Chapter Five – Flight to London
"Come on, Damien," Mike called from the bottom of the Boys' Dormitory stairs. Mike looked at his watch once more, seeing the time change to 4:31. It was the afternoon of August 31st and they had to catch a plane at Harrisburg International, which was an hour away from the school. "Come on, Damien! We don't want to be late for the plane!" Damien came running down the stairs, holding a box in his hands.
"Okay, I'm ready," Damien said running past him and down the main dormitory stairs. Mike ran after him, feeling almost lost. As they got to the entrance doors, Mike stopped Damien for a moment.
"Wait a minute. What's the rush all of the sudden?" Mike asked.
"What are you talking about?" Damien asked him.
"I've been calling you for 20 minutes and just now when we're about to be late you come rushing down."
"I was busy upstairs…doing something," Damien said.
"Doing what?" Mike asked. Damien sighed and looked around.
"We'd better go before we miss the plane," Damien said, trying to change the subject and open the door.
"Nice try," Mike said with a fake chuckle, shutting the door. "What were you doing?" Suddenly, footsteps could be heard in the distance. Both of them turned to see Professor Altovin standing in the entrance hall.
"You know, you had better go," Sarah said. "You don't want to miss your first day of school at Hogwarts."
"She's right," Damien said, turning to Mike. Mike sighed.
"Yes, she is," Mike said, "Get in the car." Damien smiled and ran out of the entrance door. Mike turned to Sarah and raised an eyebrow. "Where did you come from?"
"Well, you could say I overheard you two talking," Sarah said. "Go on." Mike pecked Sarah on the cheek and exited the entrance. Sarah sighed and went back down the hallway. In the car, Mike drove silently. He drove down the path and onto another dirt path. This path led them out to the street and past a moldy sign "Aviar Camping Park." As they went through the streets, they headed towards the highway and towards Harrisburg International.
*****
At the airport, Mike and Damien took up his things and went to the claim check. It was just around 6:00 P.M. and darkness was starting to fall.
"Ah, I see you're on the 6:21 flight to London," the woman said. Damien looked at her nametag, which read Claire. "Now, understand that there will be one stop on your flight. You will be stopping at Philidelphia International then transferring to your direct flight to London. The whole trip should take…" She looked on her computer. "…9 hours and 54 minutes. Now may I please take your bags to be put on the plane." Mike handed Damien's trunk and bags to her and she put some sort of tag on them before she put them on a conveyor belt. He also handed her Serenity's cage, which she handled with care.
Damien looked over at a screen marked Departures then back at his ticket. All these different flights were listed. Damien looked down the list and finally found it.
"Hey, Professor Dawsey," he said. Mike came over and looked at the screen. "We're right here." He pointed at about the 8th one down. It read "US Airways 3735 to Philidelphia Gate C3". They both smiled and headed toward the C gates. In 5 minutes, they sat right in front of Gate C3. It was now around 6:12 as Damien played with the necklace on his neck.
"You're still wearing that?" Mike asked.
"I told you, it looks cool," Damien said. Mike raised an eyebrow.
"That…looks cool?" Mike said.
"Yeah," Damien said, sitting back in the little airport chairs they had. Mike rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say," Mike said. "I'm old, what do I know."
"Enough to be a professor of transfiguration." They both chuckled at that. Silence followed for the remaining minutes to wait.
"Now boarding, Gate C3 to Philadelphia," called a woman at the gate. Both of them got up and into the line that formed for the gate. When they got to the woman, they handed her their tickets. She checked them, smiled at them and gave them back their tickets. They went down the gate and onto the airplane. This was Damien's first time on an airplane so he looked at everything as he passed. They finally got to their seats and sat down.
"Now about holding us up back at Aviar…" Mike said.
"I wasn't doing anything…" Damien said immediately. Mike squinted his eyes at him. Damien sighed. "Okay, okay. So maybe I was doing something." Mike raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I was."
"What were you doing?"
"I was prakastingmyspels," Damien mumbled.
"What? A little louder please," Mike said. Damien rolled his eyes.
"I was practicing my spells," Damien whispered to him. Mike raised both eyebrows questionably.
