Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

A Fond Farewell To Prongs

Harry felt a soft, regular breath in his ear, warming and comforting him. His arm was wrapped tightly around something else warm and comforting, a gentle gurgling coming from somewhere, behind...

Then, there were urgent mutterings. He heard an indistinct row from somewhere not so far off, and then footsteps coming towards him. He whimpered, as the breath at his ear was gently removed, and the mass he was cuddling was removed as well. He felt a sharp fixation of pain, he didn't know where it came from, but it felt as though a part of him had been torn away.

Harry went numb at the unbelievable feeling of complete and total loss, and then a chill went through him as he heard it...

"Lilly, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Through the cracks of the door he could see flash of green, and he felt someone stumbling around him, and saw the door burst open. Through it came a tall, skeletal hooded figure with grotesque, malicious red eyes. Green eyes, sparkling with fear and unshed tears turned away from him to look at the monster, removing the protective curtain of red curls from him.

"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside- stand aside, girl!" The hooded figure advanced.

"Not Harry, Not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside now!"

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead!" He advanced further, eyes glinting menacingly. "Not Harry! Please... Have mercy! Have mercy!"

There was a high cold laugh, a high-pitched scream, a flash of blinding green light, and a rushing wind enveloped him...

He jolted awake in the Hospital Wing, sweating profusely, the sheets once again drenched. He was rather confused. He had been having this dream rather a lot recently. He wondered what it meant. Ever since returning from the end of the Triwizard tournament he had felt a sense of betrayal, a sense of loss; as though someone, or something, had torn away a portion of his very soul.

He shuddered and turned to pick his glasses up off the bedside table and put them on, looking around to see what was going on. He searched the bedside table frantically for his book from his father. When he couldn't find it he collapsed back onto the bed, banging his head on the pillow and hitting something hard. He felt under the pillow and, somewhat relieved, he pulled out the copy of his father's book. He smoothed the cover, gazing at it wistfully, and opened it to the front page, where the inscription was. He was startled to find a blank piece of parchment in there, with a note tuck to it with a sliver of Spell-o-Tape, which said, "Just in case!" He raised an eyebrow, and pondered for a moment before comprehension hit him. Looking around to make sure nobody was watching, he reached for his wand from the shelf of the bedside table, touched it to the piece of parchment, and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" He smiled as the familiar words started to appear before him

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

He smiled slightly before muttering, "Mischief Managed!", and the letters faded to nothing. He then walked over quietly to check under Ron's and Hermione's pillow. Sure enough, the books were there, and he sat back down in bed pondering the events of Friday night. Madame Pomfrey walked in moments later.

"Ah so you have finally decided to join us young Mister Potter."

"Yes Madame Pomfrey."

"I will just go and get the Headmaster then. He wanted to be told as soon as you three got up."

"Madame Pomfrey?"

"Hmm?"

"How are Ron and Hermione?"

"Ask them yourselves," she said, almost smiling, and with that she did leave.

"Hey guys!" Hermione said, yawning.

"Hey!" they both replied.

"That was some night, wasn't it?" Ron breathed heavily.

"Yeah!" they all agreed.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked.

"Let me see," said Harry, looking at his bedside clock. "It's 10.45... Sunday morning?"

"You're kidding?" Ron looked somewhat startled.

"I never realised taking in that much knowledge at once took so much out of you!"

"You're kidding aren't you Hermione?" Harry looked almost amused. "Did you ever look in the mirror when you had your time turner? You never looked more than an inch of parchment away from tears!" Hermione grinned ruefully. She remembered all too well the year she kept doing hours over and over again so that she could do more subjects. She was tired all the time, she was stressed beyond belief, and all just so that she could learn a couple of extra subjects. She finally figured out that she would be better off trying to relax, and to do the best with what was available to her.

"Not one of my better ideas!" she willingly agreed.

"I would say not!" Put in Professor Dumbledore, smiling, having just that moment walked in the room.

