Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stood at the barrier in front of station nine and three-quarters, saying their last goodbyes to the Weasley family and Hermione's parents. Harry and Hermione had stayed at the Burrow over the summer. Harry had been told that it was too busy at Grimauld for him to stay there like he had last summer, but he knew that everyone was just trying to make an excuse so that he didn't have to go back to the place that would remind him so much of Sirius. Sirius had been a touchy subject with Harry that everyone had tried to avoid. At first, he had been grateful for this tactfulness but it had begun to annoy him as of late. Nevertheless, he had enjoyed a generally pleasant summer.
"Make sure you keep up your studies, and never mind what's going on here." Mrs. Weasley was saying in her usual authortive manner. She spoke, of course, at what was happening at the Grimmauld place and with Lord Voldemort. Now that the Wizarding World believed in his return and were on the lookout, Voldemort would have to be especially careful. Indeed, Voldemort or his Deatheaters hadn't been seen since the incident at the Ministry of Magic and it was assumed they were hiding away somewhere recouping their losses. However, there had been a definite increase in attacks against Muggle-born wizards – the pavement in front of their house became sinking sand, their garden plants grew teeth, and they found interesting things deposited on their front lawns. Probably the work of younger, non-Deatheater Voldemort supporters ... 'those blasted punk kids,' as Mrs. Weasley so called them.
"Yes, mum." Ron said flatly. He was beginning to harbor even more resent for his mother's matronly attitude, considering himself nearly at a grown man now.
"And keep in touch, dears." Mrs. Weasley continued.
"Yes, mum." Ron's answer was as droll as his previous.
"And Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, turning to Harry and looking at him pointedly. She embraced him tightly, unsettling his glasses which he adjusted when she had let go. "Take care of yourself." She said in slightly sympathetic tones.
Harry nodded, unsure of what to say. "You to." He added quickly and lamely at the last moment.
Mrs. Weasley proceeded to give everyone else their customary hugs, Ron's ears going pink with embarrassment from behind Mrs. Weasley's mass of red hair as she gave him an kiss on the cheek "Everyone else to, take care of yourselves. I don't want to hear about you getting into all sorts of trouble again." She warned.
"Oh, mum – they're not babies anymore." George piped from beside her, dressed in royal purple robes with real gold trim. His and Fred's joke business had been an instant success and the entire Weasley family, although still poor, was reaping the benefits.
"Yeah, mum – they can carry their own little lunch boxes now." Fred answered back, himself in grayish-white robes that sparkled with startling beauty; interwoven in the fabric were some unicorn hairs.
The twins laughed together uproariously, sound very familiar to Harry and that often comforted him in these days of uncertainty. He grinned good-naturedly. However, Ron beside him was flushed with anger. Fred and George had been teasing him all summer about his sudden attempts at maturity. Hermoine ignored the two and turned to Mrs. Weasley.
"You'll ask Mr. Weasley to keep us updated on what's happening at the Ministry?" She asked. Mr. Weasley wasn't here today on account of Ministry business, and he was hardly home at all either.
Mrs. Weasley sighed wistfully. "If I can get ahold of him myself." She said gloomily. The clock on the station wall chimed behind her and she jumped as if stung by a bee. "Well, you four better be off. Have a good year at school and remember what I told you – behave!" She said, herding Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny towards the barriers.
"Remember to uphold the honor of the Weasley family name!" Was Fred and George's goodbye.
"Wait!" Said Fred suddenly, causing Ron, who was poised to run at the barrier with her cart, to jerk.
"Have you gotten your binky, Ron?" George quipped.
Ron growled something in response and then proceeded to run at the barrier, pretending that it was his brothers that he was running into with his heavily laden luggage cart. Ginny, Hermione, and last of all Harry followed behind him.
Ginny was giggling and Ron glared at her. "You think those two are funny?" He asked angrily.
Hermione sighed. "I'm sure the success of their shop has just gone to their head, Ron. They'll be better once they learn a few hard truths about what happens with those who don't go to school." Although happy at Fred and George's Joke Shop's success, Hermione had not approved of their spectacle of dropping out of school last year. "Anyway, let's find a compartment on the train before they're all taken." She said brusquely, casting a disapproving look at a gaggle of giggling second year girls.
"What about the compartment for House Heads?" Harry asked without an ounce of jealously.
"We'll check and see if we can't just drop in a little late." The girl answered, and the four of them dragged their carts near to the back of the train.
They floundered around with their heavy trunks inside of the train until they found a compartment empty. Chattering about the coming year, they didn't notice that indeed the compartment wasn't empty – it contained a very small, delicately boned girl with skin the ruddish-tan of someone from the Middle East and brown eyes nearly as dark as her thick, black hair.
