It took a long time for the campers' shock to subside at seeing two children of the Big Three. Luckily, Annabeth and Grover came around very quickly, as did Chiron. The girls quickly got Thalia settled into her cabin, and Chiron informed her about the camp rules.

A couple of days later, when she had recovered well enough, they offered to catch her up on training. Tonks trained alongside her and the two got along pretty well. Harry could still recall their first meeting. While in the Big House, Harry was talking to Thalia when Tonks sauntered in, "Hello munchkins! Hey Harry, who's your new friend."

Thalia stuck out her hand, "Thalia. Just Thalia. I like your hair…", she motioned to Tonks' bright pink spiky hair.

Tonks grinned, "Wotcher! The name's Tonks. Just Tonks. That's my last name, in case you were wondering."

Harry also grinned, "You two really are a pair, eh? One hates her last name, and the other hates her first name."

Tonks flopped down on a seat next to Harry, "Oh? Do tell!"

Thalia made a face, "My last name is… Grace. My mom was Beryl Grace, former TV starlet. She had a massive drinking problem and pulled all sorts of stupid stunts. I guess she thought she was a big shot because she got knocked up by the King of the Gods. She died in a car crash sometime before I ran off with Luke and Grover."

Tonks choked out, "My first name is Nymphadora. You won't believe the amount of teasing I got from that stupid name. Since then, I've only gone by Tonks."

Thalia snickered a little, "You have my sympathy. Hey Harry, where's Luke? I'm surprised he hasn't been by to visit."

Harry chuckled slightly, "Yeah… About that… It's complicated."

Then Annabeth appeared at the doorway, "Yeah… I think its best if I told you. Harry, Tonks, can you give us some privacy?"

They shrugged, "Okay, see you two in a bit."

When they emerged afterwards, Annabeth's eyes were tear-stained and Thalia looked pretty angry.

The month of June soon passed by and everyone's training was getting along nicely. Then, around mid-July, Sirius came over to take him and Mackenzie back to England as they were spending the rest of the summer with the Weasleys. Before that, he got Sirius to sign his permission slip to enter Hogsmeade. This was only after repeated assurances that he will watch his back, with Greyback lurking around. Percy, Grover, Annabeth and Thalia decided to tag along, because they had nothing better to do, and school had not started yet.

The first thing that Ron did was wrap him in a bro hug. Then Harry noticed something sticking out from Ron's pocket, "Oi, what's that? Is that a wand? Looks a little odd, doesn't it?"

The redhead grinned and pulled out a curved wand, "You like it! It's made of ivory. Bill got it for me from some client of his in Egypt. Come to think of it, he also received a bunch of gifts from his client for a 'job well done'. Here, come to the kitchen!"

He dragged Harry and the demigods to the kitchen, where a someone, or something, was cooking. Ron grinned, "They're called she.. shabby…sha-"

Ginny was passing by and began giggling, "They're called Shabti, Ron! In essence, they are magical constructs, like golems. Bill's client, Julius Kane explained the concept, except this prat was not paying attention."

"Oi! I resent that!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. Then tapped her foot expectantly, and Ron suddenly looked very bashful. He stammered, "Uhh… Mate? Please don't be mad at me, but Ginny wants in on our training. She... er, may have walked into my room and discovered me with my spear. Now, she wants training in exchange for not telling Mum and Dad."

Harry chuckled, "Don't worry mate, I was planning to train your siblings as well. Was wondering how to broach the subject."

Just then, a sharp whistle came from the living room. It came from Mr. Weasley, who had just been talking to Sirius in hushed whispers. He called out, "Okay everyone! Family meeting, now!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Sirius opened it to see Remus and Hermione, the latter of whom, was clutching a suitcase. Arthur smiled, "Oh good! Everyone is here. Harry, Mackenzie, Hermione? I think you three had better attend this meeting, because this concerns you all, as well."

Harry spoke up, "Mr. Weasley, I think I might know what you are talking about. Mackenzie knows as well."

He was a little surprised, and asked, "Sirius told you?"

Harry sheepishly chuckled, "Actually, it was the other way round. By the way, do I have your permission to tell everyone about the you-know-what?"

Arthur perked up, "Yes! Yes, of course!"

