stop reading soon. Hermione looked like she wanted to borrow the book after he was done with it.
Before long, Harry had seated himself at the Gryffindor table, a fresh book to read in his hands, about the art of finer conjuring, waiting for the Sorting Ceremony and the Welcome Banquet. Hermione was merrily starting on the book that Harry had just finished, and Ron looked nearly betrayed by Hermione and Harry. Harry; for taking after Hermione too seriously, and Hermione; for supporting Harry's choice. Neville watched the scene unfold with a very confused expression, and Ginny had to tell him what had been going on this summer, without giving away anything secret.
All the students were quick to get themselves seated, and were eagerly discussing their summers with their friends, although there were one or two missing, reminding everyone of the ongoing war. The Death Eaters had yet to make a big attack, but the odd and random attack still happened like they did during Voldemort's first reign. One or two came up to Harry and thanked him for his tutoring, as it was his lessons that had given them the ability to defend themselves long enough for Aurors to arrive and drive off the Death Eaters. Voldemort himself had yet to make any physical appearance, and if Harry understood correctly from what he had managed to overhear at the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters, number twelve Grimmauld Place, he was recovering from the botched attempt at possessing Harry at the Ministry before summer. The opening of the doors for the Great Hall made Harry glance up for a moment, to watch the first years enter with awed expressions as they tried to take it all in and look as small and unnoticeable as possible, uncomfortable under the gaze of so many new faces.
Harry thought wistfully back to the time he had been one of them, nervous about being chucked out for not being the one they had been looking for at all. Nervous about not knowing anything about the magical world, and how those raised in it would mock him for his failures, of he thought that there might have been some mistake and he wasn't magical at all and had to be sent back to the Dursleys. How wrong he was … and how he currently wished it was so …
The Sorting Hat twitched, gaining the attention of the first years. Then the brim split and formed a mouth that started to sing.
For thousand years and more
I have acted as a Magistrate,
By separating children
And contributing to creating hate.
Every year and by the score,
Even those who wouldn't budge,
I have sorted more than a million
At a very shameful rate.
The founders four were all good friends
Divided in anger and hate,
Because of petty rivalry
And baseless jealousy.
Sir Slytherin, the cunning one,
In love with Rowena fair,
Competed against Gryffindor
To win her love's affair.
But Gryffindor, the courageous one,
Was not about to lose,
He won the fair Rowena's heart
And crushed his friend.
Slytherin would not stand by
And watch his love go on,
And blamed it on his Muggle dad
And since went very bad.
Lady Hufflepuff, the friendly one,
Could not mend even this,
And watched her friends drift apart,
And one she'd dearly miss.
Lady Ravenclaw, the smart one,
Wed the courageous Gryffindor,
And bore his only son
Whose family lives on.
So end all strife,
and get along,
Or end up
like this song.
The entire Hall was silent for moments before they remembered to applaud.
'That was a bit gloomy, don't you think?' Ron asked, momentarily forgetting his annoyance at Harry.
'These are gloomy times, Ron,' Harry answered, returning his gaze to the book, flipping the page every thirty seconds.
Hermione nodded her agreement, and returned to the book she had borrowed as well.
The Sorting soon started, professor McGonagall, leaning lightly on her cane, but did not give the impression of actually needing the thing for support, started reading out names in alphabetical order according to their surnames. Harry was surprised to learn that the Creevey brothers had a little sister named Charlotte, and that the little boy that got beaten by Dudley and his gang, who lived just off Harry's street, Mark Evans, was a wizard. He was certain that the Dursleys would move if they ever found out there was more than one of Harry's kind about their home.
Harry was polite enough to look up and applaud the newcomers that were sorted into his house, but the rest of the time was spent reading with great interest.
Dumbledore got to his feet after the last child had been sorted. He looked older than he usually did, but he was still beaming at everyone like normal, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. He looked like a dear old grandfather welcoming his family after a much too long time apart.
