HP 6 - A different Half-Blood...

The Unwelcoming Feast

"Firs' years! Firs years! This way, come to me," said a familiar voice that all four of them were glad to hear, as they piled out of the train.

"Wotcher Harry!" Hagrid said, spotting Harry first.

They said hello, but Hagrid had to direct the first years for their journey across the lake. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had to supervise the unloading of the train. Ron was little happier, because he could now dock more points from students. It was only ten points, but it was power. Hermione, of course, reminded him that they should not abuse their power.

Harry limped slightly as he made his way over to a carriage, and waited outside for the others to turn up. He did not bother putting his hood up, no one would see it in the pitch-black darkness. Harry passed the time by admiring the fleshless, reptilian-like horses called thestrals, which only people who have seen someone die can see. Last year, it was quite a shock when he first saw them, because he had seen Cedric die the previous school year.

A few moments later, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny showed up, followed by Neville and the Luna, who had a silver badge on her robes, and they climbed in a carriage. Harry tried to do it quickly, still trying to hide his injuries.

"So you're a perfect?" he asked Luna.

"Yes," she said, in her usual dreamy appearance. "I found it rather peculiar."

"Colin Creevy is the other Gryffindor one, too," said Ginny. "You have to see Malfoy. His clothes are all ragged and he does not look too good. It was great." Ron grinned wildly, but Hermione was staring at Harry, but she said nothing.

They passed the two winged boars at the entrance to the Hogwarts and stopped at the doors to the main hall. It was raining harder. Harry waited for everyone to pass him before he started walking toward the door. They walked up the front steps, past the giant oak doors and into the huge entrance hall. They took a right and went into the Great Hall. He looked up at the ceiling, which reflected black and cloudy sky outside as well as his mood.

They took seats toward the middle of the Gryffindor table. The four long House tables were covered in with golden plates and goblets that were reserved for the traditionally for big celebrations. The rest of the tables filled up as the rest of the students, minus the first years, came in from the carriages.

Harry was hungry and tired. He had not eaten anything on the train, and Boe attack was still stinging him. To stay awake, he looked around. Luna had taken a seat at the table next to them, across the way. He finally saw Malfoy, who usually makes his first appearance on the train. Ginny was right. He was a mess. Being poor certainly did not suit him. Most of the other Slytherins moved away from him. Crabbe and Goyle were next to him, and Nott was across from him. All four of their fathers were Death Eaters.

The Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, was not too far from them. He had a gaunt face and silver bloodstains covered him. Nobody ever asked him how it got there. He also saw Nearly Headless Nick in full ruff near the second years, and Filch, the sputtering, wheezing caretaker with his foul cat Mrs. Norris. He would have looked more, but someone asked him something.

"Whoa, Harry who gave you that black eye?" asked Seamus, who across the table from him. Dean, Neville, Lavender and Parvati were looking, too. He turned to his right and looked at Hermione.

"I got it from my cousin," he said looking back at him.

"You had a Muggle fight?" asked Neville, who was a pureblood wizard.

"Yeah," Harry said, indifferently.

"Did you win?" asked Dean eagerly.

Harry just shook his head and it ended the conversation. They went on talking about Gringotts.

"When are they going to get here, I'm starving," Harry asked, annoyed.

"You are?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Yeah, I didn't eat anything on the train," Harry said, craning his head to look over the other students.

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"Because I was tired and I didn't want people to see me," he said, shortly.

He went back to looking around the Great Hall. He noticed a couple of people were staring at him and whispering to their neighbors. Some even waved, although he did not know most of them. Terry Boot and Michael Corner said hi has they passed. A few other Ravenclaws greeted him, as well as the Hufflepuffs, who were on the other side of the Gryffindor table. The past few months seemed to have augmented their image of him.

He knew this would happen. He was seriously considering going up to bed, but he figured Ron and Hermione would not give him the password. He was tired of being the person everyone stared at and talked about. He had not been looking forward to the return to Hogwarts and the constant staring.

All the stranglers from the carriages had already arrived. They were just waiting for the first years. They came through the doors led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying the Sorting Hat. Some of the first ones through the door saw his scar, and whispered to the person next to them. He turned away, crossed his arms and laid his head in them on his plate.

The first years lined up nervously in front of the staff table and the four tables. Professor McGonagall put the hat on the three-legged stool, and the Great Hall went quiet to hear the hat's song, which it sang before Sorting the first years into their Houses.

