Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

-CHAPTER 2-

Back to Diagon Alley

'Get up, boys,' came Mrs. Weasley's voice, clearly audible through the thin door, 'it's time to go!'

Ron groaned and rolled over. Harry yawned and stretched.

'Come on,' she said briskly, turning on the light.

'Go where?' Ron questioned, still not fully awake.

'Diagon Alley, silly! We've got to get your school stuff. Come on, Hermione will be waiting!'

*

'Harry! Ron!' They turned and looked. A girl was waving at them, but it was no one they knew.

'Uh...hi,' said Harry tentatively, 'Do I know you?'

'Of course you do!' said a voice he definitely recognized.

'Hermione?' asked Ron incredulously.

'Yes?'

'You look-uhh- different!'

She grinned. She had somehow managed to get her hair to stay permanently straight and it was no longer all bushy.

'I spent all summer looking for a charm that could do this, you wouldn't believe the number of books I had to go through,' she commented.

'Well,' Harry said, breaking the awed silence that had ensued, 'I guess we had better go get our stuff.'

'Yeah,' said Ron. The three of them headed off down the street with Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Fred and George behind them.

When they had bought their books, they headed off towards Madam Malkin's to buy new robes, as all three of them had outgrown theirs during the summer. Harry sighed as the cool air in the shop washed over him. It was a welcome change from the hot, humid air in Diagon Alley.

Harry grinned knowingly as the twins bought Ron a set of dark blue dress robes. He kept checking them over for curses and told them he refused to put them on. He really did look pleased though, and as he ran his fingers over the dark velvet, it became apparent that he didn't really think Fred and George would spend that much money just to curse him.

When all their shopping was done they stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour for sundaes. Through large mouthfuls of ice cream they discussed school, what they had done that summer, and just talked in general. Eventually the talked turned to Voldemort.

'It's sort of hard to believe he's back, isn't it?' asked Hermione, 'I feel so removed from it all.'

'Yeah,' said Harry.

'I guess I have to think about it more than you guys,' said Ron, 'Living in a wizarding family you hear about stuff like that all the time.'

It was sort of a sensitive topic as Harry had been directly involved in the rebirth of Voldemort. Blood had been taken from him and put in a potion that restored Voldemort to his body.

Ron changed the subject, sensing that talk of You-Know-Who could prove to be a bad subject of discussion.

'So, Harry, any ideas of who the new players will be?'

'What new players?' asked Hermione.

'Well, Oliver and Angelina are done at Hogwarts, aren't they?' explained Harry, 'So we need two more players on the Gryffindor quidditch team.' To Ron he said, 'No, I'm not sure. We're going to need to find someone who's really good at stopping the quaffle, Wood was one of the best keepers Gryffindor ever had.'

'Hey, Flint's finished too isn't he?'

'I think so, yeah.'

'Well as far as I could tell, he was the Slytherins' best player. Maybe Gryffindor will have it easier this year.'

'Maybe.'

They were just finishing their sundaes when Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas came into sight.

They stopped to say hi, but Seamus was behaving very oddly. He kept looking like he was about to say something and then stopped just before it got out of his mouth.

'Well, spit it out,' said Ron irritatedly.

'Um... who's that?' asked Seamus, pointing at Hermione.

'It's Hermione!' Harry explained.

'Oh,' said Seamus, going very red.

'Don't worry, we didn't recognize her at first either,' said Harry. Seamus didn't say anything, but tugged Dean into the shop a bit faster than he normally would have done.

'What's with him?' wondered Harry.

'I know what it is,' said Ron knowingly.

'What?' asked Harry.

'He likes her!' Ron whispered in Harry's ear.

'Oh shut up,' said Hermione, also going red, 'I've already figured it out, you don't have to whisper...'

'Ooh!' said Ron rather unkindly, 'Competition for Vicky...'

'Shut up Ron!' said Hermione, who was almost yelling by then, 'and don't call him that!' She stomped off angrily down the street.

