Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

-CHAPTER 3-

Professor Felix

'What's our first subject today?' Ron asked through a large mouthful of bacon. Harry consulted his new fifth year timetable.

'Potions with the Slytherins,' answered Harry with a grimace.

'Ugh,' said Ron, 'What an awful way to start our first day back.'

'At least Snape is gone,' said Hermione, 'Maybe it won't be so awful. Potions itself isn't really that bad, it's just Snape.'

'I guess,' said Harry optimistically. Harry was glad to see that Tristan seemed to have made some friends, or at least some fans. He was surrounded by a crowd of students at the other end of the Gryffindor table.

'What's the new Potions teacher's name again?' asked Ron.

'Professor Felix,' answered Hermione. 'I don't think I've ever heard of him, I wonder who he is?' Harry and Ron shrugged their shoulders.

'Yesterday I unfortunately did not have the pleasure of welcoming your Potions teacher for the year,' Professor Dumbledore began. The Hall quieted down quickly. 'He was delayed on his journey here, but luckily he arrived safely early this morning. I would like to introduce to you Professor Felix.'

A short, red-faced man stood up. His wispy grey hair still had traces of light brown visible in it. He had a large, potato-like nose that was even redder than his face and twinkling watery blue eyes.

'Hello, everyone!' he said in a raspy but unnaturally loud voice. 'It's great to be here today, I'm really looking forward to working with you all.' Harry noticed he had an unusual and annoying habit of emphasizing words that didn't need emphasizing.

'As you have been informed, I am Professor Felix. You may be wondering what has become of Professor Snape, your former Potions teacher. You need not worry, to my knowledge he is alive and well (Ron sighed at this news) but he will not be able to return this year because he is off--' The students were hanging onto every word.

He suddenly seemed to have lost the ability to speak. His mouth was moving but his lips were sealed together. The students sighed collectively. Most of them had been dying to find out what had happened to Professor Snape. It appeared that Professor McGonagall had put a well-placed Silencing Charm on Professor Felix. Professor Dumbledore nodded his thanks.

'Thank you, Professor Felix,' he said, his eyes twinkling, 'Perhaps you would consider sitting down to enable the students to finish their breakfast. We certainly wouldn't want anyone to be late for his of her first class of the year.'

The silence that had settled over the Great Hall since Professor Felix began to speak broke, and the students went back to their breakfasts. The clink of the golden forks and knives started again.

'Wow,' said Ron, 'good thing he's awful at keeping important secrets! If he could almost spill where Snape went in front of the entire school and all the teachers, imagine what he'll tell us in a Potions Class with no teachers around to stop him!' His eyes shone.

'Ron,' said Hermione exasperatedly, 'that's NOT a good thing, I don't know why--'

'Yeah, Hermione's right,' interrupted Harry. 'It doesn't very smart of Dumbledore to hire him, but I guess he had his reasons.'

'Yes,' said Hermione worriedly, 'he could spill all Dumbledore's plans to a spy for You-Know-Who and blow everything!'

'Well, I guess,' said Ron, 'but who would be stupid enough to tell him big secrets?'

'I don't know,' said Harry, 'but maybe--'

'Oh no!' said Hermione. 'We're going to be late for our first class!' The three friends quickly cleared their plates and headed down a staircase towards the dungeons.

When they arrived at Snape's old dungeon, at first they thought they had gone to the wrong place. It was covered in large charts on which brightly coloured pens were writing. Harry tried to read what they were writing but the neon ink was flashing and it was impossible to read. The bare spaces on the walls were covered in brightly coloured paintings of cauldrons and scientific equipment all bubbling neon liquids.

'Oy!' called Dean Thomas from the behind them, where the rest of the class was now crowded, 'What's the holdup?'

'Sorry,' called Ron. They headed in. When all the class was seated, they got out their notebooks. They waited. Students began to look at their watches. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. The Slytherins began to talk amongst themselves.

'Honestly, Father's seriously considering transferring me to Durmstrang,' Malfoy drawled across the classroom. 'This school is so pathetic, and now with Professor Snape gone, there isn't really a reason to stay. Crabbe and Goyle grunted in agreement.

'Wish he would go to Durmstrang,' snarled Ron. Harry nodded.

Finally, Professor Felix rushed in. 'Sorry, so sorry, I was decorating my office and lost track of the time,' he apologized as he hurried to his desk. A grin spread over his fat face. 'So, Potions, my favourite subject. As you can see, I've taken the liberty of redecorating this dungeon a bit. I'm sure Professor Snape won't mind.' Harry thought otherwise. 'Would you all please take out 'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger.'

To everyone's surprise, Professor Felix turned out to be a very good teacher. He kept them all working hard and graded much more fairly than Snape did. To Ron's great disappointment, he was much too busy convincing all the other teachers to let him redecorate their offices to spill any important secrets. As all of them had already seen what he had done to the Potions dungeon, they weren't exactly eager to let him at the rest of the castle.

*

That afternoon they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Everyone was eager to meet the new teacher, Professor Libre. Harry wondered how much longer they were going to have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor every year, none of them had lasted more than one year since Harry had come to Hogwarts.

