Ch.8 Have either of you seen a Book?
Arthur made sure to stick to the side as the brand new students whose faces were red from excitement and face pinches flooded the corridor looking for friends and compartments that weren't full of stony faced teenagers who slid their things onto the seat next to them whenever they asked if they could sit.
He stared hopefully at a boy already in his robes who was busy reciting a book labeled, 'The Tales of Glorious Tails' out loud to his cat who Arthur swore was looking envious in the moment.
Rapping his knuckles on the door the boy jolted looking up, Arthur grinned at him waving but he got up, pointedly looking down at his case and the salamander in his hand as he swished his wand and a faint 'Click' of the door could be heard.
Arthur stuck out his tongue and so did Sally, shooting out to the window and sticking.
The fat white cat swished its tail staring at her similarly to the movements the boy had done with his wand before, probably hoping for it to somehow unlock.
He went to try his luck down farther but a hand came down tapping his shoulder violently like some trained acupuncturist. It took all he had in him to not drop everything he was holding from the shock and a quick tongue punch from Sally who wouldn't let go, apparently not trusting him either.
"Excuse me, you're blocking the corridor. You aren't supposed to have that here you know- Is that a newt! You aren't supposed to have that either!"
The familiar bossy tone made him wish he hadn't turned around, Arthur groaned now face to face with Hermione Granger who currently had her eyebrows in her hairline and a round faced boy who looked apologetic holding a bored looking toad.
Arthur screwed up his face, "What?" he asked. He'd passed around a dozen kids with spiders, snakes, and possibly something that looked like a chicken.
She rolled her eyes like he should've known this by heart already, "It's not approved by Hogwarts! The list said you can only have a cat, an owl, and a toad." she finished pointing at the boys toad with an air of ,'I've-told-you-this-a-million-times-already-and-you-want-it-again?'
The boy looked uncomfortable like he wanted to pretend he was anywhere else than here.
Arthur stared at her in shock, she'd been overbearing in Diagon Alley but this was a new level.
He rolled his eyes, "I'm not even keepin-"
Sally bit him and he yelped dropping his tuba case hopping around trying to get her to stop, pleading with her.
Hermione looked like she thought he deserved it but she stepped back with her face looking horrified, "That's a metal eating newt! You've brought a metal eating Newt on a Metal train!"
Metal eating? Arthur stared down at Sally whose bite, yes, had hurt. But had her tongue sticking out with a dopey expression and looked up at Hermione, and the boy, who now had fearful expressions.
Arthur snorted as the boy in the locked compartment inched back away from him holding his rat of a cat protectively.
Hermione, however frightful she looked, put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes, "I'll tell someone! A Prefect- You'll have to get rid of that. Before it brings the whole train down! They're banned from every pet store for a reason-"
He stared at her incredulously, "From what? Eating too many cat bells? She's tiny!"
"A match is tiny too!"
"Whatever-"
The Hogwarts approved toad had become impatient hopping at Sally, Arthur gave a shout and pressed himself to the side of the train as it missed clumsily and hopped away.
The boy looked on in shock before running after his toad just as clumsily,"Trevoooor!"
Hermione apparently had taken it upon herself to take charge somehow of this and turned back giving him an, 'We're not done here' stare. Tucking her book underneath her arm and power walking towards the boy and Trevor.
Arthur was really annoyed with her, but he guessed it was his fault as well so he ran after them both begrudgingly.
Hermione had waltzed in a compartment with a lanky red-headed boy with a rat on his shoulder(Which, he had noticed, Hermione was not telling him off for) and a boy with dark hair that looked like it was being affected by static electricity and taped up circular glasses.
She began asking if either of them had seen a toad before going on one of her many monologues with the two looking at her shocked, Arthur wondered if he looked like that too when she first did it.
He decided to see how many freckles he could count on the red-headed boy's face before she stopped. He seemed to be doing the same.
The dark haired boy- Harry- he'd recognized from before with the very large man named Hagrid, was looking at him pleadingly as she'd just taken her fourth gasp of air between paragraphs.
Arthur shrugged at him and looked down at the book she had left leaning on the sliding door labeled, 'The Creature Vault'.
He smiled faintly recalling an incantation he'd seen a cashier at Diagon Alley do for making a pair of sunglasses that turned into whatever eye ware you needed for the occasion, to hop over to him trying to get him to buy it.
Arthur mimed the movements as he felt the wand in his pocket, feeling like it wanted to cause trouble.
He took it out not wanting to have his shorts get set on fire, with Harry's eyes following his movements carefully as he blindly felt around for one of his stacks of cauldron cakes, Arthur pointed it at her book doing the movements once more to make sure he got it right.
He paused as the red-headed boy was now looking over too, What was the name of it again? He racked his brains trying to think of it. It was so close.
