Raised By Wolfstar: Slytherin Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

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Chapter Fifteen: The Calm Before The Storm

Harry was the first to awake in his dormitory next morning. He lay for a moment watching dust swirl in the small amount of sunlight falling through the gap in his four-poster’s hangings and savored the thought that it was Saturday. The first week of term seemed to have dragged on forever, like one gigantic History of Magic lesson.

Judging by the sleepy silence and the freshly minted look of that beam of sunlight coming from the underwater windows, it was just after daybreak. He pulled open the curtains around his bed, got up, and started to dress. The only sound he heard was the deep breathing of his fellow Slytherins. He opened his schoolbag carefully, pulled out parchment and quill, and headed out of the dormitory for the common room.

Making straight for his favorite stone chair beside the now extinct fire, Harry settled himself down comfortably and unrolled his parchment while looking around the room. Harry uncorked his ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and then held it suspended an inch above the smooth yellowish surface of his parchment, thinking hard...But after a minute or so he found himself staring into the empty grate, at a complete loss for what to say.

He could now appreciate how hard it had been for Tracey to write him letters over the summer. How was he supposed to tell Sirius and Remus everything that had happened over the past week and pose all the questions he was burning to ask without giving potential letter-thieves a lot of information he did not want them to have?

He sat quite motionless for a while, gazing into the fireplace, then, finally coming to a decision, he dipped his quill into the ink bottle once more and set it resolutely upon the parchment.

“Dear Padfoot and Moony,

Hope you’re okay, the first week back here’s been terrible, I’m really glad it’s the weekend.

Your worst fears about the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher were true. She’s nearly as nice as Padfoot’s mum. I’m writing because that thing I wrote to you about last summer happened again last night when I was doing a detention with Umbridge.

We’re all missing our biggest friend, we hope he’ll be back soon. Please write back quickly.

Best,

Fawny”

Harry reread this letter several times, trying to see it from the point of view of an outsider. He could not see how they would know what he was talking about—or who he was talking to—just from reading this letter. He did hope his parents would pick up the hint about Hagrid and tell him about any news: Harry did not want to ask directly in case it drew too much attention to what Hagrid might be up to while he was not at Hogwarts.

Considering it was a very short letter it had taken a long time to write; and he could now hear distant sounds of movement from the dormitories above. Sealing the parchment carefully he walked through the false wall and headed off for the Owlery.

‘I would not go that way if I were you,’ said Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost drifting disconcertingly through a wall just ahead of him as he walked down the passage. ‘Peeves is planning an amusing joke on the next person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor.’

‘Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the person’s head?’ asked Harry.

‘Funnily enough, it does,’ said Nearly Headless Nick in a bored voice. ‘Subtlety has never been Peeves’s strong point. I’m off to try and find the Bloody Baron...He might be able to put a stop to it...See you, Harry...’

‘Yeah, ’bye,’ said Harry and instead of turning right, he turned left, taking a longer but safer route up to the Owlery. His spirits rose as he walked past window after window showing brilliantly blue sky; he had training later, he would be back on the Quidditch pitch at last—Something brushed his ankles. He looked down and saw the caretaker’s skeletal gray cat, Mrs Norris, slinking past him. She turned lamplike yellow eyes upon him for a moment before disappearing behind a statue of Wilfred the Wistful.

‘I’m not doing anything wrong,’ Harry called after her. She had the unmistakable air of a cat that was off to report to her boss, yet Harry could not see why; he was perfectly entitled to walk up to the Owlery on a Saturday morning.

The sun was high in the sky now and when Harry entered the Owlery the glassless windows dazzled his eyes; thick silvery beams of sunlight crisscrossed the circular room in which hundreds of owls nestled on rafters, a little restless in the early morning light, some clearly just returned from hunting. The straw-covered floor crunched a little as he stepped across tiny animal bones, craning his neck for a sight of Hedwig.

‘There you are,’ he said, spotting her somewhere near the very top of the vaulted ceiling. ‘Get down here, I’ve got a letter for you.’

With a low hoot she stretched her great white wings and soared down onto his shoulder.

‘Right, I know this says “Padfoot and Moony” on the outside,’ he told her, giving her the letter to clasp in her beak and, without knowing exactly why, whispering, ‘but it’s for Sirius and Remus, okay?’

She blinked her amber eyes once and he took that to mean that she understood.

