Chapter 5: Adjusting and Colliding
A/N: Well, thanks for all the marvellous reviews! Over 100! Yay! God I sound like a hyperactive 5 year old! Anyway, a lot of people sent in questions on things I have written. My beta, greenfly, said that I should open a forum to answer any questions and that's what I'll do so watch this space. As for the questions asked, Harry will be meeting his parents and brother at Hogwarts, yes, and Dumbledore knew how to find them as he can contact them through Fawkes. And there is information about the Phoenix Warriors in a book, though it is vague. More on this story later, though. Sorry! Anyway, this might be the last update for the next two weeks, just to warn you so I've tried to make this one extra good!
Oh this word means that the Warriors are speaking in their own language, just to let you know!
Now on with the story!
Chapter 5: Adjusting and Colliding
Previously
Harry rolled his eyes before looking for the team members. As he all got a collective –Ready Commander- from them, he glanced back at the doors with a smirk on his lips.
He could hear Blaise and Ron situated behind him betting as to how many students wet their pants at the sight of them. Indeed they were dressed in their Battle Wizards outfits, complete with their two guns handy by their sides, their sword, daggers in their boots and many other dangerous paraphernalia.
Inside Harry could hear Dumbledore saying, "Now we have some guests who will be staying with us for the course of a year. They have all been educated elsewhere. I must ask that you treat them with respect. . ." before Harry gave the signal for the team members to apparate onto the four House tables. Shrieks could be heard from inside.
'Yes,' he thought whilst glancing at Hermione, 'Let the games begin!'
On with the Story!
The 8 team mates apparated directly onto the four House tables causing a massive uproar from the students. The teachers at the head table tried to restore calm by shooting off sparks and watched as the noise level gradually decreased as the students turned their attention back to the strangers standing on the tables.
A cloaked figure situated at the front on the Slytherin table suddenly began to create a wind around him that whistled in a furious tornado. This was echoed throughout the Hall as the other cloaked members either had fire licking across their bodies, water swirling around them or electricity sparking around their hands and torso.
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It was an impressive sight and Harry was incredibly proud of his team as he and the three others behind them looked on the spectacle via a charm that they had set up in the entrance hall.
Harry smirked at Blaise a little before commenting, "I think that Pyros won the bet Shadow. You only bet that thirteen people would wet their pants. He bet that it would be thirty and threw in several fainters as well."
Ron turned to Blaise with a smirk on his face, "Yup cough up the gold Shadow. Haven't got all day!"
A scowl situated on his face, Blaise threw the five galleons onto Ron's hand. "Take it, Pyros!" he whispered angrily.
"Now, now children, settle down," Hermione said grinning.
"Aw shut up, Blade," Blaise said, "We don't need a mother!"
Hermione looked set to pounce on him but Harry interrupted saying, "Calm down, I think Dumbles is getting a little peeved off. I believe that we will be making our 'grand' entrance soon," he said with a smirk.
The others immediately stopped and looked at Dumbledore. Indeed the old coot seemed to be getting more and more annoyed as their team mates displayed their fabulous elemental qualities.
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Inside the Great Hall, Dumbledore was wondering when this, 'spectacular,' show would end. "Where is your Commander?" he barked at one of them.
A cloaked figure on the Slytherin table answered. "He is here."
"Well, where? He needs to get sorted and quickly so I can carry on with our arrangements unless he doesn't really want to be here. . ."
At this he trailed off, for all of a sudden there was an almighty crash as the doors at the entrance of the Great Hall swung open with fire swirling its way out the door. The entire doorway was covered with fire, though of a most peculiar kind as this didn't look like normal fire. No, it was almost 'alive' in how it sparked with electricity.
Harry and the others had heard Dumbledore arguing with Theo. "Time to impress gents, and lady" he added hastily after Hermione's glare.
They burst open the door with Ron creating an impressive fire that Blaise added his 'special' electric charge too. Striding through the doorway they passed through the fire to a gasp from the assembled students.
