The next morning, Harry was woken up unceremoniously by John, who simply shoved him off the bed and onto the floor.
"Ugh! What the-" Harry started, dazed.
"You said you'd be up an hour ago you idiot, hurry up" said John. Harry looked at the clock and realized that it was already nine, which spurred him into action.
It wasn't long after when Mrs. Weasley was explaining that they would leave their luggage their, as well as the owls, that Mad-eye would be dealing with it. They were also to be travelling with a guard, though the guard was for Harry's purpose.
"What? I thought Voldemort was lying low" Harry said irritably to Hermione. "So what, Voldemort's hiding behind dustbins waiting to do me in?"
"I don't know Harry, it's just what Mad-eye said" Hermione said impatiently.
They all walked to King's Cross station, with a few Order members coming with them, such as Tonks, Sirius, Mr. Weasley and Remus. Sirius was walking around in his dog form, chasing pigeons around playfully. Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing - even though Sirius was working at the ministry, any time spent outside Grimmaud place was a good time to him. Furthermore, Harry doubted that working at the ministry was synonymous with freedom with the way Fudge went on.
When they'd arrived, Moody was waiting with all of their luggage, which they duly loaded onto the train.
"Remember, be careful of what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't write it at all" said Moody.
"Do remember to write though, and be good" said Mrs. Weasley, looking pointedly at Fred, George and John, who gave her mock-innocent smiles.
Sirius, whilst people weren't looking, transformed back into his human form.
"Don't be too good" he said, smirking. "Have a good time"
"When do we not? Bye everyone" said Harry.
"Well we have business to discuss with Lee. Be seeing you" said Fred.
"Bye Fred, bye George" said Delilah, who was staring after George for a split second.
"Uhh... Delilah, I thought you were with Daphne? We saw you flirting with George yesterday, don't deny it" said Ginny.
"I'm not going to deny it, but don't mention her name" said Delilah, with gritted teeth.
"What did she do?" asked John. Daphne and Delilah had been very discreet, so no one was particularly aware of what they got up to.
"Broke up with me in a letter. Said that her parents found out and disapproved of my... parentage" she said grimly.
"Wow... that... ouch" said Ron.
"Yeah. Ouch" said Delilah sharply.
"She was always kind of timid. I suppose having pureblood supremacists as parents would make her a bit apprehensive. I can't completely blame her" John mused.
"You're not taking her side!" Delilah said incredulously.
"No, but John has a point, you can't completely blame her. At the same time, while you're at Hogwarts, there's nothing stopping you two. I don't know" Hermione offered.
"Whatever. At least I know George wouldn't do something that stupid" Delilah grumbled.
"Oh I don't know, this is George we're talking about" said Ron.
"Well firstly, he's not as brazen as Fred. Secondly, he might do stupid things, but mostly for his own amusement. He's not going to outright hurt me like that" said Delilah.
John, Ron and Harry shared uncomfortable looks. Between Machado and Daphne, Delilah wasn't having the best romantic luck.
"Well you can't go too far wrong with a Weasley" said Hermione cheerfully, grabbing Ron's hand. Ron's ears went red.
"All that melodramatic crap aside, let's just find a compartment and sit down" said John.
"Err... we can't" said Ron.
"We have to go to the prefect's compartment at the front" said Hermione apologetically.
"Oh. Fine" said Harry.
"We don't have to stay there the whole time. We just get instructions from the head boy and girl, and patrol the trains every now and again" Hermione explained.
"I'm not Percy, if I had my choice, I'd be here" said Ron.
"I know" said John, smirking. "Go on, we'll see you later"
John seemed to be taking almost everything that had been going on better than Harry. They'd never traveled on the Hogwarts express without Ron. It gave Harry an odd sense of loss, even though he knew he was just being silly.
"Come on, we can find one and save them seats" said Ginny, who set off down the train.
Harry also couldn't help but notice the fact that he was being stared at by a lot of students. He had grown accustomed to this over the years, but this time he couldn't help but wonder how many of them had bought into the Ministry's smear campaign suggesting that he was unstable. They eventually ran into Neville, who was looking somewhat annoyed.
"Everywhere's full, I can't find a seat" he said.
Ginny looked at the compartment behind Neville and raised her eyebrow.
"That one isn't. Only Loony Lovegood's in there" she said.
Neville mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.
"She's not that bad" Ginny laughed. "Come on"
She opened the door and smiled at the girl inside. She had long, straggly blonde hair, huge, pale silvery-grey eyes, earrings which were made of what appeared to be radishes, and a magazine in her hand, which upon closer inspection, was upside down. All in all, she looked eccentric, to put it mildly. Harry felt like he understood why Neville didn't want to be in that compartment.
