Chapter 3 – The Train Ride, Continued
A short while later, when both Harry and Ron were engrossed in their books there was a knock at the compartment door; a short round lady with a cheerful lady poked her head in, "Anything from the trolley, dears?"
Ron shook his head holding up a lumpy brown bag, "Mum packed me some food, no thanks."
Meanwhile Harry examined all the unusual candy sitting on the trolley, obviously it was wizard in origin because he had never heard of the large majority of it. Pulling out his coin purse he pulled out a few galleons dropping them on the trolley. "I'd like a little of everything, if you please."
The woman's eyes widened somewhat comically as she neatly deposited a large pile of sweets in front of the boy, turning to leave she stopped by the compartment door to call out behind her, "Enjoy dears!" and with that she was gone again, obviously headed to see if she could drum up anymore business from any of the students on board.
Scooting the candy to the middle of the compartment, Harry gestured at Ron, "Have at it Burn, I'll never be able to consume that much crap."
Throwing him a look Ron moved towards the pile grabbing a few chocolate frogs and a box of Bernie Bott's ever flavor beans; "Language Bolt, can't have the world turning on their golden boy-who-lived can we."
Harry rolled his eyes responding without looking up from his book, "Call me that again and I'll be tempted to try out a few of these hexes that look like so much fun, care to try me?"
"Not a chance Bolt, though dueling does sound like fun, we'll have to learn later."
Harry just made an affirmative sort of noise ignoring both the candy and Ron; Ron grabbed a few more chocolate frogs and shook his head wryly turning all of his attention back to the Transfiguration book.
He looked up at the cards that Ron was pulling out of the packages of chocolate frogs, "Burn, what are those?"
His brow furrowed as he held up what looked like a trading card, "What? These?"
Harry rolled his eyes and nodded, that was obviously what he had meant.
"These are wizarding cards, each one has a picture of a famous witch or wizard on it, this one is Dumbledore, I used to have a whole collection of them until he rip.....I mean until they accidentally got destroyed." Ron hurried to cover up his near slip, he had simply allowed his family to believe that it was his own foolishness that had gotten the cards torn, the purposeful actions of his brother.
Harry caught the stumble but didn't comment on it, after all everyone had their secrets and if he was to know he would find out later. Looking at the card he watched as the wizard gave him a wink and disappeared. He looked up at Ron who acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary, "I assume that its normal for cards to do this then, just disappear?"
Ron looked at him slightly shocked, "Of course, you can't expect him to stay there all the time can you, I mean how bloody boring would that get?"
Harry let out a low chuckle, "Well, pictures don't move in the muggle world, it's just an interesting concept to me."
Ron sat on the bench looking slightly gobsmacked, "They don't move? They just sit there? Wow."
Shaking his head, Harry turned back to the potions book, the intricacy and the timing fascinated him, it truly was an art form; not much unlike cooking a fine meal, he mused. Something that he had done many times at the Dursley's though he never was allowed to sample the fruits of his labor.
A little while later a girl with bushy brown hair poked her head through the compartment door, "Have either of you seen a toad? Neville lost his."
Both the boys shook their heads, but catching sight of what they were reading her face brightened and she entered the compartment, "Thank God, I though I was the only person who had actually cracked a book. I can 't wait to try out some of those spells in the Charms book."
Ron quickly looked up from his book to size up the new person entering their compartment. She was a little taller then Harry wearing a pair of black hiphugger jeans underneath an oversized black sweatshirt with the emblazoned words, 'I hope your stupidity isn't contagious' spread across the front.
Harry looked up and let a small smirk cross his face, "And you would be........?"
She smirked back at him holding out a hand, "Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you."
Harry shook her hand introducing himself and Ron, "I'm Bolt and that's Burn; Hermione doesn't suit you at all by the way."
With a haughty expression on her face she stood in front of the two boys, "Oh..really..., and what name would you bestow upon humble scraping me?"
Harry sunk into the seat as he thought, Hermione just seated herself on the same bench as Ron, but at the opposite end. Before Harry could speak Ron looked at her appraisingly, "Brigid"
Hermione looked over raising an eyebrow and Harry glanced up both interested in the name, "So Burn, who's Brigid, care to share?" Harry said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Brigid is the Welsh goddess of intelligence and protectiveness, she is supposed to be dark and powerful but a perfect ally to those she befriends." (A/N: This is actually true! I even looked it up!)
Hermione sat back considering the name, suddenly a dark smile grew on her face, "I like it, but how in the hell did you know that?! I've never even heard of her."
Ron just shrugged turning back to his book, "One of my brothers left a book about Welsh myths lying around, it was interesting, she just stuck in my head, you remind me of her characteristics."
