Hi everyone!

I'm sorry for the late update, but I wanted my beta to go trough the chapter before I post it.

And I also was a bit down... I saw the 6th Harry Potter movie and I'm somewhat dissapointed... Sure, the quotes were great and Ron was just hillarious... but I thought it would be better...

Well then... thanks for all the kind Reviews! Keep it up!

Thanks to my beta knitchick

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Enjoy!


Two days had passed since they had started including Neville in their training, and it had been a very good decision – they all had the same opinion there. Neville slowly but surely seemed to gain more confidence and he no longer talked to them with his face cast down – at least not when he was sure about something.

Granted, that was not very often, but still… Rome wasn't built in a day.

It was Monday now and they all were sitting at the Phoenix's table eating breakfast and chatting quietly. As always they were a little early and not many students were there. Ron had pointed out that it would be a good idea to sit there together every Monday and plan their training-schedule for the week.

Harry remembered exactly how their first real training with Neville had been… they hadn't been really friendly to him then… but they had their reasons.

Flashback

It was Saturday evening, just shortly after dinner and Harry and Draco looked at Neville, both had their eyebrows raised. They had just finished a small Duel – it had taken a minute for them to take Neville down - two times in a row.

They were standing in a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco usually used for dueling. Ron and Hermione were currently off in another part of the forest training with the Time-Turner.

Their time for the really intense training was rather limited now because of lessons, so they only had the weekends to go all out. At first the others had wanted to stay, but Harry and Draco had insisted they train alone with Neville for the first few days.

"Was that all?" asked Harry with a cold edge in his voice. "I'm disappointed… you fought better against the tree."

Neville shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground in shame, but said nothing.

"I thought he would do better," sneered Draco when he looked at Harry. "But that was just pathetic!"

Now they could both see that Neville had his hands balled into fists and that he was shaking slightly. His face was still cast down.

Harry closed his eyes. The next words weren't easy for him to say. "If this is the level his parents fought at… then it's no wonder that they are mumbling nonsense in St. Mungos now. It's their own fault then."

Then it happened… Harry and Draco had to jump out of the way as fast as they could when a small explosion rocked the earth underneath them. Neither had time to look at the spot they had been standing on, because a powerful Stunner was sent after them. They darted in opposite directions and both raised some semi powerful shields.

Harry looked over at Draco and nodded his head in Neville's direction.

The shy boy was glaring at both of them with full force. His wand pointed at Harry for the time being.

Harry chuckled and sneered at Neville. "What's wrong? Did I insult the little boy?"

Draco snorted when Harry dodged another Stunner. "You can't insult him. Everything is the truth. His parents sure had no luck at all… a son like that… I would die of embarrassment."

"No one…," said Neville with a strong angry voice. "NO ONE INSULTS MY PARENTS!"

A strong pulse of magic was felt that nearly blasted Harry and Draco off of their feet. Harry's eyes widened. He knew that something like that would happen, but he hadn't expected this!

Neville's whole body was illuminated with a greenish-brown light. Sparks were shooting out of his wand and had Harry not been training for the time he had, he surely would have frozen in fear when he caught Neville's eye.

"I think that's enough," Harry said calmly to Draco. "We've seen what we needed to see."

Draco nodded and his body tensed. "Yeah. Better than I thought."

With that they both dashed forward and moved their wands in a complex pattern while waiting for the right moment to strike.

They still had to dodge all kind of spells. Draco was nearly hit by a Blasting-Hex and Harry stumbled slightly when a strong Expelliarmus nearly flung the wand out of his hand.

"NOW!" shouted Harry when they stood on either side of Neville and they both unleashed a strong blast with different colors.

Neville was blown backwards, but not so hard that he could have hurt himself and his wand flew through the air.

"Damn…," whistled Harry when he caught Neville's wand with his left hand and looked around. "That was better than we were at first."

Draco just nodded and they both stepped forward to Neville, who was kneeling on the ground with his hands still clenched into fists. Once again he was looking down.

"Neville?" asked Harry softly and kneeled down in front of him. "Your wand."

Neville looked up at Harry when he took his wand and Harry he felt his heart clench slightly. But it's the best way, he thought firmly.

"Why?" asked Neville, and his voice was angry and helpless at the same time.

Draco, too, kneeled in front of Neville now. "What we did… all that we said, was to test your magical potential."

Neville looked up. "T-test me? What does that have to do with insulting my… my p-parents?!"

Harry shook his head and crawled a little bit to the side. He pointed over at the spot they had first been standing on. A crater in the form of a car was there now. Not only that, but every spot that had been hit with a curse by Neville was decorated with a small hole.

