Welcome back, guys!
If you have not read book one, then I advise you do it right now.
Disclaimer: As said in the first book of this series, I don't own Harry Potter. Seriously. I know it sounds crazy, but I really don't.
Enjoy the story :)
"I can't believe I had to drive you all the way to this stupid 'magic' thing."
"I thought you didn't talk to me?"
Anna glared at Levina fiercly with her soapy-blue eyes, her blonde hair whipping around in the wind.
"I don't, but that doesn't mean I can't."
Levina rolled her eyes. Anna was never exactly the best cousin one could hope for; she rarely spoke to Levina unless she had to.
Staring down at her list of items to get for Hogwarts, Levina noticed an abnormal amount of books by someone named "Gilderoy Lockhart."
"Mew," Lilypad, Levina's pet black cat announced. Lilypad had grown a lot since the previous year, and now she had a long, slim figure and sleek black fur. The ribbon with a bell attatched from Hagrid at Christmas last year still hung around her neck.
Levina was a witch. Her mother had been murdered by the dark lord Voldemort and her father had left her with a muggle family that she was apparently related to, which Levina didn't understand, since they were purebloods. It was still unknown what happened to Levina's father, but the most likely presumption was that Voldemort tracked him down and killed him, too.
She hadn't changed much since the previous year. Her long brown hair was roughly the same length as before, and her chocolate brown eyes were certainly no different. According to measurements, however, she had grown an inch or less over the summer.
Anna was shouting something. Levina looked to her right to find her cousin angrily cursing at an owl, which had apparently nipped her finger when she tried to pet it.
She and her cousin Anna were heading through Diagon Alley, picking up books that they would need that year, most of which were by Lockhart, who was apparently appearing that day in the bookstore for autographs. Anna certainly had no desire to take her, but her parents decided that since she had gotten her license that she was so proud of, she would drive Levina to Diagon Alley, where they got to the actual place with the help of Floo powder that Hagrid showed them how to use. (They ran into him along the way, but he had business in somewhere called "Knockturn Alley")
"Levina!"
Levina looked away from her cousin and tried to figure out who had called her name.
"Over here!"
Turning to her left, Levina found Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all running towards her with wide grins.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione!" said Levina, running up to greet them. Anna followed close behind, looking annoyed.
"Ah, good, you found people like you," said Anna. "I'll take my leave then."
With that, Anna turned on her heel, her pink ruffly skirt waving, and left. Levina wondered if she still had Floo Powder with her to get home.
"Who was that?" asked Ron.
"My cousin," said Levina coldly. "But nevermind her, it's great to see you guys!"
Together, they headed down the rows of buildings, looking in at Quidditch brooms. Harry bought the four of them strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they slurped happily while exploring.
"How come you haven't returned any of my letters?" Levina asked, feeling hurt.
Harry explained to her about the elf-thing named Dobby that told him not to go back to Hogwarts.
"That's odd," Levina commented. "I wonder why...?"
As they headed by the book shop, there was a sign saying "Gilderoy Lockhart will be signing copies of his autobiography 'Magical Me' at 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm."
"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"
"Umm, who is he exactly?"
Hermione looked horrified.
"He's the guy who wrote all of these books, of course! Oh, we have to meet him!"
"Still wearing that?" Ron commented suddenly.
"What? Oh..." Levina fingered the ocean-blue necklace hanging around her neck. "Well, I admit that I didn't wear it much this summer, but about a week ago, I blew up some glass vases in a store when these guys were picking on me, so I decided it's better if I wear it..."
Ron laughed at this but Hermione shook her head. "Remember to not use magic outside of school, Levina! You could be expelled!"
"Oh, there you are, good," said Miss Weasley, patting her hair down looking breathless, and when she spotted Levina, she added, "Oh, hello, dear! Getting your books for this year?"
"Yes," said Levina, smiling.
"How was life with the Muggles?"
"Not too bad; I think my Aunt feels threatened by me now."
Heading inside the building, in the middle of all of the commotion, sat a man with wavy hair, dazzling white teeth, and forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes exactly. Around him, there were many pictures of him, smiling and waving to the crowd.
