~Chapter 14- Fifth Year Begins~

We cleaned as much of Grimmauld Place as we could. The drawing room was full of doxies that needed to be exterminated, there was a boggart in the writing desk that Mrs. Weasley ended up facing, and the items that Sirius wanted to throw away were tossed out. This included several old family photos, the Black family china, and several dark-looking objects like a locket with a snake on it. Oddly, every time Sirius tossed out an old family possession without a second thought, Kreacher felt he needed to be around to save the most precious items and hide them to prevent Sirius from trashing them.

Then there was the matter of Harry's hearing - he miraculously got off. We celebrated this one night and then, a few nights later, had a celebration for Ron and Hermione - both had been made prefects.

Before any of us knew it, it was time to start school again. On the day we left, while everyone else was packing, I was talking to Sirius. He told me the plan.

"We're recruiting part of the advance guard," he said. "For Harry."

"Why?" I asked. "Voldemort's not going to ambush him at Kings Cross, is he? I thought he was trying to stay hidden."

Sirius shrugged. "It's Mad-Eye's plan. You know how he is about security and protection, being an ex-Auror and all. Luckily, though, I can go this time."

"What do you mean? You can't leave this house, you'll get caught!"

"Not if I'm like this," he said, and transformed into a dog. He jumped up, put his paws on my shoulders, and licked my face.

"Augh, Sirius. Get down." I pushed him off. "You have dog breath."

"Convincing, though, isn't it?" he asked, transforming back. "Nobody will know I'm really that supposed mass murderer."

"I guess. So, how are we getting to Kings Cross anyway?"

"We're walking. Arthur tried to get Ministry cars, but Fudge won't loan him anything these days. He already suspects Arthur is associated with Dumbledore, because of his Muggle obsession - "

I interrupted him. "So who's coming?"

"Tonks and Molly are taking Harry and I'm going with them. Arthur's taking Ron and Hermione, and Remus is taking the rest of the Weasleys. Mad-Eye's bringing the luggage and Sturgis is supposed to show up; we need another person...though he should be here right now, and I'm not sure where he is."

"So...who am I going with?"

"Oh!" Sirius smacked himself in the head. "I forgot about you! Oh, well. You'll just have to stay behind and live with me and Kreacher and my mother's portrait. Who needs Hogwarts, anyway?"

He began to laugh at the horrified look on my face. I punched him in the arm, saying, "Sirius!"

He stopped laughing. "Okay, you're going with Molly, Tonks, Harry, and me."

I nodded just as a flustered Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen and called for everyone else, who were still packing upstairs. They hurried down within the next few seconds, carrying their trunks and pets.

Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Sirius (otherwise known as ‘Snuffles' in his dog form), and I walked down the street. An old woman with gray hair and a purple hat greeted us.

"Wotcher, Harry, Linds," she said.

Dora! Why was she disguised as an old woman? For the guard? Well, it was certainly strange. I was sure she wouldn't have transformed into that unless she really, really had to.

As we walked, Sirius snapped at and chased pigeons, causing Harry, Dora, and I to laugh. Mrs. Weasley, on the other hand, looked at him disapprovingly.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Kings Cross. After getting onto Platform 9 ¾ as usual, we stood in front of the Hogwarts Express, waiting for the others.

Mad-Eye emerged first with the luggage. He looked different with a hat pulled over his magical eye. Then Mr. Weasley came in with Ron and Hermione, shortly followed by Lupin with Fred, George, and Ginny.

"Well, look after yourselves," [*] Lupin said, giving us each a handshake.

"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," [*] Moody said. "And don't forget, all of you - careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."

Dora said goodbye to everyone and gave hugs to Ginny and Hermione. When she reached me, she said, "Take care, Linds. Write to me. You do have your journal, right?"

"Yes. I'll tell you if anything strange happens."

"Great." She pulled me into a hug. "I'll see you over break."

The train whistled.

"Go on, you don't want to miss it," Dora said.

"I know, but...hang on." I turned away from everyone and walked over to Sirius. "Sirius...It's been nice meeting you," I told him in a quiet voice, patting his head and hoping I simply looked like a girl saying goodbye to her dog. "I hope to see you soon."

He barked in reply.

"Linds!" Dora shouted as the train began to move.

"I have to go," I said. I turned away from him and hurried onto the train, waving to everybody. I looked out the window and saw Sirius chasing us until we turned the corner.

I sighed. Here I was again, in the same old situation with no one to sit by or talk to. I'd really enjoyed the company of Sirius all summer, and even Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys. At least I'd had a chance to get to know them better. But I was alone again.

