Harry Potter and the Forbidden Passage

Chapter 14: A Secret Revealed

"Well, I can't say that I'm too surprised," Ron said as he took the seat across from Harry. "Umbridge certainly acted like a Death Eater. I mean, who wouldn't think she was teamed up with You-Know-Who after what she did to Harry? That woman was just horrible. And look at how she treated the Slytherins, especially Malfoy."

"That doesn't mean she's a Death Eater, Ron," Hermione argued as she settled next to Harry. Crookshanks immediately transferred from Harry's lap to hers. Ginny resumed her place next to the window while Neville moved Hedwig's cage and took the seat opposite.

The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. Sirius had said those words less than a year ago when Harry had questioned Umbridge's behavior and now they echoed in his mind. That article in the Daily Prophet had reminded him too painfully of so many things.

Ron's and Hermione's voices faded as Harry was pulled deeper and deeper into the painful memories that threatened to drown him - memories of Sirius and his desperate and near fatal attempt to speak with him through the veil. The thought of Death Eaters and Umbridge following his godfather through the veil made him physically sick. They may or may not deserve death but they certainly didn't deserve to be anywhere near Sirius Black.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled as he forced himself back into the present.

"Harry, are you all right? I was just asking you how you felt about the article and you didn't respond," Hermione said with concern.

It was with some embarrassment that Harry realized all eyes in the train compartment were on him.

"Sorry…I didn't hear you. I was just…thinking," his voice trailed off.

"Umbridge in Azkaban. It's bloody brilliant, don't you think, Harry?" Ron said gleefully, rubbing his hands together. "At least she'll finally get hers. Too bad the dementors won't be around to give her a taste of what she did to you last year, mate."

"Ron," Hermione said sharply, "it's not brilliant if she's innocent of the charges. And they'll have her put to death if she's convicted! How can you call that proper justice? It's not as though she's ever killed anyone."

"For all you know," Ron mumbled. "I wouldn't put it past her. I mean, you remember when Harry came back from those detentions and his hand was a bloody mess."

"What?" Neville gasped. "She did that to you, Harry?" His face was a mix of concern and disgust. "I saw the blood on your hand once but I thought it was an accident or something."

Reluctantly, Harry told Neville about the quill that had etched his own writing into the back of his hand until the words had been cut so deep that he'd bled openly.

Harry looked down at the back of his right hand. He subtly turned it towards the window until he saw the glimmer where his skin changed texture. In just the right light, he could still make out the razor thin lines now etched into his skin eternally.

But as he looked up, he knew that he wasn't the only one who could see the scars. Ginny, sitting beside him, was frowning as she stared at his hand. Harry adjusted his hand so that the scars were no longer visible.

"She's a horrible, wicked woman and she deserves whatever she gets," Ginny said with conviction. Her face was set and her eyes narrowed.

"I know she's horrible," Hermione said sensitively. "We all know she's horrible and cruel and foul and the lowest form of human being." She paused as though to gather her thoughts. "And what she has done can never be forgiven. But I can't help but think that this is just part of the Ministry's attempt to project an image that they are in control. Instead of going after the real Death Eaters, they're misleading the public and leading a - well, there's no better way to describe it - a witch hunt."

"Personally," Ron said, "I can't think of a better witch to hunt and I can't believe you're defending her, Hermione."

"I'm not defending her, Ron. I just think that the charges are wrong."

"Well, I don't think they're so far off," Ron responded with finality. "She certainly acts like a Death Eater. And she sent those dementors after Harry last year. She could have killed him."

"But she didn't," Harry said forcefully, successfully ending the argument. Complete silence met him as everyone stared at him in surprise. He continued, "Listen, let's just talk about something else, all right? Did you have a good summer, Neville?"

Neville looked somewhat startled before he responded, "Yeah, pretty good. Gran bought me a new wand. You know I had been using my Dad's old wand before it broke at…" he looked with sudden concern at Harry, apparently worried about reminding him of that fateful day at the Ministry, "at…er…you remember."