"Professor, have the books been destroyed yet?" Harry asked.

"Not yet, Harry. I was wondering if you wanted to burn them?"

"Can we burn them all together?"

"Certainly."

"You don't mind do you?" he said, turning to Ron and Hermione.

"Of course not Harry. It would be an honour." Hermione said supportively. Ron simply nodded.

"Thanks guys!"

"Shall we do this now?"

"Just a moment Professor." He took out his copy of 'How To Find Your Inner Animagus' and his wand and muttered "Duplicate", giving the copy to professor Dumbledore.

"Harry, I..."

Harry looked over his own glasses and gave Dumbledore a taste of his own medicine in the form of a very friendly wink. He smiled appreciatively and said. "Thank you."

"My father would have wanted you to have one."

"You truly are the Son of Prongs, Harry."

"Thank you Sir. Oh and Sir? Was it just the strain of absorbing nine books that caused us to faint or was it something else?"

"Thankfully there has been no damage, and it will not affect your memory, as you can clearly recall Friday night. The only thing the spell has done, aside from causing you to absorb the knowledge contained within the texts, is increase your ability to absorb knowledge in general. It will therefore, provided your own roguish natures don't get the better of you too much, make you better students, with an improved learning capacity."

"Oh NO!" Hermione groaned. "You two are going to be worse than me!" Everyone laughed at this, even Dumbledore.

"Very good Miss Granger, I must remember that one! However although it improves your capacity for learning, it doesn't improve your natural ability. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir," they all said.

"Right then, let's get to it, and then you can return to your dormitories or wander the grounds. I suggest you don't start practising until Wednesday. By then you will have completely recovered and I will have procured all the ingredients for the potion, and the animals required. In the meantime, feel free to talk about it amongst yourselves, but not too loudly you understand."

"Yes Sir."

"We'll go to my office, to do it."

Suddenly they heard a groan.

"Ah, feeling better Miss Weasley?"

"Ginny?" Harry asked. Ron leapt out of bed, eyes brimming with concern. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I, um... I had a bit of stomach flu last night. I really don't like the stuff Madame Pomfrey uses as it makes me feel quite queasy, so she let me stay overnight. Just got up myself. What about you three, you look as if you've been in the wars!"

"You could say that!" said Hermione weakly. Unseen by everyone else, She winked at Ginny, who returned it with a slight smile.

"Anyway, I'm hungry! I'm off for breakfast. See you three later." Ginny said with a smile, and with that, she left.

As Dumbledore turned to leave, Harry had a sudden thought.

"Sir?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Will Professor Moony and Snuffles be there?"

"Yes. I owled them right after I brought you to the hospital wing. It is only right that they be there for the burning. The came to my office last night by floo powder, and they agree that it is your task, not theirs. However they will be here to help you with your Animagus transformations when you need them. The Shrieking Shack is patched into the Floo Network. Come, let us repair to my office."

It was with an air of sorrow and solemnity that the "New Age Marauders" left the hospital wing for Dumbledore's office. Harry felt an overwhelming sensation of sadness, almost as if he had lost his father all over again after having found him all too briefly. Ron and Hermione were also feeling Harry's loss, although not as deeply, and each walked along in respectful silence, remembering all they'd heard of James, and of Prongs.

When they got to the office Moony and Padfoot were already there. Harry ran over to Sirius and buried his face in his shoulder. They all stood silently, allowing Harry to grieve. When he had appeared to have cried enough, he stood back, dried his eyes, and looked around, giving a general nod of thanks to the room.

"Are you ready Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm ready." He sighed. Best to get it over and done with. He needed to finish his mourning so he could concentrate on his transformations.

"Sirius, Remus? Did the Marauders ever instigate any form of farewell ceremony, or is it a simple goodbye?" Dumbledore put to the two remaining Marauders.

"Just one." Replied Remus. "Harry, I took the liberty of writing the liturgy down, so you could join in with us. James would be proud to count you a Marauder. To count you all as Marauders," he said, looking around and smiling. "Would you all join in please?"

