Harry Potter and His New Standards

* Chapter 4 - Romirity *

"Gryffindors, follow me," Hermione said, straightening out her Prefect badge. The 11 new Gryffindor first year students trotted behind her, looking excited. The rest of the Gryffindors followed behind them, filing out of the hall a bit slower. She led them through different corridors, up stairs, and through tapestries until they approached a large painting of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked, turning her head to Hermione, the first years, and the rest of the house.

"Pinzestinclee," she said, loudly enough so the rest of the house would hear it. The portrait swung forward to admit them. Everyone made his or her way into the common room. After Hermione told the first years a quick bit of background information she led Holly up to their dormitory.

Ron sighed. "It's nice to be back... I didn't realize how much I missed school until we entered the Great Hall," he stated.

"Yeah... it's a great place... minus the Slytherins," Harry agreed. Ron shook his head and smiled.

"Too true. I'm tired, I'm going to bed," he said.

"Me too..." They made their way up to the dormitory labeled "6th YEARS" and sidled in.

"Hey, Harry, Ron," said Neville.

"Already up here, Nev?" Ron said.

"No need to state the obvious, Ron," Harry mumbled as he opened up his trunk to dig out some pajamas.

"Yeah," Neville said, "I'm tired. Did you guys like the feast?"

"Naturally," replied Ron. They didn't talk much more until they were all asleep.

~ THE NEXT MORNING ~

Professor McGonagall passed out his or her class schedules at breakfast, and Holly started questioning everyone which teacher was which. Ron seemed pleased when Holly wrinkled her nose when they pointed Snape out to her. "He doesn't look too polished, does he?" she said.

"Potter, could I speak with you please?" Professor McGonagall said. She had finished handing out everyone's schedules and now she moved over behind him with her question.

"Um, alright," Harry said. He followed her into the entrance hall.

"Potter, I need to inform you of this before the Quidditch season starts-" she began. Harry dearly hoped that someone new wasn't out to kill him, preventing him to practice. "I need you to be present at the tryouts, you're the new team captain."

Harry wondered whether that was supposed to be some form of a question, did he have a choice? He remembered what Ron's dearest hope had been... what he had seen in the Mirror of Erised so many years ago. He couldn't help but feel he was squashing part of his dream to pulp... Ron hadn't been made a Prefect, so Head Boy looked a bit out of the question... and now this?

"Professor, could I pick an assistant captain?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Well... if you honestly wanted to... I can't remember anyone wanting an assistant captain before, but..."

"I want Ron Weasley to be my A/C," he said, cutting her off.

"Is this not just a friendship thing, Harry?"

"Well, sort of... I can't help but feel I'm killing off his dreams by being Quidditch captain... you know that was one of his great ambitions..." Harry swallowed.

"Fine, I'll sign him up as an assistant captain. But, before I do that I need to tell you the other team captains," she said.

Harry braced himself. "Hufflepuff captain will be 7th year Eric Lundon, Ravenclaw captain will be 7th year Cho Chang, and Slytherin captain will be 6th year Draco Malfoy." He cringed slightly at this. "The heads of houses have met together and announced their choices. I'll talk to them about assistant captains, I think it would be only fair if each team had one."

"All right..." Harry said. There was a very brief pause when Professor McGonagall gave him a small smile.

"You'll do your best to win us the cup this year, won't you, Potter?"

"Of course, Professor..." he said. What did she expect him to do? Knock all his team members off their broomsticks so the reserve team would have to play all year? No...not quite the case.

"Good. You may go back to breakfast," she said. Harry walked back into the Great Hall and sat down where he had been seated before.

"What'd she want, Harry?" Holly asked immediately.

"Um..." he said. He wasn't sure he wanted to say this in front of Ron. "Well she's elected the house captains and assistant captains."

"Oh!"

"We have assistant captains this year?" Ron asked, looking half-hopeful. Harry figured that one more little lie wouldn't hurt...

"Yeah, I guess that they were having trouble deciding who would take the lead spot with so many other good players on the teams... well I, uh, well I got captain. She said that she picked me because I had just been on the team longest. You got A/C, Ron."

Ron's expression brightened in the slightest. "Cool..." he said a bit quietly.

Harry sighed and finished his breakfast in silence.

"Which classes did you say you had, again, this afternoon?" Hermione asked Holly.

"Um... Study of Ancient Runes and Potions?" Holly replied, digging for her schedule inside her bag. "Yeah, that's right," she said as she found it.

"Ugh, Potions, what a way to round off the first day of school... well let's get to Herbology."

