A cooling summer breeze wafted about the castle grounds, refreshing the masses of Hogwarts students who were scattered upon the platform. The smoke from the Hogwarts Express circled above their heads, signalling the soon departure towards Kings Cross Station, towards home. It had been a long term this year, having had the Tri-wizard Tournament and the even more powerful return of Voldemort. No one could have been happier to leave.
The whistle blew loudly and the students clambered on board, waving good-bye to Hagrid as they did so. With a second blow from the conductor, the train was off, chugging down the tracks, away from the school that the students called home for the greater part of the year and back towards their families for the summer.
The Hogwarts Express rolled out of sight, the smoke fading into a haze of grey mist upon the horizon. Hagrid turned and began walking back to the castle. He blinked, noticing a group of students ahead of him dressed in their Hogwarts uniforms, though their robes failed to be seen. He walked towards them, shielding his eyes from the summer sun, as his heavy footsteps echoed down the now silent platform.
"What are yeh kids still doin' here?" Hagrid asked the group, a bit alarmed.
One by one, they turned and faced him, each one smiling. They all giggled at his slight confusion of the situation, trying to explain.
"My parents wanted to move to the States this summer," the perky Gryffindor student known as Mina Tomoe announced. She pointed to the rest of the group, grinning. "They're all going to stay here with me until I convince my parents to stay!"
Hagrid's expression relaxed, toning down his voice from the professor manner they so often heard during the year, to the friendly, yet still booming voice of the Hagrid they all knew and loved.
"Well we wouldn't want ter lose yeh aroun' here, Mina!" Hagrid exclaimed.
He chuckled, his thunderous voice filling in the empty silence that remained after the train's departure. He looked around at the faces of those in the group, all familiar yet distinct in their own way: Harry, Ron, Hermione (of course they wouldn't stay without one another), Kevin, Calipsa, and Mike, it seemed, were all at Hogwarts with Mina for the summer. He motioned for the lot to join him on his stroll back to the castle. They all nodded in agreement and began walking back, Hagrid in front with the group of friends behind him.
The breeze blew calmly, rustling the summer green foliage on the surrounding trees, as the group came upon the castle's entrance hall and filed in, smiling and giggling, all excited about the summer ahead of them. Hagrid waited until everyone entered, then closed the towering oak door behind him, shutting out the school term behind and opening up the summer ahead.
I remember it as if it were yesterday, especially the breeze. It seemed as if that breeze swept all our fears and anxieties from the past year away with one gust, and carried them so far that they'd never be able to come back to the castle and haunt us again. Maybe if I took Divination as seriously as I did with my other classes, I would have been more accurate in that presumption...