Before either of the others could reply a voice was heard booming throughout the train, "WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOGWARTS IN 15 MINUTES."
Hermione winced, standing up, "Well, I better go get into my robes, I would suggest you two do the same, catch you later, Burn, Bolt." With this she ducked out the door heading back to her own compartment.
Ron smirked at Harry, "I like her."
Harry chuckled under his breath. "I do to, we'll have to find out more about her."
Suddenly Harry remembered her parting statement and stiffened, "There was no way that he would be able to change in the same compartment as Ron without him seeing the marks on his back, along with his litany of scars and bruises.
Ron had stiffened in his seat as well, there were bruises like handprints on his waist, and bites on his chest.
The two looked at each other weighing their options, neither wanting seem hesitant. Finally Harry stood grabbing his robes from his trunk and walked out of the compartment headed towards the lavatory in the rear of the train.
Thankful Ron stood and pulled out his own robes, throwing them on quickly before Harry could return. He shrunk his Transfiguration book as well, knowing that in all likelihood the feast would be boring, especially if he got stuck with the noisy, pushy, and annoying group of Gryffindors.
When Harry returned, Ron was just packing up the few things he had gotten out on the trip back into his trunk. "Hey Burn, it might be a good idea to shrink your Transfiguration book, that way if the Feast is dull we can always read." Hearing what he had just said Ron snorted amusedly under his breath.
Harry glanced quizzically at him wondering what was so funny in his statement, he not only shrunk his potions book into his pocket, but Hogwarts, A History as well, just in case.
Catching his questioning look Ron just shook his head, "If my family heard that last statement they would have either fainted from shock or ran away in fear, I am not exactly known as a scholar."
Before Harry could comment they felt the train pulling to stop, the same voice boomed over the intercom again, "WE HAVE ARRIVED AT HOGWARTS, LEAVE ALL LUGGAGE ON THE TRAIN, PLEASE DISEMBARK NOW."
Following the instructions Harry left his trunk sitting in the compartment and climbed off the train hearing a familiar voice boom out over the crowd, "Firs' yeas ova here, Firs' yeas ova here."
Harry easily spotted the gigantic man gesturing all the first years over to him, he started walking towards the large man, he noticed Ron's rising apprehension as they approached the giant, he turned to him, "Hagrid's the one who got me Hedwig, my owl, he also took me to Diagon Alley, he's a big softy."
Dragging Ron behind him he walked over, "Hello Hagrid, nice to see you again, thanks again for Hedwig." Harry's voice, though still not near completely open, warmed a few degrees for Hagrid, because so far the large man had proven himself trustworthy.
Hagrid glanced down, noticing the smaller boy in front of him, "Hiya Harry." His eyes roamed over Ron obviously recognizing the red hair of a Weasley. The dark expression upon his face however definitely wasn't a Weasley trait; he shrugged it off as he noticed all the first years had gathered around him.
"Firs' yeas all here? Well then folla me." Saying this Hagrid led them to a group of boats sitting on the nearby lake, "Four to a boat, no more, no less."
Harry and Ron quickly claimed a boat with Hermione greeting her with a nod, the other occupant of the boat was a slightly chubby boy with a nervous disposition; as the boats set off Hermione introduced them "Burn, Bolt, this is Neville Longbottom."
Harry and Ron both cave him curt cold nods, they pulled their books from their pockets obviously not in the mood for conversation. Hermione's face clouded, "Damn it to hell, I wish I had thought of that, with my luck this feast will utterly boring."
Before she could hex someone Harry pulled the shrunken Hogwarts, A History and handed it over to her shooting her a smirk that seemed to say, 'Aren't I smarter then you?' "Here Brigid, figured you might need this, had the same thought myself."
Hermione grabbed the book with a half smile, "You are bloody awesome Bolt." And with that she buried herself in the book.
After some time they rounded a corner in the lake and sounds of excitement and wonder rang out across the lake, even Ron, Hermione, and Harry were taken aback by the sheer brilliance of the castle where they would spend their next seven years.
As the boats ran aground Hagrid climbed out of the front one ushering the students to a large set of wooden doors. The doors were opened by a stern looking witch with her hair pulled tightly back in a bun and a straight no nonsense set to her mouth.
Hagrid stepped aside gesturing to the students, "The firs' yeas Professor McGonagall."
The witch at the door nodded at the giant, "Thank you Hagrid, I will take it from here. First years follow me please."
With this the herd of first years followed the witch inside and as the large doors swung shut behind them Harry, Ron, and Hermione wondered just what they had gotten themselves into.
