Harry Potter and the Students of the School of the Sphinx

Harry Potter and the Students of the School of the Sphinx

By Angelina Johnson

Chapter 6

The School of the Sphinx

    The next morning, Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table between Ron and Hermione. He glanced around, hoping to see Ginny. She was with a group of fifth years girls, who were all talking and giggling around her. Harry wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing. He found that he wanted to spend time with Ginny, that he really wanted to be around her, but he was nervous when he was around her, and he felt strange. He had the same sort of feeling around Ginny that he used to have around Cho Chang, except it was different in a way. Harry couldn't quite figure it out. He sighed. He needed to talk to Ginny about what had happened, but it would have to wait.

    "Course schedules," Ron said, passing down a stack of papers. Harry grabbed the one with his name on it, and then passed them to Hermione. He looked down at the schedule. He had continued all of his classes except for Divination, which he had always been terrible at anyway. He had never once in his three years in the class seen anything, and he highly doubted that it would ever do him any good. He had, much to his dislike, continued Potions, which Professor McGonagall had recommended him take if he truly wanted to be an Auror in later life. Harry knew that he would have to work very hard to become an Auror, but it was something that he was willing to do. He compared his own schedule to Ron's and Hermione's.

    "I don't believe it, you've given up Divination and Potions! Wish I could've-McGonagall reckons I'll need it to be an Auror. Two Snape free years-you have all the luck," Harry said glumly.

    "I haven't given up any of my courses! I don't see how you two could-although giving up Divination I understand. Ron, don't you think you're going to need Potions?" Hermione asked.

    "No. I'm not missing anything, it's not like I ever really learned anything from Snape," Ron said.

    "That's not true," Hermione began.

    "Will you two stop arguing? It's only the first day," Harry said. Hermione and Ron both looked at him nervously-they both had been on the wrong end of Harry's temper before and they were not eager to do it again.

    "What do we have today?" Ron asked.

    "I have Potions this morning," Harry said.

    "Yes, that's all I have," Hermione said.

    "I have nothing," Ron said gleefully.

    "Lucky," Harry muttered. Hermione glared at him.

    "All three of us have Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon, though," Hermione said, pointing to their schedules. Harry smiled. He was sure that Potions would be miserable, but Defense Against the Dark Arts was sure to be fun.

    "Say, Harry, I've been thinking, and I was wondering if you thought we should continue the D.A.," Hermione said.

    "I hadn't thought about it. I mean, this year we'll actually be learning things, but maybe we should continue the D.A. anyways. After all, Defense Against the Dark Arts may teach us the spells, but how many people take them seriously? I never thought that I would need any of that stuff until I actually came face to face with Voldemort. Perhaps we should continue anyway. It seems more real to people when I explain to them how it actually can be used," Harry said.

    "So we'll continue it, then? Should we ask Dumbledore for permission?" Hermione asked.

    "I reckon Dumbledore won't mind. I'll talk to Melissa about it, I guess," Harry said.

    Once breakfast was done, Ron headed back up to the Common Room to relax while Harry and Hermione headed towards the dungeons.

    "I can't believe I'm sticking with Potions," Harry muttered darkly.

    "Well, if you have that attitude about it, you're going to have a miserable time," Hermione said.

    "I have a miserable time in Potions no matter what," Harry said. Hermione and Harry took seats next to each other and looked around at the other members of the class. There was a mixture of all Houses in the class. The only other Gryffindor's in the class were Seamus Finnigan and Parvati Patil. There were a few Ravenclaws, and three Hufflepuffs that Harry recognized, Justin Finch-Fletchey, Hannah Abbott, and Ernie Macmillan. Harry looked around and saw Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson sitting together. He was pleased to note that neither Crabbe nor Goyle, Malfoy's flunkies, were in the class.

    "Welcome to Potions class. I am impressed to see that so many of you made it this far. You are the best of the best-supposedly," Snape added, sneering at Harry, "and that is a requirement to be in this class. In the next two years, you will be brewing some of the most difficult potions that exist, and I am sure that some of you will not be up to the challenge. Those who follow this path, however, and do well, will have great futures ahead of them. Today we will start by brewing a very difficult potion. I believe I have mentioned it in past years. This potion is very difficult, and you will be working on it over the next month. At the end of the month, you will test your potions, and if it works correctly, you will have turned into someone else for a short period of time. That's right, you will be brewing the Polyjuice Potion." Harry looked up, not daring to believe his ears. Snape was teaching them the Polyjuice Potion? But he and Hermione and Ron had made this in their second year! Hermione was about to say something, but Harry nudged her.

    "Don't say anything-I need a good grade in Potions for a change. I haven't got a clue how I managed to get into this class, but I know that I'll need to pass it to be able to become an Auror, so don't mess this up, okay?" Hermione nodded.

    That hour in Potions went surprisingly fast. Perhaps it was because Harry had made the Potion before and knew what he was doing, but Snape did not once sneer at his potion or make comments about his pathetic work. Hermione and Harry emerged into the light at the end of the class, and headed up toward the Common Room.

