Green Flame Torch

As the week passed, Harry still couldn't believe that Luna Lovegood had somehow arrived at Malfoy Manor and saved them all from torture. But whenever Harry or Ron tried to ask Luna how she had arrived there, she mysterious replied that it was a surprise and that they would find out on Monday.

Well, it was Monday, Harry thought to himself. He, Ron, and Hermione headed for Care of Magical Creatures.

"Well, today you're in for a special treat," Hagrid announced to the class. Harry grew apprehensive, for whatever Hagrid had in store for them that day was likely to be dangerous.

"It's the only one of its kind known in existence," Hagrid continued to say. "The Crumpled-Horned Snorkack."

Harry gazed at the creatures. The Snorkacks looked almost like threstrals, but with several differences. The Snorkacks had no wings, but four large bent horns. The fur was olive green and they had eight legs rather than only four.

"Now do any of you know anything about Snorkacks?" Hagrid asked the class. "Yes, Parvati?"

"Most Snorkacks have perfectly straight horns," Parvati said to the class.

"Five points to Gryffindor," said Hagrid. "For centuries, it was believed that only Straight-Horned Snorkacks actually existed. But this is the firs' Crumpled-Horned Snorkack ever found. Anyone else know anything about the Snorkack? Yes, Neville?"

Neville paused for a second. It was the first time that he had ever spoken up in class. "They can travel, uh, very fast, right?"

"Another five points to Gryffindor," said Hagrid. "The only things faster than a Snorkack are Portkeys and Apparatin', they say. That's why I had to tie this Snorkack to a tree, so it couldn't escape."

Hermione was silent, completely in shock. Harry thought that she was amazed that Neville knew something that she didn't know.

The Ravenclaw girls were also surprised. Marietta Edgecombe turned red in the face, and Lisa Turpin kept saying, "But, but, ..."

Harry, meanwhile, now knew how Luna had traveled all the way from Hogwarts so quickly in time to save them, but it didn't explain how she even knew that he and the Weasleys were at Malfoy manor at all.

"And now," said Hagrid, "I present to you the man who caught the Snorkack and brought it all the way here from the land of Sweden. Mr. Sol Lovegood."

Luna's father arrived on the grounds. "It took me many Stunning Spells to catch it, and a Transport Spell to bring it here, but it was worth it." Harry realized that Mr. Lovegood had used the same spell that Fred and George often used to move their school books, luggage, and other belongings around.

Before he left, Mr. Lovegood said, "And don't forget to order the October issue of the Quibbler. Next week's issue is about the Blibbering Humdinger!"

After class, Harry suddenly realized something. "If the Crumpled-Horned Snorkack turned out to be real, then maybe other things in the Quibbler will turn out to be real as well."

"Be serio-- I meant get real, Harry," said Hermione in a rather annoying tone. "Just because the Snorkack exists, it doesn't mean that Humdingers or ..."

Ron's eyes lit up as he caught on. "You mean maybe the Green Flame Torch exists, right, Harry?"

"Exactly," said Harry.

"I -- but -- you -- oh, never mind!" said Hermione as she stormed off towards Astronomy Tower, with Harry and Ron having to run just to keep up.

For Harry, Monday meant Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, and Herbology. Harry enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures, not only because his favorite teacher, Hagrid, was teaching the course, but it was also the only one of his classes which Malfoy wasn't also taking. Ever since Malfoy had taunted a hippogriff back in third year, he had never done well.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed for Hagrid's hut. Harry and Hermione were still upset at each other. He still couldn't convince her that the Green Flame Torch was real, and she was upset because he had broken his promise to attend her birthday party last Friday.

In class, Hagrid still had yet to show them any new creatures as they had spent the first several weeks trying to tame the Monster Book of Monsters. Several students, especially Neville, had been bitten trying to read the textbooks.

Harry and Hermione avoided speaking to each other throughout Astronomy and Herbology. Harry had noticed for a while that George was taking Herbology, but not Fred, but he had never bothered to ask way. George spoke to Ron and Harry right after class.

"Don't forget that tonight's the party."

"Hermione's party was last Friday," said Ron.

"Not Hermione's party, you idiot," said George. "I'm speaking of Malfoy's party." Harry remembered how the twins were going to ruin his party as revenge for burning down their new joke shop.

Later on that night, Fred and George were ready to go to the party.

"Good then, so let's all get ready to go to Malfoy Manor."

Fred and George grabbed the boxes of what remained of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, as well as a few other gags that Mundungus Fletcher had conjured up back in August. Then they stood beside the fire with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Then suddenly, Ginny Weasley arrived.

"We'd thought you'd never show up," said Fred.

"You almost missed the fun," George added.

"It's nice to see you spend your time with someone other than Dean Thomas," said Ron, who had never approved of his sister's dating habits.

"Wait a minute," said Hermione. "You mean to tell me that you're going to go all the way to Malfoy Manor by Floo Powder?"

The twins nodded, and Ron added, "That is, unless you can think of a better way."

"The point is," Hermione continued, "wouldn't the Malfoys have some sort of security device to keep unwanted strangers out of their home?"

"They do," said George. "Normally there a Heredity Charm on the fire, so that only those wizards closely related to the Malfoys may enter."

"But since today's a party," Fred added, "the Charm has been weakened so that anyone who is pure-blood may pass."

"And don't worry, Harry," said George, "this particular Heredity Charm only counts back one generation, and so you'll pass since your parents were both wizards."

"Which means that only Hermione is left out," Ron commented. So that was the reason Ginny had left Dean Thomas behind, Harry thought, as Dean was muggle-born.

"Fine," said Hermione. "I didn't really want to go and wreak havoc at the party, anyway."

"I'll cover for you with the teachers," said Dean. "Enjoy the party."

"We will!" said Fred, George, and Ginny in unison.

So one by one, Harry and the Weasleys took the Floo to Malfoy Manor. Harry couldn't believe how many wizards there were at the party. It seemed as if every single member of Slytherin house was at Draco Malfoy's sixteenth birthday party. But that was good, Harry realized, as he and his friends were less likely to be spotted.

"Let's go," said the twins together. They pushed through the crowds towards the food tables and began placing some Ton-Tongue Toffee and Nosebleed Nougats right next to the food already on the table.

Harry and Ron stared at the home. Malfoy Manor was certainly huge, Harry realized. Indeed, the house was almost as large as Hogwarts Castle. Most of the guests were standing and talking with each other in the Great Hall, where all the cakes, pies, biscuits, puddings, and a variety of other sweets were. There was a stage from which music could be heard. Harry looked up and saw that the music was actually being performed by a musical group, the Crazy Brothers. Only the Malfoys could afford to hire professional musicians to a private party, Harry thought to himself.

