Cry of a Restless Soul
Summary:
The reader is now introduced to two new teachers, one expected and the other not. Voldemort, as usual, is trying to dig for some information in Harry's mind while he wanders, quite confused. A familar name pops up and Harry is even more confused because of this new name...
Chapter Six:
The Kingdom of Will
The seemingly bright rays of sunlight blinded the, now, opening eyes of Harry Potter for a second. He shut them a second later, stretching; he sat up, opening his eyes again. The young wizard started, unconsciously, gazing around him and soaking in the appearance of the hospital wing.
"What was that?" Harry's head snapped upward, surprised by the sound in his head. "You don't know! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
"Ow…" The memento of his first encounter with the Dark Lord stung slightly, burning into his head. He lifted a hand up to comfort the scar slightly.
"Wor-" The voice startled Harry again, the voice came from inside his head it seemed. "No, I do not need to speak your name. Get me Regulus."
"Regulus?" Harry thought to himself, why did that name sound so familiar.
"What?" The Boy-who-lived swore, apparently the person connected to him could hear his thoughts. "Looks like you've decided to pay a visit eh Harry?"
"V-Voldemort, get out of my mind!" Harry thought hard, frowning at the laugh that echoed in his threat's wake.
"Do I need your permission to leave your mind? I go where I please Harry; you are the idiot that's let me into your mind."
"Let me repeat this," Harry thought back. "GET OUT OF MY MIND!" The Potter heard a slight laugh then a snarl of pain.
"Hmm, this is going to be difficult then. You've given me what I wanted Harry, I thought I would hang around for a few more moments but it seems that was 'another old man's mistake.' Enjoy your day Harry." With a laugh, Harry felt his mind become void of anything a second later, the young wizard fell back, his back slamming against the stone wall behind him.
"Harry!" For a second Harry thought the intruder of his mind had returned, but looked to his right to see young Ginny Weasley looking at him with a wide smile on her face. "Hey, you're alright I see." In response, the Wizard nodded. The girl walked forward, her shoes clicking only with the floor, echoing around the large room.
"What're you doing here?" Harry asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Checking on you of course, Hermione actually sent me here. She's busy… you know… reading." Harry laughed slightly, the noise not really escaping from his diaphragm.
"So what's happened around the school?" The Boy-who-lived threw another question her way.
"Well the feast's been cancelled because of yo-" she stopped, looking up at him with round eyes.
"Do you know what exactly happened there? Hermione didn't tell me the last time I saw her." Harry looked away from the tiny girl, his gaze landing on the glass windows on the opposite side of the wing. Ginny continued nonetheless.
"Not really," she said. "All I know is that you somehow lost control of yourself and started to attack McGonagall." Harry felt his gaze move back to her.
"Is that so?" She nodded. "Well I-"
"WHAT IS THIS!" The new voice startled both Gryffindors, Ginny falling out of her chair. "VISTORS AT THIS TIME OF THE MORNING! MY PATIENT NEEDS REST!"
"Madam Pomfrey," Harry said, trying to defend Ginny. "I would get more sleep talking with Ginny here then with you yelling."
"Oh think you're all smart then Potter!" The nurse had her hands on her hips and her frown was quite pronounced. "THEN GET OUT!"
"Wh-what?" Harry stuttered.
"YOU HEARD ME! OUT! YOU'RE PERFECTLY FINE! GET OUT!" Soon enough Harry and Ginny were running out of the hospital wing and slowly making their way to Gryffindor tower.
The two Gryffindors walked to the tower in silence, both trying to catch their breath. Soon the familiar portrait of the fat lady was in sight and Ginny approached it.
"Eternal," the red haired girl said, and the portrait opened. She crawled in and Harry followed behind her. Entering the familiar Gryffindor common room was a relieving feeling for Harry, seeing his two friends sitting near the window and pointing at multiple things. Hermione turned her head around and a smile blossomed on her expression.
"You're out of the hospital I see." She stated getting Ron's attention and making his head twist around as well.