‘Safe flight, then,’ said Harry and he carried her to one of the windows; with a moment’s pressure on his arm Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. He watched her until she became a tiny black speck and vanished, then switched his gaze to Hagrid’s hut, clearly visible from this window, and just as clearly uninhabited, the chimney smokeless, the curtains drawn.

The treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed in a light breeze. Harry watched them, savoring the fresh air on his face, thinking about Quidditch later...and then he saw it. A great, reptilian winged horse, just like the ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leathery black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl’s, rose up out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird. It soared in a great circle and then plunged once more into the trees. The whole thing had happened so quickly Harry could hardly believe what he had seen, except that his heart was hammering madly.

The Owlery door opened behind him. He leapt in shock, and turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a letter and a parcel in her hands.

‘Hi,’ said Harry automatically.

‘Oh...hi,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I didn’t think anyone would be up here this early...I only remembered five minutes ago, it’s my mum’s birthday.’

She held up the parcel.

‘Right,’ said Harry. His brain seemed to have jammed. He wanted to say something funny and interesting, but the memory of that terrible winged horse was fresh in his mind.

‘Nice day,’ he said, gesturing to the windows. His insides seemed to shrivel with embarrassment. The weather. He was talking about the weather...

‘Yeah,’ said Cho, looking around for a suitable owl. ‘Good Quidditch conditions. I haven’t been out all week, have you?’

‘No,’ said Harry.

Cho had selected one of the school barn owls. She coaxed it down onto her arm where it held out an obliging leg so that she could attach the parcel.

‘Hey, has Slytherin got its new players yet?’ she asked.

‘Yeah,’ said Harry. ‘A second year, a fourth year, and my friend Tracey’s ex.’

‘She’s your ex too, isn’t she?’ said Cho in an inquisitive tone. ‘From last year?’

‘What? Oh no, that was just a horrible rumour that kept getting in. No me and Tracey are just friends.’

She then looked embarrassed and quietly changed the topic, ‘I see, er, so how come you weren’t outside at all this week?’

It was Harry’s turn to now feel slightly embarrassed, ‘I was in detention.’

Cho looked up, the parcel only half-attached to the owl’s legs, she looked like she just remembered something.

‘That Umbridge woman’s foul,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how—how—how he died. Everyone heard about it, it was all over the school. You were really brave standing up to her like that.’

Harry’s insides reinflated so rapidly he felt as though he might actually float a few inches off the dropping-strewn floor. Who cared about a stupid flying horse, Cho thought he had been really brave...For a moment he considered accidentally-on-purpose showing her his cut hand as he helped her tie her parcel onto her owl...But the very instant that this thrilling thought occurred, the Owlery door opened again.

Filch, the caretaker, came wheezing into the room. There were purple patches on his sunken, veined cheeks, his jowls were aquiver and his thin gray hair disheveled; he had obviously run here. Mrs Norris came trotting at his heels, gazing up at the owls overhead and mewing hungrily. There was a restless shifting of wings from above, and a large brown owl snapped his beak in a menacing fashion.

‘Aha!’ said Filch, taking a flat-footed step toward Harry, his pouchy cheeks trembling with anger. ‘I’ve had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!’

Harry folded his arms and stared at the caretaker.

‘Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?’

Cho was looking from Harry to Filch, also frowning; the barn owl

on her arm, tired of standing on one leg, gave an admonitory hoot but she ignored it.

‘I have my sources,’ said Filch in a self-satisfied hiss. ‘Now hand over whatever it is you’re sending.’

Feeling immensely thankful that he had not dawdled in posting off the letter, Harry said, ‘I can’t, it’s gone.’

‘Gone?’ said Filch, his face contorting with rage.

‘Gone,’ said Harry calmly.

Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a few seconds, then

raked Harry’s robes with his eyes.

‘How do I know you haven’t got it in your pocket?’

‘Because—‘

‘I saw him send it,’ said Cho angrily.

Filch rounded on her.

‘You saw him—?’

‘That’s right, I saw him,’ she said fiercely.

There was a moment’s pause in which Filch glared at Cho and Cho glared right back, then the caretaker turned and shuffled back toward the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back at Harry.

‘If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb...’

He stumped off down the stairs. Mrs Norris cast a last longing look at the owls and followed him. Harry and Cho looked at each other.

‘Thanks,’ Harry said.

