The rest of the journey passed in relative peace, with no interruptions from anyone. But between Hermione's incessant mutterings on whatever new idea she had, and Ron's chess pieces occasionally breaking into arguments, Harry couldn't focus enough to work on his Occlumency, so he worked in his human transfiguration book instead. He wanted to figure out how to change his voice pattern like Tonks.

By the time they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, Hermione was still working in her notebook, scratching things out. A few times, he caught her looking at him with a strangely thoughtful look on her face. Harry wanted to ask what she was doing, but he had an inkling that it would be a long conversation, so he held off for now. Before long, they felt the familiar shudder throughout the train as it began to slow down, so Ron put his chess set away, while Hermione threw Defensive Magical Theory into her trunk with a contemptuous expression. Harry grabbed Hedwig's cage, hastily throwing Bulbous noses to Centaur Hooves into his trunk as well after scribbling in a few more notes on voice changing. Hermione gave Crookshanks a couple treats, and they promised Ron that they would catch up with him later, before leaving for the prefect's carriage to see Sainsbury about the password. When they arrived, several other fifth year prefects were waiting as well, though thankfully neither Malfoy or Parkinson were around.

"A first year spell? Interesting choice," she said when the other prefects had left to collect their things. "That's fine, I'll let Professor McGonagall know after the sorting."

Hermione thanked her, and the two of them began walking down the train, making sure nothing was left, or there weren't any students lingering behind. They split up partway to inform their fellow prefects of the password, but had to double back twice to find the sixth year prefect Spencer Witts. Harry got some more dirty looks as he did his rounds, and did his best to ignore them despite the close quarters. The two of them had just made it to the other end of the train as it came to a stop, and after one last check in the back compartments for belongings, they followed the remaining students out into the quickly darkening station.

"-come over here please! All first years this way!" he heard Professor Grubby-Plank call out as they stepped outside, loudly enough to be clearly heard over the din of students. Harry supposed she magically modified her voice like Bagman did on multiple occasions over the past year. He was disappointed Hagrid wasn't here instead, but he already knew that he was on some Order mission when Sirius let it slip after Hermione was talking about their OWLs, and the possible subject material they would get this year.

He and Hermione hung near the back of the crowd, as they walked down the path to the horseless carriages. But as they got closer, he had to do a double take, because they were no longer horseless. Where the carriage shafts were once empty, winged dark creatures stood in its place instead. Tall and slender with large leathery wings, and blackened skin like a dementor. He thought they had an almost reptilian look to them, and noticed that their eyes were milky-white as he approached.

"What are those things?" he asked out loud. Hermione looked at him, puzzled.

"What are what?" she asked, looking at the carriages.

"Those, horse things," he said, looking at her fully to see if she was joking. But she seemed genuinely confused.

"Harry, there's noth-"

"Out of my way you," he heard a sneering voice distantly behind them, and the strange creatures were momentarily forgotten as the two of them whirled around. Malfoy was pushing past a few timid looking second year students, so he and several other Slytherins could have a carriage to themselves. Hermione's expression turned furious, and he followed her as she marched up to Malfoy.

"There are plenty more carriages Malfoy, take one of them if you want one to yourself," she said angrily. Harry discreetly reached for his wand, and tried to ignore how the younger students looked at him scornfully when they recognized him. Crabbe and Goyle flanked Malfoy, trying to look threatening.

"And if they want a carriage, they're free to take one," said Malfoy. "If you think I'm going to let a mud-"

Harry stepped forward, gripping his wand handle tightly. "I'd be careful what you're about to say next Malfoy," he cut across, forcing his voice into a calm casualness. A stinging hex was on the tip of his tongue, as it wouldn't do to have Malfoy puking up slugs on his first day as prefect, no matter how satisfying it may be. In any case, he didn't think Hermione would appreciate it if he got stripped of his badge so soon. He darted his eyes over, and took in her almost pleading expression. He gave her a small nod, and she relaxed very slightly.