'Welcome!' he said. 'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I would normally have uttered a few words, but I will save them for later, as the rumbling of certain bellies would only drown my speech. Tuck in!'
No sooner had the words been uttered before food appeared on each of the five tables.
Ron nearly physically dove into the food in front of him, grabbing enough food onto his plate to feed half an army. Harry expertly manoeuvred his book so that he could read while eating, and not ruin the book in the progress, although this slowed down on his reading speed, as he had to wipe his hands every now and again to turn the page.
As Ron started to near his fill, he started getting annoyed with Harry again. Hermione was also carefully reading the book she borrowed, but was doing it much more slowly than Harry. With an exaggerated; 'Oops!' Ron knocked his goblet over, making the content spill in the direction of Harry's book. Harry, however, managed to somehow sense the impending disaster and lifted the book before vanishing the flowing fluids and replacing the book where it had been, unharmed and still on the right page.
Hermione glared at Ron over her borrowed book, clearly angry that he would try to deliberately destroy a book like that. Neville looked even more confused, and Ginny had to explain to him again. Although he seemed much more confident compared to last year, Neville still retained some of his old self, as such extreme changes didn't occur over night, or over the summer. He had gotten a new wand, which suited him better than his father's old wand, and this must have contributed to the clumsy boy's maturing.
Harry was among the last to finish his meal, and marked his page when the left-over food disappeared.
Once more, Dumbledore got to his feet.
'Now, I think, as we have all had our fill – some more than others – it is time for the start-of-term notices.
'First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. Several of the older students should also remember this. This year it is especially important, as the centaurs in the forest are not very happy with humans at the moment. As a result, Firenze here will dwell in one of the courtyards, please show some consideration to his privacy.
'Second, I have been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. All products bearing the name of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes has been added to this list of contraband items, for a more detailed list, please see the list on Mr Filch's door.
'Quidditch trials will be held the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
'Taking over the duties as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, please welcome the honoured Auror, professor Kingsley Shacklebolt!'
There was a wave of applause about the hall, as everyone welcomed the new, and judging by appearances only, better teacher. Harry tuned out from the rest, as he had heard it all before.
'Now, finally,' Dumbledore continued after applauding politely himself for the large black and intimidating man, 'we will be trying to start a new tradition this year. To lighten the mood, and further creativity instead of destruction, we will during Christmas break hold an Ice Sculpture Competition. Everyone above their third year are to join, but those who do not wish to compete, please report to your head of house within the week, or simply spend the holidays with your loved ones instead of in this cold and old castle. The winner of this competition will get a gift certificate to Honeyduke's for the sum of one hundred galleons, and will be honoured by having his or her sculpture displayed in the Entrance Hall until they graduate and can bring the sculpture with them. We hope this competition will be amusing enough to become a yearly event.'
A murmur of slight interest rose from the students, while most expressed their dislike for the idea immediately. Harry was too consumed in his book to notice.
'Now, Prefects, take your first years back to your houses, and sleep well.'
Hermione, Ron and Ginny rose, followed by two of the seventh years and Collin Creevey, all trying to herd the crowd of first years back to their dormitories.
'Come on you midgets, stay in line!' Ron shouted over the Gryffindor first years.
'Ron, they're not midgets!' Ginny scolded.
'They are to me,' he retorted easily and went on to explain about the doors that pretended to be walls or the other way around.
Harry followed soundlessly, reading from his book while keeping Hermione's feet within view as he walked. He already knew about the trick steps, and the changing staircases, and was merely going on automatic as he followed. He registered that the password was 'Dung Bombs' and entered.
He didn't stop to speak with his room mates after he had ascended the staircase, but simply marked his page and went to bed.
