The New Shaman

Chapter 0ne- Dumbledore's letter

Harry rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock sitting on his bedside table. The glowing red numbers shined brightly in the darkness, reading 6:06 am.

"Dammit," he grumbled, "I'm never going to get their damn schedule out of my system."

It was Harry's first day back at the Dursley's, and three days before he went back to Hogwarts on September first. The Dursleys had shipped him off to St. Brutus' Military Camp for the summer, because they wanted him to 'learn some discipline' and 'how to act normally'. But Harry didn't buy it. He knew it was because Aunt Marge was spending the summer with them. It had turned out that her precious bulldogs had more then just fleas and she had to have her house fumigated. He knew that he had been shipped off because on Aunt Marge's last visit four years ago, he had accidentally made her swell up like a balloon after she had made a rude comment about his parents, and that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were afraid that it might happen again. But he wasn't an idiot. If she had done it again, he would have just blown her sky high.

St. Brutus' had been the worst experience of Harry's life, and with all that Harry had gone through in his short seventeen years of life, this was saying a lot. At camp he had had to wake up at five o'clock every morning, run laps, do millions of push ups, run obstacle courses, listen to pushy up-tight sergeants yelling and spitting in his face, scrub floors, and march for hours upon hours everyday in all weather. As much as he hated to admit it, after camp even coming home to the Dursley's sounded good.

Harry decided that he might as well get up and went to go get in the shower. As the hot water ran over him, he couldn't help but let his mind wander around for a bit. He wondered what Ron and Hermoine were up to, because he hadn't been able to keep contact with them at camp. God only knows what would have happened if Sgt. Bronski would have seen Hedwig delivering him mail. Harry chuckled out loud; 'although it probably would have been pretty funny' he thought picturing the plump, purple-faced sergeant. He had sent Hedwig to stay with Hermoine over the summer since she still didn't have an owl of her own, and Harry couldn't take her to camp with him. That and because he was afraid that Dudley would have roasted and eaten her. He was still on a diet for Smeltings. Harry didn't know why though, he was still just as fat as when he started it three years ago.

And then he remembered something. Something that had been troubling him the entire time he'd been at camp. It was a strange dream; a dream where he sat on his four-poster bed at Hogwarts staring out the window at the stars. Then he would see her. She, whoever she was, was the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen in his life and he would call out to her. Then she would look at Harry and start to sing. It was a song that Harry had never heard before, but it was beautiful. She would sing, in a soulful, enchanting voice:

"And your lips burn wild- thrown from the face of a child

And in your eyes I see the- greatest Hughes, yeah.

Do what you will- always

Walk where you like- your steps

Do as you please, I'll- back you up"

Then she would fall, and Harry would wake up with a strange burning sensation in his scar. And although the burning wasn't painful, it always left him feeling unsettled. He wondered who she was. If he would ever meet her, what the dream meant, and why it kept haunting him. He got out of the shower, singing her song softly to himself, and then he got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen.

He had just finished making himself some toast and scrambled eggs when Hedwig soared in the window and dropped three or four letters on the table.

" 'ullo," Harry said offering her the corner off his toast, "Did you miss me?" Hedwig hooted softly in reply and then nibbled at his ear affectionately.

"Get that ruddy creature out of here!"

Harry turned around and saw Uncle Vernon glowering at him. "What are you doing down here so early?" Harry asked gathering up his letters off the table.

Uncle Vernon shifted uncomfortably, "I came down to get some breakfast, same as you. A man can't live off grapefruit slices and celery sticks alone. Now get out of here!" Harry dumped his dishes in the sink, and strode past his uncle into the hallway.

"Don't feel bad." He told Hedwig who was still perched on his shoulder, "that's about the same welcome I got."

Once back in his room Harry took Hedwig to her cage and pulled his blinds back so that the room was flooded with the light gray mist of early morning sunshine. Then he sat down to open his letters. The first one was from Hogwarts, and as he read it his mouth dropped open in shock. Harry stared at the letter in disbelief, and then picked up the small silver badge that had fallen into his lap. He turned it over and saw that it had the Hogwarts coat of arms in the background and HB over it.

"I beat Malfoy," he said out loud, still stunned, "I beat Malfoy! Oh my God, I beat Malfoy! Eat shit you old son-of-a..."

"If you don't mind," Aunt Petunia growled, interrupting, "Some of us are still trying to sleep! Now be quiet or I'll have your Uncle Vernon make you!" She stormed out, but not even she could ruin his mood now. 'Wow,' he thought, 'Head Boy! Wait 'till I tell Ron and Hermoine! Wait 'till I tell 'em I beat Malfoy! Stomped him flat!' He pinned his badge to his shirt and decided to get on with reading the rest of his letters. The next one was from Hermoine, who wrote to tell him that she had been appointed Head Girl. This didn't surprise Harry much; he had known she'd be Head Girl since they were first years. She was after all the cleverest witch in their class. The next letter was from Ron, who wrote to tell him about his trip to Ireland to see his two older brothers, the twins Fred and George, who had just opened up their first joke shop: The Weasley Wheezers. Harry picked up the fourth letter and suspected it to be from his God father Sirius Black. He was surprised to see that it was not from Sirius at all, but was from Hogwarts also. "What could they possibly be sending me?" he wondered aloud ripping the letter open.

