A New Beginning

Chapter 3

(Note: enclosed letter was found drifting in the waters of the Mediterranean, by two Muggle fisherman. An executive of the Ministry of Magic apprehended the letter, and then, at the order of Cornelius Fudge, destroyed it.)

From the desk of Hermione Granger

Dear Mum,

We arrived at Hogwarts just a couple of days ago, but already so much has changed in comparison to last year. Lucius Malfoy (the father of Draco Malfoy, the one we encountered at Diagon Alley) is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

He was assigned the job by the Minister of Magic himself, who has recently become a great friend of his. The Minister of Magic is like the president of the wizarding world- what he says pretty much always goes. Dumbledore's been asked to be Minister of Magic numerous times, but he always declined the job in order to stay Headmaster of Hogwarts. Which is good, because he's the one that keeps Hogwarts safe from You-Know-Who. And that also means he keeps Harry safe.

Anyway, for some reason, Fudge decided that he should get the job. Dumbledore, instead of being discouraged by not getting to choose his own staff, is now more determined than ever to enforce the safety. Instead of staying in his office almost all day like he did the four other years, now he takes it upon himself to patrol the corridors- especially around the Dark Arts corridor.

Professor Snape and Malfoy, sr.- excuse me, Professor Malfoy- have become, if not friends, really exceptional acquaintances. They most always eat lunch together, and they talk all the time in lowered voices. Something's happening, and no one knows what. It really ticks me off, too. I'm really glad I got those curse books, because I have a feeling I might be needing them pretty soon.

Hagrid has a new lesson plan- we're training winged horses (pegasuses) for the Ministry to use for hand delivered messages (it seems owls have been intercepted and robbed of their messages lately by anti-Ministry forces). They seem to think wizards with wands would be more harmful to supporters of the Dark Lord, even though Dark Lord, the most powerful Dark Wizard in an age, is allied with them. It was Professor Malfoy's idea, and he persuaded Fudge to carry it out. Hagrid doesn't like this- he would much rather have us training griffons, or fire-breathing dragons, or something like that. I kind of would, too.

And this isn't the worst of it. The worst part is that Lucius has risen on the political board yet again. He is now right hand man of Cornelius Fudge, and Draco is taking every advantage of his father's new position. Poor Colin Creevey has been to visit Madame Pomfrey so many times, even she has doubts to whether his nose will ever look the same.

Uh-Oh, first period classes are about to start. I'll write back soon, I promise. I love you guys, and don't worry about me.

With love,

Hermione

Harry raced to get to his last period of the day, Transfiguration. He could hear Ron hustling and breathing heavily behind him, trying to keep up. Fred and George had drawn them aside during lunch and had shown them Wood's one hundred and seventy-seventh plan for Quidditch- The Potter Planter. It resembled the Wronski Feint, but after you dropped you hovered above the ground at a few feet, dropping a little closer every second, then pulling up at the last minute. It was meant to either eliminate one of the opposing players, or make them touch the ground, which was a foul. It was very detailed and difficult, but, even so, Harry knew Professor McGonagall would never take that as an excuse.

They leaped through the door and landed in their seats just as the clock struck. Professor Dumbledore briskly walked through the door, Transfiguration book in hand.

"Good afternoon," he said courteously. "Professor McGonagall, I regret to inform you, has suddenly contracted a severe head cold and couldn't make it to class today. I have been... assigned... to take over this last class. She is expected back tomorrow, so don't worry. I doubt she'd trust me to watch her class longer than that!"

A buzz ran through the class, then stopped short at Dumbledore's frown.

"Now we will commence with the current lesson- ah yes, I remember this one from when I was a small boy. Trasfiguring a lime into a wristwatch. Very useful if you need to tell the time, and are in a citrus producing country."

The lesson went on, and by the end, Hermione was creating a very fashionable Rolex and Harry and Ron were making cheap knock-off versions. Neville kept turning his into a cherry bomb, but Professor Dumbledore kept a close eye on him, turning them back into limes before anything was seriously blown up.

But as the trio walked back to the Griffindor common room, they saw Professor McGonagall out the window across the lake, wand high in the air and shooting sparks at what appeared to be the air. Professor Flitwick was there, also, waving his wand. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other incredulously, expressions of shock on their faces.

Why had Dumbledore lied to them?