Hermione was utterly confused. She had wandered up and down the train, searching for any sign of Harry or Ron. Not one of the other Gryffindors had said that they had seen either of the two. Fred and George had simply joked that maybe 'ickle Ronniekins' had decided to look for the refreshments cart early, while Percy mentioned that Ron had stayed well behind the rest of the Weasleys on the train station. There was only one compartment left on the train that she had not yet opened. The rearmost one. She could hear laughter coming from inside, yet no matter how much she tugged on the door, it refused to budge.
"It is rude to try to enter without knocking," said a voice from the other side of the door. "Who is it?"
"Daphne, it's Hermione. Open the door,"
A brief pause, and the slightest of giggles came from inside the compartment.
"Hm. I do not think so, Hermione," Daphne sang mockingly, "You forgot the magic word-"
"Really, Daphne?"
"Indeed, Hermione. You forgot the magic word,"
"Is this really necessary?"
"Yes,"
"Alright, fine," she huffed, "Please?"
"Please what?"
"Daphne, could you please open this door?"
"Thank you, that is much better. Alohomora!"
Hermione was screaming at herself internally after she heard that incantation. She was a witch! She could have just unlocked the door herself, without having to ask like that! Inside the compartment, Cordelia had fallen off her seat and was laughing uncontrollably, while Daphne had the most crooked, irritating smirk that she had ever seen. Huginn, taking advantage of their distraction, poked her head out of her cage and helped herself to a half-eaten pumpkin pasty.
"You two are unbelievable," grumbled Hermione. "Why couldn't you have just opened the door, like anyone else?!"
"S-sorry, Hermione," choked out Cordelia, "I couldn't help myself. Why didn't you just unlock it? I mean, you've used that charm so many times last year,"
The bushy-haired girl's cheeks flushed bright pink. "I didn't—ugh, I didn't think of using magic! You know how it is, don't you? We're not supposed to use magic at home. The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Magic says so,"
"A fair claim...for a Muggleborn witch," Daphne commented, still smirking in amusement. "Still, I am surprised that you had not gone mad with being unable to use your wand for a couple of months. I know that I would have gone mad if that happened to me,"
That statement took a couple of seconds to sink in. "Wait—you mean...?" Hermione gasped. "You mean that you actually used your wand at home?! You could get into trouble for that!"
"Well, obviously not, Hermione. I still have my wand, after all," smirked Daphne. "That law only applies to places where the Ministry Trace could track you. And as Greengrass Estate is thoroughly warded against detection, I can use my wand as often as I would like, and not a single letter would come my way,"
"That's so unfair. You can actually practice your spellcasting at home. Isn't that right, Cordelia?"
"Uh—ye—err...no—I mean, yes!" Cordelia stammered, torn between agreeing with her friend and revealing what she had been up to during the holidays. Something that Daphne did not miss, as the blonde narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Yes, yes, it is unfair. We really should all be able to practice our spellcasting,"
"See? At least Cordelia agrees with me. May I sit down now?"
"Of course. Take your pick of seats. We have locked this compartment for a reason, after all,"
As Hermione settled into a seat beside Cordelia, she noticed the pile of textbooks that was sitting beside the red-haired girl. The smiling face of Gilderoy Lockhart greeted her as she reached out and plucked the topmost one, causing her to squeal in delight.
"Merlin. Not you as well," sighed Daphne, rolling her eyes disapprovingly.
"What? He's a wonderful wizard!" retorted a scandalised Cordelia. "You should read about how he banished that banshee in Break with a Banshee!"
"Yes! Or how he managed to trap a ghoul using nothing but a tea-strainer,"
"Well, I certainly do hope that you two would remember every last bit of those brain-rotting books," Daphne snarked, "I have had a brief read through them, and I honestly could not find a single bit of information that would be useful. Not a single spell incantation or instruction to be seen, but page upon page of useless, over-the-top storytelling. I still do not see how Lockhart has managed to earn his place as our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,"
"Daphne!" Hermione exclaimed, scandalised. "That's Professor Lockhart! You can't just call him like...that!"
"Yeah! He's experienced a lot. You've got to take that back,"
"I will call him by as much respect as he is owed. Which is to say, nothing," said Daphne dismissively, "Have you even met the man? He was signing books, preening and strutting about like one of the peacocks in Malfoy Manor. Merlin, he even pulled Harry out of the crowd just for a photograph-"
Cordelia's jaw dropped. The girl was torn between intense jealousy and shock. On one hand, she was partly relieved that Harry was okay - though for some reason not on the train. On the other, she really, really wanted a photograph next to that amazing new Professor that was to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts that year. "Daphne," she said slowly, pushing her jealousy aside for the moment. "Did you just say that Professor Lockhart pulled Harry aside for a photograph? When was this?"