"Yeah… yeah I suppose." She chuckled at this response, jumping off of the window ledge and making her way toward Harry.
"How're you doing?" Ron asked, mimicking Hermione's action.
"I've been in worse spots." Harry answered, sitting down and letting a long breath of air gush out of his lungs. Hermione came and sat down in the neighboring chair while Ron sat in the one nearest to the unlit fireplace.
"So what're you going to do about this problem?" Harry heard the question that came from Hermione quite clearly, but he did not respond at once. He knew what problem she was talking about, the lack of mind defense that Harry had. He knew he needed to learn Occulmency well enough…
"And quickly enough too," he couldn't help adding in his mind. He looked up to his female friend's curious look and shrugged.
"Maybe I'll just go ask Dumbledore for someone to teach me." Harry said mildly. "So what're we going to do until the feast?" Harry asked no one in particular, reflexively flicking a loose thread of hair from in front of his right eye.
"Want a game of chess?" Ron suggested and Harry shrugged; muttering an "I guess…" response.
The time seemed to fly by quickly; Ginny came and watched periodically, disappearing every few seconds with her newfound boyfriend Dean Thomas. Hermione did not watch the violent chess game, but decided to borrow Neville's book on wandless magic again.
"Apparently wandless magic is part of the sixth year curriculum." She said abruptly as Ron's queen cut one of Harry's bishop's head off.
"Wait," Ron said looking up and away from the game. "That means we're going to learn that stuff this year!"
"Brilliant deduction," Hermione grunted, Ron muttering something Mrs. Weasley would surely yell at Ron for saying.
Harry glanced upward when the portrait hole opened. He saw Hermione's two roommates, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, crawl in, sly smiles on their faces. Parvati seemed to notice Harry's stare and held up a hand.
"Hey Harry." She said smiling; her long dark hair seemed to flow down onto her shoulders rather pleasantly. Harry couldn't help but remember staring at her glistening hair during their History of Magic exam the previous year.
"How're you doing Parvati?" Harry asked her as she came to sit down next to the chess board, Lavender sat down behind her.
"Good to be away from my parents! Summer could have gone better." She added, seeing Harry's confused expression.
"What happened?"
"Oh just a family argument, my parents don't want me to come here anymore." She said, watching Harry's Pawn feebly cower under the Queen's hard stare. Harry's Castle yelled something inaudible and Harry thought it was because it had no form of mouth anywhere on it.
"It's because of me or Dumbledore right?" The Boy-who-lived said, ignoring the Castle's continues cries. She nodded sadly, the smile now gone from her pretty visage.
"Dumbledore mostly, but your name came into the argument. Mum says you're still the same lunatic that the Daily Prophet's made you." The sixth year girl responded.
"That's what you get for reading the Daily Prophet too much." Hermione said abruptly, making both Harry and Parvati stir slightly.
"What'd you mean?" Lavender shared her questioning input finally.
"Nothing really, just that the Daily Prophet is causing more trouble then Voldemort is right now." Ron, Lavender, and Parvati all trembled at the name and Harry and Hermione shared a smiling conversation.
"I don't get how you two can say the name…" Parvati said, shivering again.
"They're both brought up by Muggles." Parvati's best friend pointed out and Parvati's eyes darted back and forth between the two fearless ones.
"B-but Hermione used to say 'you-know-who'!" Parvati's head turned back to Lavender, a frown appearing. "Why the sudden change?"
"Because I recently realized how ridiculous the entire fear-of-the-name idea is. It's just another method of Voldemort gaining control without even being here." Hermione answered, not looking up from her book.
"W-what?" Parvati said dumbly and Harry let out a laugh. She turned sharply and frowned at him.
"You get used to it after a while." Harry stated, looking up at Hermione to give her another grin.
"Get used to what?" Ron said, looking up from the chessboard for the second time. Harry shook his head, moving his own Queen in and smirking.
"Checkmate." Harry said, looking up at Ron with a wide smirk.
