A/N-in this chapter there is a little telepathy. Anything you see in these marks is telepathic communication
»Text here«
They arrived at Platform 9¾ with just enough time to stow their trunks and board before the train started moving. This year Ron and Hermione were both head boy and girl, and as such they would have to spend the entire ride monitoring the halls and the prefects.
The ride was uneventful for the most part, once about half way to Hogwarts Harry thought he saw a Dementor flying in the distance but when he told Ginny and she looked it was gone. Harry convinced himself he was being paranoid but he kept his wand ready just in case.
When the train pulled in to the station and Harry and Ginny got off Harry was very pleased to hear the familiar
"Firs years over ere!" and he saw Hagrid holding a large lantern. Harry noticed it was getting darker outside and not a star was showing.
"Hey Hagrid have you heard who the new DADA teacher is?" Harry gave the half-giant a sly smile.
"No, an if you do you better bloody well tell me, Dumbledore's been keepin real quiet bout the whole thing." he said in a hushed voice. Harry smiled at his friend then decided to make him wait a bit more "Hagrid if Dumbledor hasn't told you it's not my place, beside you're bound to find out tonight at dinner." Harry playfully punched his friend in the arm and then went to find a carriage. He and Ginny found one and shared it with Neville and Luna who happened to be holding hands.
Ginny was holding Harry's hand and watching him stare idly out the window. Do you know how much I love you? She thought to herself.
Harry turned and smiled at her "I love you too love" he reached over and stroked her hair. She was too amazed to respond, she hadn't said anything out loud yet Harry had responded like he had heard her speak. She decided to try something, she reached out and took his hand again and this time thought Harry, can you hear me? Ginny heard Harry gasp and then he muttered something under his breath.
"Harry, what is it? What's wrong?" Ginny pulled on his arm to get his attention.
Harry turned to her, his green eyes glowing with an inner fire "Dementors are attacking the boats!"
Harry had been staring out the window when he saw the black shapes in the sky and suddenly he knew he hadn't been seeing things on the train earlier. There had to be over a thousand Dementors flying towards the boats. I can't fight them from the ground; I need a way to fly. But my broom is in the castle already and I don't have time to summon it. Harry suddenly had an idea, without hesitating he summoned Midnight. Midnight appeared in the middle of the carriage which caused some minor problems because of the cramped space but once Harry told her to bring Hawkeye here quickly she was gone again before anyone could move to accommodate her. Harry meanwhile opened the door to jump out of the carriage but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He turned to see Ginny "Gin, love I have to help them." he stared into her brown eyes and saw nothing but love for him. "I'm not stopping you Harry, I just want you to know I love you!" and she pulled him to her in a hard kiss before she pushed him out the door. He managed to land on his feet then he surveyed his surroundings. Most of the carriages had stopped and he saw some DA members trying to figure out how to help. Harry turned and to his surprise saw Neville climbing onto the back of a Thestral. Suddenly there was a large ball of flames and a loud Squawk! Harry ran over and quickly jumped onto Hawkeye's back. "We need to help those students!" he pointed his hand toward the boats and Hawkeye seemed to understand because he spread his wings and launched himself into the air. Harry noticed a couple of the prefects who were riding in the boats had managed to summon one or two Patronus' but there were simply too many Dementors. Harry arrived just as the Dementors reached the boats and he saw a first year boy scream as one grabbed him and tried to pull him in for a kiss.
Harry raised his wand and screamed Expecto Patronum! Prongs erupted from the tip of his wand and charged the Dementor. It released the boy but unlike normal it didn't run. Instead it turned toward Harry and began heading towards him. What! Why isn't it running? Maybe I need a stronger memory. Maybe with so many Dementors around it somehow drains my Patronus strength? Harry concentrated on Ginny, he saw her deep brown eyes, he could smell her shampoo as she got closer to his face, and he felt her breath on his ear as she whispered I love you. Harry put all his happiness and love for Ginny into that single memory, Expecto Patronum! And as he shouted it something strange happened. Harry felt Ginny, he felt her standing next to the carriage watching him, he could see her and he could hear her whispering words of encouragement to him. His wand was shaking when something totally unexpected happened.
