Chapter Three

Change is in the Air

Once they got to King's Cross Station they went straight to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Ginny went through it first, followed by Neville. Then Ron, Hermione, and last Harry.

"See-ya Harry!" yelled Ron as he ran toward the train heading for the prefects' carriage.

"Yeah, see-ya!" called Hermione following Ron.

"Oh, and say hi to Luna for me!" exclaimed Ron.

"Will do," replied Harry as he headed to the train with Ginny and Neville.

They walked into the last compartment to find Luna reading the latest issue of the Quibbler.

"Hey Luna," said Harry, "Ron says hi."

Luna blushed. "Would you like to sit down?"

Ginny and Neville snuggled together.

Luna returned to her reading.

Later on, the compartment door opened and there stood two students in the doorway.

"Oh, it's you, must have the wrong compartment," sneered Draco.

The little dark haired girl next to him tugged on his sleeve. "Draco, who's that?" she asked, clearly not seeing Harry's scar.

"Oh, Potter, I don't believe you've met my cousin, Vanessa," he looked at the girl. "Vanessa, this is Potter."

Harry glared at Malfoy.

Vanessa squealed, "You mean Harry Potter?" She took a glimpse at his forehead.

Draco looked at her angrily.

"Oh, yea… sorry," she said to her fair-haired cousin.

Ginny fluffed her hair, which caught Draco's eyes. He began to sweat.

Ron and Hermione came up behind him, and he spun around. "Oh, it's just you, Weasley."

Vanessa tapped on Draco's shoulder.

"What?"

She pointed at Ginny. "Isn't that the girl you keep tal-."

Draco cut her off, "Yes, that is the girl that I keep saying is so poor that she can't even buy a boyfriend, so she has to ask that bumbling fool Neville."

Ron and Neville both leapt on him and started punching the terrified Slytherin boy.

"No! Stop it Ron!" cried Hermione.

"Ron? Ron? Are you okay?" asked Luna slightly dazed.

"Neville!" yelled Ginny trying to pull him out of the fight.

Just then, a Ravenclaw in Harry's year walked down the train. Seeing the fight she screamed and ran down the train.

The girl came back accompanied by an older raven-haired girl with a head girl pin on.

"What's all this?" asked Cho Chang.

Padma Patil whispered to her after seeing that Cho's words had no effect.

Cho went back down the train and came back with a Hufflepuff boy whom Harry didn't know.

Harry and the boy pulled at Ron and Neville to get them off Malfoy.

All three of them were pretty banged up and Ginny had a bloody nose from getting hit by Malfoy's elbow.

"Come on you three," said Cho walking towards the Prefects Carriage.

Vanessa followed her cousin curiously.

"Sorry Harry, I have to run," said Hermione looking at the heads poking out of the different compartments. "Just have to straighten some things out."

Upon arriving at Hogsmeade, Harry joined up with Ron, who had received a detention, and Hermione. He once again saw the black as ebony animals waiting to carry the carriages to Hogwart's. Harry felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned around.

"What are you looking at Mr. Harry Potter sir?" asked the Draco Malfoy's cousin.

"Thestrals," replied Harry.

"What?"

"Thestrals, you can't see them, but they're there leading the carriages," explained Harry, "Hopefully, you won't see them for a long time."

Vanessa tilted her head out of curiosity. "Why not?"

Harry look into her young happy eyes sadly. "Because you haven't witnessed death." A meaningful daze filled his green eyes as he thought of Sirius Black and the he'd been trying to shut out.

"Oh," she said seeing Harry's pained expression.

"First years, first years over here!" called a booming voice over the crowd.

"Bye Harry!" yelled the girl easily finding the kind face of Hagrid.

Harry waved.

Once all the students were at Hogwart's, they filed into the Great Hall, excepting the first years of course, which still needed to be sorted.

Harry sat between Ron and Hermione.

Draco peered between heads to find the flaming red head, Ginny. She turned around suddenly and saw Draco's gaze. Draco quickly sneered to make her unaware. Ginny's stare turned to the now opening doors.

The first years nervously walked forward to the front of the hall.

Professor McGonagall brought the old stool out and placed the tattered sorting hat atop.

The hat began to sing:

"Perhaps you have heard

Of the founders four

The intelligent Rowena Ravenclaw

The sly Salazar Slytherin

The kind Helga Hufflepuff

And the brave Godric Gryffindor

But you may not know of the quarrels within

Of the fight for smart Rowena's love.

Godric and Salazar had been great friends,

But the love they afforded Rowena tore them apart.

Salazar tried to win her heart by cunning

And Godric by bravery.

In the end, it drove Salazar to the Chamber of Secrets

And Helga after him, followed into the dangerous corridors.

Helga had tried to win dear Salazar's heart with kindness.

Salazar blatantly refused. Helga followed her heart to him.

And to her death. Gallant Gryffindor went to the rescue,

But was sadly too late. There were Helga's bones in the waters

Distraught with Salazar's evil mind, Godric sought to flee the castle.

He took up Rowena and together they fled from the eye of Slytherin.

So whether you are sly, valiant, clever, or considerate.

I will place you where you are best."

Professor McGonagall walked up in front of the student body and announced the first student. "Lina Chang."

Harry glanced at Cho Chang and saw her watch the girl nervously.

A young black haired girl walked up and sat down on the stool. McGonagall set the old hat on her head. It fell right over her nose and hid her excited eyes. The sorting hat sat for a minute, deciding which house she belonged to and finally shouted, "Ravenclaw!"

A cheer burst out from the Ravenclaw table as the girl went and joined her sister at her house table.

More names passed by with five going to Gryffindor.

"Vanessa-," began the professor.

A shriek came from the outside corridor. Soon the great hall erupted in a roar of shrieks as well.

