Professional Pranksters I: The Hogwarts Four

2. Don't worry about Houses. Tom Riddle does not have a grudge against all Gryffindors. Nor do most other Slytherins. The House rivalry is not as it is today.

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise before pocketing the checklist and following Dumbledore out of the Gryffindor common room. The dormitory looked a lot like it did in fifty years, and Harry wasn't complaining. It would make him feel more at home. The other boys weren't exactly unfriendly, but there were four of them already paired as friends, and Harry had a sinking feeling he would be left out all year.

Dumbledore made him jump by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You will settle in, Mr Evans. Don't be put off. There are plenty of other students in the school."

"I know," Harry mumbled. They were just rounding a corner when a loud, indignant voice with a Scottish accent sounded in front of them. Harry looked up and saw two girls about his age bickering, one with a long dark plait and the other with blonde curls.

"Quidditch is not barbaric! Just because of that little incident in second year with the Bludger -"

Dumbledore coughed. "Ladies?"

Both girls spun round in surprise. "Professor! Sorry, we didn't realise we were being so loud!"

"Speak for yourself," spoke up the blonde one. Despite the tone, she had a grin on her face, which made Harry realise that the arguing was apparently in fun.

The first girl glared at her. Harry thought she looked slightly familiar.

"Um, hello," he announced his presence.

Two pairs of eyes turned on him. The gaze of the dark-haired girl made him feel as though he was being scrutinised.

"Who are you?" the blonde asked curiously. "I haven't seen you before." Her eyes flickered to the Muggle clothes and Harry felt rather uncomfortable.

"This is Harry Evans; he's just transferred," Dumbledore spoke up. "He's a sixth year as well. I was rather hoping you two would help him get settled in, show him around ...?"

"Of course, Professor!" Both girls sounded enthusiastic about it, though the dark-haired girl didn't look it. She didn't look hostile either: just curious.

"Well," Dumbledore said cheerfully, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder, "I shall leave him in your capable hands." Harry noticed a faint blush crept onto the dark-haired girl's cheeks at that remark, and was sure Dumbledore didn't. "I'll leave you three to it, then."

"You can trust us, sir," the blonde said with a grin, saluting.

"I'm sure I can," Dumbledore said, chuckling. "Just don't drop any chandeliers on him, will you?"

"Professor!" Both girl sounded scandalised. Dumbledore chuckled and left.

Something stirring in his memory, Harry pulled out his checklist.

3. Watch out for falling chandeliers.

"What's that?"

Harry hurriedly stuffed the list back into his pocket. "Nothing."

The blonde girl didn't seem to have noticed. "Hi Harry, I'm Poppy." She thrust her hand out at him and he shook it hesitantly, not missing the fact that she was flirting obviously with him. He didn't realise girls were so open in this time - or was it just this one in particular?

"Um, hi."

"Knock it off, Pops," the dark-haired girl said dryly. "Just ignore her, Harry, she flirts with every new boy fourth year or over."

"I do not!" Poppy exclaimed, but let go of his hand quickly.

"And, you are?" Harry asked his rescuer.

"Mina," she replied, but before she could say anything else a teacher rounded the corner Dumbledore had just disappeared from.

"Girls! I thought Headmaster Dippet banned you from loitering in the halls?"

Harry gaped. Mina noticed.

"Yes Professor, sorry Professor, won't happen again Professor, we'll just go now Professor," she reeled off quickly, grabbing Harry's arm and marching him down the hall. When they were out of earshot she leaned in and whispered, "Don't stare."

"How did she get rabbit ears?" Harry muttered back.

"She sat in on my Animagus training, and - er - my wand was malfunctioning that day."

A chuckle from behind them alerted Harry to Poppy following close behind.

"That's the edited version, anyway."

"Poppy!"

"What happened?" Harry asked, turning to look at her.

"My wand," Mina ground out through gritted teeth, "was malfunctioning. That is the end of it."

"Right, you keep telling yourself, Mina," Poppy grinned. To Harry she answered, "The rest of the school - and me - thinks Mina cursed her for flirting with -"

"Shut up, Poppy!"

"- Professor Dumbledore," Poppy finished.

"Poppy!" Mina moaned.

"Dumbledore?" Harry said quizzically, looking back at Mina with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's not like you won't hear it from the rest of the school," Mina muttered, looking down at the ground.

"Mina's got a little crush," Poppy said, moving out of arm reach.

Mina glared at her and changed the subject. "So Harry, where've you transferred from?"

"Well, transferred is not really the right word. I was tutored at home."

"Why did you come here?"

He shrugged. "I fancied a change, and heard it was the best wizarding school in the world."

"What's your favourite subject?" Mina quizzed.

"Defence against the Dark Arts, and Quidditch."

"Really? What position do you play?"

He grinned. "Seeker."

"Mina's a Gryffindor Beater," Poppy interrupted. "Are you good?"

"I've been told I am." Harry thought it best to avoid mentioning he was the youngest House Seeker in a century - Not only would it be technically incorrect now, but it might make Poppy even more keen than she appeared to be.

They arrived in the Entrance Hall. It was almost completely devoid of students. The crystal chandelier that Harry knew to be hanging from the ceiling in present day - the same one he'd caught Professor McGonagall encouraging Peeves to unscrew - was being re-hung. It looked like it had recently been broken and repaired.

