Order From the Phoenix

Order from the Phoenix

CHAPTER ONE

In the smallest bedroom of number 4, Privet Drive, something moved in the shadows. Harry Potter, who'd been lying awake on his bed, sat up quickly. Was that a rat? Harry knew he was being paranoid, but he stood up and crept over to the shadows all the same. There it was again! Something scurried through the shadows-something small, and rat-shaped. Heart pounding in his chest, Harry silently tiptoed up behind the rat and stomped on its tail. Shocked and frightened, the rat began to squeal frantically, trying to escape. Harry bent down and gingerly picked up the rat, taking care not to get scratched. Immediately, Harry looked at the rat's front paws, checking to see how many toes it had. Harry knew that one of Lord Voldemort's servants, Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, was an animagus who took the form of a rat. Harry wouldn't put it past Wormtail or Voldemort to spy on him, but this rat could also be just an ordinary rat. The one way to tell for sure was that Wormtail was missing a toe on one of his front paws. Sure enough, the rat had all his toes. Harry half-considered putting the rat in his aunt and uncle's bedroom as a joke, but decided that the rat had been submitted to enough frights in the past few minutes, and set it down gently on the floor.

As he watched it scamper away, Harry wondered what the real Wormtail was doing now, and how much damage Voldemort had inflicted. He was exchanging nearly daily owls with Hermione, the Weasleys, and Sirius, but he still felt constantly on edge. Harry wished more than anything that he could go and stay with the Weasleys, who might have been able to take his mind off things a little bit. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had said that Harry must remain with the Dursleys until school started. Harry knew that being at Hogwarts would also alleviate his fears slightly, but there was still a month of vacation left to go, and the long summer days crawled by.

Suddenly, a small, feathery ball rocketed towards the window. Harry, recognizing Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, opened the window. After a moment, Harry managed to grab Pig and twisted a package out of his claws. A few minutes later, his own snowy owl, Hedwig, flew into the room, in a much more dignified manner than Pig. A nondescript barn owl and another barn owl that looked like a school owl accompanied her. Hedwig and the first barn owl bore packages, and the school owl carried a thick envelope Harry recognized as his school letter. Harry was used to owl post, but didn't know why he'd received so many parcels at once. Harry took the three packages, and gave the owls water. As he did this, Harry glanced at his calendar. It was July 31^st. Harry laughed at himself: he'd gotten so caught up in his paranoia that he'd forgotten his own birthday. After Hedwig and the barn owl had found perches (Pigwidgeon refused to land anywhere, and flew around the room, hooting incessantly), Harry sat down on his bed and started opening his presents.

When he opened the package from Ron, he found a letter, a picture, and a box of ordinary looking chocolate frogs. Picking up the picture, Harry saw Ron, Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, Ginny, and Mr. & Mrs. Weasley waving happily at him. Percy wasn't present, but Harry had expected that. The Ministry of Magic still refused to believe that Voldemort had come back, but the Weasleys, like Harry, knew that he had. Percy, torn between work and family, had chosen to side with the ministry. He had even gone so far as to move out of the burrow and rent a little apartment in London. The fact that Percy was now head of the department, and Mr. Fudge himself was now his boss, didn't help matters. You couldn't tell by the picture, but Harry knew that Mr. & Mrs. Weasley were broken up over his desertion, and it had to be hard on the rest of the family as well. Setting the picture aside, Harry picked up the chocolate frogs. He was about to open them when he saw, in tiny print on the side of the box, the words Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Realizing that these were no ordinary chocolate frogs, Harry gingerly set them back down and opened Ron's letter.

Happy Birthday Harry!

DON'T EAT THE CHOCOLATE FROGS! They're the latest from Fred and George: You Are What You Eat Candy. If you eat one, you turn into a chocolate frog- temporarily of course, but all the same, I thought I'd warn you first. They're going to try to make more varieties- Droobles gum and different candies. They said to tell you thanks, by the way, but they didn't say what for. Mum asked Dumbledore about your coming to the burrow for the rest of the summer, but he said it wasn't a good idea because of the way that things were progressing, and mum said that meant no. When are you going to Diagon Alley to get your supplies? We're going Aug. 31, and staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the night. Hermione said she could come then too. See you then if you can come, if not, see you on the train.