‘No problem,’ said Cho, finally fixing the parcel to the barn owl’s other leg, her face slightly pink. ‘You weren’t ordering Dungbombs, were you?’

‘No,’ said Harry.

‘I wonder why he thought you were, then?’ she said, as she carried the owl to the window.

Harry shrugged; he was quite as mystified by that as she was, though, oddly, it was not bothering him very much at the moment.

They left the Owlery together. At the entrance of a corridor that led toward the west wing of the castle, Cho said, ‘I’m going this way. Well, I’ll...I’ll see you around, Harry.’

‘Yeah...see you.’

She smiled at him and departed. He walked on, feeling quietly elated. He had managed to have an entire conversation with her and not embarrassed himself once...You were really brave standing up to her like that...She had called him brave...She did not hate him for being alive...

Of course, she had preferred Cedric, he knew that...Though if he’d only asked her to the ball before Cedric had, things might have turned out differently...She had seemed sincerely sorry that she had to refuse when Harry had asked her...

‘Morning,’ Harry said brightly to his friends plus Terence and Colin, joining them at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

‘Why are you all smiles?’ said Allison, eyeing Harry in surprise.

‘Erm...Quidditch later,’ said Harry happily, pulling a large platter of bacon and eggs toward him.

‘Heck yeah, that’s the spirt Harry. Now remember to be there on time because we have to clear out before it’s Gryffindors turn,’ exclaimed Terence.

‘Yeah, okay,’ said Harry.

‘Just make sure to not over do it today Harry,’ warned Theodore, ‘you still go a lot of homework to do and we also have Astrology tomorrow night—‘

But he broke off; the morning post was arriving and, as usual, the Daily Prophet was soaring toward Colin in the beak of his horned owl, which landed perilously between him and Theodore; Colin took the newspaper, gave his owl a little treat from his pocket, then started reading happily next to Theodore.

‘Anything of note?’ Harry asked Allison who had also received her copy and was quickly skimming through the pages.

‘Not really,’ she answered, ‘it’s all boring news stuff. The Weird Sisters bass player, Donaghan Tremlett, got married, there is Goblin unrest, and continued scandal over the ban on flying carpets.’

Satisfied with the lack of alarming news, Harry devoted himself to another helping of eggs and bacon; today was shaping up to be a good day.

Suddenly Theodore made a small gasping noice.

‘Colin! Can I look at that page real quick?’

‘Sure, go right ahead,’ said the mousy haired teen, and handed the paper to his boyfriend. Theodore put the paper down in front of Harry, Allison, and Tracey, and pointed to a certain section.

‘Madame Malkin’s Robes are on sale?’ said Harry in confusion.

‘No,’ said Harry, ‘right below it...’

The three of them bent closer to read it; the item was barely an

inch long and placed right at the bottom of a column. It was headlined:

“TRESPASS AT MINISTRY

Sturgis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the Wizengamot charged with trespass and attempted robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31st August. Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watch-wizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to force his way through a top-security door at one o’clock in the morning. Podmore, who refused to speak in his own defense, was convicted on both charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban.

‘Sturgis Podmore?’ said Harry in a very low voice, ‘isn’t he the one who was supposed to help escort me, you, and Canini to King’s Cross?’

‘Why would he get six months for only attempting to get through a door, it sounds like he didn’t even succeed,’ asked Tracey.

‘There are places in the Ministry that are a serious offence to enter if it’s not your department. He probably would have gotten years if he actually got in, and a life sentence if he stole something,’ explained Allison.

‘The sentence isn’t what I’m the most worried about though,’ said Theodore, ‘what was someone from our side doing in the Ministry of Magic at that late at night, was he there because of our people?’

‘Can’t be, or else Moody would know why he wasn’t there to escort us,’ said Harry.

‘I don’t know the full context,’ said Allison, ‘but perhaps Moody did know he was there but didn’t know he had been caught.’

‘Maybe, or maybe he truly wasn’t supposed to be there but felt he had to,’ Tracey tried to guess. ‘The Ministry knows Dumbledore’s up to something, they just don’t realize that something is good, so they come up with a plan to gain more information. They knew Podmore was connected to Dumbledore, so they lured him to the Ministry and arrest him under false charges so they can interrogate him for information. Possibly at that hearing mentioned, also that might explain why the article was so small, they’re trying to keep this on the down-low.’

