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Harry Potter sixth year

Sunday, August 31, 2003

Harry woke up late on the last day of the summer holidays. Over the last few days, the Burrow had been rather crowded, as Bill and Fleur had spent the last few days at home. Neither of them had a job until the matter with the goblins at Gringotts would be settled, which, as Bill reassured the others, would be some time during the week. And Charlie had said that he had only one day of holiday left and would return to Romania after seeing his brothers off on the Hogwarts Express. This was not to mention the various Order members who often spent nights there. All in all, Harry wondered how so many of them could fit into such a small house, until he realized that it must have been by some sort of magic.

Harry walked downstairs to breakfast. He wondered which Order members would be present today. It had been fun to see certain members, such as Moody with his magical eye and Tonks who used her Metamorphmagic skills to change noses at the dinner table. Lupin, on the other hand, would often tell stories about James or Sirius which brought back so many painful memories for Harry. But Lupin was not nearly as bad as the Order member who showed up at the breakfast table that morning.

"Hello, Potter," said a cold, poisonous voice. It was none other than Severus Snape, Harry's potions teacher and least favorite teacher at Hogwarts.

"The reason I am here," Snape continued, "is to remind you that Occlumency lessons will be beginning at Hogwarts this term, and as you are the only student who has studied Occlumency so far, I'll expect you to demonstate your Occlumency skills in class. And if you fail, then I will see your most embarrassing thoughts and tell them to the entire class. Do you understand, Potter?"

"Yes, sir," said Harry angrily. Term hadn't even begun and yet Snape was already making it miserable for him.

Mr. Weasley entered the room. "It's a nice sunny day out and the last day of the holidays, so why don't we all have a picnic outdoors on Stoatshead Hill?"

Everyone thought that it was a great idea. So the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and even Snape prepared to go outside. But Charlie had become ill with an upset stomach, and so he stayed behind with Mrs. Weasley. And Ginny had already set off for Dean's house earlier that morning.

Mr. Weasley decided to invite all the wizarding families on the block, and so the Diggorys, the Lovegoods, and the Fawcetts also attended the party. The food consisted of ham sandwiches and pumpkin juice carried in an enchanted picnic basket which continued to refill itself over and over.

"And now that the whole family is here, I have an announcement to make."

Well, it wasn't exactly the whole family, Harry thought to himself. For Ginny, Charlie, Percy, and their mother were not present. But it was as close to the entire family as they were going to get anytime soon.

Bill cleared his throat and said, "Fleur and I have decided to become engaged."

Everyone gave out a roar of applause. Once again, Dobby appeared out of nowhere, and he tied a huge banner reading "Congratulations Bill and Fleur!" to some trees.

"There's Dobby, doing work again," Hermione complained. "He should be resting, since after all, he'll have loads of work to do tomorrow at Hogwarts."

"Lighten up, Hermione," said Ron. "It's just a banner."

But Dobby had also conjured up some butterbeers for everyone to drink. Afterwards the twins suggested that they play a game of Quidditch.

"One last game," said Fred, "before term starts and we play for real."

"Let's see," said George. "Let's play Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," he said, looking at the Fawcett twins and Luna.

"But you Gryffindors have too many players," said Nikki Fawcett.

"Don't worry, I'm not playing," said Hermione.

"And although Nikki and I have brooms, I doubt that Luna has a broom," said Sarah.

"She can use mine," said Ron. "I'll sit this one out."

"Thanks, Ronald," said Luna with a smile.

"Thanks, Ronald," Fred and George mimicked together.

Ron scowled at his twin brothers, but they ignored him. Fred, George, and Harry easily outscored the girls as they had had little Quidditch practice, especially Luna, who even fell off her broom. Ron made a diving catch to break her fall.

"Look, here comes Ronald to save the day again!" said George.

"Her knight in shining armor," Fred added with a laugh.

At the end of the day, Professors Snape and Diggory, along with Dobby, had to set off for Hogwarts in order to prepare for the first day of term.

"And don't worry, Harry," said Diggory, "I have some great new spells in store for you and the other students this year. This year will be loads better than last year."

Of course, Harry thought to himself, it didn't take much to beat last year, the way Umbridge had forbidden the students to perform magic in class.

Then Diggory turned to his wife. "Goodbye, Soma. I'll see you at the end of the term."

As Mr. Diggory Disapparated for Hogsmeade, Mrs. Diggory began to cry. "Cedric said almost those exact same words to me before he left two years ago."

"Don't worry," said Harry. "I'm sure nothing will happen to him." But even as he said these words he began to have doubts. Just how much trouble will Voldemort cause during the upcoming school term?

Thursday, August 28, 2003

He was in the Department of Mysteries again, but this time he was alone. There was no Bellatrix, no Remus, no Order members, no Death Eaters, and worst of all, no Sirius. There was only the veil. If he could just get through it, he would be reunited with Sirius once again. He walked toward the veil and stared at it. Then he started to walk through it...

"Harry!"

Harry was in the bedroom once again, but with a little less pain in his scar.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley repeated. "Hurry up and get dressed. We're all going to Diagon Alley to get supplies and books for the upcoming Hogwarts term."

Harry pushed the dream out of his mind. He'd been wanting to go to Diagon Alley for weeks, ever since he saw Malfoy with his new Nimbus 2003 broom. He knew that if Gryffindor would have no chance at beating Slytherin this year if the Slytherin Seeker had a faster broom than he did.

The other Weasleys, along with Hermione, Dean, and, to Harry's shock, Luna, were all already dressed and waiting by the fire. Harry decided that as he wanted to hurry up and buy his new broom, he would skip breakfast.

"Now we'll all be going by Floo Powder," said Mrs. Weasley. "Charlie and Hagrid will be coming with us to keep guard."

"Yeah," said Fred, "to make sure that Harry doesn't make any trips to Knockturn Alley."

"Again," added George. "That is, unless, you're willing to take us with you. Don't you know what kinds of cool things they sell in Knockturn Alley that you can't get..."

"That's enough, George!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

So they all went through the fire two at a time except Hagrid, of course. Harry went with Charlie, who articulated the name "Diagon Alley" properly so that they would end up at the Leaky Cauldron and not some strange Knockturn Alley store as he did back in second year.

"Hello, Harry," Tom greeted him as he and Charlie arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Let's go to Gringott's," Harry urged the others as he stepped outside. The sky was for the most part overcast.

