Chapter Eight
M.O.R.A.L.E
The Hogwarts Express arrived in Hogsmeade just after nightfall and the students immediately began filing out. Hagrid was directing the nervous looking first years towards the boats that would take them across the lake and into the room just off of the Great Hall where they would wait to be sorted.
Climbing down off of the train, closely followed by Ron and Hermione, who were now pestering him worse than ever about his theory of Malfoy's plans; Harry emerged into the cool night breeze and instantly felt relaxed. He was home again. The painful events of last year seemed easier to deal with here and for that, Harry was glad. Watching the first years, most of whom looked to be getting smaller by the year; Harry remembered faintly the first night he had arrived in Hogsmeade and made the journey across the lake to the place he now felt completely at home within. There were so many questions he had wanted to ask back then; so many mysteries were just aching to be solved. He had been sorted into Gryffindor against the Sorting Hat's advice that night, and the rest had been set in stone. He thought about what the Sorting Hat had told him, "You would do well in Slytherin;" it was still a question he found himself asking. What would have happened, had he been sorted into Slytherin all those years ago?
He hardly had time to think about it; someone had shoved him forward, breaking his train of thought.
"Let's go already," Ron whined, leading Harry away from the line of first years, "We'll end up in a carriage with Luna, or worse, Professor Yewdine."
Ron hadn't stopped carrying on about how much Professor Yewdine had disturbed him. Harry had admitted that she seemed slightly odd, having performed magic without a wand, but Ron just couldn't bring himself past the fact that she was a child, or at least looked like one for that matter.
"She's some kind of bloody demon!" He had yelled earlier, causing Harry and Hermione to laugh, "Did you see the look she gave Malfoy, scared him straight. I'm tellin' you right now, steer clear of that one. I'll take Malfoy over her any day."
This caused even Neville and Luna, who had been rather confused earlier to laugh along with Harry and Hermione. Ron however, seemed slightly on edge from that point on. Harry guessed that it had something to do with the fact that Professor Yewdine had started patrolling the corridors of the train after the incident, and had kept an eye on Harry until they had gotten off the train.
"She's still watching us," Ron said after another nervous glance back towards the train.
"Oh give it up Ron," Hermione moaned, steering Ron's head back in the direction of the carriages, "she's just making sure that everyone behaves. Now get along."
The thestrals looked as foreboding as ever when the three friends arrived at the long line of carriages; most of which were full already. The moonlight was reflected on their scaly backs, almost giving them a glow. Harry approached a particularly menacing looking one and put his hand on it. The creature snorted and moved away, looking for a moment as if it were going to attack him. The moment passed however, and the lizard-like horse calmed itself.
"They're actually quite beautiful, aren't they?"
Harry nearly jumped out of his socks.
"Luna, you shouldn't really sneak up on people like that!"
"I'm sorry," Luna said as she emerged from the shadows behind Harry, "I just wanted to have a quick look at them before we left."
There was a moment of silence as Luna approached the thestral Harry had just startled, whispered something to it, and began to pet it as if it were a domesticated house pet. Harry thought of asking her about it, but after seeing how much she seemed to be enjoying herself, decided against it. He slowly began backing away from Luna and the now much better looking animal.
"Do you think they're lonely?" Luna asked the moment Harry had finished turning around. He stood there, unsure how to answer such a question.
"It must be hard for them, not having anyone to share their time with." Harry, still flabbergasted, turned back to Luna. She was still stroking the scaly creature, but was now looking out towards the lake. Harry saw the many boats containing the first year students, now small, quite distant specs on the lake. They would be at least half way across by now.
"Or," Luna continued, breaking Harry's concentration and bringing him back to the path and the awkward conversation, "maybe they enjoy being alone?"
That was a thought Harry could relate to.