They looked dark and menacing with their battle gear on and a large black cloak draped across their shoulders, hood firmly over face. However the cloak wasn't enough to hide their weaponry causing more than one student to shiver slightly and move away from the figures on both the tables and those walking along the main walkway.
"I'm here, Dumbledore," Harry boomed out. He had been looking around the room when he saw his twin, eurgh, parents, double eurgh, Sirius and Moony, though the latter he was happy about.
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Dumbledore looked down at the impressive figures striding towards him. The leading figure was obviously the Commander with the person situated directly behind him as his Second. The two that walked side by side behind the Second were probably the sub-leaders he reasoned.
Glancing back at the figures Dumbledore said, "Ahh now we can begin the Sorting. Professor McGonagall will be Sorting only these four as the others have already been Sorted."
This had proved a sticking point for the Phoenix Warriors before they had arrived at the school. The entire team believed in equality and having only their leaders sorted in front of the entire school threw that into question. However nothing they said would deter the Headmaster who claimed that it was 'to show the students that you are not alienated from them.' 'Miserable coot' was the primary thought that ran through the entire team's mind.
Professor McGonagall stepped out next to the chair with the Sorting Hat on it. "When I call your name, sit on the chair and place the Sorting Hat on your head."
The Phoenix Warriors had agreed to be sorted in front of the school with the condition that they would be sorted under their aliases as they wanted to reveal their identities when they wanted to. As the Headmaster, Dumbledore could do little but agree though found those upstarts to be trouble.
"Shadow." Whispers were heard as people wondered what sort of name that was but nothing else was said after.
Blaise confidently strode to the front and placed the Sorting Hat on his head before it cried out, "SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table broke into applause, pleased that they had managed to get a leader onto their table, even though he, or she, they wondered, wasn't the Commander. Blaise merely turned around and walked back to where he stood before, leaving several confused students though no whispers broke out as Professor McGonagall proceeded to call the next sortee.
"Pyros," Professor McGonagall continued. The students around seemed to gather that this was merely an alias for the Warriors and not their real names.
Ron broke out of his formation and came to put the Hat on his head. During the pause when the hat contemplated where Ron should go, Hermione had shuffled slightly closer to Harry and gently placed her hand in his and gave a reassuring squeeze. Harry had needed that contact to calm his nerves and squeezed back.
Their thoughts were broken as the Sorting Hat cried out, "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table burst into applause as they too had managed to get a Leader thus tying them with Slytherin in how many Leaders the two Houses would get.
"Blade," Professor McGonagall spoke. Hermione gave Harry's hand one last squeeze before stepping out from behind him and moving up to the raised platform to place the Hat on her head.
Harry took the pause to look at the Staff Table from beneath his hood. He could see them but thanks to a wonderful charm, all they could see was blackness with two eyes staring back at them. Harry smirked to himself. It made some of them shift around in their seats uncomfortably, including his parents, he noted with a grin.
He turned his attention back to Hermione as the Sorting Hat opened its fraying mouth and shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" Again the Gryffindor table were in triumph as they had gotten another Leader. All that remained now was the Commander.
Hermione slipped back to her fellow Leaders, though this time stood next to Harry and unobtrusively placed her left hand into his right. He glanced at her and smiled. She smiled back able to see through the charm placed on the hood of his cloak.
Finally Professor McGonagall called out, "Commander Thor." All at once there was a deafening silence as Harry made his way to the Sorting Hat. All the students and the teachers looked on to see who would get the Commander. Whichever House got him would be unquestionable smug for the next few weeks.
Harry walked up slowly to the Hat and lifted it up off the wooden stool, whilst turning around and facing the student body. Slowly he sat down on the chair and placed the Hat on his head. Immediately a voice spoke to him, "Hmmm. You're the new Commander then, Harry Potter? And oh, this is a surprise! The Prince of Hogwarts too AND the heir of Merlin? This will be difficult. I cannot sort you. You must make the decision yourself."
All at once the Hat spoke to the entranced crowd, "Headmaster Dumbledore. I cannot sort the Commander!"