"I don't need to go there," said Hermione. "I've already exchanged my Muggle money for wizarding currency earlier this summer. I'm going to Flourish & Blotts."

She and Hagrid headed toward the bookstore while the others went to the bank. But Harry was in for a surprise when he arrived at Gringott's. He saw Bill Weasley, who was Ron's oldest brother, with his French girlfriend, Fleur Delacour.

Bill greeted all of his siblings. "Hi, Charlie. I didn't expect to see you here at all."

"Hello, Harry," said Fleur flawlessly. "See, I told you that I would improve my English!"

"That's all fine and well," said Harry, "but I want to hurry up and take my money out."

"Uh, Harry," said Bill, "I wouldn't go in the bank if I were you."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's been a riot. The goblins who work there are on strike."

"On strike?" asked Ron incredulously.

"They say that they've been overworked and underpaid, especially considering that they have dangerous working conditions," Bill continued.

Harry nodded in agreement. He could see how working in underground caves, where the vaults were held, would be considered dangerous.

"And get this," said Bill, frowning slightly. "The goblins say that if their demands are not met, they're going to side with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the war."

"That is exactly what Dumbledore feared would happen," said Luna.

"So the bank is closed until the strike can be resolved," Bill finished.

"Don't worry," said Mrs. Weasley. "We have some extra cash. Arthur's just received his bonus at the Ministry."

"You're kidding!" said Bill. Mrs. Weasley explained about her husband's promotion.

"So therefore we should just have enough to cover the books," she said, "with just a little left over, Ginny, for a gift for becoming prefect."

Ginny laughed quietly and grinned at Harry. He realized that she still hadn't told her mother about how she had thrown her prefect's badge in the fire. Then the twins started laughing out loud.

"What's so funny?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Then Charlie explained what had happened.

"How could you?" she said furiously. "I mean, what will Dumbledore say when he finds out what you did? After he awarded you the honor of being prefect!"

Mrs. Weasley went quiet then, deciding that it would be better if Ginny were told off by Dumbledore, not herself. They arrived at Flourish & Botts bookstore.

"I'll have to buy some new quills and a few other supplies that I left back at home," said Hermione to the others.

Harry suddenly realized that with Gringott's closed, he did not have enough money to purchase any new books for the upcoming term, much less a new broom for Quidditch.

"Don't worry about the books," said Dean. "I've heard that most of the books will be the same as last year."

"And for my class," Hagrid added, "we'll be reading 'The Monster Book of Monsters,' which I believe you already own." For Hagrid himself had given Harry the carnivorous book for his birthday one year.

"Not to mention," said Hermione with a delightful smile, "that the new book in History of Magic class will be my favorite book of all, 'Hogwarts: A History.'"

"But I'm not even taking History of Magic next year," Harry reminded her.

"And you can have Fred's old Advanced Transfiguration book," said George.

"Since I'm not taking that class again this year," said Fred.

"Which leaves only the new books for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Occlumency," said Mrs. Weasley, "which I will buy for you, Harry, now since I don't have to buy a new prefect gift for Ginny."

Harry felt slightly embarrassed. In previous years, sometimes he almost felt as if he would purchase books for the Weasleys since he usually had some extra money to spare. He never thought he would see the day when the Weasleys would be taking pity on him. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and so he walked away while the others were still in line to pay for their books. The twins followed him.

"Look," said Fred. "That is where our store used to be." He pointed towards the charred remains of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes store.

"Hey, Potter," said the drawling voice of Malfoy. "I got a brand new broom, and you don't. I guess that means that I'm going to beat you to the Snitch this year."

"Get lost, Malfoy," said the twins together.

They were now standing in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Just as he had three years ago when the Firebolt was just released, Harry stared at the Nimbus 2003 through the window of the store.

"Don't worry about that git Malfoy," said George.

"It doesn't matter if he's riding a Nimbus two zillion and three, we're still going to kick his Slytherin arse on the Quidditch pitch this year," Fred reassured Harry.

And so the Weasleys and the rest of them returned to the Leaky Cauldron and henceforth to the Burrow.

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Harry woke up from a fortunately dreamless sleep when he heard loud noises downstairs. He got dressed and found Ginny arguing with the twins.

"So, look who got chosen as prefect," said Fred.

"Yeah," George added, "and we thought that you were cool, Ginny."

"So in the end you're just a Percy-wannabe," said Fred.

"Good one, Fred. Percy-wannabe!" George repeated.

"I'm not a Percy-wannabe," insisted Ginny.

"Sure you are," said George.

"Now you're just a prefect," Fred remarked, "which means that you'll want to become a Head Girl soon. Next thing we know you'll be betraying us to Fudge!"

"But I don't even want to be a prefect!" Ginny yelled.

"Of course you want to be prefect," said Mrs. Weasley. "Everyone wants to be prefect."

"Not me," said Ginny.

"Why not?" asked George. "Scared you'll turn out evil like Percy?"

"George," Fred scolded, "we shouldn't talk about Ginny's favorite brother in front of her in that way. Percy's not evil. He's just a conceited git who thinks he's too good for us."

"That's enough!" said Mrs. Weasley emphatically. "There will be no mention of my third son in this house." Then she walked away.

Harry turned to Ron. "I thought that Percy would make up with the family now that even Fudge himself knows that Lord Voldemort's back."

"Well, you thought wrong then," said Ron. "After the Minister promoted Dad to Malfoy's dad's old position, Percy got jealous. He thought that he should've been the one promoted, not Dad. And so he's still not talking to the family."

"Well, come on," said Fred to his twin. "Let's go to our room. Let's see if we can cook up some more pranks we can play at Hogwarts once it starts up again."

"I want to come too," said Ginny.

"I'm sorry, but no prefects allowed," said George. "We don't like prefects meddling around with our plans."

"But I told you I don't like being a prefect," Ginny repeated.

"Prove it," said the twins together.

"Fine!" Ginny took out her prefects badge, glanced at it, and lobbed it into the fire. The flames briefly turned green for a moment and a few sparks popped out, then they turned back to their normal red. It reminded Harry of the Goblet of Fire as it changed colors whenever anyone added a piece of parchment to it two years earlier.

"Ginny!" scolded Hermione. "You shouldn't have --"

"Nice going!" said Fred with a smile.

"Never thought you had it in you, Gin," George added.

"You see?" asked Ginny. "I can't be a prefect anymore, because I don't have the badge! No badge, no prefect!"