Harry cleared his throat and all of the Weasleys and Hermione, focused on him. He said, "So, we have a big situation here. Fenrir Greyback is on his way to Hogwarts. Apparently, the werewolf pack has been dwindling, so Greyback was tasked with replenishing it. He plans to go after the students. I'm probably his biggest target because of my heritage."

Charlie raised a hand, "Wait… Greyback was tasked? I thought he was the leader of the werewolves. From what I've heard about him, he's not the type to follow orders."

Harry shook his head, "Greyback is actually one of the top lieutenants to the leader of the werewolves, King Lycaon. Listen, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, there is something you need to know. Ron and Hermione found out in our First-Year. Ginny and your parents found out in Second-Year. Myself and three of my friends here, are demigods. Children of one mortal and one Greek God or Goddess."

Bill was puzzled, "Wait… You're saying that the Greek Gods are real? And they went and had children with regular people?"

"Precisely. This all kind of ties in. King Lycaon was once a human king. He once played host to Lord Zeus in his home. He wanted to test his immortality, so he served him human meat. This included him killing one of his own sons and serving his flesh."

Everyone's faces turned green. Harry waited for them to recover and continued, "Obviously, Zeus was enraged and turned him into the first werewolf."

Then, Percy Weasley spoke up a bit sceptically, "Potter, you say that you are a demigod, right? I thought your parents were James and Lily. Did-"

Harry interrupted him with a piercing glare that made him shudder, "Don't even finish that sentence. Neither of my parents cheated on each other. From what I was told, during the war, my mother was hit with a curse, rendering her barren. They then searched for Fertility Ritual. Sirius did his best to help, but accidentally gave them an Ancient Greek Summoning Ritual. One thing led to another and they summoned Lady Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Moon. She performed another ritual, which helped my mother get pregnant, with the only condition being that Lady Artemis is counted as my mother."

Ron chipped in, "That explains why Harry's scarily accurate with his spell-casting. His mother's primary weapon is a bow and arrow, so obviously, Harry inherited her skills."

Hermione picked up where he left off, "Another thing that Harry told us, is that all demigods have a condition called Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, or ADHD. Basically, no demigod can really sit still, because they have battle-born reflexes."

Then Annabeth spoke up, "Demigods also have dyslexia, which means that they cannot read English very well. However, they can read and write Ancient Greek or even Latin. Like Harry said, I'm a demigod. I'm the daughter of Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. That's Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, God of the Sea. Finally, this is Thalia, daughter of Zeus, God of the sky and King of the Gods. That's Grover, he's a satyr."

On cue, Grover kicked off his fake feet, making everyone's eyes widen. He half bleated, "Satyrs are half human and half goat. We're not demigods, but we are tasked with bringing them to safety. One of the biggest hazards of being a demigod is that monsters from the Ancient Greek world, could attack. Right now, we are relatively safe, because I think there are some wards that keep out monsters."

Harry rolled his left shoulder, which was aching a little, and finished up, "The more powerful the demigod, the more monsters they attract. Jackson and Thalia are the most powerful demigods, because they are the children of the oldest gods. Power-wise, they are stronger than Annabeth or myself"

Thalia interrupted, "That's actually half true. From what I'm aware of, the first-born child of any God is usually very powerful. So, Harry is pretty powerful in his own right."

Bill spoke up, "That's all very well and good, but that doesn't explain how Harry knew about Greyback before anyone else."

Annabeth answered him, "Another thing about demigods is that sometimes we get dreams. It could be about our or someone's past or future. Those dreams are almost always true. So Harry dreamed about Greyback getting his mission from King Lycaon."

Finally, Arthur wrapped up the meeting, "Children, now that you all know what is at stake. Promise me you all won't go looking for trouble? Greyback is not one to be trifled with. Unfortunately, the bad news doesn't stop there. Our Minister of Magic, in his 'infinite wisdom' has decided to place the Dementors of Azkaban around Hogwarts. Be very, very careful around them because they are very dangerous."

Suddenly, Percy Weasley spoke up a little pompously, "So what does this demigod world have to do with the Wizarding World? I hardly see how this is our problem."

