An; thanx to Jeannie() for telling me when Ron and Hermione's birthdays
are, but as I've already written them in and i like the way the chapter
went I think I'll leave them as they are. Hermione's birthday is September
19, and Ron's is March 1
Thanx to all you reviewers. And I just noticed that there's a couple typo's in the last chappie, so I'll fix them up. From now on I want anyone who see's a typo to alert me. Its one of the things that annoys me most about reading stories on fanfic but I'm doing it myself so I can't talk, eh?
Here we gooooooooo..
Hogwarts Express almost Expires.
Harry jumped of the trains first carriage, landing in a meadow full of bright yellow daisies that contrasted horribly with the tall black robed figures that were standing halfway down the meadow. They weren't moving, and yet Harry could hear screaming. He looked around franticly. There was something wrong, besides the obvious. There was a scraping noise behind him, and he turned. There was nothing on the carriage steps. He looked under the train. Nothing. The noise came again. He looked up.
A Dementor was standing over a student, gripping the girl's neck with a white bony hand. The girl was whimpering, and her eyes were wide with horror. Harry pointed his wand at the Dementor and bellowed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the silvery stag shot out the end of his wand and the Dementor retreated, dropping the girl. She rolled of the edge of the carriage roof and Harry only just managed to catch her. He set her on the ground, and then he heard a rattly noise behind him and felt his old fears and horrors come back. He whirled, pointing his wand at the Dementor now no more than three feet in front of him. He bellowed the spell again and something huge and white shot from his wand, and the Dementor was gone when he next blinked. But that was only one Dementor in a field full of them. Windows opened behind him. He was very relieved to see the DA members leaning out of the windows, along with McGonagall.
"On three!" called the Professor, and they as one they raised their wands. But something else was still wrong. The Dementor's didn't move. EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" the whole group roared as one. Harry's stag, Hermione's otter, Cho's swan and McGonagall's cat were among the huge barrage of white and silvery figures. Then the Dementor's were gone. Harry helped the quivering first year to her feet and ushered her up the steps of the carriage. "What's wrong Harry? Besides the obvious, I mean." asked Hermione, who was waiting. Behind her McGonagall was directing students back to their compartments.
"Why would they attack the train, and then just let themselves be blown away? They were waiting there, standing in rows when I jumped out, not one of them moving. It's weird."
McGonagall had heard, and shot Harry an appraising look. "Very good Potter. I don't suppose you noticed anything else?"
Harry thought for a second. "Not really. It's like it was a diversion. But from what?"
The train started to move again.
"That." The Professor pointed and Harry turned and looked out of the window. They were just about to cross a bridge.
"Oh leaping lizards." Whispered Hermione, horrified. Harry could agree, there was a pile of crates on the middle of the bridge. Harry frowned. TNT. "holy-" began Ron, who had just come up behind them. Professor McGonagall reached up and pulled the emergency stop line.
Again they had to fight to keep their balance as the train braked.
Harry, watching the pile of crates saw a figure moving stealthily along the opposite bank of the river that the bridge crossed.
"Hey! Look!" yelped Ron.
The figure pointed his wand at the crates and Harry began to pray. He heard McGonagall utter a spell and the next instant she was shouting, "EVERYBODY ON TO THE FLOOR!! NOW!!!"
The air disappeared and he couldn't breath. Harry felt a burning heat and the next instant the train bucked and lurched sideways. Then the noise hit them. A deafening roar and a crunch as the bridge disintegrated under the blast. Harry was thrown sideways, into the stairwell he had just come up. He grabbed the railing. The carriage's metal twisted with a scream. The air came back with a whoosh. The train bucked again and Harry's head snapped sideways into the door which was flapping wildly. Through the stars spinning around his eyes and the ringing in his ears he heard screaming. The carriage lifted again, and twisted and landed, Harry's grip on the rail failed and he flew out the door, landing uncomfortably on the gravel beside the tracks.
For a second their was silence, and Harry sat up. Then people began to call for help. He looked along to the bridge and wasn't at all surprised to see a crater the size of a meteor. The figure he had seen earlier was nowhere to be seen.
