Desires In Another Mirror

Once again, Harry found himself being roughly awakened by his sister. This time it was Victoria, shaking him awake, shining her candle in his eyes.

'Wh't t'mzit?' he asked blearily.

'It's gone eight already. And... oh, Harry, you haven't even packed, have you? You're hopeless, honestly.'

He put his glasses on and screwed his eyes up against the light.

'Dammit,' he muttered.

'Well, I'm all ready, have been for hours,' Victoria said.

'Oh, thanks, that helps,' Harry said, getting out of bed and hunting for clothes.

She sighed. 'You go and get ready in the bathroom. I'll pack your things for you.'

'Oh, Victoria, would you? That would be great...'

'Just go, quick!'

He gave her a grateful look, gathered up his clothes from the floor and went down the corridor to the bathroom.

When he returned, dressed, washed, and feeling a little more awake, Victoria presented him with a full rucksack, smiling a little.

'Don't I need my trunk?' Harry asked, puzzled.

'Trunk? What on Earth are you talking about? You'll be back again by Friday! I've put everything in there that you'll need until then. Come on now, breakfast. It should be on the table about now.'

Harry followed Victoria down the stairs and into the kitchen, greeting his parents and his other siblings. As Lily heaped porridge into his bowl, he wondered about things - why would he be back by Friday? Hogwarts had never had week boarders in his reality.

'Now, Harry,' said Lily, sitting down to her own breakfast. 'You will look after Edward, won't you?'

'Mum!' Edward protested. 'I don't need Harry to look after me! I can look after myself!'

'Of course you can, Ed,' said James, placatingly. 'Mum didn't mean it like that. We know you can look after yourself. But it's your first time at school, and it can't hurt to have someone to show you around, make sure you're getting on alright. That's what big brothers are for! Harry helped you, when you started, didn't he, Victoria?'

'Yeah, loads,' said Victoria. 'It is a bit confusing at first, Ed. But I'm sure you'll get on great. And of course you know most of the teachers already, so that bit isn't scary at all.'

'I'm sure he'll do fine,' said Lily. 'I just like my children to look out for each other, that's all. Are you all packed? The Portkey will be here in a bit.'

Harry, Victoria, Edward and Dudley all made affirmative sounds, Victoria smirking a little at Harry.

'Here comes Uncle Sirius!' Daisy called, pointing out of the kitchen window.

And indeed, Sirius was striding up the path. The four older children rushed upstairs to get their things together, and by the time Harry got back to the kitchen with his rucksack, Sirius was sitting at the table, tucking into a bowl of cereal.

'Morning, Harry,' he said, punching his godson affectionately on the arm. 'Up already? I'm surprised...'

'Har, har,' said Harry. 'That's still funny...'

'Well, no hurry, anyway,' Sirius said. 'Minerva authorised me to do the Portkey myself, so I'll just do it when you lot are ready.'

'Oh, please, take them off my hands,' said Lily, jokingly.

'Ah, Lil, that's a bit harsh,' said James. 'They're not bad, as a rule. They could be a whole lot worse.'

'That's true,' said Lily. 'Ah, what's the use pretending? I'm going to miss you like mad all week, you horrors. Come here, all of you.'

One by one, they hugged her goodbye, then went to hug James and the twins too.

'Anything I can use for a Portkey?' Sirius asked.

Lily handed him a broken cup from the counter, and he pointed his wand at it. It glowed blue for a moment.

'Alright, kids, grab on,' he said.

Harry and the others went to join Sirius, each of them touching the broken cup.

'Be good! I love you!' Lily cried, as they disappeared.

Harry found himself in a fairly large, open room, with several other kids already milling about. There were long windows all around the walls, but the blinds were down at the moment. The floor was thickly carpeted and the walls were painted a pale yellow. It felt like someone's living room. Harry was confused. This wasn't the Great Hall, and it didn't look like any part of Hogwarts he was familiar with. And why hadn't they travelled by Hogwarts Express, anyway?

'Come on, let's go and sit down,' said Victoria.

Harry, frowning with confusion, followed her to the seats that were arranged in rows at the back of the room. Edward and Dudley followed too, and they all sat together. After a few minutes, others began to join them. Harry recognised most of them vaguely from Hogwarts, but there were a few unfamiliar faces.

'Morning, Harry!' said Ginny, coming to sit behind him. Ron and Hermione followed. Harry turned in his seat to let Ginny kiss him. It was a lingering kiss, and now that he knew what to expect, he thoroughly enjoyed it.