Jackson fixed him with a hard stare, "It has everything to do with it. There is a war coming up and an ancient enemy called Kronos is rising. One of our own betrayed us and in the process of resurrecting him. Kronos is the Titan Lord of Time and he has the power to destroy the world. Just imagine what he can do to the Wizarding World, should he ever find out about it."

Harry also piped up, "Also, I'm hardly the first demigod wizard. The Founders of Hogwarts were demigods too."

That got everyone's attention, even Sirius and Remus. Sirius asked, "Really?"

Harry nodded, "Yep, Godric Gryffindor was the son of Zeus, Rowena Ravenclaw was the daughter of Athena. Helga Hufflepuff was the daughter of Demeter and Salazar Slytherin was the son of Hecate. Hecate was actually the one to create the Wizarding World. In her words, she was bored and wanted her own followers. If we're being really technical, witches and wizards are demigods as well."

That explanation satisfied everyone, and Sirius had them swear an oath to never reveal this information without his approval. He warned that if the wrong people got hold of this information, the Wizarding World could be dragged into an unwanted war, woefully unprepared.

Before long, Ginny had joined their training, and she was quite vicious with a sword and shield. Fred and George fancied a pair of clubs with Celestial Bronze studs. Percy got comfortable with a spear, and Ffinally, Bill and Charlie preferred daggers. In mid-July, Harry took Mackenzie aside during a sparring session. He handed her a small box, and she opened it, revealing a pair of earrings shaped like a dagger. Harry told her, "I figured that I can't be around all the time. Also, you can handle yourself while in a pinch. I think I've trained you as much as I could. Plus, I have way too many weapons in my arsenal. My bow and arrow, and the sword are enough for me. I got Lou Ellen to enchant the hunting knives into a pair of earrings for you."

She wrapped him in a tight hug before he helped her put them on.

The following day, the demigods went back to New York, while Sirius took Harry and the others to Diagon Alley. As they passed Quality Quidditch Supplies, they noticed a large crowd gathered. Sirius glanced over and grinned, "Well what do you know. It seems that the rumours were true after all. That there's the Firebolt! Fastest broom in the world! Word on the street is that the Irish National team have already placed an order for seven of these beauties."

He looked down at Harry and Mackenzie, "You two pups interested? This thing's got an acceleration of 150 miles an hour in ten second! The best part is that it boasts of an Unbreakable Braking Charm."

Harry chuckled, "I don't know about 'Kenzie, but I think my Nimbus 2000 hasn't really failed me just yet."

Eventually, he tore himself away and trotted off to the apothecary to replenish his potions supplies. Harry was also outgrowing his robes, so he paid a visit to Madam Malkin's. While getting measured, he couldn't help noticing that some of Malkin's aides were blushing as the tape measures wrapped around his muscles and lean frame. He internally rolled his eyes and thought to himself, 'Oh for crying out loud!'

Then he winced a little, as the tape measure wrapped around his shoulders a little too hard. Finally, once that torture was over, he dropped by Flourish and Blotts to pick up his new books, as well as to collect his Divination and Care of Magical Creatures book.

Inside, he spotted a large iron cage, holding several copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. Each of those book were going at it like a bunch of cage fighters. Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.

The manager made a pained face, drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick, and proceeded toward the door of the Monster Books' cage. He complained, "I've already got bitten five time already! Who's bloody big idea was it to recommend this book? I'm never stocking them again, never! It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worst when we bought two hundred copies of the Invisible Book of Invisibility — cost a fortune, and we never found them."

The manager somehow snagged the book, and it whirled around, trying to bite him. Quicker than the eye could blink, Harry whipped out his wand and shot a Stupefy spell. The man looked so relieved that he hugged him tightly and babbled, "Thank you so much! You just made my life so much easier! What else do you need? Your next book is on the house!"

Harry consulted his book list, "Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky."

He smiled, "Starting Divination, eh? Here you are! Unfogging the Future. Very good guide to all your basic fortune-telling methods, palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails."

Soon, they met up with the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione. The latter was carrying an enormous ginger cat. She beamed, "He's gorgeous, isn't he? His name is Crookshanks!"

Harry found it a little hard to agree with her. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall.