Harry nodded solemnly.

"So," Neville continued, "I had to replace it. The new one is walnut, twelve inches with unicorn hair in the core," he said proudly. "But I haven't been able to try it out yet, you know. Mr. Ollivander reckoned that it may improve my spellwork though."

Harry doubted that anything beyond hours of extra practice could improve Neville's skills, but he smiled politely.

As the train rattled northwards, Ron and Hermione told them about the prefect meeting. Ron was anxious to tell him that Luna was a prefect but was somewhat disappointed to find out that Harry already knew. But one bit of news did surprise Harry.

"Malfoy wasn't there?"

"Nope," Ron said gleefully, looking quite pleased as he set up his chess set. "But you're going to love this - Blaise Zabini was there, representing the Slytherins."

"But Zabini's in our year and he wasn't a prefect last year."

"Exactly," Ron said with a triumphant chortle. "I reckon Dumbledore took away Malfoy's prefect badge and gave it to Zabini. I mean, who wants the son of a Death Eater in a position of power, right?"

Harry wholeheartedly agreed and nodded as he organized the white chess pieces on the board in front of him.

"But that doesn't make sense," Hermione said. "Dumbledore knew that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater before he selected Malfoy as a prefect. It had to be something else."

"Dumbledore probably finally realized what a git Malfoy is. Look at that whole business with Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad last year. I didn't see any of them in the prefect carriage."

"Hmm…Maybe," Hermione said uncertainly.

Ron's remark reminded Harry of something. "You know, I still don't understand how the Ministry knew that Umbridge tried to use an Unforgivable on me. I mean the Inquisitorial Squad was there, but it's not like they would snitch on Umbridge."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Slytherins would probably do anything to save their own skins," Ron replied scathingly.

"True, but still it doesn't seem likely," Harry said. "And if it wasn't them, that only leaves the five of us and…"

Just as he was about to say her name, she appeared at the door.

"…Luna," Harry finished.

"Hello, everyone," Luna said dreamily as she strolled into the compartment and sat next to Ron. She was still taking to the habit of sticking her wand behind one ear, but the necklace of butterbeer caps had disappeared. She now wore a blue beret on which her prefect badge was pinned crookedly.

"Hi, Luna. How was your summer?" Ginny asked politely.

"Find any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?" Hermione asked, smirking slightly.

"Yes, actually, we did. Well, we didn't really see them, because they're invisible to humans you know. But we found their footprints and followed them to a nest. It was very exciting."

Hermione snorted. "If you can't see them, how can you be sure-"

She stopped mid-sentence as Harry elbowed her.

"Ouch, Har-"

"So… Luna," Harry interrupted, glaring at Hermione as he phrased his words carefully, "We were just talking about…Umbridge. Somehow the Ministry found out that Umbridge tried to use the Cruciatus curse when she trapped us in her office. I don't suppose you would have any idea how they could have known that?"

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, it could be a few things, couldn't it? Of course there are all of the Minister's spies. They're everywhere you know. Cornelius Fudge has an army of spies who are being trained to Transfigure themselves into ordinary objects. They can just sit about and appear as a harmless quill, a book, or a piece of parchment. There was an article in the Quibbler about it just yesterday."

As Luna said this, Harry looked at Hermione who had rolled her eyes in exasperation. He could see that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back.

Sure enough, the words streamed out of Hermione's mouth as soon as Luna had spoken. "Wizards can't turn themselves into ob-"

A well-aimed kick to the shin quieted Hermione once again.

"Go on, Luna," Harry urged, hoping to hear a more realistic explanation.

Luna frowned at Hermione before turning back to Harry and continuing. "Well..." she looked thoughtful, "Of course I might have mentioned something when they interviewed me that night."

"What?" Harry asked, startled, and heard the same question echoed by Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville.

"Luna," Ginny said, "you never told us that they'd interviewed you."