"Dear Harry,

As you are currently Head Boy at Hogwarts for the following school year, there are some before term issues that I wish to discuss with you before the rest of the school arrives. I am sending Hagrid to fetch you one the thirtieth of August at ten o'clock a.m. So please have all of your Hogwarts things ready to go by that date. He will then take you, also on the thirtieth, to Diagon Alley to buy your new school things if you have not done so already. That night you will stay in a room that I have reserved for you at the Leaky Cauldron. On the thirty-first you will proceed to Hogwarts.

Safe Journeys,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster"

"I wonder what he wants to speak with me about? It must be terribly important if I have to go earlier then everyone else." He checked his calendar. "Aw, Geez, Hagrid's coming tomorrow!!" And with that he pulled out his trunk and started to pack away his things.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed glad that they would be getting rid of Harry for a few days early, and as not to ruin their good mood Harry decided to spend the rest of the day in town. After a quick stop at Thalamus Diggle's house to trade some of his wizard coins for muggle money he set off. He spent the entire day there shopping. 'I feel like a damn girl,' Harry thought while standing in front of the mirror in one of his new outfits back at the Dursley's. It meant a lot to him to have new clothes though, because his whole life he had had to wear Dudley's old hand me downs. And with Dudley being very fat and Harry being rather skinny, he had always looked ridiculous in them. Harry ran his fingers through his hair and smiled at his reflection.And with that he packed the rest of his new things, put on his pajamas and went to bed.

As he lay there that night he couldn't help but wonder why Dumbledore wanted to see him. 'Perhaps they've hidden something in the school like they did with the Sorcer's Stone during first year,' he wondered but quickly dismissed the idea. Their hiding the stone in Hogwarts had almost resulted in his death, and even possibly Ron and Hermoine's when they had gone to try and find it and encountered Lord Voldemorte. Harry shuddered upon the memory. Then an even worse thought crossed his mind. What if Dumbledore wanted to see him earlier then everyone else to tell him that there had been a mistake calculating and that Malfoy was actually supposed to be Head Boy? 'Impossible! I'm letting my imagination run away with me.' But still, he couldn't help giving a nervous glance to the Head Boy badge laying on his nightstand. "Ridiculous," he said aloud. So imagine his surprise at ten o'clock the next morning when Hagrid showed up with Malfoy in tow.

***********************************

As Harry went about his day, Alexa Morgoton sat on the airplane that would take her to London, staring sulkily out the window. She didn't want to leave the U.S.! She loved it there! And now they were throwing her into a completely new world, full of strange new people who weren't even from the same continent as she was! Her only consolation was that her best friend from Bruhilda's Training Camp for Talented Witches, Hermoine Granger, was going to be there. 'Please let me be placed in Gryfindor!' she thought pleadingly. The only other nice thought she had was that she finally would be meeting Harry Potter. She had seen the handsome green-eyed boy often in her visions, but it wasn't until the day before that her Grandfather told her who he was; she could still hear his voice.

"Fate is sending you to Hogwarts to be with the Potter boy. Together you will overthrow the dark lord, for no one else has the kind of magic that you two possess. You must be careful though, and read the stars for guidance."

Alexa had done so that night and she did not like what they told her. They showed her that she would have to make the ultimate sacrifice in order for Harry to live and defeat the dark lord. She had decided that under no circumstances would she fall in love with him, just so that she would have to die for him later (she assumed that would be the ultimate sacrifice). That she would 'deeply care' for him and no more. If she became involved with him at all! 'No! Nothing more then friendship! I'll be the biggest bitch ever to him,' she thought firmly. It wouldn't be hard, her grandfather always told her that she had a kind of bad attitude that made her ugly, despite how pretty she may be on the outside. She was starting to feel better and was even getting a little excited to see her new school, Hermoine, and especially Harry. She winced. 'I don't want to see him sexually,' she thought reassuring herself, 'he just sounds like a really cool guy.' She pulled out her Walkman and started listening to her favorite Dave Matthews tune singing along softly,

"And your lips burn wild- thrown from the face of a child.

And in your eyes I see the- greatest Hughes, yeah

Do what you will- always

Walk where you like- your steps

Do as you please I'll- back you up"

She smiled. Alexa really liked her voice; it was very Joni Mitchell/Sheryll Crow. But then again, she had grown up chanting and singing incantations with her grandfather and the tribe. It was kind of a necessity that she be able to sing. But she was proud of her voice; she had practiced for ages to master it! 'Pride,' she thought, 'that's the other thing grandfather warned about.' One again the old man's words echoed in her brain, "Pride in the form of self-conceit is never a good thing Alexa. It would do you good to learn that. It will drive people away, and no one wishes to be alone." She rolled her eyes and laid her head back to sleep. Soon she would be at Hogwarts, hopefully getting there late. She didn't feel like sitting down and chatting with the headmaster. Tomorrow she had a big day full of signing papers, buying school supplies, and meeting teachers. Then, finally on the thirty-first she would get to see Hermoine and Harry. She soon nodded off, the serene smile still on her face, Dave Matthew's sullen, emotional voice leaking from her earphones.