Harry Potter and the Residence of Death

Chapter 3- Hogwarts Express Again

Everything belongs to Goddess JK (except some future characters and the story.. you know what I mean)

My reviewers rock.

The next few weeks at the Burrow normally would have cheered Harry up, but he couldn't help but feel as if the whole Weasley family and Hermione, who had gotten permission to spend the remainder of the summer at the Burrow, were trying to protect him. For example, he was not allowed to go out to de-gnome the garden with his friends. He was always kept inside the house, being forced to eat cakes or cookies by Mrs. Weasley or being interrogated about sparkplugs or electric pencil sharpeners by Mr. Weasley. Ron and Hermione never brought up the subject of the events that had occurred at the end of last school year. He was also not allowed to read any copies of the Daily Prophet, and he assumed it was because there would be many articles about Voldemort's uprising or Sirius's death.

Some of the members of The Order of the Phoenix had also visited the Burrow to make sure that Harry was kept out of trouble. Tonks and Lupin had visited once each, and Mad-Eye had stopped by quite a few times, always equipped with a story of his earlier days as an Auror. He even revealed to Harry how he got his "Mad Eye". Apparently, he had gotten an Impediment Curse right in the eye, causing permanent damage and blindness. When the doctors and healers at St. Mungo's couldn't treat it and get it back to normal, they outfitted him with this new one. Throughout the story, Mad- Eye kept popping it in and out of his socket, and he kept offering it to Harry to hold. Harry politely declined each time.

The summer before his sixth year had been a long one, and he highly anticipated returning to Hogwarts. The night before September 1, Harry lay in a spare bed in Ron's room and thought himself crazy for wondering about why Voldemort hadn't found him during the summer. If Voldemort was so strong again, why hadn't he wrought havoc on the wizarding world yet? It made no sense that someone who had waited over fifteen years to return to power hadn't made one attempt to seek revenge on the one person who caused his downfall... He decided to stop thinking about the subject, and within minutes, he was asleep, waiting for the morning to arrive.

"EVERYBODY WAKE UP! WE'LL BE LEAVING FOR THE TRAIN STATION IN EXACTLY ONE HOUR AND EIGHT MINUTES! RON! DID YOU MAKE SURE THAT PIGWIDGEON IS IN HIS CAGE? GINNY! ARE YOUR ROBES INSIDE YOUR TRUNK YET? ARTHUR, ARE YOU SURE THAT THOSE MINISTRY CARS ARE ARRIVING ON TIME?" Mrs. Weasley's voice interrupted Harry's slumber. He opened his eyes, yawned, reached for his glasses, and pulled himself out of bed. He looked over at Ron, who had somehow wound up upside-down on his bed and was snoring loudly. Harry opened the door, and looked out into the rest of the house. Mrs. Weasley was frantic, running up and down the many flights of stairs in order to make sure that everything was in order. Everyone else, however, was slowly stalking through the hallways like zombies, scratching their heads and yawning.

"Ron, wake up," Harry said, barely awake himself.

"Ten more minutes..." Ron responded, groggily. He turned his head away from Harry and continued to sleep.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you..." Harry exited Ron's room and headed towards the washroom on the fourth landing. Before he even reached the door of the washroom, he heard Mrs. Weasley's irritated voice yelling for Ron to wake up. Harry chuckled and thought to himself, "I told you so."

Within forty-five minutes, the four Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry were sitting at the large breakfast table, eating pancakes. Harry glanced over at the unique clock that the Weasleys owned that indicated where each family member was at all times and saw that Percy's hand was on "Grave Peril".

"Ron, why is Percy's hand on 'Grave Peril'?" asked Harry.

"It's been on 'Grave Peril' for ages. That whole clock is wrong. Look. It says that Fred and George are 'Hard at Work' when it's common knowledge that they don't wake up until one o'clock in the afternoon," Ron replied, a drop of syrup dripping down his chin. "And it also says that I'm 'In Love', and obviously, that's not true."

"The taxis are here!" called Mr. Weasley. "Quickly, get your trunks and put them in the boot!" Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Harry each grabbed their trunks and cages and proceeded to their taxis. Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley were in one taxi, and Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley were in another. They all ignored the puzzled looks on their Muggle drivers' faces and entered their taxis. All together, they had four trunks, two owl cages, a cat cage, and three brooms.

"King's Cross Station, please," said Mr. Weasley in the front passenger seat. The taxi pulled away from the Burrow, and they were on their way to Platform 9 ¾. During the whole car ride, Harry and Ron amused themselves by listening and watching Mr. Weasley ogle at the speedometer. He also kept changing the radio station, causing the driver to become increasingly annoyed. He kept poking at things and laughing in an entertained fashion.

"What's this, my good man?" Mr. Weasley said, pointing to a knob.

"It's a cigarette lighter," replied the driver in a flat voice.

"Really? Does it get hot by itself?" Mr. Weasley's eyes widened.

"Why don't you stick your finger in it to find out?"

"I think I will!" Mr. Wealsey detached the lighter from the car and stuck his finger inside it. "Ouch! That hurt! Simply fascinating..." The driver glared at Mr. Weasley and continued to drive, occasionally swerving or stopping short.

