Harry Potter and the Curse of the Gypsy
Authors Note: Hello Everybody! Thank you for reading! This story is progressing nicely, and I hope to have it done by the end of May. I don't know how many chapters it will be, but the chapters are getting longer, since I will now be getting more time at my computer. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the books. I own only the plot and the original character Cory Johnson. Hmmmm, finished taking notes? All right, let's begin, shall we?
Chapter Five
Harry passed the rest of the time at The Burrow quite peacefully. The events of his birthday were clear in his mind and, except for the odd confrontation with Cory Johnson and his dream, which he had yet to tell anybody about, he considered it one of the best days of his life.
Before he knew it two weeks had already passed, and one morning at breakfast Harry and Ron received their school letters. "Look, in Defense against the Dark Arts we have to get that book Mrs. Figg got you for your birthday. Reckon she must have known about it." Ron muttered.
"What about Hagrid's class?" Harry said suspiciously. "He's assigned us a new book, 'The Secrets of Controlling Dangerous Magical Creatures'. That just sounds dangerous." Harry muttered. "Do you think that this book bites?"
"I hope not." Ron muttered. "My fingers got a bit soar when I was trying to look up a bit on that Gypsy Snake we saw at the Festival. I tried to make it calm down, but apparently it doesn't like to get stoked." Harry grinned. His book was actually quite tame.
"I guess not." He finally said. Yawning, he glanced up as Mrs. Weasley entered the room.
"Oh, you have those already, dears? I guess we should go to Diagon Alley soon. Are you going to owl Hermione and ask her to meet you?"
"If she isn't to busy with Vicky." Ron scowled. "Dunno why she wants to hang around him so much. He's a good Quidditch player, but he looks like a duck when he walks." Harry snorted softly. He was beginning to realize that Ron had gotten over his minor obsession with Cory Johnson after the incident at the concert, and had gone back to being smitten over Hermione. He wondered often how he hadn't realized Ron was so smitten with Hermione earlier.
"Sure." He muttered, unconvincingly. Ron gave him a curious look, and he simply shrugged in reply.
However, nothing lifted his spirits more than a letter he got the next day. Mrs. Weasley handed it to him, smiling. "Snuffles." She said simply, causing Harry to break into a large grin. He headed to Ron's bedroom and slammed the door closed. Ron, who had been in the process of admiring his new broom, which had arrived earlier that day, scowled up at him.
"What is this about...?" he said, before noticing the letter. "Is it Sirius?" he said softly.
Harry nodded and plopped down on Ron's bed, tearing it open.
Harry,
How are you? Remus told me all about how you arrived at The Burrow. I wanted to come but Arthur and the others don't yet know about me. It isn't that they aren't trusted; Dumbledore just feels that the fewer people know at the moment the better. However, it has been decided that I could be placed no better than around Hogwarts. Remus and I will be leaving his house and will take up residence in Hogsmeade. If asked we will simply say that Remus must be near Hogwarts for Snape to make the Wolfsbane potion. He has reluctantly agreed to this. I do not want you to visit unless absolutely necessary. Social calls maybe reserved for weekends at Hogsmeade. Your safety is our greatest concern. If I need to visit you, I will come. I have connections at Hogwarts, if you haven't forgotten. I hope you enjoyed the gift I sent. Your father would be pleased to know that you have gotten them. I have included with this letter something else that may come in useful. Keep safe.
Sirius
Harry looked at the parchment Sirius had sent with the letter. He snorted out loud when he saw what it was. Ron leaned over and gave a low whistle. "The Marauder's Map..." he whispered.
It was a Marauder's Map, but none like the one Harry had gotten from the twins. This one was filled with things he had never seen before. Recent statues, and offices. And...
"Ten more secret entrances..." Ron muttered. "Look at that Harry."
He nodded. "The other one must have been confiscated before the Marauder's discovered these entrances. Incredible." He turned it over and looked at the spidery writing of Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs. Harry noticed that Wormtail had been removed.
"State your name." Was scrawled beneath their intertwined names. Harry touched a finger to it and muttered, "Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter, eh? Padfoot would like to ask if this Harry Potter were related to Mssr. Prongs."