"The Crazy Brothers?" asked Harry. "Are they anything like the Weird Sisters?"

"Oh no," said Ron. "The Weird Sisters are too pro-Muggle for the Malfoys. The Crazy Brothers keep singing about how great it is to be pure-blood. I don't like them."

At that moment, Pansy Parkinson screamed as she began to vomit. A few other Slytherins had their tongues grow, noses bleed, hair fall out, and eyes become almost as deformed as Mad-Eye Moody's were. Some of the Slytherins fell asleep as they ate cakes poisoned with the same Sleeping Draught that Hermione had concocted for Crabbe and Goyle at Christmas back in their second year.

"What's going on here?" asked Narcissa Malfoy.

"Shut up, Mum," said Draco. "It's time for me to open presents now."

"Of course," said his mother. Then she waved her wand, and all the food, including Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, disappeared from the table, to be replaced by a long row of presents that would rival even Dudley's.

But, like Dudley, Malfoy was unsatisfied with most of his gifts, except one. His mother had given him a new set of the latest broom, the Nimbus 2003's.

"There's one for every member of the Slytherin Quidditch Team," said Mrs. Malfoy.

"Thanks, Mum," said Malfoy with delight. "Slytherin will finally beat Gryffindor this year!"

Harry knew that the Nimbus 2003's were said to be even more powerful than his own broom, the Firebolt. He made a note to himself to check out the Nimbus 2003 the next time he was at Diagon Alley.

Ron looked furiously at Draco. "With those brooms we'll lose for sure," he said to Harry.

But Harry became upset as well, and he couldn't control himself. He spoke so loudly that Malfoy and the other Slytherins could hear him easily.

"When will you Slytherins finally learn that it's not the quality of the broom, but the quality of the player who rides the broom, that determines the winner?" Harry yelled.

"Potter!" was all that Draco had time to say before Fred and George immediately released the fireworks. Soon the entire Great Hall was in chaos. These fireworks were hexed to start chasing everyone except the twins.

"Follow us," the twins said to Harry and Ron. No one knew where Ginny had gone during the fiasco.

Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle escaped to Draco's bedroom and he magically locked the door. The twins extinguished the fireworks that had been chasing the trio.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Fred.

"Naturally," said George. They took out some Extendable Ears and handed some to Harry and Ron as well. At first, the three Slytherins were discussing the fireworks, but then the conversation drifted to a topic that Harry found rather interesting indeed.

"So what was your Dad looking for before he was sent to Azkaban?" asked Crabbe.

"How many times do I have to tell you this?" asked Malfoy. "He was looking for the Green Flame Torch, you moron."

Harry suddenly became rather curious. Did Malfoy know anything about the Torch?

"As I've told you two a zillion times already," Malfoy continued, "Dad was looking for the Torch because the Dark Lord would reward the Death Eater who found and brought him the Torch back. No one knows exactly what powers the Green Flame Torch possesses. All we know is that for one reason or another, the Dark Lord wants the Torch back."

"Maybe my Dad will find the Torch and claim the reward," said Goyle.

"I doubt it," said Malfoy, "especially if your Dad's as big a numbskull as you are."

Harry thought to himself. If the Green Flame Torch had fallen into Lord Voldemort's hands, who knew what he would do with it? Nothing good, he told himself. He certainly wouldn't bring Sirius back to life. But at least Voldemort didn't have the Torch yet, it seemed. Harry knew that he must find the Torch before Voldemort did. That was certain.

Harry was hoping that the Slytherin trio would continue to discuss the Torch and perhaps give clues as to its whereabouts. But then there was a silence. Suddenly Draco had opened the door.

"What the --"

Fred, George, Harry, and Ron removed the Extendable Ears and all of them began to run as fast as they could, stumbling over the bodies of unconscious Slytherins. They happened to see Ginny as they passed.

"The fireplace is this way. Hurry!" she warned them.

She led them to the fireplace, and she and the twins took the Floo back to Hogwarts. But before Harry and Ron could make it back, Mrs. Malfoy had seen them from across the hall.

"It's your birthday, Draco," said Mrs. Malfoy as Draco and his two bodyguards appeared. "So I'll let you take care of the Gryffindors."

"My pleasure!" said Draco as he pointed his wand at Harry. He hesitated for a moment, thinking about exactly which spell he'd like to use against him.

But then Luna Lovegood suddenly appeared, and she suddenly handed Crabbe and Goyle a large golden goblet each.

"Don't drink that!" yelled Malfoy. "Never drink anything from a known enemy!"

But Crabbe and Goyle were so thick that they drank it anyway. It was punch to which the Hate Potion that Mundungus Fletcher had mentioned earlier had been added. The potion caused Crabbe and Goyle to begin to attack Malfoy, beginning with "Expelliarmus!"

"The punch has been spiked!" announced Mrs. Malfoy as she turned to Luna. Then Narcissa pointed her wand at Luna and said, "Stupefy!"

"Harry, it's me."

Harry looked up and saw his godfather's face again.

"Sirius!" Harry shouted delightfully. "But I'm sorry."

"I told you, there's nothing to be sorry about."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't looked for the Green Flame Torch yet."

"Listen, Harry," said Sirius. "Live your own life. Don't worry about me. I didn't die saving you that night here in the Department of Mysteries for you to spend all day crying over me."

"But you lived in Azkaban for twelve, almost thirteen years for a crime you didn't commit. Then you spent a year on the run for your life. Then you spent another year locked up with only some crazy house elf. I want you to live your life a free man. If only I could find the Green Flame Torch --"

"If you put your heart into it, I know that you will be able to find the Torch someday. Why don't you ask your friend Hermione Granger?"

"Huh?" asked Harry.

"I bet that she knows more than she seems to know about the Green Flame Torch."

"How do you know that?"

"It's a hunch," said Sirius. "Just like you know more than you admit you know about your friend Cho Chang."

"What?" Now Harry was completely bewildered.

"I am only alive inside your head," Sirius explained, "and so I see everything you see and more. Like how often you stare at her, how often you admire her in class for performing a spell correctly, how you smiled when you found out how that Corner kid isn't dating Cho, but her friend instead."

"But then, why did Ron's sister say that Michael was dating Cho?"

"Listen, I was there once. When I was your age, I was making up stories to girls I wasn't interested in."

"So," said Harry, "what you're saying is --"

"Follow your heart," Sirius concluded as he faded away into nothingness.

Harry woke up in his dormitory. His first Sirius dream outside of Occlumency class had left him with many more questions than answers. Was he, Harry, really still smitten with Cho Chang? And more importantly, what did Hermione know about the Green Flame Torch? He got dressed and rushed downstairs to the common room.

