Hi everybody.
I finally have summer holidays! No school for a little over six weeks!
Well... here's the next chapter. Thanks once again for all your wonderfull Reviews! Love you guys!
Thanks to my beta knitchick.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Enjoy!
Chapter 19
"Harry!" Hermione called after him when they had finished classes for the day and returned from dinner. "Wait for me! You - oh no…"
Harry, who had just rounded the corner, turned around and chuckled when he saw that her books were now scattered on the floor around her. He shook his head with a bemused smile when as he bent down to help her pick them up. "Y'know… maybe you should just shrink them like Draco, Ron, Neville and I do. It's easier to carry them around."
She gave him a playful glare. "That's what I normally do Harry James Potter! But I had to hurry to get you, so I didn't take the time to shrink them."
"So what's the matter?" he asked, curiously, when they started to walk towards the library, where the five of them were scheduled to meet.
"You still haven't told us what you did that has the Ministry suddenly deciding to take you under their wing. And why did you disappear yesterday morning with Draco? And why were you late to Umbridge's class?" asked Hermione quietly as they passed Madam Pince.
Harry looked around for a sign of anyone looking, and then opened the door to the restricted section. "I'll tell you when the other three get here so I don't have to repeat myself."
Hermione nodded and they took their usual seat at the table in the middle of the large room. Harry decided to start with his long overdue potions homework, while Hermione took out the Daily Prophet once again.
"You're reading that thing again?" asked Ron's voice after five minutes from behind the shelves. "Isn't it getting boring?"
Hermione shook her head and threw him a mild glare. Harry meanwhile was looking at Neville, who really looked uncomfortable here in the restricted section. His eyes were jumping everywhere, as if he was afraid he might be attacked.
"Relax Longbottom," said Draco and flopped himself down on a free chair. "They're just books. No one's going to attack you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "No need to call him by his surname Dray. He's one of us now," he chided softly.
Draco nodded. "Sorry… I'm just used to calling him that."
They sat in silence for a short while, until Ron decided to show Neville what they had been up to with the books so far. Harry saw that his face was considerably paler when they returned. Even Ron, who was used to it by now, looked a little bit uncomfortable at the aspect of learning Dark Magic.
"So...," asked Ron expectantly when he flopped down on his chair again. "You're gonna tell us where you disappeared to yesterday morning? And you too, ferret?"
"Shut up weasel," growled Draco. "Or I might-"
"No…," whispered Hermione suddenly and they all stared at her. "No, no, no…"
Harry looked at her in concern and when he saw her face, immediately rushed around the table. She was staring at the newspaper in front of her, her eyes seemingly fixed on a single spot. On her face was a mixture of panic, puzzlement, anger and worry.
"Mione?" he asked quietly and rubbed her back softly. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head and pointed to a small article on the second page. "S-sirius was seen. In… in London. They know he's there!"
Harry's frowned as he straightened up. "Dray, you tell them what happened yesterday and who our new professors are. I've got something to do. See ya later guys. "
Draco nodded and Harry swiftly turned around without another word and left them staring after him with worry evident on their faces.
"Um… he seemed worried…," said Neville as he turned to the others. "Wasn't Sirius Black the one who killed his parents?"
The other three looked at each other uncomfortably. "Sirius Black… he's Harry's godfather," said Hermione carefully. "That's why he's worried."
Neville stared at her. "So… the one who's supposed to care for him… wants to murder him? And now that he was seen… Harry wants to do something… I believe?"
Hermione once again looked very uncomfortable and grabbed a book. She looked down at it with a frown and then sighed. "Neville… we can trust you, can't we?"
He blinked. "Of course!" he said without hesitation.
Hermione gave him a small smile. "Good. Then please… wait until Harry tells you about Sirius. Just remember, that he's not what everyone wants to believe."
"D'you think he'll do something stupid?" asked Ron slowly after another small silence.
Draco shook his head. "No… at least I hope he doesn't."
Ron looked out of the small window and suddenly yelped. "Damn… I forgot that we've practice today!" He jumped up and waved at them. "I'll see you later in the forest!"
Hermione sighed as Ron's red hair disappeared behind the door. "Let's hope for the best…"
She turned to Neville. "So then… let's start. We have to review some spells, because you first have to catch up with us. After that Draco, you can tell us what happened yesterday."
Draco nodded and leaned back in his chair, while Neville took a deep breath and threw himself headfirst into work.
