DISCLAIMER: See Ch. 1.

A/N: Not much else to say here...

CHAPTER 16: DECENT SLYTHERINS AND UNFRIENDLY GRYFFINDORS

Nec me mea cura befellit. And my concern has not misled me. –Vergil, Aeneid (6.691)

The next morning was hectic at Grimmauld Place. Everyone got dressed and ate quickly, talking about how Hogwarts might be different this year, with Voldemort's return in everyone's mind. Harry just remained silent and went along with the group.

The Ministry had provided cars again this year, and with only four children left to go (Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny), there was much more room and much less fuss. Neville, Luna, Cho and Susan had decided to go with their families, but they would all meet up on the train.

The ride to King's Cross, and the transfer onto Platform 9 ¾ was quick and simple. After all the luggage had been loaded on, there were fifteen minutes left before the train was scheduled to leave, which was more than enough time for a quick good-bye and hugs all around from Mrs. Weasley. "Now, I want you all to behave this year, especially you two-" she turned her head and then realized that Fred and George had left the school. After a round of laughter, Mrs. Weasley chortled, "I guess I just got used to saying that over the past seven years."

The train whistle eventually blew, and all the students got onto the train, saying their last good-byes to their families. The train picked up speed, and the Hogwarts Express was on its way to its school. Once on board, they found Neville and Luna. Ron and Hermione had to go to the prefects' meeting again, and Ginny and Luna joined them. (1) Harry and Neville were walking down the compartments, looking for empty ones. Last year, people were pointing at Harry when they believed him to be a crazy liar. Now, however, they were gazing at him with respect and praise. Harry merely nodded to acknowledge their welcomes. On the third compartment, they found Cho and Susan sitting together.

"Hello, Susan," Harry said. "Nice to see you again, Cho."

"Harry, you saw me yesterday, remember?" Cho said with a grin on her face. He remembered and said, "Oh yeah." They all laughed at this.

Cho gazed out the window. "My last year at Hogwarts," she said. "The N.E.W.T.s will be near unbearable. They're about twice as hard as the O.W.L.s."

"I'm sure you'll do fine on them," Harry reassured her.

"It's not just that," she said, "The memories, the reflections. . . Next year, you'll understand what I mean, Harry."

"So, Susan, how did you do on the O.W.L.s?" Neville asked, trying to switch the conversation.

"Oh, I got five O.W.L.s," Susan said, "including DADA." She grinned at Harry.

"Er, glad to help," Harry said a little nervously.

"Ah, Harry, you're so modest, you're such the perfect gentleman," Cho said, holding his hand. He could feel his face heating up as Susan giggled and Neville's jaw dropped. "Uh, thanks."

"What do you think might happen this year with DADA?" Cho asked.

"If our new teacher is anything like Umbridge. . . Well, that's why it pays to know Fred and George." They all laughed at that.

Of course, no trip on the Hogwarts Express would be complete without Draco Malfoy. This time, however, he was alone, and he looked somewhat disheveled, too. "Potter," he growled, "You put my father in jail, and now you've done more to ruin my life."

"My pleasure," Harry said while smiling. "So, where are your friends and your prefect's badge?"

Taken aback and fuming, Malfoy plowed on. "Crabbe's face is heavily bandaged, Goyle is slower than usual, Millicent is wearing glasses, Theo's arm is in a sling, Montague's in crutches so he can't play the first Quidditch match, Pansy and I got our prefect's badges taken away for attacking you, AND WE ALL GOT BLOODY DETENTION FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL JUST FOR TRYING TO GET EVEN WITH YOU GITS!" (2)

The compartment's four occupants burst out laughing. "Is that supposed to make us feel bad?" Neville snorted. "Good one, Neville!" Susan complimented him, and they all laughed harder.

Even more furious at being told off by Neville Longbottom of all people, Malfoy drew out his wand, but before he could say anything, an unfamiliar voice shouted out, "That's enough, Malfoy!"

A boy and a girl, both Slytherin sixth years, were facing Malfoy, the boy with his wand out. "You'd better get going; I don't think Professor Snape will appreciate you causing trouble before we even get to school." Malfoy blanched, and he stalked off.

