Rating:: PG
House:: Schnoogle
Characters:: Draco Malfoy Harry Potter Hermione Granger Ron Weasley Sirius Black
Genres:: General Action
Era:: Multiple Eras
Spoilers:: Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
Stats:: Published: 12/12/2002

Updated: 12/28/2002

Words: 87,376

Chapters: 20

Hits: 40,339

Harry Potter and the Heir of Gryffindor

venus

Story Summary:: Things aren't exactly as they seem during Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts. Aside from there being romance in the air, discoveries are made, secrets are revealed and Harry embarks on an adventure that he will never forget.

Chapter 04

Chapter Summary:: Things aren’t exactly as they seem during Harry’s 5th year at Hogwarts. Aside from there being romance in the air, discoveries are made, secrets are revealed and Harry embarks on an adventure that he will never forget.

Posted:: 12/18/2002

Hits:: 1,918

Chapter Four: Back to Hogwarts

Imelda Banbury being the charmer she was (no pun intended!) had no problem in convincing the Dursley's that she merely wanted Harry to help her with taking care of some errands she'd been neglecting. Uncle Vernon was of course obliging to anything that had Harry doing some sort of physical labor, and he agreed heartily--even suggesting a number of things Harry could do around the Banbury's house. Painting the house, re-nailing the tile on the roof, de-weeding the garden-Imelda said she'd talk it over with her husband first.

Sophie was nervous as the three of them approached the great brick wall that Harry knew well as the entrance to Diagon Alley. Imelda pressed the combination, the bricks moved aside and the three were able to step right into the heart of the Alley. Sophie clung to her mother's arm, who was beaming boldly.

"It's been much too long since I've been here," she admitted to Harry. "I wonder if they still have-oh they do! Look-oh Sophie, Witchy Woman is the absolute best clothes shop around! You'll love it-oh, Harry, you don't mind, do you? I want to show Sophie their gorgeous hats."

"Er--no," said Harry, really not wanting to spend hours perusing the aisles of Witchy Woman. "Tell you what-I'll meet the two of you inside the Leaky Cauldron at three o' clock, all right? That should give me enough time to get what I need." Imelda and Sophie didn't need much convincing, and the three parted ways.

Harry's first stop was Gringott's bank (the place still put him on his toes) and then straight to Chester's , the clothing store. He couldn't wait to find some decent clothes to wear and spent a good hour and a half, going through the many selections.

"Thank Heavens," came the voice of Hermione Granger as Harry came out of the store, dressed in clothes that fit him perfectly. "Glad you've decided against going to Hogwarts dressed as a circus clown."

Ron Weasley was right beside her. "A circus clown? What are those, eh?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged amused looks. "Never mind," she said, "not important. Right then Harry, have you everything you need?"

"Only just started. Imelda and Sophie are here as well-off shopping somewhere."

"Sophie?" Hermione asked. "But she's a muggle, isn't she?"

"Yes," he said as they walked towards Flourish and Blotts. "But she's really keen on the wizarding world. Really wishes she was a witch actually. Poor thing."

Ron grimaced. "That's amazing. I mean, my Dad says that Imelda's family is one of the most prominent ones around. To have her daughter be a squib. . ."

Hermione shook her head sadly. "I'd be devastated!"

"That's why Imelda's let her come to see Diagon Alley. She just loves being around it all."

Harry had received his annual letter from Hogwarts that included his list of needed materials. He went through the list as they shopped, checking the items off as they shopped through the Flourish and Blotts bookstore. He stopped suddenly in an aisle, his eye catching a book entitled Kwikspell. It brought him back to two years ago when he'd discovered a letter in Hogwarts Caretaker Mr. Filch's office advertising that very book. Filch revealed himself to be a squib, and apparently these Kwikspell courses could teach even a squib new tricks. He immediately thought of Sophie-the longing in her eyes every time someone mentioned anything remotely related to magic.

He shrugged--why not? What's the worse that could happen? It wouldn't work for her and she'd be right back to where she was. He picked it up and brought it to the register. Ron caught sight of it and laughed at him. "What are you doing with that?"

"It's not for me, it's for Sophie."

"Sophie?"

"Yeah--who knows, right? It couldn't hurt."

Harry, Ron and Hermione met up with Imelda and Sophie at the Leaky Cauldron, Sophie ohhing and ahhing over the things that Hermione had bought. When asked what exactly the book 'Age of Intolerance-500 Years of Persecution' was about, Hermione wasted no time in going into a detailed history lesson about the injustices against witches and wizards over the centuries.

They finished their lunch and Harry made arrangements to meet up with the two of them at exactly a quarter 'till eleven at Kings Cross Station the next morning.

