You know, I really shouldn't be writing this since I sprained three of my fingers in P.E and they're all swollen and everything, they look disgusting, but I am so bored. So I'm writing this! I think I said a couple of chapters ago that this is the one where they go to Hogwarts? Well this is mainly the train, but never fear! There's Hogwarts at the end! Yay!

Harry POV (wow I haven't done a Harry POV in ages lol)

Well it's here. The big one. The one we've all been waiting for. Its September the 1st. Time to go back to Hogwarts. I can tell that the flock is so excited about this, like, they're practically jumping out of their skins they're so hyped up.

On the day that Max and I had gone to the Ministry of Magic, Mrs. Weasley had gone out to Diagon Alley and gotten things for everyone, including the flock. They were now the proud owners of a full book set, a wand and quills and parchment. Of course, these things are all props, they won't be using any of it, except maybe the wand occasionally, which they are apparently able to perform simple spells with. Don't ask me how this is possible, I don't know. But it is. According to the adults.

'FLOCK! Up, NOW!' Max was sitting next to me at the breakfast table of the Order of the Phoenix, and having now finished her huge breaky decided that it was time for her flock to show their faces. They were definitely using the privilege of sleeping late to their advantage. One by one, her family appeared at the top of the stairs rubbing sleep from their eyes. Max went to put some bread in the toaster, but was stopped by a scared looking Iggy. A quick question: How does the blind guy manage to conjure up delicious roasts and fantastic meals when the leader of the flock can't even make toast without reducing it to mere charcoal? It doesn't make sense.

'What time is the train Max?' Nudge said with a yawn, rubbing sleep from her eyes. I was thankful that she was still half-asleep; otherwise that sentence would have been about five paragraphs long. 'Eleven o'clock.' Max told Nudge. 'We're going to fly there at ten thirty.'

'Fly where again?' Gazzy yawned. Max shrugged. 'I dunno. Some station. Does it matter?'

There was silence for the next couple of minutes as the kids sat down to eat their breakfast, courtesy of Iggy. Then they went upstairs to get ready, courtesy of Max. Max, Fang and I just lazed around downstairs, because we were responsible and had packed last night. None of us were talking. Max and Fang were probably wondering what was going to happen when they got to Hogwarts. Actually so was I. After all, last year I had come out of that damn maze holding a frickin' corpse for god's sake! People were probably going to be as wary of me now as they had been then.

Ron and Hermione joined us. 'We're leaving in ten minutes Harry.' Hermione informed me. Finally! We are finally going back to Hogwarts! I walked upstairs, intending to collect my trunk and Hedwig. When I got back downstairs, everyone was standing at the door, ready to leave. The youngest kids were literally jumping with excitement. 'Oh my god! Oh my god! We're leaving! We are actually going to Hogwarts! What do you think will happen when we get there? Do you think people will like us? Will everyone think our accents are weird? What will happen when they find out we don't really do magic...' I think you can guess who that monologue belongs to. She just kept going on and on. Does Nudge ever shut up? Hermione said she even talks in her sleep! We marched out the door into the grimy street.

'Meet on the train?' Max asked us. My mouth turned down a bit. Ron and Hermione had been made into Prefects this year, so they had to stay in the prefect's carriage. 'Yeah.' I answered her. 'I'll try to find you on the platform okay?'

She nodded and looked around. The street was deserted, and so the six of them ran to the end of the road and did a classic take-off, beating their wide, beautiful wings to stay aloft and gain altitude. Within moment they were just tiny specks in the sky, quickly disappearing from view. My companions also seemed awestruck by the breathtaking sight. I turned around and saw that Tonks had just stuck out her right hand and then a big purple bus appeared about half a meter from where I was standing on the sidewalk. Oh no. The Knight Bus. That was how we were getting to King's Cross? Save me now.

Max POV

As we soared high above the city I looked down, searching for the distinctive signs of a train station. A train station. This people are magic aren't they? If so, then why don't we get there by... flying carpets or something? Why couldn't we just fly there ourselves? These people are so weird.

I spotted a mass of steam covering a large building. There's King's Cross station. 'Going down!' I called back to the flock. I went into a steep dive and landed in a small alleyway that was deserted of life. What? You think I would just land in the middle of a crowded train station where tons of milling people would sight our wings? Yeah, uh, I don't think so.

Any who, once our feathery extra limbs were safely hidden underneath our jackets we trotted over to the station where we were supposedly to find the brick wall between platform nine and ten and walk through it. I was honestly starting to doubt these wizards' reliability. But that was what these people did so I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. Ha. The cookie crumbles. I love cookies. Whoa. Where did that randomness come from? I'll think about that later. Now I have to focus on whether or not I'm going to run into a solid wall, either going straight through or suffering massive brain damage. Ugh, I must have brain damage already for even considering this. Let's do it! Mr. Weasley had said that normally the wall only accepted magic guys but had been spelled to recognize us and let us through and I trusted Mr. Weasley. Kinda. Just enough to hold my pens when I asked him to.