"Spoilt brat," the boy muttered. He had a tanned face, brown hair and eyes, and a slight Spanish accent, and the girl had an oval face with blond hair and dark brown eyes. As they turned to face Harry and his friends, their Slytherin perfect badges could be seen.

"Thanks," Harry said. "You're Malfoy's and Parkinson's successors, I take it?"

"Yes," the boy said, "I'm Blaise Zabini. This is Nora Moon." (3)

"Hello," she said, "I can tell you're Harry Potter. Let me guess," she said, looking at the others, "Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, and Cho Chang, right?" They all nodded.

"Anyway, Harry, we all got your invitations to your little defense group," Blaise went on.

"Good, but this year, it might not be so little," Harry said.

"Well, we're still looking forward to it anyway," Nora said. "'Bye."

The Slytherin prefects left, and a moment later, Ron and Hermione showed up. Ron looked outraged. "WHY were you talking to those Slytherins?" he demanded.

"Because they're prefects, they're decent and trustworthy, and they'll be joining the Order of the Stag," Harry said simply.

"But- but- they're SLYTHERINS!"

"That's because they're not in any of the other three Houses," Harry said, taking a leaf out of Luna's book and remaining as calm as possible while coming up with some witty answer. "Besides, would it interest you to know that the Hat nearly put me in Slytherin?"

Ron looked as though someone had mortally insulted him. "Oh, that's just great! Next thing I know is you'll be drinking butterbeer with Snape!"

"Snape is not that much of a bad person, Ron, especially if he's ignored old grudges and saved Harry's life TWICE," Hermione said exasperated. "Honestly, Ron, you wouldn't be able to see the truth even if it jumped up and bit you in the face."

Ron rounded on her and growled, "Et tu, Hermione?" (4) He took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to patrol the corridors," before he stalked off, trying to remain as calm as possible.

Hermione looked worried and followed him. "I'm going to make sure he patrols the corridors."

Harry shook his head and sighed. "Honestly, they fight like a married couple."

Ginny and Luna came by shortly after, their Gryffindor and Ravenclaw badges shining respectively.

"So, Harry, what were you doing most of the summer?" Susan asked. "Most of the time I saw you hunched over a book."

"I was busy with all that training," Harry admitted.

"Training?" Susan asked. Unlike Harry and his other fellow students who spent time at headquarters, she probably spent the least amount of time there.

"Yeah, I want to become an Auror," Harry explained.

Susan smiled. "Well, I'm sure my aunt will appreciate having you in her Department."

"Professor McGonagall promised she'd help me become an Auror if it was the last thing she did."

Luna stared at him. "Why'd she do that?"

Harry shook his head. "Umbridge had the audacity to be at my career advice appointment. I was barely able to get four questions in; most of the time Umbridge was fake coughing and simpering about my so- called 'criminal record' while McGongagall was doing her absolute best not to kill that woman. Five minutes later it ended up as a shouting match between them, and I basically ran out of the office."

They all stared at him. Ginny's jaw dropped. "Harry, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I got through the summer, didn't I?"

The trip went on, and they continued to talk about future O.S. (Order of the Stag) plans for their lessons, and inevitably, who their new DADA teacher would be, and they only stopped talking when the food trolley came by. Eventually, they all changed into their school robes (the boys and girls alternated with using the compartment), and as the train stopped, they met up with Ron and Hermione, still bickering somewhat.

For the first time since his first year, Harry stepped off the train and found the evening to be calm and peaceful. Ginny and Luna decided to share a carriage with Ron and Hermione, maybe to keep their senior prefects from setting a bad example with all their fighting, and Harry saw Luna pet the thestral before getting into the carriage. As Susan and Cho got in, Cho asked, "Harry, what was Luna petting?"

"It's a thestral," Harry explained. "Hagrid bred them, and they pull the carriages. You can't see them unless you've seen someone die. Neville can see them too." Neville nodded at this.

"Who did you see die?" Susan asked. Harry sighed. "Cedric."

Cho clapped a hand to her mouth. Susan looked sympathetic; Cedric had been in Hufflepuff.