Finally, they all went back to the Burrow with their wares. When it was finally time to leave on September 1st, they all piled their suitcases neatly, with a wicker basket sitting next to the pile. Hedwig, Errol and Pigwidgeon were next to the basket, perched on their respective cages. Harry sighed and approached the owls. Pigwidgeon gave him the stink-eye, but Hedwig glared at them.

He hooted at them, "Listen Pigwidgeon, I am really sorry about putting you in danger. I didn't realise that the monsters would try and get you. I promise that it won't happen again."

Pigwidgeon barked, "See that it does not, Moon-Child! Just be glad that the old codger didn't make the trip! He would have died at the hands of the snake-ladies. Luckily, Hedwig and I were quick enough to dodge them, but that big arse shark nearly got me!"

Ron looked at him questioningly, but Harry indicated that he would tell him later. 20 minutes later, they were at the station. After crossing through, Harry looked for Neville. Percy Weasley spotted a familiar figure and smoothed back his hair. His cheeks pinked as he said, "Ah, there's Penelope!"

He walked off to meet the Ravenclaw girl, with his chest puffed out, proudly showing off his Head Boy badge. Harry quickly bolted into the train, Ginny hot on his heels. Once inside an empty compartment, they collapsed in laughter, clutching each other's backs. Harry snorted, "Oh I am so taking the mickey out of him for this!"

Finally, Mackenzie, Ron and Hermione joined them with Neville in tow. As the train moved off, Ron asked, "Hey Harry, what were you telling Pigwidgeon?"

His face grew red, "Yeah, uhh. Pigwidgeon is a little ticked at me. I was on another quest at the time, and he nearly got eaten when delivering a letter."

Hermione leaned forward, "What was this quest about? I saw Annabeth rush you and Mackenzie off in a bit of a hurry."

Mackenzie piped up, "It was an emergency. Luke had poisoned the tree that marked the camp's borders. So Harry, Jackson, Annabeth and Clarisse went on a quest to find the Golden Fleece. If the tree died, the camp would be overrun by monsters"

Hermione's eyes widened, "The Fleece is real! And you found it!?"

Harry replied, "Yeah, we had to sail into the Sea of Monsters to find it. The Sea of Monsters is the modern day Bermuda Triangle. Apparently, Pig was nearly eaten by a megalodon. That's why he was so mad at me. Hedwig was pretty mad, initially."

She shrieked, "A freaking megalodon! I thought it was supposed to be extinct, millions of years ago!"

Neville asked, "What's a megalodon?"

She shuddered, "You remember when Professor Daly spoke to us about non-magical wild life? She talked about the great white shark and showed a picture. Now, imagine that shark, but a lot bigger. At least the size of this compartment."

Everybody else paled at that. Harry continued, "Apparently, the Fleece did its job a little too well. Remember I told you about Thalia's tree? Turns out, she wasn't dead. Her dad just turned her into a pine tree. So when the Fleece healed the tree, it also sort of resurrected Thalia."

Just then, the compartment door opened, revealing Sirius and Remus. Hermione smiled at them, "Hello Mr Black and Mr. Lupin, what are you two doing here?"

Sirius grinned, "Extra security. Neville, are you aware that Fenrir Greyback is on the loose?"

The boy shivered, "Yeah, mum and dad told me about it. They've signed my Hogsmeade form, but told me to be careful, anyway. Gran was hesitant, but dad managed to convince her."

Remus scowled, "Well, the Minister has deployed the dementors to try and stop him. Rather foolish of him, if you ask me."

Hermione piped up, "But he is the Minister, isn't he? Surely he knows what's best for everyone."

This time it was Sirius' turn to scowl, "I wouldn't be so sure. I've heard that he used to take most of his advice from Lucius Malfoy".

Then he grinned, "You should have seen him blustering about when we arrested Lucius last year, for casting an Unforgivable."

Remus cleared his throat, "Our point is, Minister Fudge only deployed the dementors because he wants the Ministry to be seen 'doing something'. That's why we're here. I will be taking over the DADA position. Sirius is here in his Auror capacity, and if I'm unwell, he can take over in my stead."

Sirius ruffled Mackenzie's head, "Okay kiddos, we're just going to walk around and meet with the Head Boy and Head Girl. We'll be back soon."

