Gemma grabbed her friends' arms and pulled them away from the group. They
huddled together, speaking in low voices.
'Do you think it's really him?' Anna asked, periodically glancing over at the black haired boy who was staring at them with an expression of confusion on his face.
'Well...' said Heather, a small grin appearing on her face, 'If he is Harry, then the others must be Ron Weasley and,' she paused, 'Draco Malfoy.' She said the last two words in a dreamy voice, her eyes glazing over.
Gemma rolled her eyes. 'Heather, this is not the time,' she said.
'So what are we going to do,' asked Anna, sounding slightly concerned and continuing to glance over at the confused group of young wizards.
'I don't know!' Gemma exclaimed, slightly louder than she'd meant to. 'It's not every day that I meet someone I thought only existed inside my head!'
'Looks pretty 3D for someone who lives between the pages of a book,' agreed Heather, still gazing at the blonde boy. Anna kicked her.
This seemed to bring Heather back down to earth. 'Well, we have to do something,' she said defiantly.
'Why us?' asked Anna.
'Because we're probably the biggest Harry Potter fans for miles. We know everything about them and we might be able to help!' exclaimed Heather, getting quite excited. 'Let's go and talk to them!'
They began to run over to the boys, who had now been joined by another, slightly older boy in bright red robes, and a tall man with greasy black hair wearing robes the color of charcoal.
'It's Snape!' hissed Gemma. 'This could make things difficult.'
The others looked at her in confusion. 'He doesn't exactly think much of muggles, does he?' she explained. 'You saw how Draco was when we tried to help him up.'
'Let me deal with this,' said Heather, marching forward before anyone could stop her. The others scurried after her, looking apprehensive.
'Excuse me,' Heather said to the man in the black robes, 'but are you Professor Severus Snape?'
'Yes, what concern of yours is that, muggle?' he snapped at her. He was about to turn away when he stopped and stared at her.
'How do you know...' he began, then tailed off and walked away across the platform towards Draco.
'Rude,' muttered Gemma, but Anna had started giggling.
'Look at Ron,' she whispered, pointing towards the red haired boy. He had been standing in front of a nearby ticket machine pushing buttons and trying to understand what it was for, when a stream of blank tickets had shot out of the machine and were now littering the platform. He had gone one shade of red darker than his hair.
The girls walked towards him. Harry had joined him now, and was trying to stop the loud beeping noise coming from the machine.
'Excuse me,' said Anna. The boys looked up. 'How... how did you get here?'
'Ask that git,' said Ron, pointing at Malfoy. 'We were at a dueling club at school, and he was dueling with me. He tried to shoot a spell at me but something went wrong and it hit loads of us.'
'He stressed the wrong part of the spell,' came a female voice from behind a nearby pillar. A girl with bushy brown hair walked around it and stared at them.
'That can only be Hermione,' whispered Gemma to the others. Hermione clearly heard this, as she looked at Gemma and smiled. She went on with her explanation.
'He should have said RictuSEMpra, but instead he said RicTUsemPRA. The spell bounced off Ron and hit me and Harry, and Snape, and must have rebounded back onto him. Professor Flitwick warned us about this sort of thing.'
'Oliver Wood's here too,' said Harry, pointed at the boy in scarlet robes.
It was Gemma's turn to take on a dreamy expression. She stared over at Oliver Wood, a grin spreading across her face. Anna shook her head in despair of her friends.
Hermione, it seemed, had had enough of the ticket machine, which was now flashing lights and still beeping loudly. She pulled her wand out of her robes and muttered, 'Reparo.' Nothing happened. Harry and Ron tried as well, but no avail.
Hermione looked nervous. 'I don't think our magic's working...' she said, her expression becoming increasingly worried.
Professor Snape walked over. 'What's going on?' he asked, staring at the offending machine. 'And why are you doing magic in front of muggles? Do you have no respect for magical secrecy? All the muggles will know about the wizarding world if you carry on like this Miss Granger. 10 points from Gry...'
