Harry felt the shiver of excitement as the train pulled away from the station. Finally, after all those miserable weeks, he was going back where he belonged. He felt quite odd, as if something had loosened inside him, and there was the even odder feeling he'd had when Mrs. Weasley had said, don't worry dearie, it's all in the family, as if he truly belonged.

"You're going to fall right out of the train, Harry, if you don't move away from the door." Harry looked down. Ginny was staring at him, and the look on her face was so exactly the look he had seen on Mrs. Weasley's a moment before, that he stared back in turn. Then he grinned.

Perhaps it was something about the bright red hair, or the stubborn, almost pugnacious jut of the chin, or the determination in the bright brown eyes, but a vast affection for the Weasley family rose up and he said carelessly, almost mischievously, "Not a chance, when there's a Weasley around to catch me."

She huffed at him just as Mrs. Weasley did when she was getting ready to yell. He thought, it was really very fascinating, how people in families looked alike, or acted alike, without really seeing it themselves. It struck him then, that this must be what Snape felt when he looked at Harry. He looked at Harry, but what he saw was James, his father, and the view was forever distorted by that remembered reflection. Harry cut off her incipient protest, "So, have we found a place to sit?"

She narrowed her eyes at him as if she knew what he'd done, but said, "At the back. Ron and Hermione have to sit with the prefects again to start, but we've got a place reserved in the back. Neville's holding it for us." Harry nodded and followed her down the aisle to the compartment in the back. He hoped that Neville wouldn't spray some odd sticky plant on him and that just for once, he wouldn't have words with Malfoy and his lot.

They were halfway down the train when Ginny stopped dead to the accompaniment of loud giggles. Harry nearly ran into her and was surprised to see Cho Chang standing in the doorway of a compartment and apparently blocking Ginny's way. He said, "Hullo," and was surprised when Cho didn't say hi back. Last year's brief disastrous Valentine's Day date flashed through Harry's mind, but he didn't feel angry or embarrassed or much of anything.

Cho looked from Ginny to Harry and said, "New girlfriend? Or is it that Loony Luna you're dating now?"

Harry stared at Cho in astonishment. He knew that Cho had been angry with him for meeting Hermione during their short date, but it had been Cho who had stormed off and immediately started dating Roger Davies. And she hadn't seemed angry with him the last time he had seen her. He saw Ginny's ears turning red and thought, uh oh, so he said quickly, "Erm, actually, Ginny's dating Dean Thomas, and I'm not dating anyone."

Ginny, however, added airily, "You forgot to mention whatshername from London." She was quite scarlet about the cheeks as she said this and she went on, "The really pretty girl with the big blue eyes and curves. Annie? That was her name wasn't it? She gave you that sweet kiss goodbye when we came to pick you up for school." Ginny didn't wait for Cho's reaction or Harry's. She marched right down the aisle leaving Harry burning with embarrassment and Cho staring angrily at him.

Harry said awkwardly, "So, are you, er, still dating Roger?" Then he remembered, it had been Michael Corner she had been dating last. And Michael had been dating Ginny before Cho.

Cho smiled at him, not happily, and said, "Of course not. Roger graduated. I'm dating Michael Corner right now."

Harry said lamely, "Oh. Well, that's nice." He gestured meaninglessly after Ginny and said, "See you later." Harry caught up with Ginny before she entered the compartment. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"What was what all about?" she asked back.

"You know, that bit about Annie kissing me goodbye."

Ginny just lifted her eyebrows and said, "Well she did, didn't she?" and sat down next to Neville.

Harry was about to say something back, but Neville said, "Hi, Harry. Have a good summer?" before he could.

Harry collected himself and said, "Yeah. Just fine, Neville."

He gave Ginny a quelling look and hoped she had the sense not to mention his having run off and made a right idiot of himself.

Neville looked at Harry and said, "You don't look so fine. Have you been sick or something?"