Neville's eyes widened. "Wh-what? I did… that?"

Harry nodded and decided to explain. "Draco and I were confronted with the same thing. The one who taught us to duel properly explained the concept of magical powers to us. And he too… tested us. He made us angry… so angry that we couldn't think clearly anymore. We lashed out at him, just like you did a few moments ago."

"Um…?" was all Neville said and the anger seemed to have vanished and was replaced by confusion. "I don't get it."

Harry chuckled. "Your magical powers are at their maximum when they are brought forth by strong feelings. The easiest to bring forth is anger of course. And I'm sorry that I said those things. But bringing forth a strong feeling was what we did. And as you can see… it was well worth it. Your potential is amazing!"

Neville looked back and forth between them. "So… you didn't mean what y-you said? It was all just… to test me?"

Draco smirked. "Exactly. And I'm sorry for what I said, too."

On Harry's face a grin was forming. "I can tell you; once you learn to call your magic without having to rely on a strong feeling, you will be one of the best!"

Neville stared at them and a small smile was forming on his face. "Thank you."

Draco's smirk widened and he stood up. "Well then. Round two of our dueling."

Neville's smile abruptly turned into a grimace of horror and Harry burst out laughing at his misfortune. Draco could really be a slave driver…

End Flashback

That incident had given Neville more confidence, because now he knew that he had the potential to be a great wizard, and that definitely drove him to do his best. Still, they had only trained with him for a little more than six hours. Three on Saturday and three on Sunday. And of course their daily morning work-out.

Harry had to hide his annoyance when he saw all the students who came into the hall looking at them with curious glances and whispering amongst themselves about why Neville was with them.

"I don't know what their problem is," said Hermione when the owl with the Daily Prophet arrived. "You would think they'd realize by now that something is up…"

"How come?" asked Harry and took a sip of his coffee. "Did something happen?"

Hermione showed him a small article at the bottom of the front page. "A small wizarding village was attacked by werewolves… two children and one older man was bitten."

"Damn…," sighed Harry. "Is there anything about what will happen to them?"

Hermione's eyes darted over the article and she nodded. "They will be placed under the care of the Ministry."

Draco shook his head. "They're probably going to put them into small cells with just enough food and water to live."

"You think so?" asked Neville with wide eyes. "But… that's barbaric!"

"That's the Ministry for you," grumbled Ron and took another pancake. "Dad always said they're sometimes no better than You-Know-Who."

"Oh would you call him by his name?!" snapped Hermione. "It's just getting on my nerves now!"

"Heck… even Neville says his name out loud," said Draco and grinned. "Or are you scared, weasel?"

"Shut up, ferret," mumbled Ron when he finished chewing. "But really. Look at Remus. He's not bad and everyone treats him like he is one of V-voldemort's most loyal followers."

"Do you mean Professor Lupin?" asked Neville to be sure.

Ron just nodded and took another bite of his pancake.

"I just pity those who're too dumb to see that those who were bitten by a werewolf are just normal people as well. Most of them just turned dark because the others made them by casting them out," said Harry and stared at his now nearly empty cup of coffee.

"Exactly," said Hermione and rolled the paper up when the rest of the students came into the hall. "It's the same problem with house elves. They're-"

"Please, Hermione…," sighed Draco who immediately had disliked her talking about more rights for house elves. "It's too early for S.P.E.W… drop it!"

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but Fred and George interrupted her when they sat down next to Neville.

"Good morning!" chirped George.

"How are you all this wonderful day?" added Fred and loaded his plate with everything that was in reach.

"Good," mumbled Harry and looked at his cup like he considered drowning himself in it.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Neville concerned. "Aren't you f-feeling well?"

Harry blinked and shook his head with a sigh. "I'm okay. I was just thinking about another lesson with the toad."

They all groaned and finally every student was in the Great Hall. Harry looked at his housemates and greeted each of them with a small nod.

Harry nudged Draco's side. "Did you talk to Zabini? He didn't ask me about our friendship again."

Draco nodded and lowered his voice. "I told him the basic outline and he understands my reasoning. And I believe… that he could be a really great help when we need it."

"I didn't even know that you two were friends," said Harry and chuckled when Ernie got hit by a small package an owl just delivered for him.

"Well," smirked Draco. "Not everyone is as obvious with their alliances as the Gryffindors."

Harry groaned. "Don't start that stupid talk about house traits again. Please?"

Draco just shrugged and looked over to the staff table. Harry followed his look and raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw that two more chairs had been added, but Hagrid's chair was still empty.

"I don't suppose any of you knows where Hagrid is?" asked Hermione who was also looking at the teachers now.