'Please sir,' said Hermione quickly, 'Our magic's not working - I think something went wrong with it when we were hit by the spell...'
The three girls turned away. 'Well, there's only one thing we can do,' said Heather, looking at the group where, it seemed, Hermione and Snape were about to come to blows. 'They can't get back, and we can't leave them stranded in the muggle world. They'll never survive! They've got no money, no magic and no way of getting back.'
'Are you saying...' began Anna, a glint in her eye.'
'We're going to have to take them home with us!' said Heather excitedly. We can look after them and hide them somewhere safe until Dumbledore or someone comes to rescue them.'
'But how can we hide them?' asked Gemma. 'There's loads of them!'
'We'll have to split them up, two each. I'll take Draco and Snape - we can't really have them staying with any of the others or there'll be chaos. Anna, you take Harry and Ron and Gemma gets Hermione and Wood.'
They agreed on this plan and walked over to tell the group what was happening. Heather called everyone over and they stood in a small huddle, Draco and Snape slightly further away from the rest.
'Right, what's going to happen is...' began Heather, but she didn't get any further. A station official, no doubt attracted by the ticket machine which appeared to have run out of blank tickets to throw everywhere, was running alone the platform towards them.
'No time to explain!' shouted Heather as she spotted their train and began running towards it. 'Follow me quickly!' The group began to run towards the train. Draco and Snape seemed reluctant, but followed when they spotted the angry official just a few feet away.
Once they were safely on the train, the girls sat down, catching their breath. They stared over at the odd-looking group on the other side of the aisle. In one row of seats sat Draco and Snape, faces low, looking as if they were plotting murder. Clustered around a table behind them were Harry, Ron, Hermione and Wood. Harry and Wood were involved in a heated conversation about Quidditch. Hermione was staring into space (no doubt trying to remember some complicated spell), and Ron had caught his robe sleeve in the window.
Anna turned back to Heather and Gemma. 'I really hope this plan works Heather,' she said skeptically.
'Do you think it's really him?' Anna asked, periodically glancing over at the black haired boy who was staring at them with an expression of confusion on his face.
'Well...' said Heather, a small grin appearing on her face, 'If he is Harry, then the others must be Ron Weasley and,' she paused, 'Draco Malfoy.' She said the last two words in a dreamy voice, her eyes glazing over.
Gemma rolled her eyes. 'Heather, this is not the time,' she said.
'So what are we going to do,' asked Anna, sounding slightly concerned and continuing to glance over at the confused group of young wizards.
'I don't know!' Gemma exclaimed, slightly louder than she'd meant to. 'It's not every day that I meet someone I thought only existed inside my head!'
'Looks pretty 3D for someone who lives between the pages of a book,' agreed Heather, still gazing at the blonde boy. Anna kicked her.
This seemed to bring Heather back down to earth. 'Well, we have to do something,' she said defiantly.
'Why us?' asked Anna.
'Because we're probably the biggest Harry Potter fans for miles. We know everything about them and we might be able to help!' exclaimed Heather, getting quite excited. 'Let's go and talk to them!'
They began to run over to the boys, who had now been joined by another, slightly older boy in bright red robes, and a tall man with greasy black hair wearing robes the color of charcoal.
'It's Snape!' hissed Gemma. 'This could make things difficult.'
The others looked at her in confusion. 'He doesn't exactly think much of muggles, does he?' she explained. 'You saw how Draco was when we tried to help him up.'
'Let me deal with this,' said Heather, marching forward before anyone could stop her. The others scurried after her, looking apprehensive.
'Excuse me,' Heather said to the man in the black robes, 'but are you Professor Severus Snape?'
'Yes, what concern of yours is that, muggle?' he snapped at her. He was about to turn away when he stopped and stared at her.
'How do you know...' he began, then tailed off and walked away across the platform towards Draco.
'Rude,' muttered Gemma, but Anna had started giggling.
