A Year Away

"C'mon, Ron," throwing his pillow at his friend's head, Harry yelled at the red haired boy in the bed next to him, "Wake up!"

Ron simply groaned, rolled over and tucked the offending pillow under his head.

"Alright then, suit yourself." Harry said as he walked through the door, "I'll be down eating breakfast..." He cut himself off as he heard the teen behind him suddenly sit up and fall out of bed in his haste.

----------

The first class of the day was Transfiguration. Everyone was anxious to get started; many of their older friends had talked about how they were starting Animagius training. Due to that little bit of information, all the students were waiting impatiently in their seats when McGonagall walked in.

"Pay attention," she barked at the already-quiet students. "As many of you may have heard, this year we will be beginning to explore Animagus transformations. I do not expect most of you to actually have the inborn ability to become Animagi."

Harry leaned forward in between Ron and Hermione. "Does McGonagall seem a bit agitated to you?"

"Mr. Potter." Harry looked up into his head of house's stern face. "10 points from Gryffindor. If you continue to try and talk over me in my own classroom, you will find yourself in the Headmaster's office. Do I make myself clear?"

"Inescapably."

"Now what was so important that you had to interrupt my class to say it?"

"I was just commenting on how lovely you look today."

"I do not believe that that is appropriate talk for the middle of class."

"Would it help if I changed my answer to 'I was saying how excited I am to start'?"

"No. It would not. You will not talk again in my classroom."

"Yes, ma'am." He mimed a salute.

A few people chuckled. Hermione gasped at Harry's audacity.

The rest of the class passed without incident. Unfortunately, it was the cliché calm before the storm.

----------

Potions started out like any other potions class Snape taught; points off of any house other than Slytherin and a few insults about the incompetence of his students.

"The potions you will be brewing this year are both highly difficult and often highly dangerous. I expect that only a few of you posses the proficiency to prepare them correctly," Snape looked at Draco as he said this.

"The first potion you will be brewing is the Polyjuice potion. Who knows what this potion does? Mr. Malfoy?"

"The Polyjuice potion will cause the drinker to take on the appearance of someone else for one hour."

"Very good, Mr. Malfoy. 10 points to Slytherin."

He looked around the room and spotted Harry, who was slumped down in his seat playing with a paper football. "Mr. Potter! What are the six ingredients of the Polyjuice potion?"

Harry looked up at the greasy man and then turned his attention to his desk again. Not only had he helped Hermione make the potion in their second year, but had actually brewed it himself last year. "Knotgrass, lacewing flies, fluxweed, leeches, powdered horn of bicorn and shredded boomslang skin. Then of course there's the seventh ingredient: a bit of the person the drinker is planning on turning into."

"Five points from Gryffindor for passing him the answers, Miss Granger," Snape sneered.

"Hermione didn't tell him that!" Ron burst out.

"10 points from Gryffindor for your outburst. Of course she did, there is no way Potter would have known that otherwise." Snape waved his wand and the directions for the potion appeared on the board. "As this particular potion takes one month to brew, you will start it today. If your potion is still up to scratch in a month, doubtable as that is," he drawled looking down on Neville, who had somehow made it into the NEWT level class (no doubt with Hermione's help), "you will have the chance to test it out."

The class split into pairs. Ron moved next to Harry, but the green-eyed teen motioned for his friend to pair up with Hermione. Harry walked over to Neville's table.

"Hey, Nev, be my partner?"

"You sure about that Harry?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because I'm horrible at potions."

"Here, I'll let you in on a secret. I've already made this potion before, twice actually. Just do what I say and it'll turn out fine."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Let's get started. Okay, you set up the cauldron and I'll go get the ingredients."

"Aye, Aye, Captain!"

Between the two of them they managed to get through the class without any more incidents. There was one point where Neville almost knocked the cauldron off the desk with his elbow, but Harry wasn't the youngest seeker in a century for nothing. Seeing what was about to happen he quickly drew his wand and stopped the potion from splashing to the floor.

At the end of the period, Snape walked around to assess the class's progress. He, as usual, complimented the Slytherins and insulted the Gryffindors.

"It's a good thing you paired up with Miss Granger, Weasley. Your potion would undoubtedly be abysmal if you hadn't. At least now it's adequate, though not quite up to scratch." Snape moved on to scrutinize Harry and Neville's potion. "Potter and Longbottom. Looks like you added too many leeches. Shame, your potion would have actually been salvagable if you hadn't."