Malfoy's eyes flashed as he thrust his hand into his own pocket, but a number of students were starting to crowd around, looking to see what was happening. Harry glared at Malfoy, but he still didn't draw his wand, and they stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Hedwig added her thoughts by hissing at Malfoy reproachfully, and he almost cracked a smile.

"Let them have the carriage, Malfoy. Is this really worth your pride, or do you just like feeling superior to second years?" he said in a low voice. Malfoy finally drew his wand, but just as he opened his mouth, Harry heard Sainsbury's sharp voice ring out.

"What are you doing?" She had pushed her way to the front, and was looking between them suspiciously. "Am I going to have to report you all to the professors?" she threatened.

Malfoy shot her a look of loathing as he stepped away from the carriage, looking at all the students staring at him. "Whatever," he sneered. "You won't last a month anyway."

Her eyes grew hard. "Is that a threat?"

"No, but Hogwarts will be changing soon, and if you aren't careful, you'll be left behind," he said, leading the rest of the Slytherins away. Sainsbury's expression looked momentarily worried, but it was gone as soon as he noticed it.

"Get into the carriage," she said to the second years, still looking between him and Hermione with uncertain expressions. "Everyone get to your carriages!" she called out to the assembled crowd.

"What did he mean by that?" Hermione asked when she walked away. Harry looked in the direction Malfoy stalked off to.

"I don't know. He knew about the tournament before anyone else did, if his father let him in on anything more important…" he trailed off. "We'll ask Snuffles about it later, he might have an idea."

"Why wouldn't he tell us about it then?" she asked. Harry paused to consider that.

"Either it was recent, or we could warn him about something Malfoy may have let slip," he said. "Come on, we need to find Ron."

Thankfully, it didn't take long, since he was part of the crowd that gathered around their argument with Malfoy, and he almost immediately launched into a tirade, but he nearly had to run after Hermione as she dragged Harry to a carriage. Since no one wanted to sit with him, they were able to get a carriage all to themselves so they could speak freely.

"Why didn't you hex Malfoy?" Ron demanded as he forcefully shut the door.

Harry briefly glanced at Hermione. "She didn't want me too, and I can't pick fights with Malfoy like that. It's better to let him make a fool of himself." She smiled at him, but Ron just looked confused.

"But he'd deserve it! Malfoy has always been a slimy prick, and he never misses a chance to have a go at us."

He shrugged, not exactly disagreeing, he still had the list of curses and other spells in his trunk after all, but he was starting to think he'd need to change when to use them. It might be more fun to goad Malfoy and let him get himself into trouble.

"Harry's right, we're prefects now, and that kind of behavior will get our badges taken away. If Malfoy keeps this up, he'll lose his badge-"

"And then we'll be able to dock points and give him detention every time he steps out of line," said Harry pointedly to Ron.

"I- Right," said Hermione. "He won't be able to hold any power over us, so he'll either have to hold his tongue or get sent to Professor McGonagall or Snape on a rotating basis." Ron looked skeptical, but he stopped pressing the matter, and changed the subject to Quidditch tryouts. Since they would have a whole weekend before classes started, he was going to practise on the pitch so he'd have a better shot, and Harry agreed to go out to the pitch with him in the afternoon.

As they pulled up to the castle, Harry leaned forward to see out onto the grounds. The lights in Hagrid's hut were out, which was expected, and magical torches dimly illuminated a number of the castle windows. Once the carriages came to a stop, Harry was the first to get out, grabbing Hedwig's cage as he left. He was startled again at seeing the strange horse-like creatures again. After their argument with Malfoy, Hermione rushed them into a carriage and he hadn't paid them much thought. Now she came up behind him, and was looking at him worriedly.

"There's nothing there," she said, he could hear the distress in her tone that he was seeing something she couldn't. But Harry shook his head, and stepped closer. He needed to be sure, so he reached his hand to its mane. To his surprise, and relief, he felt its skin, and quickly grabbed Hermione's hand to see if she would as well.