    Ron was there waiting for them. He was looking at them anxiously, waiting for Harry to complain about Snape, but he didn't.

    "We made the Polyjuice Potion," Harry said.

    "What? But we made that in our second year!" Ron said.

    "Yeah, I know," Harry said, "so how did you spend your break?"

    "Dean and Neville and I played Exploding Snap," Ron replied.

    "Where did they go?" Harry asked, looking around and not seeing either one.

    "Dunno," Ron replied.

    Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the Common Room until lunch. Harry decided that it would be smart to work on his Potions essay that Snape had assigned for homework, but for once Hermione wasn't doing homework.

    "What are you writing if it's not homework?" Ron asked.

    "A letter," Hermione replied.

    "You're not still in touch with Viktor Krum, are you?" Ron asked.

    "Maybe I am," she replied in an airy tone.

    "Why? He was a bit of an idiot, if you ask me," Ron said.

    "Oh, leave me alone! You never bother Harry when he writes letters," Hermione answered.

    "The only person Harry ever writes to is Sirius," Ron replied, "and I happen to like Sirius."

    "Well, I don't understand what you have against Viktor," Hermione replied.

    "I don't see why it matters! Will you both just shut up? I happen to want to pass Potions this year," Harry said. This silenced both of them. Harry finished his Potions essay about five minutes before lunch, and he and Ron decided to go ahead and walk to the Great Hall. Hermione remained in the Common Room to finish her letter.

    "I don't know what she sees in that Krum," Ron muttered.

    "I don't see why you care," Harry replied.

    "What? I don't care," Ron replied.

    "Sure seems like you do," Harry replied.

    "Oh, shut up! I don't care who Hermione dates, I just think she could do better than Krum," Ron said.

    "Like who? You?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head, but he was blushing furiously.

    "Well, what about you, then? You may think I'm stupid, but I'm not. I can tell that there's something going on," Ron said. It was Harry's turn to blush.

    "No, nothing's going on," Harry replied.

    "Am I supposed to believe that? Nothing between you and Cho?" Ron asked. Harry glanced across the hall and looked at the person Ron had been talking about. He quickly spotted her at the Ravenclaw table, but his stomach no longer did flips at the sight of Cho Chang. She was still very pretty, but it no longer mattered. Harry felt nothing anymore when he looked at her.

    "Cho? Nope. We broke up, and it's going to stay that way," Harry replied.

    "All right, then what about you and Parvati? You took her to the Yule Ball," Ron said.

    "That was two years ago, and it was because I needed a date for the dance because I was one of the Champions in the tournament. She's barely spoken to me since. Can you just stop? You're being ridiculous," Harry said. Ron acknowledged his defeat. There was no way he was going to get any information out of Harry.

    Lunch passed slowly. Hermione turned up at the very end, and she only grabbed a few bites before she ran back up to the Common Room, saying that she wanted to finish her letter before Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ron glared darkly at her as she left.

    "Don't say it," he shot at Harry, who had just opened his mouth.

    They walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts, laughing the whole way. Harry was glad to be back at Hogwarts after all.

    Melissa beamed at them when they walked into the classroom.

    "I can't believe I didn't guess where you were going," Harry said to his godmother.

    "I thought you had guessed," Melissa replied.

    "No, I had no idea. What happened to you being an Auror? And what about the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked. Melissa glanced around to see that no one else was in the room yet.

    "Well, I quit my job in the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore's got other people inside there. I still work as an Auror, though, but Dumbledore wanted to have one at Hogwarts, and I volunteered for the job. After all, Defense Against the Dark Arts always was my subject. It was the one thing I could beat your parents and Sirius in," Melissa replied with a small smile.

    "Oh. But why did you quit? Didn't you like your job in the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked.

    "Not really. I only worked double jobs for all those years to get my mind off of things. After all, I deserved to be in Azkaban with Sirius. I offered to be the Secret Keeper, but then when Sirius came up with Pettigrew as a bluff I agreed. And then, when he went after Pettigrew, I should have been with him. He wouldn't let me go," she replied bitterly, "and I shouldn't have let him go. If I had stopped him, we probably still could have cleared him. After all, there wasn't so much evidence against him then. I guess you could say it was all my fault. I encouraged him to go after Peter. If I hadn't....." Melissa said.

    "He still would have gone," Harry said, "because that's the way Sirius is."

    "I suppose, but I still feel like there was something that I should have done," Melissa said.

    "My parents wouldn't have wanted you to blame yourself," Harry said.

    "They wouldn't have wanted me to, but they knew that I would find a way to somehow," Melissa said. She was about to say more, but other students began to come into the class.

    "Welcome, everyone, to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Gumtree, for those of you who don't pay attention at the Feast," she added with a wicked grin. Harry glanced behind him at Malfoy, who was whispering something to Pansy Parkinson. Harry could just make out what he was saying.