There was a pause while the others considered this. Harry thought it seemed far-fetched; Allison, on the other hand, looked like she was giving this a decent amount of thought and said, 'That wouldn't be inconceivable, with Fudge as paranoid as he is I can see him stretching the law to get what he want's. This is still quite extreme though.'

Theodore handed the newspaper back to Colin and turned to face the group. 'You guys have about an hour until your Quidditch practice, maybe we should get started on the Herbology essay on the Self-Fertilizing Shrubs.'

Harry felt a small twinge of guilt at the thought of the pile of homework awaiting him downstairs, but the sky was a clear, exhilarating blue, and he had not been on his Firebolt for a week...

'We can always do it after practise, Theo,' said Allison, 'but right now I think me and Harry want to get into the air.'

And so Harry, Allison, and Terence walked down the sloping lawns toward the Quidditch pitch, their broom-sticks over their shoulders, the thought of piling homework still vivid in their minds. 'I think we all need a mental break, or else we will overload...' There was a pause and she added, in a slightly less sure tone. 'We got all afternoon and all of tomorrow to complete everything, that's enough time, right?'

'Even if it's not, you both have to attend practises,' said Terence, using his serious Captain's voice. 'You two may be my friends, but I won't be exempting either of you from my commitment mandate.'

'Fair enough,' said Harry. 'We’ve got to practice if we want to stay on the Quidditch team...'

'Ok then' said Allison in a heartened tone, 'we've got time to complete everything...'

Harry glanced over to his right as they approached the Quidditch pitch, to where the trees of the Forbidden Forest were swaying darkly. Nothing flew out of them; the sky was empty but for a few distant owls fluttering around the Owlery Tower. He had enough to worry about; the flying horse wasn’t doing him any harm: He pushed it out of his mind.

They collected balls from the cupboard in the changing room and set to work, while this was practice for all team members, it would especially be focused on training the new recruits, so in the hour before everyone else arrive the three of them practised there own skills. Terence would throw a Quaffle at Allison, who would hit it with her bat as hard as possible, and then Harry would chase after the ball and catch it before it hit the ground. Close to ten they landed and got changed, and waited for the rest of the team to arrive.

As Malfoy and the three new team members arrived Terence gave his orders, 'You all have five minutes to get dressed and get all the feild before we begin, Allison help Scarlett.'

Scarlett Lympsham needed to be fitted to her gear considering the previous Keeper had been seventeen years old and much bulkier. Once they were all ready and out on the field Terence started his instructions.

‘Grand, it’s a good day for drying, so lets get started.’ Harry had known since his second year that Terence had a big fear of not fitting in, and so he often only spoke in British slang, but whenever he was overly excited the Irish in him tended to slip out. ‘For our first practice today we’ll be showing the new blood the ropes. Malfoy, you’ll be training Urquhart, Allison you will be training Warrington with the help of Harry, and Lympsham I’ll teach you all you’ll need to know about being a Keeper. I’ll be keeping an eye on all of you though, so no funny business. Now get in the air.’

Harry's job ended up being fairly easy, despite Warrington's snarky remarks. After Allison gave him a review of proper use of the bat, she had Harry fly around and through a Quaffle at Warrington as hard as he could from random angles, Warrington would hit the ball in the direction of the opposite goalposts, then Harry would chase after the ball, then repeat. It ended up being fairly decent Seeker practise.

It was halfway through practice that Harry became aware that there were actually a couple of people watching in the stands, Tracey, Theodore, and Canini were chearing on him, Terence, and Allison. This brightened him up and kept him determined until Terence called out that they were done for the day.

'That was a good first practise, next sesions will be more rigorous. Now go get changed and cleaned up as the Gryffindor's will be here for their practise soon.'

So Harry did as he was told, he had changed and was just about to meet up with his friends and head back to the castle when he noticed Malfoy and Warrington hanging back, now joined by Graham Montague.

'What are you three doing, our time is up?' Harry asked, semi accusingly, which got the attention of Terence.

'We know, and the Gryffindors are about to start,' said Malfoy with a smirk. 'I heard that Pauper Ron Weasley somehow made team Keeper and we wanted to give him some...encouragement.'

'I don't know what you heard, Malfoy,' Terence said with a scawl, 'but I'm captain now, I am going to be fixing this teams reputation. You'll leave any Quidditch related banter for games themselves, and while we're on the subject there will not be the rampent cheating that was permitted during Flints time. Do I make myself clear?'

