Chapter 5 – Of Holiday Remains and Catching Trains

"No one can possibly know what is about to happen. It is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time." –James Arthur Baldwin

Harry came down early he next morning, only to find he was not the only one there. Killian and Tonks were in the kitchen making breakfast. Well, actually, Killian was making breakfast and Tonks was sitting at the table, out of harms way. No one else was up yet, not even Mrs Weasley, who was usually up and about before everyone else.

"Want any help?" Harry offered.

Killian immediately put Harry on frying the bacon, sausage and eggs, whilst she buttered mounds of toast. Harry saw five toasts being buttered with five knives, and even as he looked he saw two extra knives join the fray. Harry thought it was safe to assume that Killian was using her telekinetic abilities.

They were setting the table when Mr and Mrs Granger walked in followed by Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Neville and Ron. Mr Lovegood and Mrs Longbottom walked in behind them.

"Mum not here?" asked Ginny.

"Must still be in bed," said Tonks.

Tonks got up and placed two plates heaping with food in front of Molly and Arthur as they sat down.

"Oh, I could have done that," Mrs Weasley protested, trying to get up from her chair to help.

Tonks wouldn't let her.

"Sorry for not having breakfast ready," said Molly changing the subject whilst eyeing the food. "I didn't realise it was so late. But it seems you managed quite well without me."

"For future information Molly, Arthur, rest assured that if you want to wake up late, if you want a bit of a lie-in, or even if you want a bit of lone time together, you won't have to worry that we'll starve without you. It'll be hardship, but we think we'll survive with your excellent feasts. We'll manage to fend for ourselves." Tonks put on her best martyr like voice.

After breakfast the children were shooed out of the kitchen. They spent most of the time in the boys' room. Harry and Ron were playing chess. Ginny and Hermione were sitting in the corner discussing their Hogwarts letters.

Harry spent time between talking with his friends, or reading through some of his old school books as well as the new ones he had received. Mostly he was reading through the Occlumency book he had received from Remus, but he really couldn't seem to make any sense of it. Harry decided to read through it a second time. They headed down to lunch Harry taking his book with his. He settled himself towards the food end of the table; the others seated themselves near him, his book next to him. Hermione as she often did at Hogwarts propped her Arithmancy book against the water jug and started reading as she ate.

The adults all clustered around the other end of the table, laughing over something Tonks was saying.

"Learning Occlumency Harry?" came Killian's voice. Harry saw her eye his book curiously.

"Yeah."

"What technique are you using?"

Harry hesitated. "The book doesn't mention techniques." No techniques that he could make sense of, he added silently to himself. He saw Killian grin at him.

"Who gave you the book?" she asked.

"Remus borrowed it from someone," Harry answered.

"Can I see the book?"

Harry nodded. He was about to get up and walk around to Killian, but it flew out his hand and he saw Killian grab it. She spent five minutes flicking through the pages and then levitated the book back to Harry who grabbed it and put it down beside him.

"How's it working for you?"

"Clearing my mind helps, but it still makes my scar hurt." Harry thought it would help even better if he could actually understand what the book was saying.

Killian looked confused. "What's Occlumency got to do with your scar?"

It was Harry's turn to look confused.

"Harry has to learn to shield his mind from You-Know-Who. You-Know-Who can send Harry false images if Harry doesn't learn how to shield his mind using Occlumency," Molly explained.

"But Occlumency shields the mind from external sources?" she said almost questioningly. Receiving a nod from Nicolas Flamel, she continued, "It's kind of useless trying to Occlumency to shield your mind from Voldemort."

"How do you mean? Dumbledore wanted me to learn to shield my mind from Voldemort using Occlumency because it would stop Voldemort from sending me false information."