The next few days passed in a blur. Harry got up early, and went for a run. The most convenient location was inside the Room of Requirements, a room he discovered with the help of Dobby the house-elf last year. It immediately transformed into a very large track for Harry to run, with a strong horizontal bar in the middle of the field for chin ups, soft grass for sit ups and a shallow pit he could do push ups over without bruising his nose. As always, he had a book in front of his face. The good thing about being back at Hogwarts, was that he was allowed to use magic, so there was no penalty for making a book levitate in front of his face so his hands were free, as long as he made the books do that before stepping into the hallways and corridors.
The teachers spent the first week or so revising the important things from their first five years, and going over what was the most common errors made during the OWLs.
Hermione was greatly annoyed that the teachers asked Harry, who always seemed to know the answer to their questions, first instead of her. The reason was mostly that Harry hardly ever actively participated in class, and they were eager to encourage him to keep up this phase in behaviour, although Snape grasped those chances to try and humiliate Harry by asking impossibly difficult questions about things they weren't supposed to even know about until the end of this year. As a result, Harry also earned a few points, although Snape deducted points from Harry for being a know-it-all. Professor Binns was merely shocked that one of his students actually asked questions in his class, something that had apparently only happened once, and that was during Harry's second year when Hermione had asked about the Chamber of Secrets. The more observant of the students noticed that most of Harry's questions were about the Goblin Rebellions, and the strategies behind the winning battles. Those even more observant would notice that Harry committed the strategies to memory as he heard them.
The second night back, Hermione had gone to professor McGonagall about the Defence Association, and gotten the approval of both her and Dumbledore to continue the club. The following day at dinner, Dumbledore made it official.
'It has come to my attention that some students wished to continue a study group in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and named the group the Defence Association. They have been a busy group, and their members gained very respectable marks in their end of year exams, whichever form it came in,' at this, Dumbledore beamed across the Great Hall. 'I have been handed their planned training schedule for this year, and I must say that this club is a good idea, however,' Dumbledore's gaze lingered at Harry's stooped form as he read a book from the Library about Spell Creations, 'I have decided that this club shall not go unchallenged. With this in mind, I have reinstated the Duelling Club, under the combined supervision of our excellent Charms professor Filius Flitwick, a great duellist in his youth, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.'
This idea seemed to stir some interest among the students.
'Now, as not to have them both doing the exact same thing, no student is allowed to join both clubs. And to give them a goal, we will hold a little contest between the two clubs at the end of the year. Both clubs will choose a Captain, unless they already have. Each group will have their Captain and eleven other random members in the contest.'
After this announcement was made, the old members of the DA sought out Harry, Hermione and Ron at once to hear about the meeting arrangements, not many of them like the idea of meeting twice a day, but Hermione's argument of Voldemort being openly in power, and that two of their members had barely managed to hold back Death Eaters in an attack, managed to convince them that it was necessary to train that hard to survive.
So it was that the following morning a group of tired students showed up at the Room of Requirements for running, with hurdles to jump, water pits to swing across with rope, walls to climb, pins to avoid, followed by an hour of dodge ball.
'No, Neville, you're supposed to either jump aside when the ball comes at you, or catch it, not stand there and do nothing!' Hermione corrected. 'The whole purpose of playing this sport is to train reflexes and to seize opportunity, or dodge what you can't handle!'
'How is this training?' huffed Justin Finch-Fletchley as the game came to a temporary pause for further explanations of the game.
'Hermione just told you,' Harry stated, not wanting to deal with annoyed wizards. 'You gain slightly improved reflexes, and the ball can represent a curse that you either have to block or dodge. Each side can be hit from behind if they aren't careful, and it keeps you on your toes, not to mention it isn't all that boring.'
The others agreed to the statement, and saw the reasoning behind it. It was always best to learn through games, because then it stuck more easily, and didn't seem like such a chore.
Hermione encouraged their members to do their homework during any spare moment in class to shorten down on their load in the evening, as there was a second meeting before dinner, where they were paired up like the year before to revise or learn new spells, curses, jinxes, and hexes used for duelling, followed by being divided into uneven groups in varying number of groups before they were sent into random parts of a maze the Room of Requirements set up, with traps and dead ends built in. The teams that made it out of the maze were allowed to go to dinner, but the tricky part was that they had to duel with anyone from opposing groups if they saw them.
