The first stop was Diagon Alley, with two days left afterwards for packing, organizing, and anything else that needed to be done before they left. Harry was prepared for another public appearance, but he didn't know what people would think of him. It seemed as if everyone was trying to be especially nice, as if they knew of something he didn't. A tall, crooked man bowed to him, for no reason whatsoever, and said:
"Pleasure to have your acquaintance Mr. Potter."
Before Harry got a chance to respond, he disappeared into the crowd. Many others did the same thing, with solemn faces as they passed him or shook his hand. Maybe they heard about the whole Sirius thing, but, Harry thought, it was too late for them to feel sorry about that.
They met familiar crowds of people, but for once, didn't run into the Malfoys.
"That's odd," said Ron after Harry mentioned this, "it's usually as if they're looking for us to insult us."
They got their shopping done rather quickly, since the Granger's were in an extreme hurry to get out of there.
The ride to the train station was as normal as it should be. Mr. Weasley had yet again elongated a car for everyone to fit in, and this time it was Harry's. Nearly five seconds after entering the platform, two girls came running up to them, both of whom Harry had never seen before in his life. One had short brownish black hair and seemed to have the strength to break both of Harry's arms. But her smile was pleasant enough to charm anyone. The other one looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly. She had long waist length blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. This had to be Dumbledore's granddaughter; she had the same appearance; the only difference was that she had no beard.
"Hey Ash!" was the first thing that came out of their mouths.
"Hi guys! I've missed you so much," she said, hugging each of them in turn. Then she turned to face the group. "This is Mali Lauron and Sam Dumbledore, I've already told you about her." They both smiled and gave a slight wave.
"I'm guessing you're from America too," Ron said, looking at Mali with interest.
"Yeah, we flew over about two days ago, just in time to get to Hogwarts," Sam said.
"You're coming to Hogwarts too?" Ron seemed to be full of questions.
"That's why we're here. The only bad part is we have to be sorted." Mali gave a slight chuckle.
"Well so do I!" Paige exclaimed.
"I know, but we're going to look like such toast heads!" Ashley told them. They laughed while everyone else put on a confused look.
"Sorry, what was that?" Harry said; what could possibly be that funny about toast?
"Oh, I'm sorry, a toast head is like a 'dunderhead' to you guys. It's just slang from where we come from."
After a small and quick introduction, Mr. Weasley looked at his watch and exclaimed, "Come on you guys or you're going to miss the train!" The group marched forward, attracting way too many stares because of the large number of people and strange animals they had with them. There were ten people, five owls, along with Mali, Ashley, and Sam's, Crookshanks, and a bunch of trunks to go with them. Mali's owl was black as night, Sam's was a brown tawny, and Ashley's was a silvery white. They were all hooting happily to each other, knowing that an adventure was close at hand. Disappearing quickly onto the platform would be rather difficult this year, everyone left and right, every single one, was looking right at them.
They all stood twelve feet away from the barrier, just looking ahead. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny went through first, vanishing from sight. Ashley, Paige, Mali, and Sam went next. They ran towards the barrier, it being their first time running through the brick. Last were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Glancing left at Ron and right at Hermione, Harry had the same feeling that he was really going home this time, and nothing could be better than Hogwarts.
After saying goodbye to the adults outside, they all clambered onto the train with their belongings.
They found seats in the last compartment, which always seemed available. Only Neville was there, and he was sobbing softly into his cupped hands.
"What's wrong Neville?" Hermione asked frowning and looking at him with sympathy.
"It's my gran," he said while wiping his tears on his arm sleeve. "She had a stroke earlier this morning and was rushed to St. Mungo's. They're treating her right now."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I hope she's alright," Ashley said, stepping into the compartment along with Mali and Sam.
"Oh my goodness, we forgot to introduce ourselves," Mali said in a sophisticated tone.
"I'm Mali, and this is Sam and Paige. Oh and Fergy."
"What, someone else I haven't met?" Ron inquired, looking around for a new face.
"No you twit munch, she's right here!" Mali said, laughing and shaking her head.
"I won't even ask," Harry said, looking at each of them as if they were speaking in a different language.
"Ok, most of the words we'll use are going to be like dunderhead." Sam said simply.
"And Ashley has about a billion nicknames, so if we say something like Fergs or Fergy, it's most definitely her," Mali added.
Once the train began to move, Luna and Ginny entered with their trunks, Ginny looking slightly upset.
"Gin, what's up?" Ron asked, seeing her pummeling her trunk into the overhead storage.
"Dean," she said simply. Harry remembered that she had been dating Dean since the end of last year.
While everyone settled into their seats and started talking about their summer, the train began passing fields and wild country. Most of the ride, Harry sat and looked out the window. When someone talked to him, he acted normally, but afterwards, he went back to staring into space or down at his shoes.
"Hey, what's that?" Neville asked, pointing towards something sticking out of Mali's backpack.
"What's what?" Harry said, turning around and looking for something peculiar.
"Do you mean my wand?" Mali said, walking over and picking up her backpack. She took out her wand and they (everyone but the Americans) were astonished to see that it was tie-dye.
"Holy Cricket!" Hermione said, gasping with surprise, "how did you do that?"
"A spell," Fergy said, trying not to smile. Her, Sam, and Mali burst out in hysterical laughter.
"How'd you do it?" Hermione said, not seeming to notice the gales of laughter surrounding her.
"Well, first, think of the design you want," Mali told them, stopping her laughter to explain.
"Like what kind of design?"
"Hang on a sec." Fergy said, turning from them and grabbing her bag too. Her wand had red and black flames on it. It looked like it was really on fire. Sam produced her wand out of nowhere, in other words, her pocket. It had different color butterflies engraved on it.
"You're mad," Ron exclaimed, shaking his head.
