Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 12

The rest of the holidays flew by without further incident. Harry and his friends spent most of their time lounging around together or playing Quidditch. Hermione had insisted they all have their homework complete so a few days were spent finishing that and Harry and his Battle Guard continued their exercises. Sirius joined them every morning and it was during one of these morning exercise times that the owl arrived announcing his acceptance into the Guild training program. That particular training session was never finished due to Sirius' exuberant celebrations.

Their obligatory pre-school trip to Diagon Alley had passed with more fuss than Harry would have preferred. Hermione had kept them all on track with their shopping, making sure they had gotten everything they needed for school before they were allowed to head off to Quality Quidditch Supplies or Florian Fortescue's for ice cream. She had worn her Head Girl badge and had insisted that Harry wear his Head Boy badge. Harry had been resistant to that at first, remembering Percy's antics before the start of Third Year but had eventually given in, for no other reason than to stop Hermione's pestering. He had received at lot of congratulations and comments from other students throughout the day and by halfway through the trip was really wishing he had stood up to Hermione a bit better. Ron had consoled him with the thought that nobody could stand up to Hermione when she was on a crusade and he should be glad she hadn't insisted they wear their school uniforms. Harry had groaned and laughed; he had to agree with Ron on that one. They had finally managed to get home and had collapsed, exhausted, in the living room before being chivvied by Mrs Weasley to get up to their rooms and unpack their bags.

They were now all fussing around, dragging their trunks and various cages and baskets downstairs in preparation for the trip to Kings Cross. Sirius and Remus were helping...or rather Remus was helping, Sirius was getting in everyone's way. The two men were apparating up to Hogwarts later in the day, much to Harry's disgust. He had wanted them to come on the train. Remus had grinned at that and said that one time of ruining their fun was enough. Arthur had once again organised cars from the Ministry with the aid of Dumbledore; what had happened to Harry and Remus over the holidays had prompted the Headmaster to take this action. Mrs Weasley was rather relieved; she hadn't known how they were going to get everyone to the station. They finally managed to get their trunks into the boots of the cars and everyone climbed into a car and they set off for King's Cross.

There was a great deal of smothered mirth in the car with Harry and Ginny. The two of them were still trying to live down the events on Ginny's birthday. She had decided that turnabout was fair play and had claimed her own 'what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets' kiss from Harry. Unfortunately, she had decided to do this when they had both been left alone in the kitchen. The resulting kiss had gotten a touch heated and when Mrs Weasley had walked back into the kitchen she had found her only daughter sitting in Harry's lap, their arms wrapped around each other and their lips locked together. While this was something she was quite happy to see, she was less than happy to see her only daughter wiggling in Harry's lap in such a manner nor was she pleased to see that Harry's hands were underneath her daughter's shirt and heading north. Her subsequent scolding of the two had brought everyone in the house into the kitchen to spectate and comment, much to the embarrassment of the two teens in question. Sirius' comments in particular had been both highly funny and extraordinarily embarrassing. They had also found themselves with a great deal of company in the last weeks of the holidays.

Harry picked up Ginny's hand and wove his fingers in between hers, determinedly ignoring the amused looks from Ron, Hermione and Remus. Ginny smiled softly at him and leaned into his shoulder. Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione and rolled his eyes at the expressions on their faces.

"What?" he said irritably. "Like you two have never done that!"

Hermione blushed and Ron's eyes widened then the red-head laughed.

"Well, that is true, mate," he said with a grin. "But we were never silly enough to try it in the kitchen where Mum could walk in at any moment."

"Geez, get carried away just once," Harry grumbled. "Besides it's not like your Mum hasn't wanted this to happen since the first time I met her."

Ginny dissolved into giggles and buried her face into Harry's shoulder as the others in the car laughed.

"Okay, I'll give you that," Ron said between laughs. "But Harry, Mum didn't quite want you doing that with her baby girl in her kitchen until you two were...oh, I don't know, married!"

Harry stared at Ron for a moment then finally the absurdity of the situation got to him and he started laughing. "So she'll still be scolding us when we've been married for 80 years and are old and decrepit?"

"Yes," Ron said as he finally dissolved into helpless laughter.

Ginny lifted her head and looked up at Harry. "We're going to be married for 80 years?" she asked with a grin.

Harry froze for a second. "Er, yes?" he said a little warily.

"Oh, good," Ginny replied calmly, inwardly amused at Harry's reaction.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment then decided not to comment any further; he just seemed to be getting himself into trouble. He desperately searched for a different topic of conversation.

"So what exactly do we have to do on the train today?" he asked Hermione with a certain amount of trepidation. He wasn't exactly looking forward to this.

