Chapter 35

She is intelligent," said Harry "And intelligence is a valuable asset, especially in the face of the relative stupidity of your average witch or wizard. She could be useful, but only after she has learned the hard way what blind obedience to Dumbledore will get you."

Neither Susan nor Hannah complained when he made a dig at wizarding intellect. Both knew all too well that many of their fellow magic wielders did not have an ounce of logic in their heads, instead relying far too much on magic to provide a solution for every problem that came their way. The Potter, Bones and Abbott families were amongst the few who were still able to utilise logic as it was in their best interests to do so. Their businesses dealt with muggles on a frequent basis, after all.

Suddenly the train's whistle sounded loudly, alerting everyone that the Hogwarts Express was about to leave the station. Outside the last few stragglers, including the four Weasley children and Hermione all darted towards the train.

A few moments later the train set off, blowing out another long note, this one of farewell. All along the train students were leaning out of windows to shout and wave final goodbyes to their families. Harry saw Sarah standing in the crowed, waving to both Hannah and Susan. Then she glanced towards him and winked. Harry smiled back, and remembered how, just before leaving Bones Manor for the train station Sarah had given him a kiss on the forehead and pulled him into a hug. It was the kind of thing he used to imagine his own mother giving him when he was younger – comforting and reassuring without being smothering, like Mrs Weasley's hugs tended to be.

The train pulled out of the station and slowly the building disappeared from sight. Unseen by muggles, the train made its way out of the city of London unimpeded and was soon trundling past countryside.

"Your hair is turning from brown to black." observed Susan.

Harry nodded and stood up. He felt his features morph and change back to those that belonged to him, as opposed to those of the random muggle boy whose hair had gone into the Polyjuice potion.

"Right," said Hannah "Prefects' meeting then?"

Harry nodded and joined the blond Hufflepuff in exiting the compartment.

"Good luck!" Susan called after them.

Harry gave her a brief thumbs up before disappearing down the corridor.

"Any idea who the other Hufflepuff prefect is?" asked Harry as they made their way down the corridor.

"No idea," replied Hannah "It's probably Ernie, but he was holidaying in France for most of the summer, so I haven't been able to contact him to ask."

The prefects' compartment was located right near the front of the train, so they had to pass by quite a few other cabins to get there.

"How the hell do you stand it?" hissed Hannah as they passed through a fifth carriage.

"Stand what?" asked Harry.

"All the staring." said Hannah "I've only been walking next to you for about a minute and it's already driving me up the wall."

Harry looked around to see several faces gawking at him through the glass panel in the nearest door.

"You learn to ignore it," replied Harry "Trust me, if I didn't, I'd have snapped a long time ago."

They finally arrived at the prefects' cabin. Looking through the glass in the door they could see that Head Boy Roger Davies, a Ravenclaw, and Head Girl Patricia Stimpson, a Hufflepuff, had already begun to hold court.

"Patricia Stimpson for Head Girl," observed Harry "Really?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Hannah "What's wrong with her?"

"Well, nothing really," said Harry "But didn't she have some kind of nervous breakdown during her fifth year because of the pressure of the O.W.L. exams?"

"She had a few panic attacks, nothing more." replied Hannah "And so what if she did?"

"Well what are the teachers playing at putting her in the role of Head Girl when past events show that she doesn't handle stress too well? Don't forget she'll be taking her N.E.W.T. exams this year, and they're much worse than O.W.L's."

"Maybe the stress won't get to her this time if she's already used to it," suggested Hannah "Come on. It's time for your grand entrance."

"Right," said Harry "Well, here goes nothing."

He reached for the handle on the compartment door and pulled it back.

The people in the room all went silent as every eye turned towards the door. Harry glanced around at the prefects for his year group and saw that both Ron and Hermione were already seated. Draco Malfoy was there too, sitting next to Pansy Parkinson. Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein were the prefects for Ravenclaw house and Ernie Macmillan was there representing Hufflepuff.

