CHAPTER 2- THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS
A horrified silence greeted these words, all of them realised just how much danger they would be in if the person who was attempting to bring Voldemort back to life actually succeeded. After a while Ginny spoke:
"We only told you this in case something happens either to us, or at Hogwarts, so that you would know exactly what you'd be up against, so you'd think before you acted or spoke." She glanced pointedly at James, "However we must ask you to promise not to repeat any of this, for your own and others' safety."
They promised, and talked for another half hour or so about different things like and what they were expecting to happen at Hogwarts this year. After a while, Aunt Hermione yawned "We should go it's getting late and there's a lot to do tomorrow."
After they left, Albus, James and Lily went up to bed. Albus lay down, visions of his father's story still flashing before his eyes, but nothing not even the fear that he felt when he thought of what could happen, and would happen, if the person plotting Voldemort's return from the dead eluded capture, could smother the anticipation he felt as he thought of where he was going tomorrow.
THWACK!
"OW!"
"Get up."
Albus opened his eyes and sat up, glaring in indignation at James who was holding a pillow and grinning down at him.
"Why did you hit me?"
"Mum told me to wake you."
"So you hit me with a pillow?!"
"Well, you looked so peaceful; I just had to spoil it."
"Wow, thanks."
"You're welcome."
Albus glanced at the clock beside his bed and frowned. "It's ten to eight, why do we have to get up now? We've got over 3 hours until the train leaves."
"Well, you do have to pack." Ginny said as she entered the room carrying a basket of ironed robes. "With all the- what's the word? – Excitement, last night you forgot to do it.
"Why does packing take 3 hours?"
"It doesn't, but it would be good to get there with about 15 minutes to spare, so we won't have to leave until 10. Breakfast will be ready in about 30 minutes, and you'll need time to dress and pack, then after breakfast we'll do a final check, then leave."
"Oh."
"Mum, I get to look after Epistula more than Al and Rose don't I? James asked suddenly.
"Well, she is for you to share, but because you're the oldest I suppose so. Why are you interested in responsibility all of a sudden?"
"No reason, I was just curious." James spoke a bit too quickly.
"Hmmmm." Ginny pursed her lips but let the matter drop. Instead, she said, "You'd better get up now Albus or we'll be late. James go and wake Lily please, and don't hit her with a pillow or anything else." She left the room. James followed her, obviously trying to figure out a new way to wake Lily.
Albus got up, dressed and was just wondering how James was planning to wake Lily when he heard a loud squeal.
"ARGH!"
"James!" Ginny yelled angrily from the kitchen.
"I didn't hit her with anything!"
"He poured a bottle of water on me!"
"I dropped it!"
"With the lid off and you just happened to be standing over me?! Yeah right!"
"Stop fighting both of you! James just go and finish your packing!" Harry yelled from their parent's bedroom.
"Ok" James grumbled. Albus heard a bedroom door shut, and then there was silence. Laughing quietly, he started to pack.
He was down to 5 items when he heard Lily calling "Al, breakfast!"
"Ok." He threw the last few things into his trunk at random and dragged his trunk downstairs.
When he entered the kitchen Ginny said "Now you're here Al, James has something to say to and Lily."
James turned around, having just been looking out the window. He was barefoot, Albus realised which was odd, because his shoes were under the table and unless he was mistaken, his socks were in his jacket pocket. James opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, Ginny said "James, put your hands in the air!"
He looked at her, puzzled, "Why?"
"So I can make sure you don't cross your fingers."
James scowled, and raised his hands but as he looked back at his siblings, Albus saw the glint of an idea in his eye.
"I'm sorry I woke you up so badly." James said. As he sat down, Albus wondered if anyone else noticed that while James's figures remained uncrossed under his mother's gaze his big to was firmly crossed over his longest toe on both of his feet .
At that moment Harry entered the room, Noctua perched on his shoulder, and a letter scrunched in his hand. He looked at James in confusion, and James lowered his hands and sat down smartly. Eyebrows raised sightly, Harry approached his wife. "Percy replied."
"What does he say?"
Harry glanced around and seeing that his children were all listening closely; he read the letter aloud.
"Dear Harry,
I am sorry that I couldn't reply sooner. As much as I appreciated what you were saying, I really couldn't see what we could actually do. In order to start investigating properly, we would need to invade a lot of people's homes and they have the right to know why. If we told them the truth, it would get out and there would be uproar. Panic would spread like wildfire, and people would surely declare themselves loyal to Voldemort just to spare their families. So I contacted the minister via flu network and told him of your concerns as well as my own. He therefore has decided that your plan would go ahead but under the pretext of taking control of the black market."
"But that's great news!" exclaimed Lily happily.
Harry shook his head and continued to read.
"However the Minister would like to make a formal announcement about "taking control of the black market," in a press conference with the Daily Prophet and would like you to delay you investigations until he returns from Bulgaria in 3 weeks' time. I did ask if he would like me to make the announcement in order to speed things up and get on with preventing what may happen, but he said that as minister, it is his responsibility. He asked me to inform you that the second item has not been found, nor has its attachment. He said you would understand. Wish the kids good luck at Hogwarts for me.