'Well, she won't be gone for long,' said Ron, 'She's staying at my house for the night and we're taking her to King's Cross tomorrow. Her parents have already left for Denmark, so she doesn't have much of a choice.'

Harry stifled a laugh as Hermione stomped back down the street towards them. She grabbed her empty sundae dish and walked into back into the shop. She slammed it down on the counter so hard that the glass dish shattered. Apologizing profusely, she muttered,

'Reparo!' and the broken shards of glass flew back into place.

*

By the time they got back to the Weasleys, Hermione had calmed down and the whole incident had become nearly forgotten. Hermione, too, had immediately noticed the absence of the Chudley Cannons posters in Ron's room. She had offered to change the bunny print into brooms, but having everyone asking about the Chudley Cannons posters all the time had made Ron flinch at the slightest mention of anything to do with flying. He even refused to play quidditch after supper that night.

'It's just as well,' said Mrs. Weasley, 'you all need to pack your trunks anyway.' At this statement there was a collective groan. 'Unless you'd like to wake up early tomorrow...' There was a glum chorus of 'no's. 'So you need to get it done now.' Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George headed towards the stairs.

*

'How are we getting to the station?' asked Ron early the next morning.

'The Ministry's providing cars,' explained Mr. Weasley.

'Why are they...' Ginny was silenced by a look from her mother. For a few moments everyone silently ate his or her breakfast, purposly avoiding looking at Harry. He sighed. The Ministry must be providing cars because he supposedly needed protection. Sometimes it was a real nuisance being famous.

The Ministry cars, like Mr. Weasley's old Ford Anglia that had escaped, had a few magical touches. The seemingly small cars were much larger inside than they appeared to be from the outside, especially the boot. The cars also seemed to know where they were going, as no one was driving. When they arrived at King's Cross Station the doors popped smartly open and their luggage was deposited at their feet.

'Hurry, hurry,' said Mrs. Weasley, 'the train is leaving in ten minutes, hurry up, let's go...'

In a complicated jumble of trunks and people they managed to get over to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 relatively quickly. There wasn't enough time to go one by one so they divided up into groups. Harry, Ron and Hermione leant against the barrier, chatting. In a second they slid through into Platform 9 ¾.

A bright red steam engine puffed smoke. Witches and wizards from ages eleven to seventeen hurried to get their trunks and themselves on board. Teary-eyed mothers waved as their children headed off for another year at Hogwarts.

Just as Harry, Ron and Hermione cleared the way Fred, George and Ginny followed through the barrier. The six of them hurried to get on board with their stuff.

Lee Jordan had saved Fred and George seats so they settled down and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny headed towards the back of the train, searching for seats. Ginny sat down with a group of friends, also in Gryffindor. The three friends left over finally found seats in the last compartment. There was only one other occupant, a very small boy with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He appeared to be on the verge of tears.

'What's your name?' asked Hermione kindly.

'Tristan,' he said bravely, 'Tristan Poplar.'

'That's the kid!' Ron hissed in Harry's ear, 'that's the one who jinxed You-Know-Who!' Harry almost glared at the small child but stopped himself just in time. This boy reminded him of himself on his first trip to Hogwarts so much he couldn't bring himself to make Tristan look any more frightened than he did.

'Um, hi,' he muttered, 'nice to meet you.' He strode over to a window seat, which conveniently blocked Tristan from view. Tristan promptly changed seats so that he was sitting across from Harry.

'Could I ask you some questions?' he asked, 'My parents didn't get a chance to tell me very much about Hogwarts before they...before they...'

'Died?' Harry supplied helpfully. Hermione kicked him in the shins and glared at him. Tristan nodded, his head down.

'Well, why don't you try asking Ron here, he grew up in a wizarding family so he could explain it better than I could.' He said this almost sharply, as if Tristan should have known exactly who he was and known to ask someone else.

