MURDER ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. They all belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. The title is a spin off of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.

Chapter Two

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat in their compartment, huddled closer together than normal. Hermione's bottom lip quivered slightly as she stared at the firmly latched compartment door.

They were all just waiting to hear a scream erupt throughout the train. Harry kept trying to get towards the door, to help, but Hermione would not let him leave.

"It's too dangerous. You could be killed!" she said, almost in hysterics.

Ron however was acting completely different. His body was limp, and he was staring mindlessly into space.

"Hey you guys," Ron said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Do you remember that seventh year we saw before?"

His two best friends nodded. "Come to think of it," Harry broke in, "I've never seen him before."

"Well Hogwarts is a big school." Hermione intervened. "There are usually over six hundred students. A read it in Hogwarts: A History."

Ron rolled his eyes. "This is hardly the time to be quoting that stupid book. People are dying and all we can do is sit here and talk about some stupid seventh year. Besides no one else saw him. People will think we are crazy if we point that out."

Hermione's lip quivered more violently. She was about to slash back at Ron, but another blood-piercing scream erupted, followed by another and another.

Harry's eyes opened wider. "We should go out there."

"Are you serious?" Hermione squealed. "If we go out there, we'll be next."

"But don't you want to help those people?" Harry remarked angrily. "They are our classmates!"

Ron nodded, as if he was agreeing with Harry, but did not say a word.

"What if Malfoy's behind it?" Harry suggested, trying to remain calm. "He hates practically everyone in this school. He could easily bring a knife onto this train."

"Anyone could easily bring a knife onto this train." Ron said. However, Harry was determined to pin it on Malfoy, so he chose to ignore Ron.

Hermione cleared her throat quietly, as though she really didn't want to speak, but she did anyway. "You can make wounds like that with a wand."

Harry just stared at her. "What?"

"Well," Hermione continued, "A read a book called Unraveling Dark Magic Mysteries: Spells You Should Know About that was in the restricted section. There is a spell in there called 'gashervesta.' The person who casts the spell can move their wand through the air, and then jab it, making stab wounds."

Ron gaped and still said nothing. "Well that explains it." Harry said, "Malfoy is involved in the Dark Arts-"

"We don't know that for sure.." Hermoine said.

"Of course we do. He's in bloody Slytherin. WHAT MORE EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED?" Harry retaliated.

"Calm down mate." Ron said. "If anyone stops this madman-"

"Or woman." Hermione interrupted.

"Right, if anyone stops this mad person, than it will probably an adult who isn't on the train. Maybe the conductor and the trolley lady went for help?" Ron suggested.

"Well don't you think help would be here by now?" Harry said, still blowing off some steam.

"Harry does have a point. We are moving close to Hogwarts. If help was coming, they should be here by now." Hermione whispered, hoping that what she was saying couldn't be true.

"Well then, we just need to be prepared to defend ourselves." Harry said, expecting the worst. "Do you guys have your wands ready?"

Hermione nodded and Ron pointed to his front pocket, where his wand was resting.

"Okay then, next time we hear someone scream, we'll leave the compartment and head to the source. That way, we'll hopefully be able to catch the killer. I'll keep the invisibility cloak with me just in case."

With that, the trio stood up and prepared themselves to rush from the corridor. Harry hastily pocketed his invisibility cloak.

"Shouldn't we-" Hermione began, but she never finished her sentence.

At that very moment, the train came to a screeching halt. Hermione stumbled, and almost smashed her head into the outer window, but Ron caught her just in time.

Before any of them could act any further, the train lights went out, and not a sound could be heard.

A/N-Okay, that's all for chapter two. I'll try and get the third chapter up soon. Until then, please review:)