The crowd and indeed Dumbledore looked nonplussed. "Why ever not?" Dumbledore asked.
"This Commander is the Prince of Hogwarts!" the Hat cried back.
Dumbledore sat down with a loud THUMP! as the crowd of students broke out into a cacophony of noise. 'This will put a spanner in the works,' Dumbledore thought to himself, 'I must see how I can try to control this Commander. Maybe he has heard of my deeds and will listen to me. I had better hope that he can be easily controlled.'
He turned back to the Hat, "Well let him make the decision then." The students immediately quieted to see which House would get the Commander and the Prince of Hogwarts. This would be a great Honour for the House.
The Ravenclaws hoped to get him for it would mean that he could teach them new things, away from the Hogwarts curriculum. Hufflepuff wanted him for he would be their new Leader and he would gain a band of intensely loyal followers. Slytherin wanted him for it would mean they could convert him to their way of thinking and having the Commander of the Phoenix Warriors on their Lord's side could swing them the victory of the war. Gryffindor wanted him as well for it would further promote their House in the school and magical world. Also they already had two Leaders in their House and having the Commander as well would let them rub it into the Slytherins' faces.
Harry meanwhile sat and contemplated which House to go into. Should he go with Blaise or Hermione and Ron? In the end, Hermione won out so he said to the Hat, "Put me into Gryffindor please."
"Are you sure?" the Hat said, "You would make a great Slytherin."
"I'm sure," Harry said determinedly.
"Very well, you will be in GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat called out. Gryffindor table broke out into a tumultuous applause. They had got the Commander! Hee hee. They could rub it into those nasty Slytherins' faces!
However, the rest of the Houses still did not know who went where by way of the members still stood upon the House tables. As one though the team members jumped off the tables and made their way to their Commander.
Harry looked at them. –Are you ready to go to your new Houses?- he 'said' speaking out the 'Houses' in disgust.
-Yes- came the reply.
-Don't worry though- 'said' Blaise, -Their petty House feuds don't mean a thing to us.-
The others all agreed and slowly they formed bunches at the front of each House table.
On my count- Harry 'said' –We will remove our hoods.-
-Harry!- Ron cried out, -People will recognise us!-
-I know Ron,- Harry 'said' –But that is what we must do. If we speak to each other, either use the telepathy or speak in our language.
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The students gathered that something was about to happen as the Warriors split into several groups at the head of each table. At the front of the Hufflepuff table the small group slowly removed their hoods, leaving the students to gasp out as they saw who the people were. Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones and Ernie MacMillian slowly revealed their impassive faces and made their way down the table to the end where there were a few spaces available. They immediately sat in those seats away from the rest of their 'House.'
Next the Ravenclaw group slowly removed their hoods revealing themselves as Terry Boot and Luna Lovegood revealed themselves to the crowd. They too moved to the end of their table, seating themselves away from the other members in Ravenclaw House. The members of both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff looked put out that their new members wouldn't sit near them, causing a few whispers of outrage and bitterness as they thought that their new members felt themselves too 'superior' to sit near them. However the grumbling lessened as the excitement built seeing who the groups were in front of the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables.
Blaise and Theo slowly revealed themselves to their new Housemates, though with reluctance. Blaise knew he and Theo would be recognised as they came from old families and sure enough there were a fair few gasps along the various tables including the Staff Table.
As Blaise and Theo made their way to the end of their table, Blaise could spot a blonde haired boy motioning them to sit next to him. Blaise refused and had a look of disgust on his face. He didn't want to be here so why should he sit next to a disgusting boy and listen to the crap spewing out of his mouth. He supposed the only reason that this boy wanted to get to know him was that he was a Leader and looked to hold intelligent conversation.
Blaise snorted in amusement at this and Theo glanced at him questioningly. Blaise nodded his head to the boy where Theo also snorted in amusement. The blonde, well albino looking teenager was surrounded by a posse of people who looked to share a single brain cell between them, though the two extremely well built and stocky boys either side of him looked as though they had no idea what a brain cell was.
