Harry was flying as fast as he could to get out of the Black Forrest in time to reach the Hogwarts Express. For whatever reason, he decided to provide sports commentary about himself while he did this.
"And he just barely missed that branch", Harry said of himself. "But, of course, he didn't even get scratched. There's no better man on a broom in the world than Harry Potter".
Hearing these comments seemed to annoy some of the Centaurs in the forrest, who promptly started shooting arrows at him.
"And the crowd doesn't seem to like Harry Potter much today", said Harry as he dodged their shots. "But those Centaurs and their mighty arrows aren't enough to stop him. No way".
The Centaurs were now very anrgy. They now pulled out guns and started blasting away at Harry.
"Woah", Harry said, flying higher in the air so that the bullets couldn't hit him, "I think it's time that Potter split the arena before our hero is killed".
"Did you hear that?", one of the Centaurs said has Harry flew out of sight. "He called our forrest an 'Arena'".
"Disgusting boy", another of them snarled. "Mark my words, he'll pay for this. In fact, I think that this act of ego on his part may ultimately cause the death of a major character!".
But Harry was completely unaware of this as he zoomed out of the Black Forrest and flew past Hagrid's cabin. As was usual now, Buckbeak the Hippogriff (a name which looked like a typo) was resting outside in the field next to it.
Yet as Harry's eyes came into contact with Buckbeak's, there was something notably odd about them. At first, they looked almost as though they were filled with hate. Pure hate. Hate, hate, hate. Yet at the same time, there was concern. Strange, sincere conecern. Fear for his, Harry's, own safety, almost. It was weird.
So weird, in fact, that Harry found himself staring at Buckbeak for two whole minutes. But then he remembered something...
"The Hogwarts Express", Harry yelped, and he swooshed off at top speed.
He soared around the Hogwarts castle, did a few stupid stunts, and quickly found himself heading for the train that was just about to leave.
"All aboard", the conductor said. "This is your last chance to--"
"Stupify!", Harry yelled, his wand pointed at the conductor, who landed on the ground with a soft thud!
"Now I have some time to spare", said Harry as he got off his broom. He walked over the stunned conductor and aboard one of the passenger cars.
He looked around for any sign of Hermione and Ron. As was always the case, he couldn't wait to tell them about juicy gossip he had in store for them, in this case the owl that had a note from him, the Death Eater who had stolen it, and how both the Death Eater, the owl and the note met their untimely demises.
He soon found himself face to face with Luna Lovegood.
"Hello, Harry", she said in her usual dreamy voice when she saw him. "Where have you been?".
"Oh, just going to the bathroom", Harry lied. "Thought that I'd give Moaning Myrtle a visit".
"That's a fib", said Luna, but her voice, as always, wasn't cross. "I saw you running off. You were going after that cloaked man, weren't you?".
"Uh...", Harry said, not knowing what to say, "Have you seen Ron and Hermione".
"I see", said Luna. "You're going to tell Ron and Hermione how you weren't going to the bathroom but were really going after a cloaked man who killed a postal owl that was heading straight for you".
"I...", went Harry, now feeling the sudden urge to hit Luna, "How the heck do you know all this?".
"I saw the whole thing, as I've said before", Luna sighed. "And, so you know, I've seen that owl before. He's sent me a--"
"When?", Harry interupted. "When have you seen that owl? Who would send it to you?".
"Oh, now you want to talk to me", Luna said, looking at the ceiling. "The owl's sent me many a letter from--".
"MS. LOVEGOOD!", a voice growled.
Up the hall clunked Mad-Eye Moody, looking as scary and furious as he always did. "Don't go telling Harry anything he shouldn't know".
"But Professor", said Harry. "That owl was sending me a--".
"Quiet!", Moody yelled. He looked at Luna and softened his voice. "He must find out about this later. Now, let's get you back to your seat".
And with that, Moody picked up Luna by her hair and drug her off. Luna didn't seem to mind too much, and started humming some sort of song to herself.
"Goodbye, Harry", he heard her say. "And do remember to watch out for Gazordinplats".
Now Harry's mind was full of questions. This was, of course, totally out of the ordinary for him.
"I must find Ron and Hermione and tell them all that I've been through today", he said.
So Harry looked and looked all around the train for his two best friends, until he found them in their usual seats. Why hadn't he looked there in the first place?
"Where have you been, Harry?", asked Hermione, who was holding Crookshanks, the cat with a deep, dark secret, in her arms.
"Yeah, we were all worried about you", said Ron.
"Well", Harry began, but then he paused. "Hang on. What do you mean by you 'all' being worried about me. It's just the two of you, right?".
"Oh, no", said Hermione. "Ginny was here".
Harry's jaw dropped.
"She...", he said. "She..."
"She left a few minutes ago", said Ron, his face growing slightly pink. "She went looking for you".
"WHAT?", Harry shouted. And without thinking twice, he ran for the passenger car's window and pulled it open.
"Harry!", Herminone screamed. "What on earth do you think you're doing?".
"The train's moving!", yelled Ron. "If you're thinking of jumping..."
"I must save my true love!", Harry said firmly. "Farewell, my brave friends. It's been nice knowing you".
"DON'T!", Hermione screeched. "HARRY, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!".
"Of course I do", Harry said, getting ready to leap. "Ginny went into the forrest to look for me, so I have to--"
"NO!", Hermione exclaimed. "She's only searching around the train for you, Harry. She's not out there".
It was then when Ginny Weasley entered the car.
"Harry, are you killing yourself?", she asked.
"No", Harry said blankly. Oh, boy, did he feel stupid now.
"That's good", she said. "Because if I hadn't found you here, I would have jumped out of that window myself".
"Ginny!", Hermione and Ron went in unison. The sexual tension between the two of them kept becoming more obvious by the moment.
"I'm only kidding", Ginny said, smiling slightly, but Harry wasn't sure if she was being honest.
"Well, don't joke about things like that", Hermione and Ron went, again in unison. The sexual tension between the two of them kept becoming more obvious by the moment.
After an awkward silence, Harry wasted no time telling Ron and Hermione about all that had just happened in the first chapter and his conversation with Luna.
"Bloody hell", Ron said once Harry had finished. "A Death Eater showing up right after Dumbledore's funeral? Didn't think it was possible". He then grinned. "At least we've found something good to say about Hagrid's spiders".
"It's not funny, Ron", said Hermione. "They might've eaten Snape for all we know".
"And why would that concern you?", fumed Ron. "It would be the best news I've heard in a long time if that were the case".
"But Ronald", Hermione said slowly. "Dumbledore trusted Snape. Really, really, really, I mean. He seemed to trust him more than most of the teachers here".
"And what are you saying?", snarled Harry.
"I'm saying, oh, I don't know what I'm saying", said Hermione, exasperated.
"TRAIN ROBBERS! TRAIN ROBBERS ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS!".
It was Neville Longbottom. He ran over to Harry and the others and panted.
"Train robbers", he wheezed. "There are train robber goblins on the Hogwarts Express".
"Train robbing WHAT?", said Harry.
But Ron, Hermione and Ginny all had looks of dread on their faces.
It was Ginny who said it.
"We're all doomed".
