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Chapter 4: Harry Joins the Dark Forces Defense League?

It seemed that the time it took for the time for school to come around was passing dreadfully slow. All Harry could do was set and stare at his ceiling. He thought about revising through his old school stuff, but he wouldn't get any better. He did however think a lot about his former life, when he was a Gryffindor. It really perplexed him. Him, a noble Gryffindor? Sure, he saved a few lives here and there, but he was the kid who terrorized seventh year Slytherins in his third year for kicks. Hell, he terrorized seventh year Hufflepuffs first year for kicks. The thought was still very bewildering.

Besides thinking about that, during the halfway mark of the month he had left, he decided to do a little test of sorts he remembered from the Restricted Section. It just happened to show a person's animagus form. Harry wasn't particularly interested in becoming an animagus; they took a dreadfully long time to master their animal, but were curious as to what he would be. The procedure was simple, a small sample of blood in the middle of a piece of parchment and the requirement of a wand tapping all four corners of said parchment. Left alone for five days, you burn the parchment, and ta da! The smoky figure of your animal will prance around you for six minutes. Turns out, Harry's form was that of a Grizzly Bear. Harry decided to call him 'Smokey' because of the little creature that just slept on Harry's shoulder.

That brought a little smile to Harry's face as he recalled that memory. He was now outside waiting for his ride to the Hogwarts' train. Today, it just happened to be the Weasely's. Harry had no problems with the Weasely's (except Ron and Mrs. Weasely's hugs, which Harry detested). He found them to be a likeable bunch especially the twins and the two eldest brothers. Last summer when they were all together, Harry was either conspiring with the twins on how best to humiliate Snape, or comparing war stories with Bill and Charlie. They usually won, but just barely, since Harry wasn't as old as they were. Harry thought this just made Ron more jealous of him, since he got along better with his brothers than he did. It set fine with Harry however; as there was usually bad blood going between them, (Harry still remembered the first day when he thought they would be best friends).

Ron, however, had nothing to be jealous over. He was extremely powerful in magic, probably more so than his twin brothers, and rivaled his eldest brothers. He would probably overtake them when he got out of school. Harry and Ron, along with Malfoy, were called 'The Triumvirate of Hogwarts,' seeing, as they were the most powerful of students. The sad thing was they all hated each other. It was a good thing however. It ensured no had gotten too much power. Harry was with no doubt the most powerful. He, however, would have extreme trouble standing alone against both Malfoy and Ron, as they would tend to do if all three were together. There had been times however when Harry had stood with either Malfoy or Ron. All of the previous times however had been greatly outnumbered when they all stood against each other. Students would back away as they could see the air ripple like a hot day with hostile magic. Many thought of what would happen if they combined there power. It sent shivers throughout all who thought of it. The three of them could overthrow the whole ministry when they were adults if it came to that.

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts as a car pulled forward into the drive. Harry rushed in the car, knowing Mr. Weasely's fondness of all things muggle, so they wouldn't be subject to his latest theories on how plugs worked, which were to Harry, inconceivable. The ride there was somewhat tense. The Weasely's knew of the malice between the two boys, and smartly made sure it wasn't possible for them to be near each other. Harry made small talk with Ginny on the way there. She seemed to almost hero worship him since he saved her.

They finally made it to Kings' Cross- Harry bid his farewells, dived a Mrs. Weasely hug, and boarded the train. As usual, Harry found his own compartment and drifted towards his thoughts once again. Halfway through, a pink cheeked Hermione peeked in and asked if she could sit in his compartment. As usual, she had a book tucked in under her arm. She explained she would rather not chase first years around, sit with a friend, and read. Harry didn't mind, and drifted between thoughts again. Eventually, Harry's eyes caught Hermione. It seemed to Harry, Hermione realized she was a girl and assets that came with it. Her clothes were tighter and her skirt was shorter. In addition, Harry was sure this was unintentional, her hair looked so bushy, and it looked like she just took a romp in the hay. To Harry, she was very attractive, but that was just his cup of tea. He preferred the sexy schoolgirl look to others. Of course, he preferred all looks at this stage in life. He was sure she would be getting a lot more attention from boys this year, if she allowed it. Harry knew she was very pro women, boarder line feminist (Harry detested feminist's), and wouldn't take cheesy pick up lines. Even though he knew she could take care of herself, Harry would keep an extra eye on her just in case.

They finally arrived at Hogwarts with no hitches. Harry made his way to the headmaster's office to meet with Dumbledore as he was summoned to do so three quarters the way there. He arrived quickly to the Guarding Gargoyle, which Harry called. As Harry presumed, he had to guess the password. He really hated this game. For ten minutes, he stood trying to guess it, until a graying man came up, said "snickers," and had the gargoyle jump to the side. Harry looked the man over more carefully. He had a white goatee, but not to where it looked cheesy. He was of average height, and trimmed hair. He was also a little on the thin side.

Inside Dumbledore's office, he greeted both with big smiles, which both returned. Dumbledore offered both lemon drops, which only Harry took. Dumbledore looked at Harry, still with a small smile and a little twinkle in the eye.

"How have you been Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh, you know, I can't complain."

"The reason I called you here," Dumbledore began; he seemed to want to get to business, "is because I have some good news and bad news."

"Bad news first," Harry said at once.