"Can't you feel it?" he asked, pleadingly. Her eyes widened in shock.

"I- what? Invisible animals-"

"Horses with wings," he corrected, with a bit of an incredulous laugh. Hermione looked at him with an intensely curious expression..

"Why can you suddenly see them, but I still can't?"

"See what?" Ron asked, struggling to give Pig a treat as he hopped out of the carriage.

"Winged horses pulling the carriages," said Hermione, looking in one of their general directions.

Ron looked up with a suspicious expression. "Are you taking the mickey out of me? Did Fred and George put you up to this?" Harry just grabbed Ron's arm like he did with Hermione, and put it on its mane.

"Bloody hell."

"Yeah, maybe we'll ask Professor Grubby-Plank about it. She would know about it, right? I wish Hagrid was here," Harry sighed. "Come on, we should get going," he said, as more than a few people were starting to stare. Harry released Hedwig so she could fly up to the owlery, and Ron followed suit after making sure Pig didn't have a treat stuck in his beak again. They followed the crowd of students up to the flagged stone floor of the entrance hall, where small clumps of students were mingling around, catching up with their friends, and excitedly talking amongst each other. It was almost normal, and if he let himself get lost in the moment, it was like Voldemort wasn't even back.

The trio swept past the rest of the students, ignoring the open stares as they passed to the right of the entrance, into the Great Hall where the students were slowly getting seated, talking to each other in between the long tables. The Hall was brightly illuminated by charmed torches and the enchanted ceiling mirrored the darkening sky outside. Harry led them to the end of the Gryffindor table, far from the rest of their house, since he didn't think he could stand more whispers or rumors right now. Hermione promptly sat next to him, with his back to the rest of the hall, while Ron sat across from them. Sir Nicolas waved at him as he floated past, and he waved back, happy to see another familiar face that didn't scoff or sneer at the sight of him.

Harry soon spotted Fred, George, and Ginny again when they entered the Great Hall. The twins were with Lee, looking more serious than he normally saw them, though Lee looked eager, and Ginny was talking to a girl with dirty blonde hair in Ravenclaw robes. Ginny soon split off from her to go to the Gryffindor table, to a small group of other fourth year Gryffindor girls who were already seated at the benches, while the twins and Lee took a seat on the benches a bit further down from where Ron was seated. George winked at him, and Harry momentarily saw one of their extendable ears, which was evidently what Lee was excited about.

He and Hermione started scanning the staff table, trying to spot their new Defense Professor, and one of them almost immediately caught his attention when he saw a squat woman with a bright, fluffy pink cardigan speaking closely to Dumbledore, who was wearing deep purple robes with silvery stars and a matching hat. Her hair was a mousy brown, wrapped in a similarly horrible pink Alice band that matched her cardigan, and he felt shock run through him when she turned away from Dumbledore to take a drink from her goblet.

"It's Umbridge!" said Harry in a strained whisper, Hermione didn't say anything for a moment, and her face was similarly etched in shock as well before twisting to anger.

"That horrid woman?" she snarled under her breath, "she's teaching us this year? No, I'm not going to stand for that, there has to be something we can do to get her removed." Hermione was almost quivoring in anger. His explanation about what happened during his trial and her dismissal of him, as well as her recent bill to the Wizengamot made Hermione loathe her, and he wasn't too far behind in his opinion either.

"Wait what?" said Ron, looking a little alarmed. "She's our defense professor?"

"She has to be," said Harry. "She's the only other new staff member up there, but I thought she worked for the Minister." Hermione drew in a sharp intake of breath, and her expression turned to worry as quickly as it did with anger.

"Dumbledore's been having trouble finding a new professor this year," she started. "What if Fudge forced her here to rein in Dumbledore even more?" They exchanged worried looks, but their mutterings were soon cut short when Professor Grubby-Plank made her way to the staff table, which meant the first years were going to be coming through the entrance hall soon.