Slytherin House soon quieted as they awaited the revealing of the Gryffindor group. Seamus and Dean slowly revealed themselves and moved to the end of the table seating themselves as far away as possible from the rest of the House. Ron, Hermione and Harry then followed and as the hoods fell back behind their heads, gasps were heard across the Hall.
The three paid no attention to the gasps and made their way to where Dean and Seamus were sitting. Gryffindor table was silent though tracked their every move to the end of the table. The new Commander looked exactly like Jamie Potter or the Boy Who Lived. Indeed at the Staff Table there were two distinct thuds as the two Professors Potter had fainted.
Harry paid no attention to this and chatted calmly with his fellow warriors at the end of the table.
'You know that if they opened their mouths even more, their faces would fall apart,' Seamus said laughing in their own language. The others also laughed and laughed even harder at the perplexed looks on the students faces.
'Hey Pyros, there is a girl just down the table with the exact same hair as you!' Dean said. As one the group of five turned to look at the girl. She blushed with embarrassment though there was shock in her eyes, Harry noted, as she looked at Ron.
Ron looked at her deeply before turning back to Dean and said, 'Yeah that is probably my little sister.' The group quieted and ate for a while.
The silence was interrupted as Ron said, 'Thor, your brother is watching you as well as the entire Staff Table.' Again the heads all turned collectively to look at the identical twin of their Commander. Gryffindor table looked on to see if there would be spectacle made out of this as Jamie Potter sat mere seats away from the Commander and some of his warriors.
'So what,' Harry said angrily, 'They aren't my family. They gave up that right the day they started to ignore me!'
The others looked at Harry sadly and Hermione was about to speak when an arrogant voice said, "Have you forgotten to speak English or something? We speak English here!"
The Warriors all got dark looks on their faces as they turned their heads to glare at who had spoken. Jamie Potter sat there with an arrogant look on his face. "Have you forgotten how to speak?" he asked slowly.
Harry stood up slowly along with the other four though he seemed to look the more imposing as his eyes blazed in fury. The Hall had quieted to see what was happening and Blaise had risen from his seat also to see if he was needed.
Harry turned and walked around the table and down the walkway until he was looking down at his brother. "Never," he spat venomously, "I repeat, NEVER, ask that again. We know more than you could ever hope to learn in a single lifetime!" After he said that Harry stalked back to his seat.
"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore called out, "We don't agree with threatening another student. That is a warning."
Harry inwardly exploded with anger but outside looked deathly calm. "My name," he said in a strained voice, "Is Commander Thor. That is how you will address me," before turning back to his friends.
Dumbledore kept quiet for the time being though he would get his comeuppance on this young upstart. Meanwhile James, Lily, Sirius and Moony could hardly keep their eyes off of Harry.
"James, it's Harry!" Lily whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks. Her baby was here. Finally, after so long, he was back. Now they could be a family again! They weren't going to loose him again. James sat there, tears also trickling down as he drank in the sight of his youngest son, alive. Sirius too couldn't believe that Harry was here, alive. Now he could be reunited with his family and they could all have the normalacy they deserved.
Moony meanwhile sat and thought about what would happen. It had been twelve years since he had seen his cub. Twelve long years and nowHarry was back. He just hoped that Harry would reciprocate his feelings the way he used to when he was younger.
Things had changed in the Wizarding World and Jamie Potter was heralded more and more as the Boy Who Lived as Lord Voldemort seemed to have returned and Deatheater attacks were constantly being carried out. 'Still,' he thought to himself, 'Let us wait and see.'
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At the end of the feast, Harry and the others followed the rest of the table to where they expected their dorms to be. As they strode through the stone hallways, past the magnificent paintings they continued to chat together all the while looking at the Gryffindors who watched them with something akin to awe. It was making the five highly uncomfortable as they felt that they were an exhibit in a zoo.
Finally they made their way to where the rest of Gryffindor House had stopped. Jamie Potter stood in front of them with the Head Boy badge gleaming in the upper left hand corner of his robes, next to the Gryffindor insignia. Harry rolled his eyes with exasperation.