"Prongs would like to remind Padfoot that he ought to keep his nose out of Mssr. Prongs' business." The letters stated.
"Perhaps this Harry is Mssr. Prongs' son, Mssr. Moony would like to point out."
"Perhaps this Harry is Mssr. Prongs' son with one Miss Lily Flower Evans..."
"Mssr. Prongs' would please ask Mssrs. Padfoot and Moony to quiet their mouths, and inform Harry Potter that he is welcome to use the Marauder's Map, so long as he doesn't let it get into the hands of that slimy git Sevvie Snape or Lucy-Lue Malfoy." Harry and Ron began cracking up as they read the words. Ron chuckled loudly as the letters died back away.
"Harry, if this is what your dad and his friends were like back then...well, I really would have liked to meet them."
"Me too." Harry said softly, slipping the map into his trunk. Ron's smile faded.
"Hey Harry, sorry if I..."
"No, that's all right Ron. Why don't we just write Hermione, okay?"
************************************************************************
Hermione wrote back quickly to tell Ron and Harry that she would be able to meet them at Diagon Alley five days before September first. Furthermore, since her parents were going to a dentistry convention in America, she would be staying at The Burrow until it was time to go to King's Cross.
When the day came, the entire Weasley clan, along with Harry, flooed into Diagon Alley. They come out into the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the innkeeper smiled at them toothlessly.
"Well, Hello Harry. Haven't seen you in awhile." He said merrily. "How have you been doing?"
"Fine." He muttered. "Just going on in to buy things for the new year."
"Well, you enjoy yourself, hear? There's been an accident up aways, but I don't know much about it. Watch out, Harry."
He looked cautiously at Mr. Weasley, but since he didn't seem to know anything about the accident, Harry's anxiety was relieved somewhat. It must not be important, he decided, if Mr. Weasley knew nothing of the incident.
They exited through the wall into Diagon Alley, which was in a bustle as usual. Harry went with the Weasleys to Gringott's to refill his moneybag for the upcoming year. It always left a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that the Weasleys should see his vault, filled to the ceiling with shining Galleons and Sickles and Knutts, when they had to scrounge to the edges of theirs to make sure that they had everything they could get.
He would have shared all that he had willingly with them. However, only the twins ever accepted him on this, and, despite Harry's protests, insisted on naming him a co-founder of the WWW. He felt slightly better on leaving the bank and went with Ron to buy ice creams.
"Hey Harry! Ron!" Hermione ran over to them, smiling brightly. Her badge was pinned proudly on her sweater.
"Hey Hermione! How was your summer?" Ron asked.
"Incredible! Viktor was good company, but I don't think he has a very good sense of humor." She shrugged. "What can I say, I actually missed you two."
"Don't get sentimental on me." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to be sucked into your web of girl-dom."
She scowled as she sat beside them. "I heard you got to meet that singer." She said. "There was a small article in the paper. Not Rita Skeeter." She added with irritation, her mind on the woman who had been such a nuisance the year before.
"Yeah. We met her." Ron muttered. "What a horrid..."
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, making his stop where his words were obviously headed.
"It's true!" he protested. Hermione glanced over at Harry.
He nodded. "Be glad you weren't there. She was a bit crazy, I think. Said something about taking over the world. And she was wearing a little robe, you know, like a muggle one? And it only when down to a little above her knees." Hermione looked at him, snorting.
"That sounds...interesting. I guess it's because she's so famous, you know? Sometimes people who are constantly in the limelight tend to go a bit bonkers..." Harry and Ron both raised a brow at Hermione. "Oh, come on!" she said, rolling her eyes. "You know that isn't what I meant. If anybody is bonkers, it's Ron."
"Hey! What did I do?" She smiled mysteriously and stood, stretching. "Come on." She said. "Let's get our books."
They went to Flourish and Botts, which was teaming with people from Hogwarts getting their things. A few people who had gone to the festival congratulated Harry and Ron on their victories, and they soon found themselves recounting the events to Hermione.