"Harry, these thestrals, what do they look like?" Cho asked after she put her hand down.

"Well," Harry said slowly, "They look like demonic versions of pegasi. Instead of white skin, their hides are a thin black coat they even reveals their bones underneath. Instead of swan's wings, their wings look like they belong to giant bats. While they basically look like winged horses, there's something reptilian about them too. Their eyes are completely white. They have a bad reputation, between their appearance and the death thing. They eat meat, but Hagrid trained the herd at Hogwarts not to attack people or owls, so he feeds them with meat. My friends and I used them to get to the Ministry of Magic last year, even though Ron, Hermione, or Ginny couldn't see them." (5)

Cho just stared at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

"No, it's okay," she assured him. "I was just trying to visualize them."

As the carriage pulled to a stop, the four of them got out, and when they reached the great hall, the boys bade farewell as the girls went to their respective tables. As they sat down, Neville just kept staring at the Hufflepuff table. "Er, Neville, is something wrong?" he asked after a minute.

Neville seemed to snap out of a sort of reverie. "Hm? No, I'm fine." A moment later, Ron, Ginny and Hermione showed up. The three of them were unusually silent, though each a little red in the face. Harry supposed they had another fight.

The great hall eventually filled over the next several minutes, but the empty chair was still apparent as Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat and placed it on the stool before going off to get the first years. As she was coming back, Peeves swooped into the hall with a bottle of butterbeer and fed it to the Hat. Dumbledore got up and said, "PEEVES! What in Circe's name do you think you're doing?"

Grinning maniacally, the wicked poltergeist said, "What? The Hat looked thirsty, and I thought he could use something before he started singing!" A few students snickered.

"I thought I left you in charge of cleaning out Umbridge's office, since she didn't bother to pack her things," the Headmaster said calmly with that twinkle in his eye. There was more snickering; Peeves had chased her out of the castle, hitting her with a walking stick. McGonagall allowed herself a tiny smile, since it was her walking stick.

"Well, I mean, be reasonable, Dumbledore, there are only so many things you can throw out the window, and her horrible kitten plates didn't even make good Frisbees!" Most people laughed outright, Harry included.

"Peeves," the Headmaster said menacingly, his friendly appearance gone in a flash as the students cringed with fear. While the Headmaster's moments of anger were rare, those who had witnessed them claimed that Dumbledore was scary at those times. Harry had to agree; a moment ago, Dumbledore looked like a kind grandfatherly figure, but now, however, he looked like a powerful ancient god who could sink entire continents in the blink of an eye. "Out."

Peeves look terrified, but he nodded. "Yes sir, oh Lord of the Lemon Drops, sir," he said quickly while swooping back out of the Great Hall. A moment later, Dumbledore was smiling again. "That trick always works," he chuckled.

A few moments silence, and the hat started to sing, although it still sounded a little drunk.

"A millenia ago when I was newly made (hiccup),

Four witches and wizards of great fame (hiccup)

All met together to create a school of magic (cough cough),

And 'Hogwarts' they made its name (buuuuurp).

The House of lion-hearted Godric Gryffindor

Is for those of bravery, courage and valor,

The House of gentle yet strong Helga Hufflepuff

Is home for the cooperative, hard-working and loyal,

The House of wise and soaring Rowena Ravenclaw

Is the abode for the wise, witty and clever,

The House of power-hungry Salazar Slytherin

Is sanctuary for the ambitious, cunning and resourceful.

However, if you feel in the end

That I did not sort you well,

Than as far as I'm concerned,

You can all go to H-"

At this last stanza, Professor McGonagall clapped her hand over the Hat's mouth, who tried to keep singing, and said "I think this hat has had too much to drink!" The students were laughing, although the teachers tried keeping their best poker faces. (6)

"When I call your name, you will try the Sorting Hat, and then when it decides, you will go to your chosen house," Professor McGonagall said to the first years while picking up her list. "Anderson, Neal!"

A small black-haired boy went over and tried on the Hat. A moment later, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry applauded with the other Gryffindors as Neal came over to their table.

