Chapter 22 is here... Enjoyy!

The first morning at Hogwarts began on a sour note, especially for Ron. Hermione, Harry, Ron, John were having their breakfast at the Great Hall. And the time for mail came. The Weasley's owl Errol dropped a damp red envelope on the table before slumping unconscious on the table.

"Oh No," gasped both Ron and John at the same time.

"It's alright, he's still alive," said Hermione, but the boys' attention was on the envelope.

"It's a howler..." said Ron faintly.

"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville who was sitting opposite them.

"It's better to get it over with. Just like ripping off a band-aid," added John. Ron slit the envelope open slowly. What happened next was something Ron would describe as one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. Ron sat there, at the table, as if a tidal wave had just passed. The whole hall was silent, though there could be some laughter heard.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but..." began Hermione but John gestured for her to remain silent.

"Don't say I deserved it," replied Ron slowly.

"Ron, it's fine… You know how your mother is… She gets angry, but she doesn't remain that way for long," said John calmly looking Ron directly at his face.

"Well, what else did she expect us to do? Not come to Hogwarts?" sighed Ron.

"You do realise that the train isn't the only way to come to school? If you had waited, you could have told your parents, and they would have gotten you both here safely..." replied John but saw the expression change in Ron's face, "But that's not the point. What you guys did was legendary stuff. Years down the line, students will be talking about what you 2 did yesterday. Cheer up..." he finished. Soon enough, Professor McGonagall handed them all their schedules and off they went for their classes.

In the days leading up to the end of the vacation, one of the things on Harry's mind was John, or more specifically, John's time spent with Daisy. While Ron's morning had started badly, Harry's got interesting as the day progressed.

While the group was having their lunch, the topic of conversation changed to their class that afternoon.

"So, what class do we have this afternoon?" asked Harry nibbling at his sandwich.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," replied Hermione at once. And she continued, "I completely forgot to you both. We have a new Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Figures, now that they can't keep Quirrell around," added Ron, though most of what he said was unintelligible as his mouth was full of mashed potatoes.

"Do we know what the new Professor will be like?" asked Harry.

Hermione stared at Harry for a few seconds and then quickly turned her head towards John and then back at Harry. "Well, I have heard that she's nice. Professor Jane, she is called," she replied. Harry was confused by what Hermione had done prior to her reply, but he understood it immediately after hearing the name, Professor Jane.

"Ohh!" was the only thing that came out of Harry's mouth.

It was soon time for all of them to leave the great hall. As they were making their way for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, a boy came running towards them holding what Harry could recognize as a muggle camera.

"All right, Harry? I'm... I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. Do you think... would it be all right if... can I have a picture?" he said, raising the camera hopefully.

"A picture?" repeated Harry blankly.

"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead. And a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures will move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you," he looked imploringly at Harry. "Maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?" he asked.

"Signed photos? You're giving out signed photos, Potter?" came the scathing voice of Draco Malfoy. "Line up everyone, Potter's giving signed photos," he added.

"No I'm not," retorted Harry, sharply.

"You're just jealous," added Colin. Harry looked at him, surprised seeing him stand up to a senior, so boldly.

"Jealous of what? A scar?" laughed Malfoy.

"Malfoy, shut up," came the voice of Ron.

"Weasley… you don't want to get in trouble with Mommy again, do you?" and Draco laughed again.

"Harry, let's go... He ain't worth it," whispered John.

"What was that bodyguard? Hey Harry, don't you get tired of him always talking for you," interjected Malfoy again.

John had grown tired of the mess that was being created. He whispered "Procidat Incipio" under his breath and hit the spell at Malfoy. And then he said, "I was just telling Harry that you seem to have something on your shoulder," and pointed at Draco's left shoulder.

Draco immediately looked over his shoulder saw a big dirty-green coloured lizard sitting nicely. He immediately panicked and tried to flick away the lizard. But nothing happened. Anything he did to get the lizard away, failed. The longer the lizard stayed on his shoulder the more he started jumping trying to get it away. The crowd that had gathered around started laughing at Draco's funny gesture and behaviour, while Crabbe and Goyle stood beside him motionless. Even Harry, Ron and Hermione burst out laughing. But they all went silent almost instantly after they heard a booming voice from behind.