******
'I once again give Snape a run for his money.' Harry mentally decided with a small smirk plastered to his lips. But a frown soon replaced it while he was striding through the corridors, his robes billowing wildly. 'That mutt must've done something stupid… when I get my hands on him!'
He raised his eyebrows when a small Hufflepuff first year on the way to his common room, dropped his books when he passed him and with a flick of Harry's wand the startled boy had the shrunken books in his pocket.
"Um…," was all Harry heard from the small boy when he passed Peeves, the poltergeist, who was cackling like a maniac before disappearing into in the trophy room.
He reached the gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office and rambled down a list of every sweet he knew. After not even two minutes the gargoyle jumped to the side and Harry stepped on the moving staircase.
He crossed his arms and impatiently tapped his foot on the stony floor beneath him. He raised his hand to knock, but it opened by itself.
"Harry? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" greeted Dumbledore, who was standing near a big stone basin Harry immediately identified as a Pensieve.
"You seem to be a rather frequent guest at the moment," remarked Snape who was standing right next to the Headmaster with a slightly troubled expression.
Harry rolled his eyes, but decided to come straight to the point. "I need to go to Grimmauld Place."
Dumbledore's eyebrows rose. "Why is that my boy?"
Harry scowled. "I need to kick a mutt's ass. Sorry for my language, sir," he added when Dumbledore gave him a small look. "And… I'd like to talk to Reg- Remus."
Snape glided over to him. "And why, Mr. Potter, would you have to do that?"
He just stared at him expressionless. "You don't read the news, do you, Professor? Sirius was seen in London, according to the Prophet. I want to know why he was strolling around."
"I didn't know that," replied Snape and looked at Dumbledore who had a frown on his face while looking at Harry over his half-moon spectacles.
"I understand your concern my boy, but it's too dangerous for you to go there by yourself," said the Headmaster and Harry gaped at him.
"Sir! You're not serious, are you?" asked Harry in disbelief. "I just have to use the floo! Nothing more!"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. I know you can take care of yourself," he added when Harry opened his mouth to say something. "But note that even the floo holds dangers. I believe you experienced that when you accidently landed in Knockturn Alley when you were twelve."
"For the sake of lemon drops!" protested Harry, and Snape snorted while Dumbledore's eyes lit up with amusement. "I'm not a baby Headmaster!"
"Really? Who would've thought?" muttered Snape.
Harry decided to ignore him and looked at Dumbledore once more. "Please, sir? I'm used to the floo by now. You have no clue how often I've used it during the summer holidays! And… Grimmauld Place is under the Fidelius, so there's no way that someone can get in!"
"I'm afraid it's not possible for you to visit Sirius," answered Dumbledore with finality in his voice and shook his head once again. "It's not that you're there, but rather the way to Grimmauld Place which is dangerous. If it were a real emergency, then you could. And during the holidays too, but there aren't any holidays at the moment."
"Fine!" growled Harry. "At least give me a Howler if you will."
Dumbledore chuckled and with a swish of his wand a fiery red envelope flew into Harry's hand. "Suit yourself with that. It's able to store five lines of writing that will be sung to the one who gets the letter."
Harry eyed the Headmaster. "Thanks, sir. Have a nice evening."
Dumbledore smiled and Harry nodded to Snape before he turned around and left the office. Before he closed the door he could hear Dumbledore say something to Snape.
"Do you have a clue where the ring could be Severus?" his voice sounded urgent.
Snape answered with a sigh. "No, he was rather careful in hiding those objects. He could…"
Harry didn't wait until he finished, closed the door and frowned. 'I don't like how that sounded… I don't like it at all…'
******
Half an hour later, Harry left his common room with the red envelope in his hands and a satisfied grin on his face. Who did his godfather think he was that Harry would not get him back for the Howler he had sent? Sirius' sighting in London was a very good opportunity to get his revenge…
He looked back to where the door of the hidden room disappeared and headed off to the Owlery.
"I would not go that way if I were you," said Nearly Headless Nick, drifting disconcertingly through a wall just ahead of Harry as he walked down the corridor. "Peeves is planning an amusing joke on the next person to pass by the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the persons' head?"
"Funnily enough it does," answered Nick, sounding bored. "Peeves was never one of the brightest. The Bloody Baron really should keep him more in line… by the way; I just realized that you are no longer in my House."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry about that. I was as surprised as everyone else was. I thought the hat would put me in Slytherin for sure…"
Nick looked at him oddly but then smiled. "Well then… bye young Harry."