"Nope, I'm going to go with the good news first," Dumbledore replied with a smile, "How have you been coping with the prophecy?"

Harry gave a pointed look at the stranger next to him, but Dumbledore just laughed it off and said, "Don't worry about ol' Dexter, he's an old friend."

Harry, still looking a little reserved, answered the question, "About as good as I can be, and realizing my only point in life is to kill or be killed."

"Understandable," Dumbledore said stroking his beard, "but you might not have to worry about that prophecy." He said. Harry just gave him a confused look.

"See, I was giving a lot of thought about it over the summer, and looked at it in a new light. It might be lucky guesswork up to this point. I have witnessed a few prophecies' that have started out to the T, but failed half way through. So it might not even happen, Voldemort might die of a heart attack or something in the next thirty seconds, but that does seem unlikely. Moreover, even if it does happen, it doesn't that was all of your life. All prophecy's are is a particular snippet of some time. There have been ones about what some one is going to eat the next Thursday, so you shouldn't worry about that." Dumbledore said.

This made Harry happy. Until he remembered the bad news. It must have shown, because Dumbledore went on to explain that part also. "Yes, the bad news," he continued, "it does seem however the prophecy will come to pass. Fate is always making sure each side will be taken care of, and all the trials you've gone through seem to have been preparing you for the final event. That's why I didn't start any training for you. Anything you need training for will be handled by Fate. This does have underlying good news though.

"As of now, you have full access to my Pensieve. I suggest you put in the minutest details of ordeals you've gone through and study them carefully. If you see a trend, any trend, I suggest you begin preparing yourself for that, as the final battle my consist heavily on that."

Harry's head wasn't exactly swimming. He had already resigned himself to death via Voldemort, but at least now, he had a possible way of knowing what might happen in each instance of their battle. Harry was excused, and he followed his feet to the Great Hall for dinner. Before he got there however, 'Dexter' stopped him.

"Harry, hold on there." He said in an American accent. "I would like to introduce myself. I am Dexter Pompey, head of the Dark Forces Defense League and your new DADA teacher."

"Well, I wouldn't get too comfortable there; they only last about a year." Harry said, referring to the DADA position.

"No worries there, I only took this job for a year, and for one reason: you." He stated.

"Me?" Harry said perplexed.

"Yes, you. I want to formally invite you to join the Dark Forces Defense League. You don't have to worry about accepting now, you a while yet to decide. Also, don't worry about special treatment; you will start at the bottom like everyone else. And don't worry about what I mean until you have decided." He added, seeing the growing confusion on Harry's face.

"The reason we invite you is because of your exploits throughout the years. Reasons why you should join are because you can earn a little extra money, get trained in almost any ability, even muggle, and you'll learn things Hogwarts' could never teach you." He finished and walked off.

Harry had to admit, he made a very convincing argument.

***

Four days ago, Harry had been propositioned with that opportunity. From Pompey's explanation, it sounded like a mercenary's job. It sounded cool to Harry. One con he did find was that they let Lockheart in their ranks, and he didn't know how gifted they were at defending dark forces. He would just have to ask that when he met with Pompey.

Currently, Harry was having a late night study session with Hermione. It was three in the morning and they were both extremely tired and giddy. Harry finally decided to call it quits, and offered to walk Hermione back to Gryffindor tower. She kindly accepted and they made their way there, while leaning against each other, half-asleep. This was the first time ever; Harry felt a sense of camaraderie with another human being. Something akin to friendship. When they got to the fat lady, Hermione turned and gave Harry a soft, gentle kiss, right on the lips. It lasted maybe ten seconds, but Harry stood with his eyes wide open the entire time. When Hermione pulled away, she seemed more awake and scared.

Her eyes were also wide, and she looked like she might faint. She hurriedly whispered a goodbye and the password and made it safely in her dorms. Harry walked zombie like back to his own dorms.

The next day, Harry didn't know what to do. Did this mean he had to ask Hermione out? It wouldn't be that bad, but he didn't really want to. It wasn't the greatest time in his life right now. All thoughts of that were dashed out the window as he watched Hermione come into breakfast. Holding hands with Ron. And that's all Harry could think of right then. 'She, holding hands, with him. Not me. Whom she kissed last night. First kiss. Gone badly. Bad kisser.' That was Harry's mantra, walking out to the Forbidden forest.

How he was doing it, he didn't know, but he was brown lightning bolts into the forest. Every now and again, he would hear a loud crashing in the forest from a tree falling.

"Wow, that's an impressive little weapon you got there." A voice startled Harry from his angered state. "But brown though, not the most powerful. You're definitely a beginner. But fairly powerful to be starting off at brown."

Harry turned towards Pompey, as he had recognized the voice, and asked, "If I join DFDL, will I be sent places, like this school year?"

"Yes, when you rise in rank." Pompey replied.

"I graciously accept." Harry replied.

AN: how was that? Hope it was good. I think I have introduced a few new ideas into the Harry Potter fan fiction. With him joining the DFDL. Course, I could be wrong. And with the prophecy, I think I added a new take on that. But if you read something like that before, tell me in a review. I would also like to know if these new concepts would be worthwhile to you to read. And I figure there are two ways to tell me. Either review or put my story or me on your favorites list. Or all of them if you really like it. I might update quicker also. Peace.