The
summer wasn’t actually that bad for Harry Potter. It’s not that the Dursley’s
had paid him much attention, or were even nice to him. On the contrary, they
seemed to be even nastier than usual. No, it was the fact that, for the first
time in all his life, he had been able to keep in touch with his friends from
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... not just by owls, mind you. Uncle
Vernon was terrified that one of his neighbours would see Hedwig, Harry’s snowy
owl, flying back and forth to his house. He had, in fact, been allowed to call
his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, on the telephone. Of course, he
had to do extra chores to make up for the added long distance costs, but it was
well worth it. The summer went by so fast for Harry that he can hardly believe
he’s already at King’s Cross Station on September the first, pushing his
trolley through the crowd of muggles in the station. He, Ron, and Hermione made
plans to meet on platform nine and three quarters, so there’s really no point
in him waiting around with the muggles for them to show up, besides, Hedwig’s
starting to get restless in her cage, so it’s probably better for him to get
into the wizarding world soon.
He’s
done this enough now that he really doesn’t even think about it. He leans
against the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and when no muggles are
watching, he pushes through, and after a few seconds, he’s standing in front of
the scarlet Hogwarts Express steam engine. Harry breaths in deeply... now he
feels like he belongs. This is where he’s comfortable. Of course, not all is
well in the wizarding world.
Last
year, the truth about the return of Voldemort found its way to the public. The
Ministry of Magic, having pushed aside the truth for the entirety of that year,
has tried to make up for their mistakes by increasing security everywhere. Even
right now Harry can see at least five Ministry Auror’s, clad in jet black robes
with their wands in hand, watching over the crowd of students and parents as
they wait for the train to depart.
Harry
packs his things in the very last compartment, knowing that usually he, Ron,
and Hermione are the only ones to use it. When everything is safely stowed
away, and Hedwig is taken with all the other animals, Harry walks through the
crowd, waiting for his friends.
He
meets some other people he knows from school, he joined in Dean Thomas and
Seamus Finnigan’s conversation about the upcoming Quidditch season, and even
got to sit and talk with Neville Longbottom and his grandmother for a little
while. Harry kind of considered this as a bit of an honour. Since the truth of
Neville’s parents had become public last year, Neville was getting a great deal
of respect everywhere he went. Last year had been hard on everyone in the
wizarding world, and the worst part is, Voldemort is still out there... still
powerful.
Harry
was lucky last year; he didn’t come off nearly as bad as Hermione... or, for
that fact, Draco Malfoy. Nobody’s really sure what happened to Hermione, just
that ever since Voldemort attacked Hogwarts, with Wormtail and Lucius Malfoy at
his side, she’s been quiet. Draco, of course, was affected deeply by his
father’s public betrayal. With the Malfoy name ruined and all the family honour
gone, he’s had a rough time as well. Not that Harry cared too much about how
Draco’s dealing with everything...
Of
course, Harry really doesn’t care how Draco’s doing! They still don’t like each
other, and even after his father’s treachery became public, Draco insisted on
trying to make Harry’s life harder than it had to be. It doesn’t matter now,
though. It’s a new year, and it just might turn out better than Harry’s years
tend to.
Harry
turns away from his conversation with Neville just in time to see Ron run
through the barrier from the muggle world, with Hermione right behind him. Ron
waves over the heads of the other people, and the two make their way over to
him.
“How’s
it going, Ron?” asks Harry. Ron shrugs his shoulders.
“Not bad.
Dad just got me a new Firebolt with the extra money he’s earning now,” There’s
a big smile on the red haired boy’s face. The ministry gave Mr. Weasley a
rather large raise after his heroic acts during the attack last year. If
anybody deserved it, he did, “and I’m all ready to continue the family
tradition!”
With
Harry being captain of the Gryfindor Quidditch team this year, and Ron having
practiced his heart out over the summer, it was pretty much guaranteed that he
would be making beater.
Harry
turns to Hermione.
“And
you?” he asks. She smiles a little bit and shrugs her shoulders. There’s an
awkward silence here... nobody knows quite what to say. Hermione, sensing this,
smiles again, and heads over to help put her and Ron’s luggage on the train.
Ron shakes his head, looking very sad.
“She’s
hardly spoken a word all summer...”