"Incredible." She muttered. "I wish that I had been there. That would have been a sight to see." They got their things, thankfully finding that their new Care of Magical Creatures book did not have claws or fangs. "This says we need gauntlets for Hagrid's class." She said, looking at the list.
"That explains why he gave me some for my birthday." Harry said thoughtfully. "Did everybody at Hogwart's decide to send me my school things as presents?"
"Trelawney didn't send you any Tarot cards." Ron said, glancing at his list. "And it says they have to be a gift. I'll buy you some if you buy me mine." Ron said.
"All right." They went to a new shop that sold armor from the middle ages, much of it bewitched for extra protection. Harry saw several swords, many that resembled the one he had pulled from the Sorting Hat during a confrontation in his second year. Ron and Hermione surveyed the various styles and sizes while Harry looked around.
He stopped before a large shield with an engraving scrawled on it, just a few lines, so that it appeared never to have been finished. He reached out a hand to touch it, and jerked back when he felt a jolt of energy. Deciding it must have been enchanted for extra protection, he turned away and went back to Hermione and Ron.
Hermione chose a pair of silver gauntlets that had a simple etching on it, with small leather buckles that clasped them closed. Ron, on the other hand, chose a sturdy gold pair that, though worn a bit thin around the cuffs, were quite handsome. Large stones were encrusted on the top of the hands. They went on to the fortune teller's shop and Hermione scowled as they chose each other's cards.
Harry glanced at all of them, humorously debating on a deck that bore a large baboon with glittering red eyes. And stopped dead. They were stark black, with no ornament. He reached out for them, but his hands trembled and he pulled back quickly glancing around. When he had begun to touch them, a jet of cold had traveled up his arm and through his entire body.
He settled on one that had a trailing cover of vines, with blood red roses at each corner, and thorns jutting out through them. They left and handed them to one another with amusing ceremony. Harry saw with surprise the ones Ron chose for him were dark red, with loops and swirls of silver covering the surface. He put them in his bag and they continued back down the street. They stopped when they saw a large group formed at the edge of the street.
"Do you think this is the accident Tom mentioned?" Ron whispered, glancing over at Harry.
"I guess. Isn't this where the wand shop is?" he said quietly, looking nervously through the crowd to try and see the street ahead.
"Yeah." Ron muttered. "Let's try and get a closer look." They pushed through to the front. Suddenly a clearing opened up and they clearly saw the street before them.
"Oh, Harry..." Hermione said quietly, her face pale. Harry and Ron were just as shaken, and could only stare at the scene before them.
Ollivander's Wand Shop was destroyed. The windows were shattered and hundreds of wands lay in the street, many trampled and broken into pieces. Smoke tinged the brick walls where it had billowed out from the inside of the shop. Harry listened to the whispers around him. "Happened last night...nobody knows who did it...just a prank..."
He looked up as a young wizard stepped forward, his face uncommonly pale. "Everybody, please, there is no reason to stand here. Go on, we can't conduct affairs with a crowd here."
"Is Ollivander all right?" A young woman shouted. The wizard shook his head, going even paler.
"No. I'm sorry to tell you but...Mr. Ollivander is dead."
************************************************************************
They returned to The Burrow quietly. Mr. Weasley had heard the news from a young ministry wizard who had found him helping Ginny with her things at the book store. He had quickly found Harry, Ron, and Hermione and flooed them back to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley returned after buying them all the potions refills they had forgotten in the calamity.
Even the twins were crestfallen. None of them had liked Mr. Ollivander much, he had been decidedly odd, but all felt sentmental, as he had sold them their first wands.
"I just can't understand it." Hermione whispered. "I still remember buying my wand. 'Great for transfiguration' he said. I mean, I know he was creepy but...he never did anything bad, did he?"
Harry, who felt the anxiety of his own wand's secrets, didn't say much. He had told his friends about the core he shared with Voldemort, and how this had saved his life. But he didn't like to talk much of it.
They spent the remaining days at The Burrow sharing theories about what happened, but they could only agree about one thing----Voldemort. Somehow, he had to have been behind it. There was nothing else that made sense.