"Everyone, please remain calm," stated Dumbledore over the crowd. He then turned to the professors. "Severus, you and Hagrid will go to see what has happened."

Snape grumbled, but followed the headmaster's orders.

There, in the hallway lay Padma Patil, looking ghostly white.

"She's only fainted," stated Hagrid looking at the Ravenclaw girl.

Snape glanced at the girl and then down the corridor seeing the train of a black cloak turn the corner. Without a word he ran after it.

He turned where the mysterious person or creature had fled to find nothing but a piece of an old cloak. He picked it up carefully and looked it over.

Professor Snape returned to Hagrid holding the small cloth. "Take her to the hospital wing; I'll bring this to Albus."

Hagrid nodded, somewhat indignantly. He didn't appreciate being ordered by Snape.

Harry watched the greasy-haired potions professor carry something black and tattered to the headmaster and whisper a few words.

Dumbledore stood up to speak. "Sorted students will report to their house common rooms, and unsorted first years will follow Professor McGonagall to the hospital wing. Sorting will continue tomorrow with the unsorted first years meeting here and all the sorted students going to their classes."

The Gryffindor common room was noisy with worry.

"Hermione, you're the smart one, what happened?" asked Ron.

"I was with you the whole time! How would I know?" exclaimed Hermione.

"I don't know, but you usually do!"

Harry sat down in the armchair in the corner to get away from Hermione and Ron's quarreling.

"Why do you always think I know these things?"

"Well, cause you always seem to know exactly what's happening when we are onto something!"

"For your information it wasn't just my knowledge that helped defeat V-Voldemort!" yelled Hermione. Fortunately nobody but Ron and Harry heard her get the name Voldemort out.

"Well… er… at least I don't try and set creatures free, that don't even want to be free!"

"House elves do want to be free!" Arguing with Ron was making Hermione's heartache. Why am I doing this? I shouldn't be fighting with him!

Harry walked up to them wincing at their yells. "Okay, I have an idea."

Vanessa walked slowly into the hospital wing seeing a bed with a curtain around it. She went to peer in.

Madame Pomfrey saw the girl and stopped her. "Excuse me, but that bed is off limits, your bed is this way," she said while pointing in the opposite direction. Vanessa allowed the women to usher her away but not before peeking inside to see an extremely large man with a concerned look, bent over a girl clad in black with a splash of blue and silver behind the curtain.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked quietly down to the corridor outside the great hall hidden by James Potter's invisibility cloak.

Harry glanced at the Marauder's Map to look for anything unusual. "Mrs. Norris, where is Mrs. Norris?" asked Harry to himself. He heard a cat's hiss behind him and turned around.

Two lamp-like eyes stared back at him. Harry backed away slowly with Ron and Hermione following. The cat turned around and ran the opposite direction, no doubt going to the Hogwarts' caretaker, Mr. Filch.

"Come on," whispered Harry, slowly moving down the corridor.

Ron looked at the map and then tapped on Harry's shoulder. "Why is Padma Patil in the hospital wing? She's not a first year."

Harry shrugged.

Hermione thought for a second. "Oh come on you two, can't you put it together?"

"No, that's what you're for," answered Ron.

She rolled her eyes. "Honestly. A scream in the hallway, a girl in the hospital wing, don't you get it?"

Ron and Harry thought for a moment then they both nodded. "I wonder what happened to her," thought Harry aloud. He stopped walking. "Shh…"

A lofty shadow fell down the corridor.

Harry felt weak in the knees. "Let's go."

The trio rushed the opposite way of the shadow and back to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?" asked the painting.

"What was it Hermione?" probed Harry.

"Agricola."

The painting opened, but fortunately no one noticed that nothing came through it.

Once in the common room they went to a corner to take the cloak off.

Will anything ever be normal here, thought Harry.

Padma woke up later that night to hear excited chatter nearby. Where am I? She got up from the bed. She noticed how familiar the bed was. She pulled back the curtain and realized that she was in the hospital wing. But why am I here? She thought back to her arrival at Hogwarts.

"Oh wonderful, you're up," said Madame Pomfrey opening the curtains, "The headmaster would like to see you."

The girl nodded.

"Just go straight to the staff room, Professor Flitwick will show you the way from there."

Padma walked to the staff room silently, trying to recall what had happened, I went to the Great Hall, she remembered, but I had to go to the lavatory… On my way back I-.

The Ravenclaw girl looked up and saw she was at the staff room. She knocked on the door.

"Yes?" answered the voice of Professor McGonagall as she came running out.

"I'd like to see Professor Flitwick."

"Yes, just a moment." The witch clad in green went inside quickly.

A short wizard walked out. "Oh yes, you'd be wanting to see the headmaster, am I right, miss Patil?"

Padma nodded.

"Right this way."

The girl followed obediently.

The professor led her down the hall for a while until they came upon a large eagle statue.

"Chocolate truffle," said Flitwick.

Padma was about to ask why he had said that, when she heard a low rumbling.

The hefty statue began to rise up in a spiral, stairs coming from the ground.

The professor started up the stairs, and Padma followed.

Once up the substantial staircase, Padma walked forward to see Albus Dumbledore sitting at a copious desk. Next to the desk was what looked like a tray of ashes with a sort of perch above the gray dust.

Professor Flitwick went back down the stairs immediately.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes, yes, of course. Oh, do have a seat." He beckoned her to a chair near his desk.

The Ravenclaw prefect sat down.

"Now," began Dumbledore, "I would like you to tell me everything you remember about what happened earlier this night."

"Well sir, I was just trying to figure that out myself," she began, "I had just left the lavatory to come back to the feast, when I saw a… person, I think, whatever it was, it was dressed in black and was coming down the corridor…"