"Or what the two extra chairs are for?" added Ron.

Harry shrugged. "Hagrid was here for the feast. And I think we are about to find out what the chairs are for."

As if on cue, Dumbledore stood up and raised his hands. "Attention, please!"

The chatter of the students died down and Dumbledore smiled at all of them before he continued. "I have some announcements to make." He gestured over to their table in the middle of the hall. "I'm sure you all noticed by now, that we have a new house."

"No, really?" whispered Harry sarcastically. "I didn't notice."

Dumbledore looked at him, as if he had heard what he had said and then looked back at everyone else. "So we have to take care of some issues. The first is the Quidditch-Cup. The new house has already formed a team and from this year on, five houses will take part in the inter-house Quiddich competition. We've rearranged the schedule to accommodate the extra games, and the dates have been posted on the notice board in every Common Room."

"Damn!" cursed Angelina Johnson from the Gryffindor table and glared over at them. "We lost our Beaters and our Seeker!"

"Sorry!" chirped George.

"We didn't mean to!" chuckled George.

"Really! That wasn't planned!" added Harry and waved at her.

Dumbledore coughed and they turned their attention back to him. "As you can see, we have two empty chairs at the staff table and for those who are wondering: Those are for the new Head's of the House of Phoenix. It took some time to find someone, but we will host two people sent by the Australian Ministry. They will arrive here by lunchtime."

Daphne tilted her head as Dumbledore started to sit down. "Headmaster? I have a question."

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, Miss Greengrass?"

"Why do we need two people? And why have they been sent by the Australian Ministry?"

"A very good question. Forgive me; I neglected to mention that only one of them will be your Head of House. His name is Nick Edison and his wife will be accompanying him," explained Dumbledore. "They were sent from Australia, because no one here had the time to take this post. And they are both old friends of mine."

Now it was Harry's turn to ask something. "What will they be teaching?"

"They won't teach any specific subject, but they will both assist Professor Snape and Professor Sprout with Potions and Herbology if needed."

He nodded, and with that Dumbledore sat down again.

Suddenly a small grey owl landed in front of Harry and he narrowed his eyes. He took out his wand when he saw a letter attached to its leg and it unfolded itself.

The Chicken Club (I really like this name) will wait behind the gargoyle before the lesson with the tabby cat starts.

P.S. Those Milky Way's are really good!

After Harry had finished the note he blinked and looked over towards Dumbledore, who was happily munching on a pancake. He shook his head with a small smile and finished his breakfast. To call McGonagall a tabby cat… okay… it fit because of her animagus transformation. He looked at his watch and saw that he had still half an hour left before classes.

Harry looked at Draco with his eyes half closed and a small frown on his face and the other immediately caught the meaning behind his look and stood up.

"I forgot something in the Common Room," announced Draco. "I'll see you in class."

They nodded and Harry stood up. "Wait! I wanted to borrow a book from you. Care for company?"

Draco shrugged and Harry gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek and left the Great Hall with Draco. When they rounded the corner to the staircases, Draco broke the silence between them and turned around.

"So what's this all about?" he asked as Harry started to climb up the stairs.

"Something about the Order, in Dumbledore's office," answered Harry shortly.

Draco caught up to him and frowned. "But why didn't he tell the others? And why didn't you for that matter?"

When they reached the corridor to Dumbledore's office, Harry chuckled. "Well… I believe it has something to do with my new Head of House and his wife. But I'm not entirely sure."

"Why did you tell me then?" Draco wanted to know when they stood in front of the gargoyle.

Harry said the password and the staircase started to move. Shortly before he opened the door to the office he turned to Draco. "Because… I believe that we both may know the new Professors."

Draco's eyes widened when Harry turned the handle. "You can't mean that-"

"Yes," was all Harry said when they entered the room.

He looked around and saw two people standing in front of the fireplace. One was a middle-aged man with very dark blond hair that had some grey streaks in it, and hazel eyes that held more wisdom than seemed possible. He wore an expensive dark blue cloak and clothes of the same fine quality.

The second person was a middle-aged woman. She had black hair and friendly blue eyes that held the same wisdom that the man's held. The woman too wore expensive clothes and a lavender-colored cloak.

They both looked over at them and smiled slightly.

But they were not the only ones in the room. Many people that were here where people that neither Harry, nor Draco had seen before. After a quick head count, and a look at their clothing, Harry knew that there were a total of six Australian Ministry wizards in the room and two from their own Ministry. He sneered. Of course their Ministry had to be represented by Fudge himself.

"Mr. Potter?" asked Fudge venomously while fingering his bowler. "What are you doing here?"

