Title: Deadly Love
Written by: oopsiesgrl
Rating: PG - Parental Guidance recommended (some swearing)
Chapter Two: Onboard the Hogwarts Express
--------------------------------------------------
It was finally September First again, and Harry pushed his cart through the crowds at King's Cross Station in London. Fudge himself had accompanied him to the station, afraid that something would happen to him on the way. They arrived in the Ministry cars, and Harry was still chuckling at the look on Uncle Vernon's face when he saw the cars showed up on Privet Drive. They were a hundreds times shinier and fancier than his precious company car.
People stared at Harry as he passed them in the station, thinking he was very strange. Well, considering the circumstances, he did look pretty strange. He had with him an old-fashioned trunk and a cage from which Hedwig was hooting loudly. Around Muggles, that was a fairly unusual sight. They had probably never seen an owl at night, not to mention at a train station in the middle of the day. However, Harry didn't care. Hogwarts was only a train ride away, and his friends were even closer, at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting.
Harry arrived at Platform Nine, and he pushed his cart casually toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Magically, the stone barrier disappeared and Harry walked through.
As soon as he emerged on the other side, a bushy-haired someone encircled her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"Hermione!" Harry called out in surprise.
"Oh, Harry! I was so worried about you!" said Hermione through a stream of tears.
"What happened, Harry?" asked Ron worriedly. He was right behind Hermione, holding about a dozen or so packages in his arms. "What happened this summer? We hadn't heard from you at all! My dad asked at the Ministry and everywhere, but nobody seemed to know. We were so worried about you!"
"Oh, that," said Harry after hearing Ron's explanation. "Fudge wouldn't let me send or receive any mail unless they were 'important.' That's why you guys hadn't heard from me. It's part of this stupid new protection program Fudge has in mind. He's only doing it during the summer though, when I'm away from Hogwarts."
"Why didn't they tell anybody about the plan?" asked Ron angrily.
"Fudge wanted to keep it a secret. I didn't even receive my Hogwarts letter. He wouldn't let me go to Diagon Alley to buy my stuff either. Fudge got some wizard to dress up as a Muggle mailman and bring my spell books to me the Muggle way. He even sent me here personally."
"Damn that old man!"
"Ron, don't say that about the Minister!" scolded Hermione. She was much calmer now since nothing had happened to Harry during the summer. "Harry, I'm so glad you're okay," she said, turning to Harry. "With all these things about Voldemort...we were afraid that you were..." She started crying again. Harry's friends and Harry himself were some of the few who dared to say the Dark Lord's real name out loud.
"Hey, Hermione, calm down!" said Ron. He indicated to the dozen packages in his arms and said to Harry, "Look at all these presents! We tried to send them to you for your birthday, but the owls just brought them back to us. Happy birthday, Harry."
"Thank you," Harry took over the load from Ron, very happy that he was back with his best friends.
"Oh! And be careful of that one," warned Ron, pointing to a weirdly shaped package. "It's from Fred and George, and you know how they are."
Harry laughed. He knew exactly how Fred and George, Ron's older twin brothers, were. Mrs. Weasley often worried about letters sent from Hogwarts that scolded them about their jokes and tricks. They are even serious about opening their own joke shop once they graduate. At Hogwarts, the Weasley twins are second in trickeries to Harry's own father and his friends - Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew - together known as the Marauders. Because Remus is a werewolf, the other three became Animagi, or people able to transform into animals. Therefore, they were given their nicknames - Prongs for James, who transformed into a stag; Padfoot for Sirius, a dog; Moony for Remus, a werewolf; and Wormtail for Peter, a rat. James and his friends even created a Marauder's Map, which showed all the secret passageways of Hogwarts and much more. The map had somehow landed into Fred and George's hands, but they gave it to Harry to help him sneak out of Hogwarts during his third year. Harry found out who it was really created by later that year.
Just then, Colin Creevey yelled excitedly, jumping up and down, "Hey, there's Harry! Hey, Harry!" Those words rang through the platform, and everyone turned their heads toward Ron, Harry, and Hermione.
"Harry Potter?" they whispered to one another. "He's still alive?" Naturally, with all the gossiping in the wizarding world, everybody knew that nobody had heard from Harry all summer.
"I heard something happened to him during the summer."
"Me too."
"I thought he was dead!"
"Hey, Harry!" shouted Seamus Finnigan, another Gryffindor in Harry's year, over the noise. He made his way through the crowd that had formed around the three. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, and slapped Harry on his shoulder.
Colin Creevey and several other major fans of Harry were jumping around him, gibbering away with enthusiasm. Fred and George were singing "Happy Birthday" to him loudly and out of tune. There were so many people around Harry he didn't notice that Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, wasn't among them She was standing alone by the wall, watching Harry with misty eyes.