Ron

How was he getting to Diagon Alley? Harry wasn't sure. From what he'd heard, he was supposed to stay with the Dursleys. However, Harry was pretty sure the Dursleys were not going to go to Diagon Alley, or Platform 9 ¾. Still thinking on this, he picked up the package from the nondescript barn owl and opened it. This one was from Sirius, and it also contained a photograph and a letter. Harry looked at the picture. He recognized his mom and dad, and there were two boys who Harry suspected were Sirius and Lupin. They all looked much younger- like they were in school. He flipped it over. On the back, Sirius had written:

I found this picture of me, Lupin, and your mum and dad. It was taken back in our fifth year, I think. I thought you might like it.

Smiling, Harry propped the picture up next to the one of the Weasleys, and opened Sirius's letter.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! Listen, You know you aren't allowed to leave the Dursleys until you go to Hogwarts, but you are going to have to go to Diagon Alley to get your stuff, and to the Hogwarts Express, and we both know the Dursleys aren't going to go with you to either place. I talked to Dumbledore about it, and we came up with a plan. On August 31, You will be babysat by Mrs. Figg- don't worry about why, we'll take care of that. Anyway, she will be your "bodyguard", so to speak, until you get to Hogwarts. Did I mention she's a witch, by the way? She's also the new Dark Arts teacher, so she'll be able to be with you on the Hogwarts Express as well. And if anything should happen, she has emergency portkeys to transport both of you directly to Hogwarts.

Happy Birthday again,

Sirius

Mrs. Figg was a wizard? Oh, so now they tell him. She babysat him for 11 years, and never got around to telling him who he was? Or who she was? But then, Harry thought as he shook his head, she probably wasn't supposed to tell him, just make sure the Dursleys didn't kill him. Now that he thought about it, Harry could just picture Mrs. Figg in wizard robes, holding a wand. Thinking of her cats, he'd bet his broomstick she was a cat animagus.

Harry set the letter down and looked at the packages from Hedwig. It looked like they were from Hagrid and Hermione. Harry opened Hermione's package and found a letter and a book. Picking up the book, he looked at the title: Quidditch through the Ages at Hogwarts. Harry leafed through it, interested. Then he set it aside, and picked up Hermione's letter.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! I know how you liked Quidditch through the Ages, and was going to buy you a copy of that, but then I found this sequel, and I thought you'd like it better. It goes up to 1988. I think it might mention Charlie Weasley, and maybe Wood, I'm not sure. Anyway, when are you going to Diagon Alley to get your supplies? I'm going on the 31^st, and spending the night at the Leaky Cauldron. Ron is too. Hope I see you there. Good luck with the Dursleys until then.

Love from,

Hermione

Curious, Harry set Hermione's letter with the others and looked more closely at Quidditch through the Ages at Hogwarts. Harry flipped back to the index to see if he could find anyone that he knew. Oliver Wood wasn't there, Harry guessed he must have been a first year. Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and the Weasley twins weren't mentioned either, but Harry did find Charlie Weasley, and looked him up in the book. There was a whole paragraph about him, calling him one of the best Gryffindor seekers, attributing the winning of three Quidditch cups to him, and claiming that he could have played for England if he had chosen to. All of this matched up exactly with what Harry had heard about Charlie's talent before. On a whim, Harry went back to the index and looked through the P's. There it was! Quickly, Harry flipped back to the page it had listed- page 137. His name was mentioned in a picture caption, and briefly in the paragraph that followed. The picture was of the Gryffindor team from 1974. Harry spotted who he'd been looking for instantly- he looked just like him. He skipped down to the line that mentioned him- The three Gryffindor chasers, Derek Boone, Justin Hobbs, and James Potter, work together seamlessly, and are an excellent example of teamwork on the playing field. Harry absentmindedly traced the picture with his fingertip, thinking. His father looked the same as in every other picture Harry had of him, and the same as Harry himself did now, except for the eyes. He had messy black hair that stuck up in the back, a skinny frame, the same shaped nose... they could have been twins, practically. Shaking himself from the trance-like state he went into whenever he thought of his parents, he folded the page down, and shut the book. Setting it aside to read later, Harry picked up his last present, which was from Hagrid. It contained some treacle tarts, which Harry promptly fed to Pigwidgeon to shut him up, and a letter.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! Just so you know, I won't be the Care of Magical Creatures Teacher next year. I'll be too busy with, well, just too busy. I won't tell you who is, I'll leave that a surprise, but you'll like him. See you September 1^st.