It was
true, thought Harry... their phone conversations were usually quiet, on her
side at least. Of course he wants to be there for her, but it would be a lot
easier if he had some kind of idea as to what had caused such a drastic change
in her personality. It was only when he heard a groan coming from Ron that he
snapped back to attention, looking back towards the train.
There
was Draco... just walking across the platform, and Harry was almost happy to
see that he’s been forced to push his own luggage for a change. Harry’s grin
fades as he watches Draco push his cart closer and closer to where Hermione
is... and it fades even more when he sees Draco speak to her. Harry and Ron
gasp as Hermione’s lips move in response... she’s actually talking to him...
not only that, but they’re both smiling!
“This
is messed up!” Ron was right, of course, but maybe they shouldn’t get too
involved for the moment... nice rational thoughts, but unfortunately Ron was
not always one for rationality. Harry had to grab him hard by the back of his
jacket to stop him from sprinting over and giving Draco a black eye.
“We
don’t even know what she’s saying to him... right?” Harry asks. Ron grunts...
an affirmative response maybe... “So, why don’t we just leave it be, and forget
about the whole thing. No reason to start the school year out in a bad way,
right?”
Ron
relaxes, and the two wait for a minute or so... just until Draco turns and
walks away, before they rush over to the last compartment of the train with
Hermione. They try their best not to talk about last year’s events on the trip.
Ron even manages to avoid saying anything about the Draco thing... all in all,
they have a pretty uneventful trip from King’s Cross to the station in
Hogsmeade. They barely talked at all as they waved hello to Hagrid, and boarded
the horseless carriages that would take them the rest of the way up to the
castle.
They
had the carriage to themselves... and it was still quiet... there was almost no
conversation. A person watching the group from the outside may have thought
that they were angry with each other, when in fact it is just the opposite.
Last year, they had learned to rely on the group, learned to trust the group
with each of their lives. They were convinced that they, as a group, could
handle any trouble that came their way. This comforted Harry... as trouble
always seemed to find him with great ease.
The
coach bounced to a stop outside the large wooden doors to the Great Hall. The
doors swing open, pulled by an invisible hand, and the trio steps out onto the
hard ground. Harry sighs... deeply and contentedly. He really missed this
place.
They
climb the stairs, and step into the entry way. They look around at the walls,
noticing a new painting. Harry sees a trickle of tears from Hermione’s eye as
she looks at the picture. Peeves the Poltergeist, in all his ghoulish glory.
Harry thinks that this is the kind of thing that Peeves would have liked to
have done in his memory, to be able to look down upon all the students of the
school... and having Filch forced to clean him up, of course. Harry remembers
how Peeves had sacrificed himself to save Dumbledore during Voldemort’s attack
last year... who knew that there was a spell capable of ripping a ghost out of
existence? It was a kind of absolute power... not just to kill, but to deny
existence... and Harry sometimes found himself in awe of that power.
The
trio give one last look to the fallen poltergeist, and turn to follow the crowd
into the Great Hall. Harry waves at Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, both of
whom are sitting at the head table, and they wave back... Hagrid by standing
his full height and reaching over the crowd of students, McGonagall with a
small smile and a nod of her head.
“Watch
out, Harry!”... but Ron’s warning came just a second too late. Harry, not
paying attention to where he was walking, had just bumped headlong into another
person. He looks up, ready to apologize to whomever it is... but then notices
something strange about the young man...
He’s
dressed in muggle clothes! Blue jeans, t-shirt, denim jacket, dark
sunglasses... nobody from the wizarding world dresses like this! And to add to
the strangeness, the man doesn’t look that much older than Harry himself. He’s
taller, but not by much, and his dark brown hair is cut short, and his glasses
make it impossible to see his eyes... he is smiling though, which means he’s
probably not mad. He looks down at Harry.
“Sorry!
Didn’t see you there. You okay?” Even more surprises... he’s not English! His
accent doesn’t even sound European. Harry looks to Ron and Hermione... both of
whom have surprised looks on their faces... for some clue as to what he should
say, but none comes. After a few moments, he realizes that he probably looks
stunned, just standing there without saying a word...