Sure enough, the doors opened a few moments later, and the hall fell silent as the remaining students went to their seats. A line of timid looking first years walked though, being led by professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool and the sorting hat. The candlelight illuminated their pale faces as they came to a stop before the staff table. Harry noticed one of the boys in the middle of the crowd was shaking badly, and he fleetingly remembered how nervous he was during his sorting.

Professor McGonagall set the hat down on the stool, and the school watched on when the sorting hat opened its brim like a mouth and began its song. Since coming to Hogwarts, he had only heard three of its songs before, but as the hat continued singing, he grew wary. He and Hermione shared a quick glance before turning their attention back to the hat until it finished with a flourish. All around the hall, the applause was punctured by whispering among the students, and Harry chanced a look at Umbridge, who looked like she ate something sour.

"Branched out this year, hasn't it?" said Ron.

"Does the hat normally give out warnings?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Oh yes," said Sir Nicholas, who was drifting by again. "The hat feels honour-bound to warn students of outside danger when it feels, I don't believe it has done that since 1981-" Sir Nicholas stopped his tangent and brought a transparent finger to his lips when professor McGonagall settled the rest of the hall down and unfurled the parchment that held the names of every new first year. Harry felt as though ice dropped in his stomach when he realised that it stopped giving warnings the year his parents were killed and Voldemort disappeared.

"Abercromble, Euan!" the terrified-looking boy Harry noticed earlier stumbled up to the stool. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there as Professor McGonagall set the hat on his head, but it didn't fall to his shoulders due to his very prominent ears. The hat seemed to consider him for a moment before its brim opened to call out "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry was startled out of his thoughts and clapped with the rest of the table as Euan staggered to their table and looked like he wanted nothing more than to disappear. Hermione was looking intently at the line of first years, and he knew he had to as well so he could keep track of everyone they had to bring to the tower after the feast.

The line of new students moved slowly as a few students were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Their next couple Gryffindors didn't take long to be called out however.

"Clayton, Terrance!" One of the students near the back walked to the stool unsteadily, and looked like he was trying to put on a show of confidence, but he only managed a tremulous smile before the hat draped over his head like most students. It sat on his head for a little while longer before calling out Gryffindor as well. He looked a little relieved, and took his own spot at their table as the rest of his house applauded.

After the next student was sorted into Ravenclaw, they got another new house-mate when Professor McGonagall called up "Darby, Caroline!" a young girl walked to the stool, and looked nervous at all the attention from the rest of the hall. The hat rested on her head for a couple moments before it declared her in Gryffindor. Harry and Hermione applauded with the rest of their house as she took an empty spot near the far end of the table.

They didn't get any new Gryffindors for a while, but it didn't take long before the Slytherins got their first new house-mates as a few more Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were sorted. The crowd of first years shrunk steadily, but even this crowd felt smaller than his first sorting. He was taken out of his musings when the next student was called up, "Lavelle, Elaine!" a student already at the front almost ran forward to the stool, and Harry only caught a glimpse of her bright eyed wonder at everything around her before the hat enveloped her face. It only considered her for a moment as well before calling out Gryffindor. Harry clapped as she ran to their table, and she was one of the few new students who looked happy about the whole thing as she took a spot in the middle of the table.

Their last Gryffindor was sorted near the end when there were only a handful of students remaining, and Harry almost didn't catch his name since he was starting to lose focus on all the new students. "Wilkins, Jonathan!" a young boy in the middle of the small group made their way to the stool, and the sorting hat was barely on his head for a second before declaring Gryffindor as well. He looked happy at the sorting, and ran to the table to sit next to Euan amid the applause. Harry figured that they made friends on the train like he and Ron had. He missed one of the students being sorted and waited for Professor McGonagall to call out the last name, "Zeller, Rose!" who was sorted into Hufflepuff. McGonagall picked up the hat and stool to put them away as Dumbledore rose to his feet and spread his arms in greeting.