For most of his life, Harry had been, or at least felt like he had been alone. Living with the Dursleys hardly counted as company, let alone family. Ron and Hermione hadn't come into his life until almost recently. He remembered countless nights, lying on the floor in the cupboard under the stairs, wondering how his parents had died, or what they would be doing, what he would be doing at that moment, had they lived. It was a very bleak set of memories. But then he remembered having been around death and destruction; the loss of a friend in Cedric, the death of Sirius…It was so much easier to just be alone, wasn't it? At least if you were alone there was nothing to lose; no death or pain to deal with, just questions and questions could be toyed with, answered however you wanted; made to keep you happy, or at least hopeful.
"Being alone isn't so bad," He said, breaking the silence and looking at the thestral in the moonlight. Its coat of scales seemed rather elegant now, and Harry felt a sudden appreciation for the creatures that up until just a few months ago, he had been terrified of. "No one gets hurt when you're alone."
"No one gets hurt?" Luna asked softly, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight combined with her hair blowing in the wind gave her an almost saintly look. Harry had never conversed so openly about his feelings with Luna like this before; the thought of it filled him with a sense of disarray. What was happening to the world around him? Everything seemed to be so different than it had been only a few weeks ago.
"Or maybe it's just that you don't have to deal with it, if you're alone."
Maybe she was right. Maybe this sudden difference in everything surrounding him was just the natural order of things. Everyone was starting a new year; reuniting with old friends, preparing for new classes, moving on. Maybe it was he who was changing after all, not the world around him.
"Yeah, maybe that's it," he murmured, feeling a sudden twinge of despair.
Just then the row of carriages began moving; the thestrals broke into a trot, leaving Harry and Luna scrambling to find a carriage to travel in.
"Oy, Harry, over here!" Ron's voice came calling over the rustling of hoofed feet. He was hanging out of a carriage a dozen or so yards ahead of them, arm extended, waiting to help them in.
"Let's go!" Harry cried, grabbing Luna's arm and charging towards Ron and the rapidly speeding up carriages. He reached Ron's hand just in time; the thestrals were now into a slow gallop, and Harry was well past being out of breath. They pulled Luna inside and Harry noticed she was still breathing quite normally.
"It's the animagi transformation," she said rather calmly, resulting in a confused expression from Ron and Harry, "Large cats can run for miles, didn't you know?"
"Oh, I knew that," Harry said, remembering a program he'd scene on mountain lions during a summer at the Dursleys, "saw it on television once."
The mention of television brought forth a sea of dumbfounded faces. Everyone except Hermione had no idea what a television was. Harry found this a little amusing and for the rest of the ride, attempted to explain to his confused friends exactly what a television was.
When they entered the Great Hall, Harry was surprised to see it decorated. The beginning of term feast was usually a grand affair, but not once had Harry seen it like this. It looked as if there were to be a grand birthday party; streamers of every colour were strewn about the room, the crystal clear night sky of the enchanted ceiling lit up every now and then with fireworks which resembled the four animals of the houses, even the house tables were decorated. The Gryffindor table, Harry hadn't noticed until he, Ron and Hermione had reached and sat down at, had been draped with a marvelous golden cloth that reflected the fireworks from the ceiling perfectly.
"Whoa-" Ron started staring at the tablecloth in awe, but just at the moment, a marching band burst through the doors and began playing a song so loudly and proudly that Harry didn't catch the rest of his friend's comment. Ron was definitely thinking the same thing, based on his confused look. Why the celebration? Did Dumbledore not remember that Voldemort was on the scene again, probably looking for the first opportunity to find and kill Harry? Didn't he remember what Professor Yewdine had said at their meeting during the summer? If he did, it certainly didn't look like it now.
When the band finished their song and exited through the doors, Dumbledore stood up.
"Let the sorting ceremony begin," he instructed and without a moment's pause, the door Harry vividly remembered walking through six years ago opened and a large, single-file line of first years that looked exactly how Harry remembered feeling that night came to the front of the hall. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat onto its stool at the front of the line and began calling names.