Harry said, "No. No, I haven't." But he couldn't help wondering just how bad he must look, if Neville was asking him a question like that. Casting about for a change of subject, Harry asked, "So how did you do on your OWLs, Neville? What classes are you taking?"

"I got OWLs in every subject except Diviniation," Neville said proudly. And then with an air of puzzlement, he added, "Can you believe I actually passed Potions? And I got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Who'd have thought I would ever get an O in anything but Herbology? And it's all cause of you and the D.A."

"That's great, Neville." Harry thought proudly, I helped him do that. I did it.

Neville said, "Here, look! Gran got me a new wand. She was awful mad that I broke my dad's, but Mr. Ollivander said I should have come in long ago." Neville flourished his new wand proudly. "Yew," he said. "Thirteen inches with..." A drawling voice cut off Neville's description.

"Fat lot of good a new wand will do for you, Longbottom." Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway. He was twirling what looked like a new wand, too. His pale gray eyes were narrowed as they surveyed Neville and Harry and Ginny. "It's the compartment for all those who got left behind: the orphans, the cast-offs, and the poor. And look at you, Potter. Have you run through all your dear dead daddy's gold and now you have to wear hand-me-downs of the Weasley's hand-me-downs?" He looked at Harry's trainers with the holes in them and smirked.

"I'd rather be an orphan or wear hand-me-downs than be rich and have a live father who's a Death Eater and a criminal," Harry answered.
Malfoy smiled and said, "Just don't forget, Potter. I'm not only rich, I'm a prefect. And I'm going to be quidditch captain this year, too. So mind your manners when I'm around. You see, now that the Dark Lord is really back, you'll be wishing you had picked the right side to begin with." Behind him, his cronies laughed.

Neville, however, wasn't laughing. He had lifted his wand up and was pointing it steadily at Malfoy's face. Ginny's wand was also drawn.

Malfoy smiled again. "Why don't you just give me a reason to give you detention? It's not as if you didn't have enough of them last year."

Harry simply stared at Malfoy. He didn't even bother to draw his wand. Neville stared at Harry and looked as though he were eagerly waiting for the signal. Harry, however, remembered Dumbledore's comment about the train ride and refused to be drawn. He folded his arms and continued to stare at Malfoy. For a moment, it seemed as if a curtain had been drawn, and Harry had a glimpse of Malfoy standing trembling before his father as the Death Eater read the results of his son's exams.

"You're not so brave when your Dad's displeased, are you?" he said.
Malfoy paled slightly, but whatever he might have said was cut off when he heard the thump of footsteps and voices--Ron's and Hermione's and Ernie Macmillan's and Hannah Abbott's. He gave Harry one last furious look and withdrew.

"You're not fighting with Malfoy again, Harry?" Ernie Macmillan asked.

Harry said, "Fighting? No, we weren't fighting, Ernie. I didn't even draw my wand, although you could say that was a...small stand-off, a temporary cease-fire, before the war heats up."

Hermione sat down beside him and said, "Well you had better not be the first one to attack, Harry. The last thing you need is another year like the last."

Harry said, "Why, Hermione! What makes you think I'm going to waste my time actually fighting Draco Malfoy? Could it be because he's a hateful git? Could it be that his family are Death Eaters right in Voldemort's inner circle?" There was the usual shiver when Harry said Voldemort's name. But he didn't care. Hermione gave him one of those looks that could shrivel the strong and make the unwary weep. Ginny, however, was altogether undaunted.

"So you've decided to grace us with your royal prefectness, er, presence." Ron looked nearly as annoyed as when Fred and George had teased him, but Ernie Macmillan answered.

"It's not a joke, Ginny. There's not enough prefects to keep things calm on the train. We want to get some help. There's a few of the Slytherins, including Malfoy's crowd that're bullying some of the new first years before we've even got to Hogwarts. We were hoping you three would help."
Neville answered for them. "Course we'll help. Just tell us what to do."

Hermione said, "We want a fifth or sixth or seventh year to join each of the compartments with the younger kids. Especially the first years."