"Oh, didn't I?" Luna asked vaguely. "I thought you would have known. I mean, the rest of you were all injured and Dumbledore wouldn't let anyone speak to Harry, so that just left me, didn't it?"

As much as he had thought of that night, this possibility had not occurred to Harry. He had just assumed that Dumbledore had been the only one to update the Ministry on the situation. But naturally they would have wanted to speak to one of them. Thinking back, he should have been more surprised that no one from the Ministry had approached any of them after the fact.

"Well, you know we really should go," Luna said sternly to Hermione and Ron. "We're supposed to be patrolling the corridors."

Hermione and Ron stared at Luna as though she had two heads as she stood up and slid the door open to leave.

"Ronald, are you coming?" Luna called from the doorway.

Ron raised one eyebrow as he shared a glance with Hermione. Ginny shook with stifled laughter.

"Go ahead, Luna…er…We'll follow in a few minutes," Ron called awkwardly.

An hour and a half later, they had gorged themselves on sweets from the old witch's trolley. And more importantly, Ginny had just beaten Ron at a game of wizard chess after he had defeated Harry, Neville, and Hermione in succession. It was at this point that Hermione finally decided that they should indeed resume their prefect duties.

The rest of the journey seemed to pass quickly. Harry, Ginny, and Neville played Exploding Snap and Gobstones, having had enough of chess for the time being. Hermione and Ron stopped by briefly to let them know that they would be arriving in Hogsmeade shortly. Neville left to rejoin Dean and Seamus and gather his things. Harry spent the rest of the journey rereading the newspaper article about Umbridge while Ginny completed the crossword in the Daily Prophet. When the train began to slow, they hoisted the trunks down from the luggage rack and quickly put on their robes.

"Harry, can you handle Pigwidgeon?" Ginny asked as she caught the tiny owl and stuffed him back into his cage. "I'll take Crookshanks."

He nodded his affirmative. "Why don't you have a pet, Ginny?" he asked inquisitively.

"Well, there aren't any more in the family to pass down, are there?" she said, smiling slightly. She picked up Crookshanks and urged him into his basket. "You know why I don't have a familiar, Harry. It's for the same reason that I don't have a broom. But it's all right, I don't mind. Ron lets me borrow Pig when I like."

The train screeched as it came to a halt in the Hogsmeade station. Harry had to be careful to hide the grin that threatened to spread across his face at the remembrance that, as of tomorrow, Ginny would at least have a broom of her own. He held up Hedwig's cage in one hand and Pigwidgeon's in the other and led the way to join the jostling queue of students exiting the train.

Peering above the heads of the first-years in front of him, he searched the crowd for any sign of Ron's bright red hair or Hermione's bushy brown hair as they stepped down from the train.

"Potter!" a painfully familiar voice called behind him.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed before he turned around.

"Malfoy," Harry acknowledged with hesitation. Draco Malfoy approached him, closely followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Nott seemed to have joined their little trio as well.

"When did you get on this train, Potter? I didn't see you at King's Cross," Malfoy snapped, looking positively outraged.

"How kind of you to notice, Malfoy," Harry smirked. "I didn't know that you cared so much about my whereabouts."

Malfoy's eyes flashed dangerously. "Have a good summer, Potter?" he drawled, acid dripping from his voice. "Bet you just loved having your name in the papers and being given awards for stupidity, I mean…what did they call it, Goyle?"

Goyle grunted in response.

"Oh yes…," Malfoy said, as though he had comprehended Goyle's response, "an award for bravery. Well, what is bravery really but stupidity I say." Malfoy started laughing, prompting Crabbe and Goyle to follow.

Harry was about to retort but Ginny beat him to it.

"I'd take a brave man any day over a selfish, spoiled coward who hides behind a couple of brainless thugs he calls friends."

Ginny left no doubt as to whom she was referring.

"You'll pay for that, Weasley," Malfoy said, glaring at her. "You're just like your brother, you don't know when to hold your tongue."