"Out of the way, there," a photographer snarled at Ron, moving forward to get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet-"
"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.
Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Ron- and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?"
Lockhart seized Harry's arm and pulled him onto the stage, shaking his hand as the photographer snapped away wildly.
Harry looked incredibly awkward as the light flashed into his eyes, his face reddening.
"Nice big smile, Harry," said Lockhart, and Levina ducked out of sight behind Ron, shooting Harry and apologetic look. The last thing she needed was for Lockhart to see her and make her take pictures, too.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is!"
Ignoring whatever Lockhart was rambling on about, Levina headed through the crowd, trying to escape. She tripped.
"-I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Levina, horrified, made a mistake in whirling around to looke at Lockhart, wide-eyed as the room burst into cheering and applause. He was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?
"-and-and is that Levina SnowPetal?" Lockhart shouted. Levina froze for a moment in fear, then bolted. She stumbled over to Harry in a haste, who was making his way over to Ginny and handing her his free books from Lockhart. She crashed into them, knocking the pair over.
"Sorry, Harry, Ginny!" she said apologetically, scooping up the fallen books.
"No, it's fine. Anyway, you have these. I'll by my own-"
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a very familiar voice. Levina turned to find Draco Malfoy, a smirk on his face.
"Famous Harry Potter," said Draco. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny. It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. She was glaring at Malfoy.
"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" drawled Draco. Ginny went scarlett.
"Jealous?" sneered Levina.
Draco looked at her and his grey eyes looked surprised. Apparently he hadn't noticed her.
"Oh, look, and it's SnowPetal too," said Draco. "Bet you wished you were as famous, then you could have been in the picture too."
Levina snorted. "Not everyone is as envious of fame as you, you know."
"Oh, it's you," said Ron, fighting his way over with Hermione, looking at Draco as if he were some disgusting thing on the bottom of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Draco. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all of those."
Ron went red in the face and put his books in the cauldron, starting towards Draco. Levina, Hermione, and Harry held him back.
"Ron!" said Mr. Weasley, who was struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."
"Well, well, well-Arthur Weasley."
It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.
"Lucius," said Mr. Wasley, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministery, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids...I hope they're paying you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
"Obviously not," said Mr. Malfoy. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Mr. Weasley flushed darker than Ron or Ginny.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."
"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "The company you keep, Weasley...and I thought your family could sink no lower-"
There was a thud of Ginny's cauldron as it went flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself on Mr. Malfoy, knocking him back against the bookshelf.
"Get him, dad!" The Weasley twins shouted.
"No, Arthur!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley.
"Gentlemen, please-please!" cried the assistant, as the crowd of people stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over.
"Whoo! Go Mr. Weasley!" Levina called. Draco flashed her a glowering look.
"Break it up there, gents, break it up-"
Hagrid had dragged the pair apart to reveal that Mr. Weasley had a split lip, and Mr. Malfoy had a black eye. He flung the Transfiguration book back at Ginny, malice glittering in his eyes.
"Here, girl-take your book-it's the best your father can give you-" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip, he beckoned to Draco and on his way out of the shop, he caught notice of Levina.
Levina swallowed hard in fear, but he merely gave her one look, snorted, and dragged Draco from the shop, who gave Levina one last unreadable glance.
"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that-no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter-bad blood, that's what it is-come on now-let's get outta here."
They headed out and hurried up the street, the Granger's looking terrified and Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury.
"A fine example to set for your children...brawling in public...what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought-"
"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from The Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report-said it was all publicity-"
As they said goodbye to the Grangers, Levina tied her necklace tightly around her neck and sighed. Floo powder wasn't exactly the best way of traveling.
Levina was sad to leave the Burrow in a month (she'd stayed there instead of going home), but it was nothing compared to her excitement in going back to Hogwarts again. She'd been anticipating her return all summer, writing letters to the others and recalling all of their fun times.
She wasn't paying much attention to the current situation at King's Cross, but a sudden CRASH! startled her into reality. She looked over at Harry and Ron, who were sprawled on the ground uncomfortably, their stuff scattered.
"Guys, what the-?" Levina yelped. Lillypad hissed from inside her carrier and her black fur bristled.