A stag burst out of his wand, only this wasn't his normally silvery Patronus. This stag was sleek and brown, its antlers were sharp and pointed and were a creamy ivory color. Harry noticed it even smelled like a real animal. The stag charged the Dementor, who seemed to hesitate before it decided to continue at Harry. Harry noticed that more Dementors were heading towards him and he also noticed two other students on Thestral's were also fighting them. Harry watched as the stag charged the Dementor and then it lowered its antlers and thrust upward just as it came into contact with the evil creature. Harry grabbed his ears as he heard a terrible bone chilling inhumane scream fill the air, but he didn't take his eyes off the action. The Dementor seemed to have disappeared leavening only its robe floating down toward the lake. Harry watched as the stag charged down another five of the vile creatures before they started to run from it. Harry was flying Hawkeye towards the ones that were still attacking the boats when he had a thought. Harry muttered an incantation and there, flying through the air towards him was the sword of Gryffindor. Harry grabbed the ruby encrusted blade and waved it above his head. He summoned his new wand to himself and he pointed it upwards and yelled Expecto Soloriao! A huge bright ball of light began to gather at the point of his wand, when it was about three feet in diameter he released it and the ball flew fifty feet into the air and hovered there. The ball of light gave off enough light to turn night into day and suddenly everyone saw the horror of what was taking place. The Dementors had swarmed over one boat and kissed all five occupants and were in the process of draining another boat. Harry saw one boy dive out of the boat into the water to avoid the kiss. Hawkeye immediately went into a dive and Harry directed the stag towards the boat. It charged and took out another three Dementors and the remaining two kids were safe for now. Suddenly Harry heard a sound that filled him with hope and inspiration; he looked towards the center of the lake and saw both Midnight and Fawks flying low over the boats singing. Harry watched as most of the first years fought off the Dementors trance and were either trying to fight or they were divining into the water, where Harry saw the merpeople were giving students gilly weed to chew. The new prongs had destroyed roughly one hundred Dementors before they started to flee from the attack. Harry followed them with Prongs attacking the rear of the group until they were well out of site of Hogwarts and Hogsmead. Finally Harry directed Hawkeye to take them back to the castle.
When Harry flew back over the lake he saw that none of the boats were still out and that all the students were either inside the castle or on their way in. There was a crowd trying to get inside the entry hall, but when someone saw Harry they shouted and pointed. Suddenly students were pouring back outside and as soon as Harry and Hawkeye landed they were surrounded by students trying to congratulate them. The group stood back when Hawkeye gave a rather loud squawk of annoyance. Suddenly Hagrid came bursting through the line of students followed by Dumbledor and Ginny. "Harry! That was some mighty fine moves you had up there, and where did yer get a griffin? Can I touch him? Will he let me?" Harry could tell by the look in Hagrids eyes that he badly wanted to stoke Hawkeye. "Sure Hagrid he's friendly" Hagrid immediately reached out and stroked the joint behind the griffin's wing.
Ginny meanwhile had thrown herself into Harry's arms and was just holding onto him with her head buried in his neck. Harry could feel tears on his neck but Ginny wasn't making a peep.
Harry turned to Dumbledor "How many did we loose?" his voice quivered a bit while he spoke, which caused Ginny to grip him tighter.
"We lost twelve first years and one 6th year prefect from Ravenclaw. Its important to remember Harry that while we lost so many, you saved many many more." His eyes didn't have their normal twinkle in them tonight but he managed a small smile for Harry "Hogwarts owes you a great service Harry. You, as well as Mr. Longbottom, Miss Lovegood and Mr. Weasley will all be awarded the highest honor Hogwarts can give, and a plaque will be placed in the trophy room for each of you, as well as a memorial for those whom we lost. Now if you'll follow me to my office there is something I would like to discuss with you before we join the rest of the school for dinner. I'm sure Hagrid would be happy to care for your friend."
"Don worry Harry, I'll treat him right and special. What's his name?" Hagrid looked like Christmas had come early so Harry smiled and told his friend "his name is Hawkeye" the he turned to Hawkeye and said "Go with Hagrid. He's gonna watch after you while I'm staying here, I'll come visit don't worry." Hawkeye just gave Harry a "like I planed on doing anything else" look then turned and followed Hagrid down to his cabin.
Harry and Ginny followed Dumbledor through the entry hall and up the stairs to his office. When they reached the gargoyle Dumbledor said "Bubblegum Rum" and the gargoyle jumped to the side. When they walked in the office the first thing Harry noticed was Midnight sitting next to Fawks on his preach. Dumbledor saw Harry's confusion "I believe I told you I think Midnight here is a female phoenix Harry. It appears her and Fawks are quite smitten with each other." Dumbledor actually smiled a real smile then asked them to have a seat.
"Harry, would you mind if they mated? A phoenix will not mate without its partners permission and I was hoping..."he let his voice trail off. Harry had never thought about a phoenix egg, he had never put much thought into where a phoenix came from. He just knew they were rare. "Ok professor. But how many eggs will she lay?" Dumbledor's eyes had regained a shadow of their former twinkle
"A phoenix Harry will lay two eggs every hundred years. This is one reason they are so rare. Usually this will only happen once or twice in a wizard's lifetime. However that information was based on a daylight phoenix, according to legend a night time phoenix will bare more eggs but because there has never before been a night born phoenix in recorded history no one has been able to study them."
Dumbledor leaned back in his char and laced his fingers together, Ginny reached over and took Harry's hand in her own and gave it a squeeze.
"Now Harry we must discuss what happened tonight. Do you know what you did to those Dementors?" Harry winced at the tone of his headmaster's voice. "I think I killed them sir" Harry's glare met Dumbledor's and Harry once again saw something he never wanted to see, Dumbledor was beyond angry, he was fighting for control of his emotions. It was that lack of control that calmed Harry.