It was actually Sophie who volunteered taking Harry to the station-apparently getting a glimpse of her mother's world had really whet her appetite for more. Imelda of course didn't object and Harry was relieved that it meant he wouldn't have to worry about the Dursley's driving him into London.

When Imelda told the Dursleys that evening that she would be more than happy to take Harry to the train station the next morning, they were immediately opposed.

"N-no, Imelda, r-really. Please don't bother--it's quite all right. Besides, we wouldn't want you exposed to the sort of . . . er . . . riff raff that will be there. You know he'll be with all his kind, right? No, no, it's out of the question."

Aunt Petunia looked deathly worried-no doubt fearful of Imelda discovering Harry to be a wizard. The irony was too delicious to handle!

"Oh, well, if that's the way you feel about it," said Imelda, sighing.

"Yes-it's best that we do it, Imelda dear. Thank you anyway."

"Right, of course I understand-"

Harry was confused-she was just going to let it drop? Just like that?

He watched her as she turned her back towards the Dursley's, pulled her wand out from under her belt and whispered something that sounded an awful like 'Oblitus Dilutum' and then quickly turned to point her wand at the family. The three of them froze: Uncle Vernon's newspaper in mid turn, Aunt Petunia's mouth open ready to speak, Dudley's finger firmly placed up his nostril in mid-pick.

"Imelda, wha--"

She then murmured something else and a bright white light sparked from the end of her wand.

"Simply a memory charm, Harry, no need for alarm. Useful little trick-especially in my line of work. Never fails to get Muggles to give you what you need." She tucked her wand neatly away and said, "Argutum Acuere!"

It was as though someone had pressed the "play" button on a remote control! The Dursley's immediately went back to exactly what they had been doing. Except this time, Aunt Petunia was saying, "Why, that's wonderful of you, Imelda! Takes such a load off of my back. How fortunate that you just happen to be going into London tomorrow."

"Yes," said Imelda, grinning, "How fortunate indeed! Then it's all settled! I'll be by to pick up Harry at nine o' clock sharp."

"He'll be ready," said Uncle Vernon, smiling overtop his newspaper. "Won't you, Harry old boy?"

"Y-yes, Uncle Vernon."

Imelda turned for the door and Harry rushed over to her. "Let me walk you out, Mrs. Banbury."

He followed her outside, hearing what sounded like his Uncle's voice say "How thoughtful of Harry! Such a sweet boy, isn't he Petunia?"

"What did you do to them!" He shrieked in disbelief, walking towards number three.

Imelda laughed and opened the door. "Oh, nothing. Come in, won't you? I've made biscuits, freshly baked. Don't you worry about your family. They'll be back to their usual terrible selves by the time you leave tomorrow. Just thought it might be nice to have at least one evening without having them on your case about something." She winked. "Not supposed to do things like that, strictly speaking. But I won't tell if you won't."

"Won't tell what?" asked Sophie coming down the staircase, already dressed in her pink cotton pajamas. "Oh! Er . . . hiya, Harry."

He laughed. "Bunny rabbits, Sophie?"

She looked down at her pink rabbit slippers and blushed furiously. "Oh shut up."

"Let me bring out the biscuits and milk."

Imelda disappeared into the kitchen and Sophie peered over the banister, then waved for Harry to follow her. "Come here," she whispered, "hurry."

Harry raised a brow and obeyed, following her up the staircase. She led him into what turned out to be her room and closed the door behind them. Harry felt incredibly awkward at first, and then realized: he'd never been inside a girl's bedroom before. Muggle or Wizard. And it was so . . . cute. Sophie seemed to be quite fond of pink as her bedspread was white with little pink daisies and even her walls had a very light pink hue to them.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, trying hard not to appear as uncomfortable as he was.

Sophie seemed completely oblivious to his awkwardness and pulled the kwikspell book from under her pillowcase. "I just wanted to say thank you. You really don't know how much this means to me."

Harry shifted uncomfortably, "Oh, that. No problem."

"I mean, I've swiped spellbooks from Mom's room before, but. . . of course I couldn't do anything with them. Hopefully this book will be different. Look," she said proudly, pulling out something from under her bed. "I even have a wand! It's old, though. Mom had it when she was my age and she just gave it to me-- just to amuse me, really."

Harry was interested. "Here, let me see? Maybe this wand isn't right for you-- after all, the wand chooses the wizard, not vice versa. And hand me that kwikspell book."

She obeyed and Harry flipped through the pages. "Hey, some of these are pretty good. . ."