"What's going on here?"

Harry, John, Hermione and Ron turned back and saw their new Defense Against the Dark teacher, Professor Jane. The moment she came to the scene, she saw what Draco Malfoy was doing and hit him with a spell. Draco immediately stopped shaking and could no longer see the lizard on his shoulder.

"Detention, Mr Smith... Maybe you need to be reminded of the rules of this school," came the voice of Professor Jane.

"Why? He didn't do anything. It was Malfoy. He kept taunting us," pleaded Harry.

"I think it's time for all of you to go to your classes. The Show's over," said Professor Jane in a commanding tone and walked off. Everybody standing there dispersed almost immediately, including John, Hermione, Harry and Ron.

"I already hate her," said Ron after walking a few steps. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and then at John, who remained silent.

"It's just a detention, I'll be fine," replied John after a few moments.

"Why didn't you let me have a crack at Malfoy? I swear I would have gotten him to eat slugs or something," said Ron frustrated.

"Honestly? Looking at your taped up wand, do you really think you should be doing any spells? Moreover, what happened at the transfiguration class?" replied John.

"Right, this is practically useless," sighed Ron looking at his wand.

"Right," sighed John.

They made their way to the class. By the time the class was finished, the students were already feeling much better about Professor Jane. Firstly, the classroom smelled much better than it did under Quirrell. And secondly, she seemed to have a much better grasp of the subject than Quirrell did. And to top it all off, they didn't get any homework. Harry however was pretty much lost in a world of his own during the class. Ever since his encounter with Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry had started hating his celebrity status. It didn't bother him much when he initially found out about it a year back. But, in the past month or so, he had experienced a few things that had changed things. Ginny's behaviour towards him was the first thing he found weird. Coupled with the way Lockhart behaved with him at the bookstore. And the worst part was Malfoy. Harry hated Draco's ability to mouth off without facing any consequence. And that afternoon's incident with Colin had made things worse. The class got over and the students were dispersing when Professor Jane asked Harry to wait behind.

"Mr Potter, could you please wait for a moment?" she asked with a stern voice, but she finished it off with a gentle smile.

Once the students were gone, Harry spoke up, "Yes, Professor Jane?"

"I didn't call you out today, but don't think I won't ever do it," said Professor Jane.

"Uhm... I... uh... I don't know..." fumbled Harry in response.

"You weren't focusing in the class, you barely answered any of my questions, you were distracted... want me to go on?"

"Uh... No, sorry, won't happen again," replied Harry.

"It's okay, Mr Potter. Being a celebrity can be difficult. But you have to learn to manage that part of your life. You can't let anybody and everybody get a rise from you," said Jane. Harry remained silent for a few seconds, so she continued, "Now, off you go. But think about what I said," she added.

"Thanks, Professor Jane," replied Harry and walked away, but he had to stop and turn back as he heard his name being called by Professor Jane.

"Harry... Tell John that his detention will be with me from 6 PM today. And that I'll also be sending a note to Professor McGonagall regarding his actions," she said.

"Okay Professor," replied Harry and made a dash for his next class.

When Harry got a chance to speak with John, he told him what Professor Jane had told.

"She's enjoying herself way too much," said John.

"Why give you detention anyway? It's not like you did anything to make Malfoy go mad," commented Ron.

"Hmm... well... you did do something, didn't you?" chimed in Hermione looking at John.

John gave a sheepish grin and replied, "Yes, I did. It was a basic spell that makes a person imagine something. I have taught you that before Hermione, I'm sure you remember, don't you?"

Hermione's face went red with embarrassment. She could not look Ron in the eyes that moment. She had cast the same spell at Ron during their 1st year on the night of Halloween.

"Where did you learn that?" asked Ron.

"In just one of the books," lied John in reply immediately.

John made his way to Jane's office at 6 PM for the detention he had been given.

"John... how are you?" asked Jane the moment he came in.

"I'm pissed off. You see, my sister gave me detention today for no reason at all," replied John sarcastically.