I have never seen Dumbledor so angry. He's always so calm and in perfect control of himself but this...this is scary! He thought to himself. He was very surprised when he heard a thought that wasn't his
»Don't worry Harry, you know he's not angry at you.« Harry turned and stared at Ginny, who was looking him directly in the eye
»Gin? Is that you? How is this happening?«
»Of course its me love, and I'm not sure how this is happening. But it happened in the carriage too, right before the attack I heard you thinking. I think it's because I'm holding your hand. I couldn't hear you when I wasn't.«
Dumbledor regained control of his emotions and looked up, what he saw startled him. It wasn't actually what he saw, for they simply appeared to be looking into each others eyes. But Dumbledor could feel something. He quietly reached into a drawer and pulled out another set of glasses which he placed on his face. Now he could see it. There was an odd glow surrounding them, there was their normal magical ambience, Harry's was goldish red, similar to a coppery color and Ginny's was blueish green. The thing that had Dumbledor's attention though was another thread of color, this one a bright vibrant white. It seemed to come out of one and pass through the hands of the other. Dumbledor sighed, young love was truly something to behold. Dumbledor tentatively stretched out a bit of his own magic to test the strength of this new bond. His barley pushed against the bond when suddenly he was blasted across the room and slammed into the far wall.
Harry was wide eyed and Ginny was worried too. What had happened? Out of nowhere Dumbledor had just been blasted across the room. "Professor are you ok?" Harry asked as he jumped up and helped the older man to his feet.
Dumbledor dusted off his robes and smiled. "Perfectly alright Harry, just an old mans mistake. Now about the attack,"Dumbledor sat down and once again laced his fingers together "Harry, the only other person in history who can kill a Dementor was Merlin himself.
It takes a very powerful wizard with a very strong and pure memory to do that. Might I ask what your memory was?"
Merlin? Did Dumbledor just compare me to Merlin?!? There's no way I'm as powerful as Merlin, I was barley able to duel to a draw with Dumbledor!
"Sir. There must be some mistake" Harry sputtered "I was barley able to duel you to a draw, and you yourself said you're not as powerful as Merlin was" Dumbledor raised his hand to silence him. "Harry, you were able to duel to a draw, as in past tense. Your power seems to grow as you unleash it Harry. You unleashed it twice in the same month last term and if I were to duel you know I am sure I would loose. Now Harry if I might ask again what memory you used?" Harry blushed a bright red before he quietly answered "Ginny"
Sudden comprehension dawned on the old man as he remembered the connection and the force of it blasting him across the room. Out loud he simply said "I see."
Rising from his seat he gestured towards the door "I think we should join the feast now"
Harry and Ginny stood up and Midnight fluttered over and landed on Harry's shoulder and they walked out the door
"Tonight I would like you to sit with the staff Harry, after Tonight you can sit where you wish. Ms. Weasley will of course be joining the Gryffindor table" Dumbledor opened the doors into the great hall and they entered just in time to see Professor McGonagall
Remove the sorting hat and stool. Ginny released Harry's hand and walked over to join Ron who was sitting by himself because Hermione was already sitting at the head table. Harry followed Dumbledor to the staff table and sat himself between Hermione and Professor McGonagall. Harry noticed everyone was staring at him, then he remembered he had Midnight perched on his shoulder. He told her to go wait with Hawkeye and she flew off and disappeared in a ball of flames. Harry turned to Hermione and asked how the sorting went
"It went well, we got another seven first years." she shrugged and rolled her eyes at her next statement "And Slytherin only got two."
Dumbledor stood up and quietly waited for everyone's attention
"Before we begin this year I would ask that we all observe a moment of silence for those lost tonight." He bowed his head and the students did the same. After a few moments Dumbledor began again, "Unfortunately tonight's attack has forced us to take some more extreme measures this year to provide for your safety. No students will be allowed outside the castle unless accompanied by a professor or either the Head Boy or Girl."
Ron had received his Hogwarts letter a day before anyone else, and it had contained a Head Boy pin. Ms. Weasley had been so excited she had completely forgotten it was Harry's house and had invited the entire Order as well as Neville and Luna to a party before she remembered and asked Harry if it was ok. Hermione had been greatly disappointed when her letter hadn't contained a pin, but she had put on a brave face for Ron. When he heard Hermione was upset and even crying one night Ron had threatened to send the badge back and
tell Dumbledor where to shove it. In the end Hermione had convinced him not too and now Harry understood why she wasn't Head Girl.
She was something better, she was a teacher.
Dumbledor continued to talk, informing everyone that if they saw anything suspicious they were to report it to any staff member immediately. Harry wasn't really listening to what the Headmaster said, he was contemplating the movement restrictions placed on the students. It wouldn't affect him of course, because he was a Professor. Likewise it wouldn't affect Hermione or Ron. The only person it would affect would be Ginny, but Harry wasn't too worried about her because if she left the castle it would be in his company.
Dumbledor cleared his throat before continuing "Unfortunately, Professor Snape has had to take a leave of absence for health reasons. On recommendations from Professor Snape, Professor Melanadray will be taking over as Head of Slytherin house until he returns. Now allow me to introduce Professor's Potter and Granger, who will be splitting DADA."