"You did that for 20 minutes?" Mike asked.
"I wasn't sure if I was good enough for Hogwarts," Damien said. Mike opened his mouth wide.
"Are you serious?" Mike asked, a worried look on his face. "I know you're good enough for Hogwarts, Damien."
"I know," Damien said, "It's just…" Damien paused. "It's just I don't feel like I'm good enough."
"Damien, look at me," Mike said. Damien turned up to him. "You're only as good as you think you can be. Don't forget that." Damien nodded. Just as they finished, the plane started to rev up. As the plane taxied, Damien held his breath. Moments later the plane took off into the sky towards Philadelphia and Damien held on to his seat.
*****
As they stepped out of Gate D5 forty minutes later at Philidelphia International, they went over to the luggage pick-up. It was now near 7:03 PM. They went over to another desk to confirm their flight switching and stood near the nearest departure screen. Damien pointed out that their next flight, US Airways 126, didn't leave until 8:55 so they had plenty of time to do whatever they wanted before they had to get to Gate A6.
"So, what do you want to do for an hour or so?" Mike asked. Damien made a half-smile and headed straight for the food court. "I shouldn't have asked." Mike sighed and ran after him. When both of them got there, they had so many foods to choose from. Damien looked around and immediately went in the line for a Muggle cheeseburger. Mike took out some Muggle money and gave it to him in the line before sitting at a table near the restaurant.
In a few minutes, Damien came over with a tray and sat down. It had a wrapped cheeseburger, fries, and a medium soda. He immediately unwrapped his burger and dug into it, feeling almost like he hadn't eaten in days.
"It'll still be there when you take your next bite," Mike said in a moderate tone. "Nobody's gonna take it away from you." Damien rolled his eyes, his mouth full of burger and kept chewing. After a while, Damien had finished his meal with a smile on his face.
"So, what's next?" Damien asked.
"I don't have much Muggle money, Damien," Mike said. Mike looked at the clock above the restaurant. It said 7:45. "Well, we have an hour before the next flight."
"Well, " Damien said slowly, "I thought I saw an arcade on the way to the food court…" Mike rolled his eyes.
"Okay, come on." And they both got up and went towards the way they had come.
*****
Damien turned the wheel of the "Crusin' USA" game and forced his foot down on the gas pedal. After a few moments he was in 3rd place with a yellow convertible and a green truck in front of him. Damien was used to playing these games though he hadn't in a long while. He quickly turned the wheel hard and soon was in 2nd place. Mike, who was siting beside him, turned the wheel of the car he was driving, the green truck.
"I'm gonna beat you," Damien said, as they entered the home stretch.
"Just try," Mike said playfully. Damien pressed his foot down all the way on the gas pedal.
"Eat my dust," Damien said as he sped forward on the game, passing Mike's truck. Suddenly, Damien's car crashed into an oncoming car and flipped into the air. Mike's truck did the same and landed beside Damien's. The yellow convertible went on to win the race, leaving both of them in the dust. Mike chuckled lightly.
"Fun game. But that's the last one we'll be playing. Our plane's going to start boarding in 15 minutes," Mike said, getting up from the game. Damien sighed and got up also. The both of them left the arcade and followed the signs until they reached A6. They sat for a few moments before they were called onto the plane. The man that had called them checked their tickets and let them onto the plane. They sat in their seats and waited for the plane to taxi.
"Professor Dawsey," Damien said, making Mike turn to him. "Are you sure that Hogwarts is for me?" Mike sighed.
"More than ever," Mike said, and ruffled Damien's hair. As the plane took off, Damien and Mike slid into a dreamless sleep. The plane wouldn't get to London for hours, and Damien knew that he would sleep half the way.
*****
Wormtail sat in a small chamber by himself on a small cot. He fiddled with a book in his hands. The title was unreadable from this angle but he opened it and started reading as fast as he could. He turned page after page of the large book, muttering all the time.
"Thinks I'll take this…Flamorus Curse…I'll not be…Trecorus…Damn that…Gombitu Remidoria," Wormtail muttered as he turned page after page. Suddenly he seemed to find the page he had been looking for. "Yes! My savior! I'll get him…" Wormtail folded the corner of the page and picked up his quill. He drew a line under the curse and closed the book. He placed it under his small pillow and laid on the bed.
