Chapter 1

By: Nikki

Disclamer: We don't own Harry Potter or the Labyrinth. I think you can pick out which folks we do own, though.

Enjoy! R&R

***************

"Hey, Shannon!" Nicole called, running next door. "Hey!" Nicole paused

when she got to Shannon's front door. Shannon had a baby brother, and

Shannon's parents would get really mad if she woke him up. Nicole carefully

opened the big wooden door, and walked inside. Nicole and Shannon had lived

next door to each other their entire lives, so it wasn't uncommon for one of

them to just let themselves into the other's house. Even if Nicole didn't

always go to Shannon's house, she would still know her way around, since her

house was designed exactly the same. Nicole ran upstairs to Shannon's

bedroom. She found Shannon there, packing a suitcase. "Hey Shannon!"

"Hi Nicole, did you finish packing already?" Shannon asked.

"No," Nicole replied.

"Nicole, you do know we leave for Hogwarts tomorrow, right?" Shannon

asked. "When are you planning on packing?"

"Later," Nicole said, rolling her eyes. "I need you to come with me

though. It's really important."

"What is it?" Shannon asked. "I've got to finish packing, before my Dad

comes home from work."

"Trust me, this is worth getting in a little bit of trouble," Nicole

said. "Get this-Mr. Wesley just appeared in my house with argent news for my

parents. Sandy is over at a friends house, and I was kicked out of my own

house."

"What do you think they are talking about?" Shannon asked.

"That's what we have to find out," Nicole grinned.

"All right, I'm in," Shannon said. "Let's head over to your house."

The two left Shannon's room and ran out of the house. They didn't stop

running, until they had sneaked into Nicole's house. "Hey, we better be

extra quiet. How are we going to eavesdrop on them?"

"Well, they'll probably notice anything that has to do with magic, so

we'll have to do it the Muggle was," Nicole said. "Just be very quiet." The

two quietly walked up to the Living Room door, and put their ears up to the

door. They could hear the three grown ups talking quietly.

"Thanks for the tea," Mr. Wesley said.

"Don't mention it," Nicole's mom said.

"Now, what's exactly going on?" Nicole's dad asked.

"Well," Mr. Wesley said, "I was at the office, when some important news

came in. I said I would tell you the news."

"What happened?" Nicole's mom asked, concerned.

"Well, you know that there was a group of magical animals were being held

until you and your staff could see if the animals are really dangerous and

need to be destroyed, or if you could save them and place them away from

Muggles," Mr. Wesley said. "Well, all those animals are, um, gone."

"What!" Nicole's Dad exclaimed, jumping up.

"Now, relax," Nicole's Mom said. "Just sit down."

"Honey, you don't work anymore," Nicole's Dad said, sitting down. "I

understand you work on the housework all day long, but just think about when

you worked at the Ministry of Magic and this happened. Remember when we lost

that baby dragon? We both flipped out for days. This is ten times as worse

then that. Some of those animals were really dangerous."

"True, but we should stay calm so we can think of something to do,"

Nicole's Mom said.

"She's right," Mr. Wesley said. "I have to get back to the office, and I

think you should come with me."

"All right," Nicole's Dad said. "I'll try to be home in time for

dinner. Try not to tell the girls what's going on. With all that stuff

about You-Know-Who going around, people are going to panic. We don't want

anyone finding out about this."

"Right," Nicole's Mom said.

"Let's go upstairs," Shannon whispered. Nicole nodded and the two went

upstairs quietly.

"Wow," Nicole said. "Imagine having all those creatures walking around

in a Muggle city or something."

"That would be big trouble," Shannon said. "Hey, do you think

You-Know-Who might be connected in this somehow."

"What would happen if he let he the creatures loose at Hogwarts?" Nicole

asked. "You know, to get Harry Potter or something. He almost killed him

last year."

"Yea, but I bet Dumbledore will be on his toes," Shannon said. "He won't

let anything happen."

"That's right," Nicole said. "Wow, the summer sure went by fast. I ca

n't believe we're going back to Hogwarts already."

"Yea," Shannon said. "I wonder who will be the Defense against the Dark

Arts teacher this year."