"We have to organise the prefects to do regular patrols of the corridors," she said patiently, having told him this a number of times already. "We'll have to do a couple of patrols as well, of course. Otherwise not too much. We'll probably have a meeting with the Heads of House and Professor Dumbledore tomorrow after classes."

"Yeah, okay," Harry said with a worried frown.

"You'll be fine," Remus said soothingly. "James had no problems and he wasn't a prefect before becoming Head Boy either." He paused. "Of course, he had Lily to help him but that's okay, you've got Hermione."

A wry grin broke over Harry's face and he looked over at the new Head Girl. "Sorry, Hermione. I've been pestering you about this a bit, haven't I? I'm just nervous."

Hermione laughed and patted Harry's knee. "That's okay. I'd sort of worked that out already. You'll be fine, Harry. You're one of the heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts. I don't think people are going cause that much trouble."

Harry smiled a little uncomfortably; he still didn't really like the idea of being considered a hero. He looked over at Remus. "Are you sure you and Siri won't come up on the train?"

Remus chuckled. "We've still got a few things to organise and besides you don't want two of your professors spoiling your trip up. I've already done that once."

"Remus," Harry said firmly. "You didn't spoil our trip in Third Year. In fact, you were very useful even if you were asleep most of the time."

Ron chuckled. "Yeah, not even Malfoy was stupid enough to try anything under the nose of a teacher."

Harry laughed. "Exactly and besides..." He paused and shifted slightly, causing Ginny to look up at him with concern. "You were very helpful when that Dementor came around."

There was silence in the car for a moment then Harry shrugged. "And anyway, it's hard to think of you and Siri being teachers now." He gave a shy grin. "You won't take points if I accidentally call you Remy in class, will you?"

That question startled Remus into laughter. "Well, no, I won't but do try not to. It might undermine classroom discipline."

Everyone laughed and they settled into a more companionable silence. Finally Hermione sighed.

"It's hard to believe it's our last year," she said quietly.

"Yeah, I know," Ron said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Seems like First Year was only yesterday."

Harry was silent for a moment longer then he said with a small grin, "I wonder what happened to that troll?"

Ron and Hermione stared at him in surprise for a moment then burst out laughing.

"I hope it's living a good life somewhere," Hermione said giggling. "We really do owe it a lot."

"True," Ron said with a wide smile. "The three of us wouldn't have become friends if not for that bloody troll."

"Yes, after all I was a 'nightmare', wasn't I?" Hermione said tartly.

Ron blushed; he was still a bit embarrassed about that comment. "Yeah, well, I...didn't mean it that way," he stammered. "You'd just..."

"Shown you up in class in front of everyone," Hermione said wryly. "Yes, I know. I was a bit of a know-it-all back then, wasn't I? I was just so nervous. I wanted to know everything and I wanted to know it now. Didn't occur to me that I was being a grind."

"Actually, that night was your first lie," Harry said with a grin. "We worked pretty fast to corrupt you. And we were so proud when you broke your first rule willingly."

Hermione blushed and Harry, Ron, Ginny and Remus laughed. They then settled back down and spent the rest of the trip to Kings Cross in easy conversation. The arrival at the train station was another exercise in organised chaos but they all managed to get onto the platform and the train in time. Harry then jumped off the train and walked over to where Sirius and Remus were standing. He stood in front of them a little nervously. He knew he would be seeing them that night but he was reluctant to leave. The two men seemed to understand what he was feeling.

Sirius pulled him into a hug. "See you soon, Pronglet," he said quietly. "Have fun on the trip and don't let Hermione give too many detentions."

Harry gave a strangled laugh as he hugged his godfather tightly. He then turned to Remus and was drawn into his arms.

"Enjoy your last trip to Hogwarts," Remus said softly. "We'll see you tonight."

Harry pulled back and smiled at the two men then as he heard the whistle; he gripped his cane tightly and jumped back on the train. He hurried back to the compartment they had appropriated and waved at Sirius and Remus until they had left the station. He then turned to Hermione and Ron and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I suppose we'd better go," he said, gesturing for Hermione to lead.

Ron clapped him on the shoulder and the three of them made their way to the front of the train to the prefects' compartment. They were the first to arrive and Harry and Hermione had a quick conversation as the other prefects trickled in. When Hermione indicated that everyone was present, Harry cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Erm, well, hello everyone," he said nervously. "Um, I'm Harry Potter and I'm the Head Boy this year."

There were a few snorts of laughter from the prefects and Hannah Abbott, who was a Hufflepuff prefect, smiled at him.

"Harry, I don't think anyone, other than some muggle-born First Years, doesn't know who you and your friends are by now."