As they crossed the lawns, still wet with morning dew, they saw Professor Sprout surrounded by a few early-arriving students. "Greenhouse three today, everyone!" she exclaimed, smiling cheerfully at all of them. By now, most of the students were taller than Professor Sprout, and Harry was only just getting used to the fact that everyone wasn't a squat little student any longer.

They all made there way into the third greenhouse and took their seats. Professor Sprout ran through the attendance, welcomed Holly to her class, and then started telling them what they were going to do.

"Could anyone tell me what a Snapping Noggard plant is?" Hermione's hand shot into the air, followed slowly by Holly's and Justin Finch-Fletchy's. "Miss Black?"

"Well...I'm not sure but I think they're a bit of a magical rendition of the Muggle flower - a snapdragon," she said cautiously.

"Quite right, take 5 points for Gryffindor... you're off to a good start," she said. Hermione looked slightly ruffled that she hadn't been the first of her class to win Gryffindor some points, but seemed to overlook it as Holly glanced down into her lap, blushing slightly and grinning.

"Can't take compliments well, can you?" Ron whispered. Holly just grinned a bit broader. "Last person I'd think would shy out on a class full of "inferiors"..." he mumbled to Harry.

"Now, could you tell me what the Snapping Noggard is used for?" Hermione's hand greeted the air first, once again. "Miss Granger?"

"The Snapping Noggard plant has Engorgement Charms practiced on it oftentimes, and is used to ward off trespassers. Otherwise the petals of the flower can be used in certain reviving potions, although the aftereffects of the potion can leave the drinker a bit jumpy and/or insulting," Hermione said. She looked at Holly as if to say "I can answer the question right, too, you know..." but Holly smiled at her and nodded, which made Hermione turn her head back towards Professor Sprout.

"Right you are! Take 10 points for Gryffindor. Now, I have some full-grown Snapping Noggards here today and this is the procedure. What you need to do is split into groups of four, and you may work on these separate pots," she said, motioning towards several potted Snapping Noggards. They looked quite like ordinary snapdragons, but they were all about 2 ½ feet tall, and lashing around in their pots, snapping in the direction of the students. Harry could just barely notice that the insides of their petals were lined with tiny teeth. It really made them look like small bodiless dragons.

"It works best if one of your group holds on to the stem of the Noggard while another pulls off the petals. Be sure not to pull of the entire flower of the Noggards, otherwise it won't be able to produce more petals. Now, split into your groups and go to a table. Have one of your number raise their hand when you're ready and I'll bring a pot of Snapping Noggards over to your table. Go ahead," said Professor Sprout.

They split up and Harry joined up with Ron, Hermione, and Holly. They grouped around table and Hermione raised her hand. Professor Sprout came over to them, her hand around all four of the Noggards' stems. When she sat the pot down on their table and let go, the plants went crazy and started snapping at all of them.

"Okay, let's try to hold two at a time while the other person plucks off the petals and puts them in the tray!" suggested Ron.

"Good idea," Harry said. Harry and Ron grabbed onto two stems and pulled them together, gripping them while they snapped and flailed, trying to release themselves of their grasps. Holly first went up to Ron's plants and quickly pulled off one of the bottom petals. This seemed to make the Noggards angry because as Hermione reached forward and did the same, the de-petaled Noggard would snap more viciously.

Holly tried to even out the work and go for the next Noggard, but the first one latched itself onto three of her knuckles. "Ow!" she said, wrenching her hand away.

So Hermione tried to work on the same Noggard, but it wasn't any easier. It snapped at her fingers, and the other flower seemed to know what was going on and snapped ferociously at Hermione, as if to defend the other. After the girls had successfully pulled all of the petals off of one plant, they forced the boys to do the other.

The boys didn't have as tough of a time considering that the second plant no longer had teeth or petals, and all it could do was bump off their hands. Well, that's what they thought until one finally wrapped itself around Harry's wrist and attempted to "feed" it to the other.

When class was finally over everyone exited the green houses, they left massaging their hands which had small marks pretty much all over them, and some were bleeding.

"Why didn't she just let us use dragon hide gloves?!" complained Ron as he tried to stop blood flow from in between two of his knuckles.

"Snapping Noggard plants have some dragon blood-like substance in their stems... they wouldn't be any nicer approached by something made from part of a true dragon, they'd try and defend themselves," said Hermione.

"That's a bit weird," Harry said as he examined the tips of his fingers which were indented in many places. They made their way towards Hagrid's hut on the edge of their forest for Care of Magical Creatures with the rest of the Gryffindors while the Hufflepuffs strode up the grounds and back into the castle.

