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The trip to Hogwarts was probably the most somber one Harry could ever remember. Ginny finally stopped shivering after sitting next to Ron for a good hour and fallen asleep. The three older students sat in silence, each of them trying to figure out what the incident in the train station meant. Harry wished with his whole heart that Sirius was with him. As it turned out, Sirius was only dropping him off at the platform. He was going to catch a ride with Ms. Jones in her black, or was it red, car. When Harry insisted on knowing why, Sirius sighed. "There are people out there who simply cannot believe that I am innocent after all those years in Azkaban. Being in the train with you would just cause too much strife." He then smiled at Harry's disappointed expression. "Don't worry, I'll see you at Hogwarts. Dumbledore has found a place in Hogsmeade for me so I can be close to you." Harry smiled at that thought just as Ron spoke up for the first time since they had gotten on the train. "Harry, how are you feeling?" He sounded tentative. "I'm alright Ron." Hermione glanced at the compartment across from their own at the end of the train. A girl with long brown hair sat alone in the booth; she also appeared to be asleep. "Must be frightening for her. First day at Hogwarts and already a demon has tried to attack her." Ron took a quick glance at the sleeping figure. "She doesn't appear any worse off." He looked at Ginny who was now sleeping in his lap. "I should wake her up so we can all change into our robes." "Should one of us go and wake her?" Harry asked after they had all finished changing and were back in their seats. "That would only be proper." Hermione got up from her seat. "I suppose I had better do it." She cleared her throat when she got to the door. There was no response. Hermione cleared her throat again. This time a little louder. The figure shifted a bit. A pair of brown eyes shot towards Hermione. "I, um. We just wanted to let you know that we're almost at Hogwarts. And we thought that perhaps you may want to change into your robe. Since it is custom and allŠ" Hermione's voice trailed off as she suddenly realized that this Asian girl may not understand English at all. "Thank you," was all she said. But at least she seemed to understand what was said. Hermione hastily retreated to her own compartment. "She's different." "What do you mean different?" After all that Harry had been through, different could spell disaster. "Well, she looks about 16, but she feels older somehow," Hermione frowned. Ron was about to say something when the whistle blew sounding their arrival at Hogwarts' train station. There were flurries of activity as everyone gathered their belongings and made their way down to the platform. Harry spotted Hagrid, the school's grounds keeper, right away. As usual, Hagrid was welcoming the new students and preparing to take them to the school. His impressive height and size had kept all the younger kids in awe as they looked way up to him. With a quick wave, Hagrid lead the youngest children to their boats. Harry looked around and saw that his friends had already found a carriage for them to take. Ginny had to go with her own year, and she was not happy about it. Tears threatened to fall from her big eyes as Ron ushered her to the proper group and left her there. "You sure that it's a good idea?" Harry asked Ron, feeling very bad for Ginny. "She'll be fine. Nothing can happen hereŠ" Ron's words trailed off as they watched the Asian girl walking over to Ginny and leaning over to talk to her. Harry's eyes grew big as he saw the hand on Ginny's shoulder glowed a bit. "Did you see that?" Harry whispered. "I'm not sure." Ron gasped as he spoke. "It was too fast." "Ginny looks better." Hermione looked around. "She's gone!" The three of them observed Ginny for a bit longer, making sure that she had not been touched by some evil spell like her first year in Hogwarts. Then they made their way to the Great Hall of Hogwarts and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were silent, each of them finally realizing what Voldemort's return meant. Harry wondered what all of the other students were thinking, the ones that had never had to deal with Voldemort or his minions. The students filed silently into the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry looked around the Hall, and noticed that the exchange students weren't there. Harry couldn't understand what was going on, until Professor Dumbledore stood to make an announcement. "As many of you know, we have begun an interschool wizarding exchange program, in hopes of fostering a greater connection among the magical communities of the world. We will be welcoming a number of new