"A week and a half ago, when he was signing all his books at Flourish and Blotts', the day after the textbook lists arrived. Why do you ask?"
"Because I saw Harry get...taken away by...some flying object, about three weeks before that," Cordelia hesitantly replied, "Something big, fast and had two very bright lights. Engine roaring like a motorbike or something that was going as fast as it could down a highway. It ripped out Harry's bedroom window, and when my mum talked to Mister Dursley the following morning, apparently Harry had escaped on it. I really thought something had abducted him,"
Hermione burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she literally fell off her seat. Daphne seemed equally as bemused as Cordelia was about her reaction. "Hey! It's not funny, Hermione," Cordelia pouted, "Why are you laughing, anyway?"
"Oh, Cordelia," Hermione gasped, pulling herself back up into her seat, "Did you really think that Harry was stolen by aliens in a UFO?"
"What is this...you-eff-oh that you are talking about?" Daphne asked.
"An unidentified flying object. Or, as some people like to think, a flying vehicle driven by little green men,"
"So...like a broomstick being flown by an Irish leprechaun?"
Hermione knew that Daphne was simply trying to fit an unknown Muggle concept into what she knew, but the truly ridiculous image that she conjured in the Muggleborn witch's mind was too much. A flying saucer, being crewed by Irish leprechauns! She fell off her seat – again – in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
"Did someone hit her with a Cheering Charm before coming in here?" Daphne asked Cordelia, completely befuddled about why Hermione was laughing so much.
"I don't think so. Come on, Hermione, I really want to know. What happened to Harry?"
"Sorry! – ugh – I saw him come with the Weasleys to Diagon Alley. Well, Knockturn Alley, actually; I found the Weasleys first, and they said they were looking for him too. It was the first time he used the Floo Network, and he somehow ended up in the wrong place,"
"At least he was not caught in Knockturn Alley. Father would never allow me to come with him when he needed to get something...special," muttered Daphne, "Sorry. Please continue. I think Cordelia looks like she's about to pass out. Breathe, Cordelia. Hermione isn't going anywhere,"
"So...uh...how did Harry end up with the Weasleys?"
Hermione simply shook her head. "He wouldn't tell me. And when I asked Ron, he wouldn't tell me either. I kept asking, of course, but then Fred slipped a Dungbomb into my back pocket. Or was that George? I couldn't tell," Wrinkling her nose as the memory of the event came to her mind, "I didn't bother asking after that, of course. I was too busy trying to get the smell out of my skirt,"
"I assume that they are hiding something that could potentially cause great trouble if someone knew about it," Daphne said thoughtfully, "I heard from my father that the head of House Weasley works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Could he...? No. That would be incredibly foolish and dangerous. Far too much of a risk,"
"What's on your mind, Daphne?"
"Even if I am not too familiar with Muggle devices, I still know that their cars are extremely loud when they need to go fast. That, and they have two or more lights on the front. Cordelia said that she heard its very loud engine, and that she saw its lights,"
"But cars are supposed to drive on the ground," Hermione countered.
"Are you a witch or not, Hermione?" groaned Daphne, "Stop thinking in Muggle terms. We wizards fly on broomsticks, and we use fireplaces to move from place to place. And let's not get started on Apparition and Portkeys. Simply put, there are many ways of moving around. We have flying brooms, and if you are wealthy enough, you can purchase a flying carpet from Egyptian wizards. Who is to say that a car cannot be enchanted to fly?"
"But dad said that no company in the magical world makes flying cars. He even went to Gringotts to check if there were companies matching that description," Cordelia said.
"Yeah. It's illegal to enchant Muggle devices to perform things that they shouldn't be able to do-"
"Only when the enchanter intends to use that device," finished Daphne, "Besides, that is not what I am trying to tell you. What I am saying is, Lord Arthur Weasley is the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. The DMLE would not act on any report of misuse of Muggle artefacts unless the head of that Office – which is to say, Lord Weasley – were to report an incident. Or, in extreme cases, a large number of witnesses reporting the very same thing,"
"So he could...oh," Hermione said, trailing off as she realised what Daphne was suggesting.
"Yes. Who would report him to the DMLE? He was the head of that section. He could act as he wished to with regards to Muggle devices, and nobody would be able to report it so long as he did not flagrantly show his work in public. I would not say that it is impossible for Lord Weasley to own an enchanted car,"
"But he wouldn't break the law like that...would he?"
"I would not say that he has broken the law. I am suggesting that it is a possibility," said Daphne smoothly, though her narrowed eyes flashed a warning to Hermione. "Unless someone has complete proof, it is not a good idea to say a Lord of a House is breaking the law. Even when you are nearly certain that what you think is true. Let's move away from this topic, before one of us says something that we may regret if overheard,"
"That's actually a pretty good point. Daphne. I wonder what we'll be learning this year?"