Love to the family,
Yours Sincerely,
Percy."
"What's the "second item"?" asked Albus.
"Never you mind." Ginny replied. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try us." Lily said.
"No, it's not your concern." Harry said sharply. "Anyway, Al, James are you packed?"
"Yeah" they both said.
"Good, well Harry take the trunks and things to the car, Lily and Albus help me clean up and James put your shoes on, and then we'll be off." Ginny ordered.
The Potter's were soon pulling out of their driveway and setting out for Kings Cross Station. 55 minutes later, they were circling for a parking space. Not finding any, Harry drove into the underground car park and vanished one of the cars with his wand. Seeing Ginny's expression, Harry grinned, "You look like your mother, don't worry, I'll summon it back when we leave."
They got two trolleys and were soon standing in front of the barrier that led to Platform 9¾ "Ok I'll go first with Albus and James and his trunk, then you and Lily come with Albus's." Harry said.
"Sounds good." Ginny said.
Albus took the lead as he ran towards the seemingly solid brick wall. He closed his eyes and felt a gentle coolness pass through him as he "collided" with it, and when he opened his eyes he was standing on platform 9¾, amidst the loud chatter and bustle of people that covered every inch of the platform. Albus gasped as he saw something magnificent, there, standing tall above the crowd, covering them all with steam, the scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express. "Wow, this takes me back." Said a voice, making Albus jump. He turned, and saw his father and James standing behind him.
"You said the same thing when you dropped me off here for my first year." James said.
"I know, but every time I see the train, rushes of memories come flooding back. The time your Aunt, Uncle, Uncle Fred, Uncle George, and me all jinxed Draco Malfoy and his gang at the same time, causing them to come out in fungus covered boils, things like that."
"Really?" "I never knew that." Ginny said, as she and Lily came through the barrier.
"Yeah, it was one of the best journey's back to London." Harry said smiling at the memory. "Almost made up for the fact I had to go back to the Dursley's."
They all laughed, and began to cross the platform. As they reached the train, Albus felt someone tap him on the back. He turned and saw that it was Rose smiling at him, excitement plain on her face.
"Hi! Oh my God, I'm so excited I can't keep still!" she bounced around as she spoke, her brown hair swirling around behind her.
"Hello all!" Uncle Ron said laying a hand on Rose's shoulder as he came up behind her. "Blimey Harry this takes you back. Remember when we jinxed Malfoy, and the time we missed the train?" Good times."
"You missed the train?" James asked, "How did you get to school?"
"Flew." Uncle Ron said grinning.
"Huh?"
"Well, Grandad Weasely had a muggle car, a Ford Anglia, and he bewitched it to fly. In our second year, Harry and I couldn't get through the barrier, because of that house-elf we told you about, Dobby. So we flew the car to Hogwarts, only we hit the Whomping Willow so the car kicked us out, and now it runs wild in the forest."
"Wow!" There's a rumour of a loony car in the forest, but I never thought it was true." James was staring at his father and uncle with newfound respect.
"Now that we've established fact from fiction, Al, James and Rose should really get aboard now." Said Aunt Hermione who had been listening to the story with a frown on her face.
"She's never got over how "irresponsible" we once were." Harry said quietly.
"Have a wonderful term and be good." Aunt Hermione.
"Yes particularly you James." Ginny said flattening his hair.
"Mum don't! Anyway I am always good!"
"Really? What about those 17 letters I got concerning your behaviour."
"They were complementing my personality!"
"Right."
After Rose James and Albus hugged all the grown-ups, Lily and Hugo they climbed aboard the train, dragging their trunks behind, them James in front. He stopped at a compartment and grinned through the glass. "Let's go in here." They followed him into the compartment, Albus shutting the door behind him. Inside there were 2 other boys. One was, tall and sporty looking, with brown hair and bright green eyes, the other blond, with blue eyes and square glasses; he looked younger than the brown haired boy, though they shared the same nose and build.
"This is my best friend Steve Jordan." James said as he sat down next to the brown haired boy indicating him. "His dad's a friend of Uncle George, we realised last year when we had to rewrite detention records for Waitson. The caretaker" he added at their blank looks. "You would've met him sooner, except he had to go to New Zealand for the whole holidays. Steve, this is my little brother and cousin, Albus and Rose, first year."
He grinned up at them, "Hi, well you might as well meet my little brother Oliver. He's starting first year too. Hopefully in Gryffindor, but he's smart, so we'll have to see."
"Hi." Oliver smiled as they sat down next to him. They smiled in response, just as the train jerked into life and began to pull away from the station. They waved out the window to their parents until the train rounded the bend and the platform disappeared from sight.
"So, are you looking forward to starting at Hogwarts?" Steve asked.
"Yeah should be great, I just need to avoid Slytherin and I'm all good." Albus laughed.
"Yes, but I need to do well in exams, to save family pride." Said Rose
Steve looked stunned.