Harry looked at his least favourite teacher with a smirk on his face. "Actually, sir. With the addition of three leeches, the potion's effects can be extended an extra hour."

"In all my time studying potions, I have never once heard of this."

"Well then maybe you should study a little harder."

"Harry!" Hermione whispered in shock.

"20 points for your cheek Potter."

----------

The Trio made their way down to the Great Hall for lunch after Potions.

"Harry, I cannot believe you said that to Professor Snape!" Hermione's voice conveyed her disapproval.

"Yeah, mate. That was brilliant!" Ron obviously didn't share the same feelings as Hermione. "Did you see the look on his face when you said that? He looked like he was going to kill you!"

"Ron, really. Harry, you shouldn't talk to a professor like that."

Harry stopped in the middle of the entrance to the dining area. "With all he's done to us? The git deserved a little taste of his own medicine." He made his way towards the Gryffindor table again. "Besides, I can't exactly say that I'm scared of him. He can't hurt me, only Voldemort can, remember?"

Sitting down, Harry looked up at the head table. Snape was glaring at him. Harry smiled at the potions master and waved at him innocently.

"That man is going to look like a fool when my theory proves true." Harry turned to face Ron as his friends took the seat next to him.

"What theory?"

"The one about the leeches. About how if you add a few more it extends the time limit on the potion."

"How do you know it'll work out?" Hermione leaned across the table to listen to their conversation.

"Because I've already done it once before," Harry gave her a lopsided smile. "That's how."

----------

"I need to stop by the book store. There's a book I need for Arithmacy," Hermione told the boys as they strolled onto the grounds.

"Alright, but we've got to go see Fred and George's new shop. I haven't been in it yet." Ron threw his arm around her shoulder and hugged her close.

"And I will be going to Honeyduke's. I haven't had a Fizzing Whizbee for an entire year." Harry grinned at the way his friends were acting together.

It was two days before Halloween and the three of them were out on their first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. The weather was a little bit of a downer; the autumn wind pushed its way through their cloaks and chilled them.

"You have to remember to get new robes too, Harry," said Ginny as she came up behind the group.

"Right, forgot about that. The professors aren't going to let me keep coming to class in jeans and t-shirts for very much longer."

"How about you head over to the robes shop. 'Mione and I'll go to the book store and then meet you at the Twins' in an hour and a half." Ron suggested.

"Alright, I'll see you then." Harry waved and headed to the right while Ron and Hermione went left. He'd gone a few yards before he heard quick footsteps coming up behind him.

"Wait up, Harry!" Ginny leaned on his arm to catch her breath. "You walk too fast."

"Sorry, Gin. I didn't know you were coming with. I would've slowed down." Harry looked down at her. "So, you're going to help me pick out some robes?"

"That and mum didn't get the chance to buy me a cloak, so I wanted to look for one."

Harry held open the door to the robes shop as Ginny stepped through.

The girl behind the counter didn't even look up as the door shut. "Welcome to Madam Raybell's Robes & Cloaks. Feel free to look around. If you need any help, I'll be happy to assist you in any way I can." She sounded anything but happy to help as she turned the page of her Teen Witch Weekly magazine.

"Actually, if you could just point me to your black robes section?" Harry asked politely.

Sighing, she set down her magazine and started pointing before she looked up, "Over there... Oh, you're-you're Harry Potter." She came around the counter.

"Apparently." He nodded towards the racks she had pointed to, "Right over here?"

"Y-Yes sir."

"Thanks. I think my friend here wanted to look at cloaks, right Gin?"

Ginny was stifling a giggle. She nodded in agreement, "Right."

"Well, just come with me and we'll find you one then."

Harry flicked through the black robes on the rack, picking out a few different fabrics.

"Harry! Could you come here for a second?"

"What'd you need, Ginny?"

"I can't decide between these two." She held up two cloaks. One was a deep blue and the other was a silvery white.

"What happened to plain black?"

"You don't like them?"

"That's not it. Either of them would look great, I was just wondering why you went straight to the colors."

"I don't know. Black just seemed really boring." She smiled at him. "So, which one do you think?"

Harry looked at the two cloaks. "Blue, definitely the blue. It matches your eyes, plus, if you spill anything it won't be as noticeable as it would on the white."

"Okay, blue it is." She handed the clothing to the girl.

"I'll go ring this up for you. Did you find anything, Mr. Potter?"