"As far I know Harry, you got that scar when Voldemort's curse failed and backfired on him, right?" Harry nodded. "The curse failed and forced a connection between the two of you. Now, Occlumency is shielding your mind from external sources. Since that scar connects you to Voldemort, technically Voldemort is already in your mind, therefore becoming internal sort of. If Voldemort can send you false images he obviously can't do it when he's near you. Which means wherever he is, he can send whatever images he wants, whether intentionally or not."

Harry nodded, it made sense.

"You said that clearing your mind makes you scar hurt." It was more of a statement than a question. Everyone else was quiet to hear what was going on.

"So are you saying that learning Occlumency is useless?" Harry asked to cover up the silence.

"Not useless exactly. Learning Occlumency is good, but for particular problem there is an advanced form of Occlumency to study that may be particularly helpful. I think that the reason your scar hurts after clearing you mind is because when you try to shield your mind from Voldemort you're essentially trying to separate a part of yourself. Like I said, Voldemort forged a connection with you when the Killing Curse failed. Voldemort therefore is embedded, for the lack of a better word, in your mind. By shielding yourself from him you're not only trying to force Him out, but you are also forcing a part of yourself out. Have I confused you or did it actually make sense?" she asked.

"Actually it did make sense. So how would I stop Voldemort from sending me false visions?"

"You can try to learn to some meditation techniques similar to Occlumency and then try learning advanced Occlumency."

"I bought a martial arts book that has meditation techniques."

"That's good. Keep trying that until your Occlumency lessons. That's all you can really do."

"Are you an Occlumens?" asked Harry, an idea forming in his mind.

"I must say I'm quite adept at defending my mind from outside forces." She replied.

Harry nodded. "Would it possible if you taught me?" Harry thought if Killian taught him then he wouldn't have to endure lessons with Snape or Dumbledore. He saw Killian looking at him with a grin on her face. Harry had the distinct feeling that she knew exactly what Harry was thinking.

"You'd have to ask Dumbledore about that. He was the one who suggested Occlumency in the first place."

Harry nodded and turned back towards his friends. Conversation picked up again. Killian went back to her conversation with the Flamels.

"Dumbledore is already wary of me," said Killian. "Nicolas, do you think that you could present this idea to him?"

"I'll try to talk to him, my dear. Don't worry." Said Nicolas.

After lunch Harry handed over his key to Mrs Weasley who along with Mr Weasley, Tonks and Moody who were going to Diagon Alley to pick up the children's school things.

After dinner Moody informed Harry that Killian would be taking over Snape and Dumbledore's Occlumency lessons. Harry's eyes lit up at the news and he went to bed happy.

The rest of the holidays passed very quickly. Harry and Hermione spent most the time reading over their NEWT books, due Ron's displeasure. Harry spent more time with his Advanced Potion Making book considering he would have to learn it Independently. He also read over his basic theory books from previous years. Snape had never gone over theories expecting students to follow recipes from the board.

Despite packing the night before on Mrs Weasley's insistence, things were still hectic in the morning. Even without the twins to hinder them.

The Flamels who were staying over at Grimmauld Place for the summer had already left for the station. They were waiting there, as well as Gallagher and Remus. Neville and Luna were brought back over to Grimmauld Place and spent the night there so they would all leave for Kings Cross together in the morning.

Two cars were parked out HQ, and each was taking a different route. More of Moody's paranoia Tonks had said winking at the children. Harry, Luna and Neville were placed in one car, their trunks stored in the boots and the animals safely secured in their cages. Killian was their driver and Tonks was their escort.

Kingsley was driving the other car and Moody was escorting Hermione, Ron and Ginny. Harry found out that the Flamels, Gallagher, Moody, Tonks, Killian, Kingsley and Remus were going to be on the train for protection.

"Just in case," Killian said.

Luna continued reading the Quibbler upside as she had all summer. Neville and Harry talked about Quidditch.

When they got to the station Harry saw that Moody and Kingsley were already there. Harry was surprised to see that they were actually early for once. It was only 10-30 a.m.

The other Hogwarts students and their parents seemed relieved that there were Aurors (Tonks and Kingsley) and other qualified professors were protecting the train and the students.