"well, they go from novice all the way to expert--"

"Yeah, so I've noticed! From engorgement charms to the confondus curse-- that's a hard one. And some of these I've never even heard of yet!" He looked up to find Sophie peering past his shoulder to the pages. He wasn't used to this feeling-- why was he so antsy? He held out the book to her, "Go on Sophie, show me one."

She recoiled. "No. I told you, I can't."

"Don't act shy now, let's have a look."

She took the book reluctantly and flipped through it, biting her lip."

"Right," she said, pacing about six steps and turning to face Harry. She held the wand and repeated "Transito Regalitie," pointed the wand towards Harry.

Nothing whatsoever.

Harry liked feeling the part of the teacher and remembered what Professor Flitwick always said.

"No, no," said Harry, taking his wand from his belt. "This is the way it's done: it's called the 'swish and flick'-- watch carefully, okay? Try it like this:" He swished and flicked and repeated what Sophie had said and a white light shot from the end of the want and exploded in front of her. She screamed and jumped back a few feet, stumbling to the floor. Harry's face went white: he stood and waited for a Hogwarts owl to swoop in on them, scolding him for doing magic-- it was against the law, after all!

"You all right," he cried, rushing to Sophie's side.

She pulled herself up and nodded, "Yeah-- yeah, I'm fine."

"What was that incan--"

The door flew open and Imelda stepped inside, holding a tray of chocolate biscuits. "What in Merlin's name is going on in here?"

Harry gulped. How stupid could he get: Imelda worked for the Ministry of Magic! She could have him expelled for this!

"I'm so sorry Imelda, I wasn't thinking! I was just showing her the right way to hold a wand and I guess I just, oh, I'm really sorry--"

Imelda smiled and placed the tray down on Sophie's nightstand. "Relax," she said softly. "Lucky for you we have a hiberitus charm here."

"A what?"

"A hiberitus charm-- magic goes undetected here. Very important as I am supposed to appear as a muggle-- quite effective too. Your Aunt Petunia would have caught on ages ago if it weren't for it-- I must say, she spends more time peering out the windows than she does anything else!"

He agreed and helped himself to two of the delicious biscuits. All three sat on Sophie's bed and talked, mostly Imelda as was her habit, until finally she told Harry it was probably time for him to be getting back-- Aunt Petunia was probably worried sick.

He blushed as Imelda kissed him on his forehead as they reached the front door and he turned away back to number four.

The next morning he could hardly believe his eyes. Thanks to Imelda's charm, Aunt Petunia had woken Harry from bed sweetly, calling 'Better get up, Dumpling! Don't want you to be late!"

He walked downstairs, unsure of what to make of the stack of blueberry pancakes, sausage and kippers that lay at his spot at the table. Uncle Vernon winked at him as he sat down. "Better eat up, my boy! That's a mighty long train ride, isn't it?"

Harry, not wanting to move to quickly for fear he might ruin the spell, merely nodded. "And do your Aunt and I a favor, would you? Please see to it you don't get into any trouble this year! It would break your Aunt's heart to get another Owl from your Professors. Promise us, will you?"

Harry, sure that he was still dreaming, answered, "Y-yes. Of course."

The doorbell rang.

"Ah! That must be Imelda! So kind of her to do this!"

Dudley, finishing off his plate, jumped out of his seat. "Don't worry, cousin! I'll go and get your suitcase from upstairs! You just finish your breakfast!"

Aunt Petunia rushed to the door and greeted Imelda and Sophie with a kiss on the cheek each and a hug. Imelda saw the look of shock on Harry's face and tried her best not to laugh. Sophie seemed quite delighted as well.

Dudley heaved Harry's trunk down the stairs and eagerly handed Harry Hedwig's cage. "All set, cousin!"

Harry walked to the front door, stopped only by Uncle Vernon who put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You will stay the Christmas Holidays with us this year, won't you?"

"Oh yes," said Petunia, "Please Harry! You never stay with us!"

Harry nodded. "We'll . . . we'll see." Uncle Vernon gave Harry a suffocating hug and even said a goodbye to Hedwig, who'd surely expected him to take a swipe at her, not tickle her feathers.

The Dursleys waved happily to Harry as he piled into the Banbury's car, Roger helping him with the trunk.

"That," said Harry, "was the strangest thing I've ever seen."

"You want to know something even better?" Said Imelda, "they're going to remember every last minute of it after it wears off! They'll be beside themselves with horror when they remember how they've acted."

"Imelda," Roger scolded, "really, dear, isn't that a bit childish?"

Imelda was laughing. "Oh, nonsense Roger. They, of all people, could do with a little kindness."

Kings Cross Station was duly crowded for a Monday morning. Roger pushed Harry's cart through the crowds. "Where is it again?"