"Okay! Okay! Let Harry get on the train!" yelled Ron loudly over the crowd. The crowd parted to let them pass. With a friend on either side, Harry made his way into the compartment Ron and Hermione had saved for them.
As soon as they stepped inside, a voice from behind said sarcastically, "Potter, I see you're not dead yet." It was Draco Malfoy with his two troll- looking friends, Crabbe and Goyle, behind him. The Malfoys were very prominent people in the wizarding world. Their family was a long line of wizards and witches, and with wealth added onto that, they were beyond a regular family's power. Many secretly knew that Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, is a Death Eater. But with no hard evidence against him, many were too afraid to attempt to bring him down. Draco and Harry had been archrivals since their first year at Hogwarts, because Harry had refused to join his gang of Slytherins.
There are four houses at Hogwarts, each named after the four founders- Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Gryffindor was for the braves, Ravenclaw for the clever, Hufflepuff for the kind, and Slytherin for the power hungry. The first years are sorted into different houses on the first day at Hogwarts by an old wizard's hat. Harry, Hermione, and the entire Weasley family were in Gryffindor House. The Malfoy family all came from Slytherin. Slytherin was known to have turned out the most Dark witches and wizards. Lord Voldemort himself was a Slytherin.
"What happened during the summer, Potter?" continued Malfoy. "Too scared to come out of the house because of You-Know-Who?"
"Shut up, Malfoy!" yelled Ron angrily.
"What now, Weasel? Did your family finally make more money this summer? I heard you got even poor-"
He had just hit on what ticked Ron off the most-his family's lack of money. With seven children and four still needing support, the Weasleys weren't very well off. Before Malfoy could finish his sentence, Harry and Ron had both shoved him roughly out the door, with Ron adding a few extra punches. Hermione was shouting very angry words at him. Crabbe and Goyle, being the stupid people they were, were too startled to do anything, so the three of them left. Malfoy muttered angrily under his breath.
Harry slammed the compartment door shut, and the tree sat down. Ron was still sulking.
"Don't worry about it Ron," comforted Hermione. "Malfoy is a jerk."
"It's - it's not only that," said Ron, looking up at Harry. "On Muggle news, have you-"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "It's Harry's first day back. We shouldn't talk about that!"
"But..."
"What is it, Ron?" Harry asked. "I don't want anybody to keep anything from me."
"It's... You-Know-Who," answered Ron slowly. "He - he has been creating hell in the Muggle world. Have you heard about that?"
"No. The Ministry must have erased the Muggles' memories."
"The Ministry is going crazy over this. Dad has been pulled from his regular job to track down possible sites You-Know-Who might attack," continued Ron. Mr. Weasley worked at the Ministry of Magic. "Fudge is nuts! He really is going to go separate ways from Dumbledore. How can he do that? Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard around! How is Fudge going to do anything without Dumbledore's help? All the people are divided into two groups now because of them. Dad is thinking about quitting his job at the Ministry and going to Dumbledore. He has already argued with Fudge and several others hundreds of times. The things they are doing to supposedly keep people safe are so stupid. Personally, I think Dad should leave. But Percy! He said he will 'remain loyal to the Minister'," said Ron angrily as he imitated the bossy voice of his older brother, who also worked at the Ministry. "It's all Percy's damn fault! There's not been a quiet day in the house because he keeps arguing with Dad!"
The three sat in silence after Ron's angry and frustrated outburst. They reflected on how their worlds were falling apart. Each pondered about the own problems as the train traveled through the winding tracks of the mountains. Finally, it was Hermione who broke the silence.
"Harry, have you heard about our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" she asked in as bright a tone as possible, trying to drive away from the unhappiness.
"Did Snape finally get the job?" Harry asked jokingly. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that Professor Snape had always wanted that position, but has never succeeded in getting it. Also, this position seemed to be cursed, which made it especially interesting. No teacher had stayed for more than a year since Harry arrived at Hogwarts. During Harry's first year, wimpy Professor Quirrell was revealed to be the weakened Voldemort's accomplice, and he was left to die by the Dark Lord. Professor Lockhart was hired the next year, but he turned out to be a fake who knew nothing about the subject. For Harry's third year, a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher finally came. Professor Remus Lupin came and taught them some very valuable things. Unfortunately, when the news of him being a werewolf leaked out, many parents demanded for him to leave. Last year, Professor Moody, who used to be an Auror, a wizard who tracks down Dark wizards and witches, always made the class exciting. However, he turned out not to be the real Moody, and was, in fact, another of Voldemort's servants. He helped Voldemort get to Harry to bring him back to life. Cornelius Fudge had a Dementor, a creature who destroyed all happiness, suck out his soul before Dumbledore could question him further. That, and many other reasons, caused the two of them to fight Voldemort's second rise to power in separate ways.