"W-WHAT!"
"Look, my Bishop's here, and my Queen's here." Harry said, still fighting his laughter off, indicating the spots on the chessboard where Harry had Ron's king pinned down.
"Wh-what!" Ron repeated, now looking quite surprised at Harry's sudden laughter.
"Good job Harry!" Parvati said throwing a pearly white smile Harry's way.
"What is that? The first time ever?" Hermione finally looked up from her book and frowned at Harry.
"Y-yeah it is." The DA leader said, his grin disappearing.
"Then we can just blame it on luck." Hermione told him coolly, going back to her book.
"Oh come on Hermione, be a little more encouraging." Parvati scoffed.
"I am, I'm telling him, unconsciously, not to get overconfident."
"How does that mean overconfident!" Parvati screamed, standing up with her hair now on lightning.
"P-Parvati it-it's just a g-" Harry tried to calm her down but she just looked at him with daggers shinning in her dark eyes.
"Shut up Harry." She stated simply and Harry followed. Her head whipped back to Hermione's, who was mildly participating in this argument. "You're such a pessimist, why not tell him: CONGRATULATIONS HARRY! Rather then putting him down!"
"Because there's absolutely no use in congratulating him on luck, in addition, I do not consider myself a pessimist." She contradicted, still not looking at the angry Parvati.
"LOOK AT YOU! YOU THINK YOU KNOW HARRY SO WELL!" Parvati was now yelling and Hermione dropped her book, standing up and looking even angrier then Parvati.
"THAT'S BECAUSE I DO KNOW HARRY BETTER THEN YOU DO!"
"OH REALLY! WHAT'S HARRY'S FAVORITE COLOR?"
"Wh-what?" Hermione stepped back, surprised by the simple question.
"GREEN! RIGHT HARRY?" Harry nodded surprisingly, in fact he didn't even know if green was his favorite color. "SEE! I KNOW MORE ABOUT HARRY THEN YOU DO!"
"YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF HARRY DO YOU? YOU JUST SEE HIM AS A FAMOUS ARTISIT OR WHATEVE-"
"Let's get out of here." Ron said, Harry, with the acute hearing of youth; omitted the heated argument. "Lavender's already left and I think we should follow her." Harry nodded and ran after Ron up the boy's dormitory staircase, stopping to glance back at Hermione and Parvati, neither had noticed the exit of their friends. After Harry closed the door with a snap, he let out a long breath of relief. Falling back on his bed he closed his eyes.
"So what'd you make of Parvati eh?" Ron said suddenly, making Harry's eyes open again.
"She seems… good enough I suppose." Harry answered, rolling on his side.
"What'd you mean by that? Good enough for you?" Harry sat up and fixed Ron with a questioning stare.
"She seems like a good person!" Harry emphasized each word.
"Oh, you misunderstand." Ron shook his head. "Is she good looking?" Harry was taken aback, he thought she was pretty and all, but did he honestly think that she wa-
"Yeah, good looking and all." Harry said, stopping his thoughts. "But do I fancy her? No."
"You went to the ball with her!" Ron smirked, knowing Harry's face was quite red. Harry felt his Adam's apple give an icky sort of jiggle.
"Because there was no one else to go with," Harry said, looking away. "Anyway, I've got better things to think about then girls. He heard Ron sit down on his bed, the springs clinking slightly.
"Don't tell me…" Ron started slowly, muttering. Harry rose, looking at Ron from behind his glasses.
"What?"
"You don't like Hermione do you?" Ron said quickly and Harry falling off his bed, the laugh that erupted from Ron's mouth made Harry scoff.
"W-what? I respect Hermione a lot but I don't like her or anything!" Harry said, getting off of the floor and brushing off his clothes. "Don't you have something better to do!"
"H-Harry, come on mate' I was only jo-"
"I THOUGHT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WOULD BE ABOVE GOSSIP!" The Boy-who-lived yelled, his facial expression sparking slightly.
"No! NO HARRY!" Ron screamed and Harry laughed.