Despite everything that had happened, Harry felt reassured at Dumbledore standing at the head of the great hall. His return to Hogwarts had been met with unexpected surprises like the black reptilian horses, and the sorting hat's new song, but this is how it normally was, Dumbledore standing to greet them at the start-of-term feast.

"To the newcomers," Dumbeldore started with a beaming smile. "Welcome! And to our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not one of them. I only have two words to say to you: tuck in." There was an appreciative laugh and applause at his words at the same moment food materialised on all the tables. Numerous dishes of vegetables and meats, sauces and breads, savoury pies, and flagons of Pumpkin juice left the tables groaning under the weight, and Ron let out a longing groan before moving to dig into it.

"Excellent," he said, reaching for the plate of pork chops to pile on his plate.

"What were you saying before?" Hermione started, her attention now off of the new students. "About the hat giving warnings?"

"Oh, yes," said Sir Nicholas, who seemed glad to turn away from Ron who was now eating potatoes almost indecently. "The hat has given warnings before in dire times. Its message is always the same however, be strong, stand together from within."

"Ow kunnit nofe skuffis inanger ifzat?" Ron asked through mouthfuls of potato. Hermione wrinkled her nose and shot him a disgusted look as some of the potato sprayed onto the table. Sir Nicholas politely asked Ron to repeat himself when he had swallowed, but the conversation quickly devolved from there when Ron began making insensitive remarks. Sir Nicholas drifted away irritably to talk to other students, causing him and Hermione to snipe at each other.

Harry looked between them, wondering if he should get in the middle of their argument, but thankfully it quickly exhausted itself, and they went back to their meals, albeit with huffy silence between the two.

As people began finishing their food, and the sound of talking began to rise throughout the hall, Dumbledore stood before them again, and the wandering chatter quickly died down as soon as it rose. "Now that we have all finished a rather delicious feast, I must ask your attention for a few start-of-term notices," he began. "First years should know that the forbidden forest is off limits, and some of our older students should know by now too," he, Hermione, and Ron grinned a little between each other, but Harry started to let the notices wash over him, but it didn't last long when Dumbledore reached his announcement on the teachers, in particular, the new defense professor. He had just started on Quidditch tryouts (something Ron looked interested in), when it was interrupted by a "hem, hem."

Dumbledore paused in the middle of his announcements, and politely turned to Umbridge, who had gotten to her feet, and was clearly looking to make an announcement of her own. He and Hermione exchanged worried glances, and silently wondered where this was going to go. Dumbledore stepped aside, letting her take the center, but Harry saw how all the other professors looked at Umbridge with thinly veiled disdain, and the idea that Fudge forced her at Hogwarts was made all that more likely. All around them, students looked between each other, snickering about her interruption.

Umbridge smiled at them in a manner that could only be called condescending, and when she began her speech in that repugnant, sickly sweet, girlish voice, Harry felt wary at what was in store for them. She was openly bigoted, judging by the remarks she left in front of the Wizengamot after his trial, and if the past was any indicator, she wouldn't take kindly to him. The only question was how much of a problem she was going to be.

He tried to catch Hermione's eye, but she was solely focused on Umbridge's speech, though due to the repulsed expression on her face, it wasn't out of any deep appreciation. He tried to listen for himself, and some phrases jumped out at him, but her conclusion, "pruning wherever we find practises that ought to be prohibited," left him feeling worried. Hermione, for her part, didn't look outwardly angry, but her eyebrows were scrunched together in thought, and her eyes were slightly narrowed.

"Well that was about the dullest speech I've ever heard," said Ron over the chatter. During her speech, students went back to talking to each other as normal, but he noticed students around the hall looked confused, or worried in some cases.

"It was certainly illuminating," said Hermione in a low voice. Ron looked at her incredulously.

"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?"

"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," she said.

"It sounded worrying to me," said Harry. "Fudge definitely had her placed here."