"Hermione," said Harry, "do you know any information whatsoever about the Green Flame Torch?"

"Harry, you can be so rude sometimes," said Hermione, obviously annoyed. "The first thing Ron said to me this morning was 'Happy Birthday, Hermione.'"

"Okay then, Happy Birthday, Hermione," Harry said rather quickly. "So now then, do you know any information about the Green Flame Torch?"

"And furthermore, Ron didn't start babbling this nonsense about some Green Flame Torch."

"I gave Hermione a present," said Ron. "It was just some Sugar Quills I had leftover from my last visit to my local Honeydukes."

"I'd rather have some real quills," said Hermione, "but at least he remembered my birthday."

Harry blushed with embarrassment. He had been thinking so much about Sirius and how he could possibly begin looking for the Torch that he had completely forgotten Hermione's birthday.

"Don't worry," Harry reassured her. "I'll get you something by tonight."

"You'll have the opportunity at my party tonight," she told him. "You see, there's this Muggle tradition that a girl's sixteenth birthday party should be her finest. My parents call it the 'Sweet Sixteen.' I asked Dumbledore for permission to spend the weekend with my parents, but he said no. But I'm still having the party tonight in the Gryffindor common room."

So Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed for their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Because of his dream with Sirius, Harry avoided thinking about Cho, so instead he focused on Ron's efforts to do a Patronus.

"I think I've got it," said Ron. "Expecto Patronum!" And out of Ron's wand came a perfect weasel Patronus.

"Look," said Malfoy, "Weasley's a weasel! Get it? He's Weasley, and he's a weasel!"

"Well, at least mine's not a ferret," Ron spat back. Malfoy said nothing more for the rest of class.

In Charms class, Harry deliberately avoided looking directly at Cho. Professor Flitwick continued to demonstrate the Protean Charm. In order to avoid losing more house points, Hermione tried performing "Proteus" and "Pharos" on her Sugar Quills, but they did not work nearly as well as on a real quill since Flitwick was using a real one.

After class Harry and Ron headed out to the pitch for another Quidditch practice.

"Seeing as some of us still don't have a broom," said Katie, staring directly at Harry, "today we are going to spend most of practice reviewing earlier games."

The team was sitting in a dark room in a small building located near the pitch. Each player had a pair of Omnioculars in front of him or her. During Quidditch matches, fans used Omnioculars to slow down and zoom in on various plays. But, as Harry soon found out, Omnioculars could store images for months or even years after the matches ended. Soon all the teammates were reviewing the plays from the last match of the previous season, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. As Harry had missed the final Quidditch match due to an unfortunate incident with Hagrid, he was curious to see how exactly Gryffindor had won the match and the Cup.

Harry first reviewed the scene where Ron lets in the first goal of the game. He quickly fast forwarded as Ron allowed several more goals. Gryffindor fell behind quickly, but as the game progressed, Ron improved, and soon he was saving almost every goal. But the Ravenclaw Keeper had been just as good at that point, and he had blocked every shot so that Gryffindor, over a hundred points behind, could not catch up.

But then Ron's sister had caught the Snitch, right from under Cho's nose. Harry found himself resisting the urge to zoom in on Cho's face. But at that point Gryffindor had been down by exactly 150 points! Harry knew that if the team catching the Snitch was down by 160 or more, then they still lost the match, but what if the team were down by 150 points?

"Was the match declared a draw?" asked Harry.

"Keep looking through the Omnioculars," said Katie.

Harry saw that there was a tiebreaker round. Each team would have three Quaffle shots, one by each Chaser, against only the opposing Keeper. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie had all made their shots against the Ravenclaw Keeper, Michael Corner. Harry didn't even know that Michael had been a Quidditch player. So that was why Ginny's ex-boyfriend had been on the pitch, Harry suddenly realized.

Ron only had to block one goal against Ravenclaw. Harry imagined how much pressure there would have been on Ron, especially if the Slytherins had started singing. And it was the final goal, shot by Ravenclaw Chaser and Team Captain Roger Davies, which Ron had just barely blocked at the last moment. Ron had fallen off his broom, but landed on a mob of Gryffindors who had stormed onto the pitch at the moment the team had won.

So that was how it happened, Harry thought to himself.

After reviewing all the plays, Katie said, "So, I hope that you all have a broom at our next Quidditch practice."

All of the Quidditch players walked together towards the Great Hall for a late dinner. The dessert was supposed to be banana cream pie. But just as Fred and George sat down to eat, their pies leaped up into their faces.

The second year girls Michelle and Tarra giggled. "Ha, we got you at your own game! That's what you get for pulling those Weezes on us last year!" For the girls had been part of the first year class the previous year, on which Fred and George had tested their Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"We'll get you for that!" said George playfully. "As they say, never trick a trickster!"

Harry saw that Ron had left the Great Hall. Then he suddenly remembered that he must have been in the common room for Hermione's birthday party. So he headed upstairs, and almost bumped into Cho.

"Um, hello, Harry," said Cho awkwardly.

Harry did not know what to say at that moment. Then, suddenly, they both said simultaneously, "I'm sorry!"

"What?" asked Harry.

"I'm really sorry about Marietta," Cho explained. "I shouldn't have protected her when she had betrayed you, me, and the DA. I found what type of person she was back at a Quidditch match between the Tornados and Chudley. Before the match she claimed to be a Tornados fan, but once Chudley had won the match and eventually the League Championship, Marietta suddenly proclaimed herself a Chudley fan. I then realized that she was nothing more than a fair weather fan and a fair weather friend. She had only joined the DA because it has seemed popular at the time, but then betrayed us once Umbridge became more powerful."

Harry stood there dumbfounded. He hadn't expected Cho to apologize for Marietta's behavior. Once again he didn't know what to say.

"So," Cho said, "I believe you have something to say."

Harry finally said, after a long while, "And I'm sorry that Hermione put a hex on Marietta."

"Apology accepted," said Cho. "So, are you busy?"

"Well," said Harry, "I must go on to Herm..." But then he stopped himself. He realized that mentioning Hermione in front of Cho only caused her to get angry at him. And besides, why should he attend Hermione's party? For Hermione hadn't attended his party back at the end of July or even given him a gift. And she had refused to believe him when he asked her about the Torch.

"Nothing," Harry finished.

"Want to go for a walk?" Cho suggested.

And so Harry and Cho walked up towards the Astronomy Tower, hand in hand, and gazed up at the stars, with hardly a care in the world.

Harry woke up on Friday in a good mood. After all, he had only two classes, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms, plus the first Quidditch practice of the season.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Diggory continued with Patronuses. Once again, he had Harry teach the rest of the class.