"You are weak Weasley, a Mudblood lover too. You shall pay for your incompetence to Lord Voldemort!" Harry lifted his right hand, Ron now pale white and shivering repeatedly. Just then, Harry dropped the wand that came to his right hand, for the door behind him slammed open.
"I-I'm so sorry Harry. Parvati jus-" Hermione paused, looking between her two friends. "Harry? HARRY!" She ran to him, taking his wand away and fixing a hard stare on him. "GET OUT OF HARRY!" She yelled, making Harry quiver slightly. Harry then crumbled to the ground, breathing and conscious still.
"D-damnit…" Harry muttering, trying to pull himself up, and was soon standing up. A hand pressed to his scar, which was burning rather badly. "D-damn… you Voldemort…" Ron did not shiver this time, for he was panting rather badly.
"R-ron?" Hermione walked over to his pale body. "A-are you alright?"
"I-I've never seen you-know-who before." He said rather high pitched.
"Uh? You've never seen Voldemort before and now that you have…" Ron twitched rather badly at the sound of his name.
"What's wrong with him?" Harry walked over to Hermione's right, a hand still pressed against his forehead.
"Fright perhaps," Hermione mumbled, pulling the covers over him. "I think Madam Pomfrey's had enough for today, and Ron just needs to calm down and sleep." Hermione pulled out her wand and flicked it twice, two chairs appearing on either side of the bed.
"Thanks." Harry muttered, seating himself on the other side of Hermione. There they sat, watching with pained expressions, their friend twitching randomly.
Soon enough familiar rays of sunset could be seen through the many windows around the sixth year male dormitory windows. Harry looked up at Hermione who shrugged.
"I'm not that hungry." She said honestly, looking back at Ron. Their friend seemed to have recovered but was, at this moment, still twitching periodically.
"How long has it been? Two hours? The fright should have worn off by now shouldn't it?" Harry said, looking back at Hermione who shrugged again.
"Did you do anything to him?"
"I-I don't know." Harry felt a sagging feeling of guilt burst inside him out of thin air. "I might have, I don't remember anything…" Hermione's head moved from Harry to Ron again.
"I'm-I'm fi-ne… p-perfec-ctly fi-ne." Ron's voice came out of nowhere, Harry felt himself grin widely.
"You're okay then?" Harry said as he watched Ron rise and perch his arms behind him to support him.
"Y-yeah, let's go to the feast." He got out of bed and Hermione flicked her wand, making the chairs disappear and, simultaneously, causing Harry to lose balance. He recovered quickly enough, straightening himself from the awkward sitting-on-air position.
"You sure Ron?" Hermione asked him and he nodded firmly.
"Lead the way." He said to Harry, chucking a grin his way.
"A-alright, by the way, sorry," Harry didn't wait for an acceptance before opening the door and walking down the staircase.
"Hey Harry," the boy in question felt his head move automatically toward Parvati.
"Er – hello," Harry replied making her laugh a bit.
"You going to the feast?" The Boy-who-lived nodded mutely. "Let's go together."
"B-but Hermio-"
"Who cares about her! LET'S GO!" She grabbed Harry's arm rather tightly and pushed him through the portrait hole.
This was, most likely, the worst welcoming feast Harry had ever attended during his entire stay at Hogwarts. When Parvati wasn't bothering him with questions of his past or remarks about his life; Hermione and Ron were both looking at him with frowns. Harry felt guilt consuming him. Things became even worse when Lavender showed up; she added her input into the conversation which was quite…
"Idiotic," Harry finished for his thoughts. Even though he was the center of attention in this discussion, what they were talking about did not really concern him. Did he care how his hair looked? Did he care how their hair looked? Did he care what eye color he had?
"Not in particular." Harry stated in his thoughts. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who were both wearing frowns and muttering quietly. Harry suddenly felt a rip somewhere inside of him, this growing hatred for everything. He felt steam curling through his body, malice, utter destruction. Harry felt like ripping apart everything.