"But," said Hermione, "you'd think that Dumbledore wouldn't make it that easy to give up the prefectship, wouldn't you?"

"And now," said George, ignoring Hermione, "the three Weasleys who aren't prefects will go upstairs into our room and start making some more fake wands."

"Yes," Fred agreed, glancing at Ron, "the Weasleys who aren't prefects."

The twins and Ginny ascended the stairs. Ron turned towards Harry.

"You know, Harry, sometimes I felt as if I didn't want to be prefect anymore, especially when Fred and George were up to their normal antics. But never in a million years would I even dream of throwing my prefects badge into the fire."

"Of course you wouldn't," said Hermione. "You know that being chosen as prefect is a great honor that shouldn't be taken lightly. I mean, imagine what Dumbledore would say if he knew that Ginny had rejected her prefectship."

"What's this about rejecting prefectship?" asked Lupin as he entered. Harry explained.

"Can't say I blame her," said Tonks, another Order member. "I never understood why anyone wanted to be a prefect."

"Being a prefect wasn't all that bad," responded Lupin. "I mean, sometimes it was tough standing up to my two best friends, James and Sirius, but --"

But Harry didn't want to think about his father or godfather now. He went up to his room, alone, and starting rereading the Quibbler article, hoping that maybe somewhere, somehow there would be a clue as to how to find the Green Flame Torch.

Monday, August 18, 2003

Sirius dueled her in front of the veil. He was dodging most of her spells. Then suddenly, a red light came out of her wand. Sirius disappeared behind the veil.

"We've got to save Sirius!"

"He's gone. There's nothing you can do, Harry," said Lupin.

"We've got to save Sirius!"

"He's gone. There's nothing you can do, Harry."

Soon the Death Eaters and the Order members disappeared. He was all alone in the room, except for the lone voice.

"He's gone. There's nothing you can do, Harry."

"Harry, wake up! We've got to get ready for the Cannons match."

Harry was no longer in the Department of Mysteries but was back at the Burrow. His scar was hurting as painfully as it ever had.

"Harry, wake up!" Ron repeated.

The pain slowly subsided. It had been his most vivid dream yet of his godfather's death. But Harry soon put his mind off of the dream and on the upcoming Quidditch match. He got dressed and ran downstairs to eat breakfast.

"I can't wait to see the match," said Charlie. "I've heard the Cannons are doing well."

"But you're not going," said Ron. "We didn't buy you a ticket."

"Actually I gave him mine," said Mr. Weasley. "I'd like to go with you, but I'm busy at the Ministry this morning."

"Who are the Chudley Cannons playing, anyway?" asked Harry.

"The Tutshill Tornados," said Ron bitterly. "The defending champions."

"And remember that the Portkey has been set up on Stoatshead Hill, as usual," Mr. Weasley reminded the others. "I'll be back in time for dinner, Molly." Then he Disapparated away.

Harry remembered how the Tornados had won the Cup the last few years. According to Ron, all Tornado fans were just joining the bandwagon.

"Hi, guys," said Ginny as she and Dean Thomas had arrived by Floo Powder.

"Hello, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "And Dean, I've said you a ticket to the match."

"You mean you're giving up your ticket, Mum?" asked Ron.

"I was never into Quidditch anyway," said Mrs. Weasley as she glanced at Hermione.

"That's okay," said Charlie. "I'll take care of them all. Good-bye!"

So Charlie led his four youngest siblings, Harry, Hermione, and Dean outside and headed in the direction of Stoatshead Hill. On the way they passed by the Lovegoods' home. Luna stepped outside her front door.

"Hello, Ron," she said as she waved to him.

Harry turned towards her and remembered his promise. He realized that he had a prime opportunity to set up Ron and Luna right then. "Luna," he said, "how would you like to come with us to watch a Cannons Quidditch match?"

"Harry, we don't have any extra tickets," said Charlie.

"She can have Hermione's," said Harry. Then he turned to Hermione and added, "since you're not into Quidditch anyway."

"But --" Hermione began to protest, but she didn't want to start a row. So she conceded to Harry and Luna. "Fine." But she continued to stare at Luna coldly, then finally headed back towards the Burrow.

"Let me get something first," said Luna. She ran back inside her home. When she reappeared she was wearing a Chudley Cannons hat.

"And watch this, Ron," she said excitedly. The cannon on her hat exploded and a real minature cannonball flew out.

"Wow, that's neat," said George enthusiastically.

"Too bad we don't still have our store," said Fred. "We could make some hats just like that one, except instead of a cannon, the entire hat blows up."

The group walked past the Fawcetts' home. Harry was curious about what sort of wizards lived there. "Does anyone know much about the Fawcetts?" he inquired.

"They have a pair of witches," said Luna. "Sarah's a fifth-year Ravenclaw, and her sister Nikki's a fifth-year Hufflepuff."

Harry thought back to the Triwizard Tournament from two years earlier. He recalled how a witch named Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw had tried to age herself so that she would be old enough to participate. But then later that year, at the Yule Ball, Snape had taken points from Hufflepuff when a witch named Miss Fawcett had started running across the hall. And now, finally, Harry realized that the Fawcetts were actually twins in different houses. That explained everything.

The group all stopped when they reached Stoatshead Hill.

"Now, where is it? Oh yes, there it is." Charlie pointed towards an old, tattered, worn sock that were serving as the Portkey. The others all simultaneously grabbed it, and suddenly they were no longer in Ottery St. Catchpole but in Chudley, home of the Cannons.

"And look, here we are, all in our seats," said Charlie.

"Hello, Fred," said a voice from afar. It was Angelina Johnson, who had used to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain in her final year at Hogwarts. But now she was wearing an orange and black Chudley Cannons uniform.

"Um, hi," said Fred hesitantly.

"Wow," said Ron, astonished. "My former teammate, now playing for my favorite team!"

"And she's been playing great," said Fred to Ron. "Angie's been averaging over seven goals a game. She's the biggest reason why the Cannons have been playing extremely well so far this season."

"Oh, you," said Angelina.

"Well, good luck to you and the rest of the team," said Ron.

"Thanks, but let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best," she said. "And good luck to the Gryffindor team this year," she added.

As she flew away on her broomstick, George teased his twin. "You still like her, don't you?"

"No, I don't," Fred denied.

"Oh, yes, you do!" George insisted.

"Here's some Omniculars," said Charlie as he handed a pair to each of them.

