Chapter 2 Aboard the Hogwarts Express (Again)
Teddy and Alex had gotten safely onto the school train and were searching for an empty compartment. Violet had left them to go to her prefect meeting. All of the compartments that they passed were full of people. Teddy looked at the last one. It was occupied by only three girls.
"Looks like we're gonna have to sit here," said Teddy.
"Oh joy, the feminist trio," replied Alex sarcastically.
Teddy slid open the compartment door and the two boys stepped inside. The feminist trio, as Alex had called them, looked up from their conversation.
"Mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full," said Teddy.
The girls looked at one another for a moment. "Oh fine," said one of them impatiently.
"Thanks," said Teddy. They sat down opposite the three girls.
Diane Jackson, Victoria Venanzio, and Roxanne Hart made up the feminist trio. They were good friends (their friendship had survived even though Roxanne had been placed in Hufflepuff and the other two were placed in Gryffindor) that always stood up for one another and hated men as a matter of principle. Victoria and Roxanne were both Muggle-born, and Diane was a pure-blood.
"Did you see the Quidditch World Cup?" asked Teddy to break the silence.
"Obviously," said Victoria, as if it were impossible not to go see the Quidditch World Cup.
"Scotland epic failed, Ukraine was way too good," said Alex.
"Well, the Keeper, Gordon, he was great. He did the Double Eight Loop. That thing's impossible. I wish I could fly like him," said Teddy. Teddy played Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "Watson wasn't that bad either. He scored right after he was hit by a Bludger."
"But how it finished was amazing," said Alex.
"Yes, yes, the Plumpton Pass," said Victoria sarcastically. "How amazing. Tretyachenko caught the Snitch up his sleeve. Obviously by accident."
"If Roderick Plumpton can do it, why not Tretyachenko?" replied Teddy.
"That was an accident also," she said, as if explaining the obvious.
"It was not. He maintained to his death that it was not."
"Oh yes," burst out Roxanne. "And that ex-Weird Sisters drummer maintained to his death that he did not kill that girl, but we all know he did."
Teddy chose not to answer. It was not a good idea to get Roxanne ranting about how easily celebrities could escape the law.
"Anyway, did you notice that there was only one girl in both of the teams put together?" asked Diane. Teddy had not noticed, but he said nothing. "And Ukraine has two teams, one men's and one women's. That is so stupid."
"Well you all support the Holyhead Harpies and that's an all girl team," Alex pointed out.
"You idiot, don't you understand why they did that?" said Victoria.
"Please, enlighten me," said Alex sarcastically.
"They did to give men a taste of their own medicine. Women were tired of begging men to let them on their teams, so they decided to make the men be the beggars," explained Diane.
"Permit me to observe, that you are fighting fire with fire," said Alex with forced calm.
"We've tried fighting with water for centuries. And that's not just with Quidditch, you know. Water doesn't work," Roxanne replied.
"Well then, might I suggest a fire extinguisher," said Alex.
"What's a fire extinguisher?" asked Diane interestedly.
"It's what Muggles use to put out fires," Roxanne told her.
Before they could begin arguing again, the compartment door slid open. Violet was standing there, her trunk in one hand, a caged parrot in the other.
"Mind if I join you?" Violet asked.
"Of course not," said Victoria.
"I heard shouting, what was all that about?" said Violet sitting down.
"They think that they can gain something by fighting fire with fire," Alex informed her.
"I wouldn't call it fire. But your so-called fire is working better than your so-called water. Besides there is no alternative," said Roxanne.
"THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE. IT'S CALLED A FIRE EXTINGUISHER!" Alex screamed.
"What's a fire extinguisher," Violet inquired.
"Something Muggles use to put out fires, apparently," Teddy told her.
"Oh, lord. How did you get on this subject?" said Violet.
"Qudditch," chorused Teddy, Alex, and the feminist trio.
"Why is everyone so obsessed with Quidditch? I mean, I guess it was kind of cool to see the Cup and the determination of the players, but honestly, it's just a game."
"Quidditch is fun," said Victoria in a tone that clearly suggested that she thought Violet was going insane.
"Well, I suppose there is some excitement in the game. But it's still just a game. There are some highlights of the game, but you must confess, outside of those highlights, one Quidditch game is much like another."
"Well, I like Quidditch a lot," said Teddy. "But it's not just the game. Actually I prefer flying to the game itself. It's a wonderful feeling when you fly like you're free of everything. It's like… well I don't know how to describe it… but it's like nothing else you've ever felt."
"What are you trying to be free from, Ted?" asked Roxanne.
"That is a good question," Teddy said.
It was a good question. What was it he was trying to be free from? Was it that feeling of being an outsider? Or was it the unfair losses he'd had so early in life? Or was it that inescapable feeling that there was something that he wasn't being told?
While the others began to talk of something else, Teddy looked out the window. It was beginning to grow dark and lights began appearing in the little houses that they went by. The houses were quite charming; they were made of stone with red roofs and had little chimneys with smoke curling out of them. Quite a distance away Teddy could see a gigantic castle, it was Hogwarts, it was home.
Author's Note (if you don't want to read this, no one's making you):
Hello everyone! Now I'd like to thank some people. Thank you, Laura Wolf, for the lovely review. Thank you, FallenStar22, for adding this to favorite story. Thank you, mom for helping me think up of names for the feminist trio. Thank you, dad, for giving me awesome ideas. By the way he recently gave me another idea, thank you daddy (oops, I think he's embarrassed now), that I will use for this. No, I'm not telling you, but all I'll say is; it involves a character that all Harry Potter fans love. First person to guess the character gets a bag of dungbombs! I don't own Harry Potter, so please don't sue me. I love reviews, even if their hate messages, so please review. Come on now, press the pretty green button. Love world cup fever. I can't believe it's almost over. Go Spain!
Love you all,
vampireling23
P.S. Fire extinguisher.