"What in the blazes d'you think you're doing?" A guard nearby yelled.
"Lost control of the trolley," gasped Harry, eyes watering in pain.
"Wrong wall?" Levina asked.
"No," said Harry, looking up at the sign. "Why can't we get through?"
"I dunno-" said Ron.
A dozen people around them were watching.
"We're going to miss the train," Ron whispered. "I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself-"
Levina sized up the wall and knocked on it experimentally. "Alohomora?" she asked it hesitantly, but nothing happened.
"Harry!" Ron was saying behind her suddenly. "The car!"
"What about it?"
"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!"
"But I thought-"
"We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to the school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction thingy-"
"But your mum and dad," said Harry. "How will they get home?"
"They don't need the car! They know how to Apparate! You know, just vanish and appear at home! They only bother with Floo Powder and the car because we're all underage and not allowed to Apparate yet..."
"Brilliant!" said Levina.
"Can you fly it?" said Harry eagerly.
"No problem," said Ron, turning away with his trolley. "C'mon, let's go. If we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express-"
And they marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles and back to the car. They heaved their luggage in the back and Levina climbed into the back seat, taking Lilypad out of her cage and placing her in her lap.
Ron pressed a tiny silver button and the car vanished from sight-and so did they.
Flying up into the air, Levina watched as the ground dropped out of sight as they rose.
"Uh-oh," said Ron. "It's faulty-"
Levina glanced around them: The car was flashing in and out of sight!
"The Muggles!" Levina reminded Ron, and he shouted, "Hold on!" and slammed his foot on the accelerator.
They shot straight into the low clouds, out of sight, and Levina relaxed back against her chair, heart thudding in her chest.
"Now what?" said Harry.
"We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," said Ron.
"Dip back down again-quickly-"
They dropped back beneath the clouds and Levina squinted down far below. Lilypad mewed uncomfortably and Levina placed her back in her carrier.
"I see it!" yelled Harry. "Right ahead-there!"
A minute later, they burst into a ray of sunlight.
"Now all we have to worry about are airplanes," said Ron.
Levina didn't know when it happened, but she fell asleep.
She had an odd dream of a man in a black cloak, rushing through the rain up to a dark building. He was holding something in a bundle-possibly a loaf of bread- and he was running in a haste.
In a panic, he knocked on the door frantically, rain clinging to his cloak and running down the sides of it.
The door opened just a crack, and Levina couldn't make out what the other person looked like.
Suddenly, there was a great crashing noise, and Levina jolted awake.
Levina found herself back in the car again, which was soaring downwards toward a great tall tree down at the Hogwarts' grounds.
"What on earth-?"
CRUNCH.
They crashed. Branches smashed the windows and Levina shrieked in terror as glass showered over her. She felt a branch narrowly scrape her arm, a small trickle of blood left behind.
Lilypad was trembling in her cage, and Hedwig was screeching beside her.
"Are you guys okay?" Harry said urgently.
"Yeah, I'm fine-but what the heck did you two do?" Levina demanded.
"My wand," said Ron in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand-"
It had snapped, almost in two, the tip dangling limply, held on by merely a few splinters.
"WHAT DID YOU-" Levina began again in frustration, but she was cut off as a force much like a charging bull hit the side of the car, sending Levina into the oppostie door with a whack!
"What's happen-?" gasped Ron, but a sudden tree branch as thick as a python smashed into the windshield. The tree was attacking them!
Another branch came hurtling straight at Levina's windshield, smashing the glass and sending shards into Levina's skin; she shrieked and ducked, covering her eyes as the glass stuck to her hands and arms.
"Run for it!" Ron shouted.
"Run where?" Levina screamed back. She buried her head in between her knees and lowered herself away from the windows, where the branches continued to angrily slam into them.
"Reverse!" Yelled Harry, being the only sensible one in the current situation, and the car shot backward and out of reach of the tree, slamming onto the ground.
Levina struggled, trembling, into a sitting position, wincing in pain.
"That," panted Ron, "was close. Well done, car-"
With two sharp clunks, the doors flew open and the car tipped sideways: In the next instant her face met the damp ground.
