Masked Reality

Chapter Five

The Hogwarts Express arrived at the Hogsmeade Station just as the sun was sinking into the reddish-orange hills. Harry was busy trying to figure out a way to get Sidney in to the school. Hermoine suggested trying to create a cage, but that resulted in nothing worse than horrible: Harry now had semi-permanent stripes on his hands and shoes, while Ron got stuck with a haunting feeling that he was always 'boxed in', so to speak, with nowhere to go. It was very difficult for anyone to talk to him.

Hermoine finally decided that Ron would hold Pigwidgeon and Harry would put Sidney in the cage after Hermoine cast a semi-permanent Enlargement Charm on it. However, Sidney wasn't going to have any of it. She crowed a few times to let Harry know that she would much rather sit with him in the invisible-horse-drawn carriages, but Harry wasn't so sure that she would even fit in there with the three.

It was only after they had left the compartment with Sidney sitting comfortably on Harry's shoulder and headed out of the train that the students started noticing. Girls giggled and gasped, coming near the trio and then walking away, whispering loudly yet still incoherently about Sidney. Boys would come up, flabbergasted, and ask with saucer-sized pairs of eyes what kind of bird Sidney was. She attracted so much attention that the three could barely find their way to the carriages. It didn't help that the wind was biting them incessantly, urging them to find any source of shelter. Sidney was able to cover Harry on both sides down to his feet with one wing on each side of him, although the gesture made Ron and even Hermoine jealous. They glared at him as the trio finally managed to pull themselves into an empty carriage.

Harry, Ron and Hermoine all heaved enormous sighs full of relief, and took to grabbing some chocolate that Harry had bought from the lunch cart and swallowing it to fill their insides with temporary warmth. Ron looked over at Sidney after he was content.

"So... a Kristale, Ms. Sidney. You know, we should look up her kind in one of those huge, old encyclopedias. She's probably part of a breed of long-forgotten bird," Ron suggested.

"Wow Ron, that's the smartest thing I've heard you say in quite a long time," Hermoine remarked. Ron didn't know whether to smile or scowl, so he instead looked away, confused, and patted Sidney softly on her back. She was, by now, lying in Harry's lap (even though she was as large as Fawkes, so it was a bit of a burden for Harry), her head resting on his shoulder, her diamond eyes covered by a set of glimmering blue and purple eyelids, sleeping contentedly. Hermoine examined the headdress nonchalantly, while Harry took to staring out the window, his eyes slightly glazed.

The three said nothing else until the carriage pulled up in front of the castle doors, and they barely had time to get out before the huge crowd reappeared and basically chased them into the school.

"Good God, Harry! Maybe you should just announce what Sidney is so that everybody will leave you alone!" Ron shouted angrily, heading for the Great Hall with the huge group of fifth years.

Two familiar faces popped up next to Harry. "Hey, what's this you got here?" Fred questioned curiously. George nodded and they both looked at Harry expectantly.

"It's something called a Kristale, and S-" he barely stopped himself from blurting out 'I got it from Sirius'. "Er... I got it from Dumbledore." The two exchanged glances, and Harry wondered if they believed him.

"That man is always giving everyone the nicest things, except for us!" Fred yelled.

"Well, if you two pulled top grades or were as talented with animals as Harry apparently is, you would probably have gotten something as nice as Sidney too," Hermoine stated. The twins looked at her, but fell silent.

The Great Hall looked as it had every year before Harry's fifth: a thousand candles gleaming as they hung in midair, the ceiling bewitched to reflect the sky, which was dark and clear tonight, every table glittering with golden plates, cups, and silverware, to be used shortly after the Sorting Ceremony.

Harry smiled as he sat down in his usual spot at the long Gryffindor table, the wonderful homely feeling returning once again to him. Hermoine and Ron sat down on either side of him, and Ron was stroking Sidney's slightly outstretched wing, amazed by its reflective appearance and colorful feathers.

Soon, all of the four House tables were filled with many students chattering on and on about how their summers went. Harry surprisingly had a lot to say about his this year, but didn't feel like explaining it any more than he already had. He suddenly remembered how Lucius would be 'gracing' their school with his presence, and shuddered out of anger and a tiny bit of inexplicable fear. Momentarily wondering where it came from, Harry was brought out of his thoughts by Dumbledore.