Harry felt an intense desire to hit Malfoy, but held back. He wouldn't give Malfoy the satisfaction of causing him to earn any punishments or detentions as he had done last year. He chose a verbal assault instead.

"And how was your summer, Malfoy? Have fun visiting your father in Azkaban?"

Malfoy moved as though he would strike Harry when suddenly a hand came between them.

"Is there a problem here, Malfoy?" Ron said as he positioned himself in front of Harry. He folded his arms resolutely and stared at Malfoy.

Harry noticed with amusement that Draco's eyes kept flittering to Ron's prominently pinned prefect badge.

Ron inched closer to Draco until he was staring down at him. "Please…please tell me there's a problem, Malfoy," Ron said threateningly.

Malfoy cursed and glared at Ron.

"No?" Ron asked innocently. "Well, then I guess you'd better just be on your way. And take your trolls with you," he said, glancing at Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott.

Malfoy and his henchmen walked away cursing, heading off to the black carriages waiting to drive them all to Hogwarts.

Ron stared fixedly at them, looking quite serious. As soon as they were out of sight, he let out a whoop of triumph and laughed out loud.

"Did you see that, Harry? It was brilliant! This year is going to be bloody amazing!"

Harry grinned and laughed with his best friend as Ron reveled in the afterglow of their encounter with Draco Malfoy. It was minutes before Hermione finally found them and dragged them off to the last carriage.

As they approached the carriage, Harry felt some trepidation. He had been nervous for some time about seeing the thestrals again, thinking that they would bring back too many painful memories. But when he saw them now, despite their terrifying appearance, he was surprised to find that he felt neither sadness nor fear, but a different feeling entirely. These beasts had offered help the moment he asked it of them and he owed them his gratitude. Approaching the nearest one, he patted it appreciatively before joining the others in the carriage.

Not even a month ago, Harry had felt so depressed that he wasn't sure he could handle another school year. He'd expected that he would be too caught up in his grief to deal with classes and homework and every other mundane thing that life demanded of him. But now, as he looked out the window of the carriage and watched the façade of Hogwarts growing ever closer, he felt relief. Perhaps the daily routine of school was just what he needed. There would be so many distractions - homework, friends, Quidditch, and making Malfoy's life miserable. Surely these things would take his mind away from his haunted thoughts.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the enormous oak doors at the castle's entrance. They stepped down from the carriage and joined the crowd streaming into the Great Hall. Even after five full years at Hogwarts, Harry still found himself looking up at the ceiling with amazement every time he entered the Great Hall for the start of term feast. The sky had turned a hazy shade of violet as the sun sank beyond the horizon, signaling the end of this sweet summer's day. The shallow light of the forthcoming twilight was augmented by hundreds of candles floating above them.

Being among the last to enter, they found that the Gryffindor table was already filling up. Fortunately, Dean, Seamus, and Neville had saved them some seats toward the front. Ginny immediately chose to sit next to Dean, leaving one seat beside her and two on the opposite side.

Ron looked at Dean warily and then looked at Harry. He smiled coyly. "Harry, why don't you sit next to Ginny? Hermione and I will take this side."

"Er…all right," Harry replied, somewhat confused by Ron's strange behavior, as he settled himself in the space between Ginny and Euan Abercrombie.

As usual, Harry found himself instantly scanning the staff table. He smiled when he saw Hagrid seated in his usual spot. He had naturally seen Hagrid when they had exited the train, but it was still reassuring to see him here as well.

He scanned the rest of the table and noted all of the regular teachers. Professor Dumbledore was seated alone in the center, looking around the hall somewhat amused. Professor Sprout was showing some strange looking plant with pink flowers and long curly leaves to Professor Flitwick. Professor Sinistra was speaking with Professor Vector and pointing through the ceiling at something in the sky.

When his eyes fell upon Snape, Harry found him speaking with a strange man.

"That must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Ron commented. "I wonder why Snape's so chummy with him?"