The taxi finally arrived at the train station at ten thirty. However, by the time Mr. Weasley paid the taxi drivers, it was ten forty- five. He had spent fifteen minutes counting Muggle money and fumbling with the paper bills. "Paper money... honestly," he kept muttering. Harry and Hermione kept offering to count the bills for him, but he insisted on doing it himself. "Muggles are my specialty," he said, over and over again. Finally, he managed to pay the taxi drivers, and they ambled away, complaining about how mad Mr. Weasley was.

"Hurry up! We only have fifteen minutes go get on the express." Mrs. Weasley guided them to the wall between Platform 9 and 10. One by one, they all passed through the barrier and arrived on Platform 9 ¾. The Scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express gleamed in the sunlight. The four students stowed their trunks in the carriage compartments and boarded the train. Ginny, who had become a new Gryffindor prefect, headed towards the front of the train, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron found and empty one for themselves. "Don't you guys have to go to the prefects' compartment?" asked Harry, hoping that they didn't have to? "No, that's only for first year prefects," said Hermione. They waved goodbye to Ron's parents, and at exactly eleven o'clock, the train began to move, its destination: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

During the train ride, Ron and Harry played Gobstones, Exploding Snap, and Wizards' Chess while Hermione babbled about their summer homework.

"Don't you think that the chapter in Magical Drafts and Potions about love potions is enthralling?" Hermione asked. Somehow, Harry felt that her question was directed towards Ron.

"Yeah, sure," Ron said, distracted by the Gobstones.

"It says in the book that love potions only last for a few days if you test it on someone other than your one true love. Otherwise, if you find your one true love and use it on him or her, that person will instantly realize hidden feelings of passion and romance." Hermione batted her lashes and sighed. "Wouldn't it be nice to find your one true love, Ron?"

"Yeah, sure, tell me when you do," Ron responded, attempting to knock one of Harry's Gobstones out of the ring but failing to do so.

"I already have, Ronald," she replied slowly. She crossed her legs, propped her arm on her leg, propped her head on her arm, and stared at Ron. At that moment, one of Harry's Gobstones knocked into Ron's, and Ron's Gobstone emitted a putrid green substance, aimed right at Ron's face.

"Well well well... if it isn't Potty and Weasel... oh Weasley, your face is dirty, and you smell foul... but that's nothing new for you, is it?" asked a platinum blonde Slytherin. Two large boulders of students named Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, grunting in agreement.

"Get out of our compartment, Malfoy," Harry said in an acidic voice.

"Why should I? What can you do? You can't use magic," Draco Malfoy hissed.

"Not now, but I can turn you into a ferret immediately when term starts," retorted Hermione.

"Oh, how sweet. The Mudblood defending her two leading men. As much as I despise the both of you, I really thought that you could do better." Malfoy threw back his head and laughed. Crabbe and Goyle grumbled with laughter behind him. Hermione dug through her bag and revealed a picture of Malfoy as a ferret. Colin Creevey had taken it. Hermione flashed the picture to Malfoy, who winced.

"Get. Out. NOW." Ron shouted.

"Fine. But this isn't over. I have so many surprises for you this year, Potter." Malfoy then spun around and departed from the compartment, slamming the door behind him.

"What do you think he means by that?" Harry asked his friends.

"Probably nothing. Malfoy is all talk and no action," Ron muttered, angrily.

"Um, Ron, could I ask you a favor?" Harry then asked.

"What?" Ron inquired.

"Could you... wash that stuff off your face? It's really starting to smell." Harry pinched his nose and motioned for Ron to go to the washroom.

"Oh, yeah." Ron rose from his seat and exited the compartment. Harry then heard other students shouting, "What's that smell? It's awful!" Harry unpinched his nose, relieved by the sudden rush of fresh air. He looked over at Hermione, who was staring out the window.

"Hermione, is something the matter?" Harry asked.

"No, no... I just realized that I'll always be known as the Muggle-born genius with bushy hair," she sighed.

"So? Tons of students at Hogwarts are Muggle-born. And you hair has relaxed over the years..." Harry patted her shoulder.

"I suppose..." Hermione responded. "If you don't mind, Harry, I'm going to go to sleep now. Please wake me up later." Harry nodded, and Hermione turned back towards the window.

What is going on with Ron and Hermione? Harry asked himself. However, he could not answer this question because Ron entered the cabin, smelling better than before, but still slightly ripe.

"How about a game of Wizards' Chess?" Ron asked, taking his set out.

"Okay, but we have to be quiet. Hermione is sleeping." Harry pointed to Hermione, who was breathing heavily. Ron and Harry played Wizards' Chess until the train pulled into the station. Harry then shook Hermione awake. Each of them grabbed their respective belongings and got off the train.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione! How are yer? Stayin' outta trouble?" Hagrid scooped them into his arms and hugged them until they couldn't breathe. When he let go, they each took a moment to catch their breaths.

"We've been well, Hagrid. It's good to finally see you. Harry and I have been at Ron's house for the last month," Hermione replied, beaming.

"Well, that's good. Listen, I've gotta round up the firs' years... I'll speak to yer later." Hagrid then began shouting a familiar phrase.

"FIRS YEARS, THIS WAY!" boomed Hagrid. Harry smiled and walked with Hermione and Ron to their carriages, finally feeling at home.