The carriages stopped in front of the door of the school. The weather had not improved, it had got worse.

It was raining cats and dogs by now, and even the short walk from the Carriges to the main hall left them soaked to the bones.

As Avalon stepped into the entrance hall, she was the target of a giant water balloon. And she wasn't the only one.

Professor McGonagall entered after a few minutes.

"Peeves, that's enough." She shouted at the sealing. And indeed, a few seconds later, the bright orange form of Peeves, the school poltergeist, appeared. "But Professor, they are already wet. He said laughing.

The Professor looked at the students. "Go on, go to the Great Hall for the start of the Term Feast." She said before Avalon stepped inside the great hall, she could hear the professor tell Harry to stay behind.

When she entered the Great Hall it was welcoming and pleasantly warm.

She quickly sat down amongst her friends. Before she knew it, the First Years were brought in.

They were dripping wet and looked so small. She thought back to her own ceremony last year.

Professor McGonagall had placed the Sorting Hat on the stool in front of her.

And Avalon had been looking forward to listening to his song. She looked at the nervous first years she could remember, not knowing what was going to happen.

And just like last year, the hat opened like a moth. And it began to sing.

In the depths of Azkaban, there dwelt a dark wizard.

Locked away for his crimes, his soul forever denied.

But now he's broken free, with vengeance in his eyes.

The Dementors are on guard as Hogwarts begins to rise.

Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff stand strong.

Together we will fight, we will right the wrongs

With friendship as our shield, we'll never fall

For Hogwarts will always stand tall

The halls of Hogwarts echo with fear and despair

As the Dark Wizard's power spreads, leaving destruction in his wake,

but the students of the four houses, they won't back down.

For they know the power of unity in times of darkness.

The Dementors may try to bring us to our knees.

But as long as we stand together, we'll never stop.

For we are the brave, the wise, the loyal and the true

And nothing can break us, we'll see this through

So let the dark wizard come and let the dementors roam

We'll face them with courage and the strength of our house

For Hogwarts is more than a school, it's a place of love and light.

And with our friends by our side, we'll win this battle.

Unlike last year, the students looked at each other for a second before applauding the hat.

There was darkness and fear in this year's song.

"Has that ever happened before?" Avalon asked. "It has. But it was many, many years ago." The grey lady said. She was the Ravenclaw ghost. "Last time was during the Wizarding War. "

After the strange song, the ceremony began. Gryffindor gained 6 new students. Hufflepuff gained 3, Slytherin also gained 3 and Ravenclaw gained 4 new students.

One of them was Joshua Sallow. His older sibling had been in Slytherin last year, but he seemed to be a bit different from her.

He had brown hair and kind brown eyes. He reminded Avalon a little of one of her favourite actors. Sharon seemed to take an instant liking to him.

When the ceremony was over, Dumbledore stood up. "I know I usually leave the speeches until after the feast, but bear with me." He said.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Dementors have been stationed at every entrance to the school. Until Sirius Black is caught." He looked a little angry.

"Since I am sure that they will not disturb our daily life, I must warn you that they are dangerous magical creatures". He continued.

"A Dementor is not a forgiving creature. So I ask each and every one of you. Don't give them any reason to hurt you. They see no difference between those they hunt and those who stand in their way." He added,

"Now that that is taken care of, digg in," he said, suddenly sounding cheerful again.

Avalon loved the way the First Years were amazed when the food just magically appeared.

After the feast, Dumbledore stood up again. "Now that we have all been fed and watered, I have some other things to say."

"For all students, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden. And due to the climate in which we now live, I ask you all to honour this rule." As always, he looked in the direction of the Gryffindor table, assuming at Harry Potter and the Weasley twins. "Furthermore, we have a new addition to our staff this year. I am pleased to announce that Professor R,j. Lupin will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year." Avalon caught the eyes of the twins, who seemed to be saying "I told you so" with their eyes.

"I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say good luck, Professor. Lupin. " Dumbledore added.

"Now that I have said everything, I am sure you all wanted to rest before classes begin tomorrow. Sleep well."

Once again, the scraping of the desks was almost deafening. And soon she heard the familiar voice of Jullie Smith. "First years, follow me."

Avalon, Luna. Sharon, Oona, Lucy and Emma made their way to the Raven Claw common room. They did not want to miss the first years coming in panting from climbing all those stairs.

They were not disappointed. Out of breath, some even stroked their ribs as the first years came in. "You'll get used to it." Avalon said before Jullie could.

"Thank you Miss Prince, I'll take it from here." Jullie said smiling at her. She quickly explained to the new arrivals where the 1st year dormitories were.

After the first years were gone, the 6 girls went into their own dormitories. Just like last year there were 3 bunk beds. And there belongings were brought up for them.

But this year they had already unpacked and their pyjamas were placed on their beds.

"I guess I can't change beds huh." Avalon joked as she grabbed her pillow from the top bunk and sat down on Luna's bed.