'Er, okay...' Tristan started, 'So, is it true that there's a forest full of werewolves next to Hogwarts?' he asked Ron.

'Well, not really full of werewolves. There are lots of other dangerous things in there too, like giant spiders and centaurs. Well the centaurs aren't really dangerous but...' Ron started eagerly. Harry sighed. This was going to be a very long train ride.

At what seemed like three weeks later, but was really only about an hour and a half, the witch with the food trolley entered their compartment.

'Anything off the trolley, dears?' she asked with a smile.

Harry, who was starving (and by tradition shared with Ron) bought a lot of everything. Ron wanted to share their food with Tristan, and Harry realized that not feeding this boy, who didn't appear to have brought any food, would be crossing the line from cold and slightly unkind to cruel. He watched, scowling, as Ron explained to Tristan about Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.

Hermione, who was sitting next to him, hadn't spoken to anyone the whole ride. Her lips were moving but no sounds were coming out. Harry could tell she was reciting something to herself.

'What are you thinking about?' he asked curiously.

'The O.W.Ls!' she said rather desperately, 'I can't believe I forgot about them all summer. Do you know these are probably the most important tests we'll take in our entire lives?'

Harry did. Hermione had told him all this the previous year, when she had begun studying. Harry didn't know what all the fuss was about. They couldn't be that hard. Hermione almost always overreacted about exams. She went back to speaking to herself.

A while later there was a loud slam that made the four of them start. Harry stopped scowling, Hermione looked up from a huge book that (knowing her) she was probably trying to memorize, and Ron stopped explaining the Chamber of Secrets to Tristan.

'Well, what have we here?' sneered Draco Malfoy. 'Weasley seems to have adopted the other 'boy who lived'. Bad idea, he's just another mouth to feed and it's not like you don't already have too many.' Ron started towards him but Hermione grabbed the back of his robes.

'Not on the very first day,' she hissed, 'I know he's pure evil but that doesn't mean you have try to beat him up every time you see him.' Crabbe and Goyle chuckled and cracked their knuckles menacingly.

'You've got to stop doing that,' he whispered vehemently, 'It makes me look stupid.'

'I know you possess the power to look completely idiotic without any help from me,' Hermione shot back, 'You don't think it would have been a good idea to try and beat up Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle right there, do you?

Ron muttered something that didn't sound very polite.

'That's what I thought,' said Hermione. Ron went back to explaining things to Tristan. He had gotten on to the Sorting.

'Don't worry about the Sorting, it's really easy,' he said to Tristan, 'All you have to do is put an old hat on your head, and it yells out where you have to go. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Whatever you do, you don't want to be in Slytherin. They're pure evil, and most of them end up as Death Eaters. You know what those are, don't you?'

'Yeah,' said Tristan bravely.

Harry sank back into his usually stupor.

*

A few hours later, Ron was saying to Tristan, 'You'd better get your robes on, I think we're almost there.'

'You'll get your first view of Hogwarts from around this bend,' said Hermione. She guided him to the window where he would be able to see it.

Sure enough, when the train turned the corner, the magnificent castle came into view. The bottom was hidden in a thick shroud of mist, and the towers reached towards the sun, glowing pink in the last of the sunset.

'Ooooh,' said Tristan. Much as Harry was beginning to dislike this boy, he thought 'ooooh' summed it up perfectly.

Harry gathered up the wrappers from the food. The last Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean rolled across the floor, and Harry picked it up and popped it in his mouth. He wasn't sure what flavour it was but it was pretty disgusting, but that may have been from being on the filthy floor of the compartment.

*

As the train drew to a halt, it became full of activity. Students scurried through compartments, looking for lost pets (Neville had lost his toad Trevor yet again) and luggage. One first year girl was in tears because she had lost her wand.

'I just put it down on my seat, it must be here somewhere,' she sobbed, 'oh I can't believe it, mum is going to kill me...'

