Chapter 3: Murder on the Hogwarts Express

Chapter 3: Murder on the Hogwarts Express

"Are you sure you don't need a ride back?" Aunt Petunia asked, "We could get ice cream after."

"No, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find a way back."

"Is there anything I can do for you while you're gone, Harry?" Dudley smiled.

"Just stay out of my room, Dudley."

"Sure thing!"

Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron smiling. It was empty except for the innkeeper, Tom. He was behind the counter, searching for something

"Hey, Tom."

Tom jumped. "Oh, Mr. Potter! You frightened me."

Harry glanced around. "Where is everyone?"

"Business has been slow since…well, the ministry denies it, but you can't argue with facts. The Dark Mark has been appearing everywhere, and so has death," he said, his voice sorrowful.

Harry nodded, understanding. He went out back, counting up and tapping the right brick. When the archway appeared, he hesitated a moment. Something didn't seem right. He started walking down the alley, looking at the different shops. What didn't feel right? His footsteps echoed slightly. He suddenly realized what was bothering him.

'There's no one here,' he thought to himself.

Suddenly, two figures emerged from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, one of them holding an orange fluff.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, waving with her hand that was not holding Crookshanks, then looking suddenly perplexed, "Harry?"

"Uh…yeah?" Harry asked, walking up to them.

"Holy cow!" Ron exclaimed, "Who are you and what did you do with the tiny string bean we call Harry?"

It was Harry's turn to be perplexed. "Huh?"

"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately, Harry?"

"Yeah…"

"And you didn't notice?" Hermione asked.

"Notice what?"

"Here," said Ron, pulling him closer toward him.

Harry was confused a moment, then finally saw it. For the first time in his life, he was eye-to-eye with his best friend. Not eye-to-chin or eye-to-nose, but eye-to-eye.

"You've shrunk!"

Ron slapped his forehead. "Er, close but not quite."

Hermione laughed, "Yep, it's still our Harry."

"Where is everybody?" Harry asked.

"Well, Fred and George couldn't come. They rented a place in Hogsmeade and are setting up a joke shop. Mum's not very happy, but they don't care. And…well, naturally Bill and Charlie couldn't come and Mum and Dad didn't want to interfere, so…"

There was a pause, which Ron broke happily by saying, "Did I tell you Fred and George bought me new dress robes? At first I thought they were going to play a joke on me, like the thing would turn my skin purple, but they took me to pick it out. I wanted some with the Chudley Cannons colors, but they said they weren't going to waste their money on that. I probably would have regretted it anyways."

"So what color did you get?" Harry asked.

"Kind of a dark green with gold fastenings."

"Green?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Well, it goes best with my hair."

Harry and Hermione snorted.

"What?"

"You were going to buy orange, but then went for green because it goes with your hair?" Hermione laughed, "Who is this boy, Harry?"

"Hey, guys!" called a voice before Ron could answer.

They all turned around to see Azar walking out of Gringotts. "What are you doing here?" she yelled, rushing up to them.

"Just enjoying our last few days of freedom."

Azar beamed at all of them and then did a double take of Harry.

"Whoa! Is this the same boy I met last year?"

Harry put his hands on his hips. "Have I really grown that much?"

"I'll say!" Azar exclaimed, "And in more ways than one. Did you work out over the summer or something, because you're looking beefy, Harry! Hey, nice cat, Herm."

Hermione grimaced slightly at Azar's nickname for her, but quickly got over it. "His name's Crookshanks. Want to hold him?"

Azar took the orange cat up in her arms. "Ha! I love his face! Did you just get him this summer?"

"No, I just didn't bring him to Hogwarts last year. My mum had broken her leg and wanted a bit of company."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You never told us your mum broke her leg."

"You never asked."

"Why is the alley so empty?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

Ron looked the most uncomfortable. "Well, it seems Fudge is the only one who still refuses to believe that You-Know-Who has returned. Dad says it's just like the dark days were."

They quickly turned to brighter subjects and spent the rest of the day pretty happy. It was a bit unnerving, though, to be practically the only ones in the whole alley. Harry took the Knight Bus back home and found that Ernie's driving skills had, in fact, worsened. Of course, it was probably due in part that he kept turning around in his seat and smiling at Harry. Stan still hadn't shaken the habit of calling Harry 'Neville'.

He collapsed on his bed as soon as he reached his room and was drifting into sleep when he felt a nibble on his ear.

"Hey, Hedwig," he muttered, petting her out of habit, "Glad to see you, too. Now go to bed."

But Hedwig persisted until Harry turned over, looking at her with an annoyed expression. She simply held out her leg, on which was tied a note. Harry untied it, half asleep, and Hedwig fluttered to her cage. He turned on a lamp and opened it. It read:

A WORLD OF CHANGE AWAITS THE BOY WHO LIVED. OF LIFE, LOVE, HATE, AND DEATH, ALL SHALL BE MET. THE FLIGHT OF FEAR, THEN HARRY POTTER SHALL BE NO MORE. THE BEING OF TWO AND FOUR LEGS SHALL BE FREED. UNTIL THE SPECIAL BECOMES THE AVERAGE, AND THEN CONVERTS ONCE MORE, SORROW LIES IN LEARNING. AN AQUAINTANCE TO BE TESTED, A FRIEND TO BE MADE. THE END LIES IN NOUGHT BUT SHADOWS. KNOW YOUR FRIENDS, AND ALL GOES WELL.

