Chapter 5
Harry awoke to a large weight falling on top of him. Suddenly there was a wet feeling on his face.
“Padfoot, stop!” Harry tried but failed to keep his happiness from showing on his face. Wiping his face he watched Sirius transform back to a human.
“Morning Harry.”
“Ughhh, tell the sun to go away.”
“No can do kiddo, get up, you go back to Hogwarts today.” Harry sat up at that, Sirius laughing at his expression as he walked out of the room.
“I’ll see you in the kitchen.”
How had Harry forgotten about going to Hogwarts today, looking at the clock he realized he woke up two hours later than he had originally planned. He jumped out of bed and was able to get ready in only ten minutes.
Harry had chosen to wear a pair of skinny black jeans and a green crew neck. Looking in the mirror not to be too arrogant but he thought he didn't look too shabby. The green brought out his eyes, he looked a lot more mature than this time of year, the year before. Harry’s only wish was that he could openly show his tattoo .
——
Breakfast went as good as could be, tensions still running high from Harry’s outburst. Fortunately Harry had time to eat unlike Ron, who had woken up even later. The goodbye with Sirius was emotional but Harry understood why he had to stay back at the house. Even with all the Weasley’s they were lucky enough to arrive on time.
——
Harry was used to stares, being the chosen one but this time was different. People weren’t gaping at him, instead they were looking at him up and down, girls and even a few boys had blush grow on their face.
“Oh they are definitely checking me out”Harry mumbled on his breath, storing his trunk not wanting to stay on the platform for very long.
Harry quickly found a compartment with one other girl reading a magazine, he sat down to look out the window. Ron and Hermione were going to be in a prefect meeting the entire ride.
“Hi, I'm Luna Lovegood,” she said wistfully.Harry looked up to see she was looking at him with intrusive on her face but unlike others, not admiration.
“Ah yes, I’m Harry Potter”
“Nice to meet you, the Nargles have said nice things about you.” What were nargles Harry thought, he was about to ask but was stopped by the compartment door opening.
“Do you mind if I Sit here”
“No problem Neville.” Harry had meant to talk to Neville anyway, feeling bad that he had been overlooked by the trio since first year.
“Did you have a good summer Neville?”
“Yeah it was great!”
“That's good to hear.”
Neville and Harry continued to talk about their summers, Luna sometimes added her own thoughts in a way Harry was coming to associate with Luna. She could become a good friend, Harry thought. She didn't seem to see “The Chosen One” just Harry.
“Oh my gran got me a new plant, wanna see it Harry?
“Sure, I guess.”
To Harry the plant looked like an average plant, but he could see Neville’s excitement.
“Looks cool Neville.” He tried his best to sound enthusiastic, not wanting to discourage Neville.
“Yeah, want to see what it can do?” At that moment gooey slime shot out from the plant and all over Harry.
The carriage door suddenly slipped open and Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw seeker, stood in its place.
“Oh hi Harry I just wanted to say hi, I’ll leave you look like you don't want any company.”
“Harry wiped the slime off of his glasses, embarrassed as Cho left. He used to have a crush on Cho but at the moment he was too obsessed with Draco to care anymore.
“I’m sorry Harry.” Neville sounded down and ashamed.
“It’s okay, no harm done.”
——
The inevitable had to happen of course, Draco entered their cabin looking to intimidate Harry. He was even hotter than Harry had remembered, the hair gel was gone and his face had slimed out. Harry’s breath caught in his throat and he hoped there wasn’t blush in his cheeks. Harry didn’t notice but Draco had the same reaction to seeing Harry’s new self.
“Potter,” Draco seemed to snap back into his perfect pure blood
“Malfoy.”
“I heard you’ve been spreading lies.”
Over the summer the ministry decided that it would be easier to pretend Voldemort hadn’t come back, instead declaring Harry a liar. Harry hadn’t even thought about how others at Hogwarts might react. Hopefully the people that knew him believed him.
“What do you want?”
“Just wanted to stop by, your mudblood friend kicked me out of the prefect meeting.”
“Well that’s great, leave.”
Surprisingly Draco complied strutting out of the compartments, Harry didn’t actually want him to leave but he didn’t think he would be able to control the urge to kiss his face if he stayed. He hoped Neville didn’t notice that there was no anger behind his voice.
“Was Draco acting odd to you?” Neville asked, “He didn’t even acknowledge me, and left when you asked. I thought he had too much pride for that.”
“Maybe, I guess”
Now that Harry thought about Draco had been acting weird. Maybe he had a bad summer with Voldemort back. Harry would probably never know.
——
The ride finally ended, the train coming to a stop at Hogsmeade station. Harry expected to get on one of the carriages as normal but was surprised to see something pulling them. The creature looked like a horse excerpt, it was black, had wings, and it’s skin clung to its bones. Harry recognized it after a few seconds from a book he had found in Sirius’s house , it was a Thesteral. One could only see Thestrals if they’ve seen death, and Harry had seen Cedric die. He tried to ignore them for the rest of the ride, aware they would probably be the cause of Cedric filled nightmares later.
——
When Harry sat down at the Gryfinndor table next to Neville he noticed a weird woman at the head table. “She’s probably the new defense teacher,” he thought. She looked eerily similar to a toad dressed in pink.
Ginny leaned across the table, “That’s Dolores Umbridge she works for fudge in the ministry.” Fudge, the one who had been spreading lies about Harry. Dumbledore started his yearly speech but was soon interrupted by the toad lady.
“Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress’s sake must be discour- aged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . .because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and account- ability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.” (Taken directly from “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) She sat down as Dumbledore politely clapped, no one else joined in.
They went back to their meal, but she seemed to have her eyes stuck on Harry like a predator searching for their prey.
——
The day had been so draining Harry immediately went up to bed ignoring everyone, he would deal with them the next day. His head had started to hurt, a sign of a nightmare. Ughh why tonight if all nights, of course, only Harry Potter would have a nightmare on his first day back at Hogwarts. He hoped that none of the teachers noticed his sleeping habits but why would they. Nobody had noticed his previous problems. Although if he was thrashing in bed and moaning his dorm mates would most likely notice. Hopefully they just ignored it and if he had to he would answer as many questions as possible tomorrow.