"Can we go somewhere?" Mina asked, looking up at the chandelier with what looked like a guilty look on her face. "I don't want another detention for loitering."

"Or murder," Poppy muttered. Mina kicked her in the shin.

"Ouch!"

"So, shall we give you the grand tour?" Mina directed at Harry.

"Actually, Dumbledore's already pretty much shown me where everything is," he replied, thinking that he really didn't want a tour of a school he already knew pretty well, thanks to the Marauders' Map - which was sitting in his bag in Gryffindor Tower.

"He can't have shown you everything, but okay, we'll leave the boring stuff for later. Where do you want to go now?"

Poppy interrupted. "Mina, we've got a Transfiguration assignment due Monday. We should get started."

"I don't mind going to the library." Harry had had an exhausting day and he didn't fancy the common room. Besides, they'd just spent about ten minutes walking away from it.

The library was agreed and the three of them hurried off. Mina in particular seemed to be eager to get away from the chandelier.

The atmosphere in the library was a much more relaxed one than Harry had experienced back in Gryffindor Tower. Poppy sat quickly down at a table for four before the group of Hufflepuffs that had been making their way towards it. They glared at her and turned to a different one, and Mina and Harry sat down and Harry pulled out his checklist.

4. Don't stare at her ears.

He grinned to himself and pocketed the list again. Poppy was scribbling on her essay, tongue between her teeth. After a moment or two Harry suddenly realised he was watching her, and quickly looked away before she caught him. His eyes fell on Mina.

He was positive he'd seen her before. Her eyes, now they were close, he saw were a deep grass green, and she wore glasses like he did. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, but instead of focusing on an essay, she appeared to be doodling patterns on a scrap piece of parchment.

"Have you done your assignment, then?" he asked her.

"Nope."

Poppy looked up. "Mina, don't try it again."

"Try what?"

"So soon after the Binns incident? You'll end up expelled if you keep landing yourself in detention."

"Professor Dumbledore," Mina said, shooting Poppy a frown, "wouldn't expel me."

"'Course he wouldn't, everyone knows you're his favourite. But Dippet might. You do remember the chandelier-dropping is on all of our permanent records?"

"Poppy," Mina said in exasperation, "when Ro isn't around you are twice as bad as she is. Shut up about the incident, please."

"Who's Ro?" Harry asked to change the subject.

"Short for Rolanda. She's Mina's best friend, and the Slytherin Quidditch captain. And is that Tom Riddle over there again?"

Harry turned around so fast he got a crick in his neck. His breath caught in his throat as he spotted a boy his age, pale, with dark hair that fell in his eyes and grey eyes (Harry couldn't make out the colour from that distance, but he could paint it in his mind's eye) that seemed to be absorbed in a book, but kept flickering over to their table.

"Don't look!" Mina hissed at him. Harry quickly looked away from Riddle and back to Mina, who was determinedly staring at her doodles, but her eyes were unfocused. "Is he looking at me?" she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

Uh-oh. Harry could see what was coming. Dumbledore himself had pointed out that Riddle had been a handsome boy at school, but Harry had never pictured girls liking him. Now he thought about it, he ought to have foreseen it. He knew he couldn't meddle with the past, but at that moment he felt it was his moral obligation to stop any girl regretting getting involved with Lord Voldemort.

"No," he said firmly in answer to her question.

Poppy stared at him, confused. "What are you talking about? Yes he is!"

Mina took a deep breath and quickly glanced over at Riddle's table, appearing to be looking somewhere to the left of him but her eyes flickered in his direction before she turned back.

"That's the third time this week," Poppy muttered.

"I thought you liked Dumbledore?" Harry murmured.

"I do," Mina admitted, blushing slightly, "but I can like two boys at once, can't I?"

"Professor Dumbledore is hardly a boy," Poppy giggled, stuffing her fingers in her mouth.

"You know what I mean," Mina snapped.

"Watch out, he's coming over!" Poppy whispered. Harry tensed.

"Afternoon," he greeted them.

Mina turned round to face him. "Hello, Tom."

He smiled openly at her. It was a pleasant smile, but Harry firmly disliked the look in his eyes.

"You're not doing your essay?"

"I, uh, I'm saving it for tomorrow."

Harry looked back and forth between Mina and Riddle. The latter wasn't taking any notice of him or Poppy, but Mina's eyes kept darting in his direction.

"Then you won't mind taking a walk with me," he said. "I was just going to go around the lake, to clear my head a bit. Do you want to join me?"

"I, um ..." Mina glanced back at her companions. Harry was fighting the urge to punch Tom Riddle in the face, but Poppy was giving Mina encouraging glances.

"All right," she agreed.

"Great," Tom smiled at her, waiting as she packed her things away. He held out his arm for her as she stood up and she took it. "Ready to go, McGonagall?"

"It's Mina," she said firmly.

"Mina, then."

"Have fun!" Poppy said flirtatiously. "Don't break too many school rules!"

"Poppy!" Mina hissed. "See you later, you two." She practically pulled Riddle out of the library with her.

Harry stared after Mina in surprise, then pulled out his checklist again. The fifth instruction was not in Dumbledore's handwriting.

5. Don't call me Minerva.

TBC ...