Harry grabbed his and to pass the time away, he used them to look around and across the Quidditch pitch. On the Tornados' supporters side was none other than his ex-girlfriend Cho Chang and her best friend Marietta Edgecombe. Harry looked away. After all, it was because of Marietta that he had broken up with Cho in the first place. She had betrayed Harry, Cho, and the rest of Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge and her cronies a few months ago.

"So," said Dean, "would you please explain to me the rules of Quidditch in detail again?"

"Shut up, Dean," said Ron, frowning.

"Sure," said Ginny with a smile. "There are seven players on each team, with three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker. I was a Seeker last year for Gryffindor, but next year I hope to become a Chaser. There are four balls, which are called the Quaffle, two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch. The quaffle scores ten points to the Chaser who sends it through the opposing goal hoop, which the Keeper defends. The Bludgers are hit by the Beaters to protect their own players and attack the opposing players. And the Golden Snitch scores 150 points to the Seeker who catches it first, thus ending the game."

"Last chance to place your bets," said a familiar voice. Harry looked up and saw that it was Ludo Bagman, head of the Magical Games Department at the Ministry of Magic.

"Hello, Harry," said Bagman as he smiled at Harry. "Want to bet on the match?"

"No thanks," said Harry, who still had yet to make a withdrawal from Gringotts.

"And of course, you're not allowed to bet," said Bagman to the twins. After all, Fred and George had won a handsome sum from Bagman two years ago.

"Well, gotta go," said Bagman. "The match is about to begin."

Bagman Apparated to the announcer's table and used "Sonorus" to amplify his voice. Then he began to speak. "Welcome, Quidditch fans, to the last regular season match of the year, between the Tutshill Tornados --" there was a loud chorus of boos from the Chudley Cannons side of the grandstands -- "and your Chudley Cannons!"

There was a great deal of cheers from the Chudley supporters. "Go Cannons!" Ron yelled.

As the applause died down, Bagman continued. "And there's a lot riding on this game. The winner of this match will advance to the annual tournament to determine this year's British Irish Cup champion. So you bet both teams will hustle and struggle aggressively in order to win it all. And now, what's this I see in the distance? Is it a wind storm? No, it's the arrival of the Tutshill Tornados, on their Cleansweep Sevens!"

Seven bursts of wind passed on the field. They slowed down and turned into the players on the Tornados team. The Chudley fans continued to boo as each name was announced.

"And now, do I hear some loud banging noises? Is it a bomb? No! It can only be one thing. I see them now, the Chudley Cannons, on their Nimbus 2003 sticks!"

A large cannon was on the pitch, and one by one, the seven players of the Cannons were ignited from the cannon into the sky, led by Angelina Johnson.

"This is the first match I've seen all year," said Charlie to Ron.

"Why haven't you seen any others?" asked Ron.

"Well, I was going to watch some matches of the Romanian national team, but there was an accident when some dragons burned down the Quidditch pitch, and so the team was forced to forfeit their entire season."

"And now the teams are mounting their brooms," said Bagman. "And they're off! Tutshill in possession, heading for the goal, and Flint of Tutshill puts it past the Chudley Keeper, Walker, for the first goal of the game!"

"Dang it!" Ron cursed loudly. Harry saw that the Tornados Chaser was none other than Marcus Flint, formerly of Slytherin.

"Tutshill back in possession, but a great bit of bludger work from Chudley Beater Jenkins makes Stone drop the quaffle, which is then recovered by Johnson of the Cannons. Oops, that's a bludger. And she drops the quaffle which Flint picks up and puts past Walker once more, making the score twenty-nil!"

The Chudley fans in the crowd once again groan. Harry looked across the stands to see Cho give a cheer for Tutshill.

"Butterbeer! Butterbeer!" called a vendor as he came down Harry's aisle.

"Here," Charlie called. He caught the bottles flying at his head.

"Thanks," he said. He held up three galleons and a few sickles and used a Banishing Charm so that the money would land right in the vendor's hand. Then he handed a butterbeer to each of the others.

"Charlie," asked Ron, "why didn't you buy one for yourself?"

"I wasn't thirsty," said Charlie. "And besides, the prices are so expensive here. One galleon only buys two butterbeers."

Harry popped open his bottle and began to drink, not looking at the Chasers. Instead, he focused on the two Seekers. After all, he was himself the Seeker on the Gryffindor team, or at least he had been until Umbridge kicked him off the team. The two Seekers were Witzling for the Cannons and Cheung for the Tornados. He looked at the Chudley Seeker's broom, which was a Nimbus 2003, and remembered how Malfoy had the same broom. When Harry finally turned back to the match the scoreboard read Tutshill 50, Chudley nil.

Suddenly though, Angelina grabbed the Quaffle on a misplay from Stone and sped away towards Tutshill's goalposts.

"Well, I'll be --" What exactly Bagman was going to say Harry would never find out, because before he could say another word, Angelina had put the quaffle past the Tutshill Keeper McCandless for Chudley's first goal!

The Chudley fans erupted with cheers. Luna's hat burst out a cannonball. Then Ron yelled with delight. "Look at her," said Fred, obviously impressed. "I've never seen a Chaser evade a bludger, a Chaser, and a Keeper so fast before!"

Apparently many of the Chudley fans had never seen it before, either. They all had their fingers crossed, which was obviously a Chudley fan tradition. In the next ten minutes Tutshill scored twice more, and the Cannons' Beater, Joey Jenkins, who also happened to be Ron's favorite player, blocked a third goal with a well-placed bludger.

Fifteen minutes later the score was 100-10 to the Tornados, and it began to rain. The players on the pitch used "Impervius" to protect themselves from the water. Bagman seemed to be favoring the Cannons in his commentary. Harry was certainly cheering for the underdog team. And through the Omnioculars, he could see that even Marietta appeared to be secretly rooting for the Chudley Cannons.

Suddenly, Harry saw Cho gasp and scream, and he looked back at the pitch. The Cannons' Seeker, Witzling, had gone into what seemed to be a Wronski Feint. The Tutshill Seeker, Cheung, floated back quite a few feet watching, not about to follow. He clearly didn't want to literaly fall for the Wronski Feint, but then --

"Unbelievable!" Bagman roared. "He's got the snitch!"

And sure enough, there was Witzling, rising triumphantly above the stands and the panicked fans with the little golden ball in his fist. Across the pitch, Harry saw through the Omnioculars that Cho seemed to have fainted. And then all hell broke loose.