Loud thuds signaled them that the car had ejected their luggage, Lilypad hissed as she landed, fur askew, next to Levina.
Then, dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rea lights blazing angrily.
"Come back!" Ron yelled after it. "Dad'll kill me!"
The car dissappeared from view and Levina, moaning in pain, rolled over and staggered to her feet.
"Can you believe our luck?" said Ron miserably, bending down to pick up Scabbers. "Out of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get one that hits back."
"Come on," said Harry, "we'd better get up to the school..."
Heading up the front steps, they peered into the Great Hall, where the Sorting had begun.
"Now then," Levina muttered in frustration, picking shards of glass from her hands and wincing, "mind telling me what happened?"
"The engine died," Ron replied with a feeble shrug. Neither Ron nor Harry seemed to feel up to discussing it.
"Are you okay?" asked Harry, reaching forward to pull a shard of glass from Levina's sleeve. Levina yelped when he touched it and jerked away, since it was deeper in than the others.
"F-fine," Levina lied.
"Hang on," said Harry. "Where's Snape?"
Levina peeked into the Great Hall, and, indeed, there was one empty chair with its occupant missing.
"Maybe he's ill!" said Ron hopefully.
"Maybe he's left," said Harry, "because he missed out on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job again!"
"Or he might have been sacked," said Ron enthusiastically. "I mean, everyone hates him-"
"Or maybe he was critically injured," said Levina, beaming eagerly. "Ha! What if one of his potions went wrong, wouldn't that be ironic-?"
"Or maybe," said a very cold voice behind them, "he's waiting to hear why you three didn't arrive on the school train."
Levina spun around in sheer horror: Severus Snape, hook-nosed and greasy-haired, stood behind them, smiling horribly down at them.
"Oh," squeaked Levina in a barely audible voice, terrified, "hi."
"Follow me," said Snape.
Heading into the dungeons, Levina could only think of one thing: We're going to be expelled.
Then, she began thinking insane thoughts. What if their punishment, seeing as they were heading to the dungeons, was that they were going to be beaten? Or, what if they were forced to go back to the big tree that attacked them again?
They entered into his office, which was deathly cold, and he slammed the door behind them. Levina swallowed hard.
"So," he said softly, "the train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter, Levina SnowPetal, and their faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we, boys?"
Normally, Levina would have added, 'And girl,' but she was too fear-stricken to speak.
"No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it-"
"Silence!" said Snape coldly. "What have you done with the car?"
"What car?" Levina asked feebly, entirely losing her mind.
Snape unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet.
"You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES.
He began to read it out loud, and Levina shuffled her feet uncomfortably, hanging her head in shame.
"I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow."
"That tree did more damage to us than-" Ron blurted out.
"Silence!" snapped Snape again. "Most unfortunately, you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with me. I shall go go and fetch the people who do have that happy power. You will wait here."
He turned on his heel to leave, and on his way out, he stopped in front of Levina abruptly. He stared hook-nosed down at her and his eyes widened. Levina realized he was looking at the necklace around her neck.
"That's..." he trailed off and turned away, apparently deciding against whatever he was going to say.
Levina frowned, slightly confused, but didn't say anything. She kept her gaze down, feeling as though she would rather still be in the Whomping Willow. She tugged at a shard of glass on her hand and flinched in pain. She took that thought back.
But...did Snape know something about her necklace? Or...what its purpose was?
Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough, he was accompanied by Proffessor McGonagall, who looked more angry than Levina knew possible.
"Sit," she said, and they backed into chairs by the fire.
"Explain," she said, her glasses glinting ominously.
Ron launched into the story starting from the barrier at the train.
"Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl?" Proffessor McGonagall eyed Harry coldly.
"I-I didn't think-"
"That," said Proffessor McGonagall, "Is obvious."
The door opened and in marched Snape, looking enormously happy, and Dumbledore, who looked quite the opposite.
After a long moment of silence, Dumbledore said,"Please explain why you did this."
Levina heaved a sigh as Harry began to explain yet again their story to Dumbledore. In the end of it, though, Dumbledore said nothing.
"We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron in a hopeless voice.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Proffessor McGonagall.