The hat's brim opened and sang out:

Gryffindor, Slytherin,

Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw

Those are the Houses four

Which I am to sort you in

For I can see almost everythin'

However, even I am not perfect

It may seem I make mistakes

But time does change people

Still, I am better than most

For many judge too quick

But some have already have changed

They crossed that age-old boundary

They have united under one principle

But they have left out one

And Hogwarts will never be whole

For when Hogwarts was anew

The founders split on one issue

Who should come? There was much debate

For Slytherin said take only those whose

Blood is pure and with the most ambition

For Gryffindor said take those who are

Brave and true, where friendship is strong

For Ravenclaw said take those who are wise,

Who never falter in their knowledge

And it is Hufflepuff who said I'll take the rest,

It makes no difference to me!

Great Hufflepuff is who I would side with,

For these pesky differences caused a split.

One left, and never was allowed back

From then on, the Houses have been split

While three Houses are one, it is not four

For the Houses are fighting each other,

Unwisely and unwarranted, for those

Who are wrong, who are blind to hate

They see them as their enemies, however

They should take care, for the worst enemies,

Are those who are hidden from within

I have only one last thing to say

Friendships can be as easily made

As they can be easily broken

For now, I will sort you new students

Who will be separated, but hopefully

Take my words to heart and not split

But unite under one House, Hogwarts!

Applause broke out through the Hall, but it was scattered for the second year in a row. People were trying to figure out what the hat could be talking about. Harry was too tired and hungry to try to interpret the Sorting Hat's cryptic messages. Now, he just had to wait for the Sorting Hat to sort the first years. However, after Abigail, Sara was sorted into Hufflepuff, he dosed off, and not even the Houses' cheering for their new arrivals woke him up.

He was fighting his way over to the archway, but Lupin stopped him, like always. Sirius was falling. He had to reach him... but a stabbing pain his side distracted him. He woke up to find someone was poking him. He could smell food. Hermione poked him again.

"Ouch, stop it. I didn't just get hit in my face," he said irritably, rubbing his side, which was still a little sore from Uncle Vernon's kick.

"Yeah, I noticed. Why are you limping?" she said in a low voice.

Harry looked at her, but then grabbed some chicken from a gold platter in front of him.

"Took a kick to my knee. Couldn't walk for a few days. It's still sore. Can you pass the potatoes?" he asked Hermione, who was glad to see him eat, but noticed he grabbed the bowl with his left hand and not his right.

Harry looked right at her and said, in a low tone, "Notice everything do you?"

She looked at his arm and pulled back the sleeve that concealed the dark purple and black bruise.

"Yeah, got it slammed right into the wall hard, he was lucky. He managed to knock my wand out of my hand. I probably would have gotten in trouble for hexing him, anyway," Harry grimaced and Hermione looked worried. "I'm alright. I've had worse," he said as he dug into his plate.

Hermione watched him to make sure he ate enough, but she never said anything. What he ate seemed to satisfy her. After everyone finished, the food disappeared. Everybody was waiting for Dumbledore to give his speech, and Harry looked up at the staff table for the first time. Dumbledore was in the center.

His long silver hair and a beard sparkled in the candlelight, but he did not seem as cheerful as he usually does. It was almost as if he was putting on a show. He looked very tired. The great energy that had seemed to radiate from him before was diminished.

Harry looked at the rest of the staff. Hagrid was at the end, drinking from his huge cup, and Harry was glad to see that he did not have any bruises. All the teachers were there except their divination teachers. Snape was looking pale and thinner, but still quite menacing. Dumbledore got up. He gazed around the room. His eyes fell onto Harry, and started his speech.

"As most of you have heard, this summer has been marked by some deaths and disappearances. The Ministry is constantly searching for those who side with the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said, causing many people to jump and look around, but he continued unmoved.

"But I wish to impress upon you that you are safe here. I have taken several precautions to make it safer here. No one can enter the grounds without us knowing about it. However, I must warn you how dangerous the Forbidden Forest is and remind you that it is off limits to all students. There are stricter curfews and increased patrols at night in the school. Classes will go on, and you will learn valuable defensive spells. Now, Quidditch try-outs will be held in two weeks, so if you are interested contact Madam Hooch. I'm sure you are all very tired, so off to bed," Dumbledore said, lazily.

There was a murmur of voices from the tables. First, how gloomy Dumbledore was, and second, that this was the first year since Harry had been there that Dumbledore had not announced a staff change. Every year, Dumbledore introduced a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but he did not mention anything.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, who were as equally puzzled, but they had to make sure that the first years got to the Gryffindor tower. He asked them for the password and headed up a less used path to their common room. He was sweating and in severe pain, by the time he reached the seventh floor. He would have to leave early for his classes, until his leg heals. Finally, he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady exhaustedly.

"Fluffers," he said and the portrait swung open. He clambered through it to the common room. Everybody was already there, because he took such a long time. Ron and Hermione were waiting for him.

"Ready for bed? I'm sure you've noticed I can't stay awake," Harry said tiredly.