Professor Libre was a slim, blonde-haired woman. She was a little shorter than usual, but not much. She was very business-like and extremely punctual. On their arrival, she barked,

'You are expected to be five minutes early to every lesson. Today we will be working in the library.' Harry, Ron and most of the class groaned, but Hermione looked excited. This was her kind of Professor. 'I have gotten permission from Madam Pince for us to work in the Restricted Section.' At this the class sat up and listened. 'Follow me,' she beckoned. She led the class to the library.

'That was the most interesting lesson I've ever had!' chattered Hermione excitedly as they headed to the Great Hall for supper after their lesson. They had worked in the library the whole period. Professor Libre had assigned them each a book in the Restricted Section. They had to write a report on why it was dangerous and how it could affect people. To Harry's great amusement, Neville Longbottom had been assigned 'Moste Potente Potions' which Harry, Ron and Hermione had used in their second year to make the Polyjuice Potion.

She had advised certain people not to open their books, as they had dangerous properties that could not be reversed. However, she refused to tell them what they were. They had to research their books in other books. Harry disagreed with Hermione. It had certainly not been the most exciting lesson he had ever had, but then it hadn't been the most boring, either. The most boring would have been after Malfoy had been attacked by a Hippogriff in Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid had lost his confidence. They had studied Flobberworms for the rest of the year.

*

'Hey,' said Harry after supper that night, 'why don't we go see Hagrid?'

'Sure,' agreed Hermione, 'We haven't seen him in ages. The three friends headed off towards Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

They knocked on the door but no one answered. 'Hello?' Harry asked.

'Hullo?' came Hagrid's gruff voice from inside the cabin. 'Who's there?'

'It's us,' said Harry. 'Can we come in?'

'Of course!' said Hagrid. 'I wondered when you three'd come down ter see me. I hope you don't mind, I'm just visiting with young Tristan here. Explaining a few things about the castle an so forth.'

'Tristan Poplar?' Harry asked, his voice strained.

'Yeah,' said Hagrid, 'yer don't have a problem with that do yeh?'

'Er, no,' said Harry, sarcastically, struggling to mask his anger, 'you just have a nice chat with him and we'll come back another day, when you've decided who your friends are!' Harry stomped back towards the castle.

'What did I say?' asked Hagrid, mystified.

'It's nothing,' said Hermione. 'We'll come back later and explain. I didn't think it had gotten this bad...'

'Don't worry,' said Ron quickly. 'It's nothing you did.'

*

Back in Gryffindor Tower, Ron and Hermione read a note Hagrid had written to Harry during the summer. It had been lying on the floor, ripped in half. Hermione had repaired it with a wave of her wand.

Dear Harry, read the untidy scrawl. No, I can't tell you where I am, I can't say anything except that I'm on a secret mission for Dumbledore. Madam Maxine did come along. It's nice to have company. I'm sure I'll be back before the start of term. From Hagrid.

'I wonder where Dumbledore sent Hagrid?' Hermione wondered aloud. They sat down in squashy armchairs by the fire. Harry, face down on his four-poster bed in the boys dormitory, had more information than Hermione. He had an idea of where Hagrid had been, based on the conversation between Professor Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, he had overheard at the end of the previous school year.

*

As Harry lay back in his bed that night, he pondered his hate for Tristan Poplar. He didn't know what it was about the boy that he didn't like. Tristan had become so popular lately he was surrounded by a group of fans everywhere he went. He didn't know what possessed him to loathe the small boy as he did. There wasn't really anything wrong with him, he thought. But whenever he thought of him he felt anger swelling inside him like a hot red balloon. He hadn't become that attached to being the centre of attention, had he? He had never liked it! I do not need to stand out, he told himself firmly. I've spent my whole life trying to blend in, and just because I finally do doesn't mean I should want to go back to standing out!

He thought back to the day he had met him on the train. Tristan had reminded him of himself on his first trip to Hogwarts. He thought of the ways they were similar. They had both escaped Voldemort though their parents had been killed. But I was only a baby, he reasoned. He was eleven years old and had obviously already learned some magic. They were both in Gryffindor, and had both become instant celebrities. Tristan also seemed to have stolen Hagrid now. Was there anything Harry had to himself anymore? He thought hard. Yes, there was. He still had quidditch. He couldn't wait until the start of the season.

*

The next day Harry and Ron had divination while Hermione took Arithmancy. Harry was not looking forward to returning to the dull red light and humidity in the heavily perfumed attic where Professor Trelawney taught. Actually, Harry reasoned, she didn't really teach Divination so much as predict Harry's death in different ways. There, he thought triumphantly, is another place where I am the centre of attention. Wait, he told himself, I don't want to be! How could he be so desperate for attention that he would be glad to have his death predicted to get it?

He and Ron headed towards the very long staircase that led to the North Tower, where Professor Trelawney's classroom was. Unfortunately Sir Cadogan was still there, and yelled insults at their retreating backs as they headed up the long, winding stairs. They weren't at all surprised to find Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil already waiting on fat pouffes for the lesson to start. Ever since they had started Divination they had been coming up to the Divination classroom apart from class time, and looked particularily smug when they came back to Gryffindor Tower, as though they knew much more than their peers.