Harry calmly walked over to the Minister and bowed with a small smile. "Minister Fudge. I'm sincerely sorry for the interruption, but…," his eyes flickered over to the two people in front of the fireplace. "… but Headmaster Dumbledore told me the new Head of the House of Phoenix requested to speak to me."

"And why," sneered Fudge. "would he want to do that?"

Harry tilted his head. "I believe the reason may be that I'm a Prefect in that House."

"Oh," was all Fudge answered.

Draco, who had a small - obvious for those who knew him – fake smile on his face, stepped forward. "Good morning Minister Fudge. It's a pleasure to meet you. How are you?"

Harry had to hide a grimace when Fudge smiled sweetly. "Ah, young Mr. Malfoy. Thank you, thank you, I'm well. And you?"

Draco shook his head. "It's 'Black' now Minister. My mother and father decided that they were no longer able to maintain their pretence of a marriage, and my mother chose to take back her maiden name, as have I," he narrowed his eyes. "And I'm well. Thank you."

Fudge laughed nervously. "Of course. I forgot about that. May I… may I know why you are here Mr… Black?"

Draco smiled once again, but said nothing and Harry had to hide a smirk behind his hand.

"Minister?" said Harry and Fudge sighed in annoyance. "I may be able to answer that question. I brought Draco with me, because he is far more experienced in the role of a leader than I am. I'd hoped for some advice about my Prefect position from him."

Fudge's eyebrows shot up and he looked from Harry to Draco. "Is that so?"

Draco nodded, his smile never leaving his face. "Harry and I have formed a steady friendship over the summer. We no longer saw fit to hold onto our childish grudge against each other."

Fudge seemed baffled. "Um… well… that is good then, I believe." He looked first at Harry and then at Draco and leaned forward. "Mr. Black… do you think it's wise to associate with Mr. Potter?"

Harry narrowed his eyes and turned his back on the Minister, only to see that everyone in the room was following their conversation with interest and was now staring at him. He sighed and turned back to Fudge just as Draco answered.

"Yes. I believe it is," Harry could hear the amusement in Draco's voice and smiled slightly when Draco continued. "Contrary to what you want the public to believe, sir… Harry did nothing to start the rumours of You-Know-Who's return."

"He didn't?" asked Fudge and his eyebrows disappeared behind his hairline.

Harry shook his head and decided to say something as well. He gave the Minister a pointed look. "No, I didn't. I may have said something about him when I was in the hospital wing last year and you came to give me the prize money, but… I was exhausted and nearly drained of all magic. I saw how Cedric Diggory died and… admit that I was in shock after those events."

Fudge stared at him with a face that resembled a goldfish. "So you say… you say… that your claim about him… that You-Know-Who is back… is wrong?"

Harry sighed when the door opened again and Dumbledore, followed by McGonagall and Snape, entered the office. They were all but ignored by everyone and Harry saw that they now curiously stared at the Minister, Draco and him.

With a small smile Harry answered. "I don't know. I thought it was rubbish when I first read in the 'Daily Prophet' that I claimed to have seen him. I can't even remember how Cedric really died. I just know that I grabbed his arm after a duel of some sort and was suddenly back on the Quidditch Pitch. After all, it could just have been an accident…"

"Mr. Potter! Does this mean you do not believe You-Know-Who is back?!" asked Fudge with a gleam in his eyes and a big smile on his face.

"Minister Fudge," said Harry calmly when Draco coughed to hide his laughter. "I never even considered the possibility of him returning, and take you at your word, sir, when you say that he isn't back. But still…"

"I knew that you were not stupid boy," said Fudge once again in the warm tone he had used when Harry had first met him in the Leaky Cauldron after he had blown up Marge.

"I guess that was a compliment," mumbled Harry to himself and said for Fudge to hear: "But Minister… I still grew suspicious about something over the summer."

"Yes? What is it Harry? May I call you Harry?" asked Fudge and Harry nodded before he looked over to the three professors that were still standing near the door.

McGonagall seemed confused, while Snape looked seriously annoyed by the fact that he was being ignored, but impressed at the same time. Dumbledore merely had a wild twinkle in his eyes and popped a lemon drop out of nowhere into his mouth.

"Well…," said Harry and pretended to be unsure about something. "I read the Daily Prophet over the holidays, even though I wasn't really flattered by all the comments about me being mentally ill…," Fudge blushed at this point and Harry tried to look worried. "... well… there were some random articles that made me believe something was up, sir."

Fudge frowned. "And what may those be?"

Draco decided to give his own opinion at this point, and before Harry could answer he had already opened his mouth. "Minister, there were attacks on wizarding villages where a lot of muggleborns live. Mostly by werewolves and unknown attackers. And all of those attacks were in the last two months. That has never happened before."

