A.J RYAN IN THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Chapter Four - Mrs Black

I had stayed a few times to help the Weasley's clean up the house, or coach Sirius out of his room with Buckbeak.

The doorbell rang multiple times a day and Sirius would run to let people in and shut Mrs Black up.

While he answered the door one morning, I sided over to the portrait of the screeching lady.

"Oh, Mrs Black. All these rotten traitors are in your house. However, can we get rid of them?" My voice quiet, so she strained to listen.

While she was distracted by my words, I blasted her with a blindfold. She started screaming until I silenced her. Due to the dark spells protecting her portrait, we knew these simple spells wouldn't hold for long. I stared around the edges of her portrait.

Kingsley had arrived, and he and Sirius were standing behind me watching curiously.

The curtains shut without being forced.

Sirius's mouth was gaping open. "How'd..."

"One of circles in the snakes' eyes." I looked to the side of the frame again. "Fourth down." I whispered.

Kingsley shook his head in wonder at me, and Sirius was gaping. "I'd never thought of that." He said quietly.

Kingsley went on to leave a message for Dumbledore, but I ushered them away from the hallway before anything important was said. I had waited a moment staring at the door they had just walked through before I quickly focused my attention upwards.

On the landing, three floors up were Fred and George. They jumped back a little in shock as my eyes met there's. I raised my eyebrows at them, and they just stared back. I shook my head in mock disapproval and followed the others.

***

A.J knew Dumbledore had been having a hard time finding a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher.

That also explained why the Hogwarts School letters only came on the last morning of the holidays. The booklist would only be set when he had the teachers all sorted.

With her booklist in hand she was set to head off for Diagon Alley that afternoon. She had obviously been here before, her mum had followed the Hogwarts school curriculum as much as she possibly could.

Due to the rate A.J was learning, she had even picked out more advanced books on a broader range of subjects then necessary when they visited Flourish and Blotts. This year, A.J was focused more on studying the Dark Arts. Not on performing them, but on the areas of preventing, reversing, curing or healing their effects.

She visited Sirius after her letter arrived and ran into Molly Weasley. Molly was ecstatic that Ron was made a Prefect; forth one in the family, and Hermione was a Prefect too. She had six lists of Hogwarts stuff to buy. So A.J asked to tag along, they apparated from outside together.

At around six o'clock that afternoon, A.J had helped Molly back to Grimmauld place with all the books for Fred and George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny.

There was a dinner party planned for Ron and Hermione that she was invited to, but A.J decided not to stay. She left a wooden box for Remus with more Wolfsbane potion. He would need to start taking it in two days' time for the week leading up to the full moon, now was her last chance before heading to Hogwarts tomorrow.