Hermione nodded, "it reminded me of her speech in front of the Wizengamot. Perfectly polished, bigoted nonsense. The Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts, and they're barely making the effort to hide it." Chattering and conversation grew around them as students began rising from their seats, and Hermione jumped to her feet like she was shocked by electricity.

"Harry, we need to show the first years where to go!" he nodded, and started scanning the table for their charges. They bid Ron a quick goodbye, and went down the table to collect them, passing the other prefects who were telling their house-mates the password to the tower. He got the attention of Euan and Johnathan, who looked a little lost amid the growing mass of students, but Jonathan whispered something in Euan's ear when he approached them, and both boys shot him frightened looks.

"Hello Euan, Jonathan," he said, trying to sound friendly, but that only made them look more petrified than before. "I'm your prefect this year, and I have to show you to the tower, er, can you follow me?" he asked them cautiously, but they didn't budge.

"My friend Hermione will be with us," he continued, trying a different tack. "I don't know what you've heard of me, but-"

"My mum says you l-let Cedric Diggory d-die so you could w-win the Triwizard," said Johnathan unsteadily, while Euan seemed to shrink into himself. Harry felt his chest seize painfully at his frank statement, and he swallowed hard.

"No," said Harry quietly. "I wanted him to win with me. He was a friend," the two boys looked skeptical, and Harry wondered just how badly people thought of him these days, but he steeled himself to deal with it later. "You don't have to stick close to me, we're just going to the tower." he backed away first, gently motioning them to follow him, and the two of them timidly passed him to where Hermione was. She already gathered Caroline, Elaine, and Terrance around her. It was quite a small group of first years, but that only meant they wouldn't have to worry about keeping track of too many students.

"Are we ready?" she asked him, with a worried expression when Euan and Johnathan almost hid behind her. Caroline and Terrance seemed to be similarly afraid of him, but Elaine just looked confused at their reactions.

"Yeah, come on. We should get them to their dormitories." Hermione scrutinised him for a moment before she relented, and led the first years while he took up the rear of their group. As they passed the rest of the students at the entrance hall before the corridors, Harry received other contemptuous or wary looks from older students.

While Hermione took up the responsibility of explaining how navigating the castle worked, Harry wracked his brain to figure out how to get them to relax around him.

"All of the staircases will move at seemingly random intervals, but they do have a schedule of sorts," Hermione was explaining. "You just have to make sure that you're walking down to the right landing, otherwise, you'll be taking quite the walk to your destination."

"We'll accompany you to breakfast until you get used to it," said Harry, figuring he should jump in at some point. Helping them adjust to Hogwarts was something he and Hermione agreed on earlier. A few of the first years jumped when he spoke, and he quietly sighed. Hermione flitted her eyes between them, and looked sympathetic before taking over again. As they climbed the stairs to the sixth landing, Hermione began taking random questions from them, and Harry got an idea he had been wanting to try all day, but hadn't been able to practise.

"When will we be able to practise magic?" Elaine asked. She was easily the most eager in the group. The other first years were looking around curiously, but Harry worried several times if she was going to fall over from dizziness as they passed hundreds of moving, talking portraits.

Before Hermione could answer, Harry brought his wand up to his throat, and muttered the incantation to change his voice pattern, focusing on the person he wanted to emulate, before answering Elaine. "If you'd like, you can attempt your spellwork in the common room this weekend," he said in a rough imitation of McGonagall's voice. "We could also go to the library, that is, if Ms. Granger is amiable," he finished with a wink in her direction. Harry could feel his throat quickly getting sore, but the voice didn't wear off, and he felt a ripple of pride when she sent him a beaming smile.

Elaine looked awed at his demonstration, while the other students looked torn between curiosity and wariness. Harry took it as a win anyway.

"Absolutely, Mr. Potter. But before we do, you'll have to show me how you did that," said Hermione amusedly in an overly respectful voice.

