Chapter 7: Return to Hogwarts
Harry and Ron spent the last days of their holidays playing wizard´s chess or exploring Snape´s house. But they didn´t talk about the conversation they overheard between Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. They both agreed, that it would be better to talk this over with Hermione.
At the very last day befor the return to Hogwarts, Snape announced that they had to join their schoolmates on platform nine and three quarters the following day.
"How are we going to travel there?", asked Ron.
"On broomsticks Weasley! Potter, do you know the fourpoint spell? It works like a compass. You´ll fly to King´s Cross invisible. Your trunks will be there and someone who removes my charm after you´ve arrived. Go to sleep now!"
Harry and Ron went upstairs, but they were much too excited to sleep now. They were both very happy to return to Hogwarts, because Snape´s company was not the best and the two of them had a lot of things to tell Hermione.
Harry didn´t mention this to Ron, but he was looking forward to seeing Ginny again, at the same time he was afraid of meeting her. "What spell did Snape mean?", asked Ron.
"You know! The one we´ve practised for the Triwizard, remember? It´s the one where the wand shows north, just like the needle in a compass does."
"Oh yes, that Four-point Spell!", added Ron. "But Harry... what´s a compass?"
"Em... I´ll explain later!"
The truth was, that Harry had no idea how to explain it. He hoped Hermione would be able to help him there. After talking for several hours, they finally fell asleep.
Next morning, Snape called them very early and they had to get up. After dressing, they went downstairs into the kitchen and brought all their havings into the Entrance Hall. With a flick of his wand, their luggage disappeared and Snape explained, that it had been transferred into the Hogwarts Express.
Harry was keen to mount his broom and fly through the air. It had been a long while since he had flown last, because Professor Umbridge had taken away his broom. She even wanted to give him a lifetime exclusion from playing Quidditch.
After breakfast, Snape put the same charm on Harry and Ron, as Moody had done the year before. And it was Mad-Eye Moody, who would wait at King´s Cross to remove the charm again.
Harry was excited, he didn´t want anything more than flying on his Firebolt right now. But still it had been much easier to face Moody pointing a wand at him, than looking at Snape doing the same. The opportunity had been good to jinx Harry, but Harry still wasn´t sure whether Snape really was a traitor, so he had to trust him.
Now it was finally time for the two boys to leave. They climbed their brooms and kicked off hard from the ground. Just before Ron and Harry flew over the low clouds, full of rain, they heard Snape yell: "Always fly north!"
Harry and Ron were flying over the clouds, but they had to dive every half hour, to check if the direction was still right. Every hour, Harry performed his spell and they flew straight on to north. After several checks for the direction, they saw a vey big city below them, which had to be London.
Harry and Ron dived and flew over Muggles, but they didn´t notice the boys. They flew along the River Thamse and as they were passing the London Eye, Harry felt a terrible pain inside his scar.
"Ah!" he yelled and several surprised Muggles looked into the sky, right through Harry.
"What? Your scar?", asked Ron and Harry nodded. The boys may have been invisible for others, but they were able to see each other.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ron had reached King´s Cross and were looking for Mad-Eye. After they walked throught the wall betwenn platforms nine and ten, they saw him apparating. The two boys went over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Moody slightly winced, but as he spoke to the boys, they knew he´d been waiting for them. He removed the charm and had a nice little chat with Ron and Harry. "Potter, watch out! You know you´re in big danger! Pay attention!"
Harry nodded and with Ron he climbed into the train, which was going to leave any moment. Ron had to get into the Prefect´s compartment, where the Headboy and –girl explained them their duties.
Harry went looking for an empty compartment, but it seemed, that every compartment was full or at least one person was sitting in there on his own. He paced down the corridor, still looking for an empty compartment as he suddenly heard a familiar voice call his name.
"Harry!" The voice came out of the compartment to his left and as he entered it, he saw Ginny sitting there.
"Hey Ginny! It´s good to see you!"
"Yeah, it´s good to see you too."
"Well... thanks for your letters!"
"Oh, there´s no need to thank me, everyone could have done that!"
"NO!", said Harry, "that´s not true. Nobody could´ve helped me more and nobody would´ve helped me the way you did. You did something really great for me this summer."
Ginny was blushing. "Harry... "
"No, please. I wanna explain." He took her hand. She was staring at him as he started speaking: "Ginny, you were offering me your help voluntareley. You were always there for me and listened to my problems. You made me accept Sirius´death and you gave me the power to stand all these horrible thoughts. You´ve become a very special friend for me."
"Harry, you make me feel uncomfortable...", started Ginny.
"No, look I – "
Harry had just wanted to explain his feelings to Ginny, when someone knocked on the compartment door.
"HI!"
Harry turned around and saw Cho Chang beaming at him.
"Hello", said Ginny and Harry together.