There weren't any empty compartments, so I ended up sitting with three first year girls at the back of the train.

The trip was not quiet. One of the girls was extremely chatty and once I began to give her the general rundown of Hogwarts, she wouldn't shut up.

"So, what house are you in?" she asked. "What year? Who's your favorite teacher? What subjects do you take? My older sister is in fourth year and she takes Divination and Muggle Studies. Do you take Divination? Do you like Divination? I really want to take it but I'm not in third year yet. But I know about it because my sister told me stuff. My sister's a witch just like me and my mum. My dad's a wizard, of course. I'm a pureblood. What's your blood status? Sorry, what house did you say you were in?"

"Um...I didn't get a chance to say," I said, keeping the annoyance out of my voice. "But I'm in Gryffindor."

"Ooh, Gryffindor! That's the house for brave people, isn't it? I'd love to be in Gryffindor! But Ravenclaw would be nice, because I'm really, really smart...or Hufflepuff, because I like badgers! But, ooh, Slytherin would also be fun because snakes are really cool! And their colors are green and silver! I love green and silver! What are your favorite colors...?"

And so it went. I could never even answer all of her questions because she talked so fast. At least I got to snack on Chocolate Frogs and usual. But then she asked about the collectable cards which led to more questions...

I had a splitting headache by the time we arrived at Hogwarts. As soon as the train stopped, I dashed out of the compartment. I had to get away from the girl. At least the other two had been quiet. Then again, they never really got a chance to talk because the other one never stopped.

So much for wanting company. Maybe having no one to talk to wasn't so bad.

Hogwarts was as welcoming as ever. As soon as I caught sight of the lake and the brilliant castle, I felt that usual feeling that coming back here gave me (with the exception of one thing - Hagrid wasn't here to escort the first years across the lake). The inside was as just as magnificent as well with the shining entrance hall and candlelit Great Hall.

I found my place near the other Gryffindors in my year. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were seated halfway down the table with Lavender and Parvati. Seeing Neville and the two girls was nice, considering I hadn't seen them in two months. But then I remembered how Lavender and I had fought at the end of the year about Voldemort's return.

That's when another thought hit me - though Dumbledore had told us about Voldemort at the end of the year, Fudge and several other people didn't believe him. So how many students in this hall believed the truth? How many believed the Daily Prophet?

The usual Sorting Ceremony took place, followed by the feast. Like everyone else, I was starving. Eventually, Dumbledore came up to give his usual announcement.

He gave the basic rundown: that the forest was off-limits, Filch's reminder about no magic in the corridors, staffing changes, and the Quidditch tryouts. But as he was saying this...

"...Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the - " [**]

"Hem hem," [**] someone coughed. It was Professor Umbridge, the new D.A.D.A. teacher. She stood up as we all went silent. Why had she interrupted Dumbledore?

My mind drifted back to something Harry had said before the Sorting: Umbridge worked for Fudge at the Ministry and had been at his hearing. I looked at her, frowning slightly. She was extremely short and looked like a toad. She had short brown hair and wore a ghastly fluffy pink cardigan.

"Thank you, Headmaster," she said as Dumbledore sat down. "For those kind words of welcome." [**]

I hated her already. Her voice was high pitched and childish, and interrupting Dumbledore's annual speech was just...unheard of.

It was difficult to focus on the speech. I was too busy thinking about getting comfortable in Gryffindor Tower. I picked up bits and pieces, but couldn't put a puzzle together. Hermione obviously did, based on her attentive expression. As much as I wished I had the mindset to understand this Umbridge lady, everything went in one ear and out the other for me.

I was happy to be dismissed to Gryffindor Tower. Like the rest of the school, the common room and dormitories were as welcoming as ever. I climbed into bed tiredly, thinking about classes the next day.

"What a gargoyle!"

I shot up from my bed.

"Hermione?" I asked.

Hermione stood by her bed, pacing angrily.

"Not only is she corrupting Hogwarts, she's going to ruin our education! And this is O.W.L. year! How will we learn Defense Against the Dark Arts with that hag teaching it?"

"Is that what she was saying?" I asked.

"Yes! The Ministry is interfering here at Hogwarts!"

"Oh," I said. That's all I could say. I was lucky Hermione was there to explain it to me, since at dinner I'd found Fred Weasley's animated napkin of Filch dancing with Mrs. Norris distracting and much more entertaining.

"We'll have to be on watch," Hermione said.

"Let it go," Parvati complained from across the room. "It's late and I'd like to sleep."