Harry canceled the spell, and cleared his throat. "Sure, I know you'd want to give it a go anyway," he said as they made their way to the seventh landing where the common room entrance was. Hermione took a couple more questions from them, and rounded the corner in the corridor to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"This is the entrance to our common room, the password will be changed every couple months or so, and we'll be sure to let you know when that happens," Hermione explained, coming to a stop in front of the Fat Lady, who was waiting expectantly. "Your curfew is at nine every evening, and you can lose points or get detention if you're caught out of bed later than that. The first password of the year is a spell you'll be learning in transfiguration. Flintifors," she said clearly, and the portrait swung open to let them inside. Some students had already arrived, and the first years climbed through the portrait hole to get a good look inside.

The first years looked around the common room, where the fireplace was crackling with a warm fire, and students were talking on the squishy armchairs, or playing gobstones on the study tables. Fred and George were pinning something to the bulletin board, and he was reminded that he still had to talk to Hermione about them. Harry walked up beside her where she was watching the other first years taking in the room.

"I don't think you had time to practise that earlier," she said wryly.

"No," he agreed. "But I was looking it up in my book after we finished our patrol. I wanted to try it out, and see if the others would ease up, I guess."

"They'll come around," Hermione assured him. "You just have to let them see who you really are."

Harry glanced at her, and saw the sincerity in her eyes. "I hope so," he said. The two of them let the others wander around the common room for a few minutes before showing them to their dormitories, by which point the rest of the Gryffindors had entered, and Harry decided he'd rather be up in his four-poster than sit through any more staring or wary looks that night, so he promised Hermione that they would talk in the morning.

"Goodnight Hermione," said Harry at the entrance to the stairs to his dormitory. Hermione didn't say anything, and just embraced him gently. Neither wanted to be the first to move until they heard a loud group of older students walking over.

"Goodnight Harry," she whispered in his ear, before dashing up to her dormitory. When Harry got to the fifth year boys dormitories, Ron, Dean, and Seamus were already pulling out their pajamas and whatever conversation they were having ceased.

Seamus narrowed his eyes at him before busying himself over his trunk, while Dean looked distinctly uncomfortable, and the tips of Ron's ears were growing red. He wondered what they were talking about, and decided he didn't want to know, lest he started shouting. He kicked open his trunk, to pull out some clothes, noticing the mirror Sirius had given him as Neville came in. He glanced around furtively, and unwrapped the package. It was a slightly grimy, but otherwise ordinary looking silver mirror.

"What is that?" Ron asked in a low voice. Harry looked up to his curious expression, and he motioned him to come over.

"It's a communication mirror from Snuffles," he said. "We can use it tomorrow to talk to him."

Ron went wide-eyed. "Bloody hell, really? Are you sure you don't want to use it now?"

Harry shook his head. "Hermione already went to her bed, and I don't know any spells to silence conversations yet." He put the mirror back in his trunk, grabbed a vial of calming potion, and bid Ron goodnight.

He ignored Seamus' irritable expression, and shut the curtains roughly. But before he could collapse into his warm bed, he drank his potion, and attempted one of his Occlumency exercises. Harry tried to ignore the low voices outside his curtains, and like Dumbledore's notes had said, reflected back on his day. But he was swamped with all the glares and fear he saw from his classmates, some he thought he was friendly with. He dwelled on Hermione's words from the train, and not for the last time, wondered how long it would take until everyone realised he wasn't lying in the end.

So, we have our new first years! A bit of a teaser for a future chapters, I'm looking forward to writing bonding scenes between Harry and Elaine. I think letting him help her learn magic will go a long way in making the other first years relax around him, but more than that, it'll get into why Elaine is so eager to be at Hogwarts, so I think it'll be fun.

I also know how the new DA will communicate. Bracelets, given how everyone wears long sleeves, they shouldn't be too hard to hide, and it'll allow them to easily read new messages. So thanks for Ali for questioning me about those. It will also have an additional feature, but you'll all have to wait for that.