Harry and the others were told to find an apartment as close to the front as possible and therefore stowed their trunks accordingly.

Remus and the other teachers were talking to Harry and the gang, whilst also keeping an eye out for trouble on the platform.

Remus saw Killian eyes turn mercury silver. It could only be a vision. Remus wondered what the vision was. Her already fair skin had turned pale and he saw her fists clench. Everyone noticed and waited expectantly.

Seconds dragged by like hours when finally she snapped out of it. She turned to look out and Remus followed her gaze to the large clock on the platform. The time was 10-40 a.m.

"What did you see?" asked Nicolas.

"Attack on the train," she said rubbing her now gold eyes. She ran a hand through her snow white hair. "Exactly at 11 o'clock."

Remus turned around to Harry and his friends and warned them not to move, no matter what. He waited for them to nod before leaving with the rest as they filed out, wands at the ready. The Flamels stayed on the train, as did Gallagher.

Remus waved towards Moody and Kingsley as he tried to catch their attention. They saw him and quickly made their way towards him. He explained about the vision Killian had and they made their way on the platform to patrol.

Remus heard Killian's voice booming out, she and Tonks went to the front of the train, to the driver's compartment to call for back up.

"This is your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Killian. May I please have your attention? Will all students please say the final farewells to their parents and guardians and board the train. This is a matter of your safety. Parents please say your farewells and vacate the platform immediately. I repeat this is for your safety. Students enter the train, find yourselves a compartment and stow away your luggage securely. Have your wands ready. Not following instructions will result in danger to the lives of everyone on the train and platform. Thank you."

Remus saw and heard many mutters of alarm. It was obvious that the parents left the platform with much reluctance. The parents followed instructions as did the students and slowly the platform emptied.

More Aurors had apparated onto the platform and took their defensive position in front of the train.

There was only five minutes until the clock struck eleven and more students were slowly arriving. With only a few more minutes to go everyone was waiting for the action. The train had started and Remus felt the stares of the students who watching out of the windows with baited breaths. He thought that all the students must have already have boarded.

The train was warming up and Remus saw Killian step off the train. She took her place along side the Aurors.

Remus, Moody and Kingsley were all instructed to board the train, which they did reluctantly. They each entered through a different door in case a Death Eater tried to enter. Remus clutched at one the handle next to the door whilst the other clenched tightly at his wand, poised to fire off one of the many curses that was on the tip of his tongue. Tonks took up her position at the door nearest to the driver's compartment.

Finally the clock struck eleven and he saw 10 or so Death Eaters apparated onto the platform. They seemed surprised at the Aurors defending the train. But they immediately started sending off spells. Remus sent stunning spells towards the Death Eaters, and saw that Tonks and the other were doing the same. The train started moving, and slowly the Death Eaters apparated away as they saw the futility of the attack, leaving the fallen comrades behind. The train gathered speed and he saw the Aurors reviving the fallen colleagues and binding the fallen Death Eaters. The train gathered more speed and Remus heard Tonks yell, "Killian!"

Remus saw Killian run to catch the train that gathered more and more speed. But Killian was running surprisingly fast as well. Remus saw her reach out her hand to grab at the handle and pull herself onto the train. He pulled back and made his way to the back to meet her. Remus heard the cheer of the students and smiled to himself.

The crisis was over, and everyone made their way back to their apartments no doubt to talk about what happened. And, Remus sighed to himself, to embellish the parts they didn't like and exaggerate the parts they did. Such was the gossip of the Hogwarts.

The gang, minus Ginny; who had gone to seek out Dean, were talking amongst themselves about the attack, whilst raiding the supply of food that Harry had bought from the trolley.

Ron was munching on a Chocolate Frog whilst Hermione told them about Malfoy's unusually quiet behaviour.

"Malfoy was really quiet. He didn't swear or sneer at me or anything," said Hermione.