"No, he lost the chance again," said Hermione, laughing.
"So who is it this time?" asked Harry.
"It's a Professor Fitz," said Hermione. "She's a woman!"
"Fitz? I've never heard of her."
"That's because she's been traveling the world! I read that in 'The Daily Prophet'. I think she'll be great. It's about time we had a female Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It's not like women can't fight the Dark Arts."
"Whatever, Hermione," said Ron, joining the conversation. "We'll see who's actually good when we get there. I think she's probably a fake like Lockhart."
Hermione turned bright red. Although Lockhart was a bad wizard, he had the looks that could make any female drown. All the girls were crazy over him, and Hermione was one of them.
Harry laughed with his friends. All three of them forgot about their problems and worries as they joked and ate the interesting sweets sold on the train. Harry couldn't help noticing that although Hermione and Ron argued a little, they were sitting awfully close together.
After several hours, Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. This year, it wasn't Rubeus Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures professor and Harry's friend, who was taking the first years to the main castle. Hagrid was a half giant, so he and Madame Maxime, another half giant and the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, were asked by Dumbledore to bring the exiled giants to their side before Voldemort recruited them. Tonight, Argus Filch, the bitter caretaker of Hogwarts, took over the task that was usually assigned to Hagrid.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, seeing the sour look of Filch instead of Hagrid's welcoming smile, began to feel that Hogwarts was not to remain the same either. They thought Hogwarts, at least, would not be affected by Voldemort's rise to power, but obviously, it was. The three made their way silently to the horseless carriages. There was not much to talk around them either, as other students noticed the change. Only the Slytherins seemed to be happy.
"I'm glad that big oaf isn't around tonight," Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard Malfoy say, and they shot him a dirty look.
As soon as all the students were inside a carriage, all fifty carriages began gliding smoothly toward the castle. Every student knew what the others were thinking as they made the peaceful ride. What is Hogwarts going to be like this year?
--------------------------------------------------
Note: I had the ideas of the Percy / Mr. Weasley fight and Hagrid's absence before reading Order of the Phoenix.
Written by: oopsiesgrl
Rating: PG - Parental Guidance recommended (some swearing)
Chapter Two: Onboard the Hogwarts Express
--------------------------------------------------
It was finally September First again, and Harry pushed his cart through the crowds at King's Cross Station in London. Fudge himself had accompanied him to the station, afraid that something would happen to him on the way. They arrived in the Ministry cars, and Harry was still chuckling at the look on Uncle Vernon's face when he saw the cars showed up on Privet Drive. They were a hundreds times shinier and fancier than his precious company car.
People stared at Harry as he passed them in the station, thinking he was very strange. Well, considering the circumstances, he did look pretty strange. He had with him an old-fashioned trunk and a cage from which Hedwig was hooting loudly. Around Muggles, that was a fairly unusual sight. They had probably never seen an owl at night, not to mention at a train station in the middle of the day. However, Harry didn't care. Hogwarts was only a train ride away, and his friends were even closer, at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting.
Harry arrived at Platform Nine, and he pushed his cart casually toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Magically, the stone barrier disappeared and Harry walked through.
As soon as he emerged on the other side, a bushy-haired someone encircled her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"Hermione!" Harry called out in surprise.
"Oh, Harry! I was so worried about you!" said Hermione through a stream of tears.
"What happened, Harry?" asked Ron worriedly. He was right behind Hermione, holding about a dozen or so packages in his arms. "What happened this summer? We hadn't heard from you at all! My dad asked at the Ministry and everywhere, but nobody seemed to know. We were so worried about you!"
"Oh, that," said Harry after hearing Ron's explanation. "Fudge wouldn't let me send or receive any mail unless they were 'important.' That's why you guys hadn't heard from me. It's part of this stupid new protection program Fudge has in mind. He's only doing it during the summer though, when I'm away from Hogwarts."
"Why didn't they tell anybody about the plan?" asked Ron angrily.
"Fudge wanted to keep it a secret. I didn't even receive my Hogwarts letter. He wouldn't let me go to Diagon Alley to buy my stuff either. Fudge got some wizard to dress up as a Muggle mailman and bring my spell books to me the Muggle way. He even sent me here personally."
"Damn that old man!"
