Chapter
17 All Aboard
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Thanks
to my Beta reader and my
reviewers.
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"Madame
Amelia Bones." Arthur finished quietly. "Madame Bones has
been elected to replace Fudge until a new Minister can be appointed,"
he explained looking around the room. "So we brought her into
the Order, hoping to help her correct the mistakes made by Fudge."
It
had been nearly two weeks since Arthur Weasley had introduced Amelia
Bones to the Order and since Bones herself had taken the place of the
Minister. Since then a great many changes had been made to the
wizarding world. First and foremost had been alerting the public of
Voldermort's return, every piece of news in the wizarding
world
had carried the news, and pamphlets had been sent out instructing
wizarding families what to do in crisis situations. Second had been
speeding up the training of Aurors and placing them and the magical
law enforcement officers on the streets of popular wizarding places.
These had been two of the first but many others had followed.
In a matter of days the wizarding world had gone to full alert; the Dementors had disappeared and Ministry officials were controlling Azkaban. Harry had been happy that finally the wizarding world was becoming alert fully. Almost as a response, Death Eater attacks became more and more frequent. Usually they hit Muggles, but a number of attacks had been made against Muggle-borns. Today though the wizarding world had became even more tense, for tomorrow the biggest gathering of magical people this summer would occur: the journey back to Hogwarts.
The
Ministry was said to already be preparing Aurors and M.L.E.O for the
task. Placing them in and around King's Cross Station. Wards and
defensive positions had been set up at once on Platform Nine and
Three Quarters. The defense got worse with
hundred of Aurors
standing around, just waiting for trouble. The world had tensed and
only the most daring of people would attack but still they prepared
for the worst, taking almost every Auror and M.L.E.O off the streets
and putting them there. Those who weren't there or heading there were
those who knew a certain secret and were at a hidden house preparing
for escort duty.
There
five people were preparing for the return trip and everyone else was
preparing to escort them for their return trip. There the wizarding
world's only hope waited, preparing to return to school and those who
had sworn to protect him prepared to defend him in case of any
attacks. When the house was finally silenced for the night it was
well past midnight and everyone had finally gotten prepared for the
next day. They all fell into a deep sleep.
Half the house
woke late on September 1st and chaos ruled the day. The five kids
returning to school scrambled to make sure they had everything, while
all the adults tried to help them while getting ready themselves.
When everyone was finally ready they left the house in small groups,
first and foremost was Harry and his escort of
Tonks, Kingsley
Shacklebolt, and two of the men and women who had become known as
Shadows. Following them were the Weasleys, Hermione, and Blaise with
four Shadows, and a disguised Lupin. The last group was Moody with
Rose, Ginger, and the girls who were toting the luggage.
Everyone made it safely to the station and through the barrier where everyone was alert. They had to pass through a high-tech wizarding security system and then were allowed to continue to the train. All the children were hugged and Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Blaise all boarded the train. Harry led the way down the train until they found a empty compartment to set their stuff in and then they waved out the window as the train began moving. They all sat back in the seats and got comfortable for the long ride.
Harry and Ron both closed their eyes and leaned their head back trying to catch up on the sleep they had been shaken from earlier in the morning. Ginny left and went looking for her friends, and Hermione and Blaise both pulled out books. Somewhere along the way as the train chugged through the countryside, the world seemed to relax. No one had tried anything. After they had caught naps, Harry and Ron engaged in a game of chess while the girls talked quietly. As they sky began to get dark the boys left while the girls got dressed and then the girls did the same while the boys slipped on their robes, already talking about the coming feast.
Together
the group climbed out of the train pushing their way towards the
carriages. The familiar shape of Hagrid as he yelled for the first
years was a welcome sight indeed. They all waved as they climbed into
one of the Thestral pulled carriages and
waited while it drove
them up to the castle steps. They all climbed out and hurried up the
steps, fighting their way through the rushing crowd. Once inside they
headed for the tables, three of them to the Gryffindor and one of
them to the Slytherin. When the hall had quieted and everyone was
watching Dumbledore, Professor McGonagal led the new first years into
the hall.
Author's
Note - Not the longest or best chapter but it boosted along the story
a good bit and that was what I wanted. Hopefully if you could get
through this then you're awaiting the next chapter. Hopefully it'll
be better and be out as soon as I can make up a song.
And a
note to my reviewers.
linky2 - Does that answer your
question?
Cronenus - Thanks.
jbfritz - Thanks.
DMP -
Thanks.
Gaul1 - Thanks.
Slimpun - If you reread chapter 16,
you'll see I changed it, I decided not to go with good Malfoy.
Thanks.