'This is madness! How is this training!' demanded Ron as he made it to the exit. His demand was voiced by several others before Harry chose to answer.
'It is to make you aware of your environment, and to teach you that not all fights are even, and not everyone you meet are your allies.'
This answer sobered up a few of them, who saw the reasoning behind it.
'Anyway,' Hermione interrupted, 'we need new members, because I hear the Duelling Club has recruited nearly thirty members, and the number is rising.'
'And how do you suggest we do that?' asked Ron, who was in a slightly bad mood from having been worked so hard and not having had dinner yet. 'Anyone we recruit could be a Death Eater in training, and if we accepted them, it would defeat the whole purpose of learning to defend ourselves from them, as they would know the extent of out training.'
'I'm certain we could find a way,' Hermione stated confidently.
'Fawkes,' Harry mused aloud. 'We could borrow Fawkes to see whom to trust.'
It was a generally tired and worn group that trouped into the Great Hall for supper, but Harry showed none of these symptoms, and marched straight for the Head Table, stopping before Dumbledore.
'Headmaster, I would like to ask the favour of borrowing Fawkes for a few evenings to sort out new members for the Defence Association.' He stated formally and loud enough for anyone who wished to hear. 'I assure you that no harm will come to him, and that he will be treated with utmost respect.'
Dumbledore seemed to already know the question was coming, and merely smiled in his usual way, and nodded.
'Of course, Mr Potter,' he declared, 'Fawkes will meet you during your next afternoon training session.'
Life became surprisingly routine after that. Getting up early, run through the obstacle course a few times followed by a couple of games of dodge ball before breakfast (Harry followed his own training plan in addition to that of the DA, to prepare himself for Voldemort). They would then have breakfast and go to class. Harry and Hermione competed about answering questions in class, earning their house a great deal of points for being right. After classes, the DA would meet in the Room of Requirements where they had recruited their new members, raising their numbers from a mere score to nearly three. There they would go through defensive and offensive spells, curses, jinxes and hexes in pairs for an hour and a half before the maze was erected, shaped differently each time. After supper, they would run through their assignments as best they could, although Harry and Hermione finished mostly in class when they were done with their subjects.
To begin with, the new recruits of the DA complained about the pace and amount of work required to be in this group, but it was pointed out that this was not a compulsory group, and they were free to leave at any time, but the amount and pace were set to prepare them for the war that was raging in the magical world. This made a few of them shut up, and grit their teeth through it, but there were about five that left them by the end of a week.
Ron and Ginny found it more stressing, as they had Quidditch practice after supper, and had even less time to do their assignments. This was very frustrating for Ron, as he always postponed his assignments to the night before they were due, something Hermione and Ginny both chastised him on.
Soon September died, and October came. The DA members, at first clumsy and out of shape, became more used to the pace, and didn't tire as easily. They learned Hermione's assignment plan easily, and hardly any of them had trouble with delivering them on time or with decent results. Harry upped his personal training to include certain weight lifting machines or tread mills, to increase his speed and strength, not to mention his endurance. Ron thought him mad to be so involved in training and studying, and often voiced his opinion.
Ginny had found school without Fred and George boring, so she started taking it upon herself to become the school prankster, arranging discreet pranks around school as she commuted between classes and meals. Once in a while, the odd student would come into the Great Hall completely covered in dung from a huge explosion of a dung bomb, and other times they would come in coloured completely in some random colour. Harry was of course blamed for this, as both the Slytherin and Gryffindor Heads of House had been present at his birthday party when he received a sample of every Weasley Wizarding Wheezes product from the Weasley twins. Fortunately, Harry always had an alibi and witnesses, so nothing stuck, but they were always suspicious.