When the day came to go the King's Cross, two cars arrived at the door. These had not come from the ministry, Mr. Weasley had explained. Dumbledore had been the one to find them for him-Harry reckoned that it was just another measure of protection on him. They loaded in and got comfortable as they could.
King's Cross was just as Harry remembered it. They casually made their way through the barrier and into the crowd of students. Many were talking about the events in Diagon Alley, and more than a few of them gave Harry strange looks, remembering the events that had befallen only a few months before.
Hermione and Ron helped him get loaded into the first empty compartment that they could find. And then they all stretched out. They had closed the doors, not ready for another unpleasant encounter with Draco and his gang. Harry and Ron played a game of chess, in which Harry lost miserably, though Ron protested that he had gotten somewhat better.
Before long, though, their silence was broken.
"Of course, they're back. Potter, I thought you would be too afraid to return here this year. Aren't you tired of getting killed yet?" Draco said smugly.
"Aren't you tired of being humiliated?" Ron snorted. "Or would you like to challenge Harry to another Seeker match?"
"He got lucky." Draco sneered. "Those brooms that they gave us. I'm sure that they probably gave Potter the best one they had, seeing as old scarhead is so popular."
"Highly unlikely." Harry said with amusement. "Considering that when you knocked us down Ron and I accidentally switched brooms. Go away Malfoy."
"Oh, come on Potter, why would I want to do that when I can perfectly well torment you from right here? I heard you met that stupid singer. Trying to get yourself in the papers again? Probably she'd help you. I bet that she hasn't got two bits of a brain..."
"Think again, you stupid little prat." Everybody in the compartment turned. Simultaneously their jaws dropped.
Cory Johnson smiled arrogantly. "What? Surprised to see me?"
************************************************************************
Yep! It's me! I know I do too many of these things but oh well. This is just a typical thanks for reading note, but I'd also like to tell you that I've started two new stories.
The Pranking War is a Lily/James fic, and it's just another twist on the usual story.
Black Witch: Queen of Thieves is an original fiction that can be found on Fictionpress.net and it will still be under the pen name Megx.
Please read and review! I will give you cookies! Many, many cookies!
Authors Note: Hello Everybody! Thank you for reading! This story is progressing nicely, and I hope to have it done by the end of May. I don't know how many chapters it will be, but the chapters are getting longer, since I will now be getting more time at my computer. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the books. I own only the plot and the original character Cory Johnson. Hmmmm, finished taking notes? All right, let's begin, shall we?
Chapter Five
Harry passed the rest of the time at The Burrow quite peacefully. The events of his birthday were clear in his mind and, except for the odd confrontation with Cory Johnson and his dream, which he had yet to tell anybody about, he considered it one of the best days of his life.
Before he knew it two weeks had already passed, and one morning at breakfast Harry and Ron received their school letters. "Look, in Defense against the Dark Arts we have to get that book Mrs. Figg got you for your birthday. Reckon she must have known about it." Ron muttered.
"What about Hagrid's class?" Harry said suspiciously. "He's assigned us a new book, 'The Secrets of Controlling Dangerous Magical Creatures'. That just sounds dangerous." Harry muttered. "Do you think that this book bites?"
"I hope not." Ron muttered. "My fingers got a bit soar when I was trying to look up a bit on that Gypsy Snake we saw at the Festival. I tried to make it calm down, but apparently it doesn't like to get stoked." Harry grinned. His book was actually quite tame.
"I guess not." He finally said. Yawning, he glanced up as Mrs. Weasley entered the room.
"Oh, you have those already, dears? I guess we should go to Diagon Alley soon. Are you going to owl Hermione and ask her to meet you?"
"If she isn't to busy with Vicky." Ron scowled. "Dunno why she wants to hang around him so much. He's a good Quidditch player, but he looks like a duck when he walks." Harry snorted softly. He was beginning to realize that Ron had gotten over his minor obsession with Cory Johnson after the incident at the concert, and had gone back to being smitten over Hermione. He wondered often how he hadn't realized Ron was so smitten with Hermione earlier.
"Sure." He muttered, unconvincingly. Ron gave him a curious look, and he simply shrugged in reply.
