Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. The members of the Secret Sealing Club are the creations of ZUN.

Note: Chapter one begins from The Order of the Phoenix, when Harry gets on the carriages. Deviations from canon will happen slowly.

Chapter 01 – Sleepless Night of the Western Country

"You're not going mad or anything, Harry. I can see them too."

"You can?" Harry, almost desperately, turned towards Luna. For some reason, the words came out a bit more strangled than he thought it would, as he pleaded for something he could not quite fully understand.

Was it the need to be believed? To be told, for once, that he wasn't a raving lunatic, like the rest of the world seemed to think?

Luna must have seen this, as her silvery eyes seemed to soften slightly. "Yes. I've been able to see them since my first day here. Gentlemen first?" She gestured towards the carriage.

Harry gratefully climbed in.

As the carriage started moving, Luna spoke up. "They're called Threstals-"

"What?" interrupted Ron. "You're not saying that they're actually real?"

"—and they can only be seen by those who have seen death," Luna continued, but in a slightly less serene tone. "They're covered in NEWT-level Care of Magical Creatures, you know."

Ron shut up, and Hermione, who had seemingly been waiting for a chance to jump in, sat back in her seat with a calculating expression.

Harry relaxed, even as images of green light and a falling body surfaced. "Thanks, Luna."

"Anyway," Hermione powered through, "Did anyone notice that Grubbly-Plank is back?"

"But Hagrid can't have left, right?" Ginny piped up.

"And Trelawney was attacked during the summer, so there'll probably be a new Divination teacher as well," Neville added.

Everyone, except Harry, nodded. Harry, on the other hand, swung his head around and stared at each person in turn. "What!?"

"…yeah, sorry Harry." Ron spoke. "We forgot you've been a bit out of the loop. Plus there was your hearing and all…"

Harry felt his hands clench into fists as he felt the small pool of anger within him start to bubble. "So, there's was something that was this important, and none of you saw fit to tell me?" His voice rose to a dangerous level.

Ron and Hermione, remembering Harry's outburst, shared a worrying glance, but it was Hermione who spoke.

"We're sorry, Harry. We really forgot. And you know there's been a lot going on!" Hermione spoke placatingly.

"YOU-" Harry made to stand, but he felt a hand on his shoulder, and traced it up the arm to Neville Longbottom's concerned expression.

"You all right there?"

With those words, Harry felt suddenly drained, and sat back down.

Luna or Neville don't know about Grimmauld Place. And it's not their fault, too.

"Yeah, sorry." He apologized.

"No worries." Neville said. "It's also wasn't anything big; all it said in the Prophet was that Trelawney was assaulted by someone while shopping in Hogsmeade."

The carriage fell silent, and stayed mostly silent, as it continued on its journey to Hogwarts.

At the Great Hall Luna gave a last smile to Harry and drifted away to the Ravenclaws; Ginny was called over by some forth-years, which left the rest to find space at the end of the Gryffindor table.

With a glance a the staff, Harry noted the lack of Hagrid, as well as the presence of several new faces. With a sinking feeling, he spotted a toad-faced woman in a distinctive pink cardigan – Umbridge was here.

Undersecretary to the Minster, was it? And a member of that…. Harry did not know the phrase "kangaroo court", but he was certain her presence meant nothing but bad news.

There were two others, though. The first was a brown-haired woman with a black shawl, white blouse, and a short red tie, who was chatting amiably with the Astronomy Professor. On her head was not a pointed witch's hat, but a rounded bowler hat with a white bow.

Sitting next to her was another woman who also looked to be in her twenties, who was staring into space somewhat vacantly. A peculiar white bonnet with a red ribbon sat on a head of golden hair. Her simple purple dress matched Dumbledore's own strange gaudy robes, but seemed to look natural on her all the same.

A Sorting, a delicious feast, and half a speech later, it was time for the announcement of staffing changes, and Harry sat slightly more upright.

"There will be a few changes in staffing this year, as you can somewhat tell from the new faces at our table," Dumbledore spoke with some levity. "First, we are pleased to welcome back Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Next," he gestured at Umbridge, "Professor Dolores Umbridge, kindly appointed by the Ministry of Magic, will be taking Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Dumbledore took an almost indiscernible pause before continuing, as if to let the words sink in.

"Lastly, we are pleased to welcome Professor Merrybell-" he stopped, as the purple-dressed lady whispered something in his ear, "sorry, Professor Marribel Hearn and her associate, Renko Usami, who are visiting Hogwarts for the year. Professor Hearn will be taking over Divination from Professor Trelawney, who is currently taking time off for recuperation." The lady in purple gave a small wave and a smile to polite and warm applause.

"She will be assisted by Assistant Professor Usami, who, to my understanding, also has a background in Astronomy. You may feel free to ask her any questions." The brown-haired woman took a short bow, again to more applause.

"Guess Divination this year's going to be more interesting," Ron nudged Harry.

"Anything's better than some hag predicting my death every lesson," Harry replied glumly. Finally, something to look forward to.

Dumbledore's speech was, somewhat predictably, interrupted by Umbridge, who proceeded to go on a spiel of what Vernon Dursley would have called "bureaucratic codswallop" in good company, and "fucking bullshit" in less polite circumstances.

Not that I would forget how Petunia beat me with a frying pan for repeating that phrase, Harry mused.

There was a great deal of noise, which meant that the school had been dismissed. Harry shot a side glance to Hermione, who looked to stand up. At the very least, her stormy expression meant that she, too, had understood that the Ministry was, apart from censoring all news of Voldemort's return, going to interfere at Hogwarts.

With a sigh Harry stood to leave, watching as his two best friends shepherded the first-years back to the common room. He did not miss the pointed stares and the whispers coming from half, or more, of the school's population, nor did he miss the frightened looks some of the younger students seemed to be giving him.

It was too much. Stalking into a hidden shortcut, he headed straight for the Gryffindor rooms, at a pace that would have scared off a casual onlooker.

He should have seen this coming, Harry thought. Should have known how it would have looked to a normal person, coming back with a dead body and a Portkey.

Hell, some people probably thought that I killed him to win or something. And now we know Voldemort's back, and people would just rather believe that I'm a liar, than to even consider the slightest thought that they might be in danger–

And he was supposed to fight Voldemort again, he realized. Fight Voldemort again and win, just like in the past.

These are the people that I'm supposed to be defending?

With a small jolt of anger that broke his mounting anger, Harry realized he didn't know, really know, what happened fourteen years ago.

How could a baby have defeated a Dark Lord?

He needed to know more, he realized. Know more, and – the thought of last year's spell practice for the Third Task came to mind – and train more.

He also suddenly realized that he was right in front of the Fat Lady without the password to the common room, and he once again wanted to whip out his wand and blast several craters into the castle walls.

However, a jovial voice sounded from down the corridor. It was Neville.

"Hey, Harry! I think I can remember the password for once!" He jogged up to the portrait. "Mimbulus nimbletonia!"

With a grateful nod, Harry and Neville stepped into the warmth of the common room, and went for the dormitories.

Hopefully, Harry thought, he would get a good night's rest tonight, before having to deal with the several new challenges that he would have to face tomorrow.

And we all know how that's going to work out.

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