CHAPTER FOUR

The Hogwarts Express

At 6:30 the next day, everyone woke up with the roosters crowing good morning. Harry fell out of his bed when Ron yelled in Harry's ear to "Get out of that bed before my mom yells!"

Then came the huge bustle to get ready for the next year at Hogwarts. Everyone was flying around the house with various items in their hand. Mrs. Weasley yelled at Fred and George for eight minutes for knocking down the door because Ginny was taking too long in the bathroom. Ron was seen with his head buried in a book called "Everything You Need to Know, Ever", walking into walls and furniture.
But somehow, they managed to get everyone squeezed into two company cars that they were taking to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Mr. Weasley, a balding man with orange hair had charmed the backs of the front seats of the cars to smile at the back seat passengers. When they got to the Platform, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley said overlong, tearful goodbyes to their children and Harry and reluctantly left. Then the students walked up the deck to the train. It puffed twice and started chugging down the track.
Harry and Ron met up with Hermione Granger, a bushy haired girl who became their friend in the first year after fighting a mountain troll. Her teeth used to be long, but she shrunk them when her teeth got cursed in the third year. They found a compartment to themselves and caught up on all they had missed.
"How have you two been? I got Ron's letter, Harry, he said you were locked up in your bedroom again."
"Yeah, he was starving in there," said Ron. "So then I had Fred and George Apparate him out, just like I told you."
Hermione looked wide-eyed at Harry. "That's against the rules! They and Harry could have been expelled, Ron! Too bad I wasn't there!"
"What? You didn't know about it?" Ron looked perplexed.
"I most certainly didn't, or I would have said something about it!" retorted Hermione.
"Odd, but it was a good idea nonetheless."
Hermione shook her head. "No, Ron. You need to think more the next time you just break out and do things like that."
"I thought long and hard about it! Didn't I, Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know."
"Thanks, Harry," said Ron. "That helped."
The train made a sharp left turn. Someone knocked on the compartment door. He peered in.
"Malfoy," they all said together.

Draco Malfoy was Harry's worst enemy. He was nasty, mean, and selfish. Harry slid open the compartment door to let Draco in. He strutted in and sat down next to Hermione. Hermione scooted away from him.