"Platform Nine and three quarters."

Roger missed a step, "Platform what?"

"Here!" said Harry, stopping right in between the barrier between Platforms nine and ten. Roger looked incredibly confused, but shrugged, knowing better than to question wizarding logic.

"Harry!" Hermione called, "Finally! What took you so long!" She came running up behind them, her parents pushing her cart. "Ron and Ginny have already boarded-oh! Hello again Mr. and Mrs. Banbury! Hello, Sophie."

"Hello Hermione," said Sophie eagerly, delighted at seeing her again. "All ready, then?"

"Oh, yes thank you--Harry come on, we'd best get going!"

"Right, well . . ." he turned to the Banbury's. "Goodbye, Sophie."

"Goodbye," she said quietly, giving him a hug-he felt so very sorry for her. "Send us a letter, eh?"

"Of course." He turned to Imelda and Roger. "And you two-I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me. Really-you'll never know just how much it's all meant to me, these past few weeks. They've been the best I've had in years-actually, they're the best I've ever had."

"Hey," said Hermione, slightly offended.

"Well, what I meant was, the best weeks at Privet Drive I've ever had."

Imelda laughed and embraced him, followed by Roger who gave him a firm handshake.

"And don't you worry about your cousin," said Roger. "I've got an eye on him--don't trust him for a minute. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could somehow get him sent to St. Brutus!"

Harry laughed again and then, seeing Hermione impatiently tapping her foot, took hold of his cart and made a run between the barrier.

The world around him immediately morphed and he was standing, once again, in front of the glinting scarlet Hogwarts Express. He heard Hermione appear behind him and followed her quickly.

The stewards heaved their trunks onto the train, one of the men struggling with Hermione's in particular.

"What you have in here, luv?"

Hermione blushed. "Well . . . perhaps I did pack one too many books."

"Knowing you, Herm, you probably have all of Flourish and Blotts in that trunk."

It was amazing to Harry that already this would be the fifth time he made the journey our of London for Hogwarts. It really did feel like yesterday that he saw the school for the first time and still, the sight of the castle rising majestically amongst the hills, left Harry momentarily speechless.

It was an exceptionally warm evening when Harry and his fellow fifth years arrived at the entrance hall to be seated for the grand banquet. The enchanted ceiling above them was deep sackcloth black sprinkled with stars like salt and pepper and the room flickered with the dazzling warm orange and yellow light of hundreds of candles hanging in mid air upon nothing at all.

Harry, Hermione and Ron took their usual spots together at the Gryffindor table, shouting hellos and their friends whom they hadn't seen all summer. The biggest news amongst the Gryffindors was that Dean Thomas had been named a Prefect. Hermione coveted that position, but remained congratulatory as Dean proudly showed of his Prefect badge.

Colin Creevey, now a fourth year himself, had once again managed to slide himself in between Harry and Ron. Although he no longer hounded Harry with a camera and requests for his autograph, he still stuck to Harry like glue. Especially after what happened last term, Colin was by now thoroughly convinced that Harry was just as important a wizard as Albus Dumbledore himself. Harry had learned to simply ignore Colin whenever he dared say something so outrageous.

Ron elbowed Harry. "Hey, take a look at the Slytherin table."

That 'S' word put an immediate scowl on Harry's face. He looked across the great hall to see the long row of black and green clad Slytherins, all of which held no smile as the rest of the hall did. They merely sat, stern faced, staring most threateningly at the Gryffindor table especially. Draco Malfoy sat directly in the middle, his arms folded, with his familiar smirk, eyes pointed at Harry, and Harry only. If it hadn't been for Lord Voldemort, Harry would have called Draco Malfoy his archenemy in a heartbeat. He most certainly ran a close second, to be sure.

"Amazing," Harry whispered to Ron. "How can he even show his face here, knowing what his father is."

Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius, was a supported of Lord Voldemort. Although the Ministry of Magic had cleared his name of charges and his family was actually respected by the Ministry, Harry had seen Lucius with his own eyes, bowing before Voldemort. He heard him call Voldemort his 'lord' and vowed he would never stray from him again. And here sat his own son, for crying out loud, at Hogwarts: a haven of safety, a place run by the very people who spent every fiber of their being trying to protect the people from the dark Lord.

"I'm telling you," said Ron, his cheeks flushed at the very sight of him, "if it wasn't going to land me in Azkaban, I'd like to put a Cruciatus curse or two on him-- wipe that smile right off his face."

Harry elbowed him to shut up, as at that very moment Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, swept pass them in her signature robes of tartan green, her black hair pinned up tightly beneath her hat. The first years followed her and assembled in front of the teacher's table-- they were ready for the sorting ceremony. A very long, but intriguing event.