"Thanks," Mali said, "we can't help it."
"Now all you have to do is look at your wand and concentrate on the design you want, like plaid, stripes, or whatever," Ashley said. "It's easier to start with just a plain color, because it takes a lot of concentration to make it really detailed. Then, say the spell, 'changelwan.'"
"And that's about it.'"
"Are you sure? It sounds kind of strange to me," Ron said, looking puzzled all over again.
"Ron," Sam said, "just watch and see if it works or not."
"Okay," Hermione breathed, putting a look of pure attention on her face as she forcefully stared at her wand. "changelwan!"
A small popping sound ensured them that she was successful. Mist and white fumes had enshrouded her wand, until the smokiness surrounding it became a violet cloud. Then, another popping sound and her wand was back to normal, except for the fact that it was now purple.
"Ooh, let me try!" Neville said, focusing on his own wand. Apparently he still had his self-confidence at doing spells. "changelwan!" To Harry's amazement, he actually nailed the spell. The same reaction occurred, and Neville's wand was now neon green.
"Good going Neville!" Ron said, looking at Neville with adoration.
"Man, I still can't do it," Paige sighed.
"So, where exactly are you from in America?" Hermione said, turning to the girls opposite her.
"Mali and I are from Harford County, Maryland, and Sam was from there too until she had to move to France with her grandmother after her parents divorced and all. That was about, what, two years ago?" Ashley said.
"Just about," Sam said.
"So, what have you brought with you this time Mali?" Fergy said, walking over to Mali's backpack and picking it up. Once she sat back down, she unzipped it and pulled out a large assortment of items. There were spell books and sheaves of parchment of every color, shape, and size, and the bottom of the bag was littered with bunches of scraps of parchment that had spells or notes scribbled on them. Her pack also contained cream colored candles and incense, along with the incense holder and matches.
"How many times do I have to tell you Mali, you can just light a fire with your wand!"
"I know, but it seems so much more original when you do it the Muggle way," she said, taking her bag and placing it on her lap to look through it.
"Hey, I didn't know I left this in here!" Mali exclaimed, taking a picture out of her bag. Everyone gathered around as Mali showed it.
"Ooh, this is one of my favorites! This is when Sam, Fergs and I went to an amusement park with some of our friends from Maryland. That's Georgiana and me in the middle, Sam n Fergs on our left, and then Adrian is there on the right."
"We miss them already," Ashley said. "We were great friends, and I hope we still are when we go back to visit. We've known them our whole lives, except for Sam, since she's been all over the place."
"Not like I wanted to go, I couldn't help it if practically all my family's gone," Sam said, looking sad for the first time.
"Yeah, but we're not blaming you," Ashley replied.
"You guys all have to lighten up!" Mali said, looking around. "Even if bad stuff's happened, you've got to get on with your life and make the most of it."
"Yeah, you're right Malers, cheer up Sam." Ashley said. She looked at her watch. "Shouldn't the trolley be coming soon? The trip has to be at least half way over."
"No, it'll probably be coming in about an hour," Hermione said, checking her watch now.
"How long did it take to get to your school from the train?" Ron asked.
"We didn't take the train, most of us could walk to our school," Mali said, closing up her bag and putting it back with the other luggage.
"Really? How close was it?" Ron inquired.
"If we walked, about twenty minutes, but we didn't stay there overnight or anything. We went home at the end of the day," Mali told them, pulling a little game out of her pocket.
"Isn't that a Muggle toy?" Hermione asked, looking at the handheld electronic toy.
"Yeah, it's my favorite game."
"Not Tetris!" Ashley said, laughing at Mali. "You never quit playing that game!"
"I know, I can't help it, it's addicting!"
"It won't work for long though, only about another few hours," Hermione mentioned.
"Why?" Sam asked her, puzzled.
"All electronic things these Muggles come up with quit working around Hogwarts."
"I think I read something about that. It was in 'Hogwarts, A History', right?" Sam said, racking her brain.
"How'd you know?"
"Oh, Sam's a real book worm; she knows almost everything about anything." Fergy said, chuckling.
"We like to read too, but we'd rather write," Mali stated.
The day slowly drifted onward, as the train progressed towards Hogwarts. The group changed into their robes, making quite a hustle and bustle in the little space.
Once they had entered Hogsmeade, they began to grab their belongings, hurriedly checking the compartment for forgotten things. The train pulled into the station, but having ridden many times before, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville were already out in the corridor, briskly walking toward the exits.
"Aren't we supposed to wait 'til we stop?" Sam asked, looking around as though she might get caught doing something wrong.
"Don't worry, they always tell you that but it's easier to get a head start on the crowd," Ron said, glancing back.
The sky was a beautiful midnight blue, clear and smooth, with stars scattered across it.
"Awesome night for stargazing, don't you think, Fergs?" Mali said, looking up.
"Most, definitely," Ashley said, "got your stuff ready for later?"
"Yup, you?"
"Double duh."
"Sis!" Paige exclaimed.
"Not again!" Sam said, laughing.
"What's going on? Hermione asked, stepping up next to them in the crowd.
"Later," Ashley whispered, pointing.
Harry saw the carriages approaching up ahead and heard the familiar cry of "Firs' years, foller me, please!"
"Oh, I'd better go!" Paige exclaimed, heading off towards the monstrous form of Hagrid.
The group pushed their way with the mass of students surrounding them, reaching the carriages and all cramming into the same one; not a good idea. The whole bumpy way up to the castle was uncomfortable with everyone squished together. Ashley even had to sit on Mali's lap and ended up falling over the others at every turn, all of them laughing incessantly.
The castle's endless rows of candles were glimmering in countless windows. Their faces reflected in the pale light of the glass, and the many turrets and towers loomed above them, as if to welcome them home.