"Quadruplicate!" Sirius muttered, pointing his wand at the piece of parchment Remus held out.

Harry gave a third of the books to Moony, and a third to Padfoot, and took the remaining third himself. Harry stood between Moony and Padfoot, directly in front of the fire. They each had their third of the books in one hand, and the other hand on Harry's shoulder. Ron and Hermione stood behind Harry, also one hand each on his shoulder, and behind them, a hand on each of their shoulders stood Professor Dumbledore, a solid pyramid of Brotherhood, which, as Sirius had once told Harry before, was what the Marauders stood for (That, and serious but harmless mischief!).

"Are you ready Harry?" It was Moony this time.

"Yes. Yes I am ready." Mooney and Padfoot began closely followed by everyone else as they picked up the solemn chant.

"United we stand, divided we fall

Forever all for one, forever one for all.

A lone Stag noble, proud and true as the sky.

The time has now come, Prongs, to bid you goodbye.

You were strong and good and loyal to the end,

Inspiration, Brother, Father and Friend

And though you are old now and your body is gone,

You're with us forever, your spirit lives on.

Mischief Managed."

With that said, Professor Lupin solemnly stood forward placed his pile of books into the empty, lifeless hearth "Farewell James!" followed by Sirius "So long Prongs!" and finally a teary Harry "Bye Dad, I love you!" They all stood back in their formation, and Sirius said

"On three Harry." Harry nodded "One, two, three."

"Incendio!" They all cried, each pointing their wands to their pile of books, which simultaneously burst into flames. They all stood together, watching the books burn, each reflecting on what James Potter, on what Prongs had meant to them. When the books had burned about halfway, Remus and Sirius looked at one another, nodded and then looked back to Dumbledore, who also nodded. Remus and Sirius gently took their hands off Harry's shoulder and stood off a little to each side. Dumbledore took his hands off Ron's and Hermione's shoulders and took their hands that were on Harry's shoulders and put them around his waste. As he did this, Fawkes, who had seemingly been observing the proceedings blinked at Dumbledore who nodded, and then he flew over and perched on Harry's shoulder. Everyone stood like this now until the Flames ceased and only a few smouldering ashes remained.

The three adults looked smiling on the three young adults and nodded to each other in approval. Voicing all their opinions, Remus spoke out.

"Well I think that is an exceptionally fine name, for a group of people with their current task in the world!"

"What is Professor Lupin?" Ron asked, a little bemused and still quite sober from the proceedings.

"Why, the Order of the Phoenix, my boy! The Order of the Phoenix!" Sirius replied, laughing.

"I think it sounds dignified and noble."

"That it does Miss Granger!" Dumbledore smiled, his eyes sparkling with new life.

"I think I speak for all of us here, Harry," Sirius stated. "When I say that I pledge myself to the Order of the Phoenix and everything it stands for. And we are all pledged to fight Voldemort and all who stand beside him! Prongs last stand will NOT be in vain!" Four loud and hearty "Ayes" rang out at this, as well as an aptly timed squawk from Fawkes. Harry still gazed at the fire, watching the last embers decline. Nobody knew if Harry had heard anything after the liturgy. They remained silent, giving Harry his time and space. Finally as the last glow died he brushed away a tear and turned to look on everyone. First he looked at Ron, then Hermione, then Remus, then Sirius, then Professor Dumbledore. And finally he looked at Fawkes. He looked at Fawkes the longest, gazing right into his warm black eyes. As he gazed, he felt a wonderful warmth spread throughout his entire being and he then saw a single tear trickling down Fawkes face. It was enough. He disconnected from Ron and Hermione, walked right in front of the hearth, turned back to face them, smiled the first real smile any of them had seen on him since Friday night, nodded and said "Aye!" Everyone smiled at this.