'Look at Ron,' she whispered, pointing towards the red haired boy. He had been standing in front of a nearby ticket machine pushing buttons and trying to understand what it was for, when a stream of blank tickets had shot out of the machine and were now littering the platform. He had gone one shade of red darker than his hair.
The girls walked towards him. Harry had joined him now, and was trying to stop the loud beeping noise coming from the machine.
'Excuse me,' said Anna. The boys looked up. 'How... how did you get here?'
'Ask that git,' said Ron, pointing at Malfoy. 'We were at a dueling club at school, and he was dueling with me. He tried to shoot a spell at me but something went wrong and it hit loads of us.'
'He stressed the wrong part of the spell,' came a female voice from behind a nearby pillar. A girl with bushy brown hair walked around it and stared at them.
'That can only be Hermione,' whispered Gemma to the others. Hermione clearly heard this, as she looked at Gemma and smiled. She went on with her explanation.
'He should have said RictuSEMpra, but instead he said RicTUsemPRA. The spell bounced off Ron and hit me and Harry, and Snape, and must have rebounded back onto him. Professor Flitwick warned us about this sort of thing.'
'Oliver Wood's here too,' said Harry, pointed at the boy in scarlet robes.
It was Gemma's turn to take on a dreamy expression. She stared over at Oliver Wood, a grin spreading across her face. Anna shook her head in despair of her friends.
Hermione, it seemed, had had enough of the ticket machine, which was now flashing lights and still beeping loudly. She pulled her wand out of her robes and muttered, 'Reparo.' Nothing happened. Harry and Ron tried as well, but no avail.
Hermione looked nervous. 'I don't think our magic's working...' she said, her expression becoming increasingly worried.
Professor Snape walked over. 'What's going on?' he asked, staring at the offending machine. 'And why are you doing magic in front of muggles? Do you have no respect for magical secrecy? All the muggles will know about the wizarding world if you carry on like this Miss Granger. 10 points from Gry...'
'Please sir,' said Hermione quickly, 'Our magic's not working - I think something went wrong with it when we were hit by the spell...'
The three girls turned away. 'Well, there's only one thing we can do,' said Heather, looking at the group where, it seemed, Hermione and Snape were about to come to blows. 'They can't get back, and we can't leave them stranded in the muggle world. They'll never survive! They've got no money, no magic and no way of getting back.'
'Are you saying...' began Anna, a glint in her eye.'
'We're going to have to take them home with us!' said Heather excitedly. We can look after them and hide them somewhere safe until Dumbledore or someone comes to rescue them.'
'But how can we hide them?' asked Gemma. 'There's loads of them!'
'We'll have to split them up, two each. I'll take Draco and Snape - we can't really have them staying with any of the others or there'll be chaos. Anna, you take Harry and Ron and Gemma gets Hermione and Wood.'
They agreed on this plan and walked over to tell the group what was happening. Heather called everyone over and they stood in a small huddle, Draco and Snape slightly further away from the rest.
'Right, what's going to happen is...' began Heather, but she didn't get any further. A station official, no doubt attracted by the ticket machine which appeared to have run out of blank tickets to throw everywhere, was running alone the platform towards them.
'No time to explain!' shouted Heather as she spotted their train and began running towards it. 'Follow me quickly!' The group began to run towards the train. Draco and Snape seemed reluctant, but followed when they spotted the angry official just a few feet away.
Once they were safely on the train, the girls sat down, catching their breath. They stared over at the odd-looking group on the other side of the aisle. In one row of seats sat Draco and Snape, faces low, looking as if they were plotting murder. Clustered around a table behind them were Harry, Ron, Hermione and Wood. Harry and Wood were involved in a heated conversation about Quidditch. Hermione was staring into space (no doubt trying to remember some complicated spell), and Ron had caught his robe sleeve in the window.
Anna turned back to Heather and Gemma. 'I really hope this plan works Heather,' she said skeptically.