"I can't believe he's still a prefect," Ron grumbled.

They moved onto other topics and played wizard chess. Harry was into his fifth Chocolate Frog when he heard Professor Killian's voice booming out,

"Students of Hogwarts, please pay attention. All prefects please report to the front of the train. Head Boy and Girl, plus all teachers patrolling the train return to the front for instructions. I repeat all prefects to the front of the train. All students please make sure your luggage is secured into place and lock with a strong charm. Release all owls and send them onto Hogwarts. Any students with other pets secure them in to their cages and use a friend's owl to fly it to Hogwarts. Again this is for your own safety. Thank you and follow my instructions carefully. All questions will be answered and everything will be explained afterwards."

"Go on, we'll secure your stuff," said Harry.

Ron and Hermione rushed out of the compartment and since they were already close to the front they didn't have far to go.

Neville, Luna and Harry secured their trunks under the seat after making sure they were locked safely. They had stuffed half the food into their pockets and the rest had gone into their trunks.

Harry released Hedwig and Pig and shrunk their cages and put them into him pocket as well. He had to coax Crookshanks into his cage and secured the catch properly. He opened the window and let Hedwig out first. He placed a feather light charms on Crookshank's cage and placed it in Hedwig's talons.

"Fly carefully," he instructed her.

Neville used Pig to fly his toad Trevor in his little cage. Pig knew it was urgent so he held completely still. Harry saw many owls fly away in a similar fashion, either alone or with secured cages.

Killian's voice boomed out again,

"Will all students who know how and help those who don't, place cushioning charms in their compartments. And can all students who can conjure ropes come to the front of the train and meet with Professor Lupin."

Meanwhile, Nicolas, Perenelle, Kingsley and Keith were getting ready.

They had been chatting amongst themselves, waiting for their turn for patrolling duty when Killian had been hit with another vision. This one more violent than the first. Her fair complexion had paled even further enough to resemble her snow white hair. The terror and fear on her face was reflected on of all of theirs after hearing what the vision was about. This one was about a collapsed bridge that came up ahead.

Nicolas, Perenelle, Kingsley and Gallagher were being flown out by Killian as her instructions were being carried out.

Killian said that the bridge collapse was approximately an hour away. She could fly them to the bridge and get back by herself in less than fifteen minutes if she flew them at full speed- faster than their brooms.

Remus, Moody and Tonks were staying on the train.

The four professors who were flown out were given the task to fix the bridge as best as they could.

Killian was going to come back and help stop the train before it reached the bridge. If both parties failed then students would flown out via broom, but it was likely as much as they didn't want to think about it that many students would plunge to their death.

Remus and Moody were helping conjure up long ropes with the students who consisted of seventh years as they were only ones to have learnt it. Whilst the Tonks had a few other seventh years conjure up small black flags. The black flags would be held by prefects and a few other students, who were going to be placed strategically throughout the train to wave outside the windows. This was to indicate whether they were getting closer to the bridge or not.

Remus and Moody helped the students bind the ropes to make as many long ropes as they could. They also had added strengthening charms to keep the ropes taut.

Killian flew out with the other and dropped them off near the bridge. She wished them luck and bid them to work as fast they could.

Just as she had said she returned barely fifteen minutes after she left. She and the others had approximately 45 minutes to stop the train. The train controls had been tampered with magically, so they had to stop the train manually.

As crazy as the plan was, Killian thought that she and the others could pull the train to a stop physically. She would have tried pushing against the front of the train but the others had protested that doing so would be suicide.

Killian was therefore going to stop the train by pulling it from the back, with the help of Remus. His werewolf strength would come in extremely handy.

Moody was going to be at the front with the driver to give the signal to raise the black flag. As his magical eye permitted him to see through objects and also into the distance he would be able to see through the front of the train and into the distance to see how far or near they were from the bridge.

