The day finally arrived! It was now the day to go back to Hogwarts. Harry laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He watched the Chudley Cannons zooming in and out of the posters. He knew that Mrs. Weasley would be coming around to all the rooms and waking everyone up. He was used to the routine. And soon enough, Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley walking up the stairs.

"Get up Fred! George, you better be awake!" Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley's voice echoing up the stairs.

Harry leaned over and shook Ron awake.

"Geroff me!" Ron said crankily.

"C'mon. Your Mum is coming around and getting everyone up." Harry spoke quietly.

"Alright. I'm up." Ron croaked.

There was suddenly a knock on the door.

"Ron. Harry. Time to wake up. Breakfast will be ready soon." Mrs. Weasley spoke softly through the door.

"We're up Mum. Don't worry." Ron grumbled back.

Harry sprang out of bed and threw on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. He threw the rest of his stuff lying out into his trunk and closed the lid. He turned and stared out the window. "What a beautiful morning it is" Harry thought. Ron got out of bed and changed into a tee-shirt and jeans. Harry and Ron stepped over the lump of black fur that was Sirius and headed down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning to you both." Hermione said as Harry and Ron entered the kitchen.

"Hello." Harry replied cheerfully.

Harry and Ron grabbed a seat next to Hermione and Ginny.

"I told you two to get up! Fred and George! I want to see you both downstairs in two minutes or else!" Mrs. Weasley yelled threateningly.

"Alright! We're up!" Fred and George bellowed together.

Harry heard footsteps moving around above the kitchen. Then there were footsteps coming down the stairs. Mrs. Weasley suddenly appeared from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hello dears. Excited about today?" Mrs. Weasley asked politely.

"Of course we are." Ron said.

"Well, that's good to hear." Mrs. Weasley added.

Fred and George jumped down three stairs and landed at the bottom of the stairs. Then they ran over and grabbed a seat next to Harry and Ron.

"Glad to see you're finally awake." Mrs. Weasley said.

Mrs. Weasley bustled over to the kitchen counter and stove. She pulled out her wand and tapped the stove three times.

"Cookiamus!" Mrs. Weasley muttered.

All the pots and pans sprang to life and the stove turned on. Mrs. Weasley grabbed a handful of eggs and started cracking them on the side of the pan and poured the yolks into the pan. The pan automatically started to fry the eggs and a spatula was scrambling the eggs around. She made pancake mix faster than Harry would ever be able to. She poured the batter into another pan and that spatula was flipping pancakes left and right. Another pan held the sausage and the toaster popped out one piece of toast after another.

After what seemed like five minutes, Mrs. Weasley had breakfast ready.

"I thought you said you were cutting back on the magic." Fred said.

"Well, in situations where you have no time, I'm going to use it." Mrs. Weasley replied back.

Fred and George sniggered under the table. They didn't believe she was cutting back at all.

After everyone finished eating, Mr. Weasley came bustling down the stairs.

"Am I late? Did they leave already?" Mr. Weasley was asking.

"Honey, you haven't missed the kids. Now maybe you should go change out of your pajamas so that you can take the children to the train station." Mrs. Weasley stated.

"Oh…yeah…right. I'll go do that right now." And Mr. Weasley ran up the stairs.

"Alright children. Hurry off and finish packing your things. Bring down everything once you have finished." Mrs. Weasley turned to them.

Everyone got up from the table and headed upstairs to finish packing their belongings. Harry was almost finished. The only thing he had to worry about was waking Sirius up, packing his Firebolt, and getting Hedwig back in her cage. Harry and Ron reached the room where they found Sirius plopped on top of Ron's bed. They walked around the room, throwing things in their trunk that they had overlooked the first time. Harry looked out the window and saw Hedwig coming right for him. She flew in through the window and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Sorry Hedwig, but you have to go in your cage now." Harry said.

Hedwig turned her head in disgrace and reluctantly went into her cage. Harry shut the door and placed the cage and his Firebolt on top of his trunk. He then grabbed the side of the trunk and started to drag it down the stairs. Harry could hear the thump thump of the other trunks being dragged downstairs. When Harry finally reached the bottom, Ginny and Hermione were down there with all of their things. Then came Ron, and finally, Fred and George.

"You all have your things packed and ready to go?" Mrs. Weasley asked politely.

"Yes." They all said together.

"Honey! I'm here! I'm ready to take the kids!" Mr. Weasley came stumbling down the stairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley helped pack the trunks into two rental cars from the Ministry. Harry turned and saw Sirius pouncing out of the front door and jumped into the back seat of one of the cars. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got into the same car. Fred, George, and Ginny went into the other one. Mr. Weasley drove the car that Harry was in and Mrs. Weasley drove the other.

