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Ch. 3 the Whomping Willow
POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:
The end of the summer vacation came too quick for my liking. On August 31st, the day before the start of the new term, Mom cooked a dinner with all my favourite things, including ice-cream with cherries for desert. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and then bed.
It took a long while to get started the next morning. We were up at dawn, but somehow we still seemed to have a great deal to do. We kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in our hands.
It was enough when Dad almost broke his neck; he tripped over the cat Scratchy (it appears all my animals have a habit of hurting their owners).
We Apparated to an alley near King's Cross. I saw the Weasleys at once, along with Janice and Claire. Lexie stood somewhere else, hugging and kissing her little sister Gabby goodbye.
Gabby was a younger version of Lexie, exactly the same hair and eye colour. She was really sweet, but very shy (unlike her older sister) and stuttered a lot.
Almost the entire Weasley family had vanished; the only one left was Ron, chatting to Harry, Claire and Janice. "Well, I'm going little sis," said Cormac.
"We hope your grades improve," my father snorted.
Cormac gave him an uneasy look and returned my grin when I saw him disappear.
"And you," said my father. "Same for you. Better grades, but most importantly behave yourself."
"I'm sure she will," my mother said lovingly, giving me a cheeky wink.
"Yeah," I grinned. "What makes you think I won't?"
"The fact that I know you very well," my father replied. "Off you go."
When I reached my friends, Lexie and Claire had both gone. "Let's go together," said Ron. "We've only got a minute."
I wheeled my trolley around so it would face the barrier. We walked purposefully to the barrier, gaining speed. A few feet away from it we broke into a run and-
CRASH.
POV CLAIRE GIBBS:
"Where are they?" I asked Lexie.
"No idea," she said. "We better go ahead."
Once we got rid of our trunks, we started searching for a compartment. We passed the compartment with Lexie's housemates. They all started cheering and calling for her.
"Would you mind awfully?" Lexie asked.
"Of course not," I said quickly. "It's fine."
"Thanks," she smiled and went in the compartment.
Again there was no compartment completely empty. But there was one with only one person in it. It was a boy, his face hidden behind a book. I recognized it. It was the Impossible, the book I'd gotten for my birthday.
"Can I join you?" I asked. "Everywhere else's full."
He looked up from his book. It was Cedric. "Oh, hi Claire," he said. "Sure."
I sat down next to me. "Is it a good book?" I asked.
"It's brilliant," he replied. "I've been reading it over and over again."
I smiled. "I've just started it," I said. "Don't tell me how it ends."
"I wasn't going to," he smirked. "Where are your friends?"
"Where are yours?" I blurted out.
Cedric was mostly surrounded by a big group of friends, who all admired him. "I sneaked out on them. I wanted to sit somewhere a bit… quieter."
"Oh, I'd better go then," I said dryly.
"No," he laughed. "You're not that talkative anyway."
He read the next few lines. "What chapter are you at?" he asked.
"Chapter 3," I answered. "They've only just met in that one, haven't they?"
"This is our secret, isn't it?" he asked. "My friends wouldn't find it that cool, I'm afraid."
"I still think you're cool."
My cheeks flushed. Did I actually say that out loud? Cedric chuckled, his dark eyes full of laughter. "I've always liked that about you. You're always yourself."
He's always liked that about me? "Sometimes it's a little too much of me. But who else could I be?" I replied after a while.
"How can you ever be too much yourself?" he smiled.
It was a nice smile, showing off his white teeth. "I sometimes have the feeling I can be annoyed with myself," I said.
"Don't we all know that feeling?" Cedric laughed. "But what I meant was, you're you. You're real. No matter what. You're not fake to appear cooler than you are. And that's what makes you a lot cooler than me."
POV LEXIE JONES:
"How's your Dad?" I asked Draco.
"He's okay now," he replied. "Still a bit moody, though."
"My father has gotten me a really expensive dress for my birthday," said Pansy.
She never talked about real important things, just a bit of careless chatter. Also great sometimes, not that I cared a lot for dresses. Certainly not hers. I cared about my looks, as any normal girl, but she was really obsessed with it.
Pansy couldn't spend a day without looking in the mirror, telling us how fine she looks, and telling others they don't. She could be really funny sometimes, but most of her jokes were insults. A bit malicious, but undoubtedly funny.
As long as she wasn't insulting me, I gleefully laughed along.
"And how was your holiday, Blaise?" Pansy asked.
"My mother remarried," he said rather uninterestedly. "For the fifth time."