However, nothing lifted his spirits more than a letter he got the next day. Mrs. Weasley handed it to him, smiling. "Snuffles." She said simply, causing Harry to break into a large grin. He headed to Ron's bedroom and slammed the door closed. Ron, who had been in the process of admiring his new broom, which had arrived earlier that day, scowled up at him.
"What is this about...?" he said, before noticing the letter. "Is it Sirius?" he said softly.
Harry nodded and plopped down on Ron's bed, tearing it open.
Harry,
How are you? Remus told me all about how you arrived at The Burrow. I wanted to come but Arthur and the others don't yet know about me. It isn't that they aren't trusted; Dumbledore just feels that the fewer people know at the moment the better. However, it has been decided that I could be placed no better than around Hogwarts. Remus and I will be leaving his house and will take up residence in Hogsmeade. If asked we will simply say that Remus must be near Hogwarts for Snape to make the Wolfsbane potion. He has reluctantly agreed to this. I do not want you to visit unless absolutely necessary. Social calls maybe reserved for weekends at Hogsmeade. Your safety is our greatest concern. If I need to visit you, I will come. I have connections at Hogwarts, if you haven't forgotten. I hope you enjoyed the gift I sent. Your father would be pleased to know that you have gotten them. I have included with this letter something else that may come in useful. Keep safe.
Sirius
Harry looked at the parchment Sirius had sent with the letter. He snorted out loud when he saw what it was. Ron leaned over and gave a low whistle. "The Marauder's Map..." he whispered.
It was a Marauder's Map, but none like the one Harry had gotten from the twins. This one was filled with things he had never seen before. Recent statues, and offices. And...
"Ten more secret entrances..." Ron muttered. "Look at that Harry."
He nodded. "The other one must have been confiscated before the Marauder's discovered these entrances. Incredible." He turned it over and looked at the spidery writing of Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs. Harry noticed that Wormtail had been removed.
"State your name." Was scrawled beneath their intertwined names. Harry touched a finger to it and muttered, "Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter, eh? Padfoot would like to ask if this Harry Potter were related to Mssr. Prongs."
"Prongs would like to remind Padfoot that he ought to keep his nose out of Mssr. Prongs' business." The letters stated.
"Perhaps this Harry is Mssr. Prongs' son, Mssr. Moony would like to point out."
"Perhaps this Harry is Mssr. Prongs' son with one Miss Lily Flower Evans..."
"Mssr. Prongs' would please ask Mssrs. Padfoot and Moony to quiet their mouths, and inform Harry Potter that he is welcome to use the Marauder's Map, so long as he doesn't let it get into the hands of that slimy git Sevvie Snape or Lucy-Lue Malfoy." Harry and Ron began cracking up as they read the words. Ron chuckled loudly as the letters died back away.
"Harry, if this is what your dad and his friends were like back then...well, I really would have liked to meet them."
"Me too." Harry said softly, slipping the map into his trunk. Ron's smile faded.
"Hey Harry, sorry if I..."
"No, that's all right Ron. Why don't we just write Hermione, okay?"
************************************************************************
Hermione wrote back quickly to tell Ron and Harry that she would be able to meet them at Diagon Alley five days before September first. Furthermore, since her parents were going to a dentistry convention in America, she would be staying at The Burrow until it was time to go to King's Cross.
When the day came, the entire Weasley clan, along with Harry, flooed into Diagon Alley. They come out into the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the innkeeper smiled at them toothlessly.
"Well, Hello Harry. Haven't seen you in awhile." He said merrily. "How have you been doing?"
"Fine." He muttered. "Just going on in to buy things for the new year."
"Well, you enjoy yourself, hear? There's been an accident up aways, but I don't know much about it. Watch out, Harry."
He looked cautiously at Mr. Weasley, but since he didn't seem to know anything about the accident, Harry's anxiety was relieved somewhat. It must not be important, he decided, if Mr. Weasley knew nothing of the incident.
They exited through the wall into Diagon Alley, which was in a bustle as usual. Harry went with the Weasleys to Gringott's to refill his moneybag for the upcoming year. It always left a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that the Weasleys should see his vault, filled to the ceiling with shining Galleons and Sickles and Knutts, when they had to scrounge to the edges of theirs to make sure that they had everything they could get.