Harry stood up. "Of course, we'll help. Just point us where you want us." Ginny nodded and tucked her wand up her sleeve and they followed the four prefects along the corridor.

They put Ginny with a group of second year Gryffindors who, Harry recalled, had given Hermione and Ron quite a lot of trouble last year. Neville was assigned a compartment with kids Harry didn't recognize, so he assumed they must be some of the new first years.

As they moved away, Harry heard Neville saying, "Yes, that's really him. He has really got a scar like a lightning bolt and he's really nice."

Harry felt the usual discomfort at being recognized, but it was mixed with gratitude to Neville, who had, in one sentence made Harry a person to the gawpers. They were halfway toward the front of the train when Harry saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle standing over a new first year. He had to be new, Harry thought, as he was quite little.

Malfoy was saying, "They won't be letting his kind in before long," and the others were laughing.

Harry felt the cold rage rise, and said, "I think it's your kind they won't be letting in before long, Malfoy." Harry put a hand on the kid's shoulder and said, "Where's your compartment?"

The kid looked at him with astonishment and said, "I know you! You're Harry Potter!"

Malfoy sneered, "Another member of the Harry Potter fan club. Your fame precedes you, scarhead." Malfoy bowed ironically and moved off with his cronies, who laughed just a beat too slowly.

"Don't let that lot bother you," Harry said and then he looked at the kid again. "Wait a minute. I know you, too. You're Mark Evans, from Little Whinging?" Harry couldn't believe it. Another kid from his neighborhood? A wizard?

The kid gaped at him and said, "You're really a wizard, too? But I thought...That is, everyone thinks..."

Harry smiled at him, "That I go to St. Brutus' School for Incurably Criminal Boys? Which doesn't actually exist, by the way."

The kid said, "Well, yeah. That's what your...the Dursleys told every one."

"I can assure you, the Dursleys think your ordinary criminal is far more respectable than a wizard. They like to pretend there's no such thing as magic," Harry replied.

"But there really is!"

Harry smiled, "Yes. There really is."

"Wait a minute!" The kid stopped and stared. "When you made your cousin back off, that Dudley, I thought you had a..."

Harry said, "A gun?" He put his hand in his pocket and drew out his wand. "That's what the other boys probably thought too. Piers Polkiss and that lot. But Dudley knew better. He's much more scared of this, than he would be of a gun." Harry smiled again and pocketed his wand.

The kid, Mark Evans, said, "I've got one, too. Do you think he'd back off if I showed him mine?"

Harry said, "Probably. The only problem is Dudley knows we get into trouble if we use magic outside of school in the summer. I almost got expelled last year for it. Your best bet is still to avoid him and tell him you'll report him to the police again."

"This one's mine," Mark Evans said as he sat down in a compartment with three other first years. Harry sat down and the other three stared at him.

"This is Harry Potter," the kid said and one of the other kids whispered, "We know."

Mark asked, "Do you know lots of magic now?" The other kids continued to stare at Harry as if he were a zoo exhibit.

Harry said, "Some."

The other three made a soundless ooh at that and looked like they wanted to laugh but were afraid of what Harry might do. Harry tried to think what to say to a bunch of first years who had obviously heard all kinds of gossip about him. Perhaps that he was a disturbed attention seeking liar? Perhaps that he was a legendary hero? Either way, Harry wished he were just another ordinary kid. Mark, however, had never heard of the famous Harry Potter. He only knew Harry Potter, the slightly pathetic orphan who lived with his nasty relatives. He asked, "So, do you know, like card tricks and stuff, and how to make things vanish?"

One of the other kids, a girl, giggled and said not too rudely, "We don't do card tricks like Muggle illusionists. We do real magic."

Harry was reminded of Hermione telling Ron his spell to turn Scabbers yellow couldn't be real magic.

He grinned to himself and said, "We do make things vanish. As a matter of fact, vanishing spells are quite tricky and come up on your O.W.L.s. I had to vanish an iguana last year on mine."

