Harry Potter and the Second Chance

Chapter Five - The Term Begins

The feast was marvelous. Food appeared everywhere, and all of the first years were in awe. Even the older kids were excited. There were all kinds of dishes, and it was the first meal I had even enjoyed more than my mum's cooking, although I would never admit that.

We ate for what seemed like hours, and then dessert appeared. Against my better judgement, I dug into the meal. Then, we were to follow the prefects to our common room.

"Come on, first years, this way! Hurry, please!" Percy shouted to all of us.

"You have to be careful of these staircases. They move from time to time. Oh, and skip this step, or you'll go right through it."

"This is exciting, isn't it?" Hermione squealed.

"Yeah, if you plan to walk up stairs for the rest of your life." Ron retorted.

I rolled my eyes at Harry, who smiled and returned the gesture.

Soon, we were at the Gryffindor common room.

Password?" The portrait of the Fat Lady asked.

"Caput draconis!" Percy shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Everyone please remember this, as you cannot get in without it. We've had many people waiting outside the portrait hole for hours before someone came out and found them, all because they forgot the password."

The portrait swung open and we all climbed inside, into the Gryffindor common room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace, and red and gold decorations everywhere the eye could see.

"This is the common room. Boys' dormitories are there, and girls' are there." Percy pointed to each doorway in turn. "Your luggage is already in the dormitories, and classes start tomorrow, so please get to bed so you are ready!"

The whole of Gryffindor applauded, and I exchanged goodnights with Harry and Ron before going upstairs to the girl's dormitories with Hermione. When we got into the giant room, I saw my trunk on a bed right next to her's.

"Looks like we're making to be good friends." I told her, and we both laughed.

---

The next morning at breakfast, I sat beside Tim and Cass and across from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"We have History of Magic first?" Harry said.

Hermione nodded. "I heard that the class is taught by a ghost."

"It is. Apparently, he fell asleep next to the fire and went to class the next day without his body." Tim said.

"Wow. That's morbid."

Hullo there!" Fred and George said at the same time, sitting down at the table.

"Cass, is this your younger sister?" Fred asked.

"Yeah."

"Hi, I'm Eleanor."

"I've heard all about you from Cassandra."

"Oh?" I gave Cass a devilish look.

"She tells us that you're quite the practical joker."

"Well, sometimes." I said. I used to pull really elaborate stunts on her and Tim when we were younger.

He leaned closer to me and whispered. "George and I are planning something. I might need your assistance."

"I'd be honored." I replied.

"Brilliant. We'll keep you posted." I looked over at George, who shot me a wink, and held back a laugh.

---

Harry and I walked together, while Ron and Hermione bickered about who was the greatest wizard of all time.

"Clearly, it's Dumbledore!" Ron said, frustrated.

"I think they're shaping up to be good friends." Harry told me, and I laughed.

"Yeah, if good friends means wanting to tear each other to pieces." I said.

"I don't know. I think they're just having an educated discussion." Hermione snorted.

"Educated? This dimwit hasn't even half a brain!"

I rolled my eyes, and Harry laughed.

---

We went from class to class, and everything was perfectly normal. Until we got to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"W-w-welcome to D-Defense Against th-the D-D-Dark Arts, first y-years. I'm Pr-Professor Quir-rell."

"How many galleons do you want to bet that I could apparate out of this class if I set my mind to it?" Ron asked me.

"You can't apparate on school grounds, Ron. I read it in Hogwarts, A History." Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"You read, Hogwarts, A History, too?" I asked, astounded. She nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but before we could say anything else, Professor Quirrell cleared his throat.

"L-let's settle d-d-down, pl-please." Quirrell started to turn around and suddenly stopped. "Ha-Harry Potter?"

Suddenly, Harry doubled over. He was clutching his head in pain.

"Harry!" I didn't know what to do.

He stopped, and, panting, sat back up.

"Are you okay, Harry?" I asked, still extremely worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He seemed to still be in pain, but he kept a brave face.

Oddly enough, Quirrell just started the lesson without acknowledging Harry again.

"This is awful. It's as if he has something stuck to his tongue." I whispered to Harry.

"Yeah." He still seemed a bit out of it.

"Harry, are you sure you're okay? What happened?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really. I'll tell you after class."

---

After class, we went to the great hall for dinner. Harry and I walked a bit behind everyone else, as Ron and Hermione were having another "educated discussion".

"Harry, what happened in there?" I asked, still worried.

"I don't know. When Quirrell said my name... it was like he ripped open my scar. It was burning. It hurt so bad." He explained.

"That's odd. I'm sorry, Harry."

"It's okay. It was just weird."

When we got to the table, Tim set a newspaper down in front of me.

"Look at this, El. Someone broke into Gringotts."

"Someone broke into Gringotts?" Harry repeated, curious. After reading the article, I passed him the paper. "Vault 713. Hey, that's the vault I went to with Hagrid!"

"What?" Hermione said, taking the paper from him.

"Yeah! He said it was top-secret Hogwarts business."

"Huh. That's odd." I said as Hermione passed the paper to Ron.

"I wonder what was in there." Tim said.

"I don't know, but it was small. All Hagrid took out was a small sack." Harry seemed perplexed.

"I'm sure it's not that big a deal. We certainly don't need to get our feathers ruffled for no reason." Tim said, turning to his supper.

Even still, something felt not-quite-right. From Gringotts being robbed, to Harry's episode in Defense Against the Dark Arts, school was turning out to be rather eventful.

***

(Timothy in picture)