He would have shared all that he had willingly with them. However, only the twins ever accepted him on this, and, despite Harry's protests, insisted on naming him a co-founder of the WWW. He felt slightly better on leaving the bank and went with Ron to buy ice creams.
"Hey Harry! Ron!" Hermione ran over to them, smiling brightly. Her badge was pinned proudly on her sweater.
"Hey Hermione! How was your summer?" Ron asked.
"Incredible! Viktor was good company, but I don't think he has a very good sense of humor." She shrugged. "What can I say, I actually missed you two."
"Don't get sentimental on me." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to be sucked into your web of girl-dom."
She scowled as she sat beside them. "I heard you got to meet that singer." She said. "There was a small article in the paper. Not Rita Skeeter." She added with irritation, her mind on the woman who had been such a nuisance the year before.
"Yeah. We met her." Ron muttered. "What a horrid..."
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, making his stop where his words were obviously headed.
"It's true!" he protested. Hermione glanced over at Harry.
He nodded. "Be glad you weren't there. She was a bit crazy, I think. Said something about taking over the world. And she was wearing a little robe, you know, like a muggle one? And it only when down to a little above her knees." Hermione looked at him, snorting.
"That sounds...interesting. I guess it's because she's so famous, you know? Sometimes people who are constantly in the limelight tend to go a bit bonkers..." Harry and Ron both raised a brow at Hermione. "Oh, come on!" she said, rolling her eyes. "You know that isn't what I meant. If anybody is bonkers, it's Ron."
"Hey! What did I do?" She smiled mysteriously and stood, stretching. "Come on." She said. "Let's get our books."
They went to Flourish and Botts, which was teaming with people from Hogwarts getting their things. A few people who had gone to the festival congratulated Harry and Ron on their victories, and they soon found themselves recounting the events to Hermione.
"Incredible." She muttered. "I wish that I had been there. That would have been a sight to see." They got their things, thankfully finding that their new Care of Magical Creatures book did not have claws or fangs. "This says we need gauntlets for Hagrid's class." She said, looking at the list.
"That explains why he gave me some for my birthday." Harry said thoughtfully. "Did everybody at Hogwart's decide to send me my school things as presents?"
"Trelawney didn't send you any Tarot cards." Ron said, glancing at his list. "And it says they have to be a gift. I'll buy you some if you buy me mine." Ron said.
"All right." They went to a new shop that sold armor from the middle ages, much of it bewitched for extra protection. Harry saw several swords, many that resembled the one he had pulled from the Sorting Hat during a confrontation in his second year. Ron and Hermione surveyed the various styles and sizes while Harry looked around.
He stopped before a large shield with an engraving scrawled on it, just a few lines, so that it appeared never to have been finished. He reached out a hand to touch it, and jerked back when he felt a jolt of energy. Deciding it must have been enchanted for extra protection, he turned away and went back to Hermione and Ron.
Hermione chose a pair of silver gauntlets that had a simple etching on it, with small leather buckles that clasped them closed. Ron, on the other hand, chose a sturdy gold pair that, though worn a bit thin around the cuffs, were quite handsome. Large stones were encrusted on the top of the hands. They went on to the fortune teller's shop and Hermione scowled as they chose each other's cards.
Harry glanced at all of them, humorously debating on a deck that bore a large baboon with glittering red eyes. And stopped dead. They were stark black, with no ornament. He reached out for them, but his hands trembled and he pulled back quickly glancing around. When he had begun to touch them, a jet of cold had traveled up his arm and through his entire body.
He settled on one that had a trailing cover of vines, with blood red roses at each corner, and thorns jutting out through them. They left and handed them to one another with amusing ceremony. Harry saw with surprise the ones Ron chose for him were dark red, with loops and swirls of silver covering the surface. He put them in his bag and they continued back down the street. They stopped when they saw a large group formed at the edge of the street.
"Do you think this is the accident Tom mentioned?" Ron whispered, glancing over at Harry.