"Harry? Y-your eyes," The Boy-who-lived's head turned sharply to face Parvati's alarmed look. "They're different."
"Yeah… yeah they are Harry. Red doesn't suit you at all, what charm did you use on them?" Lavender asked and Harry snorted then laughed openly, a laugh that made everyone near.
"I did not do anything to them dear Parvati." Harry said, a smirk coming out of nowhere on his face.
"Ah Tom, so good of you to join us here at dear Hogwarts," Parvati and Lavender looked up and alarm and saw their headmaster, Albus Dumbledore looking right at Harry.
"Dumbledore," Harry snarled and a frown appeared on his face. He pulled out his wand but Dumbledore merely waved his hand and the wand disappeared from Harry's hand. Dumbledore held out his right hand and, with a puff of smoke, Harry's wand appeared there. Gasps erupted from all around the Great Hall; apparently the entire Hogwarts population was watching them right now.
"As I said those few months ago Tom, it was foolish to come here." Dumbledore did not have a face of anger on his expression but Harry stepped back.
"Harry is foolish enough to leave his mind open! You know I can still gain very valuable information from these small encounters!"
"Of course Tom, but now we could lock poor Harry up in a room in his lovely Gryffindor Tower for the entire year. Even if you were to take control of him periodically; he would not know what the rest of the school is doing." Dumbledore said calmly, the wand in his opened palm spinning speedily.
"Go ahead Dumbledore." Lord Voldemort snarled again. "How many other students are there here? All of them are weak Dumbledore. Mudbloods and Mudblood lovers like you!" Harry then spit on Dumbledore, gasps coming from every corner of the Great Hall. Dumbledore calmly flicked his left hand and the dripping spit disappeared. He muttered something about cleaning costs then looked up at Tom again.
"You may think that my students are… what was the word? Weak? Yes, yes you may think they are weak but, in essence, together they are stronger then even you Tom."
"IMBECILE!" He waved his two hands in a complex pattern in which no eye in the Great Hall could follow and a jet of black flame erupted from the end of his right palm. Dumbledore lifted another hand and deflected it with a wandless spell of his own.
"Go back to your clan Tom. You are too weak in Harry's body. Leave us alone Tom." With another spit, Harry's eyes rolled up in their sockets and he nearly collapsed onto the floor. Parvati leaped over the table and caught him before he fell though. He looked at her, with emerald eyes, and gave her a slight smile.
"I-I'm okay… what happened?" Harry's eyes darted around Parvati's arm and he saw Dumbledore standing with Harry's wand in his right hand.
"I believe this is yours." He said handing him the wand.
"P-professor Dum-Dumbledore?" Harry stuttered confused, his gaze then traveled to every eye around the Great Hall. Conveniently, all of which were staring right at him.
"Yes that is my title here at this institute." Dumbledore replied to his confused response, drawing Harry's attention back to him. "Here," he said abruptly; giving Harry a little slip of paper.
Harry automatically put it in his pocket to look at a later date. Dumbledore nodded to him, then turned sharply and went back up to the staff table. When the talk around the Great Hall resumed to its normal volume, Harry seated himself.
"What was that all about?" Lavender asked immediately but when Harry was trying to come up with an excuse, he was saved the trouble by Dumbledore.
"I apologize for the slight delay with Mr. Potter." Harry, once again, felt eyes dart to him; he distinctly noticed Snape's sneer expression.
"Won't be seeing him much this year," Harry thought to himself. He was glad for his Exceeds Expectations on his practical O.W.L. True enough it wasn't enough for him to get into the sixth year potions class, but Harry didn't want to survive another class with the slime ball anyway.
"Professor McGonagall? If you please." Dumbledore's calm voice brought Harry down from his reflection. McGonagall rose from her seat, bearing the battered sorting hat, she climbed down in silence. Every eye in the Great Hall was watching her movement is mirrored stillness.
She then placed the hat on the equally, if not more, battered stool that stood in front of the staff table. She backed away, and a rip sounded throughout the Great Hall.
