Chapter 10

Soon the holiday was over. I said good bye to the Grangers on the platform and Hermione and I boarded the train. After putting our trunks away, we went to find Harry and Ron. I couldn't see them anywhere. I do hope Dobby didn't change his mind. What if he did?! They are going to get in so much trouble.

Hermione and I went to find an empty compartment. Soon Neville joined us. "Hey, how was your holiday?" He asked.

"Oh great." I didn't have to say much because Neville and I had been sending letters to each over quite a bit over the summer. We started talking excitedly about the up coming year. Of course, Hermione managed to move our conversation over to school work.

I checked the time. The train was going to leave in like two minutes. Where are they?! I am going to give Dobby a piece of my mind. At that point they walked in. I jumped out of my seat and hugged them. "There you guys are! I was starting to think that the barrier was broken." I told them. Ron laughed.

"The barrier can't break!" Ron exclaimed between fits of laughter. I blushed fiercely in embarrassment.

"Actually in can be blocked by certain types of magic." Hermione said, coming to my rescue.

"Whatever." Ron huffed as he sat down.

My mind quickly drifted to what I was going to attempt when we got back to school. Should I tell them? Maybe they could do it with me. It would help while they are on the run. If they go on the run. They could freak out though. Also, I don't think Ron has the patience. Maybe he'll surprise me though.

"Hey guys. I've been thinking..." I started.

"Yeah?" Neville asked, giving me an encouraging look.

"I am going to try and become an animagus!" I blurted. They just sat there stunned, so I kept talking. "I was wondering if you would like to do it with me. It would be very useful."

"But we have to register. The ministry would never allow it. We could go to askaban!" Hermione voiced her worries.

"That's only if we get caught." Ron said.

"Yeah. Harry is going to need it if Voldemort comes back and he has to go on the run." I said solemnly. Silence fell over the compartment.

"I hate to break it to you, but we don't know how to become animagi." Neville finally said. I took it to mean he was in.

"I have a book." I told them.

"What's an animagus?!" Harry finally exclaimed in exasperation.

"It's a wizard who can turn into an animal." Said Hermione, going into text book mode. "There aren't many of them left because it is a long process and many wizards think it isn't worth their time. You have to register so that you don't do anything illegal. They take unregistered animagi very seriously. You know how Professor McGonagall can turn into a cat? She's an animagus." She rattled off.

"I want to do it." Harry told me. "You're right, I might need it."

"Fine!" Hermione grumbled. "I'll do it with you."

"I'll do it too." Neville said nervously.

"Me as well." Ron said.

"Awesome!" I smiled at them.

The conversation drifted to other unimportant things. Then Malfoy walked in with his two goons. "Well look who we have here." He said. "Two mudbloods, a squib, and a blood traitor. So many enemies of magic in one room. How can you stand it Potter?" Crabbe and Goyle laughed like it was some fantastic joke. Ron stood up quickly but I was quicker. I held my arm out in front of him to stop him from doing anything stupid.

"Listen Malfoy, I'm sorry that you were raised to believe all those lies." I told him gently. "Maybe if your father wasn't a death eater you would be a nice guy. The only reason you hate muggle borns so much is because your dad told you to. But, who do you think the first wizards came from? In all likely hood, all 'purebloods' are descendants of muggles and muggle borns. You know if you dropped your superiority complex you might actually become a decent person. We could be friends. Do you really want to grow up and become a murderer like your father?"

Everyone looked completely stunned by what I just said. Ron had even eased off trying to kill Malfoy and sat back down in shock. Hermione smiled at me. Malfoy spluttered. He looked back at Crabbe and Goyle. "How dare you even suggest we be friends, you filthy little mudblood?" He said. But I could tell his heart was no longer in it. I might have actually gotten through to him. I don't think he wanted to admit it in front of Crabbe and Goyle though. He left in a huff with his body guards.

"That was fantastic!" Hermione exclaimed when they were gone. Harry nodded.

"I never thought of it that way." Neville said.

"How could you even suggest being friends with Malfoy?" Ron spat. "He's a Slytherin for a reason!"

"You know Ron, not all Slytherins are evil!" I reprimanded him. "The hat probably even wanted to put Harry in Slytherin, since he's so cunning and all." Ron looked at Harry with new eyes.

"It's true." Harry said looking down.

"Don't be ashamed of it!" I yelled in exasperation. "There are plenty of good Slytherins."