After about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the train station. They pulled the cars over at the side and unloaded the trunk. Sirius hopped out of the car and stood next to Harry. Mr. Weasley ran inside the station and came back with six trolley carts. They each put their trunks onto the carts and wheeled them into the station. They walked past several crowds of people, each staring at Harry and wondering why he had an owl with him. They walked past the platforms and watched as people boarded their trains.

"There it is!" Ron yelled, "Platform Nine and Platform Ten."

"Okay. Ron and Harry, you're up first." Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry and Ron pushed their carts up to the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten and paused. Sirius jumped onto the little space that was left on the cart so that he didn't have to run anymore.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"How many times have we done this?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Oh, only about four times." Harry chuckled.

Harry and Ron pushed their carts at a jog and headed right towards the barrier. Three feet…two feet…one foot…then they were through. The passed through the barrier and was now standing on Platform Nine and Three- Quarters.

Harry looked around and saw many first years standing near their parents. Then he saw the scarlet train. The Hogwarts Express was ready to go. Ginny and Hermione appeared next, followed by Fred and George.

"This way." Hermione said to Harry and Ron.

Ginny walked off with a group of her friends. Fred and George caught up with their friend, Lee Jordan. Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed for a compartment near the end of the train. The loaded their trunks and sat in their seat. By this time, Harry's stomach started to growl. He couldn't wait until the witch came around with the food.

After five minutes, the whistle blew and the train sped off towards the rolling green hills.

"So, who do you think the new Dark Arts teacher will be?" Ron asked.

"I dunno." Harry said.

"It could be anyone." Hermione replied.

"I just hope Hagrid gets some good animals for lessons this year." Ron said.

"Yeah, something new for Malfoy to complain to his Dad about." Harry pointed out.

"I'm not going to take any crap from him this year." Ron said through gritted teeth.

"You say that every year, but honestly Ron, you aren't going to do anything. You know better than that. I know you won't sink down to his level." Hermione said.

I wonder when the witch will be coming. I do hope she comes soon. I'm bloody hungry." Ron exclaimed.

Just then, the compartment door slid open and Malfoy walked in, followed by his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well look at what we got here boys" Malfoy said with a grin broadening on his face, "Why yes, I do believe we have a bunch of wasted talent sitting right in front of us."

"Shut-up Malfoy. I'm warning you." Ron spoke angrily.

"Or what? What are you gonna do about it? Are you going to get your Muggle-loving father up here?" Malfoy laughed.

"At least he doesn't crawl back on his hands and knees to his "Lord" that he abandoned" Harry said.

"You watch it Potter. You can be next you know." Malfoy was starting to get angry.

"Is that a threat?" Ron asked.

"However you take it Weasley. I'd watch your back if I were you Potter. You'd never know what could be lurking around the corners." Malfoy turned and walked out, Crabbe and Goyle following behind.

"I don't know how much more I can take of him." Ron was calming down.

"We should have fed him to the Blast-Ended Skrewts last year. They would have enjoyed eating him." Harry said.

"Nothing would want to eat something that rotten." Hermione chimed in, "Anyway, we should probably start getting changed."

"But Hermione, it hasn't even been an hour yet." Harry said.

"Yeah, but you'd better do it now before it becomes too late." Hermione added.

"Yeah. Sure Hermione." Ron said sarcastically.

"Well fine. If you don't want to then you don't have to. But I don't want to hear you two whining about how you should have gotten changed earlier when we arrive." Hermione turned and walked out of the compartment.

"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked.

"I dunno. Remember, this is Hermione. She always does stuff early." Harry said.

"Yeah. You're right." Ron laid back in the seat.

Harry and Ron sat there and stared out the window. They were excited and could not wait until they reached Hogwarts. Hermione had been gone for a couple of minutes, but when she returned, she was fully dressed in her Hogwarts clothes, her hat in her hand. She walked over and sat back down next to Harry.

After an hour, the plump witch came strolling through the door and came down towards their compartment.

"Good afternoon." She spoke softly, "Would you like anything from my cart?"

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his bag full of money.

"I would like three of everything." Harry said and handed the witch a handful of sickles.

The witch took the money, counted it out, and handed Harry all the food in a small bag. She nodded and strolled off towards the other compartments.

"Thanks Harry. You saved me from Mum's sandwiches. She made one for each of us." Ron said.

"Yes, thank you very much Harry. That was very sweet of you." Hermione added.

Harry reached into the bag, divided all the food evenly, and gave them to Ron, Hermione, and himself. They all dove into the food.

"Oh boy! This is all so good!" Ron howled.

"I know. I've been waiting for a while" Harry said.

They ate the rest of their food in peace and sat anxiously, waiting to see the beautiful view of the castle.