students to Hogwarts today, from various schools. I would like you to welcome them, and treat them as you would your fellow students. They will be sorted into houses with the first years. Although the majority of these newcomers are sixth and seventh year students at their own schools, they will be attending classes with the fifth year students, since many of their schools begin accepting students at nine and ten. I will let Professor McGonnagal begin the sorting now, but I will have a few more announcements to make before the feast begins," there were a few groans. Dumbledore laughed. "If you will be patient, we will begin soon." While Professor McGonnagal went into the entry hall, Harry turned to the high table to see who their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would be. He noticed several new faces, including the wizard who had performed the exorcism at the station with Dumbledore, now wearing a bright blue robe. The seat next to Snape however, sat empty. The new students began to file into the hall, gasping in awe at the bespelled ceiling, and the thousands of floating candles. The group formed a double line, with the exchange students in the rear. They stared dubiously at the tattered Sorting Hat on a small three-legged stool at the front of the room. The small tear the hat used as a mouth opened, and it began to sing: It's your first day at Hogwarts The hat fell silent, waiting for the first student to approach. The first years were sorted in record time. Perhaps it was just that everyone was anxious to move on to the sorting of the new exchange students. Very few of the new first years were sorted into Slytherin, Harry noticed. Maybe with all of the fear over Voldemort's return, more people were doing what Harry had done, and begging the Hat not to put them in Voldemort's old house. In fact, there was only one, a Yonathan Blythe. He looked vaguely familiar, but Harry couldn't place him, so he asked Ron. "Malfoy's mother is a Blythe," Ron told him. "That's probably a cousin or something." "Shhh," Ginny hushed them from where she sat next to Hermione. "They're about to start." McGonnagal unrolled a new piece of parchment, and began to list of the names and schools of the newcomers. "Fayre, Nikki, from the Rocky Mountain Magic School in Canada." A tall young woman stepped forward, and everyone craned their necks to see what she was like. Her auburn hair hung loose almost to the floor, and was decorated with flowers and butterflies. When she turned to sit, Harry noticed that her eyes twinkled like Dumbledore's when she laughed. After only a few moments, the Hat announced her as the newest Gryffindor. A student from Durmstang was next, a boy named Stanislov. To no one's surprise, he was sorted into Slytherin. He was immediately offered a seat next to Malfoy. The next student sorted was the Asian girl from the train. Her name turned out to be Keahi of the Oceania Kahuna Institute. She was also sorted into Gryffindor, and Ginny pushed everyone over so that there was room for her to sit. Other new Gryffindors included a girl from California named Willow, and a boy from New Zealand. Students from France, Brazil and Africa were among those who went to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and before they knew it, the sorting was over for another year. Dumbledore stood. "Now, a few final announcements before we begin our marvelous feast. First, the forbidden forest is, as its name suggests, forbidden to all students. "Next, I would like to introduce a few new staff members. "Graciously accepting the post of instructor in Ancient Runes from the departing Professor Poons, is Aetolus Endymionson." The man in the blue robes stood, and bowed slightly to Dumbledore. "Please do not be alarmed if you see someone following him. While Mr. Endymionson is not our first celebrity instructor," there was a wave of curious whispering, "he is our first royal, and the only one to be accompanied by a bodyguard," Dumbledore gestured to a man with dark hair who stood near the antechamber door. "We have acquired a new staff position this year. After careful consideration following the unfortunate loss of one of our much beloved students last year, we have decided to hire a student counselor. Ms. Carter has come to us from California, the same school in fact as our new Gryffindor Ms. Rosenberg," a young woman with brown hair waved nervously from her chair at the end of the high table. "If you ever feel the need to talk about anything, and you don't feel comfortable speaking to one of the instructors or housemates, please visit Ms. Carter's office. It's right outside the infirmary wing. "And last, but no where near least, is our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As you may have noticed, his