Malfoy looked like he wanted to have the last word, but he must have realised that even as a Prefect insulting the Captain wouldn't end well for him and just picked up his equipment.

'Good, now all three of you get out.'

Once Malfoy was out of the changing room Terence had a sigh of relief, 'I was worried that was going to get ugly.'

'You handled it very well, being a leader suits you.'

'Thanks, lets get out of here, the others are waiting.'

Harry tried his best that evening to make headway with his homework with little to show for it. He was burnt out from the stress of the week, as well as trying to cope with what had been happening in Umbridge’s detentions. He felt like telling his friends, but couldn’t find the words, and deep down he felt by complaining about it he’d be showing Umbridge that he was weak.

They spent the whole of Sunday in the common room, buried in their books while the room around them filled up, then emptied: It was another clear, fine day and most of their fellow Slytherins spent the day out in the grounds, enjoying what might well be some of the last sunshine that year. By the evening Harry felt as though somebody had been beating his brain against the inside of his skull.

‘You know, we probably should try and get more homework done during the week,’ Harry muttered to Allison as they started on Professor Sinistra’s difficult essay about Jupiter’s moons.

'I feel like we're back in fourth year Divination, studying the meanings of the planets,' mumbled Tracey.

'At least then we had a few classes a week to work on assignments, one class of Astronomy a week is not enough time,' responded Harry.

'So,' said Allison in a whisper, rubbing slightly bloodshot eyes. 'We've already given it our all, should we at least try to ask Theodore for help?'

Harry stared across the table at their shared friend, his nose deep into his studies.

‘No, we should try it ourselves for a little longer before asking for his help, we’ll want him in a good mood for when we really need him.’

Allison then stood up, ‘Ok, well if we’re going to be here for a while longer than I’m getting a warmer robe, it’s getting chillier.’

She was right, as they had worked on the room had gotten cooler, despite the roaring fire. Allison was only gone for a few minutes but when she returned Harry could instantly tell something had happened.

‘I can’t believe him!’ she grumbled in frustration as she slammed an open letter in front of Harry, Tracey, and Theodore. ‘Read this, I’m to mad to read it aloud to you.’

Now given her permission they turned the letter over, it was addressed from her father.

“Dear Nipper,

I was quite concerned today when I was going through your room to find letters from that crackpot Harry Potter from this past summer. I spoke briefly to Mr Malfoy and he confirm that not only have you disobeyed my request to cut ties with Potter, but that you are also still friends with Nott and Davis.

You know as well as I that Nott is unstable and lives under the same roof as both Potter and a malicious beast, and Davis’ mother has of late spoken out that she believes most of Dumbledore’s lies. These misfits are going to leave a bad influence on you and put your bright future at risk.

Please cease your interactions with these insane fools and consider spending your time with some other children of Ministry workers such as Malfoy. If you don’t I might have to consider removing you from Hogwarts all together and try and get you into a stricter and more suitably staffed school such as Beauxbaton or even possibly Durmstrang.

Continue with your decent effort in Defence class and Quidditch.

~Your Father”

‘I already sent a response letter begging my mother to talk sense into him, but she’s so weak I don’t know if she can do a full debate.’

‘What he said was just awful, Alli,’ said Tracey very sympathetically.

‘I’m sorry you’re father is such a prick,’ stated Theodore, who knew a thing or two about Father’s not excepting friends.

‘Why didn’t you tell us your father had asked you to cut ties?’ asked Harry.

‘Because it’s a load of rubbish,’ Allison steamily insisted, ‘he’s wrong about You-Know-Who not being back and he’s wrong about all of your character. Tracey your mom is super brave, Theo you’re the most level headed guy I know, and Harry there isn’t a “crackpot” I’d rather be friends with more than you.’

‘Wow Allison,’ said Theodore very touched, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say something so sweet.’

She then snatched the letter and crumpled it into a ball, ‘and for all I care my dad can shove this up his—‘

‘And sweet moment over,’ blurted Tracey. ‘How about you calm down and try and finish your work, Theo, I think Allison has wanted to ask you a question about Jupiter.’

Theodore quickly looked at their papers and let out a little sigh, 'Ok, all of you hand over your Astronomy homework, not just Allison.'

'Pardon?' asked Tracey.

'I'll give them a quick look over than you're all finishing them.'

'Are you sure? Thank's so much Theo,' said Harry, 'Is there anyway we—?'