In Transfiguration, they started having a more detailed description of the Animagus process than they had been explained in their third year.
'Now, becoming an Animagus takes time, effort, and pain,' professor McGonagall started. 'Not many bother to become an Animagus, because of just that. It takes dedication to the subject, effort to pull off, and a great tolerance for the pains of your internal organs, muscles and bones rearranging and changing into those of your chosen animal. Of course, repetition is the key, as the pain dulls eventually until you hardly notice it,' at this, she vanished, and a serious looking cat sat in her place before she returned in the place of the cat. 'This is one of the reasons why the Ministry keeps such close watch on those that decide to study this branch of Transfiguration, as the pains may cause the witch or wizard to lose their minds and become fully animal.'
Harry and Hermione scribbled down every word said, and every action taken.
'To start the change, one normally has to take a certain potion similar to that of the Polyjuice Potion, unless one is a natural who has it in their genes. The process of a natural Animagus starts by calming down, getting in touch with one's core, so to speak, and let it tell one what shape one has through visions.'
Without knowing it, everyone in class stopped writing to try what she was saying.
Harry, who had studied the art of Occlumency on the side, found it very easy to calm down and get in touch with his inner self. Before he knew it, a jungle appeared before his mind's eye, dark and with vegetation so thick that one had to hack at it for several minutes to get a step forward. A pair of solid green eyes lit up in the darkness, peering into his very soul. Slowly, the shadow seemed to solidify and stalk closer at an increasing pace before a great black cat lunged at him.
An inhuman roar caused everyone in class to jump and look at Harry, who had fallen from his chair and was cowering in a heap. Everyone could see his breathing being erratic and something slender and black coiled out from under Harry's robes before attaching itself to Hermione's ankle.
Professor McGonagall rushed over, trying to decide whether to lecture Harry on disrupting her class or calm the obviously distressed boy.
They managed to turn Harry over, and everyone in class gasped as they lay eyes on the transformed Harry Potter.
Where Harry's body had been small and fairly muscular after his summer, the new one was large and bulging, although it radiated limber grace and speed. The black rope that had grabbed onto Hermione's ankle was a tail as black as night. Harry's hands were thicker and stubbier, a thick layer of fur covering all but the palm which was covered in thick pads, where his fingernails had been, a glint of hidden claws were visible. His shoes had been ripped open, and sported a similar design to his hands, black fur all over, and black pads on the underside of his toes and the front of his foot, and hidden claws in place of his toenails. Harry's previously overly large clothing under the robes was straining against his suddenly sprouted foot and a half of height combined with muscle. But the most disturbing was that Harry's head had changed from a human's to a feline's. Pitch black fur covering the feline head except for on the forehead, where a lightning bolt scar was barely visibly cut into the skin. His glasses were gone, and his hands were covering his eyes as he had curled up in a foetal position, thrashing and rocking in combined pain and fear.
His senses were running wild. He could hear the heartbeat of everyone present, pounding like hammers on anvils in his head. He could taste the air on his tongue and smell everything. There was a smell of fear wafting about the large room. And there was something else … a very nearby female was in heat … he could smell it. The effect on him was beyond him, and his body reacted like any normal teenage body does to the sight of a naked and attractive woman. He was aroused. He strived to reign in the desire and need to plant his seed, using every Occlumency exorcise he could remember. The scent of the female's shampoo helped Harry identify her, and caused him to strive even harder. It would not do to ravage his best friend, least of all against her will and in front of the entire class.
'Mr Potter, please calm down so we may fully see the extent of your change!' the normally calm professor nearly pleaded.
'Harry, let us see, please!' Hermione pleaded openly, ignoring the tail curled firmly around her leg.
The words of them both caused Harry to remove his hands from his eyes and look up at them, fear and confusion written across his face. He saw the shocked faces of his friends and professor, and tried to ask how bad it was, but his vocal cords would not cooperate, and all that came out was a form of mew, a very deep and scary mew, but a mew nonetheless.