"I can't wait for Defence Against the Dark Arts," chimed in Cordelia dreamily. Her eyes were locked squarely on the book that Hermione still had in her lap. Or rather, the moving image of the wizard that was plastered on it. Daphne, noticing where Cordelia was looking, immediately groaned in regret.
Harry, as it turned out, did indeed not get kidnapped by little green men. Rather, Ron and the Weasley twins had decided to take the family car in the middle of the night and actually flew it all the way to Privet Drive to break Harry out of his relatives' house. And then, in a stroke of amazing wizarding brilliance – or foolishness, depending on how one looked at it – commandeered that very same car after they supposedly could not go through the gateway to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. And then proceeded to fly it, in noontime London, without any form of invisibility being active.
Flying a car. In the middle of London.
All the way across the English countryside.
All the way to Scotland!
The two boys, apparently, had only realised that the invisibility field was not active a good fifteen minutes after they had flown, which potentially gave almost all of London a good look at a vehicle which should definitely not be in the air.
"I can't believe those two!" both Cordelia and Hermione shouted.
Cordelia was in awe that they had flown so far without being caught by anyone. Well, unless one counted the hundreds of non-magical folk that had spotted them from office buildings, that was – but their memories had quickly been erased by the Ministry of Magic, according to the Evening Prophet. It was an action that was incredibly bold, to the point where Cordelia wondered if they were slightly mad.
Hermione, however, was muttering rapidly under her breath about how many rules and laws the two must have broken while doing their stunt. Not that her admonishments even made it past the adoring crowd of Gryffindors in the tower, who were ushering Harry and Ron in as though they were heroes.
"Bloody hell, mate, what an entry!"
"They'll be talkin' about that one for years!"
"Flying a car to Hogwarts? Bloody brilliant!"
"I can't believe what I'm hearing. You two broke a lot of laws, broke a lot of rules, and you're-" Hermione grumbled aloud as she marched angrily towards Harry. Or rather, tried to. The gathered Gryffindors wouldn't budge for her; all of them, after all, wanted to hear his version of events. By the time she reached him, however, the black-haired boy, however, simply put up his hand.
"Later," he said exhaustedly.
"You can't just brush me off like that, Harry Potter! We need to talk!"
"Later," Harry repeated, and he slunk off into the boys' dormitories along with Ron. He didn't even bother to say good night!
"I can't believe those two," huffed Hermione in frustration, "Term hasn't even started yet and they're already in trouble. Isn't that right, Cordelia?"
"Yep. But why would they do something like that? I mean, I talked to dad before about what I could do if I somehow missed the train, and he just said that he'd Apparate me to a place called Hogsmeade. Then one of the Professors could come and get me," replied Cordelia, a frown on her face.
She was also fuming about how the boys had just brushed her off, though for a different reason. Didn't it even occur to Harry about just how worried sick she was about him disappearing from his house? And then not being on the train, or even being present at the Sorting Feast? What sort of friend was he, to act like that?!
"Do you think they'll be expelled for it? I mean, they did kind of break the Statute of Secrecy-"
"They won't be expelled. Professor McGonagall said that Minister Fudge has somehow excused them from any wrongdoing," Percy Weasley butted in. He looked no happier than both Cordelia or Hermione. "But I don't think my father would really appreciate it,"
"Why? I mean, if Harry's been excused then...?"
"I wouldn't imagine that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would be too happy about having to Obliviate so many Muggles. They excused Harry, but that car's still ours,"
Comprehension dawned on Cordelia's face. "Oh. So...what's going to happen...?"
Percy shuddered. "Well, we'll have to wait for tomorrow's Daily Prophet. Now, you two should go to your dorms. The same applies for all of you! It's almost curfew, and you all have classes tomorrow!"
A/N:
Minor filler prior to starting the second year. *sets down egg timer on how long it would take Lockhart to be found as a fraud, only to discover Cordelia has jammed a toothpick into the spring*...well, damn.
Cordelia's personality should start to come out more soon after her mother's rather authoritarian grip loosens, and hormones of puberty start to kick in. Yes, I'm well aware of her rather neutral and bland personality at the moment, which is partly how it is for younger children. Particularly those that are strictly controlled by their parents for most of their childhood.
SenHajime: Well, they won't be 11-12 forever, so there's that :P
LordMesirix: It isn't explicitly stated that the Greengrasses were neutral in lore, but they weren't mentioned as Death Eaters either. I'm taking the view here that they're neutral. And let's not forget that Amanda is a scientist in control of a remote, virtually inaccessible island. Maybe she needs a few...test subjects...if you get my drift.