The Resurrection of Sirius

3

First Days Back Aren't Always Easy

Hermione awoke with a start. Where was she? Oh yeah. School started again. She was in her dormitory, and the brown she was seeing was the canopy of her bed that held the curtains up. Why did it look all thatched? And why was her breath so hot on her face? She sat up. The brown was actually her hair. It had covered her face. She pulled it off and got up. It was still fairly dark outside.

She got dressed and went downstairs to meet Harry and Ron to go down to breakfast. Not seeing them, she sat down by the fire and stared across the room out the window.

"Hey Hermione!" She looked up. Harry and Ron were coming out of the boy's dormitories.

"Hi guys. Shall we go to breakfast?"

Harry and Ron followed her out of Gryffindor.

As they sat down at the table, the mail arrived. Neville Longbottom got his usual forgotten items, Draco Malfoy his usual cakes and sweets, and Hermione her usual nothing.

Ron looked over his schedule. "We've got Transfigurations first. Then we have Charms... Potions, and Defense against the Dark Arts. I guess we only have two classes a day," Ron said. "Cool," he added. Hermione checked her own schedule.

"What have you got, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Transfigurations, Charms, Muggle Studies, and Astronomy," Hermione said.

"Astronomy? What do you need Astronomy for?" Ron asked.

"Well I had to take a fourth class, and it was either Astronomy or Divination."

Ron nodded and piled more bacon onto his plate.

"Welcome to N.E.W.T. level Transfigurations," Professor McGonagall said, thirty minutes later. "If you are sitting here, you received top marks in your O.W.L.s last year and I would like to offer you my congratulations. You must know that to be in this class this year you must commit yourself. There will be no slacking off. You may have been cut slack last year but this year I will tolerate very little. I will accept no work late. Unless you were out the day it was due do to serious illness or injuries only, you will get no credit for a late assignment, and when I say serious, I mean bed stricken. You are sixteen years old now and should be able to ask a friend to hand something in for you, unless you are unconscious or incapable of speech. Attendance is also looked highly upon. There is no way you can pass this class if you miss class all the time. If you miss four or more classes in one five-week term I will consider you incapable of commitment and ask that you be removed form my class. No exceptions unless of family emergency, and I count only funerals and weddings as emergencies."

Ron groaned. This was going to be a difficult year.

"Now then. Today being the first day, I don't want to load you with work. Weasley, would you pass these out?" Ron took the pile of papers and began to pass them out to the class. "This is a pretest. You will not be graded on this; it is only for your convenience. I want to see how much remember from your past five years with me. I will grade these and have them back to you by the end of class Wednesday. Begin."

Ron looked over the paper.

1) What is the incantation spoken to silence something?

He knew this one. On the paper, he wrote: The incantation spoken to silence something is 'silencio.'

Hermione flew through the paper. She looked at Ron's paper for half a second. From what she could tell, he was on number five. Looking at her paper, she had just finished number ten. She couldn't remember number eleven, though:

11) What is the word for a person who can transform into an animal?

She knew this one. She just couldn't place her finger on it. Her brain was all ready aching. This was not good! It was her first day back and her brain was aching from a pretest. She knew the term was Ani-something. Ani-what? Ani-person... Ani-morph... No, that wasn't it... But Animorph sounded close... Animagus! That was it! A person who could transform into an animal was an animagus. They'd learned that in their third year. She quickly scribbled down:

The word for a person who can transform into an animal is 'Animagus."

Good. Only eight questions to go now!

Harry looked at his paper. He was finished. He looked around. Hermione was finishing up the first bit of the assignment assigned for after the pre-test. Sighing, he scribbled his name on the top of the page and turned it in. He looked at the board to see the assignment:

-Read chapter one and memorize all definitions by next class.

-Answer the following questions by next class:

Harry skimmed the questions. He copied them down and began to read the section. The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Ron wasn't quite sure what to do with the time. There was a full hour of nothing. Classes were over and he had two more hours than most people.

"You might try doing your homework, Ron," Hermione suggested. "Get it over with now, so you don't have to fret tomorrow night."

"Yeah, right." Ron got out his books and got to work. There was a lot of work to do. Professor Flitwick apparently worked his students much harder once they reached N.E.W.T. levels. They all ready had a spell to practice and read up on. Ron was not looking forward to Potions tomorrow.

* * *

"I have such a mound of homework to get to," Ginny said as she, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were settling in after dinner.

"Join the club," Harry said.

"Speak for yourselves," Hermione said. "I've hardly got thirty minutes left." Everyone looked at Hermione darkly.

"I guess it's true what Bill and Charlie told me -- first days back aren't always easy," Ron said.

Ron struggled through his homework. Even though it was fairly easy work, his brain was stale. "I'm locked out of my brain and I lost the key!" he finally exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and flopping onto the floor. Everyone looked at him.

"Here, I found it Ron. Get back to work," Ginny said warningly.