There was a creak of twisted metal and the groan of broken wood, a carriage three down the train fell over, its wheels twisted and no loner able to hold it up. The screams from inside intensified. He picked himself up and ran as fast as his shaky legs would let him down the rail to the overturned carriage. The wheels were glowing hot still from the brakes and as Harry reached the carriage a curl of smoke bean to make its way skywards. He climbed onto the carriage, saw people pounding the windows, and gestured for them to get back. They obeyed after a couple of tries. Harry took aim, "REDUCTO!" The glass smashed. He leaned down and took two hands that reached up, and lifted, putting all his strength into pulling them out of the wreck. "Help me!" he panted at the two third years he had jus rescued, and they nodded and began pulling people out of the compartment. Harry moved to the next compartment, he glass was cracked so he kicked it. Neville reached up a shaking hand and Harry pulled him out, and then jumped in to pick up Ginny, who was unconscious while Neville pulled Seamus to safety. Harry moved to the next compartment, keeping an eye on the smoke curling upwards from the wheels.
McGonagall was there, pulling people out of the next compartment with Hermiones help. Harry jumped of the carriage, and told everyone to get away from the carriage. Mcgonagall and Hermione handed him an unconscious first year and Harry carried the boy to the group that was becoming larger every second.
Suddenly having an idea, Harry looked at the cargo carriage. He pulled out his wand again, "ACCIO BIRDCAGE!!!!!"
Hedwig and her birdcage landed in his hands a second later. He opened the cage, and thankful for the wrapper from a chocolate frog in his pocked, used a spell he had just learnt to write a quick message to Dumbledore, "Hogwarts Express attacked, stuck where we are as line is in ruins. Many wounded some dead." The driver and the fireman were lying on the ground with cloaks covering them. "Send help as quickly as possible. Harry."
The carriage caught fire and Harry stared until McGonagall passed and asked him what he was doing. He showed her the note and she scrawled a word underneath, and Harry instructed Hedwig to fly like the wind. Then he went back to helping the professor.
As there was only one teacher, it was up to the prefects and Harry and Hermione to organise things. Night was falling and Harry split the jumble of children into year groups, making sure that each had at last two Prefects. McGonagall magiced sleeping bags, but unfortunately could do nothing for shelter. Harry had just helped a boy with a broken arm into his bag when a shadow blocked the sinking sun. He looked up. Above him were no less than one hundred witches and wizards, slowly circling to a landing, and at the head, Dumbledore. Harry smiled in relief, a though that had reared its head a couple minutes into the rescue operation was put to rest. Blocking the bridge may have ensured that the children were easy targets, but now that help was here the Death Eaters wouldn't dare attack.
Many of the children stood and cheered, but the prefects hushed them. Harry followed McGonagall to Dumbledore, noticing that all the Hogwarts teachers were there, even Madame Trelawney.
"Albus, this is such a relief." McGonagall said, gripping the headmaster's arms. Harry noticed that she had dry blood on her face. He wondered if he did too. The teachers and the other witches and wizards hurried to the children, Harry saw Mr Weasley and Bill and Charlie before they ran towards the children. "What happened?" asked Dumbledore, taking in the carcass of the once beautiful train and crater from the bridge.
"We were attacked; Dementor's stopped the train but didn't actually attack. The DA members and I took care of them." Here McGonagall shot Harry, Ron and Hermione an amused look, but her face hardened as she continued. "when the Dementor's were gone someone blew up the bridge. Harry saw more than I did, but what you see here is the result of the explosion."
Harry looked around. Adult's bending over children, carefully reassuring them and healing them. The Hogwarts Express lay on its side, steam still curling from the funnel. The sun was setting and it gave everything a sort of eerie gold glow too it, making it all seem so surreal.
After greeting Dumbledore and describing the figure as best he could, Harry went back to helping out, running here and there with messages and holding bandages. Thankfully, none of the children were dead, only wounded, and the worst wound being someone who had been impaled in their shoulder by a flying bit of debris.
Harry was handing Madame Pomfrey a bandage when quite by accident he looked down the fence line of the meadow. He saw a movement down the bottom of the meadow. He followed the steadily creeping figure with his eyes and guessed its trajectory. The engine. Something told him that it wasn't to take pictures. He handed the nurse the rest of the bandage and hurried stealthily over to a slight rise in the field, and watched the figure moving towards the engine with his wand at the ready.
"What are you doing?" asked Hermione, coming up behind him.
"SHHHH! Look!" he whispered. The figure was crawling now, and Harry recognised the cloak, it was the same cloak on the same person who had blown up the bridge.
"Who is that?" she asked in a whisper.
"Who's who?" asked Ron in a whisper.
"There, look, I think he's going to blow up the train."