A short while later, when both Harry and Ron were engrossed in their books there was a knock at the compartment door; a short round lady with a cheerful lady poked her head in, "Anything from the trolley, dears?"
Ron shook his head holding up a lumpy brown bag, "Mum packed me some food, no thanks."
Meanwhile Harry examined all the unusual candy sitting on the trolley, obviously it was wizard in origin because he had never heard of the large majority of it. Pulling out his coin purse he pulled out a few galleons dropping them on the trolley. "I'd like a little of everything, if you please."
The woman's eyes widened somewhat comically as she neatly deposited a large pile of sweets in front of the boy, turning to leave she stopped by the compartment door to call out behind her, "Enjoy dears!" and with that she was gone again, obviously headed to see if she could drum up anymore business from any of the students on board.
Scooting the candy to the middle of the compartment, Harry gestured at Ron, "Have at it Burn, I'll never be able to consume that much crap."
Throwing him a look Ron moved towards the pile grabbing a few chocolate frogs and a box of Bernie Bott's ever flavor beans; "Language Bolt, can't have the world turning on their golden boy-who-lived can we."
Harry rolled his eyes responding without looking up from his book, "Call me that again and I'll be tempted to try out a few of these hexes that look like so much fun, care to try me?"
"Not a chance Bolt, though dueling does sound like fun, we'll have to learn later."
Harry just made an affirmative sort of noise ignoring both the candy and Ron; Ron grabbed a few more chocolate frogs and shook his head wryly turning all of his attention back to the Transfiguration book.
He looked up at the cards that Ron was pulling out of the packages of chocolate frogs, "Burn, what are those?"
His brow furrowed as he held up what looked like a trading card, "What? These?"
Harry rolled his eyes and nodded, that was obviously what he had meant.
"These are wizarding cards, each one has a picture of a famous witch or wizard on it, this one is Dumbledore, I used to have a whole collection of them until he rip.....I mean until they accidentally got destroyed." Ron hurried to cover up his near slip, he had simply allowed his family to believe that it was his own foolishness that had gotten the cards torn, the purposeful actions of his brother.
Harry caught the stumble but didn't comment on it, after all everyone had their secrets and if he was to know he would find out later. Looking at the card he watched as the wizard gave him a wink and disappeared. He looked up at Ron who acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary, "I assume that its normal for cards to do this then, just disappear?"
Ron looked at him slightly shocked, "Of course, you can't expect him to stay there all the time can you, I mean how bloody boring would that get?"
Harry let out a low chuckle, "Well, pictures don't move in the muggle world, it's just an interesting concept to me."
Ron sat on the bench looking slightly gobsmacked, "They don't move? They just sit there? Wow."
Shaking his head, Harry turned back to the potions book, the intricacy and the timing fascinated him, it truly was an art form; not much unlike cooking a fine meal, he mused. Something that he had done many times at the Dursley's though he never was allowed to sample the fruits of his labor.
A little while later a girl with bushy brown hair poked her head through the compartment door, "Have either of you seen a toad? Neville lost his."
Both the boys shook their heads, but catching sight of what they were reading her face brightened and she entered the compartment, "Thank God, I though I was the only person who had actually cracked a book. I can 't wait to try out some of those spells in the Charms book."
Ron quickly looked up from his book to size up the new person entering their compartment. She was a little taller then Harry wearing a pair of black hiphugger jeans underneath an oversized black sweatshirt with the emblazoned words, 'I hope your stupidity isn't contagious' spread across the front.
Harry looked up and let a small smirk cross his face, "And you would be........?"
She smirked back at him holding out a hand, "Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you."
Harry shook her hand introducing himself and Ron, "I'm Bolt and that's Burn; Hermione doesn't suit you at all by the way."
With a haughty expression on her face she stood in front of the two boys, "Oh..really..., and what name would you bestow upon humble scraping me?"
Harry sunk into the seat as he thought, Hermione just seated herself on the same bench as Ron, but at the opposite end. Before Harry could speak Ron looked at her appraisingly, "Brigid"
Hermione looked over raising an eyebrow and Harry glanced up both interested in the name, "So Burn, who's Brigid, care to share?" Harry said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Brigid is the Welsh goddess of intelligence and protectiveness, she is supposed to be dark and powerful but a perfect ally to those she befriends." (A/N: This is actually true! I even looked it up!)
Hermione sat back considering the name, suddenly a dark smile grew on her face, "I like it, but how in the hell did you know that?! I've never even heard of her."
Ron just shrugged turning back to his book, "One of my brothers left a book about Welsh myths lying around, it was interesting, she just stuck in my head, you remind me of her characteristics."