Hagrid

Harry had a pretty good idea that Hagrid would be busy with Madame Maxime, trying to get the giants on their side before Voldemort did, but that wasn't what interested Harry most about Hagrid's letter. Harry was most curious about the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Hagrid said that he would like him- could it be someone he already knew? But he only knew ten adults outside of Hogwarts. He knew it couldn't be Bill, Charlie, Percy, or Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, because Ron would've told him. Oliver Wood was out of the question- nothing short of death would separate him from Quidditch, and Harry wasn't even sure that would. It couldn't be Sirius, because his godfather was an escaped convict of Azkaban, and only Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, Lupin, and the Weasleys knew of his innocence. Gilderoy Lockhart was still recovering from an accident involving a memory charm that had occurred in Harry's second year. Alastor Moody had spent ten months captive in his own trunk last year, and was in an incredibly EXTREME state of paranoia. And Lupin... Harry wished that Lupin would be their professor, but he, too, was out of the question. He was a werewolf, and had been his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in his 3^rd year, and had been much loved by all but the Slytherins. Unfortunately, there had been a close call with one of his transformations, and he had decided it was too dangerous for him to be a teacher anymore. Sighing, Harry set it down with the others and picked up the envelope from Hogwarts. Opening it, he found the familiar Hogwarts letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment for your 5^th year at Hogwarts. Term begins on September 1^st. The Hogwarts Express leaves at 11:00 sharp from platform 9 ¾, Kings Cross Station.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Uniform

5^th year students will require:

3 sets of plain black work robes

1 plain black pointed hat

1 pair of protective gloves

1 black winter cloak

1 set of dress robes

Course Books

The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5

By Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic

By Bathilda Bagshot

A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration

Emeric Switch

Voldemort's Rise to Power

By Pulina Darkert

Controlling Your Curses- A Guide to Self Protection

By Trian B. Safe

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

By Newt Scamander

Other Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Nothing out of the ordinary, except that there must be another ball coming up, if they needed dress robes. He'd thought that the Yule Ball only occurred during the Triwizard Tournament. Maybe they were starting a new tradition- who knew. Harry was about to go back to bed, when he realized he should tell Ron and Hermione that he would be at Diagon Alley on the same day as them, and arrange to meet up somewhere. First, though, Harry let the school owl fly back to Hogwarts, because it was beginning to look impatient. At the same time Sirius's owl flew back, so Harry guessed that he wasn't expecting a reply. Harry held onto Pigwidgeon while the window was open, so that Harry could write Ron a reply before he flew away.

Dear Ron,

Yes, I just found out that I'm going to be at Diagon Alley on the 31^st and staying the night. My babysitter whom I just now found out is a witch and the new DADA teacher is taking me. Long story. Actually, it's not, I'm just tired. I'll write you more details tomorrow.

Harry

PS- I'll meet you at Gringotts

Harry copied the letter twice- one for Ron, and one for Hermione. After tying Ron's letter to Pigwidgeon with much difficulty, for he was still zooming about, he opened the window and let Pig zip out. Harry then tied Hermione's letter to Hedwig, which was much easier, and she swept out into the night, pecking him gently on the ear as she went.

Harry put all of his letters into a neat little stack, and stuck the pictures to his wall with thumbtacks. He put Quidditch through the Ages at Hogwarts and the bewitched chocolate frogs on his nightstand, threw away the empty treacle tart container, and removed his glasses. Finally, he got back into bed. He was happier than he'd been all summer, and he managed to get his first restful night's sleep since the night Voldemort had risen. He was able to pretend, for a few peaceful hours, that there was no such person as Voldemort, that there were no Death Eaters tracking him down, that no one he knew was in any danger whatsoever. Unfortunately, as Harry had learned at a very early age, what you pretend, isn't real.