"Oh."
"Let's stop him."
After a hurried conversation they decided on an action plan.
Harry followed the figure, and when it was less than one hundred meters from the train he whispered, "Lumos Olem!" The spell lit the area up as light as day time.
The figure stated up straight, and Harry challenged him, "who the hell are you?"
"EXPELLIARMUS!!" came Ron's voice from the other side of the train. The wand that had been pointing at Harry flew into the air.
Behind him Harry could hear teachers shouting.
"Why blow up the train?" he asked the figure, who laughed in a hoarse kind of way.
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" called Hermione and the figure found himself floating ten feet in the air.
"Harry, what's going on?" asked Dumbledore coming up behind him. Harry, still keeping the scene lit up said, "This is the man who blew up the bridge. I saw him a coupe of minutes ago heading for the engine."
"Really?" asked Dumbledore, and waved his wand, the figures cloak fell off, revealing a pale and very angry face that Harry didn't know.
"Lunverles Lagnetha. My my." Said Dumbledore mildly. "I wasn't aware that you had escaped the Ministry."
"They don't know it yet." Snarled the captive.
Harry frowned; he'd hear that name before. Then he remembered that Langnetha was the name of the Death Eater that had come to the school and was responsible for the loss of his toenails the year before. His feet were still scared from that.
"I'm glad I bough Arthur Weasley with me. Ron, would you find your father please? He's with your sister I believe. We need a proper authority to make and arrest." Said Dumbledore and Ron sped off.
Harry snorted quietly, but not quietly enough, and Dumbledore smiled at him.
Thirty minutes later all the children were on their way to Hogwarts in carriages drawn by Thestrals. As there wasn't enough room for the baggage as well, some volunteered to stay and watch it until the Thestrals returned.
Harry was waiting to board a carriage when Dumbledore asked to see him.
"Harry, I want you to fly over the carriages for a little way and then fly ahead and warn the house elves. A pair of eyes above ground will do us good."
It didn't occur to Harry until he was in the air that all the adults had brooms of their own, and some of them would have been better at lookout than he. He was merely separated from the others for mutual safety, if anyone was watching they would know he was flying and would therefore not attack the carriages. He shook his head and kept flying.
An; there you go! How was that? Surprised, nonplussed? Tell me what you think!! And tell me what typo's I've made.
Thanx to all you reviewers. And I just noticed that there's a couple typo's in the last chappie, so I'll fix them up. From now on I want anyone who see's a typo to alert me. Its one of the things that annoys me most about reading stories on fanfic but I'm doing it myself so I can't talk, eh?
Here we gooooooooo..
Hogwarts Express almost Expires.
Harry jumped of the trains first carriage, landing in a meadow full of bright yellow daisies that contrasted horribly with the tall black robed figures that were standing halfway down the meadow. They weren't moving, and yet Harry could hear screaming. He looked around franticly. There was something wrong, besides the obvious. There was a scraping noise behind him, and he turned. There was nothing on the carriage steps. He looked under the train. Nothing. The noise came again. He looked up.
A Dementor was standing over a student, gripping the girl's neck with a white bony hand. The girl was whimpering, and her eyes were wide with horror. Harry pointed his wand at the Dementor and bellowed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the silvery stag shot out the end of his wand and the Dementor retreated, dropping the girl. She rolled of the edge of the carriage roof and Harry only just managed to catch her. He set her on the ground, and then he heard a rattly noise behind him and felt his old fears and horrors come back. He whirled, pointing his wand at the Dementor now no more than three feet in front of him. He bellowed the spell again and something huge and white shot from his wand, and the Dementor was gone when he next blinked. But that was only one Dementor in a field full of them. Windows opened behind him. He was very relieved to see the DA members leaning out of the windows, along with McGonagall.
"On three!" called the Professor, and they as one they raised their wands. But something else was still wrong. The Dementor's didn't move. EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" the whole group roared as one. Harry's stag, Hermione's otter, Cho's swan and McGonagall's cat were among the huge barrage of white and silvery figures. Then the Dementor's were gone. Harry helped the quivering first year to her feet and ushered her up the steps of the carriage. "What's wrong Harry? Besides the obvious, I mean." asked Hermione, who was waiting. Behind her McGonagall was directing students back to their compartments.
"Why would they attack the train, and then just let themselves be blown away? They were waiting there, standing in rows when I jumped out, not one of them moving. It's weird."