He decided to take the longer, but safer route to the Owlery and came across Mrs. Norris, who was slinking past him. She turned her eyes on him, as if he had done something to break the rules by walking here and he scowled at her.
"Go away you blasted cat!" he muttered and gave her a small kick and she disappeared behind a statue.
He gave Hedwig the letter and even his owl seemed to be amused by the letter she was delivering, because she had a small sparkle in her eye when she nipped Harry's fingers before flying off.
Harry sighed and leaned at the windowsill. He stared down at the Forbidden Forest and watched some Thestrals flying over the trees. Harry wasn't really an admirer of those leathery dark creatures, but he liked them alright. They were very intelligent when you got to know them better.
The door of the Owlery opened and he slowly turned around to find himself face to face with Cho Chang. His former crush.
"Oh… hi Harry," she said rather shyly with an envelope clutched into her hands.
Harry just nodded. "Hey."
"I hope I don't disturb you…," she said quietly and looked for a suitable owl. "I just wanted to send a letter to my mum."
He shook his head and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Not at all. Take your time."
Harry turned his back to her and once again looked out towards the Forbidden Forest. The Thestrals were still flying around. His eye caught sight of the Quidditch pitch and he nearly choked on his breath.
"Why didn't he tell me?" he whispered to himself with amusement in his voice.
On the Quidditch pitch two redheads were flying around. One of them was zooming around high in the air and the other one was hovering in front of the goalposts. The one in front of the goalposts was definitely Ron. 'So he's the Keeper now.' The other one zooming high in the air had to be Ginny. She apparently, was the new Seeker for the team.
He didn't even know that Gryffindor had Quidditch practice now. He smiled. Playing against them would definitely be interesting.
He could feel Cho staring at him, and even though it annoyed him slightly, he ignored it.
After five minutes Cho was still there, apparently thinking of a way to approach him and Harry sighed. "Yes?"
He heard her nervously shuffling her feet. "Um… I just wanted to know how you are…"
Harry turned around. "I'm fine. What about you? Are you okay after the end of last term? After Cedric?"
Cho looked down on the floor. "Yes, I… I still miss him, but it's not as bad as it was before. I was wondering if… if we could talk?"
Harry tilted his head and gave her a small smile. "We are talking at the moment."
She blushed. "No… I mean about… us?"
He sighed and abandoned his spot by the window to stand in front of her. "I'm listening."
"Well… I wanted to ask… if you would like to go to Hogsmeade in three weeks. I know, that I refused your offer of a relationship with you when I turned down your invitation to the Yule Ball, but maybe we can try… try to be together now?" said Cho hastily and looked everywhere but him.
"Cho," said Harry softly and forced her to look at him by raising her chin. "I feel honored that you like me, but I have a girlfriend now. And I'm very happy with Hermione. I can't just go around and date other girls."
"But…"
"There is no 'us' in form of anything else than a friendly relationship.", interrupted Harry.
Cho looked at him with some tears in her eyes. "Harry, I know that last year I was… and Cedric…"
"I'm sorry Cho and I apologize for my rude words now, but I won't be a replacement for Cedric.", answered Harry with finallity in his voice. "I had a crush on you last year, I admit that, but it was just that – a crush."
Cho looked at him with hurt in her eyes and then sighed. "I understand… I'm sorry for asking. But… I hope we can still be friends?"
He nodded. "Of course we can. But I'm afraid I must be going now. I told my friends I would meet them in the library."
She smiled slightly. "Okay… bye Harry."
"See ya, Cho," he gave her a small kiss on the back of her hand and headed down the stairs.
'That was awkward…' he concluded as he headed to the library.
Halfway there he was greeted by Hermione, Neville and Draco. Neville looked like he had gone to hell and back and had a scared expression plastered on his face. Harry sighed quietly and turned around to go in the opposite direction.
He felt Hermione's hand join his and smiled at her before he looked at his other side where Draco and Neville were walking alongside him.
"And? What did you do?" asked Draco casually as they strode along the hallway.
"Nothing much," replied Harry shrugging. "I wanted to pay Padfoot a quick visit, but Dumbledore wouldn't let me. Then I went to the Owlery to send my beloved godfather a small letter and talked a little bit with Cho."