"Err... yes. I have two fabrics I'd like to have robes made out of." He followed her and Ginny up to the counter and laid the two robes on the counter. Ginny was handing the girl her money.

"Alright." She picked up the heavier one. Harry planned to use those for colder days and days when he might get something on them. Days he had Potions, for instance. "How many of this?"

"Five of each should do it." He watched as she picked up the other too. It was made of a lighter fabric. It wouldn't do much to keep him warm, but it would be good for training. The lightness would be easier to move around quickly in.

The girl nodded and pulled out a tape measurer. "You'll need to take off your jumper, Mr. Potter." She looked a little embarrassed to be asking him that. "For accurate measurements."

"Of course." Harry pulled the charcoal shirt over his head. He had a white tank top on underneath.

"Harry Potter!" Ginny exclaimed, "what are you doing keeping that body away from the female public?" She hit his arm playfully.

Harry flicked her forehead, "Quiet, you." The girl at the counter was casting furtive glances at him. She waved her wand and the tape measurer went to work. After a minute or two, it crumpled to the floor.

The girl came back around to the front of the counter again and picked it up off the floor. "I'll owl your order to you in a few days, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you." He and Ginny walked out the door and headed for the large "WWW" sign hanging over Fred and George's joke shop.

They never did make it to the shop. Harry suddenly felt cold. A woman screamed.

Harry looked around for the woman, but couldn't see anyone.

Then he realized what he was really hearing.

"Shit."

"What is it Harry?"

"Dementors." He was right, about forty of the wraith-like figures were making their way down the street.

He pulled his wand out of his back pocket. Ginny drew hers as well, ready to cast the Patronus spell.

Harry conjured a ballpoint pen and a sheet of paper.

"Harry? What are you doing?"

"Just hold on a sec Ginny."

He quickly wrote a short note on the paper, Ginny looked over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

Alpha

Hogsmeade.

Dementors.

Bring The Pack and the girls.

Phoenix

"Dementors are attacking and you're writing a note?" Ginny looked at him like she thought he belonged in the St. Mungo's Psych Ward.

He rolled his eyes and tapped the paper with his wand. He then turned to the Dementors.

"Expecto Patronum!" The silver stag erupted from his wand and galloped towards the Dementors. Ginny's eagle came right behind it. Harry thought he saw Hermione's otter and Ron's lion as well. He was distracted though by ten loud cracks to his left. Ten teenagers had just apparated in. The next moment ten Patroni joined the other four fighting off the Dementors.

Another crack came from the direction of the advancing Dementors. A Death Eater was standing in the midst of the wraith-like creatures. The man was obviously uncomfortable.

Harry barely had time to register the arrival of the Death Eater before another scream pierced the air. A young woman was trying to shield her infant son from a few of the Dementors that had split off from the crowd. Harry tried to signal for his Patronus to help, but he could tell it was too late. A Dementor swooped down and covered the woman's mouth with its own, sucking her soul from her. The wailing baby rolled from his mother's arms as she hit the ground. Immediately, the Dementor attempted to claim his soul as well but Harry's Stag drove it back.

The Death Eater laughed and pointed his wand at the woman on the ground. Harry couldn't hear the spell that shot towards her but saw its effects begin to work instantly. The Death Eater apparated out of the street, but Harry kept his gaze locked on the wall.

The orange light shot straight through her body and a red spot began to grow on the stone wall behind her. He realized with a jolt that it was blood. The liquid began forming shapes that eventually became letters.

His eyes blazed with a green fire as he read the words on the wall Welcome back, Potter.

Harry's Patronus stayed by the baby comforting it as the other apparitions made short work of the remaining black figures. When they were all gone Harry walked over to pick up the baby. Looking around he tried to find someone of authority that he could give the boy to.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find a shocked young man. Harry looked from the man to the baby and noticed a resemblance.

"I'm sorry." Harry couldn't think of anything else to say as he handed the man's son back to him.

The man's blue eyes clouded with tears as he held the crying infant and looked at his wife's body. Harry turned to walk away when he heard the man speak.

"Thank you for what you did."

Harry turned back and looked down at the woman on the ground. His own voice sounded hollow when he spoke, "I should have done more."

The man shook his head. "You did what you could, Mr. Potter. That's all we can ask from you." He looked down at the now-sleeping boy in his arms. The infant had cried himself to exhaustion. "You saved my son. I could have lost the two most important people in my life today, but because of you I still have one of them. Thank you, and... good luck." He walked away then, holding the baby close to his chest, his tears wetting the blanket it was bundled in.