It was odd, Snape did seem to be somewhat familiar with this man. They were around the same age, the man was probably in his late 30's, Harry estimated.

"Isn't he handsome?" Lavender said to Parvati, several seats down the table. They were obviously talking about the new professor.

Parvati nodded enthusiastically in agreement and they both sighed. Harry rolled his eyes and found the other Gryffindor boys doing the same.

"That's all we need," Ron said, "another Lockhart."

"Well," Ginny admitted, "he is rather good-looking."

Hermione said nothing but the edges of her mouth curled upwards as she stared at the new teacher.

Looking up at the man, Harry felt cross. The last thing they needed with Voldemort back was another Lockhart who wouldn't recognize a vampire if it bit him in the neck. The book list for their defense class this year had actually given him hopes that they might have a decent teacher.

The behavior of the girls increased his irritation tenfold and he couldn't understand what was so extraordinary about this man. His face was admittedly what some would call handsome, framed gracefully by dark brown wavy hair that Lockhart could have been proud of. His features were angular and he had a strong chin. But there was a haunted, intense look about him that was unsettling. He could be considered good-looking if one liked that tall, dark, and broody look. His skin was tanned, as though he had just returned from holiday on a beach somewhere. And his robes were odd - he was impeccably dressed, but the robes he wore were nothing like the crisp, black ones that the other teachers wore. His were exotic, they were made of some loose flowing material with intricate patterns embroidered along the edges that reminded Harry of pictures he had seen of wizards in the far east.

The chattering and gossiping that filled the Great Hall died down as Professor McGonagall entered the room followed by a straight line of nervous first-years. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table looking awestruck at their surroundings and the hundreds of older students before them. One young girl with two long black plaits looked terrified. Harry recalled how Fred had told Ron that he would have to battle a troll for the sorting and wondered if this girl had been told something similar.

The entire hall watched in barely contained anticipation as Professor McGonagall brought out the old ragged wizard's hat and dropped it onto the stool set prominently in front of the staff table.

The first years looked at the hat with confusion and then surprise as the wide rip at the brim opened wide and the Sorting Hat began to sing:

Welcome new and old alike
As we begin another year.
Soon the sorting will commence, but wait
For I've a tale for you to hear.

Listen closely, listen well
For my words hold more than truth.
The story that I will tell
May yet affect those in their youth.

Long ago in this very place,
Hogwarts was built by founders four.
United in purpose, they sought to tell
The secrets of wizard craft and lore.

Four friends torn by civil strife
Could not agree on whom to teach
All prized one virtue above the rest,
But at last they agreed on a House for each.

To Ravenclaw go only the wisest,
To Slytherin go those who hunger for power,
Fair Hufflepuff for those who are loyal,
While the bravest live in Gryffindor Tower.

The brightest minds rest in Ravenclaw,
at Rowena Ravenclaw's request.
They excel at potions, stars, and spells,
But when it comes to war, will they pass the test?

Or slumber below in Slytherin
Among those with ambition and cunning.
They think themselves above the rest,
But only failure will come from shunning.

Or perhaps you'll go to Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart.
With the Boy Who Lived you will succeed,
If all will do their part.

The rest will go to Hufflepuff,
The House which is fair and just.
Their loyalty will prove some worth,
If all work together as they must.

Beyond these walls and all around us
Darkness stirs and gathers forces,
But hope shall rise again you see,
If you unite beyond your courses.

He with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord
Lies within these walls.
If all will rally and join him,
You may yet save these hallowed halls.

Now brave first years stand in line
and wait for my decree.
As one you entered Hogwarts' gate
but now divided you must be.

Silence filled the Great Hall when the Sorting Hat had finished its song. For the first time that Harry could remember, there was no applause that followed. The previous year there had only been slight applause but this year there was nothing except hundreds of jaws dropped in shock. The first-years, who had already naturally looked frightened when they entered the Great Hall, now appeared to be petrified. Even the teachers remained curiously silent.