"So, Harry," Draco began snidely. "Had a good summer? Or did you get yourself locked up again."
"Why do you care?" asked Ron.
"Because, I always care about my fellow Hogwarts student's pleasure. Haven't I always?
Harry noticed that there is nothing on Earth that Draco didn't always do besides what he just said. Harry didn't bother to point this out.
"I did get myself locked up again," said Harry. "For a month. But Ron's brothers saved me again." Harry saw Malfoy flicker. Harry continued. "It's amazing how such simple people can do extraordinarily amazing things, isn't it, Malfoy."
Malfoy was very rich. "Amazing." Malfoy nodded sourly. He was noticeably put down. He filed out of the door.
"Well," said Ron. "Our pal Malfoy seemed to be cheery today. Glad he wasn't when he left." He turned to Harry. "Simple people?"
"You know what I was trying to say."
Ron nodded. "Well, at least it made Malfoy pucker up. I swear, if that Malfoy does anything this year, I'm going to pummel that idiot right in the a-"
Harry was distracted. When he looked up at Ron to get the full effect of this curse word, he noticed someone walk by- a very pretty someone with long, straight black hair. Hermione noticed.
"You miss her, don't you, Harry?"
Thankfully, the trolley witch drove her trolley by the compartment. "Anything you want to buy?"
Harry bought Ron and Hermione a very generously large lunch. As they had their lunch conversation, Harry noticed that his two friends were obviously trying to keep away from touching the tender subject of Sirius's death. Suddenly he felt a small surge of anger build up inside of him. Why couldn't his friends just talk about what they wanted to talk about? But then he remember the last time they just spoke without thinking, and how he had blown it up in their faces. Harry's feeling of guilt was broken by a voice over the loudspeaker.
"Um, students of Hogwarts, we're going to, um. have to make an, ah. unexpected pause in our journey. Do not be alarmed."
Harry looked at Ron. "What was that all about?"
Ron shrugged.
Suddenly, the train jolted to a stop. All three braced for the stop. Ron laughed.
"`Scabbers' would be going insane right now," he said, smiling about what he missed.
There was a very distant splash, and the three looked out the window. They were on a bridge, and a small lake beneath them was slightly disturbed in one area. They looked closer, and noticed that a man was flailing around in the lake.
"There's a man down there!" exclaimed Hermione. She looked closer. "It's the conductor!"
"What's he doin' down there, takin' a little dip, shouldn't he be driving the train?" said Ron obliviously.
A new voice cackled over the loudspeaker. "Hello, students of 'Hogwarts', my name is Roger McHaffenson, and I will be stealing your money today. Send it up with the trolley witch who is so cheerfully coming down the aisle, please."
"Oh my gosh!" cried Hermione. "We're being hijacked!"
"No, we're being robbed," corrected Ron. "Which is worse." He made his way to the aisle and looked both ways. "No trolley witch." He looked to the right, the front of the train. "I can't see that far."
Harry made his way to the aisle as well. All down the train students were sticking their heads out of their compartments. "Neither can I."
"Well," Hermione said. "That's because you need a little better eyesight." She scooted across the compartments and tapped on Harry's glasses with her wand. "Macrivisilo!"
Harry was quite startled by his new change of perspective. It seemed as though his eyes were little telescopes, which could be adjusted just by moving his eyes around. He spotted a ladybug's thirteen dots outside the window. When he turned dutifully toward the engine of the train, the hijacker walked out from behind the left side of the very front compartment. His brown curly hair fell in short locks to the last quarter of his forehead. He had a sickening smile on his angular face. He was dressed in a white shirt pulled over khaki suspenders, with neat shoes.
Harry blinked twice and returned his gaze to his friends. "He's a Muggle."
Hermione gasped.
"Well, students, this 'Hogwarts' is pretty accomplished, I see," the hijacker remarked over the intercom. Harry saw him sneering. "That walk- through-the-barrier thing was interesting. I happily saw a black-haired boy and his flamy friend walk straight through the wall. Imagine my surprise! But, since you people are so obviously advanced, I thought, heck, I might as well rob you."
Suddenly, a nudge on the door announced the arrival of the trolley witch. But this wasn't the witch. She had streaming, shining blonde hair and a thin, mousy face. She had a look of urgency in her icy blue eyes. It was Fleur Delacour, a quarter-veela student of Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"What are you doing-" exclaimed Ron as he noticed her familiarity.
Fleur made a small gesture of silence with her right hand as she pulled a silver coin out of her purse with her left. "Change for a sickle?"
Harry immediately drew twenty-seven bronze Knuts out of his money bag and gave them to Fleur.
"I'm going to try to stop this guy," said Fleur in a perfect English accent as she gave Harry a shiny silver sickle.
"I see you've been brushing up on your English, Fleur," said Hermione approvingly.
Fleur smiled and dashed off down the aisle. Harry watched her down the aisle. She slowly made her way to the engine, stopping at every compartment to get coins from the various students. When she reached the engine, the hijacker looked at the pitiful pile of coins in her hand and thundered into the microphone.
"48 little shiny thingies is all you miserable three-fingered banjo playing inbreds could muster? I have a feeling that I'm playing to an empty house here! Do you not realize that your train is being hijacked?"
Harry watched from the compartment. Fleur was pulling out her wand. She crept up behind her furious captor, and muttered something unheard. The hijacker obviously heard her, because he had just enough time to turn around before ropes sprang from the tip of Fleur's wand and wrapped around him.
He flailed around vainly. She flung him out of the open engine door. Not one student on the train didn't see him landing in the lake with a huge splash and Fleur recovering the conductor with the same spell, except for Neville Longbottom, who was presently looking for a small, cactus-like plant. When all was done, the train burst into tumulous applause.
Fleur bowed herself back to Harry's compartment. The three patted her on the back as she sat down next to Hermione.
"That was amazing, Fleur!" exclaimed Hermione as Fleur sat down. "Why are you here?"
"Haven't you heard?" Fleur, smiling cheek to cheek. "I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"
Only eighteen, Fleur Delacour did not look like a teacher. She looked like a student.
"That's excellent!" cried Hermione.
"You really didn't miss a beat, did you?" said Ron. "I mean, graduating, then going directly back to school again."
"Ron!" said Hermione.
"What happened to Firenze?" asked Harry.
"Long story." Fleur tossed her hair over her shoulder.
"We've got time," Ron pointed out. "The train ride lasts four hours."
"Well," Fleur started. "Professor Dumbledore has been letting Firenze live in the castle, of course, so the centaurs in the forest aren't too happy."
"Yeah," said Hermione. "We experienced that first hand."
"I figured as much. But anyway, a few weeks ago, the centaurs rallied up, and stormed the castle."
Hermione gasped.
"Exactly. Dumbledore was injured. He got a broken leg. After things settled down, he sent Firenze to Chile to live."
"Firenze couldn't have been to happy about that!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Stars are stars," said Ron nonchalantly.
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione.
Ron shrugged. Suddenly the train started to slow down. "We must be here!"
They all gazed out of the window. Harry smiled widely, both outwardly and inwardly. As the train slowed down more and more. They pulled into Hogsmeade Station.
"Ooh, I'm so excited!" whispered Fleur nervously, wringing her hands. Hermione put her hand on Fleur's shoulder. That relaxed both of their nerves a little.
In the distance, they heard a booming, familiar voice calling over and over again, "Firs' years, firs' years!" The voice belonged to Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts.
Then the train came to a sudden halt. Hagrid's voice continued.
Hermione and Ron said their goodbyes to Harry and Fleur and got up. "We've got to go round up the munchkins 'fore they fall in the lake," said Ron sarcastically.
"See ya then, guys," Harry said reluctantly.
There was an awkward minute after the two left while Fleur and Harry sat in the compartment together, alone. Neither could leave until Professor McGonagall showed up, so they sat there in a self-conscious silence as they waited.
"So, Harry," started Fleur, but she was stopped short by Professor McGonagall's shrill voice shrieking for all the new teachers to get off the train. This sparked interest in Harry. There were more than one new teachers this year.
"Well, see you around, Harry." Fleur left a small kiss on Harry's forehead before she walked out the compartment door.
Harry was shocked. Why would she kiss him? He dismissed it immediately from his mind, though. "Must be a French thing."