Hermione bristled and her grip tightened. "With Cho?" she asked with narrowed eyes and Harry's senses immediately screamed 'approaching danger' at him. "As in Cho Chang, Ravenclaw sixth year? What did you talk about?"
Harry eyed her carefully. "Nothing much… she wanted me to go to Hogsmeade with her in three weeks, but I told her that I have a girlfriend. And I meant you."
Hermione looked at him with slight anger. "So you would have gone if I wasn't here?"
Draco snickered next to him and Harry 'accidently' stepped on his foot. While the blond was cursing quietly, Harry raised his free hand to soothe her.
"Not at all," he answered, and Hermione's face softened. "I told her that my crush on her is over. But I offered to still be friends. We'll see if it works…"
"Argument swiftly avoided," stated Neville dryly and Harry chuckled while Hermione huffed but smiled nonetheless. "Are we… are we still going to train in the forest today?"
Harry nodded. "Yep. It's time that you start to learn how to become an animagus."
"S-so soon?" spluttered Neville, but his eyes lit up with excitement. Harry could still see doubt in them and nodded quickly. "Yes, so soon. We all started to train in our first weeks of training. It takes time, so it's the best way."
"Ron's coming a bit later.", said Draco. "Let's go to the clearing."
"Okay…," murmured Neville and straightened his back when they exited the castle and headed for the Forbidden Forest.
******
Harry looked around, his feathers glistening in the dim moonlight, and all his senses on alert. He currently was in his black Shadow Phoenix animagus form and impatiently clicked his beak. He nearly disappeared into the darkness around him because of his dark feathers, and wanted to concentrate, when suddenly a loud melodic trill was heard and a glittering shadow high in the sky disappeared with a bright flash of light and a thundering noise.
'Show-off!' he heard Ron's voice in his head and gave an amused trill.
'At least I can do it.' came Draco's smug reply. 'I'm going to help Neville and Hermione.'
Harry, who had been sitting high in a tree to hopefully discover how Draco flashed around, ruffled his feathers and his emerald orbs closed as he concentrated.
'My element…' thought Harry, when a tingling sensation flowed over his feathered body. 'I have to use my element…'
The tingling grew and Harry opened his eyes and stared at another tree not far from his current position. Suddenly he felt his pupil's shrink and his vision go slightly blurry.
He didn't dare blink as everything but a small passage grew dark in front of him and ended exactly at the spot he had stared at when he had looked at another tree.
Harry gave a mental sigh. 'That's what I call tunnel-vision… let's try my luck.'
He unleashed a small bust of magic and felt his currently winged body… melt and stretch?
His eyes were open and he saw something like a flash of totally black light had engulfed him. And as suddenly as it had come, it was over.
Harry blinked and realized that he no longer sat on the branch high up in the tree, but at the spot he had been staring at before.
He wanted to rise into the air when he felt a sharp pain on his left wing and looked down on it. If a Phoenix could grimace, his expression at the moment surely must have been hilarious. As if on cue, four of his midnight black Phoenix feathers sailed down in front of him and landed soundlessly on the ground.
'Damn… now I know how a chicken that is plucked feels' he thought when he landed on the ground and changed back into human shape. He looked down at his left arm and saw that on his hand were four small bruises that looked like someone had tried to kill him with a quill.
He looked up when a fiery red Phoenix came flying down to him, and before it touched the ground it changed into Ron, and Harry could see in the moonlight that he was grinning.
"Did I see right? You did it?" he asked excitedly and Harry nodded a bit hesitantly.
"I guess so… I'm a step closer to getting it right," he showed the redhead his arm. "I just have to keep all my feathers while travelling."
Ron burst out laughing. "You lost some?!"
Harry grinned at his friend with a gleam in his eyes. "Yeah, and it hurt like a bitch."
Ron immediately sobered up as they wandered through the forest to get to the clearing they always trained at. "I just hope that I don't lose too many when I finally get it…"
"Hey Harry!" called Hermione who was sitting with Neville and Draco under a big tree with some books scattered around them and the tip of her wand illuminating the clearing. "And? Did you get it? I heard a loud noise, like thunder, and it wasn't Draco."
Harry shrugged. "Nearly. I lost some feathers in the process."
"Ouch!" winced Draco and Harry guessed that the blond spoke out of experience.
"Oh, that's great!" said Hermione excitedly and abandoned her place at the trunk to give him a hug and a passionate kiss. "I'm happy for you!"
