Chapter 9: First Year Comes to a Close

Six pairs of eyes turned to look at Professor Dumbledore; one sullen, the other five triumphant. It was Harry who stepped forward to explain to the Headmaster what he had figured out and how the five students had gained entry to this chamber and defeated the professor. Harry's friends kept their swords trained on Quirrel the entire time Harry was speaking. Dumbledore wanted to know when those four had learnt to use swords. Harry confessed to teaching his friends.

"Well you have defended the Philosopher's stone and stopped Voldemort returning. You should all be very proud of yourselves. Now let us see about getting you all back to Gryffindor tower." Dumbledore bound Quirrel in ropes then sent a silvery bird from his wand, which soared away quite happily in the direction they had come from. Levitating Quirrel in front of him, Dumbledore led the way out of the of the series of chambers, now devoid of their accoutrements. When he reached the chamber that once held Devil Snare, Dumbledore instructed Hermione to tap a certain panel on the wall with her wand. A secret door swung open to reveal the Great Hall. Minerva McGonagall was waiting to herd the students back to the tower whilst Dumbledore dealt with Quirrel.

When the five came down to breakfast the next morning, they couldn't help noticing that most of the school were gossiping and whispering in small clusters at the house tables. As these conversations stopped when the five came close and started up as they walked away again, it was easy to assume that they were the subject of the gossip. The five sat at the end of the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the stares and whispers of every other student in the hall.

When the mail owls arrived, gasps could be heard all over the hall as one of the incoming owls was as large as some of the students. Harry smiled at the beautiful snowy owl as she flew down to stand by him.

"Lady Hedwig," Harry greeted the noble Narnian Talking Owl.

"Lord Harry," returned the leader of the Parliament of Owls. Jaws around the hall dropped as the incredibly large owl spoke. Even Harry's friends felt their jaws go slack. Harry realised he'd completely forgotten to tell his friends that the animals in Narnia were a little Different to the ones in England.

"Friends, allow me to introduce Lady Hedwig of the Narnian Parliament of Owls. Lady Hedwig, these are my friends Lords Draco, Neville and Ron and the Lady Hermione."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," greeted Lady Hedwig the owl. Harry's friends could only nod, being too much in shock to speak yet.

"Do you come with a message for me Hedwig?"

"Yes my lord. Lady Viola sent me to tell you she and Lord Black will meet you at Kings Cross Station on your last day of school to make the journey back to Narnia. Lady Viola also thought you may want to invite some of your friends to stay the summer at Cair Paravel." Hedwig bowed, since owls are not capable of curtsying, then spread her wings and took off again.

Harry looked at his friends who were still rather slack-jawed.

"So if you're going to come and stay with me this summer, I should probably warn you. In Narnia, all the animals talk."

"Can we really come and stay with you Harry?" asked Hermione eagerly. Harry nodded.

"You'd better write home and check with your parents first. They might not like you being away all summer." Harry's friends nodded and did just that. They all received answers saying they could go.

It wasn't long before the end of term feast arrived. The hall was decorated in silver and green since Slytherin had won the House Cup. Gryffindor had somehow ended up in last place. At least they had until Dumbledore stood up to award some last minute points.

These points, awarded to Harry and his friends, were for their actions in saving the Philosopher's Stone, and they took Gryffindor into the lead. Dumbledore clapped his hands together and the decorations changed to red and gold. Gryffindor cheered loudly. Snape looked as though someone had shoved an extremely sour lemon into his mouth and forced him to suck it.

The following day involved a mad dash around as everyone did last minute packing before heading down to the entrance hall to head back to the Hogwarts Express. The five friends found a compartment to themselves and spent the journey playing exploding snap, eating snacks from the trolley and listening to Harry's tales of Narnia.

It was not just Sirius and Viola waiting at the station to meet Harry and co. Queen Lucy stood next to Sirius, his arm around her waist. Harry was pleased to see the three adults, who he now realised he'd missed more than he'd thought. Sadly his arms weren't quite long enough to go round all three at once, but they tried their best. Harry introduced his school friends to his Godfather, honory aunt and the Narnian Queen.

"I thought you'd be hungry so I've booked a table at a nearby restaurant," Sirius told them before leading the way off the platform. Hermione noticed that Queen Lucy was looking around the station with something like nostalgia and questioned her about it.

"I was born in London," Queen Lucy explained. "My consorts and I were evacuated from this station in 1940 to the house of our great uncle Professor Kirke. It was whilst we were staying with him that we stumbled into Narnia, defeated the self-proclaimed Queen and were crowned by Aslan himself." Hermione was rather shocked to learn that the Narnian royals had also been world war two evacuees.

The restaurant where Sirius had reserved a table was a five minute walk from the station. But since the students had trunks to carry the group were going to drive. When they stepped out of the station, there was a sleek black limo in front of them. The driver stepped forward and opened the door, then started loading trunks into the boot. The driver must have been a wizard or he wouldn't have managed to fit all five trunks.