Before either of the others could reply a voice was heard booming throughout the train, "WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOGWARTS IN 15 MINUTES."
Hermione winced, standing up, "Well, I better go get into my robes, I would suggest you two do the same, catch you later, Burn, Bolt." With this she ducked out the door heading back to her own compartment.
Ron smirked at Harry, "I like her."
Harry chuckled under his breath. "I do to, we'll have to find out more about her."
Suddenly Harry remembered her parting statement and stiffened, "There was no way that he would be able to change in the same compartment as Ron without him seeing the marks on his back, along with his litany of scars and bruises.
Ron had stiffened in his seat as well, there were bruises like handprints on his waist, and bites on his chest.
The two looked at each other weighing their options, neither wanting seem hesitant. Finally Harry stood grabbing his robes from his trunk and walked out of the compartment headed towards the lavatory in the rear of the train.
Thankful Ron stood and pulled out his own robes, throwing them on quickly before Harry could return. He shrunk his Transfiguration book as well, knowing that in all likelihood the feast would be boring, especially if he got stuck with the noisy, pushy, and annoying group of Gryffindors.
When Harry returned, Ron was just packing up the few things he had gotten out on the trip back into his trunk. "Hey Burn, it might be a good idea to shrink your Transfiguration book, that way if the Feast is dull we can always read." Hearing what he had just said Ron snorted amusedly under his breath.
Harry glanced quizzically at him wondering what was so funny in his statement, he not only shrunk his potions book into his pocket, but Hogwarts, A History as well, just in case.
Catching his questioning look Ron just shook his head, "If my family heard that last statement they would have either fainted from shock or ran away in fear, I am not exactly known as a scholar."
Before Harry could comment they felt the train pulling to stop, the same voice boomed over the intercom again, "WE HAVE ARRIVED AT HOGWARTS, LEAVE ALL LUGGAGE ON THE TRAIN, PLEASE DISEMBARK NOW."
Following the instructions Harry left his trunk sitting in the compartment and climbed off the train hearing a familiar voice boom out over the crowd, "Firs' yeas ova here, Firs' yeas ova here."
Harry easily spotted the gigantic man gesturing all the first years over to him, he started walking towards the large man, he noticed Ron's rising apprehension as they approached the giant, he turned to him, "Hagrid's the one who got me Hedwig, my owl, he also took me to Diagon Alley, he's a big softy."
Dragging Ron behind him he walked over, "Hello Hagrid, nice to see you again, thanks again for Hedwig." Harry's voice, though still not near completely open, warmed a few degrees for Hagrid, because so far the large man had proven himself trustworthy.
Hagrid glanced down, noticing the smaller boy in front of him, "Hiya Harry." His eyes roamed over Ron obviously recognizing the red hair of a Weasley. The dark expression upon his face however definitely wasn't a Weasley trait; he shrugged it off as he noticed all the first years had gathered around him.
"Firs' yeas all here? Well then folla me." Saying this Hagrid led them to a group of boats sitting on the nearby lake, "Four to a boat, no more, no less."
Harry and Ron quickly claimed a boat with Hermione greeting her with a nod, the other occupant of the boat was a slightly chubby boy with a nervous disposition; as the boats set off Hermione introduced them "Burn, Bolt, this is Neville Longbottom."
Harry and Ron both cave him curt cold nods, they pulled their books from their pockets obviously not in the mood for conversation. Hermione's face clouded, "Damn it to hell, I wish I had thought of that, with my luck this feast will utterly boring."
Before she could hex someone Harry pulled the shrunken Hogwarts, A History and handed it over to her shooting her a smirk that seemed to say, 'Aren't I smarter then you?' "Here Brigid, figured you might need this, had the same thought myself."
Hermione grabbed the book with a half smile, "You are bloody awesome Bolt." And with that she buried herself in the book.
After some time they rounded a corner in the lake and sounds of excitement and wonder rang out across the lake, even Ron, Hermione, and Harry were taken aback by the sheer brilliance of the castle where they would spend their next seven years.
As the boats ran aground Hagrid climbed out of the front one ushering the students to a large set of wooden doors. The doors were opened by a stern looking witch with her hair pulled tightly back in a bun and a straight no nonsense set to her mouth.
Hagrid stepped aside gesturing to the students, "The firs' yeas Professor McGonagall."
The witch at the door nodded at the giant, "Thank you Hagrid, I will take it from here. First years follow me please."
With this the herd of first years followed the witch inside and as the large doors swung shut behind them Harry, Ron, and Hermione wondered just what they had gotten themselves into.