“Um...
yeah, I’m fine.” He’s about to say something more, but he feels a hand on his
shoulder, forcefully turning him around. He looks up... and sees Snape... his
greasy black hair and crooked nose looking just as mean and nasty as they had
at the end of last year.
“Mister
Potter... I do so hope that you are not bothering our guest!” Harry is just
about to make some sort of response when the... ‘guest’... speaks up.
“No
bother at all, Sir.” He looks over Harry... his eyes resting on, or rather, his
sunglasses facing the general area of, the lightening bolt scar... but for only
a moment. “Did he say ‘Potter’? As in, Harry Potter?”
“Yeah...
sure.” Harry’s response, as he is quite tired of the attention his name brings,
is unenthusiastic... but this seems to amuse both Snape and the guest, as each
of them gives a small chuckle.
“Yes...
well... I’m sure that you will be seeing more of this group throughout the
year, as Miss Granger and Mister Weasley are rarely seen outside of Potter’s
company. But, for the moment, I am sure that there are more... interesting
people for you to meet.” With a final sneer at Harry, Snape turns and walks
away from the group. The guest turns back to them just long enough to give a
small nod of his head, and then heads off to rejoin the black robed professor,
leaving the three sixth year Gryffindors with rather silly looking blank
expressions on their faces.
“What...
the bloody hell was that?!” Ron’s words pretty much summed up what Harry was
thinking at the moment. In all of his years at Hogwarts, he’s never seen Snape
act this friendly to anybody... well, that is to say, anybody except Draco
Malfoy... who, Harry saw, was now being introduced to Snape’s mysterious guest.
He rolls his eyes at the sight of the guest and Draco shaking hands, and heads
off to the Gryffindor table with Ron and Hermione. He happily joins in the
Quidditch conversations with Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville, while Hermione and
Ginny talk about the new magic that each will be learning in their lessons this
year. But one by one each of the small conversing groups at the four house
tables dies away as Professor McGonagall opens the side door of the Great Hall
and motions for the new first year students to follow her into the main room.
Harry watches the nervous faces of the young students, remembering all too well
how he had felt when he had taken that same walk around the large tables in his
first year... that seems so long ago... but, in actuality, that walk was just
five years ago, to the very day when he, Ron, and Hermione had stood in front
of the entire school waiting to be sorted. He can’t help but wonder what kind
of future these children have waiting for them... what horrors they will be
forced to see... how many friends they will have to burry.
Professor
McGonagall sets the old, brown, worn Hogwarts Sorting hat on the lone wooden
stool in the center of the room, right in front of the head table. The new
students stare at the old hat, not quite sure what to make of it, but the older
students know what’s coming.
Quite
suddenly, a tear in the brim of the hat opens up like a great mouth across its
front. And then, to the surprise of the first years, it begins to sing.
In these dark and troubled times
Where few will
dare to trust
For fear of those
who cherish
Greed, power and
lust
We must unite, and
use our strengths
To fight against
our foes
We must stand
tall, and not back down
And it will be
hard, I know
But, perhaps the
bravery of Gryffindor
Lays within your
heart
Or the wisdom of
Ravenclaw
You know, she was
pretty smart
Or the loyalty of
Hufflepuff
Who was
treacherous to none
Or maybe Slytherin
If you are an
ambitious one
Each of you has
your own strength
Unique, truly one
of a kind
So just sit down,
and put me on
And we’ll see just
what I can find
And
then the hat became still and quiet, but the students in the Great Hall burst
into applause. Harry couldn’t help but laugh just a little bit at the relieved
faces of the new first years... they probably thought they were going to have
to wrestle a troll or something equally disturbing! Professor McGonagall’s
stern voice sounds out through the Great Hall.
“When I
call your name, you will step forward, and take a seat. I will place the
Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted. Abermen, Kyle!” Harry watches
as the small, shivering boy steps out of the small crowd, and sits on the
stool. McGonagall sets the hat on his head, and in only a few seconds, the
Sorting Hat shouts out the house, and the first new Gryffindor rushes to join
his housemates. Harry claps loudly for the boy, hoping, once again, that he has
a less eventful time in Gryffindor than Harry himself had.
