⌗ ⌗ ⌗

A bit later, they had made it to Hogwarts and were seated in the Great Hall waiting to eat.

At the High Table, Lupin sat with Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall, along with the quartet's good friend, Rubeus Hagrid.

At the large golden chair in the middle of the long table sat Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster.

Iris was entertained as she watched the faces of the students in the choir who were singing to the strains of a harpsichord. She recognized one of the toads that were singing along to be Trevor, Neville's toad. Iris glanced at the boy who was looking on with pride.

Mr Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker, stood grimly to the side as red-eyed Mrs Norris swished her tail at his feet.

As the choir's song concluded, Dumbledore rose, beaming over the sea of black hats.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say before we become befuddled by our excellent feast. I myself am particularly looking forward to the flaming kiwi cups, which, while somewhat treacherous for those of us with facial hair..." he trailed off.

McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Mm. Yes. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Good luck to you, Professor," Dumbledore gestured his hand to Professor Lupin.

Amid scattered applause, Iris, Harry, Ron, Hermione clapped loudly.

Hermione leaned over the table, "Of course! That's why he knew to give you two the chocolate."

Dumbledore continued, "As some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!"

Iris, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at each other, stunned, then joined in on the applauding, which was tumultuous at the Gryffindor table in particular.

Iris leaned forward to see Hagrid, who was ruby red in the face and staring down at his enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of his black beard.

"We should've known!" Ron roared, pounding the table. "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?"

Iris, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the last to stop clapping, and as Professor Dumbledore started speaking again, they saw that Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth.

Dumbledore's face turned grave, "Finally, on a more disquieting note, Hogwarts... at the request of the Ministry of Magic, will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban."

A murmur of apprehension filled the hall. At the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy, flanked by the ever-present Crabbe and Goyle, caught Harry's eye, pretending to faint.

Iris rolled her eyes at him and tugged Harry's arm to get him to turn away.

"Honestly, just ignore them," she said with a huff.

"The Dementors will be stationed at the entrances to the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving," Dumbledore warned.

"But you know, happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times," he waved his hand over a candle, extinguishing the flame, "If one only remembers to turn on the light," he waved his hand again and the flame returned.

Everyone exchanged dark glances.

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

The next morning, after Iris had gotten dressed she made her way down a hall on the seventh floor.

There were a few students milling about, though most of them were either still sleeping or down in the Great Hall eating breakfast.

As she made it to her location, Iris spoke, "Pepper Imps."

The large stone gargoyle rotated to the side to reveal a winding staircase upward.

Iris started climbing and soon reached the top where two stone braziers were carrying flames, framing the large wooden door.

She stepped forward and rapped her knuckles gently on the door, before opening it and peeking her head inside looking around.

She noticed no one was there and stepped inside, lightly closing the door behind her.

Iris walked over to a sofa in the office and sat down on it, leaning to the side and kicking her feet up so that she was laying splayed across it.

She laid back, observing the room as she had done countless times before.

A few moments later, Iris watched a door on the side of the room open and an old man emerged followed by a floating tray with a teapot, one teacup, and one steaming mug on it.

Without speaking he sat on the sofa directly across from the one she was laying on and picked up the teapot, pouring into the singular teacup.

"How are you today, Iris?" Dumbledore asked, sliding the steaming mug towards her.

"Oh, I'm alright, it's wonderful to be back," she said sitting up with a smile, reaching for the coffee.

Ever since she had started at Hogwarts and was introduced to the wonder known as coffee, she had become obsessed. The rest of her friends and peers found it odd, but Iris didn't mind.

"Good, good. And your summer vacation?" he questioned, taking a sip of his tea.

Iris sighed, "The usual, I'm sure you heard that Harry turned our Aunt into an inflatable."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes, I did indeed. I must say, I'm quite impressed."

Iris let out a laugh with him before getting serious, "I wanted to talk with you about something."

Dumbledore set his cup down, sensing her sincerity.

She sat forward, "Sirius Black."

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

Iris, Harry, and Ron sat on round little pouffes in a murky, incense-laden room, along with Neville, Dean, Seamus, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and others. Iris wasn't sure where Hermione was, as she was rarely late to classes, but figured she would arrive soon.

"Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the mysterious art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess... the Sight."

The Divination Professor paused, smacking into a small table as she glided dramatically through the room, eyes huge and bug-like behind enormous glasses.

She continued, "Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future. But know this. One either has the Gift or not. It cannot be divined from the pages of a book. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye."

"What rubbish," Hermione said under her breath, suddenly sitting right next to them, making Iris jump.

Ron spun around and frowned at Hermione.

"Where'd you come from?" He questioned.

"Me? I've been here all along," Hermione lied.

Iris could tell, and she knew Hermione hadn't been there before. So she very quickly snooped, finding Hermione's thoughts easy to locate within her mind.

Perhaps because of their strong bond, it was so clear to her going through Hermione's thoughts, though Iris could see Hermione attempting to lock up one secret in particular so, with a little extra push, Iris broke through.

Time Turner

Iris was confused. She had read about time turners before but didn't understand why Hermione would have one.

Deciding to confront her about it later, Iris focused on the lesson.

Suddenly, Professor Trelawney spun on Neville, "You, boy! Is your grandmother well?"

Neville looked very nervous, "I... I think so."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," she gestured to his cup, which was in the hands of Dean Thomas, "The cup, give me the cup."

Professor Trelawney took one look at the cup before looking sadly at Neville and moving on. Poor Neville looked terrified and grabbed his cup to look for himself.

"The first term will be devoted to the reading of tea leaves. If all goes well, we will proceed to palmistry, fire omens, and finally... the crystal ball," Professor Trelawney continued.

She eyed Parvati, "By the way, dear, beware a red-haired man.

Parvati eyed Ron, who was sitting next to her and edged her pouffe away.

"Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And in late spring, one of our number will... leave us forever," Trelawney said mysteriously.

As the class exchanged uneasy glances, Trelawney smiled.

"Well then. Shall we?" Trelawney continued.

Iris stared at her teacup, much like the one she drank out of earlier in Dumbledore's office.

However, unlike his tea, Trelawney's had a cloud of tea leaves inside mutating oddly.

Iris, sitting opposite Hermione now, frowned at the leaves, consulting the symbols in the textbook, Unfogging the Future, that lay at her elbow.

Trelawney walked amongst them, robes flowing.

"Broaden your minds, my dears. And allow your eyes to see... beyond."

She drifted by their table, pausing next to Ron, "What do you see in Mr Potter's cup, Mr Weasley?"

Ron looked very unsure as he spoke, "Well. He's got a wonky sort of cross -- that's trials and suffering. But this lot here could be the sun -- that's great happiness. So... he's going to suffer but be very happy about it," he ended, confused.

Professor Trelawney took the cup, peering inside, and gasped loudly, "Ahhh!"

The class jumped.

"What is it, Professor?" Parvati asked, scared.

Trelawney regarded Harry with a mixture of pity and fear. Then she shakily picked up Iris' cup, glancing in before having the same reaction.

"My dear children... You have the Grim," Professor Trelawney told them, her eyes large.

Seamus spoke, "The Grin? What's the Grin?"

"Not the grin, you idiot," Parvati said, "The Grim,"

"But what does it mean, Professor?" Dean asked.

"'The Grim...'" a voice spoke.

They all turned to see Lavender bent over her textbook.

"'Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen... of death.'" she quoted.

The Potter twins glanced at each other, then stared into their teacups, growing pale.

⌗ ⌗ ⌗