"Hi Luna, can we take these seats?" Ginny asked.
Her large eyes looked around at the newcomers, resting on Harry, before she nodded.
"Thanks" said Ginny. John walked into the compartment first so that he could haul the trunks into the overhead luggage racks. Luna was watching both him and Harry with interest.
"You're rather strong. I've seen you in Quidditch and rugby matches" she said matter-of-factly. John didn't know whether to smile at the complement or feel confused over how she started a conversation. "It's a shame wrackspurts prefer to find hosts in muscular people"
As John lifted Ginny's trunk into the overhead compartment, he looked at her with a very confused expression. Ginny shrugged. Luna turned back to her magazine to read it. Harry had no idea how, given that it was upside-down. She also seemed to have an uncanny ability to stare. She didn't blink as often as most people.
"Good summer?" Ginny asked her.
"Yes, it was quite enjoyable" she said. her voice was serene, high-pitched and somewhat dreamlike. "You're Harry Potter" said Luna, turning to Harry.
"So we've heard" John quipped, causing Neville and Ginny to chuckle. Harry just had no idea what to make of this girl.
"You must be his brother John" said Luna. John nodded. "And I don't know who you are" she added, turning to Neville.
"No-one" Neville said hurriedly.
"Don't be ridiculous. This is Neville Longbottom. She's Luna Lovegood, she's in my year. She's a Ravenclaw" said Ginny.
"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure" chirped Luna.
Luna once again raised her magazine high enough to hide her face. It was still upside-down. Harry and Neville exchanged quizzical looks, before turning to John, who silently mouthed 'what the fuck' to them. Ginny silently giggled.
"Oh, guess what I got for my birthday?" Neville asked.
"Another remembrall?" Harry asked.
"No, though I lost my old one a while back. I could definitely do with another one... no, check this out" said Neville, digging out one of the most bizarre looking plants they'd seen since mandrakes. It appeared to be a small, grey cactus covered in boils as opposed to spines.
"It's a Mimbulus mimbletonia" he said proudly.
Harry stared at it like one would stare at roadkill. It was repulsive, but fascinating, he couldn't take his eyes off it.
"It's really rare, I don't think even Hogwarts' greenhouses have them. My great uncle Algie gave it to me" he explained.
Neville's favourite subject may have been herbology, but this plant seemed to be stretching things. What would anyone want with them?
"Er... does it do anything?" Harry asked.
"Loads of stuff! It's got an amazing defence mechanism! Hold Trevor for me" said Neville, handing the toad to Harry.
"Wait!" John said suddenly.
"What?" Neville asked, holding a quill towards one of the boils on the plant.
"Neville, I don't know anything about this thing, but I know about horned lizards and bombadier beetles. Those boils are probably filled with some nasty liquid, right?" John asked.
"Yeah" said Neville, looking slightly astonished.
"That liquid's probably kept at a really high pressure, I don't think you want to pierce those sacs" John advised.
"What sort of liquid's in there?" asked Ginny.
"Stinksap. It's not poisonous, it just discourages anyone who wants to eat them" Neville explained.
"Yeah... I guarantee if you pop one of those things, stinksap will get everywhere" said John.
"That's what I'm trying to show you!" said Neville.
"I don't think you want to... it'll be kept at a high enough pressure to burst out everywhere. Imagine popping a balloon, but it's filled with stinksap instead of air" John explained.
"Hmm... you're probably right" Neville said. "How did you know?" he asked.
"It's like I said, based on what I know about horned lizards and bombadier beetles. They store liquids at high pressure and squirt them at predators" said John.
"How do you know this stuff? I thought you read about as much as Ron?" Ginny asked.
"Well I'm really good at transfiguration, and McGonagall gave me... this 'project' last year. I learned loads about animals doing it" said John.
"Ooh, what were you doing?" Ginny asked.
John looked at Harry and grinned proudly.
"You'd all better get to the other side of the compartment. You too Luna" said John.
"Oh really? What are you going to do?" she asked.
"Just watch. Oh, and don't tell anyone about it. I'm planning on making a big show of it at some point" said John, as everyone moved to the other side of the compartment.
With no further delay, John's body sprouted thick, brown fur, and his body became more than six times heavier instantly, and standing on all fours, was John's animagus bear form.
"What!" Ginny exclaimed. Neville let out a yelp of surprise, and Luna looked beyond fascinated.
John morphed back into his human form and grinned.
"Kodiak bear. When I registered, the ministry measured me. I'm five and a half feet tall on all fours, and ten on my hind legs. Plus I weigh more than half a tonne" he explained.
"That... that's incredible!" Neville said breathlessly.