Harry packed up the belongings he had used on the train. As he pulled his trunk up, a thin piece of wood rolled to the ground. It was someone's wand. He set off to find the girl who had lost hers.

'I'll take it,' Tristan offered eagerly, 'I saw where she was going.' Harry reluctantly handed over the wand. He didn't feel much like searching the whole train anyway.

The train finally stopped and the students got off, heading in a rag-tag bunch towards the horseless carriages that would take them up to the castle.

'Firs' years this way,' called Hagrid, 'All firs' years follow me...' Harry waved. Hagrid grinned at him and waved back. Tristan headed off towards him.

'Thanks you guys,' he called to Harry, Ron and Hermione. 'Maybe I'll see you!'

'And maybe you won't,' he muttered to himself.

The weather was clear and sunny but there was a slight chill in the air, a hint of September. The three friends climbed into a carriage and headed towards the castle doors.

The Great Hall was packed with students. The enchanted ceiling was bright blue. Harry glanced up to the head table, eager to see the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Harry strained his eyes, but he couldn't see him. Then he spotted him, no, her! She had bright blonde hair and was very short. She was talking to Professor Sprout animatedly.

The next thing Harry noticed was the absence of Professor Snape. Where was he? Harry looked but couldn't see him anywhere. Maybe Professor Dumbledore would explain. Maybe he was gone for the year! Harry's heart leapt. He was Professor Snape's least favourite student, and Professor Snape was his least favourite Professor. They shared a special hate.

'Where's Snape?' asked Ron, who had just noticed his absence as well.

'Dunno,' replied Harry distractedly.

The chatter died down as Professor Dumbledore stood up.

'I would like to introduce to you your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor,' he said, 'May I introduce Professor Libre.'

There was a polite applause that died down quickly when Professor Dumbledore began to speak again.

'Professor Libre has worked mainly in studying plants, but also has a great interest in dreams and books. I am sure you will all be polite to her throughout the year.' He said this as a statement, but Harry could tell it was intended as a warning.

'I would also like to introduce a second person, who will be serving as a Potions professor until after Christmas.' At this news there was a loud cheer from the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued. 'Unfortunately, he is not here at the moment. However, his name is Professor Felix.

'Professor McGonagall, the Sorting Hat please. First years all here?' The first years, who had just entered the huge double doors, nodded rather nervously. 'Then let the sorting begin!' The Sorting Hat opened the mouth-like rip just above the brim and began to sing:

'I'm what they call the Sorting Hat,

I'm smarter than you think,

I may not be too handsome

But I'll sort you in a wink.

'If I see you're daring

And brave right to the core,

You like fair play and do your best

You'll go in Gryffindor!

If you're very honest

And do more work than enough,

If you always try your hardest

Then you'll go in Hufflepuff!

If friends call you 'smarty'

You fix every little flaw,

If learning is your thing

Then you'll go in Ravenclaw!

If you're sly and cunning

And you feel the need to win,

If you are quick-witted

Then you'll go in Slytherin!

So slip me on your head,

Let me look inside your mind.

I'll put you in a Hogwarts house

Based on what I find.'

The students clapped and cheered. Many of the first years looked slightly bewildered. The sorting began with Adams, Patricia (Hufflepuff). By the time it got back to Lovett, Portia (Slytherin), Harry's stomach was audibly grumbling. Harry wasn't really listening, and he was extremely surprised when the whole school stood on tiptoe to get a look at someone (or something). He stood up and then sat down again.

'Who is it?' questioned Ron, who hadn't grown much from the last year and couldn't see.

'Just that new kid, Tristan Popular or whatever his name was,' Harry grumbled.

'Poplar,' Ron corrected.

'Whatever.'

The sorting hat didn't take long at all to decide with Tristan.

'GRYFFINDOR!' it shouted to the students. All the Gryffindors stood up and cheered for Tristan. All the Gryffindors except Harry, anyway.