Arthur rolled up his long green sleeves and swished his wand, "Pep-"
It slipped out of his hands and he clambered for it, finally catching it and let out a sigh of relief.
The wand seemed to laugh at him, puffing up grey smoke and exploding out the handle side facing him.
He coughed and heard a snort of laughter from the red-headed boy- Ron Weasley- and saw Hermione turning around in disbelief.
Arthur blushed, rubbing the soot off his nose with the tiny explosion having blasted his hair out of his eyes, and tried even harder to remember it.
He readied his wand once more and imagined a hopping frog in his head.
"That's not-"
"Piertotum Locomotor!"
His wand produced green smoke and sputtered slightly before it slowly flung out of the tip, (not without leaving its mark once more also sending out the back end of his wand and replacing the soot he'd just gotten off.)
The book began to slide around making rapid ribbiting noises as it hopped once, then hopped higher, and then right out the door down the corridor.
After violently coughing, Arthur grinned widely at her shocked face, "Want to go 'round asking if anyone seen a book, yeah?"
The train ride never seemed to end. It was one thing after another. Arthur just wanted to eat his lunch.
He'd just chased down the book he casted the spell on, after a few thousand glares and remarks in his direction, Hermione having figured out how to make it stop and was now rifling through the book ignoring him entirely. Not that he minded.
Apparently even after a vow of silence she couldn't help with one last repetitive comment and snide look muttering how salamanders and newts were only allowed in potions class, when dead.
"Sally knows how to play dead." he said exasperated trying to get her off his back, with Sally even showing her by flipping on her backside shooting her tongue out. This seemed to do the opposite however.
As she dismissed the idea, Arthur smoothed his hair back down over his eyes and held his luggage as best he could feeling heavier than ever. Sally now resting on his shoulder (having copied Ron because she thought it looked cool), with Neville (who had lost Trevor , Again.) and Hermione(Still tutting) all waiting for the pale sharp faced boy to move out of the way.
"I say! Weasley's fleas must've gathered all on your face! Or are they from Granger?" The boy sneered slicking back his hair so hard it made a squeaking noise.
The two gorillas behind him snickered.
Hermione pursed her lips and glared at him from over her book, which was flipped to the page of Inferi, who, shockingly looked very similar to the boy standing in front of him besides the fact that it was rotting. With haunting features and slicked back hair and a long sharp nose.
Arthur stared down at the page then back up at him trying to smother his laughs.
The unpleasant boy frowned at him," Is something funny?"
Hermione caught what he was looking at it almost appeared as if her mouth was slightly wobbling.
Arthur pointed at the sentence where it described their aversion to any kind of warmth such as fire and sunlight and then pointed at his extremely pale face, covering his mouth laughing as Hermione looked down hiding her face.
He heard a cough that sounded like a laugh from behind him as Neville looked over his shoulder seeing the photo himself.
The pompous blonde glared at all three of them catching on, "I'm surprised you can even read with that possum stuck on your face- It must be hiding the banshee that's making that hideous noise coming from you" he spat out, straightening himself arrogantly.
Arthur jolted forward surprised at hearing a shaky voice erupt from behind him, "B-better than the Phantom Rat coming from you Malfoy!"
He turned shocked looking at Neville whose face turned red but didn't look like he regretted it, even staring down the pale boy.
Arthur smiled at him gratefully, and he shyly returned it back.
"Longbottom- Trying to make up for the first half of your life by being brave now? Sorting doesn't work like that, I'll be looking forward to your Grandmother's Howler when you get booted." Malfoy sneered now having red forming at his ears.
Arthur began to take a step forward to defend his new friend but was stopped by Hermione who had something else to say.
"The sorting hat doesn't turn away anyone and you know it!"
Malfoy now turned to her looking smug, "It might to you- Being afraid you might trip and bite right through it!"
The two lackeys stepped forward laughing with him.
Arthur felt rage building up and making his stomach churn, Hermione looked mortified and covered her mouth shuffling backwards slowly.
His anger only multiplied as the three boys laughed even harder, the kind of anger that made you sick and only felt rumbling in your ears.
Arthur calmly took Sally off his shoulder and placed her on Neville who fumbled a bit but managed to hold on.
He looked down at his tuba case and grasped it with both hands making sure he held it tight as the laughter continued.
Arthur heard angry whispers from Hermione to stop before he got in trouble when she realized what he was about to do. He stared Malfoy straight in his grimy grey eyes.
Wham!
He heard Hermione gasp and Malfoy stumbled back clutching his face as the two boys held him back up, "Wh- Yo- You'll pay for that!" he said with wide eyes like he hadn't expected someone to conk him after all that.
The hit wasn't actually all that hard considering Arthur wasn't strong enough to smash it down more, but it had made his face bruise and his nose bleed.
"Fleas got itchy. Made me twitch." Arthur said angrily as a couple of frazzled looking prefects rushed around the corner having finally heard the commotion.