'Mister Potter and Miss Weasley - if you've quite finished,' said a stern voice.

Harry and Ginny sprang apart to see Professor McGonagall glaring at them. She was sitting at the front of the assembled group, facing them, in a deep, high-backed wicker chair. There were several sheets of parchment in her lap. She looked at the students, and smiled.

'Well, first of all, I hope you've all had a good summer,' she said. 'I hope it was wonderfully relaxing and peaceful, because you're all in for a very busy year. We can't afford to let things slide, especially now. So I want you all to knuckle down and start working hard right away. To that end, I'm hoping to get the administration done as quickly as possible, so that you can all get to your classes. And the first order of business is to take attendance. As usual, I'll start with the Muggle students - once I have you all sorted out you can go next door and get started on some work. Now... Dudley Dursley?'

'Present!' said Dudley.

'Kitty Edwards?'

'Present!' said a girl with brown hair, who turned to wave at Dudley.

Harry listened as McGonagall checked off the names of some twenty or so Muggle students.

'Alright then, that all seems to be in order,' McGonagall said. 'Mrs Figg is waiting for you all next door, she has some very interesting work for you this term, I'm told.'

'Bye!' said Dudley, picking up his things and heading towards the door with the others. 'Good luck, Ed! See you later, Harry. Thanks for the help with my homework, Victoria...'

'Go on, go on, you'll see them all again at lunchtime!' McGonagall said.

The Muggle students moved a little faster out of the room. Once they had all gone, she turned her attention to the next list.

'Well, I see we have a few new students today,' she said. 'Joseph Crewe, Anne Green, Siân Murray, Edward Potter and Elinor West. Would you all like to come to the front so that we can have a proper look at you?' The five first years got up slowly, and started down to the front. 'Come on, now, I don't bite!' said McGonagall. 'It just helps everyone to get to know the new faces. Come along now, that's right...'

The five of them lined up by McGonagall's chair, blinking nervously at the older students staring at them.

'There we go,' said McGonagall. 'Now, Professor Black will be taking you lot this morning, and he should be here any moment to take you to your classroom.'

The first years, and then the other students, started looking around expectantly.

'Any minute, I'm sure,' McGonagall said.

She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. The students looked at one another. A few of them started to laugh.

'I don't know what kind of example he thinks he's showing, turning up late when you were all here so promptly,' she sighed. She looked across the rows of students. 'Harry, Victoria, did he arrive with you?'

'Yes, Professor,' said Victoria.

'Then he must be in the building somewhere...'

She sighed, rolling her eyes a little, and muttered an incantation. A silver form shot out of her wand and out of the room - a Patronus. Harry knew that the Order in his reality used them to communicate.

After a few moments, Sirius came in, looking hurried.

'Sorry, Minerva, wasn't quite ready...' he said.

She shook her head resignedly. 'This is your class for this morning,' she said, indicating the first years. 'Look after them, won't you?'

'Of course. Come on, kids! We're going to have loads of fun...' McGonagall frowned at him... 'I mean, we're going to study very hard! Hooray!'

And he led the five first years out of the room.

'Now we've got that out of the way,' said McGonagall, her stern expression not quite hiding her amusement, 'I'll take the register for the second years. Quiet in the back, please. I'll get to you as soon as I can.'

She checked off the names of the second years, and sent them out to another classroom, before moving on to the next group. Victoria disappeared with the other fourth years. Ginny went off with the fifth years, including Luna. It was a while before McGonagall got to the sixth year. Harry recognised all of the names on the list, but it seemed that not everyone from his year at Hogwarts was here. He, Ron, Hermione and Neville were the only Gryffindors, there were two Ravenclaws, Anthony Goldstein and Morag McDougal, and three Hufflepuffs - Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley. And not a single Slytherin. No Malfoy to annoy him - what a nice change that would be.

'Now, you lot will be with me this morning,' McGonagall said once she had ticked off the sixth-year names on her list. 'Go to Classroom Four and settle down, I'll be there as soon as I finish with the seventh years.

Harry followed the others down a corridor that looked like it belonged in somebody's home rather than a school, and into the classroom. It was small, just big enough for the nine of them to sit on the two narrow benches, facing the little desk at the front. This room was just as homey as the others - there was even a little fireplace at the back. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville took one bench, while the other five took the one opposite.

'Good summer, everyone?' Hermione asked, looking over at the other group as she took her books out of her bag.

'Bit quiet,' said Susan. 'You know how it is.'