"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron.
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon all of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expell you."
Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled. "Proffessor Dumbledore, these boys ("AND girl," Levina added, gaining confidence.) have flouted the Decree for Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree-surely acts of this nature-"
"It will be for Proffessor McGonagall to decide on their punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility." He turned to Proffessor McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custart tart I want to sample-"
Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry, Ron, and levina as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall, who was eyeing them like a wrathful eagle.
"You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're bleeding-and SnowPetal, good Heavens, child, you're covered in glass!"
"Not much," said Ron, hastily wiping the cut over his eye with his sleeve as Levina yet again attempted to pry a shard of glass from her arm. "Proffessor, I wanted to watch my sister being sorted-"
"The Sorting Ceremony is over," said Proffessor McGonagall. "Your sister is also in Gryffindor."
"Oh, good," said Ron.
"And speaking of Gryffindor-" Proffessor McGonagall said sharply, but Harry cut in: "Proffessor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so-so Gryffindor really shouldn't have points taken from it-should it?"
"I will not take any points from Gryffindor, but you will all get a detention."
It was much better than Levina had expected, and as for Dumbledore writing home, her family honestly wouldn't care much anyway.
Proffessor McGonagall raised her wand and pointed it at Snape's desk. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop.
"You will eat in here and then go straight to your dormitory," she said. "I must also return to the feast."
Levina hadn't known how hungry she was until she took a large bite of ham and chicken.
"I thought we'd had it," said Ron, grabbing a sandwich.
"So did I," said Harry.
"That was a lot better than I expected," said Levina.
"Can you believe our luck, though?" said Ron through a mouthful of meat. "Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them." He took another huge bite and swallowed. "Why couldn't we get through the barrier?"
Harry shrugged. "We'll have to watch our step from now on, though," he said, taking a greatful swig of pumpkin juice. "Wish we could've gone up to the feast..."
"She didn't want us showing off," said Ron sagely. "Doesn't want people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car."
"That wasn't our decision, though," Levina pointed out as she took a second large bite of chicken. "And anyway, did you notice how Snape was looking at my necklace? Do you think he knows anything about my 'condition'?"
Harry frowned. "I dunno, but I definetly wouldn't ask him."
"Especially not right now," Ron added.
After eating as many sandiwches as they could, they headed up the narrow flight of stone stairs, until they reached the door to the secret dormitory.
"Password?" said the fat lady portrait.
"Er-" said Harry.
They never found a prefect to give them the password.
"Open Sesame?" Levina asked tentatively.
"Nice try," said the portrait.
Apparently they didn't need a prefect, however, for Hermione came rushing towards them.
"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors-someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car-"
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured her.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione, as severe as Proffessor McGonagall.
"Maybe," said Levina.
"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password."
"It's 'wattlebird','" said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point-"
Hermione was cut off as there was a sudden storm of clapping when the portrait slid open, as if they were being greeted after a brilliant game of Quidditch.
"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years-"
"Good for you," said a fifth year Levina had never met. She smiled awkwardly.
"Why couldn't we have come in the car, eh?" said Fred and George, coming up from the crowd.
Levina happily began to make conversation, but when she caught sight of Harry and Ron leaving for bed, and noticed Percy's disapproving eyes, she waved goodnight and headed into her dormitory.
Untying her necklace, Levina felt a mild power surge, like a mere spark had flickered in her muscles. She undressed and climbed into bed, pulling up the covers and sliding her parent's picture under the pillow, Lilypad springing up and onto the bed and curling up beside her.
"I would have thought at least you of all people, being a girl...but, no, you just had to-"
Hermione was storming into the room, looking furious.
"I fell asleep," said Levina matter-a-factly.
Hermione's eyes widened. "You slept while they were driving a flying car? How could you?"
"It just happened." Levina pulled the covers over her head and added, muffled, "Look, I've had a long day...can we talk about this some other time?"
Obviously Hermione had every intent to grill Levina till the dawn of day, but she decided against it and, with a frustrated look at Levina, she, too, curled up for sleep.
A crazy start to a crazy year, thought Levina.
How was it? Sorry this chapter took so long, but I really hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review (: