Chapter 4: Exam Nerves

As Harry clambered back in the car after the rest of them, with his trunk, Hedwig's cage, and the rest of his belongings, he realized something.

"Hang on, Mr. Weasley, how are we going to get out of here?" he said

"Uh… I think we can," said Mr. Weasley,"…no, never mind…um…"

"Dad, why didn't you think of this before you put the wall back?" Ron said grumpily.

"There were other things on my mind!" he said in protest.

"Is this your new car?" Harry asked. If it was, they had a great replacement for their old Ford Anglia.

"Didn't we tell you?" Mr. Weasley said obviously, "This is your birthday present!"

"What?" he said loudly. This had to be a joke; the Weasley's could never afford this for him, let alone themselves.

"We all chipped in and decided to get you a car, since… well, now you can drive and all." Ron said enviously.

"No I can't."

"What?" Fred said in a disbelieving tone.

"Well you don't expect the Dursleys to pay for me to learn, and it's not like they'd teach me themselves!" he said, now astounded that he had a car, but couldn't even drive it.

"Let's give it a test drive then, shall we?" Lupin said casually.

"Really?"

"Sure, it's not like there's anything to crash into while we're in the air." Hermione said, as though this settled it.

"Wait, you're not telling me…"

"Yup, it can fly all right." George said, finishing Harry's sentence.

"I dunno," Harry said nervously, "I doubt whether I can just get it started."

"Oh, nonsense, we'd best be off." Lupin said.

"Right, let's go, Harry, you first." Moody said in a growl.

"OK." Harry said, taking a deep breath and slowly seating himself behind the wheel.

The rest of them crowded into the back seats of the car, except for Mr. Weasley, who sat himself beside Harry.

"Alright now, Harry, check your mirrors," he said, buckling up. Harry thought it pointless to check his mirrors in the house, but did as he was told.

"But, Mr. Weasley, how are we going to get out of here?"

"Only one thing to do, stay in the car everybody, I'll be right back."

He stepped out of the passenger side and headed towards the window.

"I can just open up this window a bit," he said

"Arthur, how is that going to help?" Tonks said, leaning out the car window.

"You'll see. Expalond Laroge!"

The opening started to enlarge, getting bigger and bigger every second. Soon, it was like there wasn't a wall to begin with, just one gigantic hole made by the window.

"Ready Harry?" Mr. Weasley said, sitting back down and closing the door.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, ready to get out of here at last.

As they took off into the bright sunlit sky, it was like nothing Harry had ever felt before. Or maybe he had felt this way before. This was just like the trip to Hogwarts four years ago, when he and Ron had missed the train. The only difference was that the Jaguar was smoother, sleeker, and faster, much like a broomstick.

"Better put the invisibility booster on," Mr. Weasley said.

"You're not telling me this car can become invisible too?" Harry said, amazed at more shocking information.

"Yes well, now that I have experience with our old car, I knew I could improve yours and enhance the special features," he said with a sly smile on his face.

"Sure," Harry said, pushing the small silver button on the dashboard. The car was no longer there; he could hear his breathing and feel his hands on the steering wheel (he didn't dare let go), but he had become a transparent figure flying hundreds of feet above the ground. They were drifting miles away from the Dursleys' residence…wait…that reminded him of something…

"Hang on, Mr. Weasley," he said, "where did the Dursleys and all of their stuff go?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, we transported them to a false environment." Mr. Weasley said calmly.

"A what?" Harry asked, bewildered by the answer he received.

"There are certain places one can set up to get rid of a family of Muggles. The Ministry has been able to create alternative homes, sort of a replica of where they were already living; the same house, the same things. They even have the illusion of the same yards and streets."

"Well you can probably send them back now."

"Right, almost forgot…" and he waved his wand and said a jumble of strange words that Harry could not interpret. Something, small, no larger than a mouse or gerbil, pale yellow, came streaming out and shot out of the car in the direction of his aunt and uncle's place.

After many instructions from Mr. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, and Mad-Eye, Harry began to get the hang of the whole driving thing. Harry was becoming less anxious as the flight continued, but nearly had a heart attack when he had to dodge out of the way of a large fighter jet coming straight towards them.

"Easy does it," he was told, time and time again.

The directions he was being given were quite strange, and he only began to notice that he wasn't going to the Burrow after hours.

"Then where are we going?" he asked.

"Tell you when we get there," Hermione said with a mysterious smile lurking on her face.

Soon they were starting to move around in their seats, as if the journey was coming to an end.

"Are we here?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Just about, we should probably land by the trees over there," Tonks said, pointing.

"Okay," and he slowly and carefully brought the car towards flat ground.

Stepping out, he cast his eyes around for a familiar landmark, but couldn't find one. It seemed he had never been anywhere near here before in his life. There were a bunch of houses in neat little rows. All of the gardens were perfectly trimmed and the windows were sparkling. The houses looked rather large to Harry, though not as large as they really were, maybe he was just used to the size of Hogwarts. Everyone was walking briskly towards what he supposed to be the most perfect of the lot, and they were being led by none other than Hermione.

Something clicked in Harry's brain. They weren't going to Ron's, so they must be going to Hermione's!

She stopped at the front door and rang the doorbell. Harry saw Mr. Weasley look excitedly around while the bell sounded. Harry heard hurried footsteps as someone came to the door and opened it.

"Welcome, welcome, why don't you come in?" Hermione's mother said. Her father appeared behind her and followed them into the family room.

Harry allowed himself a glance around the first floor. It was by far the largest house he had ever set foot in. There was a marvelous foyer that was long and elegant. Paintings by famous artists and pictures of the family hung around every corner. Marble floors led into the family room, including a large fireplace situated on the opposite wall and a soft tan leather furniture set.

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves." Mr. Granger said, smiling and showing his perfectly aligned teeth; much like Lockhart's. "My name is Ben and my wife's name is Julie."

The Grangers seemed to become less tense around wizards due to their daughter's prolonged learning at a magical school. They were probably getting used to the strange surroundings and people by now. The only person they were really concerned about was Moody. They kept snatching glances at his magical eye, which was taking in every aspect of their home. Mr. Weasley on the other hand, couldn't hold in his excitement. He was over happy with the tea and almost spilled it into Tonks lap in the attempt to pour it in her saucer.

The evening wore on, and they had dinner and desert in the luxurious dining room. With such a large table, they didn't have to pull up a single chair. Everything in their house was in order. The cabinets were organized beyond belief, the books along the shelves were sparkling, and when Harry and Ron entered Hermione's room half hour later, they found it in a state of excellent cleanliness. It was also not what they expected. Harry thought he would find dozens of flowers and pink, frilly things, but came to find the color scheme included deep plums and golds, giving it a very royal, medieval look to it.

"Well, how do you like the place?" she asked them.

"Um, it's big," Ron said stupidly.

"I think it's very, er, nice, Hermione," said Harry.

"Thanks. I'll show you guys to your rooms. We barely have enough space for everyone!"

They followed her toward the far end of the upstairs hall; it seemed to go on forever. Eventually they came to a set of small circular stairs that wound slowly upwards. "You're lucky; we usually don't let anyone stay in this room." Hermione said as they stepped up onto a landing with only one door ahead.

"Why?"

It was clear when they entered why no one was allowed.

The entire room was full of what seemed to Harry very expensive, fragile items. The two king-size beds were hung with what looked like silk and velvet, and the lamps must have been antiques made from hand-blown glass and had real gold and diamond jewels encrusted in them.

"Why are we staying in here?" Ron asked as he stared open mouthed around the room.

"I thought you'd like being away from everyone else." She said.

"Ok then," said Harry.

"Besides, my room's right down those steps and down the hall, first door on the right, in case you get lost or something." Hermione said, smiling.

"Sure," said Harry, sitting down on one of the beds. He put his head in his hand and rubbed his eyes with his palm, sighing.

"What's up?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to him.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said, looking up and shifting.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked nervously, as thought he didn't really want to hear the answer. "Is it bad?"

"Well, you know how every time Voldemort was angry or happy or whatever, my scar hurt or ached?"

"Yeah…"

"For some reason, I haven't had one prickle all summer, not since…" He didn't want to recall the death; it would just remind him of his guilt. He gulped and sprawled out on the bed with his hands over his face.

"Harry, it's not your fault! You were trying to save him! It wasn't you, it was Voldemort!" Hermione said, desperately.

"I know," he said back in a miserable voice.

A few moments passed in silence…then…

"Hey Ron, Harry, Hermoine, your exam results are back!" Mr. Weasley called from the distance.

Harry's stomach plummeted like a fifty-pound weight. He had completely forgotten about his exam results. From the look on Ron's face, he had too. Hermione on the other hand, looked ecstatic with joy.

"Ooh, I've been waiting all month for them! I hope I did well, don't you?"

"We know you did well, but we probably flunked every exam," Ron said gloomily as he headed for the door.

"No you didn't!" she said with a faltering smile.

"Let's go check," Harry said, because he didn't want another row between the two of them.

"Okay."

They went down the small staircase and along the hall, out of a door to the right came Ginny. Fred and George followed them down too, probably hoping to see their results. At the landing, they spotted someone in the other room. He was talking very fast to Mr. Weasley. As the young man turned, they saw his face, and it was none other than…

"Percy!" Ron said in disbelief.