All the Chudley players lifted Witzling into the air and screamed, cheered, and yelled. It reminded Harry of Gryffindor's victory a few months earlier, when the team had raised Ron into the air and sung "Weasley Is Our King." Bagman shouted, "Chudley wins 160-100! The team will advance to the tournament for the first time in forty years!" The Chudley fans had gone crazy. Ron leapt on top of the others, in turn, and cuffed Charlie on the shoulder. He was yelling so loud that Harry couldn't hear what anyone else was saying.

The match itself had lasted exactly an hour, but it took another hour before the celebration was over. The Cannons were pouring butterbeer on each other, and the fans continued to dance around in the stands despite the downpour. Finally the riot subsided, and Charlie rounded up the others. Then they all took the Portkey back home. It was raining back in Ottery St. Catchpole, the town being not far from Chudley. On the way home, they were all discussing the match.

"Did you see Angelina make that stupendous goal?" asked Fred for the umpteenth time.

"I know, I know," said George. "You claim that Angelina's your ex and that you know longer have feelings for her, but still you talk about her that way."

"Shut up!" said Fred.

"I had a fine day," said Luna.

"Me too," said Ron as he smiled at her. Harry was wondering whether Ron and Luna had finally broken the ice or not.

When they arrived at home, as usual there were two Order members stationed at the front door to check on them. But they were the two that Harry expected the least. One of them was Professor McGonagall, his Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. The other was none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore's here to discuss our courses for the school year," said Hermione as she appeared in the doorway.

"But I thought he already sent out the Hogwarts letters," said Ron.

"Actually," Dumbledore clarified, "I have only mailed out the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results to the students who have taken them, and the admission letters to incoming first years. Today I have sent via owl post the textbook lists to all students. But it was raining here and the owls prefer to fly in drier weather. So I have decided to Apparate here instead and verbally tell you what books you will need for the upcoming term. All of you will need The Standard Book of Spells for your appropiate year, by Miranda Goshawk. But as you will now be specializing in the various subjects in which you excelled at O.W.L., each of you would have to purchase a different set of books."

Dumbledore turned toward Ron first. "You have passed Divination, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration."

"But you only received an 'A' in Transfiguration, Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, "and unfortunately I only take 'E' or higher in my classes."

"You will, however, be taking the rest of the classes at N.E.W.T. level, as you have received an 'Acceptable' in Divination, an 'Exceeds Expectations' in Defense Against the Dark Arts and 'Outstanding' marks in the other three classes," Dumbledore added. "Of course there will be a new textbook in Defense Against the Dark Arts, as I believe that Slinkhard's book will not adequately prepare you for the dangers in the world, such as Lord Voldemort."

Ron shuddered at the sound of the evil wizard's name.

Then McGonagall turned to Harry. "Potter, you will need the new Transfiguration book, which is called 'Advanced Transfiguration.'"

"But as you did not receive an 'Outstanding' in Potions, Harry, you will not be allowed to take Potions," said Dumbledore. "But according to Minerva here, you wish to become an Auror. Am I right, Harry?"

Harry nodded, but he hoped that his desire to become an Auror would not in any way result in special Potions lessons with Snape.

"Minerva has promised that she will help you to become an Auror," the headmaster continued to say. "She will try to convince Severus to take you in your seventh year. But as for now you will be taking neither Potions nor Divination."

"Boring," said Ginny loudly. "I'm a fifth year and haven't taken my O.W.L.s yet, so why should I --"

"But I do have something to say to the two of you," he said, looking at Ginny and Luna. "I have decided to make the two of you prefects for your respective houses."

"What?" asked Ginny in shock. "Why should I --"

"I have chosen you and Luna because of the loyalty you have shown me last year when the Ministry was still inspecting Hogwarts. And finally," said Dumbledore, "all of you will need to purchase 'Legilimency and Occlumency.'"

Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised. "What did you say?"

"In order to protect yourselves from Lord Voldemort, every Hogwarts student is expected to take Occlumency."

And then Dumbledore Disapparated before Harry could say another word about it.

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Harry woke up from a fortunately dreamless sleep, for the first time in over a week. He walked downstairs to eat breakfast with the Weasleys.

"Morning, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley. "Breakfast is on the table. It was nice not having to cook breakfast this morning."

"Huh?" asked Harry. "If you didn't prepare breakfast, then who did?"

"Dobby did it," said the elf, who had never left ever since Harry's birthday. "Dobby wanted to cook breakfast Harry Potter and his friends." There was a huge stack of flapjacks on Harry's plate that seemed almost to reach the ceiling.

"That's just awful," said Hermione. "Just because your father's got a promotion, Ron, it doesn't mean he has to own a house elf."

"No, Dobby is still free," Dobby insisted. "Dobby just wanted to cook breakfast because Harry Potter is his friend and Harry Potter's friends have been so kind to him."

"And besides," added Mr. Weasley, "even if I made a million Galleons, I'd never hire a house elf to do all the work."

"Don't mind Hermione," said Ron. "She's been in a foul mood for the past fortnight. It's probably because she found out she didn't get all O's on her O.W.L.s."

"That's not --" Hermione began, but then she stopped.

"I've been meaning to ask you that for days, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley. "How did you do on your O.W.L.s, anyway?"

"Silly me, I've forgotten to open it. But I still have the letter with me." She ran upstairs to fetch her Hogwarts letter.

"What's wrong with Hermione?" asked Ron. "It's not like her to forget to open her Hogwarts letter and find out her results."

Harry knew that the reason for Hermione's forgetfulness was that she was still upset over having been dumped by Krum. But still, he had promised her he would not tell Ron.

"Here it is," said Hermione. She opened up the letter, and became visibly upset. "So I only got an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions."

"But you still did all right," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes, lighten up, Hermione," said Ron. "I mean, I only got a P in Potions. Indeed, I'd be surprised if anyone from Gryffindor got an O, even without Snape being at the test. It's not that big of a deal."

Harry thought for a moment to himself. How could he have forgotten so easily? He'd been so happy at the prospect of not having Snape as his E was still too low for Snape's standards, that he'd forgotten that he needed Potions in order to become an Auror. Well, he asked himself, was becoming an Auror worth having Snape an extra two years?

"Actually it is a big deal," Hermione insisted. "You remember Dennis Creevey, do you?"