The girl said, "Ooh, an iguana's quite large. I bet that was hard."

Harry nodded and said, "Oh yeah. It took me the whole year to be able to vanish things really well." He leaned forward and said, "And I'll tell you a secret. I do card tricks, too. But you can't tell anyone. Especially not the Slytherins as they like to make fun of me already."

"Slytherins?" Mark asked.

The girl said, "Yeah. That's one of the four houses--Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin, named after the Four Founders. The first thing that happens when we arrive is we get sorted into our Houses. My Mum was a Ravenclaw and my Dad was a Gryffindor."

Evans gulped and said, "How do they sort you? Do you have to have a test or something?"

All four looked at Harry. "You just put on a hat, the Sorting Hat, and it decides which house you belong in according to your personality and strengths."

The girl, who had strawberry blond hair and a freckly face, asked, "Which house are you in?"

Harry smiled and said, "I'm in Gryffindor."

"Is that why you don't get along with the Slytherins? The people in the houses don't get along?"

Harry tried to think how to answer that one. "I don't get along with that fellow who was teasing you, Draco Malfoy. We're in the same class and we didn't like each other right away. And he's in Slytherin, so his friends don't like me either." Harry added, "He reminds me of Dudley, see, only meaner."

The kid's forehead was wrinkled with thought as he puzzled all this out. Finally, he said, "But he's a wizard, isn't he?"

Harry sighed. He was reminded of himself when he had first arrived in the wizard world. "Yes, he's a wizard. But you see, the only difference between wizards and Muggles is wizards can do magic. They're still people. Some are good and some are bad and some are...evil. Just like the rest of the world. And the bad ones can be worse than anyone because they have magic too."

The boy who had been silent till now whispered, "Like You Know Who?"

Harry nodded. "Like Voldemort," he affirmed.

The three who came from wizard families gasped and said, "You said his name!"

But Mark, who had never heard of Voldemort, said, "Who's Voldemort?"

Harry said, "A criminal, a murderer, a very evil dark wizard. But let's not talk about him right now."

The others sighed with relief and Harry said, "So tell me your names. I know Mark, but you are...?"

The girl with the strawberry hair and freckles was Meg McKinnon. The quiet boy, was Jonathan Prewett, and the other girl, who had a dimpled chin and a long braid, was Amelie Ann Bones.

"Is Susan Bones your sister?" Harry asked. The girl nodded shyly and gave him a tiny smile when he said, "She's very nice. She's in my class, but she's in Hufflepuff."

"We've a lot of Hufflepuffs in our family," said Amelie Ann, "but some of our cousins, they were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. But they got killed." She whispered the last sentence and added in a very fierce whisper, "You Know Who did it."

Harry nodded. "Like my Mum and Dad." He saw the four of them were looking a bit wobbly and said again, "But let's not talk about that just now." The children seemed to have decided he wouldn't bite.

The freckly girl, Meg said, "What kind of card tricks do you do? You don't do divination with them, like reading the tarot, do you?"

Harry laughed. "Not at all. I'm perfectly miserable at divination. I didn't even pass my O.W.L exam on that. No, it's just a Muggle trick I learned from this old guy in a pub this summer." Harry pulled out a pack of cards that he'd stuck in his jean pocket on the last night he'd gone to the Black Jack. He shuffled the cards in a whirring flash and had them each pick and then told them each which card they had.

Mark Evans said, "Wow. That's cool. My uncle can do little magic tricks like pretending to pull a coin from your ear and stuff like that, but he really just palms them. It's really clever. But this is much harder. How do you do that? You're not reading our minds are you?"

Amelie Ann said, "Course he's not reading our minds." Then she looked at him with very big eyes and said, "You can't do that can you?"

Harry grinned. "No, of course I'm not." He took the cards back and tried to do the trick slowly enough so they could see. "See, it's all how fast you move your hands. Look!" he said as he dealt out four aces in a row.