He then rolled up the left sleeve of his robes to see two symbols. The one of them was the Dark Mark, which had a greenish glow about it. And another. It was in the shape of an "S". And it was a serpent.
Harry awoke with a start. He was covered in a cold sweat and breathing rather hard. Ron woke up in the bed beside his, seemingly hearing Harry awaken.
"All right there, Harry?" Ron asked him. Harry nodded but he didn't feel right. He had just had the weirdest dream. It had something about Wormtail and the last thing he remembered was something about a serpent. Harry shook his head and rubbed his temples. Maybe it didn't mean anything. His scar didn't hurt so maybe…maybe this time it wasn't anything.
After he assured himself it was nothing, he got up and went straight to the bathroom to shower. When he had finished, there seemed to be a line outside of the bathroom door. Harry exited in a towel to let Ron in and went back to Ron's room to put on some clothes. It wasn't long before Ron had come back and started putting on his clothes. In an hour's time, pretty much everyone had showered and gotten clothed.
Harry checked for the third time that he had all of his things packed before taking his stuff downstairs and helping put the trunks in the Ford Anglia, which they recently got back from Hogwarts because it was found there. Once everyone's trunks were packed, they all packed themselves into the car. It seemed like the car was stretching out for them, but of course, Mr. Weasley wouldn't admit to putting that many spells on this car. Harry sat back in his seat, held Hedwig's cage in his hands, and waited out the ride to King's Cross.
*****
Damien shook his head vigorously, as he awoke from his long sleep. Mike, who was still asleep, flinched at his awaking. Damien looked over at Mike's watch and looked at the time. It was 8:50 AM. He thought for a moment then remembered that the plane was supposed to land at 9:15 or so. But his second-thoughts were catching up to him. Should he really go to Hogwarts? Was he Hogwarts material?
He was okay, but Hogwarts sounded like big business. Even the name seemed to make it big: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But what qualification did he have? Last year he had turned one of the students in Transfiguration into a warty toad instead of the plate in front of him. Also, he melted at least one cauldron per year. In his first year, he melted his first one in the first week. At least his teacher for Potions was forgiving and nice. He hoped Hogwarts had the same.
But what did he have to worry about. Professor Dawsey told him that he could do anything at the school. Just don't get expelled. Ha! Him expelled. Well, it could happen. But it's not likely. Damien can be extreme, but he knows just when to stop. At that moment, the plane started to shake a little. As the plane shook, Professor Dawsey stirred. His eyes fluttered open and he yawned.
"What time is it?" Mike asked.
"Nearly time we'll land in London," Damien said. Mike looked at his watch. It now said 9:11. Then the stewardess went on the intercom of the plane.
"Hello, passengers," the woman said, "Thank you for flying US Airways. We will be arriving shortly at London International. Please don't panic as we might experience some turbulence as we land. Thank you." The plane did shake a bit but it wasn't much to worry about. As the plane touched down, Damien took a deep breath and waited for the plane to stop.
When the plane came to a complete stop, Damien and Professor Dawsey got up from their seats, just like everyone else. They were near the back of the plane so they had a time to wait before they got off the plane and to the gate. This airport seemed to be a lot bigger and more active than the others they had been at. They immediately went over to the baggage claim and got Damien's things. They had to go over to Pet Claim to get Serenity before they went to near the front door. They looked around but people were moving too fast. Mike then spotted a security guard near the door.
"Sir," Mike said. "Can you please tell me how you get a cab?" The man looked at him then smiled.
"Quite, sir," said the guard, "The cabs are just around the corner. Where are you trying to get to?"
"King's Cross Train Station," Mike said.
"Ah. You don't need a cab for that," the man said. "That's not even 15 minutes away. I'll get me friend to give you a lift." He took up his walkie-talkie and talked into it. "Terry, can I get you to help me with something?" The walkie-talkie answered "Yes, sir." After a few minutes, a skinny man with blonde hair came up to them. He was in uniform.
"Yes, sir?" Terry said.
"Take these people to King's Cross," the first man said.