Harry and Ron nodded, thinking about the youngest member of Dumbledore's Army.

"After his first year at Hogwarts, Dennis had asked Professor McGonagall to allow him to skip a year, to start taking classes with the third year students," Hermione explained. "And Professor McGonagall agreed, seeing as Dennis Creevey was the best student in his year."

Harry was astonished. He couldn't believe that Colin's little brother was actually that intelligent, since Colin himself obviously wasn't.

"And then I thought," Hermione continued, "if Dennis could skip a year, then so could I. So I had gone to Professor McGonagall and asked her whether I could skip a year. And she said that I couldn't skip my O.W.L. year, but I could skip my sixth year only if I had achieved all O's on my O.W.L.s. And look at this! Two E's! And I was hoping to become the youngest Head Girl ever at Hogwarts!"

"Well, maybe that's a good thing, as most Head Boys and Girls tend to be conceited," said Ron, obviously thinking about Percy. Harry now realized why Dennis, whom he thought had been a second-year last year, was old enough to go to Hogsmeade when going there was a privilege for only third-years and above. It turned out that Dennis had skipped a year and so was actually a third-year all along.

"Well, it's off to the Ministry now," said Mr. Weasley. "See you all later." Then he Disapparated away.

"Eat as many flapjacks as you guys want," said Mrs. Weasley. "Dobby's made hundreds and hundreds of them."

"Thanks, but I don't think I could have another bite," said Harry. The other Weasleys agreed, so Mrs. Weasley had to put a spell on the remaining flapjacks so that she could fit them inside the icebox.

"And since Dobby used up all the remaining milk and eggs, I'm off to the supermarket now," said Mrs. Weasley as she too Disapparated.

Harry looked around at the Weasley's living room and was surprised to see, in addition to Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione, Ron's second oldest brother, Charlie.

"Hello, Charlie!" said Ron. "Long time no see! But what are you doing here?"

"To see the Quidditch match next week, of course," said Charlie. "I've got a couple of weeks off, and I heard that you got tickets to a Cannons game this upcoming Monday."

Charlie was a dragon tamer in Romania. But he was a Quidditch fan, having once played for the Gryffindor house team in his day.

"And good to see you all again, the rest of you!" Charlie added.

And so Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys spent the rest of the day listening to Charlie tell stories about his struggles with the dragons.

Saturday, August 09, 2003

"COME BACK, SIRIUS! PLEASE COME BACK!"

Once again, Harry woke up with another painful headache after reliving the scene where Sirius had died. This time Ron was still asleep, and so Harry decided to clear his mind with another walk around the block again.

This time he walked in the direction of the Fawcetts' house. Suddenly, the house jumped out of the way as the Knight Bus appeared and slowed to a stop. At first Harry thought that he had accidentally called for the bus with his wand. But then he saw that someone was about to step off the bus. Curious as to who the rider might be, Harry walked towards the front of the bus and watched as the rider alighted.

It was Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend. "Harry! Nice to see you again!" she said as she saw him.

"Hello. Where were you? Ron said he had sent you several owls --"

But then Hermione scowled. "I don't want to talk about it. This will explain it all." She handed Harry a piece of parchment on which was written a letter. Harry began to read:


Dear Herm-own-ninny,

I am very sorry that I did not write to you the past few months. It is just that one day, while the Bulgarian National Quidditch team was playing against Romania, I fell in love with one of our team cheerleaders. We have been dating the past few months.

And here is the good news. Flora and I are getting married! And the wedding will take place right here in England. Because you are my penfriend and best British friend, I would like to invite you to our wedding. It will take place on Sunday, August 24th, at the same moor where I played in the Quidditch World Cup two years ago. Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Viktor Krum


After Harry finished reading, he said, "So, who could blame him? After all, she is a veela --"

"I said I don't want to discuss it," said Hermione angrily. "And," she added, "promise me you won't tell Ron about this. I can just imagine him making fun of me. 'So Vicky dumped you for some cheerleader?'" she said, mocking Ron's voice.

Harry didn't want to start another row between Hermione and Ron, so he agreed. "Okay, so I won't tell him," he said.

"Thanks, Harry. Oh, and I'm sorry I missed your birthday, and doubly sorry that I left your gift behind at home."

"That's okay," said Harry. "Just give it to me next year." Whatever Hermione had intended to give him, he knew that it wouldn't have been as good as the item he'd really wanted at that moment, the Green Flame Torch.

So the two of them walked back towards the Burrow. This time, Mad-Eye Moody and Mundungus Fletcher greeted them at the door.

"What's Moody doing here?" asked Hermione.

"Haven't you heard? Didn't Ron tell you?" Harry asked, until he remembered that Hermione had ignored all of Ron's letters. "The Burrow is now the HQ of the Order of the Phoenix."

"That's right, why don't you speak louder so that all the Death Eaters in the world hear you give away our secret location?" said Moody.

"Sorry," Harry apologized quickly.

"Just get in," said Moody. After Harry and Hermione had entered, Moody looked outside and glanced to the left and right, as if scanning for Death Eaters. Then he shut the door.

Ron was sitting by the fireplace with a chess board set up to the opening position, as if waiting for someone to arrive by Floo Powder. "Oh, hi, Hermione," said Ron as she and Harry sat down. "I'd sent Pig to deliver you a few letters. Did you get them all right?"

"Uh, yes, I did," said Hermione.

"Then why didn't you answer them?" asked Ron.

"I -- I don't want to talk about it," said Hermione.

Harry decided to change the subject. "Where's Crookshanks?"

"Oh no," Hermione groaned. "I must have left him at home, too." Harry wondered what else Hermione might have left behind at home besides her cat and her gift for him.

"Speaking of pets," said Ron, "where's Hedwig? I haven't seen her since you arrived. Is she out delivering a letter, Harry?"

Harry hadn't told Ron yet about Hedwig, and he didn't know how to tell them. "No," he said rather quietly. "But you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Come on," said Ron. "We've always believed you before, haven't we?"

Harry hesitated for a moment. There was, of course, the time when Ron hadn't believed him, back in fourth year when he insisted that he hadn't entered the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry couldn't come up with a reason not to tell them, so he launched into a long explanation about how the Dursleys had locked up Hedwig, then she transformed into a girl, took what appeared to be a Hogwarts letter, then transformed back into an owl and flew out the window.