"Yeah, but are you ok?" she asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah, just tired and sore," he said, but by the time he slowly made it up to his dorm room, at the top of Gryffindor Tower, his leg was stiff from the pain.

Ron followed behind him, but said nothing, which Harry was glad for it. Dean, Seamus, and Neville had already unpacked most of their things. Seamus had his Kenmare Kestrels Quidditch team poster up already and Dean had his traditional poster of West Ham up. Neville was stroking his mimbulus mimbletonia. Harry could see Trevor hopping around on the bed and he also had a handsome Screech owl that had delivered a letter. They all looked up, when Harry entered the room.

"Hi, Harry! Look what I got for my birthday!" Neville said, breathlessly, as he pointed to his owl. "Gran kept it to send the stuff I forgot, but I didn't forget anything! Well, I also got him because how well I did on my exams. I can't thank you enough. Griselda Marchbanks came over personally to tell Gran how well I did. No one could believe it! How'd you do?"

"Fine," he mumbled, still sweating from the exhausting climb.

"Yeah, Seamus had a good summer, again..." Dean said with a smirk.

Harry looked at Seamus with his eyebrow raised, bracing himself for the worst.

Seamus took in what he was thinking and responded quickly, "Oh! It's not about you, mate! It's... well... dad and me mum had a row, a big one, and they split up. She hasn't been happy all summer, that's why she was cross at you, yesterday. It hasn't been fun."

Seamus looked inside his trunk intently and they could tell he did not want to talk about it.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

He pulled off his robes and changed into his pajamas. He crawled into bed and the others did the same. His sleep was punctured with dreams, and he woke up several times during the night, but forced himself back to sleep. He finally woke up as dawn approached. He got dressed and went down to the common room. He sat and stared out the window watching the sky brighten.

It took an hour for the early risers to get up and not too long later, Hermione came down, followed by her cat, Crookshanks. They did not say anything more than hi to each other. She was pouring over her new textbooks with Crookshanks in her lap, but occasionally shot a look up at him. When Ron came down, they went downstairs for breakfast. Harry brought many books so he would not have to go back upstairs.

A number of students said hi and waved to him as he limped into the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione flanked him trying to ward off people, who wanted to say more than hi to him. Harry was especially thankful for that. They sat down in their usual seats. Harry ate a full breakfast. Hermione, after she finished watching him eat, looked up at the staff table.

"I don't see a new professor up there," she said, prompting Harry and Ron to look, too.

"Maybe they don't like to come down to eat or aren't here, yet," said Ron. "...or maybe Dumbledore is teaching it! Maybe he couldn't find anyone!"

"I doubt it Ron. Dumbledore is a rather busy individual," she said sternly.

"Hey, I was just telling an idea!" Ron said angrily.

"Well, he is headmaster," Hermione said, smugly, fidgeting with her food.

"So? It probably would be easy for him to teach us," Ron retorted.

"It isn't easy to teach seven years of students. It takes planning!" she snapped.

Both their tempers were rising, and Harry was desperate to find a way to end the conversation before they stopped talking to each other.

"Look! McGonagall is passing out schedules!" he said hurriedly.

He knew the lure of the new schedule would be enough to quiet Hermione, and Ron would have no reason to argue if she was not there. These days they never stopped. McGonagall handed them their schedules.

"Well, it looks like we'll find out who is teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts today. We have it before lunch," Hermione said and Ron nodded.

Ron said, happily, "The week seems so much smaller. No Hi온라인카지노게임 of Magic, no Astronomy, no Divination and most of all no Potions!"

Harry looked over his and realized that Ron got three out of four right. On his, it said distinctly, double Potions Tuesday and Thursday, but before he could say anything, Hermione chimed in.

"Speak for yourself, Ron. I've still got Potions and Arithimancy," Hermione said.

"Well that's you," Ron said, grinning.

"She's right, Ron, I've still got Potions, too," he said gloomily. Ron and Hermione both stared at him.

"You got an O in Potions?" she asked, incredibly.

"Well, don't sound too surprised," Harry said, resentfully.

"Oh, no! Sorry, Harry! You did very well, I just didn't expect it," Hermione said, apologetically. Ron, however, said nothing. He was slightly in shock.

"It was a really hard exam Ron. Very few people get into Snape's class," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I guess," he said, gloomily.

"But look we get to see Hagrid first, right after breakfast. Besides consider yourself lucky, you don't have to see Snape," Harry said, and then realizing he was stuck with Snape.

"Let's go we can talk to Hagrid before class starts, and ask him if he knows who's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said, lifting up her bag.

Harry and Ron followed her out. Neither of them had mentioned his leg. He was relieved that they got the impression that he did not want to talk about it. They walked out of the entrance hall and out on to the grounds toward Hagrid's hut. He was outside in his garden, no doubt getting ready for Halloween.