"The new password is Phoenix," Jamie said as the painting swung open, revealing a small stone passageway leading to a large common room. The 5 Phoenix Warriors made their way into the common room and walked immediately to the window and waited as the rest of the House dispersed.
"Boys dorms are up the stairs to your left and for girls it is the exact same only you must go to the right," Jamie said.
The first through to fifth years immediately retired to their dorms sensing there would be an upcoming 'battle' between the top two years and the new students.
After they had all gone Harry looked over and said casually, "So where will we be sleeping?"
"In the same dorms as the rest of us," Jamie said, "Unless you want something more special?"
"Do you mean to split us up?" Harry said in a calm voice that suggested that he was neither calm nor happy.
"Girls and boys must be separated," Jamie continued.
"This is bullshit," Harry said before turning to his fellow team mates. 'So guys, what do we do?'
'I don't know,' Ron said, 'Though let's accept it for tonight only. I'm tired, we're all tired. Let's sort it out in the morning.'
'I agree,' Dean continued, 'Let's rest before we start to overtax ourselves tomorrow!' he added sarcastically.'
This caused all the others to start laughing until Harry said, 'Yes but it wasn't my intention for us all to be split up. I wonder if this is happening in the other houses too.'
'Harry, it may and it may not,' Hermione said, 'But don't worry as I can cope for one evening by myself.'
Harry looked at her before agreeing with a sigh. "Fine, we accept this for one night only," he said to the crowd of students, "But tomorrow morning we will be seeking other arrangements for my team. We do not sleep apart in a foreign place."
The crowd seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as a potential conflict was stopped for the evening. Harry and the others watched as Hermione was dragged off helplessly to the girls' dorms. 'No,' Harry though, 'We will get other accommodation.'
Ron, Dean, Seamus and Harry all sat next to each other cornered by the large windows on one side and the glowing hearth to the other. They sat for a while merely enjoying each others company though always in the presence of Jamie and his friends. Harry sighed to himself. He wished he could have Hermione here with him. She could always calm him down.
'We know, Harry. I'll bet she's fine,' Ron said with a smile on his face.
'I know,' Harry replied, 'But I still want her with me.' The other boys chuckled at this, well aware of the grip that their Second had over their Commander. She was the one that prevented him from making rash decisions like the time during a mock battle with a demon army. She had stopped him from charging pell-mell into the middle of the army thus eliminating not only himself, but also his team too.
'Well soldiers, we need to head to bed. We will stick to our normal 'get up at dawn schedule' and you all need your rest,' Harry said. Truth be told, he would rather have a little bit of a lie in however, his warriors needed to maintain their normal schedule. After all, they were only there for one year before things returned to normal.
'Um Thor,' Ron said tentatively trying to break into Harry's thoughts.
'What?' Harry asked exasperatedly.
'You might have a wee bit of a problem with the whole 'let's got to bed' idea,' Seamus said with Dean nodding in the background.
Harry closed his eyes. 'Please don't tell me that my biological family is behind me with that manipulative old coot, a stray mongrel and my beloved uncle,' he said, praying that that was not it.
'Then we won't tell you,' Dean said.
Turning around Harry looked at the cluster of people who had entered the common room. His biological family, including Jamie, stood in front of him, flanked by Sirius and Moony, with the manipulative old coot stood next to the hearth warming his . . . 'HANG ON!' Harry thought. 'Is he warming his arse!'
Moving back to the situation at hand, Harry stood impassively recognising Ron standing beside him with Dean and Seamus in their flanking positions. 'This is going to be a nasty standoff,' thought Harry. His suspicions were proved correct mere seconds later when his mother burst into tears. 'Aw crap!' Harry thought. 'There goes my idea of an early bed,' before refocusing on the opposite side of the Common Room awaiting the explosion to begin.
A/N: There you go ya'll! Hope that was good for you! Please keep the reviews coming in! I love reading them all! Any questions or whatever, just drop me a review and I'll answer! Thanks.
-Miraen-