seat at the high table is empty. Class is not cancelled." There were a few nervous groans and chuckles from the students. "Mr. Talon, a renowned expert in the field of defence has agreed, at the behest of a friend, to donate his valuable time to us. He could not join us for the feast, as he had pressing business to attend to, but he will be here for classes in the morning. "One last bit of business before we eat. As many of you now know, at the end of last term, Voldemort was resurrected." Around the room, students gasped, as much at Dumbledore's use of the dark wizard's name as at the news of his return. "This, along with the attack at the train station this morning, has reinforced my decision to bring in extra protection for those students at more risk. To that end, we have acquired the services of Robyn," a woman stepped out of the shadows near the front of the room. She wore buckskin pants, a green shirt with a high collar and short sleeves, and a pair of muggle sunglasses. With everyone else dressed in robes, she looked out of place, even with a long cloak thrown over one shoulder. "She has been asked to accompany the fifth year Gryffindors. Please don't fret," Dumbledore smiled. "She will not be reporting to any of the teachers. She is here to protect your lives, not police your activities. I would suggest however, that you include her in any plans you might have." He looked towards where Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat. "She is not easily eluded. "And now, let the feast begin." The strange woman walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to the exchange student by Ginny. The feast arrived, and everyone fell to examining the exotic dishes that had been prepared in honour of their guests. Keahi beamed with delight upon discovering a fruit salad made with pineapple and coconut. Harry watched the two strangers across the table. He noticed that, what was her name? Robyn, was still wearing her sunglasses. She looked up from her plate, and noticed him watching. She smiled and took of the dark lenses. Ron, sitting next to Harry, choked on a piece of banana bread, when he saw the dragon tattooed in metallic colours around her right eye. She chuckled, and refilled his goblet with pumpkin juice. "Why would anyone do that?" Ron gasped. "It'd have to hurt." "The more people that are staring at me, the less likely they are to look at anything else. Plus it makes me look scarier." "I'll say," Ron said, eyes wide. The rest of the feast went by quickly, and by the time they headed up to their common room, they were too full to be surprised that Robyn already knew the way. Chapter 6 -A New Approach- There was a muted buzz of conversation as the students filed in for their Defence against the Dark Arts class. Everybody had heard about the ambush at the train station, and although no one seemed to have the whole story, it was clear that ancient Powers had been roused. Harry sat quietly at his place, and for once Ron seemed subdued as well. It had occurred to them both that this class suddenly was of great importance to the students at Hogwarts, and anyone who didn't realize that probably wouldn't live long enough to regret it. "Who's that?" Hermione asked as she pointed out the slender figure perched atop the professor's worktable. "That is supposed to be our new professor," Malfoy said, breaking into their conversation with condescension thick in his voice, obviously proud of having learned something before the others, "He doesn't appear very formidable to me. I'd wager my Gran could beat him!" Harry looked once more at the young man dressed in a denim jacket who now stood at the front of the class, and decided he was indeed a very dangerous person. "Hello, everyone. My name is Mister Talon, and I will be your instructor for this term. We'll begin with an overview of what I expect you all to learn in this class," he said as he paced in front of them, looking them each in the eye. "Now, you've all been students here for some time now, and are all familiar with warding spells and charms and things like that, but we are going to back up a bit and learn about the very nature of magic. We are going to be dealing with advanced concepts of tactics and strategy, as well as ethics and morality. Remember, dark powers will rarely destroy what they can subvert. From this point forward, corruption will be the deadliest weapon you will have to face." He scanned the faces of his students once again and found the usual mix of interest, boredom, outright confusion, and on one face, utter contempt. "Do you have anything to say, young sir?" Talon asked the student he had just pegged as trouble. "Yes, Mister Talon, I believe I do. Why are we mucking about with ethics and morality? This class is