He had stood up, and the entire Hall had gone quiet; Dumbledore was well-known for his ability to say nothing at all and receive the full attention of every person within a two-mile radius.

Professor McGonagall, with her usual tight-faced expression, walked into the Hall with a stool in one hand and the ragged Sorting Hat in the other. Behind her followed a long line of nervous first years. They stopped behind McGonagall when she set the stool down in front of the staff table and turned to face them, a scroll reaching the floor in one hand and the Hat in the other. She placed the Hat down on the stool, waiting as it recited its usual first year verse, which it happened to remake for the next year. She picked it back up after the last word was spoken.

"I will call you each up and sit down here on the stool. I will then place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted according to certain characteristics. Albot, Sherry."

A tiny girl who looked at least three years too young slowly walked up to the stool, trembling so badly that every single person could see it, even Filch, who was standing in one of the corners closest to the Hall doors, with his cat Ms. Norris sitting at his heel.

After sitting down on the stool and having the Hat placed on her small head, it spoke.

"Hmm... such a frightened young girl, but with much willpower. You must belong in... GRYFFINDOR!" Harry clapped along with his fellow House as the little girl thankfully stood back up and ran over to their table, almost doing a somersault when McGonagall picked the Hat up off her head.

She sat down next to Hermoine, smiling shyly. Hermoine looked down at her and returned the gesture with a warm smile, which seemed to melt away a bit of the fright from the girl because she grew less tense after that.

The Sorting Hat had a very hard time with many of the boys, which didn't help for Ron because he was starving and this was the largest group of first years he'd ever seen (at least twice as large as their year). The Hat continually contemplated on whether to place them into Slytherin or Gryffindor, and eventually the two tables were so full that Dumbledore had to lengthen them both by quite a few inches, making the whole Hall look sized abnormally, and made a note to a reluctant Filch about fixing the entire room after the students left to their dormitories.

After close to an hour, the Sorting was finished. McGonagall gratefully took the Sorting Hat and stool out of the Great Hall, muttering something about needing to reduce the lists of new students. The Slytherin table was now longer than all of the others by a good 6 feet, although the Gryffindor table was following closely behind. The Ravenclaw table had to be lengthened a couple of inches, while the Hufflepuff table was the only one who was still at its original size. All of the older Slytherins were looking very proud indeed, and were quickly filling the new recruits in on who to hate or like, where to and not to go, and so on.

Dumbledore's yearly words were spoken and the tables magically filled with delicious food that Ron was quick to grab and munch down happily. Hermoine still held a refinement that Harry had even long since forgotten, because he was by now just as hungry as Ron and reflecting his movements with just as much happiness. Sidney let out a noise that sounded like a cough of disgust from Harry's lack of dignity, and flapped her long wings out, taking to the Great Hall's high ceiling and slowly, continually circling the entire room.

The first years had seen Sidney and some were mesmerized by her beauty, letting their drinks dribble down onto their new robes and into their mouths without swallowing, managing to nearly choke. The older students, having seen Sidney, were not quite so amazed, but did like to look up at her because her mirror-like wings, tail and body were shining wonderfully from the light of the candles. The professors noticed Sidney too, and were wondering where she had come from.

The tables eventually dissolved the last course, and Dumbledore stood up to speak.

"I have a few things to introduce to all of the first years, as well as all familiar faces. This year, we are going to be having a double professor for your Potions class. Here he is, as I'm sure some of you have heard of him, Professor Malfoy." He awaited applause, which was sounded loudly from the Slytherin table, as well as many cheers and shouts of glee. Most of the other students were too shocked to say or do anything. Harry, Ron and Hermoine weren't surprised; they just didn't want to applaud such a man.

"All right, thank you." Dumbledore motioned towards Lucius, who was sitting next to Snape, one more time. "You also have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Please welcome Madam Emerald." A figure appeared from out of thin air, into the seat between Snape and McGonagall. They were covered in a dark blue cloak that covered their entire body and had a large hood to cover their identity. They briefly lifted their arms as they stood up to hand something to Dumbledore, causing the overlarge sleeves of the cloak to roll back to their elbows, revealing slim arms and slender hands and fingers, both covered in black satin gloves.