"Barnes, Natalie!" "RAVENCLAW!" As the Ravenclaws applauded, Harry saw Cho stand up and shake the girl's hand as she went over to the Ravenclaw table. (7)

The sorting continued, but a few names later, Harry got a shock. "Evans, Mark!" (8)

Harry did a double take. Before the Hat drooped over the boy's face, he recognized that first year as the one of the boys whom Dudley and his gang liked to beat up. A couple of moments later, the Hat declared, "SLYTHERIN!" Harry watched for a moment as the boy went over to their table to be greeted by Blaise and Nora, and eventually Harry's attention was drawn back to the Sorting.

After the last student ("Zuckerman, Gregory!") got sorted ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), Professor McGonagall took the Hat and its stool away, then joined the rest of the staff at the High Table. Dumbledore got up and announced, "Welcome first years, welcome back all those above first year! I'll do my usual announcements after we eat, so go ahead and eat!"

The plates magically filled themselves, and the students tucked in, talking about what they might be doing this year. After the last bits of dessert vanished from the table, Dumbledore got up again. "And here I am again, explaining the rules to the first year students, and explaining the rules again to all the students above first year, who seem to constantly forget them. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden, Hogsmeade is off limits to all those without signed permission forms, no wandering around after dark, and Filch's list of forbidden items now comprises of seven hundred items. Oh, and another new rule in light of tonight's free entertainment: Don't feed the Sorting Hat."

The students chuckled, and the Headmaster continued, although a little more somber now. "As we are all well aware now, Voldemort, and yes, there's nothing wrong with saying his name, has been forced out into the open. I doubt you need to believe me when I say we have hard times ahead. However, I only hope that we can follow the advice of standing together and not letting Voldemort divide and conquer us, one by one. To help each other is to help our own selves. And merely ignoring the problem will not make it go away either. As I told one student at the end of last year, indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike. As the old adage goes, 'United we stand; divided we fall.'"

There was a moment of silence as people contemplated this. At the same time, Harry reflected on this, looking down at the table as his eyes started to burn from grief, remembering last year and what happened to Sirius...

Eventually, Dumbledore's words brought Harry back to the present, and so rubbing his eyes, he forced himself to listen. "Also, Sibyll Trelawny will be returning to her post this year as Divination teacher-" There was some applause, but Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil clapped fiercely "-and even more surprising, I'd like announce that the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position has been broken!" The students all gasped and muttered; no teacher who took that position lasted more than a year. "Fourth years and above may remember Remus Lupin, who I am glad to say will be returning, since a way was found to avoid the problems with his lycanthropy." There was a round of applause, especially from the Gryffindor table. "In case you're wondering, he'll be coming late tonight, but he will be here ready to teach tomorrow morning.

"Furthermore, I'd like to announce that Professor Lupin will only be teaching fourth years and above." More gasps and muttering. "Yes, well, he's been somewhat busy lately. Besides, the student who I'll have teaching third year and below is all caught up with his work, and he was the one who found the solution to Lupin's condition. He'll be like sort of an assistant professor."

Harry's eyes went wider than Luna Lovegood's. 'Dumbledore won't,' Harry thought, 'He shouldn't, he couldn't, he wouldn't -'

"Harry Potter."

'He just did.'

The hall went silent. They all turned to look at Harry. He was thunderstruck. Dumbledore politely clapped. "Don't worry, Mr. Potter, I know what I'm doing," the Headmaster said reassuringly, "Meet me outside my office in five minutes, and we'll discuss everything. And no, I haven't lost my brain, because if I did, I'm sure it would have ended up in the Lost & Found by now."

Harry smiled very slightly at the joke while muttering and whispers broke out.

"Has Dumbledore really gone insane?"

"I bet you anything Snape will poison Potter within a week!"

"Nah, Snape wouldn't do that under Dumbledore's crooked nose, the old man would have a field day!"

Probably to save Harry from further embarrassment, Dumbledore said, "Well, time for bed. Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the acromantulas bite!"