Jonathan Prewett said, "I like that. That's as good as Exploding Snap almost."

When the lady with the food cart came by, Harry bought a pile of Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties and Chocloate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. He was starving and the four first years had a terrific time trying to catch their chocloate frogs and trading the wizard cards that came with them. Mark Evans was amazed when his Dumbledore card waved at him and Harry smiled nostalgically. When Ron, Hermione and Ginny stopped by later, they were in the middle of a very exciting game of Exploding Snap and Harry was laughing at Meg McKinnon's smoking cards.

Ron simply looked at Harry in disbelief, Hermione said, "You'd better change into your robes. We're almost there," and Ginny giggled and said, "You've got smoke on your face."

Harry tried to rub the smoke off, but only succeeded in messing himself up further. All three of his friends were grinning at him, but the three first years from wizard families were frankly staring again. Harry unfolded himself from his seat to go back to his compartment to change and said, "Bye. See you later at the Sorting." Mark Evans waved, and as he left Harry heard Jonathn Prewett whisper, "Did you see it? He really has got a scar just like a lightning bolt."

Harry shrugged his shoulders in irritation and flattened his hair. He had been having fun, just for once, pretending he was just like anybody else.Unlike last year, the return to Hogwarts was almost everything Harry could have hoped for.

Hagrid was waiting to greet the first years and he gave Harry a great hug when he saw him and said, "Ah, Harry! When're yeh goin' to stop worryin' us all? Gave us a big scare yeh did, runnin' off like that."

Harry squirmed just a bit and said, "I know, Hagrid. I'm sorry, but things were just...well, awful. I'll come round as soon as I can and tell you everything."

Hagrid looked at him and said gruffly, "'S long as yeh're all right, I don' mind. But you look after yerself this year. Keep yer head down an' listen to Professor Dumbledore. Things are heatin' up." He gave Harry another worried look and left Harry with more to chew on. Voldemort must be causing more trouble that he didn't know about or than was in the papers. He wondered if the Ministry was concealing things again. Especially after the raid and release of the prisoners, the Ministry wouldn't want to let people know they were having trouble handling things.

Hermione and Ron had gone to get instructions on their prefect duties and Harry had gotten separated from Ginny and Neville while he was talking to Hagrid. He caught a carriage drawn by one of the school's thestrals and kept his head down as the other students, some Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff he didn't know very well, chattered about their summer and who this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher might be.

All he could think of was, whoever it was, it couldn't be worse than Umbridge had been last year. When they got in, Harry made his way toward the Great Hall but was stopped by Professor McGonagall, who said, "A word with you in my office, Potter."

Harry followed her there feeling quite puzzled. He hadn't done anything lately--well, he had run away and been out of touch for a month, but as he'd spoken to Professor Dumbledore that very morning, what could she want?

Madam Pomfrey was waiting in the office and she proceeded to examine him thoroughly, feeling his forehead, checking his pulse and waving her wand over his chest and about his head and making clucking sounds as she did.

Harry ventured to say, "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm really quite fine," only to receive one of McGonagall's iciest looks.

He subsided and waited uncomfortably for Madam Pomfrey's verdict: "Well, he's dreadfully thin and definitely needs feeding up, but the other damage seems to have been healed quite nicely."

She gave a sniff and said, "Dumbledore still should have asked for me. It's always better to have a qualified Healer do these things." She favored Harry with a stern look and said, "And you really must stop doing these dangerous things. Every year it's something. Broken bones, dementors, now broken ribs and such, and have you been eating at all?"

Harry shrugged. He was quite as embarrassed as he'd ever been and said, "I eat." Both Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall stared at him, so he felt obliged to elaborate, "I've always been skinny." This statement, however, didn't seem to ameliorate their annoyance, so he added, "I'm really fine, so can I go now? They won't do the Sorting until Professor McGonagall comes and everyone will be waiting."