"Goodness me!" Dumbledore said, breaking the ensuing comfortable silence when he noticed his handless watch. "It's nearly half past two! You three haven't eaten anything since Friday night. Straight to the dining halls with you this instant or Madame Pomfrey will have my liver, without a nice Chianti!"

"Just before we go Professor, there is something I need to quickly do now." He took out his father's copy of "How to find your inner Animagus!" and raised his wand.

"Harry NO!" Sirius yelled, trying to tear the wand out of his hand. Dumbledore saw this and intercepted him.

"Wait Sirius. Wait and watch."

"Triplicate" Harry muttered. Once again, Harry kept the original, and gave the two copies to Sirius and Remus.

"Harry," They both started, but Harry just looked at them and shook his head.

"Inspiration, Brother, Father and Friend!" Harry said sagely, putting a hand now on each of their shoulders.

"Thank you!" Whispered Remus, proffering his hand. Harry took it, but then took him in a filial embrace. He reached an arm out to beckon Sirius in, who joined them, croaking out his thanks, and he then beckoned in Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore. After another long embrace, they broke apart and Ron, Harry, and Hermione went down for Lunch.

The Unexpected Teacher

Harry awoke on Monday morning in another cold sweat. He had once again felt that warm breath in his ear and the warm mass in his arms being ripped away from him. He was overcome by an overwhelming feeling of emptiness. And a new memory. Something so strange and yet comforting. A vision of a friend. Someone who comforted him when he was alone and scared in his cupboard under the stairs. He was thoroughly confused. He decided the best thing to do would be to have a shower, get changed, go downstairs and have something to eat.

Breakfast was greeted all around the school with the usual buzz and interest. There was owl post (Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George all received large boxes of fudge from Mrs Weasley as a special going back to school treat - Something she did every now and again. Ron Harry and Hermione all got their customary note from Hagrid wishing them luck on their first day back and reminding them not to be strangers, and of course Neville had forgotten something (poor lad!) - His quill this time.). There was of course the throng of famished students all excited and nervous about the first day back, and there were the timetables.

"Oh my Gosh! I don't believe it! YES!" Hermione squealed excitedly, looking at her timetable and tossing it into the air.

"What is it?" Ron murbled through a mouthful of toast and cereal.

"We've got it first!"

"What?"

"F... um, the um, the um, Mystery Subject!"

"You WOULD be excited wouldn't you!" Hermione punched him on the arm.

"By the looks of things," Harry put in, being the voice of reason. "It's going to be an interesting week. What's the time now?"

"Ten to nine," said Hermione looking at her watch.

"Right well the timetable says that we have, whatever it is, in the library. So, as we don't have any books yet because we don't know what it is, and we already have our quill and parchment, I suggest as Hermione seems really excited about this, we go early and get good seats!" They all agreed and they stood up and made their way to the library.

As it turns out, they weren't the only ones with that idea, several people had made their way out all at the same time, so they had to put a burst of speed on without anyone noticing.

"I wish we had the Marauders map about now!" Ron muttered in Harry's ear. For once, Hermione didn't disagree.

"I do have it!" Harry returned in whisper. "But not now! Too many people."

In the end, however, it came to be that those that came, merely wanted to see who the Professor was. When it turned out that the professor wanted to remain anonymous and when they turned up cloaked, they lost some interest and hoped to get a decent seat at the back of the class so they could heckle. Hermione of course dragged Ron and Harry to three seats in the very front. Harry looked around. It seemed they had whatever it was with the Ravenclaws, so that wouldn't be so bad. At least they wouldn't have Malfoy and his idiots making fun at their every mistake. Besides who was to say that Malfoy would be good in whatever it was. It had never been studied at Hogwarts before so his parents might not have been able to teach him beforehand. Who knows? Maybe even Neville could be better than him!

The Library had been, it turns out, converted, temporarily at least, into a classroom so as not to give the identity away. It would of course be moved later. Besides other students needed to use the library for revision!

Once all the students had piled in, the Professor, still cloaked and hooded, turned towards them, waved a wand at the door, which closed with a loud groan, and then began speaking rapidly in a rich deep voice.