While all the students went to their houses (half of them still staring at Harry), he went straight to Dumbledore's office. On the way out, he accidentally encountered Snape, who was leading Mark Evans in the direction of his office in the dungeons. All the students surrounding them went quiet immediately. Harry and Mark briefly made eye contact, but then Snape's voice bought Harry back to earth. "Congratulations, Potter," he sneered (Harry knew by now that the oily Potions Master attitude was only an act for school), "I would have never guessed that the Headmaster would hire one of his own students, or did your fame have any sway in his decision?" With that, he and Mark were gone in a twirl of black robes. Ignoring any more muttering, Harry continued on his way to Dumbledore's office.

His white-haired mentor was standing next to the gargoyle, smiling. "Congratulations, Harry," he said. Harry was unsure what to say. After giving the gargoyle the new password ("Fainting Fancies"), they both went up to the office. As they entered, the portraits cheered, Fawkes whistled joyously, and the Hat gave an almighty belch (it was still drunk).

"So anyway, Harry," Dumbledore started after they both sat down. "Just to let you know now, you can assign detentions, add and deduct points, etc., although I ask you not to be biased."

"Um, of course not, sir," Harry croaked out, after finding his voice; he hadn't felt this way since the start of the Triwizard Tournament a couple of years before.

"Also, you will still eat with the Gryffindors, and I only ask that you come to the staff room if you're unsure what to do," Dumbledore continued. "Your office, which you'll be sharing with Lupin, is ready, assuming that Peeves is done, er, cleaning it out by now. Your trunk is already up in your dormitory. I was even offering to pay you a small salary."

"Uh, well, I don't object to it," Harry replied. "Why did you leave it to me to teach the younger students, anyway?"

"Well, you're all caught up with your work due to your summer training, and that leaves a lot of gaps in your schedule. Furthermore, the Order of the Stag, which you wisely renamed it, will take place in a hidden room I discovered down near the kitchens. I will give you more details when we start it a couple of weeks from now; I want to get students re- acquainted with school first after having spent two months on holiday. Dueling, in a way, is separate form the Defense curriculum taught at Hogwarts, and should be started by students fourth year and above anyway. If there's too much pressure for you, just let me know."

Harry nodded, and with a pop, Dobby appeared, wearing a child's soccer outfit. "Hello, Harry Potter, sir!" he squeaked. "Dobby is happy to see Harry Potter again! Dobby will help with the office and everything! Also, Dobby has late birthday gift for Harry Potter! Dobby would have given it, except he didn't know where the Order was!" (Dumbledore was the Secret-Keeper for the Order, so no one could find it unless Dumbledore told him or her where it was.)

Dobby pulled out a pair of red socks, each with a golden-furred, green-eyed lion on them. "Dobby will keep Harry Potter's secret," Dobby whispered nervously.

"Thank you very much, Dobby," Harry said, pocketing the socks. "But why did you give me socks that matched?"

"Because if socks were matched, then no one would be able to mix them up!" Dobby exclaimed excitedly, causing Dumbledore to chuckle softly. Dobby bowed, and was gone with a pop.

Turning back to Dumbledore, Harry said, "I still can't believe you made me an 'assistant professor.'"

His voice now becoming a little somber, Dumbledore said, "You should have been a prefect last year, Harry..." Harry knew that his mentor felt guilty, and so he decided not to press it anymore.

"Anyway, Harry," Dumbledore continued, collecting himself as much as he needed to, "The password for Gryffindor Tower is 'Carpe Diem.' Good night, Harry."

"Good night, sir," Harry said before leaving the office. On his way out, he heard the hat snap out of its stupor and say, "Hm? What did I miss?"

~*~*~*~

Harry was still in a sort of daze when he got went to Gryffindor Tower. He was just at the portrait of the Fat Lady when he heard Professor McGonagall from behind him. "Mr. Potter, congratulations on the 'assistant professor' position. We had no idea ourselves; we just thought that Lupin would be teaching all seven years. Professor Snape nearly choked on his wine when he heard that announcement."

Harry felt a little better. "There's another thing I wish to discuss with you, Potter," his Head of House continued. "Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet both graduated last year. Katie Bell expressed that she might not exactly have what it takes to be Quidditch captain. The best possible candidate leaves you. Do you wish to be captain for the Gryffindor team?"