With our Mortal enemy lurking so far, yet so close, the alert rise and the weak fall. With valiance and vigor the four houses, fiery Gryffindor, soaring Ravenclaw, dripping Hufflepuff, and sneaky Sytherin, will fall together; clasped by the golden chain of trust and everlasting friendship. Each house carries with it, its own unique characteristics and element. Because of this, the four founders fell apart, divided by their own ideals, the golden chain shattered between them; their once true trust and valor flowing away across the river of time, never to be seen again.
Then I was born, I was sewn by the four founders, each piece of me bearing a mark of the original four leaders and friends. My purpose was simple, to sort students into each of the houses, to let them leave their own mark on the history of Hogwarts, and the history of the entire world.
Now the School was split up, it's founders turned into rivals and the students caring more about competitive activities than banding together under the same banner. Split apart now, fear, disbelief, and despair flowed quite easily through the students and the teachers.
Time passed on quietly, students became failures and successors, the original founders found love and died peacefully, thinking their system to be rather… original and foolhardy. Now the world is in turmoil, untied we must stand rather then scattered individually.
Gryffindor wished for cooperative people, Ravenclaw wished for the freedom of knowledge of the world, Hufflepuff wished for peace and prosperity, and Sytherin wished for utter power. If all of these characteristics came together, truly amazing things would start to occur.
Remember this young magician, no matter where I put you; you will never be separated from the golden clasped chain that binds this institution together. Divide yourself even further from this chain, and it will break. Then the world will collapse, bringing everyone down with it. Including you!
LET THE SORTING BEGIN!
Applause from all around replied the sorting speech. McGonagall stepped back from the hat and flicked her hand out, out of thin air came a roll of parchment. She yelled out something about calling names that Harry did not catch; for he was discussing the delayed sorting ceremony with the two female sixth year Gryffindors with him.
"So the sorting didn't start yesterday?" Harry said to Parvati.
"Yeah, you're little… thing came suddenly as… what's his name?" Parvati responded, looking to Lavender for an answer.
"Fredric Artur," McGonagall's voice flowed into Harry's ears.
"Yes! Him! Oh, isn't he cute?" Parvati's face, Harry saw the timid looking boy rushing towards the hat and was suddenly reminded of his youth. Of when he himself was under that hat, he blinked slightly when he thought he saw the hat turn towards him. After he squinted to get a closer look, it was facing forward and away from Harry.
"Where'd you reckon the firs' years slept last night eh?" Seamus Finnigan, a fellow sixth year Gryffindor asked Harry. Thankful for the opportunity to get away from Parvati and Lavender, he shrugged.
"In here?" Harry suggested.
"Yeah probably, little runts," He added with a gleeful smile.
"Don't go bullying them, or Hermione'll be on you with her claws digging into your eyes." Harry warned him, out of the corner of his right eye; he noticed Parvati look up at the sound of Hermione's name.
"What about that snotty loser?" She asked coldly. Seamus held up his hands and waved them with a frantic look on his face.
"I didn't say anyth-" he said quickly but Harry frowned at him and he shut his mouth and dropped his hands. Turning away he, continued to discuss with Dean and his girlfriend, Ginny.
"Hermione's not a snotty loser." Harry told her firmly.
"H-Harry! Don't tell me you like her!" Parvati said alarmed while Harry was closing his eyes and shaking his head. He omitted the silence around them and looked back up at her with a look that told her he was serious.
"Why is it that everyone thinks I have this thing for Hermione! She's just a really good friend! That's it!" Just when Parvati was going to come up with a heated response, the sorting ended.
Harry sighed slightly; he wanted to know where Eleanor had ended up. He looked up and down his table, but did not see her through the many waving arms or ducked heads.
Cuisine from all around Europe appeared around Harry miraculously, he savored the taste of it, finding another excuse to distract him from Parvati and Lavender's discussions.