"Think Snape will ever get the job?" Nicole asked. "He definitely wants

it."

"Who knows," Shannon said. "He has always wanted it, but he never gets

it." She happened to glance down at her watch and saw what time it was.

"Hey, I have to get home. My Dad will be home soon, and I have to finish

packing. I'll see you tomorrow, Nicole."

"Ok, bye," Nicole said. "I might as well get my packing done, too."

"See ya," Shannon said, and left the room. She let herself out, while

Nicole started to pack her suitcase.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little while later, Shannon was eating her dinner, with her parents.

As usual, her brother was missing, since he had already ate and had been put

to bed. "Shannon, did you ever finish packing?" her Father asked.

"Sure did," Shannon said. "I'm all set to go."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Shannon's Mom said. "I made got treats for you

and Roxie to take on your trip tomorrow. Don't forget to take them with you

tomorrow."

"Ok, thanks Mom," Shannon said. She bent down to pet her white cat.

Roxie seemed quite happy that she was getting some treats as well.

"Great news," Shannon's Dad said. "I was able to get tomorrow off. The

people at the preschool was happy to give me the day off, after I told them I

was sending you a very good school."

"You didn't tell them you were sending her to Hogwarts, did you?"

Shannon's Mom asked.

"No," Shannon's Dad said. "I just told them I was sending her to one of

the best boarding schools. They all told me to wish you good luck."

"That was nice of them," Shannon said.

"Yes, it was," Shannon's Mom said. "On the matter of work, I was able to

finish making that wand I was working on. For awhile there, it seemed as

though your brother Willow didn't want me to finish it. Everytime I went to

work on it, he would start crying."

"That sounds like my son," Shannon's Dad laughed.

"Hey Dad, we got a card from Grandma," Shannon said. "It seems like

she's having a lot of fun with those dragons in Romania."

"And that would be my Mother," Shannon's Dad laughed. "Put her with some

wild, dangerous animal, and she's overjoyed."

"Is everyone done with dinner?" Shannon's Mom asked. The other two

nodded, so she took their plates. When she returned from the kitchen, she

yawned. "Well, I have some work to do upstairs. As long as Willow is

asleep, I'll start that other wand I wanted to make."

"I think I'll go relax upstairs," Shannon's Dad said. "It isn't easy to

work with those Muggle kids all day. They're a lot of fun, but they sure

tire you out. Shannon if you want, there's some treats in the kitchen."

"Don't have too many, or you'll have a stomachache," Shannon's Mom

warned.

"I won't," Shannon promised. "See you later."

"Bye," Shannon's parents both said, as they went upstairs to their

bedroom. Shannon went to the kitchen for her dessert. When she was done,

she too, went upstairs to relax before she went to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, both Nicole and Shannon's parents were running around.

They were both going to the train station together, so they both had to be

ready at the same time. It took a while, but they finally got everything

into Nicole's minivan. Then everyone had to squish inside. The only people

who were perfectly comfortable were the two cats. They had a nice drive

though, and quickly got to the train station. The girls started to get

excited once they were on Platform 9 3/4. "Now, you two better behave

yourselves," Nicole's Mom said.

"Yes, lay off the jokes for awhile," Shannon's Mom added.

"Just have fun," Shannon's Dad added, quietly to the girls. "Just don't

get in trouble for the first week or two."

"Ok, Dad," Shannon grinned. "I think we can do that."

"Yea, it shouldn't be too hard," Nicole added.

"Well, go put your stuff on the train," Nicole's Dad said. "Then you can

come back and say good bye."

"Ok," Nicole said. The two girls went and did as they were told. After

wards, though, they looked around for people they knew.

"Hey, there's George's brother Ron," Shannon said. "Along with Harry

Potter and Hermione."

"Let's go say hi," Nicole suggested. The two walked up to the three 5th

years. "Hi guys."

"Hi you two," Ron said. "You guys ready to start being 6th years?"

"Yup, only 1 more year 'til we're done," Shannon said.

"If I were you, I'd miss Hogwarts," Harry said.

"But just think of all the jobs you can get when you graduate," Hermione

said.