"Wow," said Ron. "Hedwig, an animagus! Just like Scabbers --"

"But there's something that doesn't make sense," said Hermione. "If Hedwig just received her Hogwarts letter, then that would make her about eleven years old. And Harry has had her ever since his first year. Wouldn't that make Hedwig much too young to learn to become an animagus?"

"I tell you, that's what I saw," Harry insisted. "And besides, who says you have to be a certain age to become an animagus?"

"Well," said Ron, "Dad says you have to be at least seventeen to become registered. And he should know, since he works at the Ministry."

"But my Dad" said Harry, emphasizing these last words, "was an animagus much younger than that. Who says that Hedwig was registered, anyway?"

"Hey, I just remembered something," said Ron. He picked up the latest issue of the Quibbler and opened up to an article on animagi. "It says here," said Ron, "that there have been very young animagi before. One boy once turned himself into a cat at the age of three."

"And so you consider the Quibbler to be a reliable source?" asked Hermione as she grabbed the magazine. "The next thing you'll have me believe is that the Green Flame Torch is real."

Harry winced. He had been planning on asking Hermione for advice on how he can find the Torch and use it to revive Sirius. But now he realized that she would never even believe that the Torch exists, much less help him locate it.

"Hi," said Fred and George as they arrived downstairs. "Anybody for some Quidditch?"

Harry noticed that all the twins seemed to be doing lately is playing Quidditch. He had this nagging feeling that there was something else on which they ought to be spending there time, then it finally hit him.

"Why aren't you working at your joke shop?" asked Harry.

The twins looked at each other, and then Fred said, "Draco Malfoy and his mother set our store on fire."

Harry gasped, completely shocked.

"She's been angry at our family ever since her husband got sent to Azkaban and our Dad got promoted to his old position," said George.

"Those Malfoys!" Ron yelled. "They'll pay for this! Just because Lucius turned out to be a Death Eater and Dad's finally got the promotion he deserves!"

"Don't worry," said Fred with a malicious smile. "They will pay indeed."

"You see," George added, "we still have some of our joke supplies left. And Draco's birthday party is next month. So we'll just go down to Malfoy Manor and use up our remaining Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes on Draco and his friends from Slytherin."

"Mundungus Fletcher and Ginny agreed to help us," said Fred.

"We have all the fireworks," said Mundungus Fletcher as he came downstairs. "And we have all the Ton-Tongue Toffees and Nosebleed Nougats ready as well. I've also made a deal to obtain some illegal Hate Potions and --"

"Hate Potions?" asked Harry. "What's that?"

"They're just like Love Potions," Mundungus Fletcher explained, "except that they make everyone hate each other."

"The Slytherins will be fighting each other like mad," said George with glee.

"But of course, they're illegal, so I'll have to --"

"What's this about illegal potions?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she entered the room. "Not illegal potions again, Mundungus. Last month you tried to steal Polyjuice Potion, and now what are you up too. If you try to use illegal potions in my house again, then I'll just kick you out!"

"Then I'll march straight to Dumbledore and tell him that Molly Weasley won't let a member of the Order of the Phoenix into headquarters," said Mundungus Fletcher.

"Don't worry," said Fred. "No one will use the potion in this house," he added, emphasizing the last two words and winking at George.

Mrs. Weasley and Mundungus Fletcher continued to argue in the kitchen. Then Hermione asked, "So now that your joke shop has failed, what do you two plan on doing with your lives, anyway?"

"Well," said George, "we have it all planned out. We'll go back to Hogwarts and play another season of Quidditch."

"What?" asked Harry, astonished. "But you've already finished your seven years!"

"Actually, we didn't," said Fred. "We never did actually finish our seventh year. So that means we're allowed to go back to Hogwarts and finish it."

"Harry," said George, "you remember Marcus Flint, don't you? He used to be the Slytherin Captain a few years ago." Harry nodded. "Well, the same thing happened to him."

"You see," said Fred, "Snape really wanted to win the Quidditch Cup in our fourth year, which would be your second year, Harry, and Marcus's seventh year. But once Slytherin lost to Gryffindor in the first match of the season, Snape knew that he'd have little chance to win the Cup that year. So he just told Flint to skip the rest of that year and start his seventh year the following year, hoping that Slytherin would win the cup that year."

"But of course," said George smiling proudly, "we beat them and won the Cup ourselves."

"So that's how it happened. Flint was held back a year to play Quidditch." Fred finished.

"Viktor told me that's why he was still at Durmstrang at age eighteen," said Hermione. "So that he could play Quidditch for his school team an extra year."

"Of course you'd bring up Vicky," said Ron with disgust. Hermione was sorry that she had even mentioned her ex.

Harry thought to himself. So that was why Marcus Flint had spent eight years at Hogwarts.

"Maybe," said George, "we might be able to play Quidditch professionally someday. So let's play some Quidditch!"

Friday, August 01, 2003

"NO! SIRIUS CAN'T BE DEAD! HE JUST CAN'T BE!"

Harry awakened the next day, fresh from another nightmare about his godfather's death. His scar was blazing with excruciating pain yet again.

"Morning," Ron grumbled as he slowly woke up.

But Harry didn't feel like talking to him at the moment, not so soon after reliving the incident in the Ministry of Magic from last June. "It's a nice day outside. I feel like taking a nice stroll around the block -- alone."

Harry got dressed and walked outside without eating breakfast. Hoping that a walk around the block would get Sirius off of his mind, he started off at a lively pace.

Harry recalled that were four wizarding families on this block. Of course, there were the Weasleys, but the Diggorys, the Lovegoods, and the Fawcetts also lived here. He knew very little about the Fawcetts, but he was painfully aware of the Diggory family. Their son, Cedric, had been murdered by Lord Voldemort at the end of Harry's fourth year.

"Hello, Harry," said a grown man's voice. Harry was startled to see Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, standing in front of his home, a small yellow house.

"Uh, hi, Mr. Diggory," Harry replied. "You're about to leave for work?"

"Yes," said Amos Diggory. "I work at the Ministry of Magic, at least for the next month."

"Only for a month?"

"Exactly, because in September, I'm going to work at Hogwarts. I'll be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Harry."

Harry was shocked at this news. "How come?"

"Well, ever since my son was murdered, I wanted to see his life avenged. I am hoping that someday, you and the other Hogwarts students will use these defensive skills to eventually defeat You-Know-Who."

"So you're giving up your job at the Ministry?"

"Who says I can't do both?" asked Amos Diggory. "After all, Dolores Umbridge was both a Ministry worker and a Hogwarts teacher last year."