"No no, that's not my key. That's not even a key, that's a scrap of parchment!"

"Fine." Ginny chucked the parchment into the fire and got back to work. Ron, however, couldn't concentrate. What had happened to everybody's senses of humor? Harry was buried in his work. Hermione had headed upstairs a minute ago to get her reading book, and Ginny kept looking up and staring out the window. Ron felt like he was the only one who was funny all of a sudden.

"Hey --"

"Ron, please. We're trying to concentrate?"

"My God, what happened to you two all of a sudden?"

"Well Ron, maybe it's because this is our year. For Ginny it determines what she can and cannot do in her future. And for us, you know what this year means to us? If we don't get top marks this year we can forget being Aurors," Harry said quickly.

Ron suddenly felt like a little kid. He was being told what to do by Harry and Ginny. "This year blows," he mumbled to himself.

4

Potions Is Harder Than You Think

Harry woke up Wednesday morning. Wednesday. Potions today. Harry groaned and rolled over, falling out of bed.

"Ow," he said. He got up and put the bedclothes back on his bed. He got dressed and grabbed his bag to go down to breakfast. The ceiling on the Great Hall matched his mood -- dark, gray, and gloomy.

"Hey Harry!" Ron called. Harry looked up. Ron was sitting at the Gryffindor table and waving to him.

"Hi," Harry said, sitting down where Ron was pointing.

"Hey Harry," Ginny and Hermione said.

"Gloomy day, huh?" Ron pointed out, gesturing to the ceiling.

"Yeah." Harry grabbed the eggs and piled some up onto his plate.

"Okay, why is it so quiet? We're never this silent."

"I dunno," Ron said, stuffing his face with food.

"This isn't like us," Harry said. He got up to leave early for Potions. Hermione got up and followed him.

"I've got Muggle Studies, but I'll go with you anyway."

"To Potions?"

"No, stupid, but I'm leaving at the same time as you."

"Oh." Harry went down the stairs that lead to the Potions. "Well, bye Hermione," he said.

"See you Harry!" Hermione ran up the stairs to go to the fifth floor.

Harry walked glumly alone, thinking. He wanted to know why he felt so awkward. He wondered why he and his friends were being so quiet. And now he wondered why he had left breakfast with his friends early to go to Potions. His life was totally changing more than he ever thought it would. Of course, there was that awful empty feeling in his gut he'd had since last June when Sirius died. At first Harry had been quite confident that Sirius hadn't died, but now he figured that he was really gone. Every time he thought of this, he got a guilty feeling in his gut. If only he'd gotten the proper revenge on Bellatrix...

Harry almost walked into the door to the Potions room.

"Potter, what are you doing?" It was Professor Snape.

"Nothing, Professor," Harry said dully.

Snape scowled. He never believed Harry, which was usually a good idea -- Harry normally was doing something, but this time nothing was going on.

"Really Professor, I wasn't very hungry and my friends were taking too long to eat so I decided to come early --"

"Fine. In," Snape snapped. Harry walked in and sat in the back of the room.

Ron walked in to the Potions room slowly. He looked around. There were mostly Slytherins in the class, and a few Gryffindors -- himself, Harry, Lavender Brown, and Pavarti Patil. Ron looked for Harry and found him quickly. He sat down and began pulling out his ingredients.

"Hey Ron," Harry said.

"Hi Harry," he replied. "Wonderful to be back here," he added sarcastically.

"Yeah. You know, it's weird. Our one chance to screw Potions and we take it. Real smart."

"I don't even see why we have to take it to be an Auror," Ron put in.

Snape flicked his wand and a bell dinged. "This is level six of Potions. If you do not meet my standards I will have you dropped back down to level five. I want homework assignments turned in before class starts on the day it is due. No exceptions. I will accept no late work and if your potions are not made one hundred percent perfect it is a zero. Any questions?" Snape didn't wait for any hands to go up. "Good. Your first potion of the year is a simple one compared to the others you will be doing, so don't get used to any form of simplicity. The instructions are on the board --" Snape flicked his wand and they appeared -- "You have eighty minutes. Begin." Snape set a timer and began roaming the room.

Even if this potion was simple, it was a good deal complex. Ron squinted up at the board through a haze of silvery mist floating throughout the room.

15. Stir potion for exactly ten seconds clockwise, then add one pint dragon's blood. Allow to simmer for three minutes.

This was going to be a very long year.

An hour and ten minutes later, Ron slumped back in his seat. He was finished with the potion. He leaned forward and sniffed it. The thing smelled horrible, like a combination of a decomposing animal and old, sweaty socks. He hoped that it was right.

"You should be finishing up your potions now," Snape voiced. "Turn in a sample of your work. I will put the homework on the board." He flicked his wand and the instructions were replaced with the homework assignment:

Write a two-page minimum essay on the Essence of True Awakening, describing full ingredients list, what it is used for, and how it is used. Due lesson after next.