Harry stood in silence for a moment. Before he turned to walk back to where he'd left his friends, he conjured a white blanket and laid it over the woman. Looking up at the words written in the still-wet blood he felt his anger boil up again.

Ron and Hermione pushed their way through the crowd towards Ginny and the other eight teens.

Harry walked up and punched the tallest boy in the chest. "Nice timing, Pete."

Pete rubbed his chest where Harry had hit him. "Good to see you too, jerk off. You know how much that hurt?"

"Stop being such a baby."

"Are you calling me a baby?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Asshole."

"Fucker."

"Harry!" Hermione gasped.

Ron cut in, "um, Hi. Harry, you want to introduce us?"

"Sorry. This is Ron, Hermione and Ginny." Harry then introduced the others.

The tall boy who'd he'd been talking to, Pete, had very short brown hair and blue eyes. Eric had wavy, dirty-blonde hair that kept falling in front of his hazel eyes and was almost as tall as Pete. A boy named Kage had long black hair and dark grey eyes. Andy had messy brown hair, brown eyes and was shorter and chubbier than any of the others. Chris had blonde hair, blue eyes and wore small, gold-framed glasses. And the last of the boys had green spiked hair and brown eyes. His name was Tanner.

The other four were girls. Elana had curly dark brown hair and eyes and she was obviously of Spanish descent. Trin had a short blonde pixie cut and violet eyes. Her real eye color was brown, but she had thought that was too boring. Jamie was also blonde, but had blue eyes and was taller than any of the other girls. The last was named Laura. Her blonde hair and light blue eyes reminded Ron of Malfoy.

"These are my friends from California. The guys are more often known as The Pack, and the girls just tag along."

Elana gave him a death glare, "We do not 'just tag along'."

Ginny looked a little confused, "What's The Pack? You used that in your note too."

The boys all looked at each other and Harry smiled. The girls just groaned.

"What's The Pack?" Pete asked as if it was the most obvious thing. "What's The Pack?" There was a bit of shuffling as the six boys rearranged themselves and lined up.

Tanner looked up from his place at the beginning of the line, "Get over here, Harry."

Harry went over and pushed himself in between Tanner and Eric.

All seven reached down and pulled up their right pant legs. Tattooed on the inside of each of their ankles was a black paw print. Above the print were the words THE PACK, also in black.

A light came on in Hermione's eyes. "Oh, I get it. The Pack. T-H-E-P-A-C-K. Tanner, Harry, Eric, Pete, Andy, Chris and Kage."

Harry laughed. "See, I told you all she was the smart one."

Hermione looked a little embarrassed about that.

"Anyway, thanks for getting here so fast."

"Uh, mate..." Ron's eyes were locked on a point up the road.

"What?"

"We should probably go. That is, unless you want to be on the front page of the Evening Prophet. Again."

A flock of reporters were making their way towards the group.

"Let's go." The fourteen teens began running up the dirt road to the school.

----------

They'd managed to escape the reporters and make it up to the castle without being stopped. The group was resting against the wall inside the entrance hall.

"So, how long can you all stay?" Harry asked the Californians.

"I don't know." Laura picked herself up off the stone floor. "We were planning on going to a party tonight, but we could blow that off."

Eric smiled, "There's some choice waves rolling in tomorrow. Don't want to miss those."

"Do you want to stay? You could crash in our dorm." Harry pushed away from the wall. "There's a DA meeting later tonight and I can show you around the castle a bit before you leave."

"Your Prin... Um, Headmaster won't mind?"

"No. McGonagall, our head of house, might. I wouldn't worry about it though. She'll probably be too preoccupied with the attack to even notice extra students."

The ten students from the California Institute shared a look and nodded to each other.

Pete answered for all of them. "No one'll miss us, so sure. Why not."

"Alright, let's get out of the hallway."

The walk there took longer than usual because the paintings kept distracting the CI students. Their school was much more modern.

Eventually, they did arrive in front of the Fat Lady's portrait. "Flobberworm." Ginny gave the password. The Californians looked confused until the painting swung open. The CI didn't use passwords either, each dorm was protected by a spell that recognized a member of its house. Chris was busy explaining this to Hermione.

Harry noticed Ron's jealous look. He moved next to the red head and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry about it, mate. Chris won't steal her from you."

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure. She's not his type."

"Who is?" Ron glanced at Ginny hoping the guy wasn't going to go after his sister either.