"Well, it got you into a room with me, didn't it? And no one doubts anything," replied Jane.

"When you put it that way," replied John shrugging,

"But you pull that stunt again, it won't be me you'll be having your detention with," warned Jane.

"I had it under control," replied John.

"You did? It didn't seem like it," replied Jane.

"If you hadn't nosed in, I would have released him sooner," retorted John.

"Was it wandless magic?" asked Jane.

"Yes"

"You're growing careless John, you can't control your magic, especially wandless. We're messing with things that we understand little of. You can't afford to be careless, especially now," replied Jane.

"As I said... I have it under control," replied John.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed. John who had started pacing the office stopped mid-flow.

"How has your day been?" he asked.

"Good and busy!" replied Jane. She was busy writing something on a parchment.

"What are you writing?" asked John.

"I'm preparing for my classes," replied Jane without shifting her attention.

"Were you like this in school as well? Always writing, studying, preparing, etc?"

"Hogwarts is very different to what I imagined it'd be like," replied Jane.

"Yes, I can imagine. But that didn't answer my question," replied John.

"You know how I was like. I was the studious one, while you were the troublemaker," replied Jane smiling.

"Yeah, and that's why you got the letter and I didn't," replied John.

"Heyyy! That's not fair. You know how bad we all felt for you. Remember how dad was going mad at, well... you know," said Jane, but cut short her sentence remembering something.

"It's been a long time since you talked about him," replied John.

"It's been a long day," replied Jane faintly.

"I know what will cheer you up. Did you hear about what happened to Ron today?" asked John.

"I heard, but not the full story," replied Jane.

"Well, he faced the wrath of Molly, through a howler," said John.

"Oh No," responded Jane with a shock. "That's bad," she added.

"Yes, it was. She hasn't changed one bit," replied John smiling.

"What exactly happened to them at the platform?" asked Jane.

"Long story," replied John. He got up from the chair he was sitting on and started pacing again. "I'm going to tell you a series of events. Tell me what you think about it," he added. He saw Jane nodding and continued, "Harry got a visit from a house-elf. The house-elf stopped Harry from coming to Hogwarts. Later, Harry goes to live with Ron. They come together to board the train. But they are prevented from coming to platform 9 ¾ because the gate is closed," finished John.

"Why did the house-elf stop Harry?" asked Jane.

"Harry was told that he would face danger at Hogwarts this year. Something along those lines" replied John.

"So, what you're telling me is, the house-elf could have closed the gate?"

"Why not?" retorted John.

"It's possible. But so are a million different things. Even if we assume the house-elf did it, the question is why," replied Jane.

"The question isn't why, but how. We know and only we know that Ginny is going to die this year. Nobody else," said John.

"So, how did the house-elf know that there is going to be danger in Hogwarts this year?" asked Jane.

"The only way the house-elf could have known is if... If it belonged to someone who is going to kill Ginny," replied John.

"We don't know how Ginny is going to die," retorted Jane.

"It can't be someone from the outside. Why would anybody want to kill her? Makes no sense," sighed John.

"We should tell Dumbledore about this," said Jane after a few seconds of silence.

"We should have told him about Ginny a long time ago," sighed John.

"I'll talk to him," said Jane.

"And I'll be with you when you do," replied John.

"No need! It'll only raise questions that we won't be able to answer," replied Jane. John glared at her for that response but he didn't have a good comeback. So, he decided to take his revenge through another ploy.

"Okay, but you need to do me a favour," said John.

"What?"

"Get Ron a wand as soon as possible," replied John.

"He can't manage with a broken one?"

"You know he can't," replied John smiling slyly.

"Is this your way of getting back at me?" asked Jane.

"No... why would you think that? I'm your twin brother. Why would I want that?" asked John but burst out laughing before Jane could respond.

"Stop laughing... What am I supposed to tell him when I give him the wand?" asked Jane.

"You are the Professor... you will figure it out," replied John still laughing.

"Okay... But if I do that, I would need you to keep an eye on Ginny," said Jane.

"Deal"

PS - Next chapter in a couple of days time.