Harry stood at the gate flanked with winged boars, eyeing the thestrals. With a sharp pang he remembered how he and the others rode them to the Ministry of Magic in London right before last term ended. That's where Sirius died…it's almost been three months now," he thought sadly. He saw Hermione gazing at the carriages, but he knew she couldn't see the reptilian beasts hitched to them (a/n or did she see someone die at the ministry?). He silently followed her to the nearest carriage and got in, followed by Ron.
"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked for the tenth time.
"Yes, I'll be fine once we get to the school," he sighed. "I just wish I could be a little stronger and stop him from doing that. Hermione put her hand on his shoulder; he swore he felt a tingling sensation when she did.
"Don't worry Harry. If anyone can control Voldemort, you can," she said softly. He gave her a weak smile, reached up, and squeezed her hand. What is happening to me? He thought to himself. First I get possessed by Voldemort, now I'm feeling strange about Hermione. But she's just my friend, he told himself firmly. I can't put her in any more danger than she's already in.
"Finally," Ron said, as the carriage rolled to a stop. "I'm starving!" Hermione rolled her eyes and got out. Harry jumped out and gave the thestral a quick pat on the head before following her into the Great Hall. Just as he was about to sit down, Professor McGonagall tapped him on the shoulder.
"Professor Dumbledore wants to see you," she said sternly. Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione and followed her to his office. She walked to the large stone gargoyle and said the password (skiving snackbox) and they rode the stairs to the top. She knocked on the door and it creaked open. Suddenly Harry was face to face with Dumbledore, and he instantly felt any anxiety fade away.
"Thank you Minerva. Could you lead the sorting? I need to talk to Harry."
"Of course, Albus," she said, and left. Dumbledore turned to Harry.
"Harry, I heard from a teacher on the train that you had a problem on the way here," he said calmly. He led Harry to the chair in front of his desk and Harry took a seat.
"There was a teacher on the train?" he asked, perplexed.
"Oh yes, of course! She was in disguise though, so she could keep an eye on you. And I see now that it was a well-taken measure. Tell me about it, if you wish," he said, his eyes full of concern.
"Well…" Harry said hesitantly, "I felt Voldemort in my head. It was like he possessed me. I could feel that someone was intruding in my mind, like Professor Snape did last year in my Occulmency classes, and all of a sudden, he was just there," he finished in a rush. Dumbledore looked like he was deep in thought.
"Harry, was this encounter with Voldemort worse than last year?" he asked.
"Yeah…yeah I could feel him. Hermione said my eyes looked like snake eyes too," he said miserably.
"Harry, I'm afraid that you won't be happy with me because of this…but I think you should restart Occulmency lessons with Professor Snape this year."
"What?!" Harry asked angrily. "He just pried into my personal thoughts and made my mind more vulnerable! How do I know he wasn't trying to weaken me up?"
"We talked about this last year, Harry," Dumbledore said patiently. "I trust Professor Snape. Please understand, I cannot allow you to open your mind in my presence. You could do me, or any member of the order for that matter, great harm if something happens. I know it seems selfish, but that is the only reason Professor Snape agreed to teach you last year. Please make the best of it," he said. "Now, let's go to the feast. You must be starving." Harry stood up and went to the door. Before he went out, he turned to Dumbledore and said,
"Voldemort asked me about a book. I had a dream with Sirius in it and he asked me about it too. Just thought you'd want to know," he said, and walked out. He didn't see Dumbledore's astonished look.
The next morning at breakfast, their class schedules were handed out. Harry glanced at his, with Hermione looking over his shoulder.
"Well, looks like we have every class together except Arithmancy," she said happily. "I decided to drop Ancient Runes, it's just too boring now."
"I still can't believe I made it into Snape's N.E.W.T. potions class," Harry said, shaking his head. "Its amazing how much easier potions is without that greaseball breathing down your neck."
"How come you weren't at dinner last night?" Ron said, having just arrived from the common room.
"I didn't feel like it," he said. "I just wanted to get to bed."
"Then you don't know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is!" Hermione said brightly. Harry looked at the head table and his jaw dropped. A young woman with spiky, cherry red hair was sitting next to Snape chatting animatedly with Professor Vector.
"Tonks?" Harry said, astounded. Hermione and Ron nodded excitedly.
"Can you believe it? We'll finally have a good year!" He said happily. Harry snorted.
"Maybe you will, but I still have Snape," he said, rolling his eyes. "I should've failed potions on purpose. I would have if it wasn't needed to become an Auror."
"So you still want to be one then?" Hermione asked him.
"Yeah, definitely," he replied.
"I'm glad. I'm sure you'll make a great Auror someday," she said, smiling at him. His stomach did a flip-flop, and he silently reprimanded it as he stood to go to class. Hermione stood up too.