"Oh, hello!" Hermione said in surprise as she finally noticed the girl. Ron, Harry, and Ginny paused while they shoved their trunks under the seat to look. "Are you a new First Year?" Hermione said, standing up a bit taller in a position Ron and Harry had come to know as her "Head Girl stance."
The girl blinked up at her. "First Year?" She asked in a confused sort of way in a soft, gentle voice, and then jumped. "Oh, no ... I'm sixteen!"
Harry, Ron, and Ginny looked at each other awkwardly. "Is she lying?" Ginny mouthed, and Harry shrugged. This girl looked like she could pass for a first year.
"Really?" Hermione asked to smooth over the brief silence. "I've never seen you at Hogwarts before; are you transferring here from another Wizarding School?"
"No, this is my first year at any Wizarding School." The girl explained.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny continued to look at her in disbelief but Hermione nodded in sudden understanding.
"You're an Evigilo?" She asked quietly.
The girl nodded solemnly. "I found out this summer, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts sent out a tutor to help me catch up and learn. He said I was a very good learner," she blushed modestly. "He thinks I can come to the sixth year and do well."
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, and Harry saw with amusement, a tinge of jealously.
"What's an Evil-go-what's it?" Ron blurted out beside Harry.
Hermione glanced at him with reprimand. "Ron, we learned about this last year in Charms. We you paying attention?" She said. "An Evigilo ( she pronounced the word slowly for Ron ) is a wizard whose powers lie dormant until a later age." She explained. "They're very rare." Hermione added, looking at the girl, who gave a small smile.
The basket that Hermione held in her right hand squirmed and an annoyed 'merow' issued from inside. The girl instantly sat upright, her eyes glittering as they looked at the basket eagerly. "Oh, have you got a cat?" She asked breathlessly, reaching down on the floor under the seat to remove a cat of her own. It was rather small and pitch black in color, with startling green eyes.
"This is Minty." She said, holding up the cat. "Isn't she sweet?"
Harry glanced at the cat and decided it was one of the most arrogant things he had seen, human or animal. It peered around the room haughtily, tail flicking back and forth, it's manner that of a queen surveying her subjects. He felt Ron tense beside him; Ron hadn't taken a liking to cats, especially since Hermione's cat had proved himself more trouble than he was worth, even if he had caught Peter Pettigrew.
"She's lovely!" Hermione said, and then opened up Crookshank's basket so he could climb out. He fell out onto the floor and instantly caught sight of Minty, walking behind Hermione and peering from between her legs with intense dislike at the other cat. "This is Crookshanks. Oh, don't be shy Crookshanks!" She picked up the big orange oaf and cuddled him. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, and Head Girl of the Gryfinndor House."
"What a darling creature!" The girl squealed with delight. "I'm Tavi." She said happily and then looked expectantly at the others.
"Ginny Weasley, please to meet you." Ginny said with a smile, and settled herself down on the seat across from Tavi.
Ron and Harry stood there for a minute, each waiting for the other to introduce themselves. Finally, Harry cleared his throat and Ron spoke.
"Ronald Weasley." He said in his new, changed voice, which was slightly deeper. His eyes flickered from Ginny to Harry to Hermione, daring any of them to make fun of him for using his full name. None of them did, but Ginny looked ready to explode with laughter.
Harry felt Tavi's eyes on himself, and he sighed inwardly in resignation. "I'm Harry Potter." He said as casually as possible, and then winced as he waited for the typical reaction to his name. Here it comes. He thought.
"Harry Potter?!" She said, standing up in surprise and causing Minty to hiss angrily. "The Harry Potter?" Tavi waited for Harry's nod of confirmation before squealing, "I read about you in Important Figures of Magical History!"
Harry and Ron sat down and went through the usual, a conversation that lasted until the lunch trolley came along. With money given to her by Fred and George as a birthday gift, Ginny bought a myriad of magical snacks for them all. Harry supplied another round and soon they were all munching happily, chirping noises coming from the chocolate eggs that actually hatched. Later they explained to Tavi about Hogwarts and went over a few of the things that had happened there. She was an eager listened.
Near the end of the trip Ron and Hermione left to go to the Heads of Houses compartment, leaving Ginny, Harry, and Tavi to leave the train together once it reached Hogwarts grounds. They met up with Neville along the way and the four of them got into one of the horseless carriages that would take them up to the castle. Tavi gasped in delight and wonderment at how the carriages could move on their own. Harry, knowing better, simply stared at the thestrels and tried not to think to hard about what had happened last year. Ron and Neville went unusually quiet beside him.