"Good job, Hermione," said Harry as she made a perfect otter Patronus.

"Expecto Patronum!" said Ron. "I still can't come up with a good Patronus though."

"You're getting better everyday," Harry commented as several wisps of smoke left Ron's wand.

But still, the only other corporeal Patronus was Malfoy's, which was the ferret again.

"Thanks for helping the other students, Harry," said Professor Diggory. "Ten points to Gryffindor." Once again, the entire class seemed like one rather long DA lesson to Harry.

After class, Harry said to Ron and Hermione, "Our next class is Charms, isn't it?"

"Not for me," said Ron. "I didn't pass the O.W.L. in Charms, remember? Defense Against the Dark Arts is my only class on Fridays. I think I'll head out to the Quidditch pitch early."

So Harry and Hermione walked to Professor Flitwick's classroom while Ron returned to Gryffindor tower to fetch his broom. Charms was another one of those classes in which there were students from every house from both sixth and seventh year. In Gryffindor, besides Harry and Hermione, were Neville and Parvati. In Hufflepuff were Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones, while Michael Corner and Lisa Turpin were from Ravenclaw, the house of which Professor Flitwick was the head. And from Slytherin were Draco Malfoy and Millicent Bullstrode. The upper forms in Charms were Head Girl Cho Chang and her best friend Marietta Edgecombe, and both Weasley twins.

"Hey, George," said Harry, "Hey, Fred."

"Don't forget practice is today!"

"I won't," Harry assured Fred.

Professor Flitwick addressed the class. "Today we will be studying a standard N.E.W.T.-level charm. It is called the Protean Charm. Now I know that you seventh years have already been studying this charm for over a year, but do any of you sixth years know what the Protean Charm is and why it is useful?"

Needless to say, Hermione had her hand in the air. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"The Protean Charm is a means of communicating with other wizards without using owls. One person charms several objects and distributes them among others. And when one of them is touched, the others feel it too."

"Very good, Miss Granger," said Professor Flitwick. "Five points to Gryffindor. The Protean Charm basically makes one object mimic another."

Harry was familiar with the Protean Charm as well, since Hermione had used it on some fake Galleons in order for Harry to call DA meetings.

"Now," Flitwick continued, "the most famous Protean Charm is used by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on his followers, the Death Eaters. It is said that the charmed object in this case was a scar deep through the skin of each Death Eater. But of course, we will not be scarring each other in class."

Fred looked disappointed at that last statement.

"Instead of scars, I will use your quills in order to demonstrate the Protean Charm, since I know that all of you have quills. So will you all please pass your quills to the front of the class?"

Almost every student handed Flitwick a quill except Hermione, who still didn't have her own quill except for her Umbridge quill, which she wasn't about to carry around with her to every class.

"Miss Granger, may I inquire why you did not bring your quill to class?" asked Flitwick.

"I - I don't know," Hermione stammered, for she clearly didn't want to explain about the Umbridge quill to Professor Flitwick.

"So I take those five points back from Gryffindor," said Flitwick, "and you must miss out on today's lesson."

The other students in the class were surprised that such an astute student as Hermione would go to class with no quill.

"I've got an extra quill," said Marietta Edgecombe, "but there's no way I'd lend it."

"You lent one to me," Michael Corner remarked.

"That's different," said Marietta. "You're my boyfriend, and she's my mortal enemy. She's evil." For Marietta had had it in for Hermione ever since she had hexed her a few months ago, causing her face to break out. Although her acne had since cleared, she would most likely never forgive Hermione.

"I know what you mean," Malfoy added. "I wouldn't let a Mudblood touch my quill, either."

Then Flitwick placed his own quill next to the other students' quills on his desk. Then he pointed his wand at them and called out, "Proteus!" Finally, he handed the quills back to their respective owners.

"Now whatever I do to my own quill," Flitwick explained to the class, "the same shall happen to your quills." At that point Flitwick used a fire spell, an ice spell, an enlargement charm, and a reduction charm. He used his wand to cut the quill in two, then used "Reparo" to restore the quill. After each spell in turn, the students' quills followed suit.

"Now," said the professor, "do any of my seventh year students know how to block the Protean Charm? Yes, Miss Chang?"

"By using the Pharos Charm," Cho stated.

"Five points to Ravenclaw. And other five points if you can demonstrate the Pharos Charm on your quill to the rest of the class."

So Cho pointed her wand at her quill and called out the incantation, "Pharos!" Then Flitwick repeated the spells to break and repair the quills. Everyone's wands split, but Cho's remained unaffected.

"Very good, Miss Chang. Now the Pharos Charm is simpler to learn than the Protean, so we will be practicing the Pharos for a while."

The students spent the rest of the class attempting to use the Pharos Charms on their quills in order to protect them from Flitwick's charms. Harry, as usual, was having trouble performing the spell correctly. He was impressed at how well Cho had blocked her wand from Flitwick. Of course, Harry wondered whether Hermione, who had mastered the Protean Charm over a year ago, would have performed the Pharos Charm just as easily, if only she'd had a quill on which to practice.

After Charms, Harry and Hermione headed for lunch, and then Harry was about to go to the Quidditch Pitch with Ron and the rest of the team.

"Well," said Hermione, "for me it's off to Professor Binns and History of Magic, followed by detention with Professor Snape."

"Good-bye Hermione," said Ron. Then he turned to Harry and said, "How exactly are you going to go to Quidditch practice without a broom?"

It suddenly struck Harry that he didn't have a broom, as Umbridge had locked his broom away to an undisclosed location a few months ago, and he had been unable to withdraw any money from Gringott's because of the goblin strike.

"Don't worry," said Ron. "I reckon you won't need it. I mean, they're just having tryouts for Chaser today, and so they won't even need a Seeker in the air at all."

When Harry, Ron, and Ginny arrived at the pitch, the rest of the Gryffindor team was already there. Sure enough, Katie was fully aware of Harry's broom situation and told him to watch from the sidelines.

"And make sure you have a broom by the first match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, on October 18th," said Katie.

"October?" asked Ron. "I thought the Quidditch season began in November."

"Well this year there's been a change," Katie explained to the team. "You see, at the end of last season, the players from Hufflepuff complained that they were cheated of the Quidditch Cup. Zack Smith argued that Hufflepuff, like Gryffindor, had finished the season with two wins. But Dumbledore awarded the Cup to Gryffindor since Hufflepuff's margins of victory in their two wins were by only ten points each. Smith went to his head of house, Professor Sprout, and she convinced Dumbledore to change the system. Now there will be an extra match at the end of the season in which the two best teams during the regular season will compete for the Cup. So all the other matches had to be moved up."