The other girls joined her either on the bed or on the floor in front of it, talking for hours about what had happened on the train and also wondering if the Dementors really weren't going to interfere.

"Imagine Black being free for years." Oona said. "Does that mean they'll be here year after year?" She asked.

"I think so," Luna said. "Daddy told me they feed on happiness and love, so they take it away from us." She said. "Gee Luna, that sounds scary." Emma said.

"Yes it does, he also told me that they make you relive your worst memories. For me, I saw my mum die again." Luna said with her now famous brutal honesty.

"I heard someone scream," Avalon confessed. "I suppose you all did. I heard a man scream 'No Lily', you all heard that, didn't you?" she asked.

As she looked into her friends' eyes, they all looked at her as if she had gone slightly mad. "No one shouted that Ava." Lucy finally said.

"Well, maybe it's something the Dementors made you remember, Ava." Luna said, breaking the tension. "And maybe it was your birth father." She added.

"Your second name is Lily, maybe he was calling for you." Lucy said. "Yeah, maybe. I don't know," Avalon said, "it was over as fast as it came." She said

"They say Harry Potter fainted." Oona cut in. "I'm not surprised. He must have watched his parents die. To relive that must be too much." Emma said.

"Tell me about it." Sharon said, turning white. "I guess I heard my parents. I heard a woman crying and begging for someone called Fabian to open his eyes," she said. "I suppose that was my mother." She added.

"They seemed to be doing a real number on Ginny." Emma said. "Yeah, I know. She was saying depressing things until she got off the train." Oona replied.

"I think we should all get some sleep. We'll probably feel better in the morning." Lucy chimed in as the voice of reason.

They said good night and climbed into their beds. Hoping for a good first day of term the next morning.

They were woken by the now familiar voice telling them to get up and that classes would start at 9.30.

"Oh look." Avalon said. "We have Defence Against the Dark Arts first with Slytherin, it won't be pretty." She added.

The girls made their way to the Great Hall. They walked in to a burst of laughter from the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy was pretending to faint every 5 seconds. And the whole table seemed to find it amusing. Briget Rookwood was one of the students laughing the hardest.

"I think someone has a crush." Emma said. "Briget and Malfoy sitting in a tree," she shouted as loud as she could.

"Ooh who are we teasing?" Fred asked. "Malfoy and Rookwood. "Emma and Avalon said together."Then I have a verse for them." fred said. Georgie!were up" Fred added.

Fred and George climbed onto a table, the whole school fell silent and looked at them.

"This poem is for Draco Malfoy from Briget Rookwood. Brought to you by your favourite pair of twins," Fred said.

"DRACO I LOVE YOU." Fred began. "DRACO I DOOOO." George added. "WHERE EVER YOU ARE MY HEART BEATS ONLY FOR YOU," the twins said together, grinning as they stepped off the table.

The school erupted in laughter and applause.

"Were so going to get detained for that." Fred said grinning at Avalon. "But it is so worth it." George finished.

"Master Weasley!" Professor McGonagall called over the cheering crowd. "It's been lovely spending time with you girls." George said, sounding dramatic. Fred put his hand on Avalon's shoulder. "Think of us when you hear laughter, will you?" Fred said as dramatically as his brother. Then they walked over to McGonagall.

"I hate to say it." Ginny said joining them. "But they are brilliant." Ginny added. "And cute." Avalon let it slip out.

The girls around her oohed and aahed. "See," Ginny said. "Who's cuter, Fred or George? Who do you have a crush on?" she said teasingly. "Oh stop it." Avalon said playfully pushing Ginny.

"So in love huh." They heard Stuart say. "Shut up Wallemby." Ginny said. "What was it again, oh yes. Freddy I love you. Or is it Georgie I do." He started. but no one seemed to pay attention.

"It's only my brothers that can pull that off." Ginny said and walked away dragging the girls with her. "I bet he's jealous." She shouted before leaving the Great Hall.

Avalon and Luna made their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. They were speculating what Lupin would teach them. "He'll be better than Lockheart at the very least," Luna said.

Professor Lupin was waiting for them outside his classroom, "Welcome," he said. "No need for books today." He said. "I want to know what you have learnt." He added. The class groaned. They were expecting a quiz.

But they were pleasantly surprised. Professor Lupin had prepared slides showing dark creatures and asked for a show of hands if they knew any.

"Hmm, so Lockheart was as bad as the rumours said." He exclaimed. "Worse," Avalon said. Lupin smiled and again his eyes glazed over as he looked at them.

"All right boys and girls, the rest of the lesson will be about Dementors," he said. The last ten minutes were very instructive.

When the bell rang, they didn't want to get up. "I would love to tell you more, but my 3d years are coming." He said with a smile.

The class soon dispersed. "You have to tell me how you enchant the teacher's girl." Sharon said. "What do you mean?" asked Avalon. "First Snape, now Lupin. Who or what are you?" Sharon asked jokingly.

School went well for the next few weeks. The Dementors stayed where they were supposed to. But after a month of starvation. They became restless.