Then suddenly, noise swelled rapidly around him as everyone started whispering to each other all at once. Quite a few heads turned in Harry's direction and many fingers were pointing at him. It was with some disturbance that Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione were both looking at him quite intently, making him feel instantly uncomfortable. It was as though his secret had been revealed for all. The prophesied destiny that he had kept secret for the past three months now was known in part to the entire student body of Hogwarts. It didn't matter that the Sorting Hat had not said his name, it had mentioned the Boy Who Lived.

He didn't care about the feast anymore, he wanted to leave. He wanted to be invisible. He wanted to avoid answering questions or receiving these looks from his best friends for the next two hours as the first-years were sorted, the announcements were made, and the feast was eaten.

In desperation, he looked at Dumbledore. The old wizard was frowning and looked disturbed. When Harry caught his eye, Dumbledore shook his head almost imperceptibly. The meaning was clear - that he could not escape, that he must stay and act as though he knew nothing more than any of the other students.

"Silence!" Dumbledore called sternly above the din as he stood up. The whispers fell silent as quickly as they had begun. "Well, that was certainly an interesting start to our year. The Sorting Hat seems to be growing more lively in its old age, rather like myself." He had assumed a joking manner that seemed to be achieving the desired effect of putting the entire room at ease. "But we are here to welcome your new classmates, not to discuss the tales of an old hat, so let us continue the sorting and show some respect for our newest arrivals."

The tension in the room was thick but the room remained silent as Hyacinth Abbott was sorted into Hufflepuff with her sister, Hannah.

"Arundell, John," McGonagall called next and a boy with sandy blonde hair sat on the stool and pulled the hat on.

"Gryffindor," shouted the Sorting Hat after a few seconds. The small boy looked very happy as he was applauded and joined the Gryffindor table. He was joined only a minute later by another first-year, Bridget Bergin.

Harry was so anxious for the night to end that he was barely paying attention to the rest of the sorting. He looked up briefly when the small black-haired girl who had looked so frightened before the sorting approached the stool when McGonagall called, "Fairfax, Nigella." She was sorted into Ravenclaw almost instantly and appeared very pleased with that decision.

Harry glanced at his watch after a young girl named Jill Riley was sorted into Ravenclaw and greeted eagerly by Luna Lovegood. It seemed as though several hours had passed since the sorting began, but it had been only fifteen minutes.

There was an upset near the end of the sorting when two identical twin sisters were sorted into completely opposite Houses. Williams, Felicia was sorted into Hufflepuff with a few gasps while her sister, Iris, was sorted into Slytherin and received much applause from that end. He gathered that the Williams family was apparently well-known in the wizarding world and that they had always lived in Slytherin. He wondered whether poor Felicia would be as ostracized from her family as Sirius had been when he was sorted into a different house.

As soon as Iris had taken her seat at the Slytherin table, Dumbledore arose.

"Welcome! Welcome to Hogwarts! There is much to say but now is a time for eating, not for speaking. So let the feast commence!"

Dumbledore raised both hands with these last words and the tables instantly filled up with more food than anyone could eat in a year. Plates appeared before them all. Harry was so used to this by now that he almost scooped a spoonful of potatoes onto his plate before he actually looked down at it and saw a letter with his name on the envelope sitting in the center.

Setting the spoon back, he picked up the letter and ripped it open. The note attached was very brief and written in Dumbledore's familiar narrow handwriting. It said:

Come to my office after the feast. The password is Sugared Violets.

Well, surely this had to be about the Sorting Hat's revelation. Harry wasn't sure what Dumbledore would say, but this meeting seemed a blessing in disguise. If he had to talk to Dumbledore, he wouldn't have to go back to the dormitory with the others. He could avoid the questions for a little while longer.

The feast passed in relative silence. No one seemed to think this the right time to discuss what was on all of their minds. Somehow, despite the fact that he no longer felt hungry, Harry managed to consume a large steak, some potatoes and legumes, and a bowl of toffee pudding before the plates were cleared and Dumbledore rose again to give his start of term announcements.