All of this, Harry realized, meant that there would be much less time for him to acquire a broom. As he watched from the sidelines, he saw the players compete for the various positions. Eighth years Fred and George literally beat third years Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, who had replaced them the year before, at Beater. The twins had knocked so many Bludgers towards Kirke and Sloper that they simply dismounted their brooms and just conceded the Beaters' positions.

Meanwhile, at Chaser, Ginny fulfilled her promise and won one of the Chaser positions. The other went to a second year girl named Michelle Thompson. But if Harry failed to acquire a broom, then Ginny would take over as Seeker, just as she had the previous year, and Michelle's best mate Tarra Rath would become a Chaser. The only question that remained for Harry was whether he would allow that to happen.

On the way back to the castle from practice, Ron said to Harry, "You know, Hermione's birthday is in a week. Do you have any ideas what we should get her?"

Harry almost forgot that her birthday was on the 19th. "I reckon we should get her some a new quill," said Harry.

"I see what you mean," said Ron. "She's been getting detention with Snape --"

"-- and losing House points," Harry finished.

And so Harry and Ron continued to discuss how they would celebrate Hermione's birthday.

Harry thought about Sirius and the dream all week. For the first time ever, he could not wait for Snape’s Occlumency lesson so that he could have another dream about Sirius. When it was finally time for his weekly Occlumency lesson, Snape looked directly at Harry.

“So Potter has proved that he failed to study Occlumency all summer, and furthermore, he ruined last week’s lesson. So let me ask a more diligent student to demonstrate Occlumency. Mr. Malfoy?”

Malfoy stepped up to the front of the class. “At the count of three,” Snape began, “I will attempt to enter your mind. One, two, three, Legilimens!”

But Malfoy didn’t flinch at all. “Good job, Malfoy. Ten points to Slytherin.”

“So,” said Malfoy, “I’ve been studying Occlumency for over a week now, and yet I’m already better than the world-famous Potter, who’s been studying for, what, eight months now?” Harry grew angry and stood up immediately.

“Calm down,” said Hermione. “You don’t want to start a row with Malfoy right in front of Snape, do you?”

Harry became less angry, as he was still eager to have the dreams and see Sirius again.

“So,” said Snape as he saw Harry stood up. “Potter has volunteered to demonstrate his skill in Occlumency, or should I say, lack thereof. Take notes, class, as I want you to remember how not to do Occlumency.”

Harry walked up to the front of the dungeon. Before he knew it, Snape had said, “One, two, three, Legilimens!” and soon he was back at primary school where Dudley and his gang chased and tortured him.

“Sirius!” thought Harry to himself. “Not Dudley! Sirius!”

Harry concentrated hard on Sirius, and soon his primary school disappeared. He was back with the veil, where Sirius appeared to him again.

“Sirius!” said Harry cheerfully.

“Harry,” Sirius began, “I know that you are in Occlumency class with Snape, aren’t you?”

“How did you know that?”

“I’m only in your mind, so I can see everything you see. Now promise me that you won’t try to dream about me when you’re in Snape’s class.”

“But, but…” said Harry.

“I don’t trust Snape, and so I fear that something bad may happen if he sees me in your dreams. So promise me that you won’t dream about me.”

“I promise.”

“Good,” said Sirius.

“But I’ll still try to find the Green Flame Torch and bring you back from the dead.”

“It won’t be easy. No one knows where it is, and…” But Harry was back in Snape’s class, lying on the cold, hard ground. He became angry with Snape again, for the second week in a row, he had interrupted Harry from seeing Sirius.

“…and I finally bring Potter back to reality,” Snape was saying to the class. “So, can anyone tell me exactly Potter did wrong? Yes, Draco?”

“Well,” said Malfoy, “Potter didn’t even try to block you from his mind, did he?”

“Another ten points for Slytherin,” said Snape. “And furthermore, not only did Potter fail to block me from his mind, but he even concentrated on his godfather long enough for him to appear to me. If only he would concentrate instead on blocking me from his mind, he would be much more successful at Occlumency. As his godfather is in fact dead, the dream must be false. I believe that the Dark Lord has placed the image of his godfather in his mind. Ironically, the last time the Dark Lord and Potter’s godfather had appeared in his mind, the latter was killed. And Miss Granger, I expect you to take notes in my class.”

“But I don’t have a quill,” said Hermione, as she had yet to replace her Umbridge quill of the week before.

“And why not?” asked Snape. “I would expect that a sixth-year student would know by now to bring a quill to class. I will see you in detention, Miss Granger, on Friday night.”

When the class ended, the students filed out. Snape said, “I would like a word with you, Potter.”

Harry was still slightly angry at Snape, but he approached Snape’s desk wordlessly.

“Potter, I suggest that you do not mention the Green Flame Torch when dreaming about the Dark Lord. And if I find out that you are still having dreams about the Dark Lord or your godfather, you will get detention.”

Harry said nothing. He wanted only to leave Snape so that he could think. Finally, Snape bid him leave the dungeons, and on the way, he pondered about the situation. Had he really been speaking to Sirius, or was it merely another trick from Voldemort?

“I believe that it’s really Sirius,” said Ron later that day at dinner. “After all, why would You-Know-Who play that same trick, anyway?”

“Don’t be silly, Ron,” said Hermione. “Sirius is dead, so Harry can’t talk to him.”

“He won’t be dead once I find the Green Flame Torch,” said Harry.

“And we still have no proof that the Torch even exists,” Hermione reminded him.

“It does exist,” Harry insisted. “Otherwise, why didn’t Sirius or Snape deny that it exists?”

At that moment, Katie Bell, a Gryffindor seventh-year, approached the trio.

“As the only seventh-year on the Quidditch team,” she said to him, “I have been named Captain. Our first Quidditch practice is this Friday. We will be holding tryouts for the missing positions then.”

“But I’ve been given a lifelong ban,” said Harry.

“Of course you haven’t,” Ginny reminded him as she sat down near the others. “As I told you last year, Umbridge is gone, and so you’re back on the team.”

“Most of Umbridge’s decisions have been reversed, you know,” Hermione added.

“So you’ll be there on Friday, won’t you?” asked Katie.

Harry nodded. After missing Quidditch most of last year, he couldn’t wait to get back out on the pitch.

The next day at breakfast, Harry discussed his new course schedules with Ron and Hermione.

"As you can see," said Hermione to Harry, "now that we have passed our O.W.L.s, our schedules have become more specialized. All of our classes are now double lessons, and we never have more than three in a day."