Harry sat up, thinking quickly. He snatched a quill and scrap of parchment, hastily scribbling.

Who are you? Why send me these notes, but no advice? Are they threats or warnings? Please, I must know.

-Harry

He coaxed Hedwig back out of her cage and tied the note to her leg.

"Take this to the person who sent that note, Hedwig," he pleaded.

She hooted importantly and then flew out the window. Harry sat back on his bed, looking at the note.

"Not another year like that," Harry muttered, "Why can't I just be normal?"

****

"Have a good year, Harry dear."

"I will, Aunt Petunia."

"Send me an owl! I wanna hear all about it!"

"DUDLEY!" Uncle Vernon roared indignantly, "Do any such thing, boy, and…"

He was unable to think of any threat, but his purple face was enough to deter Harry from any thought of sending an owl. He walked into platform 9 and ¾ with an air of apprehension. He had had too many life threatening experiences to truly enjoy the prospects of the new school year.

"Harry!" he heard a joyful voice behind him call and then a rough slap landed on his back.

"Hey, Azar," he smiled, rubbing the area she had hit.

"Me, Herm, and Ron have a compartment already. I'll help you with your trunk."

Hermione and Ron greeted Harry cheerfully when he entered. Azar quickly challenged Ron to a wizards' chess match.

"Hey, Hermione, I've been wondering," Harry asked, "What exactly does Sickeningly Sweet Solution do?"

"Well, from all I researched-"

"Which must have been the whole library."

Hermione elbowed Ron playfully, then continued. "Well, you ever hear that there's a little bit of good in everyone? The solution simply takes that part and increases it until it eclipses the rest of a person's personality. So they simply act like they would if they were nothing but nice."

"Someone should feed a bit of that to You-Know-Who…" Ron muttered.

"Wouldn't work," Azar said, "He's probably got a Death Eater to taste his food before he eats it. I'm sure plenty of people have tried to poison him."

"Speaking of useless little Death Eaters, did any of you guys see Draco?" Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head, frowning. "Don't call him that."

"No, haven't seen him," Harry quickly interjected, "Why?"

"Just wondering what happened to him, that's all."

The train was soon off and Harry bought enough sweets to last everyone the trip, and then some. Katie Bell came into the compartment once, smiling brightly.

"How's my favorite Seeker?" she asked, "Or should I say captain?"

Harry gaped. "Captain?! But McGonagall hasn't chosen the captain yet, and you've been on the team the longest."

She laughed. "C'mon, Harry! I don't have the killer instinct needed for captain. You're a shoo-in. Hey, have you guys met my little brother yet? It's his first year."

She popped her head out of the compartment calling, "Yo, James! Get over here!"

Harry stared a minute. He had never heard the name James in reference to anyone but his father. It gave him a strange feeling. A boy with sandy hair and brown eyes soon appeared next to Katie.

"Guys, this is James Bell. James, this is Ron Weasley, chess player extraordinaire, Harry Potter, our wonderful Seeker and soon to be captain, Hermione Granger, and Azar Zundel, the two smartest girls in school."

James reached out, shaking everyone's hand. His eyes flitted for a moment to Harry's forehead.

"Well, we'll be on our way," said Katie, "Hope to see you two at quidditch tryouts."

No sooner had she disappeared, than Dean Thomas came in her place.

"Hey, guys!" he said, bringing with him a small girl, "I'm going around introducing my little sister to the Gryffindor crowd. She's gonna make it in, I'm positive. There's no way she'd make it in the other houses. And besides, she needs me and the Sorting Hat wouldn't be mean enough to separate us. Oh…yeah. This is Sarah."

Sarah smiled shyly as the three introduced themselves.

"Well, on to the next compartment," Dean grinned, "See you guys at the Sorting."

Hour after hour passed in little more than a blur. Neville, seeming too soon, popped in to inform them that they train was nearing the station. They had just put on their robes when a scream came from the corridors. A few seconds later, the train came to a screeching halt. All of them rushed out into the corridor. A large group was blocking off one portion of the hall.

"What happened?" Azar asked urgently.

A scared Hufflepuff answered her, "Someone's been murdered!"

~*~*~

A/N: Guess I'm back to my old habits. ^-^ Okay chapter length, though.

And already I'm going to do a thank you list! So:

Allison: *grins* Thanks! I just hope I didn't give away too much in it. ^-^

Jeanne: Ah, just what I wanted, to get people interested. Thanks!

Abbey: *sigh* What I wouldn't give to slip her some of that stuff…

Lady Grizabella: Hm. I'm glad people like the solution, 'cause it may come up a bit more. Thanks!

Herm: And here's more!

Jona: Yes, you better get yourself writing!

Jedi Cosmos: Yup, I wrote more. ^-^

Buddy: I won't keep you hangin'…too long. ^-^ Thanks

Well, until next time, be excellent to each other!

-Ady