'—You can pay me back by lending me your Invisibility Cloak tonight,' said Theodore in a hushed voice. 'Colin and I want to go star gazing and we'll need it to avoid Filch.'

Harry gave Theodore the cloak after he finished going over their papers, and the remaining three of them continued to make the corrections Theodore had pointed out. It was now past midnight and the common room was deserted but for the three of them. The only sound was that of their quills writing and scratching out sentences here and there on their essays. Harry was exhausted. He also felt an odd, sick, empty feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with tiredness and everything to do with the letter Allison had received.

He knew that half the people inside Hogwarts thought him strange, even mad; he knew that the Daily Prophet had been making snide allusions to him for months, but there was something about seeing it written down like that by his best friend's father, Harry hadn't had the chance to meet Allison's father in person but he had hoped to meet him at some point but now he wasn't so sure. To know that he wanted Allison to drop all her friends, and that he actually thought Harry was evil and crazy.

For some reason his thoughts now turned to his Godfather and Guardian, Sirius. All his life he had been told the awfulist lies about muggles and muggleborns, and yet he beleive a word of it and rejected his families ways. Ever since he was seventeen he had been exiled from his home, and nearly all of higher magical society insulted him behind his back, but despite that managed to raise Harry and Canini to be compassionate and accepting. Harry wished right now he could learn from Sirius how to ignore gossip and seemingly the world turning on you.

Harry blinked. He had just seen something in the fire that could not have been there. It had flashed into sight and vanished immediately. No...it could not have been...He had imagined it because he had been thinking about Sirius...

'I think I'd done for tonight,' said Harry starting to close up his books. 'I think I'm starting to see things.'

'Yeah, that's probably a good idea,' agreed Tracey, 'we should start cleaning...Harry?'

Harry had slid off his chair onto his knees and was now crouching on the ashey hearthstones, gazing into the flames.

'Um—Harry?' said Allison uncertainly. 'What are you doing?'

'I thought I just saw Sirius’s head in the fire,' said Harry.

He spoke quite calmly; after all, he had seen people use floo to communicate before, but usually Sirius used the two way mirror and not the Floo network. Nevertheless, he could not be sure that he had really seen it this time...It had vanished so quickly...

'Are you sure?' Tracey asked cautiously. 'Because he shouldn't risk that, this room is not sucure and you never know who is listening and—Sirius!'

She gasped, gazing at the fire; Allison dropped her quill. There in the middle of the dancing flames sat Sirius’s head, long dark hair falling around his grinning face.

'I was starting to think you’d go to bed before everyone else had disappeared,' he said. 'I’ve been checking every hour.'

'You’ve been popping into the fire every hour?' Harry said, half laughing.

'Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear yet.'

'What if Draco saw you and tells his dad,' said Tracey worriedly. 'Not only are parents not supposed to talk to their kids through the floo, but Lucius could find away to use that information to his advantage.'

'Well, I think a boy—first year by the look of him—might’ve got a glimpse of me earlier, but don’t worry,' Sirius said hastily, as Harry and Tracey looked increasingly worried. 'I was gone the moment he looked back at me and I’ll bet he just thought I was an oddly shaped log or something.'

'Well...ok. Why are you using this and not the mirror?' Harry asked.

'You weren't answering, then when it got later I knew it'd be possible your roommates would be up their and couldn't risk them hearing me. This was the only way I could come up with of answering Harry’s letter without resorting to a code—and codes are breakable.'

At the mention of Harry’s letter, Allison and Tracey had both turned to stare at him.

'When did you write to Sirius?' said Tracey accusingly.

'I forgot,' said Harry, which was perfectly true; his meeting with Cho in the Owlery had driven everything before it out of his mind. 'Don’t look at me like that, Tracey, there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?'

‘No, it was very good,’ said Sirius, smiling. ‘Anyway, we’d better be quick, just in case we’re disturbed—your scar.’

‘What’s wrong with—?’ Allison began, but Tracey quickly cut her off.

‘He’ll tell us later, Sirius.’

‘Well, I know it can’t be fun when it hurts, but we don’t think it’s anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn’t it?’

‘Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion,’ said Harry, ignoring, as usual, Tracey and Allison’s winces. ‘So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention.’

‘Well, now he’s back it’s bound to hurt more often,’ said Sirius.

‘So you don’t think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with her?’ Harry asked.