Harry looked at his own course schedule and saw that Hermione was right. On Mondays, for example, he had Astronomy, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures, while on Tuesdays, he had Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Occlumency.

As Harry finished his bacon and eggs, he stood up and said, "Well, I guess we should head off to Astronomy Tower."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ron. "Today's Tuesday."

"But I thought classes always begin on Monday," Harry insisted.

"Well," Hermione explained, "the term always begins on 2nd September, and it always changes each year. Last year it started on Monday, so this year it begins on Tuesday."

Harry was a little perplexed. For some reason, he thought that the first day of classes had always been a Monday.

"So then," said Harry, "it's off to Transfiguration, then."

"Not for me," said Ron. "I wasn't accepted into McGonagall's class, remember. Right now I have Divination instead. I still can't believe I passed Divination."

So Ron headed for North Tower while Harry and Hermione walked towards Professor McGonagall's classroom. When Harry entered the classroom, he noticed that there were students from all four Houses in his class. There were Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw, as well as Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson from Slytherin. There were even some seventh year students in the class, including Eddie Carmichael and Cho Chang.

"Eddie and Cho have been made Head Boy and Girl this year, you know," said Hermione.

Harry was a bit surprised. "I didn't even know Cho had been a prefect."

"She wasn't," Hermione explained. "But no one said that one had to be a prefect in order to become Head Boy or Girl. In fact, Marietta Edgecombe had been the Ravenclaw prefect from Cho's year. But after she betrayed Dumbledore, he wasn't about to name her Head Girl. It's usually based on the number of O.W.L.s a student receives, which is why most Head Boys and Girls tend to be from Ravenclaw."

So that explained how Lupin was a prefect in his day, but his own father had been named Head Boy, Harry thought to himself. And it made sense that Eddie Carmichael would be named Head Boy as he had earned nine Outstanding O.W.L.s the year before. But still, he had no idea how well Cho Chang had done academically despite having dated her for nearly a year.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom. "Welcome, students, to Transfiguration. To those of you who are in seventh year, I hope that you have been studying and practicing the spells you have learned last year, for this will be your N.E.W.T. year and there will be many difficult spells on the exam. To those of you who are in sixth year, I welcome you to N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration. You are here because you mastered the spells which you have learned and have appeared on your O.W.L. last June, but this year's spells will be much more complex. Today we will go over the Conjuring Spell."

Harry remembered how last year he had learned its opposite, the Vanishing Spell. It had been one of the toughest spells on his O.W.L. exam back in June.

"Now the main difference between Vanishing and Conjuring is that when Vanishing, you merely make an object disappear, but when Conjuring, you must make not just any object appear, but the object you desire. Today we shall Conjure snails, and later on we shall move on to more difficult objects."

Then Professor McGonagall explained the proper wand motion, followed by the incantation, which was "Conjuro" followed by the name of the object to Conjure. As usual, on his first few attempts Harry failed to make anything appear. He gazed around the classroom at the seventh-years, who had obviously had had an extra year's practice. He saw that Cho in particular had made at least a dozen snails appear on her desk.

"You're not moving your wand correctly," said Hermione, who then showed Harry the proper wand motion as she made a snail appear on her desk.

"Nice work, Miss Granger," said Professor McGonagall. "Five points to Gryffindor."

Hermione had been the only sixth year to Conjure an entire snail, of course. After ninety minutes of trying, Harry had only managed to make a snail's shell appear, no matter how many times he had uttered, "Conjuro Snail!"

Professor McGonagall collected the Conjured snails in a box. "Great job, students. There will be plenty of snails now for my fifth-year section next hour to Vanish. And naturally, your homework will be to practice Conjuring snails, as well as write sixteen inches on the key differences between Vanishing and Conjuring."

"Was that fourteen inches, or sixteen?" asked Hermione.

"Sixteen, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall repeated.

Hermione started to write down the topic and length on a piece of parchment. But suddenly she gave a yelp of pain.

"Is anything the matter, Miss Granger?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Harry looked at Hermione's right hand and noticed that red letters had begun to appear.

"That's no ordinary quill," said Harry loudly. "That's the same type of quill that Umbridge made me use last year!"

"Where did you get this quill from, Miss Granger?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Well, the shops on Diagon Alley were sold out of quills," Hermione explained, "and so I looked around until I found a shop on a nearby street, Knockturn Alley--"

"Hermione!" Harry interrupted. "Knocturn Alley is only for Dark Wizards!"

"But she wouldn't have known that," said Malfoy, "seeing as she's a Mudblood--"

"That remark was unnecessary, Malfoy," said Professor McGonagall as she confiscated Hermione's quill. "Now I suggest that you go to Madam Pomfrey and ask her for some essence of murtlap. The rest of you may leave for your next class."

As all the students emptied the classroom, Professor McGonagall said, "Potter, I would like to have a word with you."

Harry walked up to her desk. Surely she wasn't going to blame him for giving Hermione the quill, was she?

"Why did you not tell me or Professor Dumbledore last year that Umbridge was forcing you to use that type of quill in class?" she asked.

"But you had told me that Umbridge was my teacher and that she had every right to punish me in detention."

"I know, Potter, but I had no idea that she was using a Dark object to punish you. And bringing such a weapon to Hogwarts is an offense punishable by a sentence in Azkaban."

Now that Professor McGonagall had said it, Harry realized that if only he had told her or Dumbledore about Umbridge's quill, she may have been sent to Azkaban and he wouldn't have had to suffer with Umbridge the entire year! He had been foolish not to tell.

"But Professor," said Harry, "will Hermione--"

"Of course she won't be punished for bringing the quill to Hogwarts as she had no idea what it was, evidenced by the fact that she tried to write with it herself. But I will be turning this quill in to Dumbledore so that he may destroy it. And I will tell him about how Umbridge had brought such a quill to school, although there is nothing that we can do about it now."

So Harry was in a foul mood as he headed for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione was still in the Infirmary, but Ron was already seated in the classroom.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked Harry, who explained what had happened before.

"But she had been with Hagrid," said Ron is disbelief. "Why didn't he stop her from going to Knockturn Alley?"

Probably because he was in one of the other shops there buying some Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent, Harry thought to himself as he recalled how Hagrid had found him on Knockturn alley four years earlier. But he didn't betray Hagrid's secret that he regularly shopped at Knockturn Alley to Ron.

Harry looked around the classroom and saw that, as in Transfiguration, there were students of different houses around. There were several Hufflepuffs whom Harry recognized as being in Dumbledore's Army last year, and come to think of it, all of the Gryffindors present had been in the DA as well, including Neville, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, Lavender, Katie, and even the twins Fred and George. The only Slytherins in the class were Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, but oddly enough there were no Ravenclaws in this class at all.