Harry blushed as Ron and Hermione grinned.

"Um, yes, well," Harry stammered then he stopped and laughed at himself. "Okay, let's start this again so I can stop being an idiot." Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode, the new Slytherin Seventh Year prefects, snorted with amusement and Harry grinned at them. "And thank you for the input from the Slytherins. Now, most of you probably know better than I do what has to be done right now. So I think I'll let Hermione handle that part. I just wanted to congratulate you all on being named prefects for this year and I hope we can all work together well. If you are having any problems in your role, please come and see me or Hermione and we'll do our best to help you." He paused for a beat. "Well, perhaps it might be best to see Hermione; I've got no idea what the job entails, I'll be muddling along with the rest of you." Everyone laughed and Hermione smacked him on the shoulder. "Just kidding. Seriously, if you are having problems, don't hesitate to come and speak to us. We'll do what we can to help. Now, I think I'll hand over to Hermione so she can get us organised."

Harry sat down to a smattering of applause and a few laughs and amused comments. Hermione then stood and quickly organised the roster for patrolling the train. Much to the amusement of the others, she exercised her right as Head Girl and rostered herself and Harry to the first patrol and Ron to the one after that. The rest of the shifts were sorted fairly amicably and Hermione called the meeting closed. Some of the prefects remained in the compartment while others headed out to join friends elsewhere. Harry and Hermione walked out to start their patrol while Ron headed back to the compartment they had claimed.

Harry and Hermione slowly wandered down the corridor of the train, chatting idly with each other and greeting students. They had just finished greeting a small group of new First Years and were walking down the corridor when Hermione shook her head.

"Were we that small when we started?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," Harry said blandly. "Though I think I was smaller. I think I'm always going to be smaller."

Hermione looked over at Harry and laughed. He had been slowly growing over the last couple of years but wasn't really threatening to get much taller than his current height of about five feet ten inches. Hermione wasn't that much shorter than him and it was a source of frustration for Harry, particularly when Ron had shot up over six feet. Still, if he did end up deciding to play professional Quidditch, an idea that was becoming more and more attractive, he wouldn't want to get too much bigger. Seekers needed to be small and light.

"Well, well, if it isn't Potty and the Mudblood," came a simpering, sneering voice from behind them.

Harry and Hermione froze for a second before remembering that Draco wasn't at Hogwarts anymore and was therefore not on the train. They exchanged glances that were both curious and exasperated and turned around to see who had spoken. Standing in the doorway of one of the compartments they had just passed was Pansy Parkinson. Crabbe and Goyle could be seen standing just inside the doorway.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hello, Pansy. How are you?" he said with as much politeness he could muster.

Pansy ignored the pleasantry and sneered again. "Going for a stroll with your girlfriend are you, Potter?"

Harry sighed; he'd rather thought this sort of thing was over once Draco had left. Apparently Pansy felt a need to step up into the gap. "No, Pansy. I'm patrolling the train with the Head Girl because that's what the Head Boy does."

Pansy's eyes narrowed and she quickly ducked back into her compartment slamming the door closed behind her. Harry watched her retreat with surprise then turned to face Hermione, whose expression mirrored his own.

"Well, that was quick," Harry said with a small shrug. "Draco was usually a little more resilient than that."

Hermione smiled. "Yes, but we weren't Head Boy and Girl then. We can give detentions, you know."

Harry grinned. "Ah, well, that explains it."

Hermione smacked him on the arm and they continued their patrol. After about forty minutes they headed back to their compartment and rousted out Ron, who headed off with a minimum of grumbling to find Blaise Zabini for their patrol. The rest of trip passed in a combination of talk, catching up with friends and games of chess and exploding snap. Far sooner than they expected they were changing into their school robes and climbing off the train. Harry and Hermione stayed on the platform for a moment to make sure everything was going well. They gave a wave to Hagrid as he ushered the First Years to one end of the platform and then scurried off to the carriages. As they rode up, Harry looked out the window, seeing the massive wash of energy colours that was Hogwarts and he felt an odd pang in his chest. This was the last time he would do this. Next year he would be out in the world and would have to make something of himself. There would be no more Hogwarts, no more messing around in the dorms, no more sneaking off to do stupid things and trying not to get caught. He started as he felt a hand on his arm and he turned to see Ginny smiling at him sympathetically. She didn't say anything, just snuggled in closer to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and continued staring out of the carriage window.