Dumbledore whispered something to the figure, who nodded slightly and pulled their cloak down. Harry cocked his head, as did every other student in the Hall, as they stared up at the figure. It was a very beautiful woman with deep auburn hair that stopped at her shoulders and curled inwards, framing her face nicely. She had an olive tan and eyes that Harry could see clearly even with such a distance between him and her. She had dark red eyes, with eerie blue highlights slashing through the full color. How Harry could see that from where he was sitting, he didn't really know. But he had a feeling everyone else could see them as vividly as he could, because nobody was making a sound, a move. Nobody really seemed to be breathing.

Lucius, who looked scandalized because he hadn't gotten such a breathtaking answer from the students, cleared his throat loudly. There was quiet applause, like a rippling tide, throughout the Hall. It was silenced after a few moments.

The woman, obviously Madam Emerald, sat down and murmured something to Snape and Lucius, grinning lightly.

"Now, to all of the first years," Dumbledore broke in, causing everyone to stop staring at Emerald and look up at him, "the Forbidden Forest is, as said in its name, forbidden, and therefore is not to be entered by any except the Professors and, possibly, students who receive detention to help our very own Hagrid do work within it." He pointed to Hagrid, he grinned merrily and waved an overlarge hand to the students. "To all of you, we are to be receiving a new, foreign student within the next two months. You will have more information on that as the time draws nearer. Now, after quite a talk with our fellow Quidditch consultants, we have learned that there is to be a very large change in the Quidditch schedules. Each team is going to be playing three times as many games for the entire year, and it is going to be a very important semi-final two games that will determine which two teams are going to be playing against the other. If you have any questions regarding the new schedules and rules, please contact Madam Hooch." A gesture towards the gray-haired, hawk-eyed woman who was sitting next to McGonagall. "Finally, we have doubled the Hogsmeade visits, and lengthened the time students can spend there. We have gotten permission from every student's parents that you may stay at one of the Hogsmeade hotels for up to three days if you wish to have a longer holiday from school. Since they have built their new amusement park, I am sure many of you will use this recent rule change to your advantage. Oh, and although in the past only third years and up could visit Hogsmeade, we have changed this rule as well. Now students of every year are permitted to visit the Hogsmeade pub, but only third years and older may use the 'three-day stay' rule. All first and second years are to return once the day ends. You may return the next day, and the day after, but must return at the end of each day." Students were very excited about all of the sudden changes, and couldn't stop talking to one another. "Please, I need your attention for a few more moments," Dumbledore said. Everyone stopped speaking. "The Prefect of each House will be escorting you to your proper dormitory if you are a first year, so please pay attention and listen to them."

With that, the first years got up and stood around, looking for their House Prefect. Hermoine stood up and sighed.

"Well, I must be on my way. Being a Prefect is going to be a lot of work, but I'm sure I'll be able to handle it. See you two up in the common room." She took off and rounded up the Gryffindor first years, ushering them out of the Hall and up the stairs.

Ron and Harry watched her, then got up and looked around for their friends.

"How am I going to get Sidney down?" Harry asked, remembering his birthday present from Sirius.

Ron shrugged. "Call her."

It was worth a try. "Sidney," Harry called to his bird. He cursed silently because everyone was so loud that he knew his bird wouldn't have heard him say her name. But she suddenly came gliding down to her master, flapping her wings as she readjusted her position above his shoulder and came down heavily onto his shoulder. She folded up her wings and her recently spanned out tail, grooming herself and looking around at the students.

Harry and Ron decided not to wait for their friends anymore, mostly because they were growing restless, and pushed through the groups of fifth and fourth years towards the staircase. Harry suddenly heard his name and turned around.

"What in the hell is that?" Malfoy said rudely, mild curiosity managing to reveal itself in his voice.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Ron was already replying.

"This is a genuine Kristale, and she is a rare breed of bird, so you'd better watch what you say to Harry here. I'll bet you're jealous, Malfoy." There was a broad grin on Ron's face as he said this.