Harry thought about this for a moment and said, "Unfortunately, I'm not much of a strategist, and I'm going to be very busy this year. Ron, on the other hand, is much more obsessive about the game; he might make a better captain than me."

Professor McGonagall thought about this and said, "If you say so, Potter. An interesting choice indeed. We'll, let's just say Mr. Weasley will find something very interesting in the mail tomorrow morning. He'll be setting a new record by being a Quidditch captain with having only one year's worth of experience. Well, good night, Potter."

"Good night, Professor," he said as he turned back to the Fat Lady, who was listening to their conversation. "Carpe Diem," he said, and the portrait swung open. Mercifully, the common room was empty by now. He went up the stairs to his dormitory, and all four of his roommates leapt at him.

"I can't believe Dumbledore did that," Neville said with his eyes wide.

"Did you have anything to do with this, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"Harry, you should have seen yourself in the Great Hall, you looked as though he ordered your execution," Dean added.

Ron merely scowled. "Yet another thing for the great Harry Potter," he groaned.

"You sound like Snape now," Harry pointed out. Ron went pale while the other three boys gasped; among Gryffindors, being compared to the Head of Slytherin House was considered a dire insult.

"Yeah, well, you always get everything!" Ron shot back. "I bet you'll be made Quidditch captain, too!"

Harry, not wanting to give away the surprise for his friend just yet, tried a different tack. "That's not necessarily true," he said, trying to keep his voice down. "I didn't ask for this to happen. I didn't get made a prefect either; why are you so sure about this?"

That shut Ron up immediately. Trying to change the conversation, Harry asked the others while he got changed into his nightclothes (stored in the first compartment of his new trunk), "Speaking of Quidditch, who do you think will be the new Chasers? Ginny said she wanted to be one, but I don't know who else would want to."

"Actually," Seamus piped up, "I was thinking about trying out for the position. Also, I heard Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper earlier at dinner. They've both been practicing over the holidays, and they're much better than last year."

"Sounds good," Harry said as he finished buttoning up his pajama top.

Ron, however, seemed to be in the mood to argue more and more. "I thought you might not be Quidditch captain this year," he spat out.

"No, but I am part of the team again, and I'm allowed to express my opinion, thank you very much," Harry responded, trying with all his might to keep his temper in check.

Ron was definitely having some issues. "Fine! Just get everything you want while you're at it! You always get everything anyway!"

"So we're back to that again, are we?" Harry snarled. He lifted up his pajama top and pointed to the scar from the bullet injury. The other four boys gasped. "There. That's just one of several things I've gotten which no one deserves to get. I've also been bitten by a basilisk, gotten my arm broken, had those same bones regrown in one night, felt the pain the dementors cause me, fallen fifty feet from my broomstick in a storm, felt the Cruciatus Curse a couple of times in my life -" Neville shuddered "-and let's not foget the pain I used to feel with my scar whenever Voldemort was in a particularly bad mood. Tell me, Ron, would you like any of those things?"

Ron looked unnerved. Trying to regain his composure, Ron spewed out yet another insult. "Oh yeah? Well, you must love the attention you get, don't you!?"

That was the final straw. Putting his night robes on, Harry turned to the door when he said to Ron, "You're obviously not as loyal as I thought. You're acting like all those people last year who you tried to defend me against. I don't know what's gotten into you, but feel free to let me know when you're back to normal, Foxboy."

Neville stifled a chuckle while Seamus and Dean looked confused. Ron, however, let out a savage scream of fury and lunged for his own wand as Harry started down the stairs. "GLACIO!" Harry slipped on the stairs, which were now frozen into an ice slide. Perhaps Ron had put had put a bit to much force into it, because it lead all the way back down to the common room. He fell on his rear, and even ended up going down backwards. At the bottom, Harry rammed backwards into a table, and his head collided with one of the hard wooden legs.

"YOUCH!" he screamed. Immediately, there were footsteps, and Hermione and Ginny were bounding down the stairs.