McGonagall had heard, and shot Harry an appraising look. "Very good Potter. I don't suppose you noticed anything else?"
Harry thought for a second. "Not really. It's like it was a diversion. But from what?"
The train started to move again.
"That." The Professor pointed and Harry turned and looked out of the window. They were just about to cross a bridge.
"Oh leaping lizards." Whispered Hermione, horrified. Harry could agree, there was a pile of crates on the middle of the bridge. Harry frowned. TNT. "holy-" began Ron, who had just come up behind them. Professor McGonagall reached up and pulled the emergency stop line.
Again they had to fight to keep their balance as the train braked.
Harry, watching the pile of crates saw a figure moving stealthily along the opposite bank of the river that the bridge crossed.
"Hey! Look!" yelped Ron.
The figure pointed his wand at the crates and Harry began to pray. He heard McGonagall utter a spell and the next instant she was shouting, "EVERYBODY ON TO THE FLOOR!! NOW!!!"
The air disappeared and he couldn't breath. Harry felt a burning heat and the next instant the train bucked and lurched sideways. Then the noise hit them. A deafening roar and a crunch as the bridge disintegrated under the blast. Harry was thrown sideways, into the stairwell he had just come up. He grabbed the railing. The carriage's metal twisted with a scream. The air came back with a whoosh. The train bucked again and Harry's head snapped sideways into the door which was flapping wildly. Through the stars spinning around his eyes and the ringing in his ears he heard screaming. The carriage lifted again, and twisted and landed, Harry's grip on the rail failed and he flew out the door, landing uncomfortably on the gravel beside the tracks.
For a second their was silence, and Harry sat up. Then people began to call for help. He looked along to the bridge and wasn't at all surprised to see a crater the size of a meteor. The figure he had seen earlier was nowhere to be seen.
There was a creak of twisted metal and the groan of broken wood, a carriage three down the train fell over, its wheels twisted and no loner able to hold it up. The screams from inside intensified. He picked himself up and ran as fast as his shaky legs would let him down the rail to the overturned carriage. The wheels were glowing hot still from the brakes and as Harry reached the carriage a curl of smoke bean to make its way skywards. He climbed onto the carriage, saw people pounding the windows, and gestured for them to get back. They obeyed after a couple of tries. Harry took aim, "REDUCTO!" The glass smashed. He leaned down and took two hands that reached up, and lifted, putting all his strength into pulling them out of the wreck. "Help me!" he panted at the two third years he had jus rescued, and they nodded and began pulling people out of the compartment. Harry moved to the next compartment, he glass was cracked so he kicked it. Neville reached up a shaking hand and Harry pulled him out, and then jumped in to pick up Ginny, who was unconscious while Neville pulled Seamus to safety. Harry moved to the next compartment, keeping an eye on the smoke curling upwards from the wheels.
McGonagall was there, pulling people out of the next compartment with Hermiones help. Harry jumped of the carriage, and told everyone to get away from the carriage. Mcgonagall and Hermione handed him an unconscious first year and Harry carried the boy to the group that was becoming larger every second.
Suddenly having an idea, Harry looked at the cargo carriage. He pulled out his wand again, "ACCIO BIRDCAGE!!!!!"
Hedwig and her birdcage landed in his hands a second later. He opened the cage, and thankful for the wrapper from a chocolate frog in his pocked, used a spell he had just learnt to write a quick message to Dumbledore, "Hogwarts Express attacked, stuck where we are as line is in ruins. Many wounded some dead." The driver and the fireman were lying on the ground with cloaks covering them. "Send help as quickly as possible. Harry."
The carriage caught fire and Harry stared until McGonagall passed and asked him what he was doing. He showed her the note and she scrawled a word underneath, and Harry instructed Hedwig to fly like the wind. Then he went back to helping the professor.
As there was only one teacher, it was up to the prefects and Harry and Hermione to organise things. Night was falling and Harry split the jumble of children into year groups, making sure that each had at last two Prefects. McGonagall magiced sleeping bags, but unfortunately could do nothing for shelter. Harry had just helped a boy with a broken arm into his bag when a shadow blocked the sinking sun. He looked up. Above him were no less than one hundred witches and wizards, slowly circling to a landing, and at the head, Dumbledore. Harry smiled in relief, a though that had reared its head a couple minutes into the rescue operation was put to rest. Blocking the bridge may have ensured that the children were easy targets, but now that help was here the Death Eaters wouldn't dare attack.