Hannah made her way across the compartment and sat herself down in the empty seat next to Ernie, which was obviously reserved for her given the badger emblem stitched into the back. The sixth year prefects were Geoffrey Hooper and Bianca Dunstan for Gryffindor, Eddie Carmichael and Cho Chang for Ravenclaw, Eric Summerby and Heidi Macavoy for Hufflepuff and Adrian Pucey and Rosalie Pritchard for Slytherin. As for the seventh years, Gryffindor was represented by Kenneth Towler and Emma Puckle, Ravenclaw by Marian Green, Hufflepuff by Maxwell Parkin and Slytherin by Ross Harper and Sophia Baddock.

With this year's Head Boy and Girl being appointed from Prefect positions, there was a grand total of twenty four people.

Draco Malfoy was the first to speak up. In his characteristic drawl he said "Potter? What on earth do you think you're doing here? I know you can barely function without your pet mudblood by your side, but surely you can last an hour on your own?"

Harry smirked and commented "That's a bit rich coming from you, Draco. Tell me, where are those strapping young book ends that you never seem to go anywhere without?"

Malfoy's face turned red very quickly, but before he could offer up a retort, Roger Davies spoke up "While I do not condone the language he used, Malfoy does have a point, Potter. This is a prefects' meeting and any student who is not a prefect is not allowed in."

"Yeah, Potter." said Pansy "Shove off."

"Actually, I am allowed to enter this meeting." replied Harry "It is a part of my new duties, you see?"

"What new duties?" asked Cho.

Harry undid the zip on the jacket he was wearing and reached for the inside pocket. He pulled out a small roll of parchment, which he unfurled. He then cleared his throat and began to read aloud.

"Educational Decree Number 25

Harry James Potter is hereby assigned to the post of Student Advisor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Student Advisor is charged with listening to the problems and complaints of their fellow students, and acting as they see fit, resolving what they can whilst reporting anything that they cannot deal with themselves. This includes dealing with any complaints against both staff and prefects. The Student Advisor will have the authority to question the decisions of the prefects, as well as reprimand them. The Student Advisor will also attend staff meetings in order to act as the voice of the students. The Student Advisor will regularly liaise with the prefects, including attending their meetings, in order to ensure that they are up to the task of operating in the best interests of not only their fellow students but also the school as a whole.

Signed,

Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic.

Griselda Edwina Marchbanks, Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority.

With a grin on his face, Harry looked up from the parchment and began to roll it back up as he took in the looks on the faces of those gathered.

Most looked either confused or surprised at this revelation. Others, most notably Ron and Draco looked to be about ready to explode with anger. Hannah was grinning amusedly at the array of reactions. Hermione however looked introspective.

"So there you have it." said Harry, tucking the roll of parchment away "You all have a job to do, and it is my job to make sure that you are doing it."

"Why would the Ministry do this?" asked Bianca Dunstan "Do they not trust us to do our jobs?"

"I'm not going to lie to you," said Harry "There have been a few issues with the choice of prefects in the past. Cases of prefects abusing their positions have been reported but never acted upon. As the staff of Hogwarts have made it repeatedly clear that they cannot be bothered to address these issues, the Ministry has seen fit to ask me to step in as an independent body. Someone to help things run more smoothly, you see? If a student has some kind of problem with a prefect, they can come to me rather than a Professor and we can work towards sorting out the situation. Similarly, if any of you are ever faced with a difficult problem, you are more than welcome to come to me and seek my help."

"So you're here to help us as well as control us should any of us go mad with power?" asked Anthony.

"In a nutshell." replied Harry "It is my hope that we can all work together to help Hogwarts to function better than ever before."

"And what do you get out of this, Potter?" asked Pansy "The title of prefect means something once we get out of school. Does yours?"

"It most certainly will," answered Harry "I am doing this at the Ministry's request, after all."

"Any rules?" asked Roger.

"Just a couple," said Harry "From now on there is a "three strikes and you're out" system in place for all prefects. For the first strike you serve two nights detention. For the second you lose privileges. For the third, you lose your badge. Understand?"

Everyone nodded, though some did not seem happy about it.

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