"It'll make you more attractive to wrackspurts though. Be careful" Luna advised in her dreamy, serene voice.
"Er... yeah, wrackspurts" said John.
At that exact moment, the compartment door slid open, and standing in the doorway was a very pretty young witch with long, shiny black hair. As soon as Harry saw her, he could feel his cheeks heating up - it was Cho Chang.
"Hi Harry... is this a bad time?" she asked. Apparently she had heard the yells and something about wrackspurts, but not seen John's transformation.
"Uhh... hi" said Harry, feeling very stupid.
"Well... I just thought I'd say hello. I'll see you later" she said, before turning and walking away. Harry mentally slapped himself. Though he would have preferred to be in a room filled with cool people and having them laugh at a joke he'd told, as opposed to Neville and Loony Lovegood. At least John's presence, and to a lesser extent, Ginny's raised the 'cool factor' of the compartment. Ron's presence would certainly have made it better too.
Ron didn't appear with Hermione for at least another hour, and both of them looked exhausted and disgruntled.
"Blimey I'm starving" said Ron. By this time, the food trolley had passed, and John threw him a pair of pumpkin pasties.
"Cheers" he said, collapsing into a spot right next to John and closing his eyes as if he'd had a particularly trying morning.
"So there are two prefects in every year and house for fifth years and above. A boy and a girl. Guess who Slytherin's are" Hermione said angrily before taking a seat.
"Malfoy" Harry said at once.
"However did you know" Ron asked sarcastically.
"And that total cow Pansy Parkinson. How she managed it is beyond me, it'd be a complement to call her as intelligent as a troll" Hermione added.
"Who are Hufflepuff's?" asked John.
"Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan" Ron said.
"Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw" said Hermione.
"And the prefects can patrol the train every now and again. Can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something" Ron said, rubbing his hands excitedly.
"You can't abuse your power Ron!" Hermione said indignantly.
"I won't! Just want to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine! Besides, I won't punish them for no reason" said Ron.
"Before he gets yours? You don't have to be so petty" Hermione challenged.
"Oh come on Hermione, imagine making Goyle do lines! He hates writing!" said Ron, before adopting a caveman-like pose, and changing his voice surprisingly convincing to a Goyle-esque grunt. "I - must - not - look - like - a - baboon's - backside!"
Everyone laughed, but Luna seemed to find it far funnier than everyone else. She laughed far harder and louder than the others, so much so that Ron stared at her, and then looked around at the others, who were now laughing at his expression.
"Are... are you taking the mickey?" Ron asked.
"Baboon... backside!" Luna choked out through her laughter, holding her ribs.
"Interesting girl, isn't she" John quietly asked Ron, grinning.
"Yeah... quite the oddball" Ron muttered back.
Harry expected this to happen, but that didn't make him any less annoyed to see the face of Draco Malfoy alongside Crabbe and Goyle.
"What're you doing here?" Harry asked with no small amount of hostility.
"Just checking on the prefect power couple" said Malfoy, sneering at Ron and Hermione.
"Why? Jealous? Can't blame you, I'd be embarrassed to have a toad as ugly as your girlfriend", said Ron, wrapping an arm around Hermione protectively, as if Malfoy was ready to pounce on her.
"You say that as if your pet mudblood's a looker" Malfoy retorted.
"Err... she is" said John. "Actually, I recall you saying that she 'isn't looking too bad' about a year ago at the world cup. What happened to that?"
"I distinctly remember you looking me up and down as if I was a piece of meat" Hermione added.
"Maybe I've grown in my opinions. Maybe I was just messing with you" said Malfoy.
"Well whatever the case, no one wants you here. And I don't just mean this compartment, I mean this planet. Though I'll take whatever I can get" said Harry, causing John to snort.
"I'm a prefect Potter. Better watch your manners, you need to listen to me" said Malfoy, puffing out his chest which had his badge pinned to it.
"And there are two prefects in this compartment. Get out" said Hermione forcefully.
"You're just lucky I have a train to patrol" said Malfoy.
"Lucky? I could kick the crap out of the three of you without a wand" said John.
Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
"I'll be honest Potter. You probably could beat any one of us in a fight. Maybe even two of us. But all three? You've got quite the ego there" said Malfoy.
"You're one to talk. But yeah, I could. I won't tell you how, but I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later" said John, grinning evilly at Malfoy, who appeared to shrink before him.
Harry knew exactly what John was referring to, and smirked.
"Is that a threat?" Malfoy asked shakily.
"Nope. Just pointing out that there's nothing about the three of you that frightens me. Actually scratch that, your stupidity is pretty scary" said John.
"If Gryffindor had points this year, I'd be taking them off right now" said Malfoy angrily.