"I've read up on the theories," said Holly suddenly. Hermione was looking as though she and Holly just became instant friends. "A lot of them say that when dragons used to roam around in the wild and Muggles would occasionally slaughter them witches and wizards would find them afterward and bring them back home... a thought that grosses me out a bit. They said they'd use the free blood and try experiments with them... supposedly once a wizard called Iggyundus the Impatient dripped some into an ordinary snapdragon flower and there were no immediate affects so he left it. Well, obviously something did happen-and the species spread." She shrugged. "Even the theory is a bit weird."

When they finally approached Hagrid's cabin along the Forbidden Forest, they stood with the rest of the Gryffindors waiting for Hagrid and wishing the Slytherins wouldn't show.

Just seconds later they could hear the jeering talk of the newly formed sixth year Slytherins. Harry caught Holly throw Malfoy a half glance and then focused her attention on the approaching Hagrid. She had seen him once before, sitting down with the rest of the staff at their table, and she had seen then that he was very tall, over half the size of a giant. But now, it seemed the full impact of how utterly massive Hagrid was had hit her. (A/N: I just realize that sounds completely disgusting...but I'll leave it so now others can observe the same.)

He was holding onto a gigantic leather leash bound around what Harry immediately thought was Babe the blue ox's gold-colored child. "Hagrid," gasped Seamus, "Where did you get one of those?"

"Imported it from the states," gruffed Hagrid. "Very lucky ter come across one, actually..." He paused, looking around at all of them. "Be'r take attendance before we start, eh?"

He grabbed a roll of parchment from the ground and unraveled it, naming off each name and getting a "here" from each person, whether they drawled the word, said it excitedly, or stated it with a quiver in their voice... they were all heard and accounted for.

"Righ' then... who can tell me what this is?" Hagrid questioned.

Holly, Seamus, and Ron raised their hands. "Ron?"

"It's a re'em. They're a really rare giant oxen from North America and the Far East," he said, knowledgeably.

"Thas righ', Ron," Hagrid said. "Who can tell me whas special abou' Re'ems?" was his next question.

Hermione, now knowing what she was facing, was the first with her hand in the air. She bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet and Hagrid called on her. "Re'em blood gives the drinker of it great strength," she said sounding nearly as though she were reading out of a textbook.

"Correc'. Now, wha' do yeh figur' the re'ems take loads o' pride in?" Hagrid questioned.

No one seemed quite sure of this, and they were quite sure it hadn't been in their books for it would have been quite easy information to remember. Holly slowly raised her hand. Hagrid looked at her for a second, as though he was trying to remember her first name.

"Holly?"

"Their-their coats," she said, although it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"Yup," he said, beaming at her. Any student of his that knew something about a dangerous creature that someone else didn't know was a good one. "Mos' non-magic creatures are colorblind... 'haps all of them, I'm not fer sure. Bu', re'ems diff'r. They know tha' they have spe'ta'ular gold fur, an' they ar'nt 'fraid to 'ave a boas'ful attitude 'bout it. They are very high in pride-sorta like hippogriffs, bu' no' quite.

"Now, today I'll let yer all take turns tryin' to pet this one... don' worry, is' tame. She was raised in the Alaskan Magical Zoo. Bu' the re'ems sense fear an' weakness, you can' be too careful wi' 'em. So, I suggest tha' if yer a bi' scared o' 'em... don' try an pet Reldov 'ere. I'm gon' tie 'er up to this tree, an' you can get in a line if yeh wanna pet 'er."

The re'em pawed the ground as Hagrid secured its leash around the tree in a tight knot. Not many people seemed to want to go forward and touch the thing... it wasn't ugly or too scary... but it did seem menacing all the same.

Harry, out of respect for Hagrid, carefully went forward and cautiously reached out a hand to touch the enormous oxen's side. He did so, and the re'em simply turned her giant head and looked at Harry with its deep brown eyes. He noticed they seemed to be flecked with gold. He patted it lightly and it closed its eyes lazily. "She isn't half bad..." thought Harry. Hermione and Ron made their way forward and stood behind Harry. Soon the rest of the Gryffindors were lining up, but the Slytherins stood back for a while, just to be sure that if 'Reldov The Re'em' ended up charging down a Gryff' and ripping the tree straight out of the ground... they wouldn't proceed forward.

Harry stepped away from Reldov and Ron went forward to pet him. Harry saw that Neville was at the end of the line, torn in between being brave and walking forward to pet Reldov or being the 'same old Neville' and cowering back. Holly and Hagrid were talking over to the side.

