Disclaimer: All characters, quite obviously, belong to J.K. Rowling, apart from the few that will appear!
Chapter1
A great feeling of relief flooded through Harry as he stepped onto Platform 9 3/4. Now he was really going back to Hogwarts for his fifth year. He had spent a lot of the summer with Ron at the Weasley's house. He thought it would make life a lot easier if he bothered the Dursely's as little as possible - and it had. He had enjoyed it, even though Mrs. Weasley had spent most of the holiday just looking at him and mumbling something that sounded like 'poor boy'. It had been relatively quiet in the house; Ginny was staying at a school-friends' and Fred and George were so preoccupied with starting their joke shop, it seemed like they didn't even live there anymore.
Despite being in a place where Harry felt at home, he hadn't been able to get rid of the worry that had been on his mind all summer. Harry knew that Voldemort was back. Only no one had seen hide nor hair of him since the end of the last school year. The Ministry had sent every wizard and witch they could spare, and many they couldn't, to every conceivable place, but Voldemort obviously did not want to be found.
This worried many people more than knowing exactly where he was. If they couldn't find him, there was no way of knowing what he was planning next.
Harry must have been rather preoccupied in his thoughts as he meandered alongside the train, as Ron practically screaming at him brought him back down to earth with a bump:
'Hello! Harry! HARRY!'
'There's no need to shout - I'm right here.'
'You were miles away. I was ready to start calling for help - thought You-know-who was getting a bit of a head start on us this year. Thought you were under the Imperius curse or something.'
'No,' replied Harry, sounding a little tired and amused by the notion. 'To be honest, I don't know if You-know-who will try anything at all this year. I mean, everyone knows he's back and the school's going to be practically crawling with aurors. He wouldn't stand half a chance.'
'You don't think Mad-Eye Moody'll be back to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, do you?' Ron's eyes lit up at the prospect of more lessons like last year. Until Harry pointed out that it wasn't actually Mad-Eye teaching them.
'And besides, he's probably been re-enlisted by the Ministry. They'll want all the experienced help they can get' continued Harry.
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't get the chance. At that point a figure was hurtling down the entire length of the platform, hollering, 'Harry! Ron!' Harry couldn't even respond when Ginny threw herself at him and flung her arms around his neck.
'Nice to see you too, Ginny. Can you let go now please - I'm having trouble breathing.' Hermione strolled up behind her, carrying Crookshanks in her arms and chuckling at Harry's ruffled hair and his glasses, which now lay askew.
Harry straightened himself up as Hermione approached.
'Had a good summer?' enquired Hermione. Ginny began to coo over Pigwidgeon, who was whizzing around the cage in circles at an alarming rate and hooting shrilly. Ron bashed the cage and threw an old blanket over it in an attempt to make the little owl be quiet for a while. It failed miserably.
'It was alright,' answered Ron, exasperatedly. 'Would have been better if there weren't two Ministry members in the house. Percy's been driving everyone mad. Honestly - if it's not cauldrons it's something else just as daft. He spent an entire week writing a report on Hippogriff dung. As if there aren't more important things to be doing. And Dad's just been complaining about his overtime and the extra work he's been doing - liasing with muggle officials. He wants a break, but 'his superiors have insisted that muggle relations be upheld'. Or something like that.'
'It sounds like you just haven't escaped the chaos - or the Ministry workers, come to that,' sympathised Hermione.
'And you still haven't,' added Ginny, tugging on Harry's sleeve and pointing to the far end of the platform. The all stood up straight, straining to see what Ginny had caught a glimpse of through the crowd.
'It's Cornelius Fudge,' said Ron, sounding more than a little surprised.
'What's he doing here?' queried Ginny.
'Apparently see seeing that woman off,' observed Hermione rather sarcastically. Fudge was shaking hands with a lady dressed in lilac robes. He seemed to be saying something to her, and she was agreeing.
'Who? Who?' asked Ron impatiently. 'I can't see!' he wailed, jumping up and down. Eventually he gave up and stood on top of his trunk.
'Oh, that's who!' he said, sounding very knowledgeable. 'Who is it?'
'I don't know,' answered Ginny.
'Pass,' replied Harry.
'She must be important for Fudge to be here with her,' stated Hermione.
The lady stepped, rather tentatively, onto the Hogwarts Express. Fudge stayed for a moment, and then he caught sight of Harry and the rest of the group staring at him. Fudge waved nervously, gave a half-hearted smile, then rushed off the platform, as if he had just remembered an urgent appointment.
'That was strange,' said Ron. 'It's not like him to be within a 20 mile radius of you, Harry, and not come and say 'hi''.
'Yes. It was kind of odd…' replied Harry, thoughtfully. Any thought he had had was now dislodged from his mind by Hermione shepherding them onto the train.
'We have to get on now or all the best seats will be taken,' she urged, leading Ron by the wrist towards the door.
They spent 10 minutes wandering up and down the train as Hermione peered into each compartment and pronounced it 'too small', 'too cold' or 'too eww'.
'Too eww?' puzzled Ron.
'There's chewing gum stuck to the wall,' explained Hermione.
'Look, it really doesn't matter where we sit - the compartments are all identical anyway, ' justified Harry, 'I'm perfectly happy so long as Malfoy is a respectable distance away.'
'How far is that?' asked Ginny.
'No distance can be too far away from that evil git,' answered Ron.
Hermione finally relented to the protests of sore legs (too much walking) and dizzy heads (going round in circles) and the group flung themselves into the nearest compartment. Before long the train was moving and the city was left far behind them. Hermione seemed content - there was a distinct lack of chewing gum - and Harry was pleased he had not yet had his annual 'before-we've-even-reached-the-school' encounter with Malfoy.
