Dudley and his friends made their way to their compartment.
"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," he said grumpily, sitting down next to Dudley. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what -"
"Shh!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. Dudley, Dean and Ron listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.
"...Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knew the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father said Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do..."
Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.
"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" she said angrily. "I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him."
"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" said Dudley.
"Yes," said Hermione sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."
Dudley listened as Hermione told Ron about Durmstrang. Dudley heard a voice coming from Malfoy's compartment.
"Quiet!" he ordered.
"Get out of the way Malfoy," a voice, clearly Neville's said.
"Make us," Malfoy sneered.
"You haven't got the guts to threaten me on your own," they heard Neville said. "You need two others to do it."
"Good on Nev," Dean said, approvingly, getting to his feet. "Come on."
He pushed open the door with a thud. "Problem, Malfoy?" Dean said, glaring at him.
Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had been blocking Neville's way. Neville was standing near the door, his fists raised, glaring at them.
Upon hearing Dean, Malfoy spun around, his face fell, realizing he was now outnumbered.
"Nev's right," Dean said. "You are a coward," he said in disgust. "I thought you'd have learnt your lesson last year, but you're still the same, sniveling little rat."
"Lockhart reckons it's just a matter of time before your loser father gets the kiss," Dudley chimed in.
"Watch it, Dursley!" Malfoy warned.
"Watch what?" Dudley said, in amazement. "You're the school's whipping boy. What exactly do I need to watch? Come on, Nev—this rat isn't worth it."
Since they were outnumbered, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy shuffled aside so Neville could past. They glared after him.
"Hey, Dursley!" Malfoy called.
"What?" Dudley said without bothering to turn around.
"I know a secret you don't," Malfoy said. At this, Dudley did look over at him. Malfoy was smirking.
"Perhaps I'll tell you later in the year." Malfoy said. Both Crabbe and Goyle laughed.
"Whatever, Malfoy," Dudley said and followed his friends back into their compartment.
"Good to see you standing up to him," Dudley said, approvingly, to Neville.
"Yeah, well, you showed me there's nothing to be afraid of," Neville said, sitting down. "If he thinks he can push me around this year, he's got another thing coming."
"With any luck, he'll be the school's whipping boy again," Ron said. "Remember last year how McClaggen pushed him in the lake?" Ron snickered.
"And Roger Davies using wingardium leviosa to put his hat on the top of the castle?" Ron said.
They all laughed, even Hermione, who didn't usually approve of bullying. Dudley supposed she made an exception in Malfoy's case.
"Well, I'm not going to bother with him," Dudley announced. "Not unless he picks on one of my mates first."
"He's not going to pick on us!" Ron said, indignantly. "And if he tries, he'll regret it."
Dean and Neville nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but he might try something with Luna or Ginny," Hermione said.
"Big mistake if he messes with Gin," Ron said. "She takes after mum—scary when she's in a temper. Did I tell you what she did when Fred and George tried to slip her a tongue-tongue toffee?"
They all laughed again, and Dudley felt glad to be back at school among his friends.
Several more of their Hogwarts school companions looked in on them during the journey. Seamus dropped by to say hello to Dean—and a brief, awkward hello to Dudley since they had only made up during the World Cup after three years of dislike. Susan Bones dropped by to say hello to Dudley—something which made Ron and Dean snicker. Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia too came by to say hi to Ron who was on the quidditch team with them. "We need a new goalie this year," Katie said. "So if you know anyone …"
"Maybe I'll try?" Dean said. "I was gonna try for seeker, but those three are too good. How about you, Dud?"
"Nah, I'm gonna go for beater again. I don't think I'm fast enough to be goalkeeper," Dudley said.
Bored with the quidditch talk, Hermione buried her nose in one of her books. After a while, Ginny and her little group came in to join them.
"I knew you'd all be here," she said brightly, sitting down. She was accompanied by Luna, who sat next to Dudley and Demelza Bobbins who blushed furiously when Ginny gave her a push towards the empty seat near Ron. She was also with a Ravenclaw girl with an owl-like face and glasses, Colin Creevey, a boy who looked just like him but smaller and a pretty girl with black curly hair.
"This is Matilda Fortescue and Dorothy Simmons," Ginny said. The two girls said hello, rather shyly. Colin Creevey looked nervous—he kept shooting glances at Dudley who didn't blame him. Dudley had tormented Colin a couple of years ago.
"Good summer, Colin?" he asked, nodding to an empty chair. "Yes, erm, thanks, Dudley," Colin said, awkwardly.
Out of the corner of his eye, Dudley saw Hermione (who had been looking irritably at Demelza) a small nod of approval.
"And this is Colin's brother, Dennis," Ginny said, nodding at the tiny boy who looked terrified.
"Good to see you, Dennis," Hermione said, kindly. "You'll love Hogwarts, won't he, Dud?"
"Yeah, it's pretty good," Dudley admitted.
"Why did you come here anyway, Gin?" Ron asked. "What was wrong with your own compartment?"
"Because the boys in the next carriage over are idiots," Ginny said. "So, we thought we'd come and sit here with you. I was thinking we could have an exploding snap tournament. Dennis has never played it before."
It was rather cramped now with so many of them in the carriage. They had been sat with a double chair each—perfect room to spread out. But now all seats were occupied. Dudley suspected Ginny had an ulterior motive for bringing her friends here, and noticing she had sat Demelza next to Ron, he suspected he knew why. He remembered her saying at the end of last term that her friend had a crush on Ron.