Many of the children stood and cheered, but the prefects hushed them. Harry followed McGonagall to Dumbledore, noticing that all the Hogwarts teachers were there, even Madame Trelawney.
"Albus, this is such a relief." McGonagall said, gripping the headmaster's arms. Harry noticed that she had dry blood on her face. He wondered if he did too. The teachers and the other witches and wizards hurried to the children, Harry saw Mr Weasley and Bill and Charlie before they ran towards the children. "What happened?" asked Dumbledore, taking in the carcass of the once beautiful train and crater from the bridge.
"We were attacked; Dementor's stopped the train but didn't actually attack. The DA members and I took care of them." Here McGonagall shot Harry, Ron and Hermione an amused look, but her face hardened as she continued. "when the Dementor's were gone someone blew up the bridge. Harry saw more than I did, but what you see here is the result of the explosion."
Harry looked around. Adult's bending over children, carefully reassuring them and healing them. The Hogwarts Express lay on its side, steam still curling from the funnel. The sun was setting and it gave everything a sort of eerie gold glow too it, making it all seem so surreal.
After greeting Dumbledore and describing the figure as best he could, Harry went back to helping out, running here and there with messages and holding bandages. Thankfully, none of the children were dead, only wounded, and the worst wound being someone who had been impaled in their shoulder by a flying bit of debris.
Harry was handing Madame Pomfrey a bandage when quite by accident he looked down the fence line of the meadow. He saw a movement down the bottom of the meadow. He followed the steadily creeping figure with his eyes and guessed its trajectory. The engine. Something told him that it wasn't to take pictures. He handed the nurse the rest of the bandage and hurried stealthily over to a slight rise in the field, and watched the figure moving towards the engine with his wand at the ready.
"What are you doing?" asked Hermione, coming up behind him.
"SHHHH! Look!" he whispered. The figure was crawling now, and Harry recognised the cloak, it was the same cloak on the same person who had blown up the bridge.
"Who is that?" she asked in a whisper.
"Who's who?" asked Ron in a whisper.
"There, look, I think he's going to blow up the train."
"Oh."
"Let's stop him."
After a hurried conversation they decided on an action plan.
Harry followed the figure, and when it was less than one hundred meters from the train he whispered, "Lumos Olem!" The spell lit the area up as light as day time.
The figure stated up straight, and Harry challenged him, "who the hell are you?"
"EXPELLIARMUS!!" came Ron's voice from the other side of the train. The wand that had been pointing at Harry flew into the air.
Behind him Harry could hear teachers shouting.
"Why blow up the train?" he asked the figure, who laughed in a hoarse kind of way.
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" called Hermione and the figure found himself floating ten feet in the air.
"Harry, what's going on?" asked Dumbledore coming up behind him. Harry, still keeping the scene lit up said, "This is the man who blew up the bridge. I saw him a coupe of minutes ago heading for the engine."
"Really?" asked Dumbledore, and waved his wand, the figures cloak fell off, revealing a pale and very angry face that Harry didn't know.
"Lunverles Lagnetha. My my." Said Dumbledore mildly. "I wasn't aware that you had escaped the Ministry."
"They don't know it yet." Snarled the captive.
Harry frowned; he'd hear that name before. Then he remembered that Langnetha was the name of the Death Eater that had come to the school and was responsible for the loss of his toenails the year before. His feet were still scared from that.
"I'm glad I bough Arthur Weasley with me. Ron, would you find your father please? He's with your sister I believe. We need a proper authority to make and arrest." Said Dumbledore and Ron sped off.
Harry snorted quietly, but not quietly enough, and Dumbledore smiled at him.
Thirty minutes later all the children were on their way to Hogwarts in carriages drawn by Thestrals. As there wasn't enough room for the baggage as well, some volunteered to stay and watch it until the Thestrals returned.
Harry was waiting to board a carriage when Dumbledore asked to see him.
"Harry, I want you to fly over the carriages for a little way and then fly ahead and warn the house elves. A pair of eyes above ground will do us good."
It didn't occur to Harry until he was in the air that all the adults had brooms of their own, and some of them would have been better at lookout than he. He was merely separated from the others for mutual safety, if anyone was watching they would know he was flying and would therefore not attack the carriages. He shook his head and kept flying.
An; there you go! How was that? Surprised, nonplussed? Tell me what you think!! And tell me what typo's I've made.