Harry shuddered at the mention of his last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. But he was certainly glad that his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was someone who actually wanted the students to learn defensive spells, unlike Umbridge.

"See you, Harry," said Amos Diggory as he Disapparated away.

Harry continued to walk down the block. He stopped in front of the next house, which was the Lovegoods' home, a large blue house. Harry overheard a conversation from inside.

"The August Quibbler will be the most exciting issue yet," said a man's voice.

"How come, Dad?" asked a dreary girl's voice.

"It's all about the mystical Green Flame Torch," her father answered. "According to legend, the Green Flame Torch has many wonderful powers. It can kill all evil, heal the sick, even raise the dead --"

Harry did a double take. Did he just hear the man say "raise the dead"? Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for Sirius after all. Harry knew he just had to see that article in the Quibbler, so, without thinking, he knocked on the Lovegoods' door.

"Oh, Harry," said Luna Lovegood as she opened the door. "I didn't expect to see you."

"I have to see that article in the Quibbler," said Harry. "I'm talking about the article on the Green Flame Torch."

"Come on in," said Luna. Harry stepped inside. Apparently her father worked at home, for the inside of the house resembled a printing press. In the back was a large window where thousands of owls were clutching copies of the Quibbler and were preparing to deliver them to subscribers. Harry glanced at them, hoping that one of them was Hedwig, but none of them were his owl.

"Dad," said Luna, "my friend here would like a copy of the Quibbler."

The first thing he noticed about Harry was, of course, his scar. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" he asked.

"Just give me the Quibbler," said Harry.

"That will be one Galleon, please."

Harry emptied out his pockets. To his dismay, he had only a Sickle and a few Knuts, as well as the fake Galleon used to call Dumbledore's Army meetings. He made a mental note to withdraw some more gold the next time he was at Gringotts Bank.

"Sorry," said Mr. Lovegood. "No Galleon, no Quibbler."

"Come on, Dad," said Luna. "Don't you remember that if it wasn't for Harry, we wouldn't have sold so many copies of the Quibbler last spring?"

"Fine, then," said her father. "But no more freebies."

So Luna grabbed a copy of the Quibbler. But instead of giving it to Harry, she beckoned him to follow her outside.

"So," she said. "I just did you a favor, so you owe me a favor."

Harry hesitated for a moment. But he was so eager to read the article about the Green Flame Torch and find out how he could raise Sirius from the dead that he was willing to do almost anything.

"You see," Luna continued, "I really like your friend Ronald Weasley, and --"

So Harry's suspicions were correct. Luna did fancy Ron after all. After all, the way she always laughed at his jokes and was always quietly singing "Weasley Is My King" to herself were definitely signs.

"I get it," said Harry. "So you'll give me the Quibbler if I get Ron to go out with you."

Luna nodded and smiled. Harry thought to himself. He didn't know whether Ron felt the same way about Luna the way she did about him, and he wasn't sure whether he really wanted to meddle in his friend's love life. But on the other hand, he told himself, he was only doing it for Sirius.

"I'll do it, Loony, I meant Luna," Harry finally said.

"Thanks, Harry," said Luna. She handed him the Quibbler as they walked back down the street towards the Burrow. Then Harry knocked on the door.

"Hello, Harry," said Mad-Eye Moody as he opened the door. His magical eye turned towards Luna and looked her up and down. "You may come in, Harry, but the girl here may not. She may be a Death Eater or --"

"Let her in, Moody," said Mrs. Weasley. "It's just one of Ginny's friends." Then she turned to Luna and said, "But I'm afraid that Ginny isn't here, Luna. She just took the Floo to Dean Thomas's house again."

"That's okay, I'll wait here for her," said Luna. She and Harry entered the Burrow and walked towards the family room, where Ron was sitting by himself.

"Hey, Harry," said Ron. "Up for another game of Wizard's Chess?"

"No thanks," Harry answered. Then, remembering his end of the bargain, he added, "but I think that Luna here would love to play a game with you."

"You sure about that?" asked Ron. Luna nodded.

"Fine then," said Ron. As he began to set up the board, Harry ran up to Ron's room and immediately opened the Quibbler to the article. He began to read:


The Green Flame Torch: Fact or Fiction?
by Rita Skeeter

For centuries, wizards around the world have told tales about the Green Flame Torch, the most powerful object known to man. According to these stories, the Torch has the power to kill anyone evil passing through the flame. Many wizards are said to have perished thanks to the Torch, including the evil wizard Grindelwald over fifty years ago. But as no one has actually seen the Torch, it is usually dismissed as an old wives' tale.

But now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, interest in the Green Flame Torch has risen once again. Wizards everywhere are hoping that the Torch will finally bring an end to the evil reign of You-Know-Who. Ministers of Magic from nations around the world are frantically searching for the Torch this very moment. Indeed, Cornelius Fudge has offered a sum of one million Galleons to the wizard or witch who finds the Torch and surrenders it directly to the Ministry of Magic.

In addition to killing evil wizards, the Green Flame Torch is said to have other powers. One of these is to raise the dead. It is known to all wizards that no spell can raise the dead, but as the Torch is not a spell, it is not bound by such limitations. This is another reason why the Torch must be found soon. If it falls into the hands of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he may use it to revive lost Death Eaters, such as known serial killer Sirius Black, who mysteriously died of unknown causes in June.


Harry was a bit ticked off at that last sentence. But he knew what he must do. He must somehow find the Green Flame Torch before anyone else does. Then he would have to go to the Department of Mysteries, find the veil, and bring Sirius back to life.

After rereading the article for a while, he walked back downstairs, where he heard Luna mutter, "You win again, Ronald."

At that moment Ginny and Dean arrived by Floo Powder, and she said, "Hi, Luna." Luna sighed, then started talking to Ginny and Dean. Harry beckoned Ron up to his room, where he showed him the article.

"The Green Flame Torch sounds cool," said Ron. "But how are we supposed to find it before anyone else does? We haven't got a clue where it may be."

"Maybe Hermione can help us," said Harry. "She knows a lot of things we don't."

"But she still hasn't been responding to my owls," said Ron.

But before Harry could give this another thought, Fred and George Apparated into the room and said, "Up for some more Quidditch?"

And so Harry and Ron put aside the Quibbler and ran outside to play Quidditch. They didn't give the Green Flame Torch a thought for the rest of the day.

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