Meanwhile, at the bridge the four professors were working hard to piece the bridge back together. Nicolas was summoning the pieces that had fallen into the river. Luckily the under support hadn't been damaged much, but it was obvious that the weight of the train would cause the whole bridge to collapse.

Kingsley worked on repairing the under support and rebuilding the brick.

Perenelle and Keith worked together to bind the remaining railways.

It was slow work as they could do much until all the pieces were summoned by Nicolas.

Moody took his place at the front with the driver, who was sweating under the pressure, but Norman Ramsey was determined to save the Hogwarts Express. He loved looking after the train. Since the magical wards on the train had failed they'd have to rely on the old fashioned mechanical levers that hadn't been used in years. It was Norman's contribute to help stop the train. He would pull the lever whilst the others would pull from the back. The brakes would hep add some friction to the railways and with the combined pulling they might be able to stop the train in time.

Remus, Tonks and Killian rushed to the back of the train, placing students strategically throughout the train, ready to stick the black flags as the bridge loomed nearer.

Remus and Killian flew out as Killian used telekinesis to keep them in the air. They had two long ropes between them. The ropes were tied to the bottom of the last compartment, leading out of the open door that led outside. It was meant to be used as an emergency exit at the back of the train that hadn't been used in many years. The ropes were being strengthened by numerous charms so they wouldn't break from the strain. Draco Malfoy, another seventh year Slytherin and a seventh year Ravenclaw was going to renew the charms every so often. Only 35 minutes left.

Remus and Killian were in the air. Killian wrapped her length of rope around both her arms and pulled with all her strength- physical and mental. Remus did the same, he already feel the ropes burning. After 10 minutes of pulling, it was obvious they couldn't feel any difference in the train speed; it was pulling them with it. Killian pointed towards the trees. They were surrounded by a forest with enormously thick trees. Remus understood what she meant. She levitated Remus and herself to the trees further back behind them and wrapped the rope around them twice. He could feel the ropes tighten.

Remus felt the ropes burn even more. The rope was straining, he was feeling really tired. His muscles were burning from the effort. But he planted his feet firmly against the tree and held on with his might. He thought he felt the train slow, not by much, but enough to be felt.

Remus felt his feet leave the tree involuntarily and thought maybe he was wrong. But it was only Killian levitating them further back. The train had slowed down, but they were 15 minutes away from the bridge. They had to work faster.

Moody could see the collapsed part of the bridge in the distance. He slowly counted backwards from a hundred and prayed.

Remus and Killian could feel the train slowing, but the trees were also suffering. The ropes burned and strained around the tree bark, but they were slowly pulling back.

It was working. They were actually pulling the train backwards, but they were still too slow.

5…4…3…2…1 – Moody gave the signal.

Throughout the train black flags were being raised outside the windows. Tonks saw them come closer and closer. Tonks prayed.

Remus saw the black flags, and the big black flag that Tonks raised as she stood at the door at the back of the compartment. He pulled harder, as did Killian. Killian pulled them towards each other so that they dissecting the other's path. Remus had to admire Killian. He himself was just using his physical strength. She was using mental and physical. Even though she didn't have his advantage of being a werewolf with superhuman strength, she was still strangely strong in her own right. Stronger than any human had any right to be.

Killian and Remus crossed over, going in opposite directions. They felt the ropes straining even more.

Draco and the two other seventh years saw the ropes strain, and renewed the charms. The ropes looked like they wanted pull the floor from beneath them.

Remus gritted his teeth. He could feel it. The train was grinding against the rails harder; he could hear the harsh screech as loud as a screaming banshee. The train wanted to move forward, but they were forcing it backwards. He pulled even harder.

It was happening, it was working. He felt like howling.

The train was grinding to a halt.

All the student throughout the train let out sighs of relief. The train was grinding to a halt.

Moody felt the train grind to a halt.

The four professors at the bridge saw the train stop.

And one thought was going through everyone's mind. And none too soon!

The students and prefects all let out loud cheers.