"Bonjour la Classe. Moi, je m'appelle Mademoiselle Delacour, et pendant l'année qui vien, je serai votre Professeur de Français." The teacher then paused, pointed a wand at the throat, muttered something which sounded a lot to Harry like "Voco Normalis", and pulled the hood down. "Good morning class," a young, very attractive girl was addressing them with waist length silvery blond hair and rather large, deep blue eyes. Harry and Ron both choked in shock, whilst Hermione chuckled quietly. "My name is Miss Delacour and for ze next year I will be your Professeur of ze Frensh".

"Fleur!" Harry gasped "I mean, Professor Delacour? What are YOU doing here?" Fleur giggled with delight at the amazed expressions on the faces of Harry, Ron, and half of the Ravenclaw students who had hosted the Beauxbatons students at mealtimes during last year's Tri-Wizard tournament.

"Do you remember when Professeur Dumbledore said zat zis class served a similar purpose to ze Tri-Wizard tournoi? Well one of ze largest gaps in ze relations internasional is ze language... obstruction, you say?dquo;

"Barrier." Hermione corrected.

"Thank you Mees Grainger, yes, language barrier. Ze purpose of zis class is for you all to overcome zese barriers. I myself am 'oping to overcome ze barrier of Eenglish, whils I am 'ere, whish you see, I still find a little dificile." She smiled a little ruefully at this before continuing. "Okay. We begin. Everyday to begin zis classe, I will greet you in ze same way as I deed zis morning. I will say "Bonjour la classe!" you will say "Bonjour Professeur Delacour!", and I will zen tell you to seet en disant "Assiez-vous, merci!". Okay, we will now practeese zis for ze moments. Everybody please stand. Levez-vous." They all stood. "And... Bonjour la Classe!"

"Bonjour Professeur Delacour!" They all responded

"Assiez-vous, merci!" They all sat down accordingly. "Très bien, très bien! Very good. Now a moment ago, I asked you to stand up. Who can remember how I asked this?" Not surprisingly in the slightest, Hermione's hand shot up. "Mees Grainger?"

"You said, "Levez-vous" Professeur Delacour!"

"Zat is correcte. At ze end of ze classe, I will ask you to put "les chaises sous les tables", ze chairs under ze tables. Donc, Levez-vous, chais sous les tables!" They all complied again. Harry could tell that Fleur was beginning to enjoy this. He just hoped that the Slytherins wouldn't ruin this for her. But presumably Professor Dumbledore had told her to deal with them firmly if she had any trouble.

"Very good. Assiez-vous encore, merci." They all sat down. "Donc, qui sait déjà parler Français? 'oo already knows 'ow to speak frensh?"

Once again, Hermione raised her hand.

"Moi, je sais parler un peu Français , Mademoiselle, mais je ne m'y croix très forte."

"Bein, non, tu parles assez bien Français quoi! T'as un accent bien subtil"

"Mademoiselle Delacour? Ça vous dérangerait si nous vous appelions Fleur quand nous n'avons pas les classes, ou vous préfériez que nous vous appelions toujours Mademoiselle Delacour?"

"Quand vous n'avez pas les classes, il vous faut m'appeler Fleur, et si vous voulez parler avec moi en français, il vous faut me tutoyer! Bien"

"Merci bien!"

"Et en ce qui concerne ton ami Monsieur le Roux. Je sais bien qu'il t'aime vachement bien. Je ne croix pas qu'il faille que tu l'attendes longtemps!"

"Merci bien!" At this point Hermione blushed once again. She was blushing an awful lot recently Harry had noticed. Did Ron seem oblivious to this? He wasn't sure.

"Mees Grainger," Fleur began, turning back to the rest of the class. "'Ermionee 'az just asked me 'ow I would like you all to call me when we are not in class. I

'ave said zat you must all call me Fleur,"

"Even the Slytherins?" Padma Patil, a pretty Ravenclaw who went with Ron to the Christmas ball last year, asked. There was a gentle ripple of laughter at this.