"Hi, Hagrid!" they said as one.

"Hallo! Couldn' wait ter tell yeh," he said excitedly and motioned them to follow him.

He walked behind the hut and revealed Buckbeak, who was untied and very happy.

"Yah, 'em Ministry folks finally figure'd tha' Malfoy paid off tha' committee an' agreed tha' it was a mis'ap 'n justice an' all. An' pardoned 'im! I brought 'im back 'ere since, well... how yeh doin' Harry, an'..." Hagrid stopped.

Hagrid finally noticed Harry's black eye.

"Whasmatter wit ya? Where'd yeh git tha' black eye from? 'em Dursleys! Next time I see 'em..." Hagrid roared.

"No Hagrid... Dudley and I got into a fight, that's it," Harry said, quickly.

"Well, still I should give 'em a talkin' ter, still owe 'em from yer secon' year. An' blimey, Harry yeh look thin'er," Hagrid said.

"A diet, don't worry I'm fine," Harry said, simply.

"Well, ok," Hagrid said, absentmindedly.

"What did you do this summer?" Hermione asked, desiring to change the subject.

"Nothin' much, nothin' that yeh'd should be concerned wit," he said.

"What about..." Hermione looked around. "...Grawp?"

"O', he's doin' a lot bet'er, doesn' hit me no more, he's learnin' English pretty good," Hagrid said, but their classmates started crossing the lawn toward them, which ended their discussion.

Amazing almost everyone got an O.W.L.'s in Care of Magical Creatures, so they could continue it. Only Crabbe and Goyle did not, and Harry was surprised they even could come back.

Malfoy was shocked to see Buckbeak and went red when Hagrid told the class what happened. All the Gryffindors looked at Malfoy with ever-increasing dislike, even some of the Slytherins were not talking to him. Pansy Parkinson was completely avoiding him and even talking to Gryffindors rather than talking to him. Apparently, not all Slytherins were Death Eaters supporters, and similarly did not like the state of his shabby robes.

Thankfully, they did not have any new animals. Hagrid went over the O.W.L.'s exam they took and reviewed some other materials that were not on the O.W.L.'s. Although it was a lovely lesson, meaning that no one got sting, burned, stabbed, slashed or bit during class, Hagrid promised them many interesting animals that they were going to study, including dragons. When Hagrid mentioned dragons, every single student looked completely terrified at the thought of dragons and Hagrid together.

Hagrid had tried to raise a dragon in their first year and as a result Ron got a poisonous bite, it almost cost Gryffindor the House Cup, and Hermione, Harry, Neville and Malfoy all got detention. Two years ago, Harry and the other Triwizard champions had to face dragons in their first tasks, and all of them were almost killed. Dragons were quite dangerous, which Hagrid would never admit.

As they made their way back up to the castle, Ron was going over what he would do if Hagrid brought another dragon.

"... I've seen enough dragons to last me a lifetime! If he brings a dragon... I don't even care if he gets thrown in Azkaban, for bringing one..." Ron said, seriously disgruntled. "Dragons! What on earth was Charlie thinking?"

Ron's older brother Charlie was in Romania studying dragons. Harry and Hermione smiled, both of them shared Ron's feelings, but it was a form of entertainment to let him rant. They were through the doors, when Hermione remembered something.

"Oh! We forgot to ask Hagrid about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Buckbeak just distracted me so much, that I forgot," she said.

"Well, it's not as though we don't have the class right now that we won't find out," Harry said slightly irritated.

"Well, true," Hermione surrendered.

"Hey, it could be Lupin!" said Ron hopefully.

"I doubt it, most people still hold on to that pureblood nonsense. They are just paranoid. They aren't always a wolf," Hermione said, clearly showing her views on the subject.

"To right you are," Harry said and they walked up stairs and to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

They walked in and looked around. Everybody was required to take this class, especially since Voldemort was alive and killing again. The need for protection was even greater. They took their seats toward the front, because they wanted to know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. Four of the five previous professors were, for the most part, Dark. Each by the end of the year had tried to hurt or kill Harry. It was actually amusing to Harry. He wondered if it would be five out of six.

Around the room, people were talking about who it could be. An Auror? Some kind Dark Arts expert? However, the one person that they should have thought about did not come up. He entered the door and they heard the ever-familiar voice, which silenced the class in an instant.

"Settle down," he said needlessly as he walked into the room.

It seemed Harry had been wrong about Ron's schedule. He came to a halt right in front of Harry. He was smiling and his lip was curling as he stared down at him.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts," he sneered, looking Harry dead in the eyes.

After fifteen years of waiting, Snape had finally gotten his wish.