"But we don't. Now leave, as you said, you have a train to patrol" said Hermione. Malfoy didn't overstay his welcome.
"Can't believe idiots like that actually exist" said Ron.
"Well they do, and we have to tolerate him for now. We'll have to work with him too" said Hermione, scrunching up her nose.
"If I find anything that takes away that badge of his..." Ron said wishfully.
"One can hope of course" Ginny added.
"We're getting close" said Harry, recognizing some of the landmarks near the castle.
"Brilliant, I really need to eat" said John.
"You always need to eat" said Delilah, rolling her eyes.
"Have you seen how hard the bloke exercises? I still don't know how I keep up" said Ron, laughing. He felt Hermione squeezing his bicep and smirked. He turned to face her and saw her grinning mischievously at him.
"Well... maybe I do" he whispered to her.
"Get a room" Ginny sighed.
"Not to worry, we're not doing anything here" said Hermione sweetly.
"Yeah right, because groping my brother in front of everyone is 'not doing anything'. Bravo" said Ginny, wrinkling her nose.
"Groping? Didn't realize grabbing my bicep was groping" Ron retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"You went with John to the Yule ball" said Luna.
Hermione raised her eyebrow.
"Yes... I know I did" she said.
"You looked like you were having fun, but you left with Ron. Is that why you're together?" asked Luna.
"Yes..." Hermione said slowly.
Luna nodded and went back to her magazine.
Harry took a look at the magazine and realized (even though it was held upside down) that the person on the front was a bad cartoon of Fudge. He recognized him by the bowler hat.
"Do you mind if I have a look at that?" Harry asked.
"Not at all, go ahead" said Luna, handing Harry the magazine.
Instead of what Harry was hoping for, a news outlet trying to tell the truth about Fudge and the corruption within the ministry, all he found were insane articles insisting that Fudge cooks goblins into pies, that Sirius was leading a double life as Stubby Boardman, the lead singer of a group called the hobgoblins, and reports of obviously fictional creatures.
"Anything good in there?" Ron asked.
"Of course not" said Hermione dismissively. "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that"
"Excuse me" said Luna icily. "My father is the editor in chief"
"Oh... well... it's got- got some interesting..." she tried, looking particularly embarrassed.
"I'll have that back thank you" said Luna, and Harry handed the magazine back to her.
"You're on a roll Hermione, between your reaction to Ron being a prefect and this... I reckon you should think before you speak" said John, grinning in a way which he knew would be unbearably annoying to Hermione.
Harry, Ginny and Delilah laughed, and Ron looked to be struggling not to laugh himself.
"Oh be quiet" said Hermione quietly.
Eventually, the train made its stop at Hogsmeade station, and Harry quickly left the train with his luggage, hoping to see Hagrid on the station, listening out for his booming voice calling for the first years.
However, he did not hear his voice, but the voice of Professor Grubbly-Plank.
Harry turned to Ginny.
"Where's Hagrid?" he asked.
"I don't know" said Ginny, frowning.
"He can't have left" said Hermione worriedly.
"I don't think so, he might still be doing that thing for Dumbledore" said John, avoiding saying outright that Hagrid was on a mission for the Order.
"Yeah. That's it" said Harry, mostly just trying to convince himself.
"Let's go find a carriage before they get filled up" said Ron.
Harry followed Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna to the trail where the carriages picked students up. Delilah, Neville and John were bringing up the rear. A carriage arrived, but unlike previous years, they were not pulling themselves.
The animal pulling it was one of the weirdest creatures Harry had ever seen. It looked slightly similar to a horse, but it was by no means a friendly, furry mammal. These creatures had black, scaly reptilian coats which clung closely to their skeletons. They didn't seem to have any muscle or fat to speak of. They also had gigantic wings. They paid Harry almost no attention, implying that they were domesticated.
"What..." Harry whispered.
"Yes?" Ginny asked.
"Can't you see them?" Harry asked.
"See what?" asked Ginny.
"Those... horse things! Pulling the carriage!" said Harry.
Ginny looked quite alarmed, staring at Harry as if he had completely lost his mind.
"No... Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked.
"I see them" said John, frowning.
"What? What are you looking at?" Hermione asked.
"Weird horse things with wings. They're pulling the carriages" said John.
"But... why can't we see them?" Delilah asked worriedly.
"Beats me" said Harry.
"I've been able to see them since my first year. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am" said Luna, climbing into the carriage.
Neither Harry nor John felt any better about being able to see them, and they exchanged a bewildered look.
Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Delilah joined her in the carriage, though there was no space for John.
"I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself" John quipped when he was looked at by the others.
John looked behind himself and saw Susan waving at him.
"Yeah. I'll be fine"