"Ron," said Harry, "were there students from other houses in Divination as well?"

"Many," Ron answered. "In fact, the only other Gryffindors were Parvati and Lavender."

"Who's teaching Divination, anyway?"

"Trelawney's back. And guess what? She's making us write another diary, but this time it's all about not dreams, but palm reading. Oh, and if you're wondering why there aren't any Ravenclaws here in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron added, "I overheard that bloke Michael Corner saying that since Marietta Edgecombe got hexed last year, he'd convinced all the other Ravenclaws not to take this class. They're afraid that someone might attack another one from their house."

Harry thought that that was silly of them, dropping Defense Against the Dark Arts just because of Hermione's "Sneak" Charm last year.

Amos Diggory, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, entered the classroom. The first thing he said was "Don't worry, students, I'm much better than Umbridge!"

Every student cheered, except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, of course.

"Indeed, I think that it's important that every Hogwarts student knows how to defend himself or herself from what's out there. As you all know, a few years ago I once had a son who attended this school. He was murdered by You-Know-Who. And I believe that if only he had studied Defense Against the Dark Arts at N.E.W.T level, he would still be alive today."

Professor Diggory's announcement reminded Harry of what Cho had once said to him. But he knew that no number of spells would have protected Cedric from Avada Kedavra.

"Now the first spell we will study at N.E.W.T. level is the Patronus Charm. And who better to demonstrate the Patronus than the best student in the class, Harry Potter."

Malfoy smirked at that last comment. Harry stood up in front of the class, imagining that he was teaching DA lessons once again. He took a deep breath, thought about beating Slytherin at Quidditch again, and said in a loud, clear tone, "Expecto Patronum!"

Soon the silver stag came out of Harry's wand and galloped across the classroom. Diggory was greatly impressed, and even Crabbe and Goyle were surprised. But most of the students in the class had already seen Harry's Patronus back at DA lessons.

"That was a great Patronus, Harry," said Professor Diggory. "Ten points to Gryffindor for performing the spell so well. If all of you practice well, you can make your Patronus as corporeal as his."

Diggory allowed Harry to lead the class in creating Patronuses. Harry would've liked to have seen Cho make her swan Patronus from last year again, but there were no Ravenclaws in the class. The DA students all succeed in generating wisps of smoke, but the only student who came close to making a corporeal Patronus was Malfoy, whose Patronus almost seemed to resemble a ferret. Harry chuckled to himself as he thought back two years to when the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher had Transfigured Malfoy into a large, ugly ferret.

When it was all over, Harry had had his best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson in over a year now. Ron and Harry left together for lunch, where they met Hermione.

"The injury was not serious," said Hermione, "as I had only used the quill once." Harry had no idea how many times he had been forced to use Umbridge's quill the previous year.

After lunch, Harry was in a rather foul mood, since next was Occlumency. He, Ron, and Hermione took the familiar route downstairs to the dungeons and Snape's classroom.

"We have Occlumency with only the sixth-year Slytherins," said Hermione.

"Bummer," said Harry and Ron together.

When Professor Snape entered the classroom, he said, "Students, you are now sitting in Occlumency class, possibly the most important class of your life. Now that the Dark Lord has fully returned, he may be entering your minds, and to protect yourself you must be skilled in the art of Occlumency. Occlumency is not for the weak-minded. So if you are weak-minded, I suggest that you leave this classroom right now."

No student budged from his or her seat, of course.

"Now in order to demonstrate Occlumency, I have asked Potter here who, in theory, has practiced Occlumency every night last summer, to attempt to block his mind from me."

Harry stood up from his desk, and before he knew it, Snape had called out his usual "One, Two, Three, Legilimens!" Harry was reliving his worst memories once again. He was back at the Dursleys being tortured by Dudley. He was in class when everyone was wearing "Potter Stinks!" badges wherever he went. He was in Umbridge's class writing with the quill.

But then, suddenly, he was the Department of Mysteries and the veil room again. The room was empty, just as in his last dream. But then, a figure appeared from the veil. Harry looked up and saw that it was none other than Sirius!

"Harry," said Sirius calmly. "Is that you?"

"Sirius!" Harry ran right up to his godfather and hugged him. "I thought I'd never see you ever again!"

"The dead are never truly gone as long as they are loved and remembered," said Sirius.

"I'm sorry I got you killed--" Harry began.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," Sirius insisted. "My cousin, not you, killed. And besides, as I said before, there are things worth dying for."

"But you didn't have to die at all!"

"Harry," said Sirius. "There is nothing you can do about me. You have your entire life in front of you, and there are better things for you to do than worry about me."

"Yes there is," said Harry. "I'm going to find the Green Flame Torch, and then you won't be just in my dreams anymore. You'll be alive and in the flesh again. Then we'll go to the Ministry of Magic and get your name cleared, and--"

"Harry! Harry! Harry!" the voice of Sirius echoed and faded away. Soon he was back in Snape's classroom again.

"Potter," said Snape, "you didn't even try to block me from your mind that time. Fifteen points from Gryffindor. So--"

But now Harry was angrier at Snape than he had ever been. Snape had just woke him up from his dream and interrupted his first conversation with Sirius in months! Harry was so upset that he just stormed out of the classroom and headed straight for Gryffindor Tower.

Harry couldn't believe that his time at the Burrow was already over. But it was the first day of September and time to go back to Hogwarts. He hoped that this year would be a much better year than last year.

Harry woke up, and a couple of owls delivered the Daily Prophet and the September issue of the Quibbler to the Weasleys' home. He tore through the Quibbler, hoping to see another article on the Green Flame Torch and more information on its whereabouts. But the issue was mainly about Crumpled Horn Snorkacks.

He walked downstairs for breakfast, and Harry ate his food quickly.

"We'll be taking the enchanted car again," said Molly Weasley.

"Yes!" Fred and George cheered together.

All of the Weasleys were going on the trip, even Charlie, who had apparently recovered from his illness of the night before. But they all fit easily into the car, including the school supplies of Harry, Ron, and the younger Weasleys. Also, for added security, the two Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks also attended the trip.

They arrived at King's Cross Station, and so Harry and the others queued up to cross the barrier between platforms nine and ten, three at a time, starting with the twins and Ginny.

"Ouch," said Fred as he failed to cross on his first attempt, causing Muggles to stare.

"We've been doing it for eight years and we still can't do it right," George added.

Finally the three of them made it across, followed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They arrived at platform nine and three-quarters safely and loaded their school supplies onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Good-bye, Mum, good-bye, Dad!" Ron waved to his parents.

"See you at Christmas holidays!" Ginny added.

"If not sooner," said Charlie.