"HARRY!? OH GOD, WHAT HAPPENED?" Hermione screeched. Ginny looked pale, and dashed out of the common room to get help. Hermione helped him get up and when Harry felt the back of his head, he looked at his own hand; there was some blood in his palm. Hermione put her hands to her mouth and gasped. A couple of moments later, Ginny returned with Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall. The nurse quickly attended to Harry's injury. "Arretus Sanguis," she muttered, and he stopped bleeding. (9)

McGonagall was chalk white. "What happened?" she asked. "Ron," Harry said weakly. With an angry look on her face that could have terrified first years into hysterics, she melted the ice and yelled up the boys' stairs, "WEASLEY! FINNIGAN! LONGBOTTOM! THOMAS! I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION THIS INSTANT!"

Harry's roommates came down the stairs, all looking apprehensive, except for Ron, who looked mortified. "What did you do, Mr. Weasley?" she growled. 'A tabby cat? She should have been a lion,' Harry thought.

Ron just choked, his eyes darting from Harry to McGonagall. Hermione glared at him in an uncanny impression of their Head of House, and Ginny looked at him that reminded Harry fiercely of Mrs. Weasley. Now, his sister, girlfriend and professor all stood there like the three Furies, that trio of vengeful goddesses who punished those who hurt their own friends and family.

Seeing that Ron wouldn't say anything between his fear and guilt, their roommates explained what happened. McGonagall's face softened somewhat when they recounted Harry's calm attitude and explanation of injuries against Ron's volcanic temper and senseless insults. Then her face switched back to fury again when she heard of what Ron did to Harry. She was so absorbed in their account of the incident that she completely ignored the growing numbers of other Gryffindors coming down to see what the whole problem was. As soon as Harry showed her the blood on his hand he had gotten, it was obvious that Ron's fate was sealed.

"Ronald Weasley, I am absolutely disgusted and furious with you," she said at last, nostrils flaring and a vein twitching in her neck. Everyone surrounding Ron gave him a wide berth, giving him the impression that he was in the spotlight. "You attack him when his back is turned over something so trivial, and you do this to him? He tried to ignore you, for Merlin's sake! And as for what happened over the summer, there's nothing I could have done about that. And do I really need to remind you already that he's been made an assistant professor?"

Looking a little indignant, Ron found his voice again. "This proves my point! He gets away with everything just because he's the bloody Boy-Who-Lived-and-will Probably-be-Made-Quidditch-Captain-"

McGonagall pounded her fist on the wall. "YOU FOOL!" she roared, causing everyone to jump. "HE DOESN'T EVEN CARE ABOUT THAT! HE EVEN VOUCHED FOR YOU TO BE QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN BARELY FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE YOU ATTACKED HIM!"

Ron looked shocked. Everybody else glared at him. Ron looked at Harry, who nodded to confirm this was true. Ron almost felt as though his friend's green eyes were burning a whole through him.

Harry got up, used Madam Pomfrey's wand to get the blood of his hand by using a Scourging Charm, and turned to Ron. "I purposely declined the offer to be Quidditch captain because I felt you were a much better strategist than me. It was supposed to be a surprise for you tomorrow morning with the owl post. If you had been made captain this year, you would have set a record, owing to the fact that you've only been playing for a year. I intentionally tried to give you one more thing that would feel proud about, and you throw it away just to be a raging lunatic at me. I thought your obsession with Quidditch would have been a good thing, but I didn't know it would lead to this." With that, he silently walked out of Gryffindor Tower, leaving a bunch of shocked people behind him. Ron tried to apologize, but McGonagall cut him off.

Once he was down the corridor, he transformed into a lion and prowled through the halls. Lions were predators who liked to hunt at night, and so there were thin white lines under their eyes that reflected light into their eyes in order to see better at night. Harry could hear his footsteps heading in the direction of the DADA office. 'It must be Remus,' he thought. He went over and found the door open. He walked in and found the werewolf standing there, setting up glass tanks and cages for small Dark creatures. Remus then turned around and gasped. "Harry! What's wrong?"

Harry changed back and sat down at the chair in front of the desk. "I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly, looking down at the ground. "Ever since I stuck up for Snape last summer, Ron thinks I've betrayed him or something. What would Ron know. HE didn't see what happened in the Pensieve. And what he did to me just now. . ." his voice trailed off and he rubbed the back of his head.