"Even ze Slizereens, alzo I doubt zat zey weel! And if you want to talk to me in Frensh outside of ze classes, you 'ave to call me Tu. You will learn about zis eizer today or tomorrow. In fact I sink I will teash it now."

And so the lessons in French began. Hermione sat enraptured by the lesson, eager to see that Fleur didn't have any problems herself, quietly glaring at anyone who tried to be remotely crass with Fleur. Harry and Ron were also curious. Although they had liked most of their teachers, the only teachers they had really been friends with were Professor Remus Lupin and Professor Rubeus Hagrid. Not only was this new teacher a friend of theirs, but also she was exceedingly young, only three years older than them. WOW!

Fleur taught them a little about pronunciation that lesson, and about the different forms of address.

At the end of the lesson, Harry Ron and Hermione were the last to leave.

"You weel come and speak wiz me during ze pause, yes?"

"Definitely!" They all agreed

They walked out the class and started to make their way to their next class, which was care of Magical Creatures out in the school grounds. Ron had forgotten one of his books so he went back to the common room to fetch it and telling Harry and Hermione to go on and that he'd catch them up in a minute. As they were walking down the stairs to the ground floor, Harry thought of something

"Hey Hermione? How come you are friendly with Fleur anyway? I didn't think you liked her."

"It's not that I didn't like her. It's just that she kind of, I don't know, got my hackles up when she was flirting with the boys. I know it wasn't really her fault (she IS part Veela and so whenever she turned the charm on for a lad, several others would be affected too) but it still grated me a little."

"Yeah and Ron has nothing to do with this of course!" Harry smiled knowingly.

"WHAT?" Hermione was looking flustered.

"You did know that he actually knew she is part Veela didn't you? And he, for the most part, didn't fall for it."

"Well anyway, I felt quite, I don't know, guilty about being stand-offish towards her and so I wrote to apologise, and she wrote back saying that it wasn't all tea and biscuits being part Veela, as it brings all sorts of unwanted attention, and we got talking from there. You boys are wonderful but there are times when a girl just needs another girl to talk to. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do. Don't worry about Ron! He'll come around! Is that what Fleur said to you in class in French?"

"How on EARTH did you ever get that? You don't speak a word of French do you?"

"I don't know. I heard somewhere that "Roux" meant red but only as far as hair is concerned. I presume she said something about "Mr Red-Head" what was it she said? Mizzur..."

"Monsieur le Roux. Yes. Mr Red Head. You're learning fast already! I just hope Ron doesn't pick up on it! After all, girl has her pride!"

"Yes well anyway, as I said, he will come round. Eventually!" And he put his arm around her shoulder. "You know him. He's just a bit stubborn!"

"A BIT? But thanks Harry. And don't worry about Cho either." This time it was Harry's turn to blush. Cho Chang was now a 6^th year Ravenclaw girl. She was his opposite number on their Quidditch team (that is to say she was a Seeker), and she was exceedingly pretty. Last year Harry had asked her to the Christmas ball only to be told that she was already agreed to go with Cedric Diggory (A kindly Hufflepuff who was also in the Triwizard tournament, and who Harry had shared the Triwizard cup with until Voldemort had had Wormtail kill him).

"Thanks Hermione, but I don't want to set myself up for a fall. Besides, she isn't over Cedric yet."

"Everything takes its own time. But I think your time may come sooner than you think!" Hermione said kindly, giving Harry a squeeze.

"Oh get a room you two!" came a voice from behind them, closely followed by a huge weight on their shoulders as they were jumped on. Ron had caught them up.

"You took your time didn't you?"

"Yeah!" Hermione put in. "I thought you were a Weasley! You're supposed to have a nose on you for secret passages!"

"That's why I got lost." he said, as casually as possible, although there was an excited glint in his eye."I found a new one!"