Shaking
this thought out of his head, Harry quickly scans the head table. He pauses
when his eyes reach the chair where Professor Snape sits, applauding politely
as the hat announces a new Slytherin... because standing there, behind the
black robed teacher, arms folded across his chest, is that strange man in the
muggle clothing. Forgetting about the ceremony now, Harry stares intently at
the man. His face shows little expression, and his eyes are still hidden by his
sunglasses. An uneasy feeling comes to Harry, and for some reason, he finds it
hard to turn his attention away from this person... this... intruder to his
world. He wasn’t even acknowledging the fact that the first years were being
sorted! Before Harry had realized it, the first years were all sorted... but,
unlike other years, the stool and Sorting hat remained in their place. Usually,
McGonagall is quick to sweep them off to the side room of the Great Hall, so
that the feast could get underway. The murmurs in the student body told that
others were wondering the same thing as Harry... why was the hat still there?
As if
reading the minds of the students, Professor Dumbledore stands, and holds his
hands up to ask for silence. He looks around at the children, smiling at each
of them.
“Before
we begin the feast... in fact, before I even give out the start of term
notices... I have a very special honour to perform. We have a very special
guest at Hogwarts this year. He is a graduate student from a wizarding school
in Canada... and he has come all the way over the Atlantic to finish out his
studies here with us. Although, officially, he is not a student in the same
sense as you are... he will still need lodgings for the year, and as such, we
felt that it would be nice to have him sorted. He will, of course, have a
private dormitory in whichever house he ends up in... for the purpose of study.
I suspect that you... the sixth years in particular... will be seeing much more
of him in through the year. So... if Professor McGonagall would be so kind as
to call him forward...”
Professor
McGonagall clears her throat, and then speaks loudly and clearly...
“Arrowny,
Ryan!”
There
is a collective gasp from the students as they see the person who answers to
that name step forward, from behind the head table... from directly behind
Professor Snape, in fact... for Arrowny, Ryan appears to be none other than the
man in the muggle clothes.
He
steps forward, and nods politely to McGonagall, and takes his seat on the
stool. Slowly, the hat is lowered to his head... but just before it touches...
just mere centimetres from the tips of the man’s hair... the voice of the
Hogwarts Sorting hat rings loudly throughout the giant room.
“SLYTHERIN!
SLYTHERIN! GET ME OFF OF HIM! DON’T SET ME DOWN!”
This
was unreal! Never had the Sorting hat voiced anything but the name of the house
to the rest of the people in the Great Hall... but here it was, screaming
loudly, pleading not to be set on this man’s head. Looking around, Harry could
see that even Dumbledore was taken aback by the outburst... but Ryan seems
totally indifferent to the comments. In fact, he’s smiling as McGonagall takes
the hat away.
The
Slytherin table bursts into applause, proudly welcoming the person who scared
the Sorting Hat... but this applause was short lived, as Ryan decided to sit
next to none other than Draco Malfoy. Malfoy lost the respect and popularity
that he once had within his house last year after his father had come forward
as a Death Eater. Some of his housemates now shun him because he’s related to
such an evil person... and some, his old friends Crabbe and Goyle for instance,
because he has not accepted his place at his father’s side. Whatever the
reason, the Slytherin table was now as quiet as it would have been had the
newcomer been sorted into Gryffindor.
Professor
Dumbledore clears his throat, signalling for silence. All eyes in the Hall turn
to the aged wizard.
“Yes...
well... I am sure that you all, specifically the sixth year students, will have
ample opportunity to spend time with mister Arrowny. So, with out further
ado... as is the tradition at Hogwarts... I have a few start of term
announcements to make before we eat. All students should take note that the
Forbidden Forest is... as its name implies... forbidden. Quidditch training may
begin at the team captain’s discretion... and, as things stand right now, there
will be a field trip for all students, fifth year and above, in the second
term. This trip is, of course, subject to change... but, something rather large
would have to come up for us to do so.
And now
I say to each of you... eat, drink, and be merry!”
The
food appeared before them, and they ate... and they drank... and they were
merry. Harry didn’t want to feast to end... everybody seemed to be enjoying
themselves so much... but soon enough, the Prefects were herding their houses
to the respective dormitories. All too soon, Harry found himself lying warmly
inside is comfortable four poster, and drifting off to sleep, dreaming dreams
of anticipation for what the morning would bring with it.