Blaise his Mom was known for her beauty and had been married four times before this, and her husbands had mysteriously died and she had inherited the money. There was a lot more going on than I wanted to know.
"How bad is this one?" I asked.
"He's okay," said Blaise. "He doesn't say much. Better than the last one, spent an eternity on trying to make me call him 'Dad'."
"And what about you?" Draco asked me.
"Nothing special," I shrugged. "Doing nothing, being lazy and taking care of Hermes. He's a snake, from some friends of us."
"I'd love to see you doing that," said Draco. "I bet you were shaking and all."
"I thought you thought better of me!" I said indignantly."I am not afraid of Hermes, Bella is."
"Is McLaggen afraid of snakes?" Blaise said, a smile spreading across his face.
"Shouldn't have said that," I said, but my tone was anything but apologetic.
"She's always pretending to be so brave!" Pansy shrieked with laughter.
"You're still hanging out with her, aren't you?" Draco asked. "Why are you saying this?"
"I needed to get her back with something," I said, thinking about her opinion about Parselmouths.
POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:
"Why can't we get through?" Harry hissed.
"Well don't ask me!" I snapped. "The train has just left and there's no other way we're going to get to Hogwarts!"
"I don't understand why the gateway sealed itself," Ron said, tapping the stone. "Hang on. If we can't get through, maybe Mum and Dad can't get back!"
"Have you got any Muggle money?" Janice asked.
Harry gave a hollow laugh. "The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years."
A dozen curious people were watching them. "Let's go and wait by the car," said Harry. "We're attracting too much attention-"
"You have a car?" I said, my eyes gleaming.
Janice moaned. "I know that look. We're not going to do something illegal, are we?"
"You know me," I said comfortingly, patting her shoulder. "Of course it's something illegal."
"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!" said Ron.
"Fly?" Janice and I said in unison.
"Dad's enchanted it," Ron explained quickly. "Come on!"
We marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station and back onto the side of the road where an old Ford Anglia was parked. When I saw the back, I knew it was enchanted; there was no way four trunks would fit in a normal Ford Anglia. The seats where Janice and I were sitting on were nearly as big as park benches.
"Check that no one's watching," Ron said.
He pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around us vanished and so did we. Janice shrieked. "Shush!" I whispered. "They can still hear you!"
"Let's go," said Ron's voice from my right.
And the ground and the dirty buildings on either side fell away, dropping out of sight as the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and glittering, below us. Then there was a popping noise and the car, Janice, Harry, and Ron, reappeared.
"Uh-oh," said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. "It's faulty-"
"Damn!" I cursed.
Harry pushed it and the car vanished again. Then it flickered back. "Hold on!" Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; we shot straight into the low, woolly clouds and everything.
"We have to find the train!" Harry said. "Dip back down again- quickly-"
"I can see it!" I said. 'Right ahead, there!"
The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below us like a scarlet snake. "Due north," said Ron. "Okay, we'll just have to check it every half hour or so - hold on-"
"I was getting sick already," Janice murmured.
And we shot up through the clouds. A minute later, we burst out into a blaze of sunlight. It was a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy cloud, the sky a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun.
"All we've got to worry about now is airplanes," I laughed.
We looked at each other and started to laugh; for a long time, we couldn't stop. It was as though we had been plunged into a fabulous dream. The prospect of seeing Fred's and George's jealous faces when we landed smoothly and spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle.
I must have fallen asleep after a while. I was suddenly woken by Harry saying, "There!"
Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake, stood the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle. The car gave a nasty wobble. Janice shrieked. "Come on," Ron muttered.
We were over the lake, the castle was right ahead and Ron put his food down. There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely. The nose of the car dropped. We were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall.
"We're going to DIE!" Janice shrieked. "We're done with!"
Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand out of his back pocket. "STOP! STOP!"
"WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!" Harry bellowed, trying to get the steering wheel, but he was too late…
CRUNCH.
With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, we hit the big tree trunk. Ron let out a low, despairing groan. "Are you okay?" Janice whispered urgently.
"My wand," said Ron, in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand!"
It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limpy, held on by a few splinters. At that very moment, something hit the side of the car with the force of a charging bull, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof.
"We're going to DIE!" Janice repeated.
"Shut up!" I yelled, trying to open the door. "It's the Whomping Willow, Cormac told me about it! He would never go close to it-"
"I wonder why," said Harry darkly.
The windshield was now trembling under a hail of blows. "We're done for!" Ron moaned.
But suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating. The engine had restarted. The car shot backwards. The tree was still trying to hit us, almost ripping itself up, lashing out at us as we sped out of reach. The car stopped.
With the doors flung open and the seats tipped sideways: Next thing I knew I was sprawled on the damp ground. The car ejected our luggage from the trunk, and then rumbled off into the darkness, the Forbidden Forest.
"Come back!" Ron yelled. "Dad'll kill me! Can you believe our luck? Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get one that hits back."
"I'm just glad we're alive," Janice breathed.
"Mee too!" I laughed. "Nothing's wrong! This was an excellent adventure!"
"If I'm going to be friends with you any longer, it will be the death of me," Ron mocked.
"But I'm worth it," I smirked.
We walked into the Great Hall. The Sorting was going on. The vivid red hair of Ginny was clearly visible. "Where's Snape?" asked Harry.
Snape's spot on the staff table was empty indeed. Severus Snape was my least favourite teacher. Cruel, sarcastic, and disliked by everybody. "Maybe he's ill!" said Ron hopefully.
"Maybe he's dead," I added, even more hopeful.
"Bella!" Janice hissed. "You can't just say that!"
"Maybe he's left," said Harry. "because he missed out on Defence Against the Dark Arts again!"
"Or he might have been sacked!" said Ron enthusiastically.
"Let's hope so," I said. "I mean, no one would miss him!"
"Or maybe," said a cold voice right behind them. "He's waiting to hear why you didn't arrive on the school train."
Bugger.
POV JANICE DIGGORY:
There stood Severus Snape. He was smiling in a way that told me we were in big trouble. "Follow me," said Snape.
He led us to his office. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars, in which floated all manner of things I didn't want to know the name of. "So," he said softly. "the train isn't good enough for famous Potter and sidekicks McLaggen and Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we?"
There was no mention of my name. "As for you," he said, looking at me now. "I thought you had more sense, Diggory."
"No sir, it was the barrier as King's Cross-"
"Spare me your nonsense," said Snape.
"We're telling the truth!" Bella snapped indignantly.
His black eyes shifted to me. "Are they?"
"Yes, sir. The barrier had closed, so we saw no other option than to-"
"What have you done with the car?" he asked.
We looked at each other. It was one of those moments I was sure Snape could read minds. He unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet. "You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline:
FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES.
"I believe your father work in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?" Snape asked Ron. "Dear, dear… his own son… And I noticed, that considerable damage seems to have been done to the Whomping Willow."
"It did more damage to us!" Bella said indignantly.
"Silence!" hissed Snape. "Unfortunately none of you are in my House and the decision to expel does not rest with me. I shall go and fetch people who do have that happy power. You will wait here."
"No fetching needed, Severus."
It was Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall and Sprout stood next to him. "We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron in a hopeless sort of voice.
"Why would you, my dear boy?" Professor Sprout asked.
"You're going to expel us, aren't you?" he asked.
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Professor McGonagall. "But you need to understand the seriousness of what you have done."
Snape looked as though Christmas had been cancelled. "Professor Sprout can decide what becomes of you, Diggory."
"She's mostly very sweet," said Professor Sprout. "I won't expel her for this little mist-"
"But they have broken the law!" Snape said.
Professor Sprout said nothing to make clear her decision was final. "Go to your common room," said Professor McGonagall.
She and Dumbledore left the room, and Harry, Ron and Bella had left as well.
"Stay here, Diggory."
I turned around. Snape was sitting at his desk. "I knew your father, you know," he said.
"You knew him?" I asked, quite surprised.
"He… was always nice to me, always told Potter and Black of for taunting me. He was a model student, never broke a single rule. I'd like to see you go in his footsteps," said Snape.
"Please, sir, if you're talking about the car thing, we saw no other option. I know we should've just-"
"Much more of this will follow if you continue hanging around with Potter, Weasley and McLaggen," Snape said coolly.
"And your point is?" I asked, struggling for my voice to remain calm.
"It would be wise not to spend so much time with them anymore," he said.
"Well, I'm sorry, sir," I said coldly. "Nothing you say can keep me away from them."
1. I'm really struggling with getting the Slytherins right. I have two different images in my head, a really really sophisticated one, and a really badass one. I tried to fit it both of them a bit, do you like it?
2. I'm planning on doing a big thing with Claire, Cedric and the book. Did you like that bit?
3. I hope my Snape wasn't too much OOC in this, did you like the twist?
Bella's had a bigger POV in this, so I hope you'll forgive me for the shorter bit last two chapters :)