"So yer Sirius Black's daughter? That makes yeh Harry's godsister, hm?" he said. Holly nodded.

"Yep. I'm glad I have Harry for a godbrother, I couldn't have asked for better," she replied smiling kindly, craning her neck to look up at Hagrid. "You say this re'em, Reldov you called her? You say she's tamed?"

"Thas' righ'. She was raised in captive since she was on'y a baby, I guess... not very old. 'Bout 7 or 8 I think..."

"That's amazing...I read up on re'ems for a report I did in my old school... I double-checked on some information here when I got my schoolbooks... in Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them it says they got a 4-X classification from the Ministry Of Magic! That's one under the beasts that are known wizard killers or impossible to domesticate! Reldov must have been with trained specialists since the moment she was born...!" Holly said, eyes popping.

Hagrid smiled warmly down at Holly. "Yeah, she was... raised in the Alaskan Magical Zoo, like I said earlier."

Now Harry saw that Neville finally decided it was best not to approach Reldov, and he had backed away and stood where Ron was now, since Hermione had gone forward.

By now, after working together on the Snapping Noggards, Ron's slight anger about not being Quidditch Captain seemed to wear off. Harry was careful not to mention the upcoming season to Ron, for he was afraid it might trigger that old madness once again.

The Slytherins started ambling forward now, as if to show that the Gryffindors weren't the only brave ones in this school. Neville let out a small moan. "Look at that! I'm going to be the only one who didn't go forward!"

"Oh, Neville, no one'll notice!" said Ron in a comforting tone. "I don't blame you for not wanting to go forward... but, she is tame. A wild re'em would have charged us all down by now!"

Neville shuddered. "Okay, Ron, that's no help. How about this, Ron and me'll go up with you? We'll get last in line so it won't look like anything... if you want to," said Harry.

"Er..." said Neville.

"Hey, Longbottom! 'Fraid to pet the big bad re'em?! Guess we couldn't have expected much more of you..." said Malfoy, nearly at the head of the line. Harry couldn't help but think that was a very stupid comment, but he overlooked it.

"Shove off, Malfoy, he can do what he wants. It more or less seems you're the one who doesn't participate in the class activities, normally," Harry snapped. Malfoy sneered as though he knew that this was factual.

He heard Ron mumble, "C'mon, Neville, here's your chance!" And, rather reluctantly, Neville walked forward - closely followed by Harry and Ron.

As they got to the front of the line, Neville successfully managed to approach Reldov and give her a few weak pats. By then the end of class was near so it didn't take long for Hagrid to beckon them over, away from the Reldov, and give them their short homework assignment. Hagrid had rarely given them any kind of assignment before this.

"I want yeh all ter write me one sheet on the re'ems... a bit of a repor'. Write on where they live, their habits, wha' food they eat... the basics. Jus' one sheet-no less. If yer the ambitious folk... no more 'n 3 sheets. Alright, see you next lesson!" said Hagrid.

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Holly all said a separate good-bye to Hagrid and promised to visit him that weekend. They were somewhat silent as they walked up the sloping grounds to the castle. After Hermione threw a typical explanation of how fascinating she found the re'em species and books she could look into in the library to help her finish her report and Harry and Ron told them about Neville actually touching Reldov.

After about a minute in silence Holly burst, "Good gracious ass is bodacious!"

"What?" said Ron.

"What? I'm singing!"

"What the hell kind of song is that you nympho!?" Ron asked half-laughing.

"Never you mind..." she said. Then she continued to hum. A little while later she proceeded to what Harry figured was the chorus.

"It's gettin' hot in here, So take-" She stopped abruptly and glanced at Ron. "Ah, never mind." Harry and Ron weren't quite sure what was going on, but Hermione grinned at Holly slightly, who returned it with a small smirk.

After a short break, it was time for lunch. "Where's the Study of Ancient Runes classroom?" Holly asked them, poking at her potato.

"Oh! It's on the 5th floor on the right-hand corridor... you'll find it," Hermione stated.

"Thanks," Holly said. At times like these Harry seemed to think that Hermione's Prefect badge glimmered brighter than usual - odd.

They split up for their next classes - Hermione going to Arithmancy, Holly to Study of Ancient Runes, and Ron and Harry traveled up to the North Tower for Divination. "Wonder what new way Professor Trelawney'll predict your death this year, Harry!" said Ron in a fake-excited tone.

"I don't know-maybe there's a new omen of death she's discovered..." Harry grumbled as they climbed up the silver ladder, through the trap door.