"If you could call them discussions," Harry felt himself say in his mind. He ripped part of the drumstick's meat he was currently feeding off of with great distaste. This distaste did not come from the food, but rather the people around him.
He felt his gaze move to his left, to the other side of the Great Hall and the other side of the Gryffindor table. There he saw, quite clearly, Hermione's laughing expression and a gesticulating Ron in discussion. He felt the same tug inside of him, that desire to be with his friends rather then the imbeciles he was currently eating with.
He leaned back in his chair, trying to get a view of Hermione's curly locked hair to comfort him slightly, but Parvati gave him a cold look and he moved his hold on the chair so that it would sit on all four legs, and Harry could see nothing but the people around him.
"What'd you like about her anyway." Parvati asked him with distaste. "Why'd you like her better then us?" Harry couldn't help but snort and she looked quite taken aback.
"She dislikes people for what they have become or what they've done. She respects people who deserve respect and trust, according to this little… ideal; she would only trust a few people."
"Wh-what?" Lavender replied dumbly and Harry snorted again, feeling a smirk crawl onto his visage.
"One of them being me for instance," Harry continued, ignoring the plainly stupid expression on Lavender's face. "I accept this trust wholeheartedly, since she doesn't trust or respect me for being the Boy-who-lived or a hero or whatever. But rather, an actual individual, she respects me because of what I've done with my life.
"Because of Voldemort I was alone during my childhood; she recognizes that, she knows what I've been through during the summer holidays. She knows what I feel like coming here." He held his hands around, trying to indicate to school. "And she sees what I've done in these five years. The events that allowed many people to live on, the events that made us survive the rest of the school year without horrible marks."
"H-Harry…" Parvati stuttered, looking quite stupefied.
"Ron's also one of my best friends because I can talk to him about anything a-a-and… I can laugh with him very easily. We're amused by the same things we are." Harry added, feeling less… deep with this little speech.
"And what about us? Why don't you ever come to talk to us?" Lavender asked him, frowning and indicating Parvati and her.
"I-I just don't like the things you like, we can never carry a conversation with these differences."
"What're we doing now then?" Parvati asked him, quite annoyed. Harry sighed and took a deep breath, grabbing a piece of chicken skin before Seamus, who was sitting beside Lavender across from him, could grab it. He stuffed it into his mouth, and with a swallow; continued.
"We're talking about something I can talk about." Harry said, grabbing a piece of chicken from Seamus's plate with relative ease, he didn't seem to notice Harry's seize, and he silently thanked his amazing seeker abilities. "Usually all you two talk about is Divination, which I despise, or feminine stuff…"
"He's right you know!" Dean the eavesdropper said. "All you two ever blab about is how amazing Trelawney is!"
The conversation about Harry and Hermione's friendship continued, much to Harry's dislike. He tuned out of it after Ginny, Dean, and Seamus all officially joined the conversation.
Soon enough, their utensils and platters disappeared. Harry's hand recoiled backward, much to his displeasure. He would have liked to have another drumstick...
"If I may have your attention once again," Dumbledore's strong voice came into Harry's hearing range. Silence ran apparent around the Great Hall. Mouths shutting and heads turning toward the elderly man; he cleared his throat and stared out at the crowd below him. "As I have reminded students for the past few terms, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, hence the name. This rule is merely a caution and is for your own safety. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wishes me to repeat to all of you once again that magical devices such as fanged Frisbees and such are not allowed in the corridors or anywhere near the school.
"Dueling is also prohibited in this school except during various classes." Dumbledore paused, clearing his throat again. "Now, onto other events, I insist that we of Hogwarts introduce two new teachers today; one of them being a German Wizard who has gracefully accepted the job of Defence against the Dark arts, Professor Schmitz." Polite applause greeted the young adult as he entered the Great Hall through the same door that Harry went through during his fourth year (when he was picked as the fourth champion during the Triwizard tournament).