We reached the brick wall and the kids looked up at me for directions. 'Okay guys.' I said looking down at them. 'We're going to walk through that brick wall right there and then we are going to get onto the train. No funny business. If I find that a classroom has been blown up, or a teacher's never giving out any homework, or… or anything to cause suspicion at all, I will not be pleased. Got that?' They all nodded. 'Good. Now remember, have fun, make friends and enjoy yourselves.' God, I sounded like a mother worrying incessantly over her children. Ah, well, that's just who I am I suppose.

'Angel, you go first then Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy, Fang and me. We'll meet up on the other side.' Angel smiled at me and turned to walk through the barrier. I was surprised by her compliancy. I had expected her to be more stubborn and contrary than ever, since we'd had to send Total back to Arizona to live with Mom because he wasn't able to come to Hogwarts with us and she'd been uber upset. The rest of my flock followed until it was just Fang and me. I was suddenly struck by a burst of paranoia, as if someone was watching me. I did a careful 360 as Fang started to move towards the wall. There! I saw them for the second time, this time leaning against the wall on the side of the station. The strange Indian buff dudes were back, but this time they weren't making their way over to me, they were just… watching. I could see their memorable blue eyes trained on Fang and myself, watching our every move. It was pretty creepy. Were they stalkers or something?

'Max…?' Fang was looking back at me, waiting. I smiled at him and motioned for him to continue. The men had probably already seen the others disappear, so I really wasn't going to worry about that right now.

Once I was through (I can't believe that I actually went through instead of just going splat) I looked around for my flock, and spotted them standing off to one siding, waiting for me and watching people with distrustful expressions. I've taught them well. 'Hey, let's find Harry and the others and get onboard, yeah?' I asked them. I took in my surroundings. There wasn't much to see, since steam had managed to seep into every surface available, but from what was visible, I sighted a huge red steam train which young kids and teenagers looked to be embarking, and the platform we were standing on was packed with men and women dressed in all sorts of robes and other only slightly human clothes. An impressive sight.

'Oh, you made it already!' I saw the famous red hair as Ginny appeared where I had been a couple of moments ago. I saw a flash of black and then Harry joined us. 'C'mon.' He said to us. 'We'll find a carriage to ourselves.' I was surprised that he was willing to leave Ron and Hermione behind, I mean, he's best friends with them isn't he? As if knowing what I was thinking, Ginny came up behind me and said, 'They were made into Prefects this year, so they have to patrol the corridors and stuff.' Oh. Ok, then.

We headed onto the train and I shuddered at the enclosed space. I mean, it was a decently sized space I guess, but this is a train we're talking about people! I looked into the compartment doors and noticed that just about all of them were full and just about all of them had people who were basically smeared against the glass they were staring at Harry so much. I tapped him on the shoulder. 'Do they usually act like this? Because you're famous and all?'

'The staring always happens yeah, but it's never been this much before.' He muttered back, eyeing his onlookers warily. 'I need some privacy.' And with that he stalked off down the corridor and we hurried after him as Nudge's mouth started to go into overdrive again. 'Oh! Look at all those little owls! Why couldn't we have gotten an owl Max? And Oh my gosh there's so many people! Do you think we'll get along with any of them? Some of them look nice, can we go talk to them? And they're staring at us! Because we're with Harry! Is that a good thing or a bad thing do you think? I mean, I suppose it could be a good thing or a bad thing, you know what I mean? And that person is wearing the cutest outf -' Iggy covered Nudge's mouth with one hand, while the other was hooked in Fang's belt loop, to help him know where we going. I swear that girl has ADD.

As we walked down the corridor, a round faced boy came over to us. 'Harry, Ginny!' He said. 'Hi! Have you found a compartment yet? All of the ones I've looked in so far have been full!' They turned around and smiles lit both of their faces. 'Neville!' Harry said, looking happier than I'd seen him in a long time. 'Meet some friends of mine. Neville, this is Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman – don't ask – and Angel. Guys this is Neville, a good friend of mine.' I smiled at him.

'Oh here's a compartment!' Ginny said pulling a door open. We stepped inside. Apart from a strange looking girl with long straggly blonde hair and slightly unfocused eyes, the thing was empty. The girl looked up at us and my doubt of her sanity grew. She was reading a magazine and around her neck was a piece of string that had what looked to be average corks threaded onto it. From her ears were earrings that had some sorted of vegetable attached.

Ginny sat down next to her and smiled. 'Hey Luna, how was your summer?' She asked the girl. Luna… a surprisingly nice name. 'Oh fine I suppose.' Luna had a light, lilting voice. 'Daddy and I spent most of the time hunting Nargles and Crumple Horned Snorkacks.' She's mad, gotta be.

Ginny smiled and motioned for us to sit down. 'This is Luna Lovegood everyone.' She told us. 'Luna's in my grade, she's very nice.'