"Oh no, just the boy and his things," Mike said quickly.
"Yes," the first man said. "Quite."
"Right this way," Terry said.
"One moment please," Mike said and pulled Damien aside. "Damien, I know I sort of pulled you into this, but I want you to know that you know to write me whenever you want. I'm gonna miss you, you know."
"Yeah, I'll miss you, too," Damien said and gave him a hug. It only lasted for a moment though. "Well, I'll see you whenever." Damien went off and followed Terry, waving to Professor Dawsey as he left him to go someplace and Apparate back to Aviar.
When they got to the car, Damien packed in all his things and sat with Serenity on his lap as they left the airport and went down a few streets. In minutes they got to King's Cross Train Station, where almost as many people were entering and exiting as the airport.
"Have a good day," Terry said, as he drove off, leaving Damien in front of the station. Damien sat there for a moment, then looked down to a chirping Serenity in her cage.
"Don't worry, girl, You'll be out of that cage soon enough…" Damien said, and started to haul his trunk up and into the train station. "But first, let's have a look around." Damien looked around and saw some carts. He placed Serenity's cage down and lugged his trunk onto one. He piled his things and Serenity's cage on top of it. After starting to push the cart, he noticed this was a better way. He looked around for a clock and found one in between platforms 1 and 2. It was now 9:45. He had about an hour to find…he didn't know what he was supposed to be finding.
He took out his ticket and looked at the platform. It said "Platform 9 ¾". What? 9 ¾? Was there such a thing? Now he felt that he needed to find the platform, and fast. He didn't care how long he waited, as long as he was sure that this wasn't some joke. He moved along the top bridge looking at the platforms pass. Platform 5, platform 6, 7, 8…and there was 9 and 10. No 9 ¾. This was probably something like how Aviar's entrance trail couldn't be seen by Muggles, but he was pretty sure he didn't see anything different.
Maybe it was just you couldn't see it from afar. Damien pushed his cart down a ramp and towards platforms 9 and 10. He still didn't see anything. When he got closer he looked around even more and still didn't see anything. He saw an information person up ahead and went his way.
"Excuse me, sir," Damien said, "But could you direct me to…Platform 9 ¾?" The man just gave him a stern look.
"Another funny man," he said and started to walk away. "I swear there's a few of those every year. Makes me wonder about this 9 ¾ business…" He muttered more as he walked farther away. He asked a few more people who all seemed to ignore him and walk away. He walked away from platforms 9 and 10, thinking that someone would call the police on him and take him away to an asylum. All the while he wondered where this so-called Platform 9 ¾ was.
*****
"We're here," Mr. Weasley said as the Ford Anglia came to a stop. All of them filed out of the car and started taking out their things from the trunk. Pigwidgeon was fluttering around in her cage, hooting and hollering.
"Quiet down, Pig," Ron said to his owl as he exited the car. "I'm not letting you out 'till we get on the train. Now shut up!" Ron had never really liked Pig. He had always been just too giddy and too annoying. But Ron was stuck with him. Because Errol was on death row and Hermes (Percy's owl) wouldn't deliver for anyone but Percy. Ron had tried one night to send a letter with Hermes but all he did was upturn his nose and peck at Ron's hand.
Bill and Charlie picked the last trunk out of the car and closed it. Mr. Weasley waved goodbye to everyone and drove off back towards the Burrow. The bigger brothers helped lug the trunks onto carts and went along inside with them. King's Cross Train station looked as busy as ever.
"Race ya to the platform," Harry said to Ron quickly.
"Eat my dust," Ron said, racing after him. Mrs. Weasley chuckled as they sped off.
"They grow up so fast," she said. "Then they leave you behind." She then turned sternly to Fred and George. "Now, this is your last year at this school. Make it the best, but no funny business." Fred and George looked at her, shocked.
"Our own mother," Fred said. "Thinking that we'd do something funny!"
"The nerve of it all," George said. "And I thought she trusted us." They both shook their heads in fake sorrow. Mrs. Weasley didn't buy it for a minute.
"I mean it! Nothing!" she said more sternly.
"All right, Mum," Fred said. "Don't have a cow." And they all moved briskly after the speeding Harry and Ron.