"I guess. Isn't this where the wand shop is?" he said quietly, looking nervously through the crowd to try and see the street ahead.
"Yeah." Ron muttered. "Let's try and get a closer look." They pushed through to the front. Suddenly a clearing opened up and they clearly saw the street before them.
"Oh, Harry..." Hermione said quietly, her face pale. Harry and Ron were just as shaken, and could only stare at the scene before them.
Ollivander's Wand Shop was destroyed. The windows were shattered and hundreds of wands lay in the street, many trampled and broken into pieces. Smoke tinged the brick walls where it had billowed out from the inside of the shop. Harry listened to the whispers around him. "Happened last night...nobody knows who did it...just a prank..."
He looked up as a young wizard stepped forward, his face uncommonly pale. "Everybody, please, there is no reason to stand here. Go on, we can't conduct affairs with a crowd here."
"Is Ollivander all right?" A young woman shouted. The wizard shook his head, going even paler.
"No. I'm sorry to tell you but...Mr. Ollivander is dead."
************************************************************************
They returned to The Burrow quietly. Mr. Weasley had heard the news from a young ministry wizard who had found him helping Ginny with her things at the book store. He had quickly found Harry, Ron, and Hermione and flooed them back to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley returned after buying them all the potions refills they had forgotten in the calamity.
Even the twins were crestfallen. None of them had liked Mr. Ollivander much, he had been decidedly odd, but all felt sentmental, as he had sold them their first wands.
"I just can't understand it." Hermione whispered. "I still remember buying my wand. 'Great for transfiguration' he said. I mean, I know he was creepy but...he never did anything bad, did he?"
Harry, who felt the anxiety of his own wand's secrets, didn't say much. He had told his friends about the core he shared with Voldemort, and how this had saved his life. But he didn't like to talk much of it.
They spent the remaining days at The Burrow sharing theories about what happened, but they could only agree about one thing----Voldemort. Somehow, he had to have been behind it. There was nothing else that made sense.
When the day came to go the King's Cross, two cars arrived at the door. These had not come from the ministry, Mr. Weasley had explained. Dumbledore had been the one to find them for him-Harry reckoned that it was just another measure of protection on him. They loaded in and got comfortable as they could.
King's Cross was just as Harry remembered it. They casually made their way through the barrier and into the crowd of students. Many were talking about the events in Diagon Alley, and more than a few of them gave Harry strange looks, remembering the events that had befallen only a few months before.
Hermione and Ron helped him get loaded into the first empty compartment that they could find. And then they all stretched out. They had closed the doors, not ready for another unpleasant encounter with Draco and his gang. Harry and Ron played a game of chess, in which Harry lost miserably, though Ron protested that he had gotten somewhat better.
Before long, though, their silence was broken.
"Of course, they're back. Potter, I thought you would be too afraid to return here this year. Aren't you tired of getting killed yet?" Draco said smugly.
"Aren't you tired of being humiliated?" Ron snorted. "Or would you like to challenge Harry to another Seeker match?"
"He got lucky." Draco sneered. "Those brooms that they gave us. I'm sure that they probably gave Potter the best one they had, seeing as old scarhead is so popular."
"Highly unlikely." Harry said with amusement. "Considering that when you knocked us down Ron and I accidentally switched brooms. Go away Malfoy."
"Oh, come on Potter, why would I want to do that when I can perfectly well torment you from right here? I heard you met that stupid singer. Trying to get yourself in the papers again? Probably she'd help you. I bet that she hasn't got two bits of a brain..."
"Think again, you stupid little prat." Everybody in the compartment turned. Simultaneously their jaws dropped.
Cory Johnson smiled arrogantly. "What? Surprised to see me?"
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Yep! It's me! I know I do too many of these things but oh well. This is just a typical thanks for reading note, but I'd also like to tell you that I've started two new stories.
The Pranking War is a Lily/James fic, and it's just another twist on the usual story.
Black Witch: Queen of Thieves is an original fiction that can be found on Fictionpress.net and it will still be under the pen name Megx.
Please read and review! I will give you cookies! Many, many cookies!