"Exams? Exams? Are you sure she's related to you?" He turned to James incredulously.
"Well, Hermione Granger's her mum so there's a lot riding on first year tests for her." James replied.
Oliver looked puzzled "Hermione Granger? Why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, I remember reading a book at the start of the holidays about what happened 19 years ago. I can't remember the name, but that name was in it! She helped Harry Potter stop You Know Who!" Then she married a Ron Weasely. Wait," he said staring at Rose, "what's your surname?
"Weasely." Rose said knowing what was coming.
"So you're Ron Weasley's daughter! Oliver exclaimed "Which means you two must be Potters. He pointed at Albus and James. "You are aren't you?
"Yeah." James said grinning over at him.
"But your dad's famous!" Oliver's eyes were as round as galleons and just as shiny.
"Yeah I suppose so." Albus said.
"I told you he was smart." Steve said.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Oliver said turning to his brother, hurt in his eyes. "You must have known that your best friend is HARRY POTTER'S son."
"I did. But James said that his dad told him that he had to keep it quiet, so and I quote "he couldn't inflate his ego so it was bigger than it was already."
James laughed "I haven't been able to inflate it over that but I can't say the same for my Quidditch skills."
They all laughed. They heard the sound of wheels squeaking and the sound of a voice calling "Anything from the trolley! Anything from the trolley!"
"Great I'm starving." Steve said jumping up. He slid open the compartment door and stood waiting for the witch who pushed it to reach their compartment. "I'm thinking Bertie Botts Beans, Chocolate Frogs liquorice wands, fizzing whizzbees, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties and a few packets of Dribbles. Anything else?"
"Sugar Quills." Said Oliver at once.
"Oh yeah, how could I forget? Oliver's number one favourite sugary delight of all time. Sugar Quills."
By this time, the trolley had arrived at the compartment. Steve made his requests and Albus and James got up to help his carry it. They dumped it on the empty seat next to James and handed it round.
They were swapping chocolate Frog cards about 30 minutes later when the lights in the compartment flickered on. Rose glanced out the window. "It's getting dark; we should be there soon, shouldn't we?"
"Yeah, we should change." James said getting up and stretching. They pulled their back school robes on over their muggle clothing. James and Steve both pined on red collars and Gryffindor badges. The others pined on black collars and Hogwarts crests. "You get house coloured collars, badges, and scarves after you get sorted." James explained.
They train pulled up at Hogsmeade Station. The whole school piled out of the train and began moving towards some seeming horseless carriages. Although now, everyone knew that they were pulled by a heard of Thestrals- skeletal winged creatures that were only seen by those who had seen death. Over the voices of the chattering crowd a deep loud male voice was calling "First Years over here! First Years this way please, now!"
"That's the gamekeeper Ozzo," Steve said to Albus, Rose and Oliver. "You lot had better go. We'll see you later."
The three first years made their way through the crowd towards the sound of Ozzo's voice. They reached the end of the platform and were greeted by a tall large man with dark brown eyes, a full red face and short thick black hair in a square/circle afro style. He smiled down at them. "First years? I'm Ozzo the school gamekeeper. First years always travel by boat to Hogwarts, so please choose one, only three to a boat mind and don't get in the one marked 11 , that's mine." He pointed to around 11 small boats hovering in the lake that surrounded the right hand side platform each labelled with a number from 1-11.
"Have they been cleaned?" said an obnoxious voice. Albus turned and saw the white blond head of Scorpius Malfoy, coming towards them accompanied by two brown haired, black eyed boys. One was so thick muscular and stupid looking that Albus wondered if he'd been carved out of a particularly thick oak tree. The other was small and weedy looking with a permanent sneer on his face and an exceptionally large nose.
"What?" Ozzo said to Scorpius.
"I said "have they been cleaned?" "You see I don't really think my father would approve of me sitting in a dirty boat." Scorpius drawled.
"Your father eh?" Ozzo replied looking at Scorpius with evident dislike. "Who'd that be?"
"Draco Malfoy." Scorpius said haughtily.
"Malfoy?" "I know that name heard all about that family from my cousin Hagrid. He was gamekeeper too, you know. He didn't think much of them, and neither do I." Ozzo said. "Well young Mr Malfoy, I may be the gamekeeper, but I also teach Care of Magical Creatures, so that gives me the authority of a teacher. I'd hate to give a new student such as you a detention for rudeness on their first night, and before they even set foot in the Castle too,now that would be a record. But unless you show a bit of respect and get in a boat I may have to."
Scorpius flushed angrily, but muttered "Come on" to his friends and the got into boat number 5.
Albus. Rose and Oliver made sure to choose the boat furthest from them that was possible, which was number 10. Once all the first years had arrived and filled all but the eleventh boat, Ozzo got into his boat and tapped the side with his forefinger. Immediately all the boats began to glide smoothly down the lake.
As they rounded the only bend in the river every single first year gasped as one. There, in front of them towering over the lake and seemingly shadowing everything in a 5 mile radius, it windows glittering invitingly was the magnificent form of Hogwarts Castle.