"Ron, don't say that about the Minister!" scolded Hermione. She was much calmer now since nothing had happened to Harry during the summer. "Harry, I'm so glad you're okay," she said, turning to Harry. "With all these things about Voldemort...we were afraid that you were..." She started crying again. Harry's friends and Harry himself were some of the few who dared to say the Dark Lord's real name out loud.
"Hey, Hermione, calm down!" said Ron. He indicated to the dozen packages in his arms and said to Harry, "Look at all these presents! We tried to send them to you for your birthday, but the owls just brought them back to us. Happy birthday, Harry."
"Thank you," Harry took over the load from Ron, very happy that he was back with his best friends.
"Oh! And be careful of that one," warned Ron, pointing to a weirdly shaped package. "It's from Fred and George, and you know how they are."
Harry laughed. He knew exactly how Fred and George, Ron's older twin brothers, were. Mrs. Weasley often worried about letters sent from Hogwarts that scolded them about their jokes and tricks. They are even serious about opening their own joke shop once they graduate. At Hogwarts, the Weasley twins are second in trickeries to Harry's own father and his friends - Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew - together known as the Marauders. Because Remus is a werewolf, the other three became Animagi, or people able to transform into animals. Therefore, they were given their nicknames - Prongs for James, who transformed into a stag; Padfoot for Sirius, a dog; Moony for Remus, a werewolf; and Wormtail for Peter, a rat. James and his friends even created a Marauder's Map, which showed all the secret passageways of Hogwarts and much more. The map had somehow landed into Fred and George's hands, but they gave it to Harry to help him sneak out of Hogwarts during his third year. Harry found out who it was really created by later that year.
Just then, Colin Creevey yelled excitedly, jumping up and down, "Hey, there's Harry! Hey, Harry!" Those words rang through the platform, and everyone turned their heads toward Ron, Harry, and Hermione.
"Harry Potter?" they whispered to one another. "He's still alive?" Naturally, with all the gossiping in the wizarding world, everybody knew that nobody had heard from Harry all summer.
"I heard something happened to him during the summer."
"Me too."
"I thought he was dead!"
"Hey, Harry!" shouted Seamus Finnigan, another Gryffindor in Harry's year, over the noise. He made his way through the crowd that had formed around the three. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, and slapped Harry on his shoulder.
Colin Creevey and several other major fans of Harry were jumping around him, gibbering away with enthusiasm. Fred and George were singing "Happy Birthday" to him loudly and out of tune. There were so many people around Harry he didn't notice that Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, wasn't among them She was standing alone by the wall, watching Harry with misty eyes.
"Okay! Okay! Let Harry get on the train!" yelled Ron loudly over the crowd. The crowd parted to let them pass. With a friend on either side, Harry made his way into the compartment Ron and Hermione had saved for them.
As soon as they stepped inside, a voice from behind said sarcastically, "Potter, I see you're not dead yet." It was Draco Malfoy with his two troll- looking friends, Crabbe and Goyle, behind him. The Malfoys were very prominent people in the wizarding world. Their family was a long line of wizards and witches, and with wealth added onto that, they were beyond a regular family's power. Many secretly knew that Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, is a Death Eater. But with no hard evidence against him, many were too afraid to attempt to bring him down. Draco and Harry had been archrivals since their first year at Hogwarts, because Harry had refused to join his gang of Slytherins.
There are four houses at Hogwarts, each named after the four founders- Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Gryffindor was for the braves, Ravenclaw for the clever, Hufflepuff for the kind, and Slytherin for the power hungry. The first years are sorted into different houses on the first day at Hogwarts by an old wizard's hat. Harry, Hermione, and the entire Weasley family were in Gryffindor House. The Malfoy family all came from Slytherin. Slytherin was known to have turned out the most Dark witches and wizards. Lord Voldemort himself was a Slytherin.
"What happened during the summer, Potter?" continued Malfoy. "Too scared to come out of the house because of You-Know-Who?"
"Shut up, Malfoy!" yelled Ron angrily.
"What now, Weasel? Did your family finally make more money this summer? I heard you got even poor-"
He had just hit on what ticked Ron off the most-his family's lack of money. With seven children and four still needing support, the Weasleys weren't very well off. Before Malfoy could finish his sentence, Harry and Ron had both shoved him roughly out the door, with Ron adding a few extra punches. Hermione was shouting very angry words at him. Crabbe and Goyle, being the stupid people they were, were too startled to do anything, so the three of them left. Malfoy muttered angrily under his breath.
Harry slammed the compartment door shut, and the tree sat down. Ron was still sulking.
"Don't worry about it Ron," comforted Hermione. "Malfoy is a jerk."
"It's - it's not only that," said Ron, looking up at Harry. "On Muggle news, have you-"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "It's Harry's first day back. We shouldn't talk about that!"