    "That's the one I was telling you about. It's a pity she associated herself with such scum as Sirius Black, because my dad told me that Professor Snape has quite a high opinion of her. I don't understand why, though, because she must be pathetic, she's related to Potter," Malfoy said.

    "How?" Pansy asked, shocked. Harry was interested in what they were saying, although he felt bad that he wasn't listening to Melissa. Harry had an idea that Malfoy would taunt him with any information that he had, so he decided to be respectful to his godmum.

    "Over the next two years you will be learning some of the most useful spells in protecting yourself from Dark Wizards," Melissa was saying.

    "What makes you think you'll still be here next year?" Malfoy said loudly.

    "What was that? You're Mr. Malfoy, I presume," Melissa said. He nodded.

    "Yeah, that's me. I said what makes you think that you'll be here next year?" Malfoy repeated.

    "And why do you ask such a thing?" Melissa asked him.

    "Well, none of our Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers have ever lasted more than a year. The positions cursed," Malfoy said.

    "The position's not cursed, and I do intend to still be here next year," Melissa said, frowning at him. Harry wanted to hit Malfoy. It was Melissa's first day, and she was already getting trouble from him. Melissa looked as though she weren't quite sure where to continue.

    She had just opened her mouth to speak when Harry felt a searing pain in his scar. It was worse than it had been ever before. He fell to the ground, clutching his head. He felt weak, and he was wondering what had happened. Voldemort was very pleased about something. Harry was not quite aware of what was going on around him. The pain had passed, but Harry stayed on the ground. He could hear the noises around him now-Malfoy and the other Slytherins were laughing, Melissa was trying to calm down some of the panicking Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and the Gryffindors were all gathered around Harry.

    "Are you all right, Harry? What's going on?" Melissa asked.

    "He's happy," Harry muttered. Melissa looked at him carefully. She didn't seem to understand what he meant. Then he saw recognition in her eyes.

    "I'll go talk to Dumbledore after class. Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" she asked. Harry shook his head. He resumed his seat, and tried to concentrate, but it was impossible.

    After class, Hermione and Ron ushered him off to a corner of the Common Room. Ron disappeared, and when he returned he had Ginny with him.

    "What's going on?" Ginny asked, looking at the three of them.

    "I was about to ask Harry the same thing. His scar started hurting really badly in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron explained.

    "Your scar? But that means that Voldemort...." Ginny said, her voice trailing off.

    "Ginny! I thought you had more sense than that!" Ron said, staring at his little sister.

    "Oh, come off it, Ron. It is just a name. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," she said. Harry couldn't help but grin at her. She grinned back, but then her face became concerned again.

    "What happened, though, Harry? Did you see anything? Any visions?" Ginny asked.

    "No, but I do know that he's very happy about something," Harry said.

    "Is that all you know?" Ron asked.

    "Yep, but my scar hasn't hurt like that in a very long time. I wonder what in the world he was so happy about," Harry said.

    "I dunno. Do you reckon we should ask Melissa if she's heard anything? Or should we write to Sirius?" Ron asked.

    "What if that's it? What if he's gotten Sirius?" Ron said. Harry thought about this, but without really knowing for sure, he felt that this was not what it was.

    "He was too happy for it just to be Sirius. And besides, it felt like he was further away than Headquarters," Harry said.

    "How do you know that?" Hermione asked.

    "I'm not sure," Harry said, "but I just know."

    There was a dark silence between the four, and they descended down to dinner quietly. People were chatting happily about their first day back, but Harry noticed that the staff table looked very subdued. Dumbledore met his eyes when he walked in, but he did not smile.

    A few minutes later, the hall had filled, and everyone was expecting the food to appear on the tables when Dumbledore rose.

    "Before you eat, there is something that I must bring to your attention. Today marks the true beginning of a horrible war to come. I was in my office earlier when I received an urgent owl from a friend of mine. This friend happens to be the headmaster of another school of magic, the School of the Sphinx. He informed me that his school was attacked earlier this afternoon by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters." There were gasps around the hall. The nervous whispers quickly died when Dumbledore began to speak again.

    "The school was completely destroyed, and quite a few of the staff and students were either killed or badly injured by the attack. Many of those that remained unharmed have chosen to return to their homes. They believe they will be safer there. However, I have continually urged all of you to come together in the time of need, and today was my turn to practice what I preach. That means that tomorrow we will be joined by the remaining students and staff from the School of the Sphinx. I wish for all of you to be kind to them, and to welcome them to Hogwarts. I have a feeling that they will be here for quite a while," Dumbledore said.

    "With that, I leave you to your dinner," he said, finally sitting down.

    "Those poor people," Hermione muttered.

    "School of the Sphinx-that's in Egypt! What's Voldemort doing there?" Ron asked.

    "If he can attack that school, who's to say that he can't attack Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

    "With Dumbledore here, we're safe. But-I have a bad feeling about all of this," Harry said.

    "Who wouldn't?" Ginny said quietly.