The food was delicious and it was a rather stuffed group of people who climbed back into the limo. The hired limo drove them to Plymouth where they boarded a beautiful galleon.

This is the Royal Narnian ship," Harry told his friends. The others looked around them in awe. With Viola on board the Splendour Hyaline didn't take long to reach Bermuda.

It was Harry who spoke into the shell that gave them passage through the gateway. As soon as they were through the gate Cair Paravel could be seen.

Cair Paravel was a very different sort of castle to Hogwarts. Built of a white stone, the Cair was a myriad of towers and balconies over the sea. The four visitors also thought they'd never seen a beach so beautiful as the one below the Cair.

Inside the castle, King Peter was the first to spot the Splendour Hyaline as she reappeared against the skyline. Calling for his consorts, Peter led the way to the docks to greet those who returned to them. King Edmund and Queen Susan fell into step beside him as he passed them. Various other members of the court followed their monarchs down to the dock.

To Harry, Sirius, Viola and Lucy, the party waiting to greet them on the docks seemed perfectly natural. For Draco, Neville, Ron and Hermione it was a disconcerting experience. It certainly didn't help their feeling of disconnect from reality that the majority of the welcome party was made up of Talking Animals, fauns, centaurs and dwarves. There were very few humans in the group.

High King Peter stepped forward as soon as they were off the Splendour Hyaline and greeted those of the party he knew, Then he turned to Harry for introductions to the young lord's friends. Harry bowed before introducing them. The boys bowed and Hermione curtsied as Harry said their names. Harry had instructed them to do this whilst they were aboard the Splendour Hyaline.

Lucy stepped forward and took her brother Edmund's arm whilst Peter offered his to Susan. Then the Royal four led the way back to Cair Paravel.

Once in the castle, Susan took up her role as hostess of Cair Paravel and introduced Harry's friends to those Narnians who would act as valets and ladies maid to them during their stay. Hermione's ladies maid was a river spirit by the name of Nairea. Nairea led Hermione to the chamber Queen Susan had assigned to her.

The chamber Hermione would be staying in was at the base of one of the towers and had an enormous balcony overlooking the beautiful beach and the sea. Hermione heard singing when she entered the bedchamber and, walking out onto the balcony was delighted to discover it came from a trio of mermaids sat on a rock below the Cair. The mermaids were as lovely as Hermione had always imagined they would be.

"It is time to change for dinner Lady Hermione," Nairea called. Hermione turned and came back inside. Nairea was stood by a dressing screen over which she had hung several garments Hermione didn't recognise.

"Queen Susan sent along some of her and her sister's old dresses for you to try. She didn't think you'd have anything suitable for court," Nairea explained. "The dresses I've hung up are the ones suitable to wear to dinner. Here is a chemise for you."

Hermione took the white garment from Nairea and walked behind the screen. Her love of reading was coming in useful here, as Hermione had read several historical novels that mentioned that a chemise was a type of undergarment. Slipping out of her robes, Hermione pulled the chemise on then started to look at the dresses hung over the screen. She selected a lavender toned gown covered leaves embroidered with silver threads. If Hermione hadn't thought it impossible, she would have said that the threads were made of real silver. She would have been correct.

Nairea helped Hermione into the gown then led her to sit down in front of a dressing table. Nairea picked up a brush that sat on the table and started pulling it through Hermione's hair. The lady's maid hummed as she worked and Hermione was shocked to see how easily her hair was brushed; normally getting it brushed was the hardest task of her day.

When Nairea had finished with Hermione's hair, the young witch couldn't help staring at herself. She looked so different. Her hair was sleek and smooth and pulled into an elaborate style. The dress looked lovely and was the most comfortable garment Hermione had ever worn.

A gong sounded, startling Hermione. Nairea however seemed to have been expecting it.

"That was the dinner gong my lady. Come," Stated Nairea, holding out her hand. Hermione took the proffered hand and allowed herself to be lead from her chambers.

Nairea led Hermione to the banqueting hall, outside of which she found her friends waiting. Harry offered Hermione his arm and when she took it the five friends entered the hall and took seats.

Nothing, not even a Hogwarts Feast, could have prepared Harry's friends for the banquet that was a Narnian dinner. The food was amazing and there were more courses than any of them expected. Minstrels sang and played whilst they ate. Between courses stories were told and poems were recited. By the end of the meal, all four were yawning their heads off.

Harry was the one to lead his friends back to their chambers where their valets, or in Hermione's case ladies maid, were waiting for them. They were helped to change for bed and all collapsed into them and fell quickly asleep. Pleasant dreams of what the summer might bring filled all four heads.

A/N: So when I first started this story, Sirius Viola and Harry arrived in Narnia when Lucy was 12 but I've now changed that so Lucy was 18. This means she's three years younger than Sirius not nine years.