"Erica Arister," was the first name to be called. A tiny blonde girl moved slowly forward and placed the Sorting hat onto her head. It dropped clear over her head and rested on her shoulders. A few muffled giggles could be heard. After a few moments the Sorting hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" and the Ravenclaw table burst into applause as the little girl ran and took her seat.
As the sorting continued, Harry couldn't help but wonder why the hall was decorated so extravagantly. Apparently he wasn't the only one.
"What do ya 'reckon the decorations are for?" Seamus Finnigan asked across the table during a loud burst of applause from the Hufflepuff table.
"Haven't got a clue," Harry responded, honestly hoping someone would be able to clear up the confusion.
"What about you Hermione?" Dean Thomas asked as Slytherin got their first new student and were celebrating loudly, "you're a prefect, don't you know what's going on?"
Hermione looked a little distressed, but quickly rearranged her face to a look of order, as a new student passed her by and sat down next to Ginny Weasley.
"I'm sure that if it was something of importance," she said in a quiet tone, making sure that the new students couldn't hear her, "the prefects would've been informed. It's nothing to worry about."
"Trinity Carrington,"
"This has to be important," Ron said rather loudly, pulling up the tablecloth in front of him and flashing it at Hermione, "have you seen the decorations? This isn't just another feast, something big's going on."
"Well," Hermione said, clearly at a loss for words, "I'm sure we'll find out sooner rather than later." Ron shrugged and went back to studying the tablecloth with Dean and Seamus. It was now showing highlights of the quidditch world cup game that had been played last month.
"Derek Davidson,"
"Harry, have you thought about," Hermione began but Harry had stopped paying attention. Davidson had just been sorted into Slytherin and Harry felt that something was missing. He hadn't heard any sniggering or unusual noise from the Slytherin table, which could only mean one thing. Harry scanned the table and confirmed it. Malfoy wasn't there.
"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione's voice startled Harry, "are you okay? You look rather pale."
"It's Malfoy," Harry whispered, not wanting to draw any attention from the Slytherin table.
"What about him?" Hermione said as she looked over at the Slytherin table.
"He's-"
"Not here," Ron interjected, causing Harry to jump yet again, "I saw him getting escorted to the hospital looking rather miserable." A large grin crossed Ron's face. "Got what he deserved then eh?"
Even as Hermione was saying that he had been a little too concerned about it, Harry couldn't help but feel something wasn't right. Malfoy had a bloody nose; hardly something that would require someone to escort him to the hospital wing. Suddenly a name was called that caused Harry and everyone else in the Great Hall to look up.
"Landon Diggory,"
A small, dark haired boy stepped forward, looking hopeful. His eyes met Harry's and he gave a smile. A lump formed in Harry's throat. This kid looked exactly like Cedric. A flood of unwanted memories came rushing back to Harry. He felt his eyes well up and quickly looked to the floor.
"It's Diggory's cousin," Katie Bell whispered as he wiped his eye, "heard he's rather good at quidditch too. Wonder where he's going to-"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The table around him erupted into applause. Harry looked up to see the smaller, younger version of Cedric running towards him.
"Ron, he does look a lot like-Ron?"
Harry turned to see that the chair next to him had suddenly become vacant. Sure enough, the boy strolled up and sat down right next to him, which promptly led to sniggers from most of the table.
"Hello," the boy said in a cheerful tone, "I'm Landon Diggory, and I know all about you Harry."
Harry sighed.
"You do, do you?" He asked, hoping this would get the inevitable conversation out of the way.
"You're the best seeker Hogwarts has seen in ages!" he exclaimed, causing Harry to do a double take.
"What?" Harry choked, totally thrown off by the compliment.
He had hardly expected the cousin of someone he had been with when they had died to talk quidditch. The boy beamed at him.
"You're my hero."
Harry buried his face in his hands as the table around him erupted into giggles and comments.
Harry could feel another Colin Creevey in the making, and decided to put an end to the shenanigans.
"That's very nice of you Colin-er Landon," Harry said quickly, still remembering the camera obsessed boy from four years ago, "but I don't need any more fans, really."
