A/N:

Disclaimer - Sadly I don't Harry or any of his friends or places in the Wizarding World. I don't even own the character Brionna Culver seeing as she's based on one of my best mates! I do however own the plot and any other original characters.

Summary - Follow Harry through his seventh and final year at Hogwarts where he has to deal with girl problems, being a teenager and Voldemort and his Horcruxes. HBP spoilers, prequel to One Night Can Change Everything.

Thanks to the following who reviewed the last chapter: raidee poynter, nlm2nd, rockingmastockings, lord van darkhammer, frenchpiment, harrypotter's-angel and oineby. But still I had 93 hits but only 8 reviews! Please review! And yes I know that the sorting hat's song sucks but I failed poetry in English at school.

Anyways now onto our feature presentation. Here's Chapter 9. Enjoy!

Chapter 8 - Arriving at Hogwarts

Once the whole school had been transferred from Hogsmeade train station to Hogwarts the assembled in the Great Hall and sat down at their house tables waiting for the sorting to start.

"I wish they would hurry up! I'm hungry," Ron moaned.

Both Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes then opened their mouths to say something but fell quiet when they saw Professor Flitwick leading the first years into the Great Hall.

The first years stopped just before the staff table and watched bewildered as Flitwick placed a stool before them.

He then placed an extremely patched, dirty and frayed wizard's hat on the stool.

Everyone stared at the hat as it started to sing:

"Over a thousand years ago,

When Hogwarts had just begun,

The four great founders didn't know,

How to sort the young,

Gryffindor took me off his head,

And said a spell that gave me brains,

Thus I now sort instead,

You will go to Gryffindor,

If you are brave and bold!

Or maybe you will go to Ravenclaw,

Where the wise and smart belong!

Slytherin only takes the cunning,

And Hufflepuff takes the rest!

So put me on, I'm never wrong!

I'll take a look inside your heads,

And tell where you belong!"

Everyone in the hall applauded when the hat finished it's song and watched as Flitwick started to call the student's names so that they could be sorted.

Once the first years were sorted and seated at their tables, McGonagall stood up and started to speak, "welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I have a few start of term notices to give out before we start eating our delicious feast! The Forbidden Forest is as the name suggests - forbidden to all students. All products from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes are banned from the school and any student caught with them will have the product confiscated and earn themselves a detention. Now we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Her name is Professor Mia Kerrigan and the new Head of Slytherin is Professor Slughorn. Now let the feast begin!"

Professor McGonagall sat down as the students applauded the new teacher and as the food appeared on the tables.

The students began to eat and all around the hall there were many conversations going on, new students were intrducing themselves and many of the returning students were talking about what had happened at the end of last year and during the summer holidays.

But none of the conversations were as strange as the conversation Harry was having with Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Don't you think that the new defense teacher looks familiar?" Hermione whispered as she helped herself to some sausages and mashed potato.

Harry looked at Hermione then looked at the defense teacher as he got a chicken leg.

"No. I've never seen her before in my life," Harry replied.

"But Harry it's almost as if she looks like Tonks. I mean look at her properly."

Harry looked at Professor Kerrigan and nearly choked on the piece of chicken that he was currently chewing as he saw the professor drop her fork and screw her face up in annoyance.

He swallowed the chicken and looked at Hermione.

"Okay, she does look like her but it doesn't necessarily mean that she's Tonks. She could just be someone who looks like her. Kind of like a Muggle celebrity lookalike."

"But if it is her what are you going to do about it? Maybe she's here to keep an eye on you again," Hermione told Harry.

Ron opened his mouth to say something when Hermione looked at him and said, "swallow Ronald. I don't want to see the contents of your mouth while you talk no matter how important you may think it is."

Ron rolled his eyes and swallowed his mouthful of roast beef, potatoes, peas and gravy.

"If she's here to keep an eye on Harry then shouldn't he find out why? He needed the protection when he was eleven not when he's seventeen and can look after himself," Ron said.

Ginny had kept quiet during the conversation and kept squeezing Harry's hand underneath the table whenever she knew that he would become angry.

"Oh Ronald, Harry needs protection now as much as he ever did when he was younger. You-Know-Who is stronger now and he won't settle down until either himself or Harry is dead."

"But Harry's of age now. He can use magic outside of school," Ron stated.

"And that's the problem. You-Know-Who knows that Harry is of age which gives him more reasons for coming after Harry," Hermione explained.

"You guys I don't think that this is the place nor the time to be discussing this subject. Please can we do it another time? It's upsetting Harry," Ginny told Ron and Hermione.

"But I haven't made my point yet," Hermione protested.

"Hermione! Please will you shut up! I am here you know!" Harry exclaimed.

Hermione frowned at Harry then began to eat her meal.

For the rest of the feast Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione ate in silence.

After about two hours, Professor McGonagall stood up again and told the students to go to bed so that they would be wide awake for their lessons the next day.

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