It's that time of the week again, Tuesday! So here is the next chapter for all you lovely people. Sorry that there's not as much excitement in this chapter, I promise the next one will be much better, after all its Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets! looking forward to it? There are definitely some changes occurring. Please read and review, your opinions mean a lot to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - If I did I would be rich, and that I am definitely not.
Summer Before 2nd Year – Part 2
Harry couldn't believe his luck. He was away from the Dursley's, a whole month before he had expected to escape. The flight in the Ford Anglia had been rather exciting, still rushed with adrenaline from his escape, the wrath of Mrs Weasley though was another matter. She could be downright scary when she needed to be, of course not to him thankfully.
At the moment he was sitting next to the pond, legs dangling over the jetty, his toes brushing the cool top water. His thoughts, for not the first time since his arrival at the burrow turned toward the mysterious appearance of Dobby, and his desire to stop bad things happening to him. At first his thoughts had been angry, that he had almost ruined the only good part of his life, but then he began to feel sorry for the little elf. It was obvious that his living conditions were despicable, I mean look at the state of the pillowcase he was wearing. He was living somewhere where he obviously wasn't being treated right, and the family that he works for must be an evil wizarding family, they had some sort of plan for Hogwarts this year. He had discussed his trail of thoughts with Ron but he had immediately waved the warning from Dobby, saying that someone was obviously pranking him. Harry wasn't so sure. He promised himself to keep an eye out for anything odd going on at school.
His thoughts then turned to the youngest Weasley. She was an enigma to him. He wanted to get to know her, but she always blushed and quickly walked away when he tried to talk to her. It didn't help that Ron refused to hang around his little sister, always shooing her away when Harry finally thought he had managed to hold her down. The only time he had managed to talk to her was when he caught her playing a prank on the twins, promising to keep his mouth shut if he could help out. This had caused her to giggle, not knowing that he occasionally pulled pranks. Without her brothers around Ginny was much calmer. He assumed this was because they always teased her about the crush she had on him. Yes, he knew about the crush she had on him, he wasn't that naïve, after all putting one's elbow in the butter was a dead giveaway. He thought it was quite sweet, but it made talking to her harder. He really wanted her to know the real Harry, not the story book Harry, (yes there had been fiction stories about him released) or the boy-who-lived. He may have stopped Voldemort twice but he was still just a normal guy. A part of him hoped that Ginny would be able to see that.
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They were late. Both Harry and Ron looked at each other fearfully. Things couldn't get worse, Harry thought. First, everyone had been rushing around, packing trunks. Then when they had finally got on the road they had to go back several times. Now they couldn't even get through the barrier to platform 9 ¾.
"Come on Ron, let's go stand by the car." Ron's eyes lit up at the mention of the car.
"The car! We can take the car to Hogwarts!" said Ron excitedly. Harry's mouth dropped open in shock. Was Ron seriously considering this? He shook his head,
"Not a chance Ron. If someone saw us we would be breaking the secrecy statute. We might get expelled. Then if the ministry find out about the modifications your dads done to the car they could fine or fire him." At this Ron's enthusiasm dimmed, his face turning slightly green as he thought about the kind of trouble he could have caused his dad.
"Your right Harry, I don't want Dad to get in trouble because of us, and I really don't want to give Snape the chance to expel us, I can just see the look on Malfoys face." Harry nodded.
"Come on, once we get back to the car I'll send Hedwig to McGonagall, she'll know what to do." Ron nodded and followed Harry back to the car. He quickly undid his trunk and pulled out a piece of parchment and quill, writing a short note telling of their situation. He opened Hedwig's cage and attached the note to her leg. He looked around to see if anyone was watching, luckily nobody was. "Take this to McGonagall. We need her help. Fly fast and be safe." She gave him an affectionate nip on his finger before spreading her wings, quickly disappearing into the sky. He motioned his head towards Ron. "I have some Muggle money left over from last year, I'm going to grab us something to eat and drink whilst we wait for help to come. Stay by the car, just in case your parents turn up." Ron nodded.
Harry entered the shop, quickly looking for the sandwich counter. He looked through the selection, choosing two ham and cheese sandwiches and two cokes. He figured that would keep them satisfied for now, hopefully Ron could hold out until the feast, he knew exactly how hungry his friend could get! He hoped McGonagall would get there before they had reached that point though. He paid the man at the counter with the muggle money and then made his way back to the car where Ron was still standing. He could tell from Ron's stance that his best friend was already bored. He threw one of the sandwiches at his head causing Ron to look up, quickly catching it and grinning.
"Thanks mate," quickly opening the package and taking a big bite. His face fell in to a content smile. The best way to his friend was definitely through his stomach. He looked at the cans of coke Harry was holding. "What's that?" Harry grinned.
"This Ron is a muggle fizzy drink that is quite popular. It's called coke." He opened his can and took a mouthful of the cold drink. "Try it, it's nice," he urged his friend. Ron nodded and reached out his hand to take the can from him. Harry smiled as he handed Ron the can, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Ron pulled the metal ring like he had seen Harry do… and got a face full of brown fizzy liquid. Harry laughed, Ron scowling at him as he wiped his face. "Sorry Ron, I couldn't resist." He heard Ron mutter something under his breath, something that sounded very much like 'never should have introduced him to the twins!' Harry smirked as Ron continued to wipe his face, Ron didn't know how right he was. Last year he was too busy for any decent pranks, maybe this year he would get lucky. He then watched as Ron cautiously took a small sip of the drink, his face then breaking into a smile.
"This stuff is really nice, very fizzy though. I wonder how the muggles make it fizzy, it's amazing what they can do without magic." Harry laughed. Ron sounded exactly like his dad!
Two hours passed and the boys passed the time by quizzing each other on quidditch facts from quidditch through the ages, the only book that Ron had ever actually read.
"Mr Potter, Mr Weasley." Both boys turned around to see their head of house standing behind them, a small smile upon her lips.
"Professor. You have no idea how happy we are to see you," Harry started. Ron nodded.
"Yes, your owl seemed to think the same. I believe she was quite exhausted after the trip, Hagrid took her to the owlery for a good rest." Harry sighed in relief, glad that Hedwig had got to Hogwarts safely. He watched the professor discreetly banish both of their trunks, along with Hedwig's cage. She then brought out a small china cup that had been in her pocket. Harry watched as she silently performed a spell around them, a muggle repellent charm. He had read about them but never seen one in affect. If a muggle came near one they would immediately forget what they had seen and remember an important engagement they needed to get to.
"This cup is a port key that was created by the headmaster for us to use. It will take us to Professor Dumbledore's office. All you need to do is touch it." Both he and Ron placed a finger of the cup. He saw the professor tap the cup with her wand causing the cup to glow blue. He felt a tug on his naval before being wrenched from the place where they were standing. Before he was ready the floor came up to meet him. They had arrived at Hogwarts.