Harry grinned and his right hand wandered down her back while the other one disappeared into her hair. Hermione gave a slight gasp when he moved down to her neck instead of her lips and he traced her elegant jawline with small kisses.
Suddenly Ron cleared his throat and Harry looked at him with slight annoyance while Hermione blushed a bright shade of pink that you even could see even in the dim moonlight.
"Not to be rude… but could you do that some other time?" asked Ron who cowered under Hermione's glare.
"Ronald!" she huffed. "If I have to tell you one more time that you have to stop ruining the mood I'm going to hex you into next week!"
Harry chuckled and hugged the agitated girl from behind. "Yeah… if you have a problem with us kissing, just look away."
Draco shook his head while Ron was muttering an apology and looked at his watch. "We should go to our rooms now. It's nearly eleven o'clock and it already is past curfew."
Harry gave him a mischievous grin. "Don't forget, that you missed your shift today. You were supposed to go on patrol with Daphne till ten o'clock."
The Slytherin's eyes widened. "Merlin! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I thought you knew and just didn't want to," shrugged Harry when he started to wander off to the castle with Hermione, Neville and Ron.
Draco stood there and when Harry looked over his shoulder, he could see him muttering something before catching up to them.
"She's going to kill me, isn't she?" asked Draco with a groan.
"Yup," answered Harry matter of factly.
Draco glanced at him. "D'you think it'll be painful?"
"Probably," chuckled Ron from Draco's other side.
"Oh stop it!" laughed Hermione when Draco fired a hex at Ron, that nearly hit Neville.
******
"What… in the name of Merlin's blue boxers is a 'High Inquisitor'?!" asked Ron grumpily when they sat at breakfast the next morning. "And what the hell did we do to deserve that?"
Harry snatched the Daily Prophet out of his hands and squeezed himself between him and Dean Thomas at the Gryffindor table, deciding that he would just sit here for the day. He snatched some toast from Dean's plate and slowly chewed on it while reading the article.
He stared at the paper incredulously, the toast dropping to the ground. "What the heck?! Listen to this mate!" said Harry and read a part of the article aloud:
'Dolores Jane Umbridge, the Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and current successful Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts, was appointed to be the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts in favour of the Boy-Who-Lived's safety.
This step was taken, once again due to the imminent danger from Sirius Black, who yesterday was seen in London.
She has the right to examine the Hogwarts professors and deem them worthy, or not worthy of their teaching positions. Therefore, she will be able to keep an eye on Harry Potter and ensure that he will be safe from danger and trained to defend himself.'
"You've got to be shitting me!" finished Harry, as Ron stared blankly at the paper.
"I just hope that someday she'll fall off of her high horse," voiced Draco who had strolled over to them and was looking over Harry's shoulder to read the article.
Harry nodded and rolled his eyes when he saw that some of the other Gryffindors still glaring at Draco, simply because he was a Slytherin. He looked over at the Ravenclaw table and caught Hermione's eye when she looked up from her conversation with Mandy Brocklehurst. She looked briefly at the staff table and then shook her head. Harry had just turned to look at Neville, when a shadow loomed over him and he stopped and looked up.
His face formed into a grimace when he saw that it was Umbridge who was standing in front of him. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Mr. Potter," she said in a dangerously sweet voice. "You have earned yourself another day of detention for not turning up at our appointed meeting yesterday."
"I have?" he asked innocently, but with a snarl on his face.
She pursed her lips. "Yes, you have indeed. I will be expecting you this evening at seven o'clock sharp!"
"Is this a new way to protect me from Sirius Black?" asked Harry and glared at her. "By giving me detention, Madam High Inquisitor?"
"Make it a week!" she snapped and abruptly turned around and marched off to the staff table.
"Busted!" chuckled Ron. "She's really out for your blood, mate."
Harry flicked his wand when Umbridge was halfway to the staff table and she stopped in her tracks. Everyone stared at her as she suddenly opened her mouth and a loud croak came out before she shrieked and where she was once standing, a very ugly pink and brown frog now sat.
Deadly silence filled the room as everyone stared at the toad which seemed to be glaring angrily back at everyone…
As if on cue, a fly flew over the toad's head and immediately the tongue of the former teacher shot forward and the fly disappeared.
"Well, I'll be damned!" said Harry calmly. "Does anyone have a terrarium?"
At that, everyone started to laugh out loud.
That was that. And don't worry Umbridge is in for it now^^
Review, please!
Dark Phoenix of Slytherin