Ron sighed and copied down the assignment. He scooped up a vial of the stuff and scribbled his name on the label, then turned it in to the counter.

"Alright, Weasel?" It was Malfoy.

"Bugger off," Ron snapped shortly.

"Temper temper, you'll get in trouble for it some day," Malfoy scolded.

Prat, Ron thought.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was next. Harry ran quickly up the stairs to make sure he got there on time -- he'd over heard two Ravenclaw fifth years talking about how nice the new teacher was.

Harry walked in and stopped dead in his tracks.

She was the most beautiful professor he'd even seen.

She had red hair -- almost as vibrant as the Weasley's but slightly tinted blond, down just past her shoulders -- and a small, pointy nose. Her skin was pale and fair. Her eyes were hazel, but slightly greener than most hazel eyes he'd ever seen. On the board behind her was neatly written:

Professor Willow Rosenberg

Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher

Harry stared at her. He was the first one in the room. She spoke to him.

"Hi. What's your name? Just to save time." She wasn't British.

"H-Harry Potter."

"Hello Harry, I'm Willow Rosenberg. But you probably could have guessed that, huh?" She certainly seemed nice.

"Hey Harry, why'd you run so far ahead --" Ron trailed off weakly, having noticed Professor Rosenberg. "Hi," he said.

"Hi. Have a seat," she said, gesturing.

"Okay," Ron said. He sat down right in front of her desk. Harry took a seat next to him. Other students began filing in and taking seats. The girls kept on talking, but any guys walking in stopped for a second before moving on. The bell rang.

"Okay everyone, take your seats! I'm Professor Rosenberg. If it's okay with you I'd like to call you all by your first names, but I won't do that unless you call me Willow. I'll take attendance and we can get started!" Harry thought that maybe, just maybe, Professor Rosenberg would make up for the miserable Potions lessons.

Ron looked everywhere for a book on the Essence of True Awakening after Defense Against the Dark Arts. After ten minutes of hopeless research, he decided to ask Madam Pince about it.

"The Essence of True Awakening? Let me check..." Madam Pince checked some sort of inventory book at least a hundred pages long, then said, "Ah ha! Yes, I've found something." She scribbled a location down and handed the parchment to Ron. "Section Ten, Row Eleven, Shelf Four," she recited. "There you go."

"Thank you," Ron muttered and headed over. She hadn't told him the title of the book. Oh well, the shelves were narrow and he could easily scan the tables of contents within ten minutes.

But even looking at the titles of the books made it seem like there was no book on any potions, let alone the Essence of True Awakening. This entire shelf was devoted to Magical Creature Care. Ron walked back over to Madam Pince's desk.

"Er, Madam Pince, you haven't given me the wrong shelf number, have you? Only all the books on that shelf are about magical creatures and stuff."

"Well you must be mistaken. Follow me." Madam Pince came out from behind her desk and walked over to the proper shelf. She looked closely at the books. "Here it is," she said. "The Book of True Essences." She handed Ron a very short book, probably only one hundred and fifty or so pages long. Ron looked at the book in surprise.

"This book--" Ron looked at the Table of Contents -- "this book only covers eight Essences!"

"Well it's a very old book, and even now there aren't many more true Essences. I'm amazed Professor Snape could find something as simple as this one. Most true Essences are more advanced, for seventh years or end-of-year sixth years. You'll be checking this out, I suppose?" she added, beginning to walk back to her desk.

"Yes, please," Ron said.

Ron checked his watch. He'd been working on the stupid essay for Snape for three hours and he was almost finished copying down information. There wasn't much in this book. There couldn't very well be, being so short. Well, there was a lot of information -- nineteen pages per Essence and very fine print -- but most of it was about the origins of the Essence. There was a full ingredients list, and Ron gratefully copied it down with as large handwriting as possible.

"Hey, Ron, aren't you coming to dinner?" Ginny asked. Ron only just realized how hungry he was.

"Yeah." Ron threw his things into his bag and ran upstairs to put it away.

Harry and Hermione were already at the table when Ron got to the Great Hall. Harry was just starting to tell Hermione about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Her name's Willow Rosenberg --" he started. Hermione choked on her bite of steak.

"Willow Rosenberg, did you say?"

"Yeah, why?" Harry asked, sounding confused.

"Well, because while I was in America I heard about this really powerful witch. She was one of the most powerful witches in America, I think. And her name was Willow Rosenberg. Did she say where she was from?"

"Yeah, America," Ron said.

"Where in America?"

"Er -- what's that place called? Oh, yeah -- California." Hermione bounced excitedly.

"Oh my God, it is her! She was from California! This is so cool!"

"Wow. D'you suppose -- you don't think she's more powerful than... More powerful than Dumbledore, do you?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. But I know that she's really powerful. She'll probably be the best DADA teacher Hogwarts ever had, I'm so jealous of you two!" Hermione took a swig of pumpkin juice.

Ron figured this would be an okay year after all.