Professor McGonagall turned to Madam Pomfrey and said, "A restorative, perhaps. For a few weeks?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded and said, "Can I trust you to take a draft daily on your own, or do I have to make you come to the hospital wing every day to be sure you take it?"

Harry thought, god, I'll have Malfoy razzing me about being on death's door if I have to go to the hospital wing every day. He said, "I'll take it on my own." He added, as Madam Pomfrey went out muttering, "I'm not delicate!" He turned to Professor McGonagall to ask permission to leave again, and saw a funny expression on her face.

She said, "Mr. Potter, I trust that you will cease placing yourself in these suicidal situations or I just may be forced to reevaluate recommending you to be an auror. Do I make myself clear?"

Harry stared at her and said, "What are you talking about? I was trying to get out of trouble not into it! I told Professor Dumbledore about it!"

Professor McGonagall, however, didn't seem to buy that and said, "I hope you will be making better use of your intelligence this year, Mr. Potter. You want to think with your brain, and control your emotions." She held his gaze a moment more and added, "I need not tell you, that with You Know Who out in the open, things will get worse, not better."

Harry said, "I know that." He added, "But at least the Ministry won't be so busy interfering here when they've got to fight him out there."

She gave him a very wintry smile, said, "Indeed," and swept out the door before him.

The Sorting was well under way by the time Harry made it back to the Great Hall and found a space at the Gryffindor table next to Ron and Neville. He'd missed the song, but he noticed with interest that little Amelie Ann Bones was in Gryffindor and not in Hufflepuff. He said something about it to Ron, who merely said vaguely, "Not everyone from the same family goes into the same House." Ron added, "I wish they'd hurry up, I'm starving."

Hermione had noticed the bottle Harry had been given by Madam Pomfrey and asked, "What's that, Harry?"

He turned the bottle away from her and muttered, "Nothing."

She gave him a look and said, "That looks like one of Madam Pomfrey's. You might as well tell us. Ron'll see it anyway." At the sound of his name, Ron turned to look, too.

With two pairs of accusing eyes pinning him, Harry whispered hastily, "It's just Revitalizing Potion. Madam Pomfrey reckons I need to gain weight." He added defiantly, "But I'm perfectly fine."

Ron snorted and Hermione considered him anxiously. Ron was the one who said, "Yeah, you're about as fine as anyone can be who's had his ribs broken, and been half starved for weeks, not to mention having nasty nightmares about You Know Who."

Harry replied, "My ribs are fine. Dumbledore fixed them."

"I know," Ron said. "I heard him tell my Mum. He was really worried about you." He added flatly, "Well, we all were." Then his eyes narrowed and took on a fanatic glint. "And you'd better take that stuff Madam Pomfrey gave you religiously if you want to play on the team. I'm not fielding players who aren't in perfect health."

Harry stared at him and said to Hermione, "What is it about being Captain of the quidditch team that turns them all stark raving loony?"

Hermione gave a smothered giggle. She sobered quickly however, and said, "You really do need to build yourself up, Harry. Just dealing with You Know Who... Voldemort...is going to take most of your strength." She added, "You are going back to Occlumency lessons, aren't you?"

"Yes," he said. "But do me a favor. I'd like to get through one meal without talking about Voldemort, if you don't mind."

The Sorting was over. Dumbledore rose and said, "Welcome all of you and eat to your stomach's content!" Food appeared on the table and Harry busied himself with filling his plate as full as he could. He ignored Hermione's sidelong glances and ate as much as he could. He was bone weary though, and wished everyone would hurry up so he could get up to his bed and collapse into sleep.

It was only as they were all filing out afterwards that he noticed Dumbledore hadn't introduced a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
He said as much to Ron, who answered seriously, "Maybe he'll hire you Harry. You were better than practically everyone but Lupin and Moody and you haven't even graduated yet."

Harry yawned and said, "Don't be silly." Then a thought struck him and he said with horror, "You don't think he's desperate enough to give Snape that position, do you?"