supposed to teach us how to defend against dark magic. Magic is power, and to defeat it you must have greater power. We should be learning how to summon lightening and other such useful things." Talon chuckled as he hopped up and sat once more on the edge of his worktable. "The first thing you should realize, young man, is that magic does not exist. Now I know that's a concept none of you will ever accept, and this is neither the time nor the place to discuss my reasoning on that topic. What we will do is try to develop a wide range of responses, which should help prepare you for a variety of conflicts. Group discussion time. Say that you are facing an evil arch-magus, who wants to suck your soul out through your nose, or something like that. His power is far greater than your own, how do you defeat him?" "With my wits and my courage!" Ron piped up, and then instantly wished that he hadn't. "That's right, you take your wits and your courage out of your pocket and you shoot him. Then you shoot him again, and again, and again. Then you run away before he gets back up. Does anyone else have any insights on this situation? You perhaps?" he asked, turning to Harry. "Um, well sir, I agree with what you said. About shooting himŠ" Malfoy rounded on him then, about to make some cutting remark. "No, let him continue. I want to hear why he agrees with me." Talon said as he silenced Malfoy. "That is, sir," Harry continued, "We are all wizards, trained to make our magic a part of ourselves. An opponent would be counting on us relying on our magic for defence, and would have a plan to counter that. We should do something they would not expect, be unpredictable and hope it throws them off enough for us to get away." Talon looked at him with great pride. "Very good, young man! You get the point already!" Unwilling to be upstaged, Malfoy had to draw attention away from Harry. "And what about you, Mister Talon? How would you, who claim magic does not exist, battle an evil arch-magus?" He was leaning back in his seat with a smug look of triumph on his face, and nearly tumbled to the floor when thunder filled the room and a great flash of light blinded the students. When they looked again, their instructor had been replaced by a figure clad in gleaming black armour, etched with silver inlay and wreathed with wings of flame. They all paid very close attention to the rest of their lessonŠ Harry watched Robyn out of the corner of his eye. She sat at the rear of the room with her feet up on a desk, chuckling at Malfoy's discomfort. She had taken an almost instant dislike to him this morning when he called her a mudblood, and had observed the series of small misfortunes that had plagued him throughout the day with glee. He had tripped over a dozen things so far today, things that hadn't been there a moment before. One of the exchange students, the one named Kea, shifted in her seat. Robyn's eyes flicked to her, then to Mr. Talon, then to Malfoy. She chuckled again. Her eyes were always moving, although she looked completely at ease and unconcerned. Her eyes continued their journey, to Hermione, then to the new girl whose hair came to her ankles, Harry couldn't remember her name, then Crabbe, Goyle, Ron. Harry turned back to the front of the room, where Mr. Talon was writing down which chapters he wanted them to read for homework. His chalk snapped, and the broken piece flew across the room and hit Malfoy in the forehead. Mr. Talon hid a smile, and shook his head. "Remember class, doing what's expected can get you killed. And we don't want that, do we?" The class packed up and got ready to move to their next lesson. "Who's the most dangerous opponent you can have?" He asked as they stood. "You-know-who," Malfoy said smugly. "No, Malfoy. 'You-know-who' is as predictable as any other person." "A nutcase," Robyn said from the back of the room. "What was that?" Mr. Talon asked her. "The only opponent you can't predict is one that is unpredictable. The only one that's unpredictable is one that's insane, nutzo, caaaaraaaazzzzyyyy man." "That answer was totally starkers," Ron whispered to Harry, slightly amazed. "But it's true. Think about it..." Chapter 7 -Goodbye Wormtail- In a dark room, a group of people wearing dark robes hovered in the shadows. "Ah Wormtail, even in death you fail me. Black is free now to aid Potter openly. And I thought you had failed me for the last time. "And you Lucius, don't belive I've forgotten about you. I told you to deal with him." Lucius Malfoy quailed under the venomous gaze of his master. "He is dead master." "Yes, I am aware of that, however, you left his body to be found. This is most problematic." Voldemort gestured briefly, and the elder Malfoy dropped to his knees, writhing in agony. Jump to Page 4 |