As Harry entered the stuffy classroom, he noticed that Neville Longbottom wasn't there. Probably late, he muttered to himself. Neville was not, by nature, a punctual person. But Neville didn't turn up all lesson.

'Smarter than us, isn't he,' Ron groaned as they studied their Tarot cards. 'Okay, you picked the Hanged Man. What does that mean? Look it up, will you?'

'No point,' said Harry. 'It must mean death for me.'

'Probably,' said Ron. 'Okay, you also picked the...'

Professor Trelawney loaded them with homework. They had to have the meanings of all the Tarot cards in their book memorized by the next class.

'Ugh,' said Harry, 'Between our Defense Against the Dark Arts essay and the Potions homework, when are we going to have time to memorize a ton of stupid cards?'

'I don't know,' said Ron.

'I wonder where Neville is?' said Harry.

'Yeah,' said Ron, 'maybe he'll turn up at lunch.'

'Maybe,' said Harry. Neville did indeed turn up at lunchtime. He had a big grin on his face.

'Why weren't you in Divination?' asked Harry.

'Oh no!' said Neville, his grin disappearing. 'I completely forgot! I was heading up to Gryffindor Tower after breakfast to get my books and I got stuck in the sinking step in the staircase. By the time someone passed and helped me out, everyone else had already left and I forgot the password again. I was trying to get the Fat Lady to let me in when Professor Felix passed and said he had some free time on his hands if I wanted some help with Potions. Of course, I did, since I never really managed to learn anything from Professor Snape. I didn't notice that the whole period passed.'

Harry sighed. Neville was well known for his forgetfulness.

'Was Professor Trelawney angry?' Neville asked anxiously.

'No,' said Ron, 'actually, she didn't seem to notice that you weren't there. We were reading Tarot cards and she assigned us a fat lot of homework. You need to have the meanings of all of the ones in our book memorized by next class.'

'Oh great,' Neville groaned. 'I'm awful at memorizing things, I'll never remember all the meanings in a huge pack of cards...'

'Well, at least we don't have to know all the Tarot cards that exist, there are thousands.' Harry pointed out.

'I guess that's lucky,' agreed Ron. 'Say Harry,' he continued, 'I couldn't borrow your Firebolt a bit, could I? I want to be ready for the tryouts next week.'

'Tryouts?' asked Harry.

'Well yeah,' said Ron, surprised that Harry hadn't heard about them, 'there are two places to fill, aren't there?'

'I know,' said Harry. He wondered why he hadn't been informed.

Professor Dumbledore stood up. 'I have a very important announcement to make,' he said to the students. 'I regret that it slipped my mind the past two days.

'The phoenix is a bird that is most often associated with Gryffindor house.' At this, the Gryffindors gave a little cheer. 'However,' Professor Dumbledore continued, 'phoenixes show more qualities that are looked for in students who are sorted into Hufflepuff.' There was a cheer from the Hufflepuff table. 'They are honest and make extremely loyal pets if they can be domesticated. Phoenixes are gentle. These are all key qualities in a Hufflepuff student.'

The students were still listening (except the Slytherins, who had gone back to eating their lunches), but most were very confused. Why was Dumbledore making an announcement about phoenixes?

'As I am sure you all remember, a student was taken from our midst at the end of the previous year.' There was a general nod at this statement, and a few tears shed. 'His name was Cedric Diggory, and he was in the Hufflepuff house. Cedric showed all these qualities and more, which made him a true member of the Hufflepuff house.' Professor Dumbledore paused.

'Therefore, in his memory, I am bringing an award into this school. It will be called the 'Order of the Phoenix', and will be awarded to one student at the end of the year. This student must show all these qualities. They must be a loyal friend, a kind person, and value fair play.' The students cheered. 'I will choose a student who meets these requirements and shows these qualities, and at the end of the year I will award the student who best fits the description The Order of the Phoenix. The winner will be awarded a medal, which will be kept in the school Trophy cabinet to inspire generations of students to come. I invite you all now to go to your classrooms with a smile on your face and kindness in your hearts.'

*

The next few days were very strange. Students were themselves when not with an adult, but the minute a professor entered a room everyone was sickeningly kind and caring. For the most part it seemed very false, and everyone was very wary of everyone else, seeming to think that each other person was trying to steal the award which everyone was sure belonged to themselves. Harry wondered why Professor Dumbledore had not foreseen that this was what offering an award would do.

Harry himself tried not to think about the award. He did his best to just act like himself and hope that would be enough to win him the award. He was sure Professor Dumbledore could see that he deserved it.

Hermione was, like Harry, just trying not to think about it. She knew it would be a great honour to receive, but also knew that obsessing over it would lose it for her for sure. Ron was doing a better job than Harry and Hermione were of pretending there wasn't an award. Most of the time he really seemed to have forgotten that it existed at all.

However, one day something happened that brought Harry to quit pretending and trying to be nice and get just plain angry.