Everyone murmured agreement.

Harry frowned, feeling suddenly anxious. He didn't know how it was - but he was starting to wish he did. He wasn't sure if it was just because he was new here and unused to the way things worked, but something definitely seemed a bit... odd. People kept making cryptic comments about the way life was these days. And where was Dumbledore? Why hadn't he been welcoming the students? Why weren't they all at Hogwarts, anyhow? He was afraid to ask anyone these questions because that would involve revealing the fact that he didn't belong here, and then of course people would just think that he was crazy...

The door opened, and McGonagall entered. Harry stared, shocked. She didn't walk in - she floated in, on the chair she had been sitting on at the front of the other room. It hovered a couple of inches above the ground, and carried McGonagall behind the desk before setting gently down. She flicked her wand towards the door and it closed. Harry had never seen anyone use the Wizarding equivalent of a Muggle wheelchair before, but he supposed that this was what one looked like. What on Earth had happened to McGonagall?

Nobody else seemed surprised at her entrance - they just stopped talking and paid attention.

'This is an important year,' said McGonagall. 'You'll be starting on NEWT level work in all of your classes. Also, now that you're all sixteen, you'll have to start night patrol with the teachers and the seventh years. I'll see you about that later, and divide you into patrol groups. For now, though, I'd like to see how your Transfiguration is progressing. I'd like you each to Conjure the inanimate object of your choice, and I'll come around and inspect your work.'

Harry took out his wand and began to work, watching the rest of the class with half an eye as he did. Hermione, of course, produced a beautiful goblet out of thin air with no trouble at all. Susan made a clock almost right away. Neville seemed to be able to Conjure alright to begin with, but the things he made disappeared almost as soon as they appeared. Harry could only Conjure strange, formless blobs.

'Harry, you're not concentrating,' said McGonagall, floating across to him on her chair. 'You need to have a firm mental image of the object you wish to Conjure. Don't rush yourself - while you're in class you have all the time in the world to get it right. Take the time to fully visualise the object.'

Harry tried again. This time his creation - he was hoping for a teacup - was vaguely concave, and had some suggestion of a handle.

'Well, it's a good start,' said McGonagall. 'Keep at it, Harry, you'll get it in the end.'

She moved over to Hannah, leaving Harry to his misshaped cup and his musings.

It was no use - he couldn't carry on like this. He had to find out what was going on. But how?

After some two-and-a-half hours of Conjuring practise, they were let out for lunch, which took place in the same large room that they had been in before. There were just two long tables, and the teachers sat with the students. Harry saw Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch, as well as a few order members he recognised, and a few people he hadn't seen before.

Harry sat with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Victoria, Edward, Luna, Dudley, and the Muggle girl who had waved at Dudley, Kitty. Victoria had spent the morning in Charms and was full of some new spell they'd learned. Dudley and Kitty had been doing Maths. Edward had been in Sirius' class - apparently the first thing he had taught them had been how to make things explode. Harry wasn't in the least bit surprised.

'What did you two do, then?' Neville asked Ginny and Luna.

'Oh, we were doing Potions with Hestia,' said Ginny. 'It was pretty interesting, wasn't it, Lu?'

'Fascinating,' agreed Luna. 'I do like potions. I like the way they bubble. We learned a new one today.'

Harry was struck by an idea.

'How long do we have until afternoon classes?' he asked casually.

'Half an hour,' said Ron, looking at his watch. He threw his cutlery down on his empty plate. 'Right, that's me done. Hermione, fancy a little walk before afternoon classes?'

Hermione smiled, and they got up and left.

'Yeah, right, a walk,' said Dudley, miming quotation marks sarcastically. 'Come on, Kitty, let's go for a.. ahem... walk, too.'

'Well, much as I enjoy walking, Harry, Victoria and I have some things to take care of before afternoon classes,' said Ginny. 'So I'll see you later, ok?'

She kissed him and disappeared. Harry, Neville, Luna and Edward looked at one another.

'Um... Luna, could I have a word?' Harry asked.

'Of course!' she said. 'What is it?'

'Well... in private, I mean...'

'Ooh, watch out, Ginny won't be pleased...' Neville teased.

'Don't be daft, it's nothing like that,' said Harry. 'I just wanted to ask you about something. Can we go somewhere quieter?'

'Of course,' said Luna serenely. 'Come on, we'll go up to the Bell Room. Ignore those two.'

He followed her out of the room.

He had to tell his story to somebody, and Luna was probably the only person in the world who would believe him.