"Yeah, let's turn the light out," said Lavender.

While I agreed, my mind wandered to what Hermione had said. If Umbridge was like that with her speech, how would her classes be? During a time like this, we needed a really good teacher to teach us to defend ourselves...but it sounded like the Ministry was trying to prevent that exact thing from happening.

When I woke up the next morning, the realization of a new year hit me. Tired but slightly excited to receive my schedule, I dressed and went to the Great Hall. As I helped myself to toast, Professor McGonagall handed them out.

Aw. History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts all in one day - Monday, of course. Those were all the worst classes combined into one (well, with D.A.D.A., it varied. It just depended on who was teaching. But I could tell I was going to hate Umbridge, but whether it was because of her high-pitched voice, toad-like face, atrocious pink outfits, or something else, I couldn't tell).

History of Magic and Potions ended up behind the same as they always were, if not worse. I was happy to go to lunch. Two classes into the new term and the homework load had already become a nightmare. Snape and Binns each assigned an essay so I hoped the other teachers wouldn't give out much. This was, obviously, wishful thinking, because Professor Trelawney gave us a dream diary as homework and I was positive Umbridge would give us some long essay or spellbook reading. With her, nobody knew.

After Divination, the Gryffindors entered the classroom that had belonged to so many D.A.D.A. teachers before. Everyone was quiet. Umbridge sat at the front wearing her pink cardigan, smiling in an extremely annoying way. This was already torture.

"Theory!" Hermione shrieked in the common room later that night. "Theoretical knowledge only? Who does she think she is?"

"A Ministry official sent here to bring Dumbledore down. Who else?" said Ron.

"And now Harry's in detention for telling the truth! I just can't believe it!" Hermione went on.

"Maybe we'll learn something," I heard Neville mutter. He was sitting on the couch next to my chair.

"But we won't know how to use it! Ugh, this is stressing me out," Hermione said, putting her face in her hands. If the Or - if they - if Snuffles and the rest knew, what would they think?"

"I can ask!" I said brightly, standing up and preparing to run to the dormitory to retrieve my journal.

"You can?" Hermione asked. "How?"

"I can contact Dora through this journal she gave me."

Neville had a confused look on his face. "Is there something I'm missing here?" he asked.

But Hermione was too excited to answer. "Oh, right, your Messaging Journal! You should get it and talk to her!"

"I'll go now." I dashed upstairs and brought it back to my chair. Hoping Dora was around and not on some Order mission, I wrote in that hot pink journal for the first time in months:

Dora?

I waited for about ten minutes, during which I worked on my Potions essay. When my journal began to vibrate, I opened it and read:

What is it?

I have a lot to tell you. You're not too busy, are you?

No.

Well, we have a new D.A.D.A. teacher and she's from the Ministry and everything, and apparently they think Dumbledore and Harry are nuts for the whole Voldemort thing. You know how it goes. Well, they've devised a new curriculum and it's all theoretical.

So I've heard. And please don't write his name!

Give it up. Sirius and Remus say it, and it's really stupid to be scared of a word.

Don't write their names here! What if someone finds this entry? Remember what Mad-Eye said about putting things into writing?

The entry will erase when we close the journals. But I'm not here to talk about journal entries. I'm here to tell you about what happened in class today.

And so I told her every little detail about the afternoon's events. When I'd finished writing, she wrote:

Well, it's awful that they're only teaching you theory, but there's honestly nothing I can do. I wish I could help more, but the Order top secret business is taking up most of my time.

I paused before writing my next comment. I wasn't quite sure what I was feeling at the moment, but after admitting it, I wrote:

Well, I guess I'm just...scared. I don't know what's coming, and I want to be prepared. A theoretical knowledge isn't enough, and well...I don't know...I just wish some insane solution would suddenly appear, I guess...

Hang in there. You never know. I know the Ministry's being stupid, but bear with it. Pick up what you can from the theoretical stuff and...hey Linds, I have to go. Duty calls.

I closed the journal somewhat angrily. She was so busy now with the Order! But I guess that's just how it was when it came to fighting the Dark Side.

"What did she say?" Hermione asked after I'd thrown the book on the floor.

"To hang in there," I groaned.

A stressed look crossed Hermione's face. "Well, there has to be a way..."

"I don't know."

"I'll look into something. Maybe the library will give me ideas."

"I hate to say this, Hermione, but I don't know if you're going to find the answer to this one in a book," I said with a sigh.

Yet, though I didn't know it at the time, there was the chance that an insane solution would suddenly appear from out of nowhere.