"Knowing you, you probably have it all planned out already," Ron said.

"Of course," Hermione said.

Nicole and Shannon laughed. It was just like Hermione to have her future

all planned out. "Hey Ron, where are your brothers?" Shannon asked.

"I think over there somewhere," Ron said. "Why don't you go say hi?"

"I think we will," Nicole said. The two girls walked over to where Ron

was pointing and they found Fred and George talking. "Hi guys," Nicole said.

"Have a nice summer?"

"Sure did," Fred grinned. "How about you two?"

"We had an ok one," Shannon said.

"Hey, did our Dad come over to your house, Nicole?" George asked.

"Yea, he did," Nicole said. "They had a talk with my parents. We of

course listened in."

"What was it about?" Fred asked.

"Some dangerous creatures, that my Dad had locked away for now, have

disappeared," Nicole said. "They said it might have been the work of

You-Know-Who. It's really important that they find those creatures."

"It's top secret though," Shannon said. "No is suppose to know. In

fact, I don't know why your Dad is here now. Shouldn't he be at work?"

"He probably didn't want me to know that anything was wrong," Nicole

said. "He's probably going to work right after I leave."

"Wow, that is big news," George said. "Dad came home and he was all

worried about something. We tried to listen to what he was telling Mum, but

we got yelled at."

"We better not tell anyone about this," Fred said. "Especially Ron and

his friends. Knowing them, they might try to go find the creatures. Besides

that, they might get scared that You-Know-Who will use the creatures to

attack Hogwarts or something."

"Ok, it's settled then," Nicole said. "No one besides us four will know."

"Will know what?" Malfoy asked. He and Crabby and Goyle had walked up to

the group.

"None of your business," George said.

"Yea, go away," Shannon added.

"Why don't you make us?" Malfoy asked. Just then, Mrs. Wesley called

Fred and George.

"Coming," Fred said.

"Yea, go run to Mommy," Malfoy laughed. "We wouldn't want you to get in

trouble."

"We aren't allowed to use magic here," Fred said. "But wait until we get

on that train. You won't be laughing then." The group turned and walked

away, leaving a scowling Malfoy behind.

"Hello Nicole and Shannon," Mrs. Wesley said. "I believe your parents

are looking for you to say good bye."

"Thanks Mrs. Wesley," Shannon said. "We'll go find them." The girls ran

off to find their parents, as Mrs. Wesley said good bye to her kids, Ron,

Fred, George, and Ginny

What came next, is known as the good bye stage. Five minutes before the

train leaves all the parents start saying their good byes. They younger

students sometimes start crying, but it's mostly the mothers of the younger

students. Finally, the kids get away and board the train.

All the Wesley kids; Harry, Hermione, Nicole, and Shannon got on the last

car of the train. "Everyone ready for the long ride?" George asked.

"I hope Pig calms down," Ginny said, watching Ron's owl fly around the

car.

"Yea right," Ron said. "He never calms down unless he's asleep."

"At least the cats seem to be calm," Hermione said, looking at her cat

and Nicole and Shannon's cats.

"Hedwig is asleep too," Ron said, looking at his white owl. Suddenly, a

small explosion sound was heard.

"Relax, everyone," George said. "It was just a firecracker who exploded

by mistake."

"Hey, you and Fred said you weren't going to do as many jokes as you did

last time," Ron said.

"And you believed us?" Fred said. "We must be better actors then we

thought."

"This year, I'm really going to concentrate on my studies," Hermione

said. "I want to do really good on my O.W.L.S."

"As opposed to last year, when you didn't concentrate on your studies?"

Ron joked. The others laughed, as Hermione stuck her tongue out at Ron.

"Let's just relax everyone," Nicole said. "It's going to be a long

ride, and it won't be any fun if everyone is fighting." The others agreed,

and everyone started having their own conversations. Fred, George, Nicole,

and Shannon had one, while Ron and Harry talked, and Hermione and Ginny

talked. No one even noticed that they were almost at Hogwarts, until someone

came and told them they better get changed into their robes. They quickly

did, and so another year at Hogwarts was about to started.