"I guess we'd better get to potions," Harry said dejectedly. "What do you have first Ron?"
"Muggle studies," he groaned. "Mum made me take it. I guess I'll see you around," he said, and left. Harry and Hermione headed out of the Great Hall and down to the dungeons where Snape's classroom was. They walked into the room and saw Malfoy sitting by himself at a table, which was very unusual. He looked tired, and he didn't even throw a nasty remark at them. Hermione gave Harry a perplexed look and sat down. Harry sat beside her. More people started coming into the room, but the class looked fairly small. He noticed that he and Hermione were the only two Gryffindors in the class. He heard the bell and Snape came out of his office.
"Class, this is N.E.W.T. potions, year one, possibly the most difficult class offered at Hogwarts. I do not tolerate failure; if you fail, you will be eliminated. Do I make myself clear," he said nastily, shooting Harry a venomous look. Everybody nodded. "Good. Today you'll be making a rather simple potion…simple, that is, if you possess even a drop of common sense" he said, sneering at Harry. "It's called the Sleeping Draft; if you've been to the hospital wing you're probably familiar with it. Be warned, if you screw it up, it could put the drinker into an irreversible sleep, and you will be testing it on your partners, so I suggest you do it right. The instructions," he said, waving his wand at the blackboard, where spiky letters appeared, "are on the board. Begin." Harry looked to Hermione and said,
"Well, here goes nothing."
An hour later, Harry was just finishing his potion. It was a lavender color, close to Hermione's, which was a rich purple color. Snape walked over to them, looked at Harry's potion, and sneered.
"We'll begin testing now…Potter, you first." Harry nervously scooped some of his potion in a glass and handed it to Hermione. She took it, smiling, as if to reassure him. She drank it, and Harry saw her eyelids droop. Her knees gave out, and Harry quickly reached out and caught her before she hit the ground. The class let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, Potter, it seems that at least some of the instructions reached through your thick skull. Now try waking her up," he said, with a malicious look on his face. He walked to another pair to watch them test their potion. Harry shook her gently.
"Hermione? Hermione wake up." The class watched them intently. She didn't stir. "Hermione!" Harry said a little louder. "Professor Snape!" he yelled.
"What do you want, Potter?" he snarled.
"She's not waking up!" Snape turned around lazily.
"Maybe if you could make a potion without screwing up," he said, going back to watching the other pairs.
"Professor!" Harry said, more urgently this time,"I'm serious! She won't wake up!"
"Well, do something about it," he said in an unconcerned voice. Harry considered. If he took Hermione to the hospital wing, he would be proving that his potion was wrong, and Snape would probably kick him out. On the other hand, Hermione could be put into an irreversible sleep from the potion. Well, this is a no brainer, he thought, and started toward the door, when Snape stopped him.
"Where are you going, Potter?" he asked nastily.
"To the hospital wing," he replied shortly.
"Why would you be going there? Your potion isn't dangerous," he said.
"Then why isn't she waking up?" Harry asked.
"She's supposed to be put into a deep sleep, you dolt. Didn't you read the pages that were assigned over the summer?"
"No sir," Harry whispered.
"Well, if you would have, then you would know that when I told you to wake her up, you would be unable to. Ten points from Gryffindor for ignoring your assigned reading" he sneered, turning back to another pair of students. Harry breathed a deep sigh of relief. Who cared about points, Hermione was fine! He gently lay Hermione on the floor. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Hermione started to stir.
"Ooohhh…" she sat up and yawned. "That was a good sleep. How long was I out for?" she asked Harry.
"Only about 20 minutes…after you drank the potion, I tried to wake you up and couldn't. I almost took you to the hospital wing," he said, feeling rather stupid.
"Well, once the person takes the potion, they can't be woken up until it wears off," she replied. "Didn't you read about it over the summer?"
"No," he said, feeling foolish. Just then, Snape dismissed them with a 3 feet long essay on the Sleeping draft and its effects. Harry groaned. "Homework already?"
"Well, it is N.E.W.T. standard to have more homework," Hermione said cheerfully. He followed her out the door and up to the main floor of the castle. They saw Ron emerge from behind a tapestry on the right.
"Hey Ron, how was muggle studies?" Hermione asked.
"Awful! I can't understand how muggles get on without magic! I think you're going to have to help me with this class…what the bloody hell is a parking meter?" he asked. Harry and Hermione laughed.
"I'll explain later," she said, still chortling. They saw Malfoy cross the hall in front of them. He was by himself; Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere in sight.
"What's with Malfoy?" Ron asked, watching him walk across the hall. Instead of his usual strut, he was limping a bit and still looked tired.
"I don't know," Hermione said. "He didn't look good in Potions today."
"Maybe he's finally getting what he deserves," Harry said. Hermione frowned.
"I have a feeling it's something more serious than that."