Luna gave a distinctly dotty smile and I glanced uncertainly at Fang, wondering what I should do. He just smirked at me. Your problem not mine, that smirk was telling me. Fine, be that way. I lowered myself onto the seat opposite Luna. 'Hi… Luna.' I started hesitantly. 'How are you? I'm Max and this is Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel.'

Luna looked at the Gasman. 'Hello Gazzy. You have a nice name.'

Gazzy blinked. I was certain that he had never been told that in his life. 'Thanks… Do you like bombs?'

Luna nodded. 'I rather like bombs. They make amusing explosions don't you think?' Relieved that they had something in common Gazzy instantly leapt into a detailed description of just about all the bombs he's ever made. He talked almost as much as Nudge and I zoned out for most of it. I continued wondering what was going to happen when we got to Hogwarts. Everything will be fine Max Angel told me. I smiled over at her. I know kiddo.

The door to the compartment slid open suddenly and I looked up at our visitors. Three people had stepped into the compartment, one with a pale, pointed face and white-blonde hair, malicious grey eyes looking out at us all. The remaining two resembled gorillas that had learned to walk. I wasn't sure about the talking part just then, they didn't look like they were smart enough. Harry had also looked up and now scowled. 'Out Malfoy.' He snarled. 'Now.'

The blonde one sneered down at him. 'I'd be more polite if I were you Potter.' He said. 'You see, I unlike you, have been made a Prefect.'

'Yeah but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out now before I make you.' Countered Harry, standing up. Malfoy's eyes narrowed for a moment and then rested on the flock and me. 'And who's this?' he asked, taking on a slightly more pleasant tone. Was he trying to make a good 'first impression'? If he was, then he'd blown it as soon as he'd walked in as if he owned the place. 'Friends of ours. American exchange students.' Ginny answered him with a mean expression.

'Oh... You will soon learn that these people are not people who you want to spend time with,' Malfoy told me in a superior tone. 'After all, if you hang out with Potter then you will be around Weasley and Granger and you don't want to be spending time with that blood traitor and Mudblood, trust me.'

I had been told what those two phrases meant and I knew how insulting they were. Before Malfoy could blink, I had stood up and pinned him against the wall, holding his collar tight, so he had to struggle for breath. The big boys who had been standing behind him until now moved forwards threateningly but the Fang and Iggy stepped in the way and held them back easily, despite the bully boys' bulk. 'Say it again.' I told him in a tone that completely contradicted the way I was holding him. 'Say that about my friends one more time please.' Malfoy still had the nerve to be provocative.

'You can't hurt me.' He snarled, struggling and failing to get away. 'You're just a girl.' I casually whacked him in the stomach, hard enough to leave him completely winded and gasping for breath. I let go of his collar and he dropped to the floor like a stone, holding his side. I looked down and asked him politely, 'Pardon?'

'I said... you're... just a... girl.' He got out between deep breaths. I dropped my friendliness.

'That's what I thought.' I leaned down so I was at his level. 'Okay, listen up. I'm going to say this one time only. You ever call my friends those names again and I will kick your sorry little arse into the middle of next week. You ever get on my wrong side again and you will wish you had never been born. Alright?' I stood up again. 'Think about it. You really don't want to know how nasty I can get.' And with that, I picked him up by the collar once more and threw, literally threw the egotistical jerk out into the corridor. His cronies soon followed.

As Malfoy picked himself up he looked back at where I was standing in the doorway, his face burning with rage and humiliation. 'You haven't heard the last of this!' He shouted at me. We were beginning to attract a crowd. 'I'll get you back!'

I waved merrily at him. 'Anytime you want, I'll be ready!' I called back. 'We can go again right now if you want!' The loser left just as Ron and Hermione appeared and stepped into the compartment. We all sat back down. 'That was fun!' I said happily. 'I haven't threatened someone in ages, have you?' Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville all looked at me like I was mad, but the flock just grinned, while Luna hadn't even looked up from her magazine the whole time the action was happening.

For the rest of the ride we talked about anything and everything. It really was a long trip.

But finally Hermione told us that it was time to get changed into our new robes that the Order had provided us with, we were almost there.

As I got back from the bathrooms where I had changed, I noticed that the train was gradually slowing and coming to a halt. I could feel the nerves starting to creep up on me and doubts gnawed at my mind like little rodents come to eat. Max, everything will be fine. Angel told me once more. Stop worrying and enjoy yourself. Please. For us. I sighed and nodded, trying to loosen up. We stepped off the train and were once more surrounded by hundreds of children, making their way up to the castle. The castle. I turned around and I caught a glimpse of the castle for the first time. Hogwarts. My new home.

OMG, I loved writing that scene between Max and Malfoy lol. It's so fun threatening someone! And you gotta love Luna, I mean, tell me truthfully, does anyone not love Luna? Review will make me happy you know! And you want me to be happy don't you? Don't you? :) Smiley faces are fun. :) :) :) I'm gonna stop now and post this... after one more smiley face :)