‘I can’t be sure, but I doubt it,’ said Sirius. ‘As me and Remus told you, she’s an evil woman but she isn’t a Deatheater—‘

‘She’s foul enough to be one,’ said Harry darkly and the girls nodded vigorously in agreement.

‘Yes, but the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters,’ said Sirius with a wry smile. ‘I know she’s a nasty piece of work, though—after our conversation Remus wouldn’t shut up about her for hours.’

‘I bet he’s been more furious since he learned she knew about Canini,’ added Harry.

‘Yeah, it took me quite a while to calm him down and get him to go to sleep, but he knows that until she breaks a rule theirs little anyone can do,’ Sirius took a deep breath in, then tried to force a smile. ‘So what are Umbridge’s lessons like? Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?’

‘No,’ said Harry. ‘She’s not letting us use magic at all!’

‘She’s worse than Binns,’ said Allison. ‘Her entire lesson is reading from the most boring textbook.’

‘Ah, well, that figures,’ said Sirius. ‘Our information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn’t want you trained in combat.’

‘Trained in combat?’ repeated Harry incredulously. ‘What does he think we’re doing here, forming some sort of wizard army?’

‘That’s exactly what he thinks you’re doing,’ said Sirius, ‘or rather, that’s exactly what he’s afraid Dumbledore’s doing—forming his own private army, with which he will be able to take on the Ministry of Magic.’

There was a pause at this, then Tracey said, ‘Fudge has truly lost his head if he thinks that is what Dumbledore’s doing.’

'So we’re getting a terrible education just because of Fudge's fears?' said Allison, looking furious.

'Yep,' said Sirius. 'Fudge thinks Dumbledore will stop at nothing to seize power. He’s getting more paranoid about Dumbledore by the day. It’s a matter of time before he has Dumbledore arrested on some trumped-up charge.'

'Has there any more false accusations towards Dumbledore from the Ministry?' Harry asked.

'I don’t know,' said Sirius, 'I haven’t seen anyone from the Order all weekend, they’re all busy. It’s just been Remus, me, and Kreacher here...'

There was a definite note of bitterness in Sirius’s voice.

'So you haven’t had any more news about Hagrid, either?'

'Ah...' said Sirius, 'well, he was supposed to be back by now, no one’s sure what’s happened to him.' Then, seeing their stricken faces, he added quickly, 'But Dumbledore’s not worried, so don’t you three get yourselves in a state, tell that to Cani and Theo too; I’m sure Hagrid’s fine.'

'So you know nothing?' said Tracey in a small, worried voice.

'Madame Maxime was with him, we’ve been in touch with her and she says they got separated on the journey home—but there’s nothing to suggest he’s hurt or—well, nothing to suggest he’s not perfectly okay.'

Unconvinced, Harry, Allison, and Tracey exchanged worried looks.

'Listen, don’t go asking too many questions about Hagrid,' said Sirius hastily, 'it’ll just draw even more attention to the fact that he’s not back, and I know Dumbledore doesn’t want that. Hagrid’s tough, he’ll be okay.' And when they did not appear cheered by this, Sirius added, 'When’s your next Hogsmeade weekend anyway? I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn’t we? I thought I could—'

'NO!' said Harry very loudly.

'What Harry is trying to say, Sirius,' said Tracey calmly, 'is it was a big enough risk as it was going to King's Cross, and then you had two auror's, at Hogsmeade you'd be alone, no one to help if something goes wrong—'

'All right, all right, I’ve got the point,' said Sirius. He looked most displeased. 'Just an idea, thought you might like to get together—'

'I would, I really would, but if there is even a chance Dumbledore is right I would be much happier with you safe, then you getting captured,' said Harry.

There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the fire at Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes.

'You’re less like your father than I thought,' he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. 'The risk would’ve been what made it fun for James.'

'Look—'

'Well, I’d better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs,' said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. 'We'll try and use the mirror more, but just in case I’ll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?'

There was a tiny pop, and the place where Sirius’s head had been was flickering flame once more. Harry couldn't help feel hurt, he knew Sirius was cooped up and under a lot of stress, but that didn't excuse what he said, Harry was just trying to keep him and Remus safe.

It was just then that Theodore came in with Harry's cloak on his arm and a huge smile on his face, so a worried Tracey and Allison, and a shocked and sad Harry, all sitting around the fire place.

'What did I miss?'