Harry Potter and the Eye of
Darkness
Chapter
6
Happenings
on the Hogwarts Express
Harry woke up the next morning to Mrs. Weasley gently shaking him. "Come on dear, we don't want to miss the Hogwarts train do we?"
Harry
groaned, swung his legs over his bed, rubbed his eyes, and wearily put on his
glasses.
He dressed and carried his trunk,
Hedwig, and all his belongings down. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George
were already seated at the breakfast table.
"Morning,"
yawned Harry, sitting down and helping himself to some toast.
"Sleep
well, Harry?" asked Fred cheerfully. He and George both looked happy. Too
happy, in fact.
Ron, who had absentmindedly shaken
salt onto his juice in sleepiness, looked at both of them.
"Someone's
in a good mood," he said. Fred and George exchanged wicked grins. "We just have
a feeling that we're going to have an er- interesting ride to Hogwarts," said
George.
Mrs. Weasley gave them a suspicious
glance, but she was too busy worrying about all of them.
" I
do hope they're increasing the security at Hogwarts this year," she said. "And
dears- don't go looking for trouble. You have quite a knack for always getting
in the middle of a huge adventure. (She addressed Harry, Ron, and Hermione)
Also, be sure to do well on your OWLs."
"And
you two, please try to take this year seriously. It's your last year, and you
have your NEWTs.
"Yes,
mother," chorused Fred and George, both still grinning.
"Honey,
they'll be all right," said Mr. Weasley. "I'd better get to the Ministry. A
witch in a Muggle village saw some green fireworks far away, and, thinking it
was the Dark Mark, she screamed and performed all sorts of spells until every
Muggle was outside her house." He sighed, told them goodbye and take care, then Disapparated.
They made sure they had everything
with them, then Mrs. Weasley took them in a Muggle Taxi to King's Cross
station. They reached there and paid the driver, who seemed relieved to be rid
of seven people, five of them with flaming red hair, carrying two owls and an
orange cat with them.
The Hogwarts Express was at Platform
Nine and Three Quarters, which no one passing by could see, but if you passed
the solid barrier between platforms nine and ten, you would be there.
Ron and Harry went first. They leaned
casually against the barrier, pretending to talk, and suddenly, they slid in,
finding themselves beside the scarlet steam engine.
Fred and George followed, then Mrs.
Weasley and Ginny. There were wizards and witches everywhere, and children were
sobbing. Parents were calling out precautions everywhere.
"Send
an owl everyday, so I'll know you're alive!"
"Come
back for the holidays as soon as you can!"
"Don't
leave your Common rooms!"
Mrs. Weasley was doing her fair share,
of course. When they had promised her a million times that they would be
careful, she hugged them each goodbye and Disapparated.
They went inside and took their usual
compartment in the back. Then the train started off.
Harry
noticed that the chatter wasn't as happy, loud, and excited as usual. Everyone
seemed a little gloomy. Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, and
Lee Jordan all stopped by to say hello, but they all seemed a little frightened
and somber, especially Neville.
Soon, Fred and George excitedly got up
and said they had something to do. Harry remembered their mention of an
"interesting" ride, and he wondered whether this had to do with the thousand
galleons and the joke shop.
But he was interrupted from his
thoughts as the compartment door flew open, and Harry saw his least favorite
people standing there. It was Malfoy, flanked by his usual dumb sidekicks,
Crabbe and Goyle. Harry cringed. He'd always hated them, but he'd hated them
even more ever since he'd seen each of their fathers among the rest of the
Death Eaters.
"Well,
well," said Malfoy softly. "Wonderful summer, wasn't it, Potter? Oh yeah,
Mudblood and you Weasel Muggle Lovers, you'd better- beware, hadn't you?"
Ron looked furious, but Harry just said
calmly, "Better watch your language, Malfoy. I'm sure you remember what
happened to you and your dear- er- friends last time you annoyed us."
Harry
was referring to the time they had each put a different hex on the three,
resulting in them falling to the ground, badly affected.
Malfoy
glared at him.
"OR,"
continued Harry loudly. " I'm sure the Minister would love to know that his
DEAR Lucius Malfoy is perhaps one of Voldemort's most trusted supporters."
This time, however, Malfoy smiled.
"Speaking of which," he said, " I don't think you were too happy when you found
out about the… thing that the Dark Lord has in store for you."
"Thing?"
repeated Harry blankly.
"Oh!
You mean you don't know!" Malfoy clasped his hand on his mouth, pretending to
be shocked. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. "Dear me, then I almost ruined the plan
for dear father. Tsk, tsk. But beware, Potter, for it is evil beyond what you
have ever imagined."
Harry stared at him then keeping his
cool, he said, " Right. Now that you've tried terrifying us, and failed of
course, would you mind leaving? I'm starting to get a bad taste in my mouth."
Malfoy
laughed. "Remember, Potter. Remember."
And
with that he left, the enormous Crabbe and Goyle behind him.
"What
do you think he meant by it?" asked Hermione fearfully.
"Oh,
you mean the evil thing? Nothing, he's probably just scaring me," said Harry,
hoping he sounded braver than he felt. For no matter what he said, Harry
couldn't hide the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't help
remembering his dream.
Suddenly, cheers and clapping erupted
across the whole train. People were shouting excitedly. The door flew open
again and Fred, George, and Lee called to the four of them: "Come on! You'll
miss all the fun!"
Curiously,
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stepped out of the compartment and followed the
others, who each pointed his wand to his mouth and muttered, "Sonorus!"
Everyone!
Can you hear me?!" boomed Fred's magically magnified voice across the train.
There were shouts in reply.
"Welcome
to the opening of Weasleys' ……………….Wizard……..Wheezes!"
Cheers filled the train again. Harry
grinned, Hermione looked disapproving, Ron looked confused and happy.
" I
thought they lost all their life savings," he muttered. Ron, of course, didn't
know that Harry had given them his prize money.
George
was now speaking. "Sponsored by Gryffindor House, and er- The Triwizard
Tournament!" he shouted, winking at Harry. Ron looked even more confused, but
he let it go.
"We
know how depressed all of you are, and we decided to lighten the mood a bit!
You will all receive flyers, indicating our joke shop's to be location in
Hogesmade, right next to Zonkos! And instead of the usually food sold in the
train, today you will all receive FREE samples of our wonderful creations,
including Tongue Tied Toffees, and your favorite, Canary Creams!"
"So-
enjoy!"
People screamed as suddenly hundreds
of papers and brightly colored sweets fell on top of them. "Wow!" exclaimed
Ron. "This is great, you guys. But is mom gonna be mad or what!"
The
ride was much more fun after that. The mood lightened considerably, and all
anyone talked about was Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Soon, the train reached Hogwarts. They
hurried down with all their belongings and found a carriage to take them to the
enormous castle, but not after waving cheerfully to Hagrid, who was taking the
first years on their traditional journey to the castle across the lake.
Fortunately for them, the weather was calm and beautiful and much better than
this time last year.
The carriages came to a halt in front
of the castle, and Harry gazed up happily at the first place he'd ever felt at
home in. Then they walked in with the other students through the double doors
and into the Entrance Hall.
Finally!
Okay, thanks to the reviewers, you guys are the best! Just a few more and I
think I'll do a thank you section or something.