"Oh really, Weasley? Sounds more like you're the one who's hopelessly jealous, sitting back in Potter here's shadow as he revels in all of the attention he receives from the stupidest things." He gestured towards Sidney at this remark, and she replied by nipping him sharply on his delicate fingertips. He yowled in pain and backed up, eyeing Sidney with a newfound sense of fear.

Ron, although angry with Malfoy due to his painstaking words, couldn't help but laugh because of the platinum-blond haired boy's idiotic move.

There was a wave of murmuring that died down quickly as someone pushed through the crowd towards Harry; he had no idea what was going on. He'd simply assumed that everyone was no longer talking because they were watching the usual rivalry between Harry and Malfoy. Hermoine was tugging at the sleeve of Harry's robes, staring ahead of them. Harry only had time to follow her gaze before someone literally rammed into him, causing him to fall backwards onto the hard, uninviting tile. Sidney let out a note that sounded more like a scream, and flapped her wings in enough time so that she wouldn't fall with Harry; she landed on his chest and tried settling herself, but Harry pushed her carefully off and was ready to push himself up-

And stopped.

Standing right above him was the cloaked figure the students had been introduced to in the Hall. Her hood was down, her hands at her side, hidden by the large cloak sleeves, and she was giving Harry a stare that could gave him a horrible feeling of having his skin melted off, even though he knew that couldn't be truly possible because humans can't do that.

Her ruby, teal-streaked eyes bore into him, and he couldn't help but stare straight back, overwhelmed by the strange feelings and thoughts she seemed to be sending to him within their shared gaze.

There were two sets of footsteps echoing through the corridor, but nobody acknowledged them. Every pair of eyes was locked on Emerald and Harry, not knowing how the new, mysterious teacher was going to react.

The footsteps grew nearer to Harry and Emerald, but Harry could not take his eyes away from Emerald's. It was as if he was drowning in a monstrous whirlpool of blood and water, suffering from memories too terrible to reflect on...

"What is going on?"

Everybody snapped back into reality and, unknowingly, shared a roomful of chilling shudders as Emerald tore her eyes away from Harry's, looking up at the person who'd spoken. Harry let out a large sigh, realizing for the first time that he had been holding his breath the entire time he'd been staring into the strange enigma of Emerald's gaze. Dazed, gasping for breath, he looked up at the person who'd helped him.

Snape and Lucius, side by side, were standing in front of Emerald, just out of Harry's reach. They were both looking down at Harry, while Emerald looked around the room and everyone got the hint. They bolted upstairs.

Harry quickly sat upright, feeling the weight on his shoulder as Sidney landed on it and stared at the three professors. He ignored Snape and Lucius as they sneered at his Kristale, and stood up. He wobbled slightly from the lopsided feeling Sidney gave him from sitting on his shoulder, but quickly stood up and gave them a look of dignity and poise... or, at least, as much dignity and poise as he could muster.

"Not so fast, Potter," came the same voice that had helped him out of the staring contest with Emerald. He felt a twinge of irony because this was the second time he'd been saved, or so he thought, by someone who he hated and likewise.

Harry looked at Snape, who was now grinning maliciously. "That bird is not a legal pet for a Hogwarts student. I think we had better take this matter to Dumbledore."

Lucius gave Harry a deliberate familiar look. "I hope you make a fool of yourself," he said, reminding Harry of the day Lucius had come to his aunt and uncle's house, posing as a CPS angel, and spoken the same words about how Harry would act in front of his relatives.

"That won't be necessary, Severus."

Harry was too close to falling over once again. He steadied himself, looking at Emerald with eyes the size of teacups. She looked briefly at Harry.

"I checked with Dumbledore when I saw it in the Hall. He said it's permitted."

Snape and Lucius looked completely scandalized.

"How many Galleons would you like to bet he said that because he knew it was Potter's?" Snape said viciously. Harry gave him an ugly look, then turned angrily away, stomping up the stairs so hard and strong that Sidney screeched and slid off of Harry's shoulder, flying gracefully towards the ceiling. Harry had a feeling that she knew exactly where the Gryffindor Tower was, and was going to be there to greet him happily when he got there.

He turned back to give the three professors one last look, but they were gone.