"Am I disturbing you?" Cho looked at Harry with shimering eyes.
"Actually... yes", answered Harry.
"Anyway, now I´m here and I wanted to talk to you Harry. I know I´ve made many mistakes last year. And by the way, I´m not going out with Michael anymore. So, maybe you and I could go to Hogsmeade together some time, because I still like you very much."
Harry didn´t know anything to reply. Why had such things always have to happen at the wrong time? Harry would have been glad about this chance, three months ago, but now he felt very uncomfortable. He still liked Cho, but only as a good friend. Now he would give anything, if Cho had keep her mouth shut. And the worst of all was, Ginny heard every single word Cho had said. But Cho hadn´t finished yet. As she said ´Goodbye´, she kissed Harry on the cheek and left them.
There was an extremely embarrassing moment, where neither Harry nor Ginny spoke. It was Ginny who broke the silence after several minutes:
"I suppose you´re happy now, aren´t you? I mean, she really likes you. Join her if you want. I´ll wait here for Ron and Hermione!"
"I don´t wanna join her. I´m not in love with her anymore. I´ll stay with you and wait for Ron and Hermione."
After several minutes of unbearable silence, Harry asked:
"So, now Cho doesn´t go out with Michael anymore, you could go out with him again."
But Harry saw immediately, that he had said something wrong. The way Ginny was looking at him and the way she was speaking about Michael told him, that he had hurt her feelings very much.
"Go out again with him? No, I don´t think so. What if he meets another girl? Will he push me aside again? No thank you. I´m not going back to him."
Harry knew, it would be rude to ask this, but he had to. His heart was racing very fast and he didn´t dear looking inot Ginny´s eyes.
"Em...do ... ehm... do still you go out with Dean?" What did he have to be so nervous right now? Ginny looked surprised at Harry.
"NO, not anymore. He´s not my kind of guy. He hasn´t got much interesting things to tell. Now, you´ve asked me about my dates, I think it´s my turn. So... what about you and Cho?"
Harry thought about his feelings for Cho again and concluded that there no special feelings left for her.
"I´m not going out with her anymore. It always ended in a disaster. And besides, she threw me away and went to Michael. I don´t wanna meet her anymore."
"Oh Harry, I´m so sorry. She played with your emotions and she´s still doing it."
"Yeah... maybe. But, we both have no dates anymore... I mean, maybe some time, we , you and I could just – "
Exactly at that moment the compartment door opened again, and Ron and Hermione came in.
Harry and Ron spent the last days of their holidays playing wizard´s chess or exploring Snape´s house. But they didn´t talk about the conversation they overheard between Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. They both agreed, that it would be better to talk this over with Hermione.
At the very last day befor the return to Hogwarts, Snape announced that they had to join their schoolmates on platform nine and three quarters the following day.
"How are we going to travel there?", asked Ron.
"On broomsticks Weasley! Potter, do you know the fourpoint spell? It works like a compass. You´ll fly to King´s Cross invisible. Your trunks will be there and someone who removes my charm after you´ve arrived. Go to sleep now!"
Harry and Ron went upstairs, but they were much too excited to sleep now. They were both very happy to return to Hogwarts, because Snape´s company was not the best and the two of them had a lot of things to tell Hermione.
Harry didn´t mention this to Ron, but he was looking forward to seeing Ginny again, at the same time he was afraid of meeting her. "What spell did Snape mean?", asked Ron.
"You know! The one we´ve practised for the Triwizard, remember? It´s the one where the wand shows north, just like the needle in a compass does."
"Oh yes, that Four-point Spell!", added Ron. "But Harry... what´s a compass?"
"Em... I´ll explain later!"
The truth was, that Harry had no idea how to explain it. He hoped Hermione would be able to help him there. After talking for several hours, they finally fell asleep.
Next morning, Snape called them very early and they had to get up. After dressing, they went downstairs into the kitchen and brought all their havings into the Entrance Hall. With a flick of his wand, their luggage disappeared and Snape explained, that it had been transferred into the Hogwarts Express.
Harry was keen to mount his broom and fly through the air. It had been a long while since he had flown last, because Professor Umbridge had taken away his broom. She even wanted to give him a lifetime exclusion from playing Quidditch.
After breakfast, Snape put the same charm on Harry and Ron, as Moody had done the year before. And it was Mad-Eye Moody, who would wait at King´s Cross to remove the charm again.
Harry was excited, he didn´t want anything more than flying on his Firebolt right now. But still it had been much easier to face Moody pointing a wand at him, than looking at Snape doing the same. The opportunity had been good to jinx Harry, but Harry still wasn´t sure whether Snape really was a traitor, so he had to trust him.
Now it was finally time for the two boys to leave. They climbed their brooms and kicked off hard from the ground. Just before Ron and Harry flew over the low clouds, full of rain, they heard Snape yell: "Always fly north!"
