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~The journey~

«WAKE UP! HURRY UP! Get your freakish stuff and bird. I'll drive you to the station», - was the first, that he heard. «Of course, today's 1st of September. Train leaves at 11 o'clock. Wasn't it too late??», - Harry thought.

Then next second his head hit the cupboard ceiling. He had gone out of his «room» and then slowly walked upstairs. The big clock in the hall showed 9 am. If he picks up fast, they By the way he saw that Dudley's room is empty. Perhaps he's already gone. When he entered his old bedroom he noticed a few differences: Hedwig was locked in her cage, all his clothes were lying on the floor in a big heap, instead of their often wardrobe, and finally there weren't any furniture anymore, just bare walls and Dudley's toys in the corner.

After the shock had gone, Harry remembered about his cache under the floorboard. The first thing he did was quickly run and open it. For his happiness – everything was in the places he left it. But to the consequence dizziness and those bad pain in stomach returned. By the minute his sight normalized. He pulled out magic supplies with clothes and threw them into his school trunk. In five minutes Harry finally went down to the hallway.

Uncle Vernon was already waiting for him near the car and shouted – «Faster, faster freak! The sooner you'll leave the better it will be. It's so disgusting to see you there, even only for two months in a year».

Harry had picked up his baggage, to put it in a car, but it was so heavy that he had dropped the trunk, and it scratched the car's body. «Oh no, he's probably going to kill me!», - Harry thought. And he was almost right: «WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! THIS CAR WAS ALMOST NEW! ENOUGH! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO YOUR STUPID SCHOOL ANYMORE! I'LL TEACH YOU HOW TO BE CAREFUL! RIGHT NOW! THAT'S…» - was only he had shouted, before noticed that Petunia run to the screams and started to talk: «Vernon, dear, everything will be OK with that. We can allow ourselves a new paint. Please, get this freak out from the house I can't endure him anymore!», - she said. «Right, sweetheart. I also don't want him to be there. Now get to the car, boy, I won't wait forever! And notice, you will be punished badly next summer», - said uncle with a strange smile.

When Harry had sat in the car, Vernon drove down away from Privet Drive and the trip to the city started. The first few hours passed in silence. There were only birds singing noises and some automobiles horns. His stomach began to hurt badly, not letting him thought about something. Then, after they passed a road sign «London», uncle unexpectedly told him – «Remember freak, if you just try to tell someone about this holiday, the consequences would the worst you can imagine. Believe me, I always keep my promises». In another half-hour, they arrived at King's Cross. Thankfully, Vernon got his trunk out of the car and left with a promising, frightening face.

Finally. It was something he dreamed about all summer – freedom. After a few steps, he felt a familiar wave of weakness and dizziness. And in next few – again. Troubles with breathing also didn't leave him. Harry hoped that if he begins to eat more at Hogwarts, these symptoms would disappear. He looked at the central clock – 10:30 am. Everything is going by his plan. By 10 minutes he got to the 9 and platform. There weren't many people, and he also didn't see Hermione and Weasley's family. So he climbed up to the train and started to look for a free compartment. He found one in the middle of the train, left the trunk with Hedwig's cage there, took his wand, and walked to the bathroom.

He was shocked when had looked in the mirror. To say that he was terrified – is to say nothing. His face was as pale as the ghost's one. It also was very thin and full of yellow, green, blue, purple, and brown-colored bruises at different stages of healing. The neck looked bad too, but not like the face. He was scared to know how his tors and back look, but they should be a lot worse…

«Obstrepato!» - he whispered, imagining a normal-looking face. The effect was instantaneous. Harry felt so big relief. No one is going to know. Then he tried to cast this charm on his neck. It worked, but the effect also disappeared from the face. «That's bad. But I can hide those by shirt», - he told to himself while placing the charm again to face.

Then he walked back to the compartment and finally saw his friends. Hermione noticed him first. «Harry! Where have you been? We were so worried! What… Harry!», - while she hugged him, Harry felt a huge wave of stomach pain with dizziness. On her last phrase, his legs could no longer hold him and Harry started falling. But big warm hands didn't let him appear on the floor. By a few seconds, he saw Ron. He was looking confused with a bit of fear. «Mate! What are you doing?», - his best friend said. Harry's vision continuing rotation, but he was able to sit down. «Don't worry, it's just small dizziness. Hermione, you hugged me too hard! By the way, I had a very long trip to the station and wanted to visit the bathroom. Sorry for not warning you two» - he said in one breath. Next answered Hermione: «There's nothing to be sorry about. We understand. Are you sure everything is OK?». After thinking for a minute Harry said: «Yeah, I'm alright. Just a bit tired. Would you mind if I have some sleep now? We woke up so early». In conclusion of this phrase he yawned. «Of course, go sleep. We will tell you when it'll be to time to go» - Rone told him. His friends were looking a bit confused but hopefully didn't notice anything.

Harry fell asleep momentarily. He probably skipped a few hours, because when Hermione woke him, it was dark outside. Thankfully, they were already wearing their robes and decided to visit Neville and the twins in the next compartment. So he used a chance to dress up lonely. As Harry expected – his body looked terrible. It was full of bruises, scratches, and scars. His stomach was the worse. In the zone, where Vernon hit him- was a huge hematoma. The injury was awful – pulsed and hurt a lot when he touched it. He quickly covered all this with a robe when headed the talking voice. In the next second, Ron with Hermione entered.

«How is Neville doing?» - asked Harry. «Oh, great. He had visited his relatives in Switzerland this summer. Did you know…», that's how the conversation continued until the express stopped near Hogsmeade station. They went out and sat down in one of the carriages, which, as Hermione explained, would drive them to Hogwarts. By another 15 minutes, they were standing near the main entrance.