"Name one!" Ron argued.

"Andromeda Black." I told them. "She was a pureblood, who went and married a muggle-born. Her family disowned her and her half-blood daughter, but she did it anyway."

"Whatever." Ron muttered in defeat.

...

Soon we arrived back at Hogwarts. We stepped off the train and walked over to the carriages. I was immediately struck with the sight of the large zombie horses that were hooked up the the carriages. "What are those things pulling the carriages?" Harry asked. Hermione looked at him funny.

"There is nothing there Harry. The carriages pull themselves." She told him.

"Don't you see them. They're like dead horses." He said in confusion.

"Are you feeling alright Harry?" Ron asked.

"Don't you believe me! They are right there!" Harry said pointing to one of the skeletal horses.

"There called Thestrals." I finally said. Everyone looked at me in surprise.

"You can see them too?" Harry asked. I nodded. "See, I'm not crazy." Harry said.

"They can only be seen by someone who's seen death. We saw Quirrell die." I told them grimly. Hermione's eyes widened. We all climbed into the carriage and it started moving. We were all quiet as we made it's way to the school.

Soon we made it to the great hall. We all sat down at the Gryffindor table. The first years filed into the room. I spotted Ginny and Luna talking animatedly to each other. I stopped paying attention once Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw and Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor. Dumbledore stood up, said a few words and then sat down.

I was sitting next to Hermione and Ron. Harry was sitting on the other side of Ron. The twins, Fred and George, were sitting across from us. Neville was across from Harry, sitting next to Ginny.

Then all the owls flew in. An owl I didn't recognize flew towards me and quickly dropped a letter into my lap. Everyone was to busy eating to notice. I looked at it. My eyes widened when I saw it was from Gringott's. I quickly stuffed it in my pocket hoping no one would notice. But someone did. Fred was looking at me suspiciously. I quickly continued eating like it never happened.

...

After dinner we went and sat in our common room. Once my friends had gone to bed, I went and sat in a corner. I looked around and didn't see anyone near me so I pulled the letter out of my pocket and practically ripped it open. In a neat scrawl, it said:

Dear Miss Joanne Rogers,

We at Gringott's would like to thank you for your information. You will be pleased to know that we have located the piece of Voldemort's soul. It was, as you said, in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. Thank you for helping us find the dangerous dark artefact. It could have very well endangered our staff. We are taking care of it as I write this. I will send you an update soon.

Yours sincerely,

Bogrod the goblin.

I smiled. "What's that?" I herd a voice from next to me. I jumped. The letter was grabbed from my hand by none other than Fred Weasley.

"Give it back!" I exclaimed quickly. "That's private!" He held it above his head, teasingly. Damn it! Why did he have to be so tall?! I grabbed for it but it was far beyond my reach. He turned around and started reading it. I tried to reach round and grab it but he pushed me away with one arm. Crap, Crap, Crap! I swore in my head. My cover is definitely blown!

I drew my wand. "Don't make me hex you!" I growled. But it was too late. He turned back around with a shocked look on his face. "What is this!" He yelled in my face. I shushed him quickly and worriedly looked around. Luckily no one was paying us too much attention.

"I-I can't tell you." I stuttered and grabbed it back.

"You can't tell me?!" He whispered angrily. "What have you got to do with you-know-who? Are you a death eater?" He took out his wand and pointed it at me.

"I'm eleven!" I snapped. "Of course I'm not a death eater!"

"Why were you talking about pieces of you know who's sole with goblins then?" He asked dangerously. I could tell he had no idea what he was actually talking about. I bit my lip. What was I going to do? I could tell he wasn't going to let up. But I couldn't tell him about the Horcruxes! Could I?

"Well?" He growled. He would never believe me if I told him the truth. Okay I can do this! I burst out laughing. He looked confused. I just kept laughing.

"I can't believe you actually fell for that!" I gasped between laughed.

"What?" He asked.

"I saw you looking at my letter at the table so I made a fake letter and pretended to open it. I knew you would grab it and you totally fell for it. You just got pranked! Serves you right for being so nosy." I said smoothly. Please fall for it! Please fall for it! Please fall for it! I kept repeating that over and over in my head.

"I can't believe you did that! I thought you were a death eater!" He huffed, loudly. He stomped up to his dorm muttering about how uncool it was, that he was pranked by a second year. I went up to my dorm room and got ready for bed, full of relief. Thank god, he fell for that!

...