"Don't worry, Ginny is not the Weasley he'd go for," Harry smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he'd much rather ask you out."

"Oh."

The two of them walked through the portrait hole into the common room. All the students third year and above were still coming up from Hogsmeade, which meant that the first and second years were running all over the place.

Ron groaned, "I hate being prefect."

"Yeah, but Hermione just loves being Head Girl." Their friend was busy telling off a few first years for setting off a dung bomb.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Trin was holding her nose.

"Dung bomb," Ginny answered.

"Eww."

Harry saw Ginny roll her eyes.

He just laughed; Ginny and Trin were exact opposites. Trin had been pampered all her life. Her dad made some big money selling Turn Back Time: The Miracle Anti-Aging Cream. Trin's favorite hobby was spending her daddy's money, and she was very good at it.

They all made themselves comfortable in front of the fire; well, all but Hermione. She was running after a second year that had just poured a hair-coloring potion over her friend's head.

It was only a few moments before the other Gryffindors began arriving. Harry could hear them all talking about the attack, he just hoped no one else had gotten hurt. A few people looked over at the group sitting down; casting odd glances at the unidentifiable students.

Neville and Dean came over with Lavender and Parvati and filled in the empty spots. Seamus strolled over a minute later; his pockets bulging with what Harry suspected were quite a few bags from Honeyduke's. I never did get a chance to go there, Harry thought.

"So," Seamus started nonchalantly, eyeing the new people, "who are our new friends?" He plopped down right in between Jamie and Elana, resting his arms on the back of the couch.

Harry went around the circle. "This is Laura, Tanner, Pete, Trin, Andy, Eric, Chris, Elana, Jamie and Kage. They're my friends from California. That's Neville, Dean, Parvati, Lavender and..."

"Me name's Seamus Finnegan," he said, extending his hand to Jamie. "An anythin' 'arry ever told yer about me is entirely false. I swear."

Jamie giggled, "I hope not everything was a lie."

Hermione joined them just then.

"Catch those hair-dyeing hooligans, 'Mione?" Harry smiled at her from his position on the couch.

"You bet she did. That's my Hermione. Keeping the hallways safe from crazy kids with dangerous potions."

"Would you two stop antagonizing me? Honestly, why did I ever become friends with you in the first place?"

"I believe it was because we saved your life, wasn't it, Ron?"

"Yes, Harry, I seem to remember something about a troll..."

"Oh, come on. We'd better get to dinner."

Andy stood up, "I, for one, agree whole heartedly. Fighting evil always gives me an appetite."

"Breathing gives you an appetite." Elana got up and pushed the shorter boy back down onto the couch. They all laughed and left the common room together.

----------

After an uneventful dinner, the large group made its way to the Room of Requirement. Harry had explained the situation to Dumbledore who had, of course, welcomed the guests wholeheartedly.

"Ugh." Elena held her stomach, "The food was good but I don't know if I could get used to Pumpkin juice every day. Give me a can of grapefruit soda any time."

"Hey, Harry?" The group had stopped by the entrance to the room. Only, Chris couldn't see any door or anything. "Why are we just standing here? I thought we were going to some Room of Reckoning."

"The Room of Requirement but that's close enough." Harry laughed and walked past the entrance three times.

Looks of wonder were back on the Californians' faces as the door appeared in front of them. Ron pushed open the door and walked through everyone else close on his heels.

"Wow, this place has got everything you would ever need for defense training!" Pete exclaimed, examining a practice dummy.

"Aye," Seamus came up beside him, "It's almost like it's got everythin' ya..." he paused for dramatic effect, "require."

"How did that door just appear out of nowhere?" Chris was examining the door.

"You just walk past it three times thinking of what you need and it's there. This room has been everything from a training room to a potions lab to a loo," Hermione explained.

"But that still doesn't explain how it just shows up. It's like..."

"Magic?" Everyone laughed.

People began filing in then. One thing Harry hadn't expected was the sheer number of people that showed up. He suspected that there were at least one hundred new members.

He closed the door after ten minutes and walked to the front of the room.

"First off, I'd like to thank you all for coming. Today will just give you a taste of what you'll be learning this year. Hermione will be passing around a piece of parchment for you to sign. Aside from giving us a list of members, the paper has been charmed to detect liars. The DA's goal is to prepare you for a potential future battle with Death Eaters and other supporters of Voldemort. If you are not truly here to learn how to do that I suggest you leave now, unless you still wish to sign the list and end up glowing a very bright orange for the next month."