With that, they left and the six of them were idly talking. After a while, Luna came skipping over and joined them. Hermione asked, "Do you know much about Hogsmeade? I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain —"

"Yeah, I think it is," said Ron in an offhand sort of way, "but that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"

"What's that?" said Hermione.

"It's this sweetshop," said Ron, a dreamy look coming over his face, "where they've got everything. . . . Pepper Imps — they make you smoke at the mouth — and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next —"

"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione pressed on eagerly. "In Sites of Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain —"

"— and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them," said Ron, who was plainly not listening to a word Hermione was saying.

Hermione looked around at Harry as she released Crookshanks from his cage.

"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?"

Harry grinned, "You're darn right, it will!"

Ginny grumped, "If only we were old enough to go! It's not fair!"

Harry raised his hands placatingly, "Hey, hey, don't worry, we'll get you some goodies."

A few hours later, there was relative silence, as a few of them napped. Later on, the compartment door flew open to reveal a scowling Malfoy, with Crabbe, Goyle, Snyde and Murk. He drawled, ""Well, look who it is. Potty and the Weasel. I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley. Did your mother die of shock?"

Harry shot up before Ron and Ginny could retaliate. With an almost perfect imitation of Malfoy's drawl, he fired back, "Malfoy… Agrius Jr… Oreius Jr… Snyde… Murk… Well… I'm curious to know about YOUR father. I heard he earned some reservations at a fancy hotel. Five star service at Hotel de Azkaban."

Ron fought down his laughter, while Malfoy's face twisted in fury, "You have no proof! Father said that he was Imperiused by the Dark Lord!"

Harry cocked his head sideways and shot him a disarming smile, "I didn't say anything about him being Imperiused. I'm talking about when he was caught red-handed, casting the Killing Curse on a minor."

Merula Snyde and Draco Malfoy's right hands twitched. Finally, he muttered resentfully, "Come on!", and they trooped away.

Ron grinned and slapped Harry's back heartily, "That was brilliant, mate!"

The rest of the trip was fairly silent, and Harry stared out the window, where it was starting to rain. The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks.

Suddenly, the train began to slow down and the brakes squealed noisily. Hermione looked up as she lazily stroked Crookshanks, "We can't be there yet. Why are we stopping?"

Harry peeped out the door, and saw that several other students were doing the same. He spotted Anthony Goldstein and called out, "Oi, what's happening? The Express has conked out or something?"

The Ravenclaw shrugged, "Don't know. Since this runs on magic, can it actually conk out?"

Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness. Harry heard shuffling behind him, and then Hermione yelped, "Ron! That's my foot!"

Harry shut the door and carefully retreated. He then heard Luna idly comment, "Harry, you've got a silver glow around you, keeping the Nargles and Wrackspurts at bay. Is it because of your mother?"

He declined to comment, instead pulling out his bow and arrows and switched into battle mode. The demigod called out, "Shh! Everyone, sound off!"

"Hermione!"

"Ron!"

"Neville"

"Luna"

"Ginny"

"Mackenzie!"

Harry called back, "'Kenzie… flank my right…"

His sharper eyesight saw her carefully make her way over to him and take off her earrings. The hunting knives materialised in her hands and she dropped to a crouch, legs spread out, ready to attack.

Just then, an intense cold swept over them all. Mackenzie glanced at Harry, "What do you think? Hyperborean giant?"

He shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. It could be any-"

Harry got cut off as the door slid slowly open. It revealed a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak.

Then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings. The air grew colder, and the two cousins retreated backwards into their compartment. Harry's vision was starting to go black, when the shadows in the corner darkened.

Suddenly, Bianca di Angelo of all people, leaped out from the shadowed corner. The girl placed herself between them and the figure and raised her hand. The figure recoiled sharply as she ordered, "Back! Back, I say! You shall not harm them! Nor anyone on this train! All of the students here, are off limits!"

Harry's vision cleared as the figure retreated. Bianca had a serious expression on her face as she appeared to listen to something. Then she spoke, "Whoever it is, you are looking for, nobody is harbouring him! You do not belong here! You will come back with me to see father!"