Remus's face suddenly wasn't so friendly anymore, but before anything else could be said, McGonagall walked in. "Oh, there you are, Potter," she said, sounding relieved. "I had a feeling this was the first place you would go."

"What happened?" Remus asked. McGonagall whispered in his ear what had happened. Remus looked angry. "Now THAT was uncalled for," he said at last. "So what did you do, Minerva?"

"I gave him detention for the first two weeks of school and made him sit out for the first Quidditch game of the season," McGonagall replied crossly. She was so furious at the moment that she didn't even care about Quidditch, which was usually the chink in her armor. "I'll also be writing a letter to his mother tonight about what happened, for attacking his own roommate. Now instead of getting a letter saying that he was made team captain, he'll probably get another Howler." Harry flinched slightly at the memory of them getting a Howler four years ago, but otherwise he found that he didn't care about anything at the moment. "Miss Bell agreed to be captain in the end, only because neither Potter nor Weasley could take on the position."

Harry buried his face in his hands and sighed, worriedly running his hands through his hair. "Ron is just so unforgiving," Harry said suddenly, unable to hold in his feelings anymore. "He gets mad at someone even once and he practically has to be persuaded to forgive them. He thinks that just by defending an unjustly accused Snape or even talking to a couple of Slytherin prefects, I'm being a traitor to my own House. What nonsense. It's not like I'm breaking the law or anything."

His two professors were momentarily stunned by his flash of insight. McGonagall recovered by saying, "Well, Potter, I'm glad to see that you're striving for a little Inter-House unity, and that you're doing the right thing. How's your head feeling?"

"Fine," he said. "Maybe I should just stay in here for tonight." With that, transformed into a lion again and settled himself into a corner. Remus said, "That's all right, Harry, but tomorrow morning we'll have to go back up to the dormitory so you can get dressed and get your stuff, okay?" Harry nodded his giant head. "Good. Get a good night's sleep. See you in the morning." Harry purred as the two professors shut off the lights and left the room.

Sprawled out on the floor, Harry gazed through the window, looking at the half moon. He couldn't believe how much had changed just because he had found out the truth behind Snape's past. He had done what was right as opposed to what was easy, but as he dozed off in his lion form, he wondered just how difficult his life had become. (10)

(End of Chapter 16.)

A/N: I did quite an amount of work in fixing up this chapter and editing some stuff.

Also, I would like to note something right now: While this story IS about the Heir of Gryffindor, I'm one of those people who believe that not all Slytherins are evil (and, of course, part of it is because I'm something of a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw myself). That's not too kooky or contradictory, is it?

(1) Do you think I did a good job in making Ginny and Luna prefects?

(2) Hahaha, I wanted to do something like this to them after what those Slytherins did in canon!

(3) I read that "Blaise Zabini" is a Spanish name, so I went with that. Also, they mention a "Moon," during Harry's Sorting, but nothing else, so I took the liberty of creating that character. Her name comes from the French word "noir," meaning "black" (like at night during the time when the moon shines).

(4) In case you didn't know now, this is a joke off of Julius Caesar's last words: "Et tu, Brutus?" ("You too, Brutus?")

(5) I believe this is a plural form of the word "Pegasus;" am I right?

(6) Heeheehee, this was both fun to write and funny to read!

(7) For lack of a better source of inspiration, I took the names of Neo/Mr. Anderson from "The Matrix," and turned it into "Neal Anderson."

Likewise, I took the bookstore name "Barnes & Nobles" and turned it into "Natalie Barnes," for lack of a better source of inspiration.

Someone pointed out that “George Zuckerman” is the name of one of the characters from that kid’s book “Charlotte’s Web,” which I swear was purely coincidental; so now it’s changed to Gregory Zuckerman instead (not that it makes any real difference to the story itself…)

(8) He plays an important role in this story... (Wink wink...)

(9) I was taking French at the time when I wrote this, and it's supposed to mean "stop the blood," or something to that effect.

(10) I'm sorry, but the conflict with Ron was something that came up at the last moment, you know, as a spur of the moment kind of thing. I can't help it with the Ron-bashing.

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