'As I feared,' professor McGonagall sighed, 'Mr Potter is a natural Animagus and triggered his change,' she grabbed one of his arms and attempted to hoist him to his feet, without success. 'Ms Granger, Mr Weasley, would you give a hand, I need to get Mr Potter to the hospital wing. Class dismissed for today! Remember that the essay about the Animagus transformation is due next week!'
Hermione nodded and assisted in raising Harry from the ground, making Harry lean heavily on her shoulder and surprising him that he surpassed her greatly in height, easily fitting her shoulder under his arm. Even Ron who had taken up support under Harry's other arm fit easily under the arm, which in itself was quite a feat, as Ron was the tallest of the three, topping Harry with a head and neck, or at least before this happened.
Harry drunkenly put his feet in front of each other as his two friends struggled to support his increased weight. Hovering behind them was their worried Head of House. A few students that were commuting between classes were scared stiff at the sight of what appeared to be a werebeast looming down the corridor, headed for the hospital wing.
'Madam Pomfrey!' Hermione screamed as soon as they were within the doors of the hospital wing. 'Come quickly!'
'Ms Granger?' the reply came from the room used as madam Pomfrey's office. 'What is the meaning of this?' the matron came out of her office with a stern expression. 'Mr Potter! What have you gotten yourself into this time?'
'How did you know-?' asked Ron as he and Hermione dumped Harry onto a free bed.
'I know Mr Potter's friends would never come in her without him, and as there is only three of you and Minerva present …' she interrupted and quickly came over to start the examinations. 'Hmm …' madam Pomfrey's wand came out into her hand and a series of tests were performed in a routine manner. 'No fractions, no internal malfunctions or disabilities … Mr Potter, I believe you are a very lucky individual, most people would not be in completely working order after being halfway transformed into an animal … how was it done?' she asked professor McGonagall. 'What spell was used, and why haven't you tried to correct it? On that matter, aren't human transfiguration curses something you save for the seventh years?'
'Usually, yes,' agreed the strict professor. 'But this is a botched Animagus transformation of a naturally gifted. I tried the reversing spell as discreetly as possible, but nothing happened.'
The matron listened on half an ear as she continued to examine Harry. As she finished, she clucked her tongue and raised a brow as she saw where Harry's tail lead to. 'Ms Granger, is there a reason for your new ankle decoration?'
Everyone looked down to Hermione's exposed foot to see the end of the tail curled around like a snake coiled for attack.
'How did that happen?' asked Hermione in genuine puzzlement.
Harry tried to say that he had no idea, but it only came out like a hostile sound, although his gesture came out partially understood.
'OK, we won't remove it!' madam Pomfrey said and jumped away from it.
'That's not what he meant,' corrected professor McGonagall. 'His exact meaning, if I understood the dialect, was; "I have no idea how that got there", but it is an odd dialect …'
Harry nodded in agreement to her statement.
'How did you know?' asked Ron in awe.
'Mr Weasley, if you had paid attention in class, you would know that any Animagus can to some degree understand other animals, but mostly those of the same species as your own form,' she explained sternly. 'Mr Potter's form is obviously that of a panther, which is in the feline family if you didn't already know. However, that does explain his sudden growth spurt. Panthers are usually larger than humans, if they decided to walk on their hind legs …'
'Back to the point,' madam Pomfrey interrupted, 'there is nothing I can do about that kind of accident.'
Harry yowled in a low tone.
'Yes it might seem like that to begin with, Potter,' the Transfigurations Professor agreed.
'What did he say?' asked Hermione and looked between her ankle and Harry.
'He said; "The tail has a mind of its own," but that isn't really so, he just needs time to learn control. Until then, Potter, you will be having lessons with me during weekends, on becoming an Animagus, as that seems to be the only option left to restore you to normal, and at the same time will keep you within the limitations of the law concerning Animagus transformation.'