A few people laughed but most seemed to not be sure if he was joking or not. Harry was disappointed to see two of the five Slytherins in the room quietly get up and leave. No one moved after that so Harry continued.

"Alright, while you're signing that, I'll just introduce a few people you should be familiar with." Harry motioned to some people to come up with him. "This is the Core group of the DA, get to know them well."

"This is Ron Weasley. He's a seventh year Gryffindor and he'll be my guinea pig for most of the year. He can also help you out with your shield spells if you need it."

"Ginny Weasley, a sixth year Gryffindor can help you with hexes. I am warning you all now, do not make her angry. She is especially good at the especially painful Bat Bogey Hex."

"Neville Longbottom, another seventh year Gryffindor. His specialty lies in plants. However, he's not too bad at disarming and stunning spells. Particularly useful spells that you should most definitely learn as soon as possible."

"Seamus Finnegan, three-year-old trapped in a seventh year Gryffindor's body. Go to him for help with any advanced Transfiguration."

"Dean Thomas, seventh year Gryffindor. Useful guy if you need help on your more difficult curses."

"Luna Lovegood, sixth year Ravenclaw. Someone to go to for spells your opponent won't expect."

"Hannah Abbott, seventh year Hufflepuff. Go to her for help with the more advance defensive spells."

"Lastly, Hermione Granger, there at the back of the room, a seventh year Gryffindor as well. If you need something that requires research, look for her. She's memorized every book in the library. Careful though, she's Head Girl."

"We'll be splitting up so you can work with a new person every month. At the first meeting of each month we'll rotate the groups. Any questions?"

A first year Hufflepuff in the back raised his hand.

"Yes, you there."

"Um. You didn't introduce yourself. Who are you?" Most of the people in the room began laughing at him.

"Hey, hey. Quiet down. That's not a stupid question. I didn't even know who I was when I first got here." Harry scowled at the group. "My name is Harry Potter. I'm a seventh year Gryffindor and I'll be available for help on advanced offensive and defensive spells. If you really need to know more than that, you can ask pretty much any one in the room." He looked somewhat pained as he continued, "And, according to Hermione, you can look it up in the library as well. Any other questions? Good. Ron and I will show you a few of the spells that'll come up in meetings."

For the rest of the meeting, Harry and Ron shot off everything from a simple Expelliarmus to the Patronus. Harry even shot of a few of the spells he'd learned in California.

"And that," Harry said, putting his wand into a pocket, "is the basic curriculum for the year. I was hoping to be able to let you ask some questions, but there are only a few more minutes until curfew. I hope all of you come back next week. Same time, same day, same place."

Harry watched the students file out hoping he wouldn't see anyone glowing orange. No one did, so Harry put the parchment in his pocket to look at later. Five minutes later the last of the members had gone and only the group of Gryffindors and California students was left. They left as well and headed for the common room.

Once there Hermione and Ginny took the four girls up to Hermione's room. The eleven boys went to the seventh year dorm room. When they got there they found eleven beds instead of the normal five.

"How many people are in your year?" Kage asked.

"Only us five." Seamus launched himself onto his bed.

"Then what's with the extra beds?"

"Oh, that. The castle just sensed six extra people an added some more."

Chris gave him an odd look. "The castle sensed it?"

"Aye, doesn' yer school do things like that?"

"Uh, no."

"Weird. 'ey 'arry?"

"What, Sea?" Harry asked, his voice muffled by the shirt he was pulling over his head.

"Do I 'ave to tell 'em about the staircases, or can I just let 'em find out fer themselves?"

"Tell them. It can be kind of freaky if you don't know," Neville spoke up from across the room.

"Aw, yer no fun a' all, Nev."

Pete had been listening to the conversation quietly, which was not something he did often. "Okay, what's up with the stairs?

"Nothin'," Seamus said innocently.

Dean hit him in the arm, "Be nice." He turned to Pete. "The staircases move."

"They move?"

"Yeah, they change directions sometimes. They'll lead one way an' then they'll just decide to go a different way. It's bloody annoyin' when yer 'eaded to class an ya end up on the other side of the castle."

"What other weird things go on at this place?"

Harry looked over at his extremely confused friends. "Oh, you know, the normal stuff: secret passages, ghosts, doors that don't open unless you tickle them, or ask nicely, pranking poltergeist..."

Tanner pushed Harry onto the bed. "Okay, we get it."