"Why?" asked Fred.

"Forget I said anything," said Charlie.

It reminded Harry of the time when they hosted the Triwizard Tournament, and everyone kept it a secret.

The whistle blew, and the train departed. Hermione and Ron headed toward the special carriage reserved for prefects.

"Ginny," asked Ron, "aren't you coming?"

"She destroyed her prefects badge," said George, "so she isn't a prefect anymore."

"We'll see about that tonight," said Hermione.

So Ron and Hermione left for the prefects' carriage. Harry ended up sharing his compartment with Ginny, Dean, his best friend Seamus Finnegan, as well as Neville Longbottom, whom Harry recalled, had embarrassed him in front of Cho last year on the Hogwarts Express.

After a long, uneventful ride, the train pulled up into Hogsmeade Station, and Harry alighted, heading in the direction of Hogwarts.

"Firs' years this way!" Hagrid called out as he led the first year students to their traditional boat ride across the lake. It was nice, Harry thought, to see Hagrid going on the boat after having missed the first part of the term last year. Harry himself headed towards the carriages pulled by threstrals, creatures which only he and a few others can see.

"I can't believe that Colin Creevey got chosen as Gryffindor prefect," said Hermione as they rode their way to the castle.

"What did Professor McGonagall say when Ginny did not appear?" Harry asked Ron.

"She said that she would let Dumbledore know what happened," he answered.

Harry and the others walked into the castle, crossed the entrance hall, and soon they were in the Great Hall, where the four House tables lay before them. Harry took a seat at the Gryffindor table.

Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on a small six-legged stool. It seemed as if the number of legs on the stool changed every year, Harry thought to himself. Then the hat begin to sing:

There once was a wizard named Gryffindor,
Who was extremely brave.
There once was a witch named Hufflepuff,
Whose best efforts she always gave.
There once was a witch named Ravenclaw,
Who was remarkably smart.
There once was a wizard named Slytherin,
Who from Hogwarts he did depart.
He took with him a weapon,
Of which no one knew before.
The weapon, it was stronger,
Than the sword of Gryffindor.
And so the founding quartet,
To their posterity,
Pass on these gifts they treasured most,
For all eternity.

Well, Harry thought, after singing such a long song last year, the Sorting Hat was bound to give a short song. But what it was singing about seemed to make no sense to Harry, particularly the second half of the song, except for the part about the Sword of Gryffindor, which Harry had pulled from the hat itself back in second year.

The first years queued up in front of the hat in alphabetical order, and each one in turn placed the hat on his head. Harry didn't pay any heed to the first few names, then one name in particular caught his attention.

"Diddy D'Arcy!" said Professor McGonagall.

For a moment there, Harry thought she had said Dudley Dursley. Well, the day that his Muggle cousin showed up at Hogwarts would be the day Harry surrendered himself to Voldemort. He chuckled quietly to himself as Diddy D'Arcy was Sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Mark Evans!" said Professor McGonagall.

Harry thought the name sounded familiar at first. Then as the first year approached the hat, Harry saw that it was the same dark-haired boy whom Dudley had beaten up the summer that Harry turned fifteen. Mark Evans had been ten at the time, so now he was eleven and thus old enough to attend Hogwarts. But Harry thought that Mark Evans was a Muggle, and had no idea that he was actually a wizard all along. He was now glad that there was now another wizard living on Privet Drive.

After Mark Evans donned the hat, it deliberated for a few moments. Finally the hat had made its decision, and it shouted "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry was slightly disappointed, for he knew how bad Slytherins turned out to be. The house was renowned for its Dark witches and wizards. Thus Harry's hopes of having another wizard to talk to while he was stuck on Privet Drive in the summers went right down the drain.

The next student to be Sorted was Jennifer Finch-Fletchley, apparently the younger sister of Justin, who was in Harry's year. Naturally, she was Sorted into Hufflepuff along with her older brother.

"Marla Hedwig," said Professor McGonagall.

Harry stared at the girl now approaching the Sorting Hat. It was his own owl, who he now knew was an Animagus. Naturally she was blonde, considering that her Animagus form was a snowy white owl. He thought back to that day back at Privet Drive when she had suddenly made her escape after receiving her Hogwarts letter.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Marla Hedwig sat at the table, but far away from where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting together. Hermione's mouth was wide open with shock as she covered her mouth with her hands, and Ron turned pale. All of this left Harry with many more questions than answers, to say the least. How did Marla Hedwig become an Animagus before her very first year at Hogwarts? What other powers did she have that Harry didn't know about? And why was she now avoiding Harry?

Once the Sorting was over, Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students.

"As usual, eat now, talk later," was all he said.

The feast began as food piled up on everyone's plates. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione ate, they discussed Harry's owl.

"It's obvious why she's avoiding you now," said Hermione to Harry. "She's an unregistered Animagus, and she's afraid that if anyone finds out, she may end up in Azkaban."

"I still can't believe that she's an Animagus at only eleven," said Ron.

All Harry wanted to do was talk to Marla Hedwig and get some answers. But she was still sitting at the opposite end of the table and students weren't supposed to leave their seats arbitrarily during the feast.

When the feast was over, Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students once again.

"Welcome, students, to another term at Hogwarts. Let me give the usual start-of-term notices that I must give every year. The Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden to all students unless accompanied by a teacher. Once again, there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Amos Diggory."

Professor Diggory stood up, and everyone clapped for him, especially the older Hufflepuffs who had remembered and mourned for his son Cedric.

"And finally," Dumbledore continued, "I must mention the actions of one of our students. I had selected Miss Virginia Weasley of Gryffindor as a prefect this year. But she has decided to reject her prefectship and destroy her prefect's badge. I must admit that, over the thousand-year history of Hogwarts School, she is the first student to have even considered destroying her prefect's badge before the start of term."

Every student in the Great Hall turned to look at Ginny. She blushed and tried to hide her face but said nothing.

"Prefect's badges are magically bound to be issued only once a year, and so a new prefect's badge cannot be issued until the start of next year. And without the badge, no one may call himself or herself prefect. Therefore I am afraid that there shall be only one Gryffindor prefect in fifth year this term. Once again, I must repeat that I am extremely disappointed that Miss Weasley has chosen to reject her prefectship."

When Dumbledore had finished speaking, Harry headed for Gryffindor Tower. As usual, Harry had to look around for a prefect to get the new password.

"Hiya, Harry!" said Colin Creevey. "The new password is 'Mandragora.'"

The Fat Lady let them enter. Harry looked around the Common Room for Marla Hedwig, but she was nowhere to be found. She must have gone to bed early. And so Harry decided that it would be a good idea to go to bed himself.