The figure continued retreating and then stopped. It appeared to be saying something, because she replied, "You have three weeks. After that, you and your kind will return to the Underworld! Father needs you to take up posts in Tartarus."

It nodded and floated off. Not even a minute later, there was a thundering of footsteps. Sirius and Remus burst into the compartment, "Is everyone okay? Bianca? What are you doing here?"

She replied, "Father contacted me a few days ago and told me about the Dementors. He had allowed Hecate to borrow them for some time, but forgot to summon them back. They were originally stationed as guards in Tartarus. The Dementor that was here, told me about their task to find Fenrir Greyback. I gave them three weeks, after which I shall return them back to the Underworld."

As she explained, Lupin was handing out bars of chocolate to Harry and the others. Harry devoured his chocolate and hugged the girl, "Thanks for the save! I thought we were toast!"

She hugged him back, "Of course! You're like a brother to me. Also you helped rescue us from the Lotus Casino."

He asked, "Where's Nico?"

"Father is still training him. I was able to master Shadow Travel a lot quicker."

Hermione piped up, "Is that how you suddenly appeared here from nothing but shadows?"

She nodded, "Yeah, our training is getting along fine. We should be ready to join you at Camp by next year."

With a wave, she Shadow-Travelled back to wherever she came from. The two adults went back to their rounds, revealing that they were ten minutes away from Hogwarts. Finally, the seven of them slumped in their seats. Neville whimpered, "It was horrible. Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"

Ginny was shivering in the corner and rocking back and forth. Harry and Mackenzie got rid of their weapons and wrapped comforting arms around the redheaded girl.

Before long, the train pulled into the station and they disembarked. Mackenzie was startled when she saw the thestrals for the first time. Ginny couldn't see them, but Luna airily said, "I see them too, you're just as sane as I am."

As always, the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. Harry spotted another two dementors, who drifted further away. He gave a low whistle, "Wow! Bianca worked pretty quick!"

Hermione leaned out of the tiny window in their carriage, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and the quartet got out.

Soon, everyone trooped inside the castle and assembled outside the Great Hall. It soon swung open and the enchanted ceiling beckoned. This time, the ceiling was black and cloudy, and they all took their seats. Harry sat next to Katie, who wrapped him in a one-armed hug.

They didn't have to wait long before McGonagall entered with the First-Years, and the Sorting began. Finally, Dumbledore stood up, "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast. As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.

He continued, "They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds. And while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises. It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors."

He paused to gauge the glum reaction of the students. Then Dumbledore smiled, "On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. We also have Auror Black, who will be on standby to keep the dementors under control and as an occasional assistant to Professor Lupin."

After some scattered applause, Dumbledore announced, "As to our second new appointment. Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

There was a more enthusiastic reception to this announcement. Finally, he said, "It also gives me great pleasure to announce that, aside from Quidditch, we will be introducing a new activity!"

That got everyone whispering excitedly. Katie leaned in and whispered, "Is this activity what I think it is?"

He nodded, "I think so."

She pumped her fist, "Yes!"

Dumbledore once again called for silence, "Last term, I was temporarily dismissed from my position as headmaster, owing to a series of unfortunate events. Mr. Chiron Brunner took over and convinced me to take over his old position of a summer camp counsellor. Needless to say, I found many camp activities exciting, but only one resonated with me. It is called, Capture The Flag. For our benefit, the way it works is that two houses will compete at a time. The goal of the students of one house is to get the opposing house's flag and bring it back. The flags will be located in the respective house's Common Room. Yes, this does mean for the first time ever, students from one house can enter the common room of another house. Obviously, while some students look for their opponents flags, they also have to defend their own flag. You may use magic, but you are restricted to Stunning spells and low level Jinxes. A successful hit on an opponent gives you 10 points. Bringing the flag back ends the game and earns you 150 points. However, any unauthorised spells will result in a points deduction and a detention for that student."

With that, he sat down, and the hall exploded into cheers. When the feast was over, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville rushed over to congratulate Hagrid. Finally, they trooped up the marble staircase and gathered around the portrait. The Fat Lady asked, "Password?"

Percy Weasley muscled his way through and called out, "Fortuna Major!"

One by one, they crawled into the hole behind the portrait and split up to head into their respective dormitories.