'Oh,' Hermione replied and looked down at her ankle. Harry's ear twisted on his head.
'My, my, Mr Potter, you do have a habit of landing yourself in trouble,' chirped a cheerful voice from the doorway. Harry turned towards the door to see the headmaster, looking as though the universe had just told him a greatly amusing story.
'Headmaster!' Hermione greeted, and tried to cover up the tightly clenching tail with the bottom of her robes. 'What brings you here?'
'Poppy and I were holding a short conversation through the fireplace when your voice cut it short, Ms Granger,' he commented with the same amused smile. 'Of course, I had to come down and see what my students had gotten themselves into, because of the urgency indicated in your voice.'
Harry yowled slightly at the headmaster, trying to convey his concerns.
'I'm sorry, Mr Potter, but the feline language is one I do not master, however,' the man opened a pocket in his robes and dug out what appeared to be a snuffbox which he opened to pull out something before putting the box away. 'This may help,' the small object looked like a tooth pick, until Dumbledore enlarged it, then it was clear to be a hand held sign post with a blank slate. 'They are usually reserved for dumb students. Merely think of what you wish to say while holding it; and it will be written, although you may have to turn it over if you have a lot to say. The other side will pick up where the first began and wipe a clean slate of the first side to start over again.'
Hermione stared at the sign as Dumbledore handed it to Harry.
What's the matter, Hermione? Harry's sign read, then it was flipped over to the other side, Didn't Hogwarts; A History mention it?
'No, I didn't,' Hermione huffed, kicking Ron in the shins as he guffawed at the written sentence.
Harry was satisfied with the sign, and started purring deeply without any control as he looked upon the now blank front.
'Yes, it is quite a novel invention,' Dumbledore agreed in a polite chuckle. 'Had to use one myself at one time … I had just finished my NEWTs, and was experimenting with a silencing charm. The thing wouldn't be removed by any other means so it had to be worn off through time … but, I think I shall have to prepare the school for your little situation, so you won't be cursed to bits as you walk through the corridors, mistaken for a werebeast on the loose.'
Professor! Harry's sign read in great big letters. What about my magic? I can't cast a spell if I can't speak the incantation!
'On the contrary, Harry,' the cheerful headmaster corrected. 'I believe you saw an excellent example of wordless spellwork in the Department of Mysteries … the spell that scarred Ms Granger, here. It can easily be accomplished with practice, even if the spells will be about one hundredth of original strength, but that too can be increased with enough practice and mental discipline.'
'In other words, Harry's buggered,' Ron summarised.
'Ron!' Hermione shrieked, 'You know perfectly well that Harry has at least above normal mental discipline!'
'He'd have to, living with those horrible Muggles for all those years without killing them …' Ron muttered.
'Not to worry, Harry,' assured Dumbledore, 'you'll soon get the hang of it. It's not all that difficult to do, I had to learn it myself.'
Harry growled a bit in irritation and kept the sign to himself.
'Now, if you excuse me -' Dumbledore stated and left the hospital wing, whistling a merry tune. Harry could have sworn that it was the theme music of one of those first videogames Dudley had gotten, complete with this tiny fat man with a moustache that killed mushrooms by trampling on them, and sending a turtle shell reeling. Harry hadn't been allowed to watch for too long before he was sent away.
I feel like that cartoon … with that desert dog that always chases that ostrich … Harry wrote, growling a bit in irritation at not being able to speak properly.
'That's a coyote and a roadrunner, not a dog and an ostrich,' Hermione corrected. 'But you are right, you do look like him with that sign in your hand. All you'd have to do now, was to plan poorly executed traps for Slytherins and end up the victim of them instead of the Slytherins.'
Hahaha. Harry wrote, but had his ears flattened and eyes half lidded, showing the sarcasm.
While Hermione giggled at the imagined scene, Ron was sharing a confused look with madam Pomfrey and professor McGonagall.