A number of the class was already gathered there, sitting on the poufs and fluffy armchairs surrounding the circular tables. Parvati and Lavender were whispering excitedly, Dean and Seamus were looking sulky, and Neville was looking a tiny bit nervous. Though Professor Trelawney didn't usually predict Neville's death - nothing that she foretold that was related to him was all to pleasant.

Ron and Harry sat down across from each other at their table and waited for Professor Trelawney to seemingly materialize out of the shadows - not too dramatic anymore. It was a couple minutes of stifling in the reddish light of the classroom until they heard her telltale misty voice. "Welcome, welcome, my dears, to a new school year and semester of Divination!" She glided out of the darkest corner of her room as Lavender and Parvati looked as though shivers were being sent up their spine.

"I see a wondrous school year ahead of us!"

"First time I've heard her predict something for our well being-" Ron whispered. Harry grinned at him.

"Yet-things at Hogwarts are different now. There is an whisper of suspicion mingling in the very air we breathe..." she said dramatically. "You should all be on the lookout for immense evil-it will seek at least one of our number out before too much time has come to pass!" Her eyes mingled on Harry here and they could only just here Hermione whispering in his ears.

"Ridiculous nonsense... wouldn't you both say it's common knowledge that evil seems to hunt Harry down wherever he goes!?"

"Dear, Harry, it is wonderful to see you back with us," said Professor Trelawney, gazing at Harry sadly, as though she doubted he was going to come back or be with them very long. "The fates have informed me that you have a new member to your dearest family? I warn you to keep close watch on her... she is in danger."

She looked at him sorrowfully for a moment before turning to the rest of the class and continuing her welcome-back-speech-and-new-predictions. "Now she 'sees' Holly getting in trouble... ugh. She wouldn't have to stare into a crystal ball to know that you were living with Sirius and Holly-it was in the Daily Prophet at one point," mumbled Ron, rolling his eyes. Harry shook his head and turned to look back at Professor Trelawney who had just summed up telling Neville to keep closer watch on his belongings for the next few months.

"Now, starting off this year we will focus on a much more difficult practice involved in Divination. Take heed that the things this form of predictions can show you the shocking truth, if your tools are conjured correctly," she said softly. Neville was quivering slightly, now.

"We will not begin this practice today, oh no... I want you to open your textbooks and read chapter two on Romirity," she said, the last word escaping her mouth nearly as quiet as a whisper. "Please compose a summery on it, to be handed in to me at the beginning of our next class session."

Harry and Ron opened their books and paged their way to chapter two. "Romirity...here it is..." mumbled Harry.

"Read me the first couple paragraphs... my pages are stuck together here," Ron said quietly.

"Alright-

Romirity is the practice of fortune telling used often by those who wish to see links with their past and future. The Seer uses a complex charm to form a cube-shaped object that seems to reflect images such as a mirror. If the charm succeeds, the Seer will be able to watch images of their past link with flashes of their future. No divination specialist has been able to hold the image of his or her future in the Romirity Cube for longer than 1½ seconds to date. The reason for this remains unknown, and this makes the Romirity charm a not-so-often-seen form of predictions for its lack of information."

Harry glanced up at Ron, who was still holding the several pages that were stuck together. "Well, it sounds more like solid ground information... although it doesn't give away much," he said. Harry nodded.

"I guess..." He skimmed through the rest of the page. "It sounds pretty tough," he added.

Ron had now grabbed his wand and tapped the merged pages. They sprung apart immediately, but as he grabbed the page to turn it back so he was at the beginning of the chapter, he discovered that somehow they had managed to all stick themselves together and as he pulled he closed the entire book. Harry sniggered as Ron tried to pry the covers of the book apart-now it wouldn't even open. He continued on reading his own book, glancing up now and then to see how Ron was doing. First he had managed to turn his book a nasty shade of acid green. Second the book would manually open itself and the pages would all rifle over as though being blown as a fan, then shut again and do the same, only backwards. When class was nearly over the book was snapping open and shut on different pages and Ron gave up and wedged it between his Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures textbooks just before they were dismissed.

They met up with Holly and Hermione in the common room for a 20-minute break. Hermione repaired Ron's book easily before they divided into their separate dormitories to grab their Potions books.

They talked happily about their classes for a while before they made their way to the dungeons only just before class began. It was then that Harry thought, somewhat bitterly, that he would no longer feel Snape saved a "special hatred" for him. He glanced over at Holly, who already felt that this professor was a slime ball - and felt that Gryffindor would be losing a few more extra points this year.