When they climbed out of the carriages, Harry looked around and saw Ron, Hermione and Neville wearing what he imagined would be the kind of expression he had. Apparently the thoughts that had occurred to him had also occurred to his friends. They made their way into the school and then into the Great Hall before sitting down at their various House tables. Harry looked up at the teacher's table and grinned and waved at Remus, Sirius and Master Nhean. He looked down the table and nodded a polite greeting to Professor Snape. The Potions Master returned the nod and Harry turned back to his friends. They chatted amongst themselves until Professor McGonagall brought in the latest batch of First Years.

Ron shook his wonderingly. "When did the First Years get so bloody small?" he whispered to Harry.

"I think we grew up somewhere along the way," Harry whispered back.

Both boys fell silent as Professor McGonagall brought the Sorting Hat out and it began to sing.

Last year I warned you all

To cleave to one another

Some of you listened to my words

Some thought it too much bother

The danger has not passed

It has grown in a brand new way

Darkness wells once more

And threatens night and day

And now it falls to me

To sort you and divide you

For this it what the Founders wished

And it surely suits me too

But it must not be lost

That though you be parted anon

All are part of Hogwarts

And none do stand alone.

The bold and true I will send

To stand in Gryffindor's place.

For this is what he favoured

To these he gave his grace.

Hufflepuff shall claim all those

Who value hard work and true

But doubt not the hardy badgers

For they will receive their due

The intelligent and wise will wend

Their way to the raven's lair

But Ravenclaw's must see beyond

Else let everyone else beware

Noble Slytherin has returned

To the values Salazar most prized

Cunning and sly, seeing all that is there

Let you not be once more divided

And that is how I shall part you

And send you to where you will thrive

But remember you are but one of a whole

Else darkness will come alive.

A stunned silence fell in the Hall as everyone exchanged startled glances. Harry merely looked at his friends and sighed. The Hat's song did not surprise him at all; Voldemort was still around, albeit part of Draco, and the danger was still there. Whispers began to start around the Hall as people peered over and saw the impassive reaction by Harry and his friends. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and began calling out the names of the first years. Harry ignored this and looked up at the teacher's table. He swore under his breath as he realised he was far enough away that his Oversight would not allow him to tell whether or not Sirius and Remus thought the song was as significant as he did. Then he caught the hand signal Remus was using. It was the one that meant 'later' and Harry relaxed and turned back to his friends.

"Well, that was interesting," Ron said quietly. "It seems the Sorting Hat knows Voldemort isn't dead as well."

"Well, it does live in the Headmaster's office," Hermione said logically. "You would expect it to know such things. It had a similar theme to last year though. The school has to stick together in order to come through this."

"I thought we did that," Neville said dryly. "The Slytherins were very helpful."

"Some of the Slytherins were very helpful," Ginny pointed out. "Pansy and her group actually tried to prevent Blaise and the others from getting to the Battle."

Harry considered this for a moment. "I think we need to talk to Blaise and Millicent. I suspect we're going to need to keep a close eye on Pansy."

Lavender, who had been listening to this, spoke up. "Particularly when you consider the news," she said knowingly.

"What news?" Harry asked blankly.

"Haven't you heard? Pansy and Draco are betrothed," Lavender said in surprise. "Apparently it was in the works last year but Draco getting expelled kind of stalled things but it was in the Daily Prophet social section during the summer. The betrothal has been announced and they'll marry after they finish school."

Harry and his friends exchanged glances.

"Isn't that interesting?" Hermione breathed. "Thank you, Lavender, you've been most helpful."

Lavender beamed and turned back to watch the sorting with Parvati Patil.

Hermione leaned forwards. "We've really got to keep an eye on her now," she said urgently. "If Draco has any plans for something to happen at Hogwarts then he's going to use Pansy."

"Good point," Harry said grimly. "Remus signalled to me that he wants to talk to me later. I'll make sure I bring that up when I see him."

Their conversation was brought to a halt at this point as the Sorting Hat finished its job and they all turned their attention to Dumbledore as he stood.

"Welcome all of you to another year at Hogwarts," the Headmaster said with a gentle smile. "Tuck in."

Food suddenly appeared on the tables and the noise levels rose significantly as everyone concentrated on feeding themselves and catching up with everyone else. After the first pangs of hunger had been assuaged, Seamus leaned over.

"Hey, Harry. I don't suppose you know what the Sorting Hat was talking about and does it have anything to do with what happened on your birthday?"

Harry swallowed his current mouthful. "Yes and yes," he said with a small smile. "Voldemort isn't dead. Mind you, he isn't quite alive either." There were baffled looks from Seamus and the others who had been listening in. Harry continued. "Look, I don't want to go any further. I'm not exactly sure what Dumbledore wants to do with this. I'll probably be speaking with him either tonight or tomorrow and I'll be able to tell you more at the first DA meeting."