"Wait a minute!" Cried Hermione in disbelief, "Where's Snape?"

Indeed, Snape's usual position at the table was most definitely not filled by Snape! Instead, there sat a positively radiant woman with blond hair that cascaded down her back in long, thick, gently curled locks. Even from far away, Harry could see that she had enormous striking blue eyes-- a deep blue that matched the color of her robes.

Both Ron and Harry's jaws dropped to the floor-- as did every other boys' in the entire great hall.

"She must be part Veela--"

"Oh really, Ron! Just because a woman is attractive, doesn't automatically make her a Veela!"

"Five sickles says she is."

"You're on," Hermione said bitterly. "Oh they can't have sacked Snape, can they?"

"Who cares," Ron roared, "look at this woman!"

The sorting ceremony commenced and Harry noted how odd it was that there were so few new additions to the Slytherin table! Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw received a generous amount of new students-- but only a few trickled over to Slytherin's side. After all the new students had taken their seats (the first year sitting directly across from Harry an especially frightened looking thing) Professor Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands, addressing the first years with some general rules.

"And, as you have all most certainly noticed, our potions master Professor Snape is not with us today--"

There was a noticeable clamor of excited whispers.

"-- nor will he be with us for the rest of the first term. Professor Snape has been assigned a very important mission directly from the Ministry of Magic and he will not be rejoining us until after the Christmas holidays. Professor Warwick will be filling in until his return."

The whispers grew louder. . . Harry even heard a few catcalls from some of the boys.

Professor McGonagall peered over her glasses at this, and the hall grew quiet once more.

"And finally, I should like to direct everyone's attention to the back of the hall."

Hundreds of pointed hats turned in that direction.

"You will notice the large blue fire hanging above the entrance door. That, my dear children, is an eternal flame that we have placed here in the great hall in honor of the memory of our own Cedric Diggory. It is interesting to note that similar flames have been put in place at both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons Schools for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Harry stared-- the flames were beautiful: brilliant white and glowing blue, crackling ever so quietly. And the students applauded. Then the students roared and got to their feet, clapping still louder-- all the more louder. After an eternity, they finally sat back down and Dumbledore officially began the feast.

The chatter at the Gryffindor table was, of course, about the most unexpected disappearance of Severus Snape. Now, any other time, Harry would have been rejoicing at the news of Snape's absence along with the rest of his Gryffindors. (Neville Longbottom looking especially relieved knowing he no longer had to fear walking into Potions class). Snape had succeeded in making a considerable amount of Harry's time at Hogwarts pure misery. He'd been picked on and bullied and slandered to a relentless extreme by Snape, and the two of them most definitely had what one would call a 'hate/hate' relationship.

But not seeing Snape at the table worried Harry. Snape used to be one of Voldemort's loathed Death-Eaters, however he reformed years ago and renounced the Dark Ways. Harry had been suspicious of Snape at first, however after seeing Snape last term, he knew that Snape's loyalties were not with Voldemort, but with what was right. The Death Eaters had been called together by Voldemort, Snape of course did not join them, and Harry remembered specifically Voldemort saying that he would have to be killed. When Harry had escaped back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore had merely said to Snape 'You know what must be done.' Snape had agreed, said the he was ready, and left-- that was the last Harry had seen of him, and the fact that he was still gone was quite bothersome to Harry.

Harry may have hated Snape with a burning passion, but as Dumbledore had said last term, they were all on the same side now-- and a house divided cannot stand.

After the students had all pretty much gorged themselves on the feast, the prefect lead the tables out of the great hall and up the staircases to their dormitories. Harry smiled at the sound of first years passing, oohhing and the infinite staircase, and shrieking gleefully at the talking portraits. Gryffindor's new prefects were none other than Angelina Johnson and Dean Thomas-- a seventh and fifth year. (Hermione was most disappointed she hadn't been made a prefect. Harry had to remind her that although she was top of her year, her track record hadn't been entirely, shall one say, clean.) Dean lead them up to the entrance of the boys' dormitories and gave the password "Brambleberry" to the Fat Lady who smiled at them and let them enter.

Harry threw himself onto his bed and sighed loudly. "Ahhh. Good to be home, eh Ron?"

"You're daft," Ron chuckled as he sat down on his adjacent bed-- their things had been brought up, as usual, by the castle's house elves, and the boys went about the business of changing for bed.

"So, where do you think Snape is?" Harry asked.

Ron wrinkled his nose. "Who cares? As long as he doesn't come back! Get some sleep Harry."

"Goodnight Ron," he said quietly-- although sleep was the last thing on his mind.

** *