Fudge paled and looked at both of them. "So… s-something may be up… the werewolves were….," He coughed and straightened himself. "I will look into it. But now I'm afraid I must be going. We were just here to accompany the Australian Ministry employees."

"Minister," said Draco with a very worried tone of voice. "Please think about what we've said. Even Harry's relatives were killed last week… so there must be something going on."

Fudge stiffened and looked at Harry who had his face cast downwards. "They… they were?"

Harry nodded, his face still down. "I got a letter from my uncle's sister Marge. She told me about their deaths…"

"I'm v-very sorry about your loss, Harry," said Fudge, who now was deadly pale. "I didn't k-know about that. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," said Harry quietly and smiled slightly when he looked up again. "I hope we will have the opportunity to talk more often Minister Fudge. And… I look forward to reading the 'Daily Prophet' once again without insults to my intelligence."

Fudge blushed again. "Um… yes. Yes, Harry. I look forward to meeting you again. And you as well Mr. Black."

With that, one after another, all the members of the different Ministries disappeared into the flames, after the man and the woman got out of the way.

When everyone except the two unknown people and the professors had left, Harry and Draco could no longer contain themselves. They started laughing until tears were running down their cheeks.

"I knew that he was stupid… but that was just brilliant!" laughed Draco.

"Yeah," chuckled Harry after he had caught some of his breath. "That was just so damn funny!"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black," interrupted Snape's silky voice and they stopped laughing, albeit slowly, as they tried to stop chuckling. "I must say… I'm impressed with your acting skills."

Harry smirked. "Thank you, sir. We do our best."

Dumbledore smiled and went over to his desk. He sat down on his chair and conjured one for each of them while the as yet unintroduced man and woman joined them. They too, were chuckling a bit, along with Harry and Draco.

"Severus is right, Harry," said Dumbledore. "You not only made Fudge believe that you had never claimed Voldemort was back; but by pretending to trust him and be on his side – the side of the Ministry – you planted some suspicions about Voldemort's possible return into his mind. The way he acted, he is seriously thinking about his return now."

McGonagall looked at them. "You planned all of this, didn't you?"

Draco shook his head. "Nope. We took advantage of an opportunity and made it up on the spot."

"Impressive," mumbled Snape.

Dumbledore clapped his hands. "So… now I believe it's time to introduce you to your new Head of House Harry. This is-"

"Nick and Penny," interrupted Harry with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you two so soon."

The man chuckled. "So you knew it from the beginning. You haven't changed Harry. Neither have you Draco. Your show with the Minister was very entertaining."

"Thanks Nick," smiled Draco. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he looked at his wife.

"I feel wonderful." The woman Harry had called Penny stood up and hugged Draco and then Harry. "I missed you two. Without you the house was so quiet. How is Narcissa? I heard that she finally got rid of that disgusting name of Malfoy. And Fleur? Did she get a job?"

Draco nodded. "Mother is well. She's staying with my cousin Sirius at the Headquarters of the Order. Fleur is working at Gringotts now, so you probably will have to wait a little while if you want to see her."

Harry looked at both of them after Penny had sat down again. "So I don't have to write a letter to you after all."

The man called Nick raised his eyebrows. "You wanted to write?"

Harry nodded. "I wanted to ask for some help and see if you could send us some books with useful information in them."

He chuckled. "And there I was wondering when you would ask for help."

Penny smiled. "You two… Draco, Harry. You really are doing well. We saw that you've already formed a strong unity between the five houses."

Draco smirked. "So it was you after all."

"What do you mean?" asked Nick with an innocent smile.

Harry snorted. "We both felt the pulse of magic when we were at the lake on Saturday. Did you really think we wouldn't notice it?"

"No," said Nick bluntly. "We thought you were too caught up watching the chess game between your friends."

Penny smiled and looked at her husband. "Oh, yes, when their red-headed friend interrupted Harry and his girlfriend kissing with that flying chess piece; that was just laughable. I haven't had so much fun since Albus argued with you over the uses of dragon's blood when you first discovered them."

McGonagall stared at the woman in disbelief. "That was over fifty years ago! You two can't possibly be that old!"

Dumbledore held his hands up. "My dear Minerva, looks can be deceiving. Let me introduce you to my old friends. Or Harry? Do you want to clear up the confusion?"

Harry looked at Snape and McGonagall and saw that they were both at a loss for words. Penny and Nick both nodded and he smirked.

"Gladly. Professors, this is Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel."

So that was the 17th Chapter!

I hope you enjoyed it and give me a Review!!!

Dark Phoenix of Slytherin