Harry and Ron were flying over the clouds, but they had to dive every half hour, to check if the direction was still right. Every hour, Harry performed his spell and they flew straight on to north. After several checks for the direction, they saw a vey big city below them, which had to be London.
Harry and Ron dived and flew over Muggles, but they didn´t notice the boys. They flew along the River Thamse and as they were passing the London Eye, Harry felt a terrible pain inside his scar.
"Ah!" he yelled and several surprised Muggles looked into the sky, right through Harry.
"What? Your scar?", asked Ron and Harry nodded. The boys may have been invisible for others, but they were able to see each other.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ron had reached King´s Cross and were looking for Mad-Eye. After they walked throught the wall betwenn platforms nine and ten, they saw him apparating. The two boys went over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Moody slightly winced, but as he spoke to the boys, they knew he´d been waiting for them. He removed the charm and had a nice little chat with Ron and Harry. "Potter, watch out! You know you´re in big danger! Pay attention!"
Harry nodded and with Ron he climbed into the train, which was going to leave any moment. Ron had to get into the Prefect´s compartment, where the Headboy and –girl explained them their duties.
Harry went looking for an empty compartment, but it seemed, that every compartment was full or at least one person was sitting in there on his own. He paced down the corridor, still looking for an empty compartment as he suddenly heard a familiar voice call his name.
"Harry!" The voice came out of the compartment to his left and as he entered it, he saw Ginny sitting there.
"Hey Ginny! It´s good to see you!"
"Yeah, it´s good to see you too."
"Well... thanks for your letters!"
"Oh, there´s no need to thank me, everyone could have done that!"
"NO!", said Harry, "that´s not true. Nobody could´ve helped me more and nobody would´ve helped me the way you did. You did something really great for me this summer."
Ginny was blushing. "Harry... "
"No, please. I wanna explain." He took her hand. She was staring at him as he started speaking: "Ginny, you were offering me your help voluntareley. You were always there for me and listened to my problems. You made me accept Sirius´death and you gave me the power to stand all these horrible thoughts. You´ve become a very special friend for me."
"Harry, you make me feel uncomfortable...", started Ginny.
"No, look I – "
Harry had just wanted to explain his feelings to Ginny, when someone knocked on the compartment door.
"HI!"
Harry turned around and saw Cho Chang beaming at him.
"Hello", said Ginny and Harry together.
"Am I disturbing you?" Cho looked at Harry with shimering eyes.
"Actually... yes", answered Harry.
"Anyway, now I´m here and I wanted to talk to you Harry. I know I´ve made many mistakes last year. And by the way, I´m not going out with Michael anymore. So, maybe you and I could go to Hogsmeade together some time, because I still like you very much."
Harry didn´t know anything to reply. Why had such things always have to happen at the wrong time? Harry would have been glad about this chance, three months ago, but now he felt very uncomfortable. He still liked Cho, but only as a good friend. Now he would give anything, if Cho had keep her mouth shut. And the worst of all was, Ginny heard every single word Cho had said. But Cho hadn´t finished yet. As she said ´Goodbye´, she kissed Harry on the cheek and left them.
There was an extremely embarrassing moment, where neither Harry nor Ginny spoke. It was Ginny who broke the silence after several minutes:
"I suppose you´re happy now, aren´t you? I mean, she really likes you. Join her if you want. I´ll wait here for Ron and Hermione!"
"I don´t wanna join her. I´m not in love with her anymore. I´ll stay with you and wait for Ron and Hermione."
After several minutes of unbearable silence, Harry asked:
"So, now Cho doesn´t go out with Michael anymore, you could go out with him again."
But Harry saw immediately, that he had said something wrong. The way Ginny was looking at him and the way she was speaking about Michael told him, that he had hurt her feelings very much.
"Go out again with him? No, I don´t think so. What if he meets another girl? Will he push me aside again? No thank you. I´m not going back to him."
Harry knew, it would be rude to ask this, but he had to. His heart was racing very fast and he didn´t dear looking inot Ginny´s eyes.
"Em...do ... ehm... do still you go out with Dean?" What did he have to be so nervous right now? Ginny looked surprised at Harry.
"NO, not anymore. He´s not my kind of guy. He hasn´t got much interesting things to tell. Now, you´ve asked me about my dates, I think it´s my turn. So... what about you and Cho?"
Harry thought about his feelings for Cho again and concluded that there no special feelings left for her.
"I´m not going out with her anymore. It always ended in a disaster. And besides, she threw me away and went to Michael. I don´t wanna meet her anymore."
"Oh Harry, I´m so sorry. She played with your emotions and she´s still doing it."
"Yeah... maybe. But, we both have no dates anymore... I mean, maybe some time, we , you and I could just – "
Exactly at that moment the compartment door opened again, and Ron and Hermione came in.