The other Gryffindors frowned and nodded and they all turned back to their dinners. After the last dessert had disappeared, Dumbledore once again stood up.

"Well, now that we are all satisfied, it is time for a few start of term notices," the Headmaster said benignly. "First, I would remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is indeed forbidden. Those venturing in will not be welcomed by the denizens. Mr Filch has asked me to remind you that magic is forbidden in the corridors between classes and that the list of banned items may be found on the door of his office. I understand it is quite a lengthy list these days." The Headmaster's eyes twinkled as he continued. "I would like you all to welcome Professor Sirius Black who will be teaching Astronomy this year due to the unfortunate death of Professor Sinistra last year." The Headmaster was forced to pause here as the clapping and, from the Gryffindor table in particular, cheering rang out. When it died down, Dumbledore continued. "And I would also like to congratulate Mr Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger on being named Head Boy and Girl this year. I am sure that you will all take your lead from these two fine students. Now, I believe it is time we were all in our beds so off you go."

Harry caught Sirius' small wave and had a quick discussion with Hermione before heading up towards the teacher's table. He was slowed in his progress by the number of students who intercepted him to offer their congratulations and by the time he got there, the Great Hall was mostly empty. The first thing he did was hug his godfather and guardian and the three of them waited while Dumbledore saw off the last of the uninvolved teachers. Harry waited patiently, standing happily between Sirius and Remus, with Sirius' arm around his shoulders. Snape came up and joined them and did Master Nhean. When the Headmaster had finished, he walked over to them and then led them up to his office.

The all sat down and before anything else could be said or done, Harry said rather bluntly, "What do you want me to tell them regarding Voldemort? I've already had a few questions after that song the Hat sang."

"Tell them the truth," Albus said calmly. "There is nothing to be gained by concealing the truth and it may just make young Mr Malfoy pause a little in his actions."

"I think we should keep an eye on Pansy as well," Harry said quietly.

"Why?" Snape asked.

"You did know she's gotten betrothed to Draco over the summer?" Harry asked.

Snape blinked and shook his head. "I do not read the social pages, Mr Potter," he said archly. "And it seems that certain social circles are no longer open to me."

"Well, she has, according to Lavender and if anyone would know, she would," Harry said dryly. "I'm sure Draco will have asked her to try and cause a bit of trouble here if the train trip was any indication. And if he does move against Hermione and I, then I daresay Pansy will be helping him."

"What happened on the train?" Sirius demanded.

Harry snorted with amusement. "Not much really. She made a few insulting comments like Malfoy used to but she backed off pretty quickly when she found out Hermione and I are Head Girl and Boy. She didn't seem to like the idea of detention." Harry paused. "I didn't even know we could give detentions."

"It is not something to be abused, Mr Potter," Snape said sternly.

Harry grinned. "I wouldn't do that, Professor. Hermione would kill me...then she'd resurrect me and kill me again."

Snorts of laughter came from Sirius and Remus, Albus' eyes twinkled and Snape's lips twitched. Master Nhean chuckled quietly then looked over at Harry.

"I think you should call in the Guild," he said softly.

Harry looked at him with surprise. "But nothing's happened yet," he objected.

"On the contrary, I think the Sorting Hat's song was very significant," Nhean replied firmly. "I think something is going to happen and happen soon. And the sooner we can get the Night Warriors accustomed to the castle, the more useful they will be."

Harry thought about that for a moment as Albus caught Nhean's attention. "Precisely how many Warriors were you planning on bringing here? I must ask that you do not alarm anyone prematurely."

"Two," Nhean replied firmly. "Only two, Albus. I think with Harry, his Battle Guard, myself and the four Ministry approved trainees, we will only need a minimum of reinforcement at this time."

"Very well then," Albus said. "If Harry agrees to this, I have no objection."

Nhean turned back to his young apprentice. "I was planning on asking Jun'ko Watanabe and Nyugen Dinh Tien if that is any help. I think I will want Council members here in case we need to make some snap decisions and you have at least met those two."

Harry remembered to two older Night Warriors he had met and he nodded. "Alright. I liked them and I think they won't have any problems fitting in around here."

"Good," Nhean replied. "I'll make the arrangements." He paused. "I'll also arrange for you to train with them. I think you might find the change interesting and challenging."

Harry perked up at this idea and he nodded eagerly.

Dumbledore chuckled at his eager expression and stood. "Well, now that we've settled that, I think it's time we all went to bed. Harry, the password for Gryffindor Tower is 'Portable Swamp'."

Harry nodded and they all left the office. Harry walked along with Sirius and Remus as far as the entrance to the Tower where he gave then a hug, said goodnight and crawled through the entrance hole.