"But..."
"What is it, Ron?" Harry asked. "I don't want anybody to keep anything from me."
"It's... You-Know-Who," answered Ron slowly. "He - he has been creating hell in the Muggle world. Have you heard about that?"
"No. The Ministry must have erased the Muggles' memories."
"The Ministry is going crazy over this. Dad has been pulled from his regular job to track down possible sites You-Know-Who might attack," continued Ron. Mr. Weasley worked at the Ministry of Magic. "Fudge is nuts! He really is going to go separate ways from Dumbledore. How can he do that? Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard around! How is Fudge going to do anything without Dumbledore's help? All the people are divided into two groups now because of them. Dad is thinking about quitting his job at the Ministry and going to Dumbledore. He has already argued with Fudge and several others hundreds of times. The things they are doing to supposedly keep people safe are so stupid. Personally, I think Dad should leave. But Percy! He said he will 'remain loyal to the Minister'," said Ron angrily as he imitated the bossy voice of his older brother, who also worked at the Ministry. "It's all Percy's damn fault! There's not been a quiet day in the house because he keeps arguing with Dad!"
The three sat in silence after Ron's angry and frustrated outburst. They reflected on how their worlds were falling apart. Each pondered about the own problems as the train traveled through the winding tracks of the mountains. Finally, it was Hermione who broke the silence.
"Harry, have you heard about our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" she asked in as bright a tone as possible, trying to drive away from the unhappiness.
"Did Snape finally get the job?" Harry asked jokingly. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that Professor Snape had always wanted that position, but has never succeeded in getting it. Also, this position seemed to be cursed, which made it especially interesting. No teacher had stayed for more than a year since Harry arrived at Hogwarts. During Harry's first year, wimpy Professor Quirrell was revealed to be the weakened Voldemort's accomplice, and he was left to die by the Dark Lord. Professor Lockhart was hired the next year, but he turned out to be a fake who knew nothing about the subject. For Harry's third year, a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher finally came. Professor Remus Lupin came and taught them some very valuable things. Unfortunately, when the news of him being a werewolf leaked out, many parents demanded for him to leave. Last year, Professor Moody, who used to be an Auror, a wizard who tracks down Dark wizards and witches, always made the class exciting. However, he turned out not to be the real Moody, and was, in fact, another of Voldemort's servants. He helped Voldemort get to Harry to bring him back to life. Cornelius Fudge had a Dementor, a creature who destroyed all happiness, suck out his soul before Dumbledore could question him further. That, and many other reasons, caused the two of them to fight Voldemort's second rise to power in separate ways.
"No, he lost the chance again," said Hermione, laughing.
"So who is it this time?" asked Harry.
"It's a Professor Fitz," said Hermione. "She's a woman!"
"Fitz? I've never heard of her."
"That's because she's been traveling the world! I read that in 'The Daily Prophet'. I think she'll be great. It's about time we had a female Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It's not like women can't fight the Dark Arts."
"Whatever, Hermione," said Ron, joining the conversation. "We'll see who's actually good when we get there. I think she's probably a fake like Lockhart."
Hermione turned bright red. Although Lockhart was a bad wizard, he had the looks that could make any female drown. All the girls were crazy over him, and Hermione was one of them.
Harry laughed with his friends. All three of them forgot about their problems and worries as they joked and ate the interesting sweets sold on the train. Harry couldn't help noticing that although Hermione and Ron argued a little, they were sitting awfully close together.
After several hours, Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. This year, it wasn't Rubeus Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures professor and Harry's friend, who was taking the first years to the main castle. Hagrid was a half giant, so he and Madame Maxime, another half giant and the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, were asked by Dumbledore to bring the exiled giants to their side before Voldemort recruited them. Tonight, Argus Filch, the bitter caretaker of Hogwarts, took over the task that was usually assigned to Hagrid.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, seeing the sour look of Filch instead of Hagrid's welcoming smile, began to feel that Hogwarts was not to remain the same either. They thought Hogwarts, at least, would not be affected by Voldemort's rise to power, but obviously, it was. The three made their way silently to the horseless carriages. There was not much to talk around them either, as other students noticed the change. Only the Slytherins seemed to be happy.
"I'm glad that big oaf isn't around tonight," Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard Malfoy say, and they shot him a dirty look.
As soon as all the students were inside a carriage, all fifty carriages began gliding smoothly toward the castle. Every student knew what the others were thinking as they made the peaceful ride. What is Hogwarts going to be like this year?
--------------------------------------------------
Note: I had the ideas of the Percy / Mr. Weasley fight and Hagrid's absence before reading Order of the Phoenix.