"I must also submit some depressing news, this being that our long time Quidditch teacher has suddenly fallen ill and will not be attending the Quidditch coaching duties. But, instead we have now retired Ministry member, Mr. Bagman!" Roars of applause suddenly burst out of thin air at the entrance of the unexpected ex-Quidditch player. Harry recognized the same wide grin that seemed to flash whenever applause greeted him.
Ludo Bagman stood on the same spot just outside of the door, in which he entered through, bowing and raising his hands. Dumbledore waited for the applause to die down and for Bagman to take a seat beside Hagrid, before continuing.
"On the subject of Quidditch, new captains have been made and the season will start promptly through October. Now then, off to bed with all of you." He clapped his hands and everyone stood up and prepared to leave.
"Oh I can't believe it!" Harry heard Parvati's familiar cry. "Ludo Bagman here!"
"Yeah I know! You don't happen to have a quill do you Harry? I need to get his signature before anyone else!" Lavender shared her input from behind Harry. The Boy-who-lived snorted loudly, and made his way through the crowd toward his two best friends. They smiled at him when he approached.
"Had fun with Parvati did you?" Hermione asked him and Harry snorted again making the two of them laugh.
"You two have to guide the first years don't you?" Hermione gasped while Ron groaned and they both turned, saying their respective goodbyes.
Harry walked out just behind the quite large pack of first years following his two friends. He unconsciously lowered his gaze to the floor and stuffed his hands in his pant pockets.
Was it merely a coincidence that Ludo Bagman had turned up out of nowhere with his pockets full of gold and had, instead of staying at the Ministry where he most likely earned more money, come to Hogwarts to teach little kids how to fly? Was it a coincidence that Madam Hooch, who had looked perfectly fine last year, suddenly turned ill?
"Something might have happened over the summer…" Harry thought to himself, frowning. "Damn the Grangers, they distracted me from the events in the Wizarding world!"
As Harry turned a corner, he noticed slightly that no one was around him. His footsteps echoing around the empty hallway, he continued to think.
"If he's a Death Eater now then I may have to be extra cautious during Quidditch games." Harry couldn't help but notice the incredibly obvious involvement of Death Eaters. Bagman probably found Voldemort during his run from the Ministry and Goblins and Voldemort decided to use him to get to Harry.
Harry snorted as he watched, out of the corner of his eye, as a figure in a portrait jumped off a cliff with some magically damaged wings and fell off of the picture; landing in the one below it with a loud crash.
"Harry? What're you doing here?" The boy in question looked up to see the familiar lost expression of Luna Lovegood.
"Uh? Where am I anyway?" He asked, looking around him for any recognizable land marks.
"You're probably closer to the Ravenclaw common room then your own. Isn't the Gryffindor's common room on the seventh floor?" Harry nodded. "Well, you're on the third…"
"Oh, oh I was just thinking and I didn't notice where I was going…"
"That's ok, happens to me all the time, 'cept I've never ended up on the third floor. Usually I end up in the dungeons, I find that rather extraordinary don't you?"
"Er- alright, which direction is the st-" She held up a finger that pointed behind Harry. "How helpful," Harry stated bluntly, starting to walk off without a thanks.
"Turn left at the first fork!" Luna cried out after him.
"Thanks!" Harry yelled back. With the help of the slightly misguided directions of Luna Lovegood, he ended up in front of the Fat Lady, her eyebrows raised.
"Password?"
"Etheral," Harry mumbled back and she burst out laughing.
"Wrong! No password no entrance!" Harry groaned and raked his brain for the password.
"Ethenal?" Another loud laugh. "I know it started with an 'E', Intern?"
"Eternal." Harry rotated his entire body to find someone vaguely familiar looking at him from the dark corridor. "Where's my thanks Harry?" Parvati Patil said stepping out from the shadows and climbing in first into the Gryffindor common room.
"T-thanks Parvati," Harry muttered, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed.
"You're welcome Mr. Potter; you're going to bed right?" Harry nodded, walking off towards the boy's dormitory staircase. "Good night Harry."
"Er- g'nite Parvati," Harry muttered back, climbing up the staircase with a confounded look on his face.