The book looked devastated. Tears had welled up in his eyes; he looked down and silently began eating.
Harry looked up to see the entire table glaring at him.
"What?" he mouthed in Hermione's direction; which also happened to be the direction of the coldest stares.
Hermione (and a few others) nodded in Landon's direction, and gave Harry looks that told him he had better say something comforting. He turned in the other direction only to find Ron, Dean and Seamus mimicking the look on Hermione's face. He sighed and turned back to Landon.
"Look Colin-I mean Landon," he began, and the boy looked up at him as if he had no cares in the world, "I-er, um… I'm sorry about that."
The glares continued.
"Well um… how about if I-er, give you a... um, flying lesson?"
What? A flying lesson? He didn't just say that.
"Wow, really?" The boy said, sounding absolutely thrilled. "I can hardly wait! I've been hoping you'd get to see me fly! I'm a great chaser!"
"C-chaser," Harry stammered, knowing where this conversation was going, "I didn't mean-"
"Yeah, been playing for years now, you'll want me on the team for sure!"
Harry moaned and turned back to Ron.
"Are you happy now?"
Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors sniggered.
When dinner had finished and the plates had been removed from the tables, a luxurious looking dessert; one consisting of every sort of pie, brownie, cupcake and tart Harry could think of, appeared on the table. He immediately reached for a large dish of tripe pudding as Dumbledore stood up to make his usual speech.
"Welcome everyone, to yet another year at Hogwarts."
Harry noticed that the headmaster's voice seemed unusually nervous.
"As many of you know, certain events have unfolded over the course of the summer that may cause you to feel uneasy."
Many of the students exchanged nervous glances, quite aware of what Dumbledore was talking about.
"However," Dumbledore continued, stepping out from behind the seat and making for very door which Harry had passed through after his name had been pulled from the Goblet of Fire only two years ago, "The staff and I have taken extra precautions to guarantee safety at the school this year as well as maintain a sense of security amongst the student body."
Dumbledore reached the door and reached for the handle but paused before opening it.
"The Ministry has placed an extra guard of Aurors around the perimeter of the school on top of the extra enchantments placed on the walls and exits. There is," he added, turning the handle and inching the door open, "The matter of the student's mental welfare. For this, I have personally asked an organization I'm rather fond of, one that deals with the encouragement of young people faced with or placed in difficult situations, to help raise everyone's spirits and hopefully make this year at Hogwarts one of the best it has seen."
And with that he swung the door open full tilt, and a ridiculously dressed man came tumbling out. The man tumbled past Dumbledore and came to an abrupt halt when he collided with a leg of the staff table resulting in much laughter.
The man stood up and shook himself off before spreading his arms and smiling in a "tada!" sort of way. Many of the younger students found this quite amusing; Harry however wasn't impressed.
"Is this guy for real?" Ron whispered over Harry's shoulder.
Dressed more like a circus clown than a wizard, the man looked as if he was a street performer Dumbledore had pulled directly out of one of the booths in Diagon alley. When the giggles finally diminished, the man cleared his throat.
"Welcome," the man said in a high pitched, squeaky voice that didn't fit him in the least, "to another amazing year at Hogwarts-no, that was his line." The man scratched his head as some first years laughed. This was ridiculous, Harry thought. How was some joker supposed to keep the students' spirit up? Dumbledore must be losing his mind.
"Well, what I meant to say was, I'm a graffulus wormagon!" The man shook his head. "Oh, I'm no good at this."
And with that he pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation. In a cloud of smoke his clothes had changed.
Stepping out of the cloud, Harry got his first real glimpse at the man. This man was almost an exact replica of Gilderoy Lockhart and if Harry hadn't know better, he could have very well thought it was Lockhart himself. This man had long, golden hair that seemed to sit perfectly in place so that his sparkling blue eyes could be seen from any angle. He was physically fit to say the least; Harry guessed he had been some kind of performer now for a long time.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce myself. I am Jeremiah Ethunius Richter Wastfurth the ninth, Chairman of the traveling entertainment group M.O.R.A.L.E."