"As you all must know by now," Dumbledore began, "a few things have changed since last year and I anticipate that this school year will be somewhat more satisfying than the last. The new regulations that were passed last year have been abolished. I think we all hope that they will stay that way. But now is a time to look to the future and not to the past, so in that vein, I would like you all to welcome the newest member of our staff, Professor Ramsey."

The new teacher rose from his seat next to Snape and gave a short nod to the assemblage.

Dumbledore continued, "Professor Ramsey has just arrived from his current mission in Egypt to join us as your new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I have every faith that you will all learn a great deal under his guidance."

There was loud applause for Professor Ramsey as Dumbledore finished, but most of it came enthusiastically from the female population of Hogwarts. Harry noticed suspiciously that the loudest cheering seemed to be coming from the Slytherin table, closely followed by Ravenclaw.

Dumbledore continued with the usual start of term announcements and reminders. Soon enough, the feast was over and people were getting up to leave. Ron and Hermione along with the new fifth-year prefects, Rosemary Bennett and Colin Creevey, led the excited first-years up to the dormitory. Meanwhile, Harry split up from the others at the door and made his way as inconspicuously as he could to Dumbledore's office.

* * * * *

A half an hour later, Harry walked out of Dumbledore's office, with his Invisibility Cloak draped over one arm. Dumbledore had handed back his cloak as promised, after taking it away at the Ministry.

The meeting had not been about what Harry had expected. In fact, much to Harry's surprise, Dumbledore had not even mentioned the Sorting Hat's song. When Harry had asked about it, Dumbledore had dismissed it, saying that nothing had been said that Voldemort didn't already know. But it meant more to Harry. It had obviously aroused curiosity from Ron and Hermione and Harry would have to tell them about the prophecy eventually.

But there was little that Harry could have said to Dumbledore at their meeting, because they had not been alone. When Harry had opened Dumbledore's office door, he'd been surprised to see that Professor Ramsey was there as well. It hadn't taken long for Harry to discover why he was there.

"I have some good news for you, Harry," Dumbledore had said. "You will no longer have to take Occlumency lessons from Professor Snape. Professor Ramsey has extraordinary talents in this field, better even than my own, and he has kindly agreed to continue your lessons. In fact, I recruited him primarily for this purpose."

Harry supposed he should be happy about this turn of events. Maybe he would actually make some progress with a new Occlumency teacher. But instead he felt trepidation. At least he knew where he stood with Snape, but Ramsey was a mystery. And after two evil teachers, two incompetent teachers, and a werewolf, he didn't feel that he should start trusting the latest Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor - they always seemed to have a secret and three out of five had tried to kill him in some way or other.

Not ready to go back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry headed up to the Owlery and wrote a quick note to Remus telling him about the new professor and the resumption of Occlumency lessons. He sat next to Hedwig for a while, just thinking as he looked out the window towards the Forbidden Forest. Smoke rose from Hagrid's chimney and all seemed calm and tranquil beneath the light of the waxing moon. He tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched as she flew off until she was no more than a tiny speck in the sky.

By the time he returned to Gryffindor Tower, it was well past curfew and there was no one around the entrance. Fortunately, Ron had told him the password before they left the Great Hall.

"Bouncing Ferret," Harry said with a grin when the Fat Lady greeted him from her portrait.

The portrait swung open and Harry quickly put on his Invisibility Cloak before entering. There were few people left in the common room, but nevertheless, he hoped to avoid as many as possible this evening. When he opened the door to his dormitory, he found all four boys already asleep. Ron, however, was sitting halfway up, propped against a couple of pillows with a copy of Martin Miggs in his hands. He had clearly tried to stay up until Harry returned but had failed miserably.

Harry, too, felt exhausted from the long day and collapsed in his own bed without even changing. As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts turned to Professor Ramsey and he wondered what had happened to this man to make him so great at Occlumency. But that answer would have to wait for another day.