The room was suddenly full of whispers and odd looks.
"Dumbledore's hired a bloody idiot!" Seamus laughed across the table.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Ron added, sniggering.
"What is M.O.R.A.L.E you might ask? Let me explain. M.O.R.A.L.E, or the Magical Organization for Recreational Activities and Leisurely Events, is a group of people dedicated to maintain mental health in young wizards and witches, thus allowing them to reach their full potential without hindrance. We set up shop in a place for a period of time, in this case a year, and hold specific, exciting events; events which students will look forward to, something to keep them amused."
"This has suddenly taken a turn for the better," Ron said and Harry agreed. Maybe Dumbledore had been right after all. The school was going to be a gloomy place this year after hearing about the return of Voldemort. Why not distract people with exciting and amusing things. The mood of the room had definitely lifted since they'd arrived, if this is what Dumbledore had been planning, it was working perfectly.
"We have scheduled a slew of events for this year, both education and recreational. There will be something exciting and interesting for everyone. Our events will be posted in your common room bulletin boards the minute we wish to announce them, giving students all the time they'll need to prepare."
The man turned back to Dumbledore, who was once again sitting in the Headmaster's chair, a large grin on his face.
"Anything to add, professor?"
Dumbledore's eyes lit up as he remembered something.
"There is one more thing," he said, standing up and raising his voice. "There are a few changes in staff positions this year that I'd like to inform you of." Harry knew what was coming. Professor Yewdine had been sitting in a chair just on the other side of the Slytherin table and had remained rather quiet. He wondered what everyone was going to think when Dumbledore announced that she, a seven year old child, would be teaching.
"Our former Potions Master, Professor Snape, has accepted a new position as Defence against the Dark Arts teacher." Cheers erupted from the Slytherin Table as Snape stood up and revealed his yellow teeth in a nasty grin.
"S-Snape's teaching Defence?" Neville stuttered, his voice shaking. Ron had started choked on his tart and a third year further down the table had spit her drink at the boy across from her.
"Did you know about this Harry?" Ron asked in a confused tone.
"No," Harry admitted, "I hadn't really thought about it much since the night at Professor Yewdine's."
Hermione gave him a skeptical look.
"Professor Snape has been a teacher for a long time Harry, he wouldn't dream of doing anything-"
She cut herself short at Harry's reaction.
"Dumbledore trusts him Harry, you should too."
This was true, as much as Harry didn't want to admit it. Something still felt wrong about giving Snape; a teacher so suspiciously connected with the Dark Arts, the job of teaching students how to defend themselves from them.
"The position of Potions Master," Dumbledore's voice broke through the cheers of the Slytherins, "will be taken by our newest staff member, Professor Yewdine." The students started clapping but slowed down as they couldn't see a teacher anywhere.
"No need to feel ashamed Cagja," Dumbledore chimed, glancing over to where Professor Yewdine was sitting, looking rather embarrassed, "come and greet your students."
The young, silver-haired girl strode quietly up to the front of the hall and took a bow. Silence passed over the hall like a tidal wave. Students everywhere immediately began whispering and a few comments such as 'is this for real?' and 'you've got to be kidding me,' were heard.
Professor Yewdine raised herself back to her full height, unaffected by the obvious display of disbelief, and returned to her seat at the side of the hall.
"Well then," Dumbledore said quickly, "With that, I turn things back to Mr.Wastfurth."
Noticing the disarray of the room, the Lockhart-looking man took his place back at the front of the hall and raised his hands.
"Students and staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I present to you, the Magical Organization for Recreational Activities and Leisurely Events. Do enjoy."
And with that, all light disappeared from the Great hall. A few whistles and giggles could be heard before being stifled by a loud boom which echoed through their ears as a display of fireworks went off signaling the start of a very elaborate show that went on for several hours.