DISCLAIMER: I STILL OWN NOTHING!
SECOND CHANCE
CHAPTER 2: THE NEW HOGWARTS
The next two weeks flew past and Oliver found himself on the platform for the Hogwarts Express. It was the same scene as he'd remembered: hundreds of young witches and wizards piling their luggage onto the train, incoming first-years trying to pry themselves from their mothers, friends hugging after not seeing one another for three months…
He missed the feeling of his throat lumping as he saw his Quiddich team, of his heart swelling as Bell embraced him, and of his mind spinning as he imagined the Quiddich Cup in his hands.
Smiling reminiscently, the pro Keeper stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. Upon entering, the noise died down completely. He cursed his luck; he had just entered the compartment of the frivolous third-years that had stalked him as a seventh-year.
"OLLIE! HE'S BACK!"
Ducking from their grasps, he ran to the next compartment and found the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan huddled in the group, discussing the latest line of merchandise for their joke shop. One of the twins, Oliver could not tell, noticed him.
"Oi! It's Ollie!"
"Fred, George, Lee," Wood nodded in acknowledgment. "You three back too?"
"McGonagall invited Lee back to do Quiddich commentary," said George, toying with his updated Extendable Ears. "Dunno why she invited Forge and I back. Maybe to finish our seventh-year and graduate."
"Oh, I heard about the Umbridge fiasco. Good one," complimented Wood. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Have any of you seen Katie?"
"Up front, with Spinnet and Johnson."
"I'm sure ickle Ollie will be delighted to see dear Katherine again," teased George, prompting Fred and Lee to make kissing sounds. Before they could move on to the more intimate sound effects, the compartment door slid open and a dark, skinny girl with dreadlocks entered.
"I've been looking everywhere for you three," she said, oblivious to her former Captain's presence. Hey eyes lingered on him for a while before she covered her mouth in surprise. "OLIVER!"
Before he could reply, his former Chaser launched herself at him.
"Glad to see some things never change," Wood choked out, winded by the unexpected assault.
"C'mon, we've been waiting for you lot in the front."
The twins and Lee Jordan took longer packing their scattered merchandise but Wood, who only had one carry on, cautiously followed her out.
To be frank, Wood finally knew what it feels to be like the Muggle boxer Muhammad Ali during his match with George Foreman in Zaire. Every Gryffindor compartment he walked by, he heard people chant, "Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!" the name of their champion. He couldn't help but feel flattered by the gesture.
"So what've you been up to?" Oliver asked, following the dark girl along the compartment.
"I've been studying at St. Mungo's Prep," said Angelina proudly. "And I've also been training to play pro Quiddich."
Oliver smiled. He'd expected as much. After all, she was as crazy about Quiddich as he was.
"Allie's been training as a Hit Wizard," she explained. "The Ministry stationed her to guard Hogwarts. You know, if it can happen to Dumbledore…"
"Yeah, I heard about that," muttered Wood, his eyes downcast.
"From what I've gathered, Harry didn't take it well," she continued, keeping her voice low. "Thought about dropping out and hunting You-Know-Who down. Of course, McGonagall got wind of it and stopped him."
"I haven't seen him in any of the compartments," said Wood, stepping over a pumpkin juice stain on the floor.
"No one has," whispered the dark Chaser. Pushing the carriage door ajar, she pushed her former Quiddich Captain into the compartment. "Here we are."
"Never been brilliant in any one subject," he heard Katie say, "Then again, the Weasley twins got accepted."
Alicia Spinnet, who was leafing through an article in Witch Weekly, looked up.
"Wood!" she shrieked, throwing the magazine in the air. The picture of Oliver Wood was emblazoned on the front, smiling smugly.
"How've you been," Katie asked, beaming. She stood up and threw her arms around her former Quiddich Captain.
"Great," he answered, his voice accentuated by the Scottish brogue he knew the girls couldn't resist. He smiled warmly at his youngest Chaser. If the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan had not made their noisy entrance, he would've noticed the blush forming on her cheeks.
"Blimey, that's the last time I let you show off the goods," heaved Fred, who looked as if he had run a marathon. Lee smiled impishly, hiding the untested invention behind him. "Wee toddlers from all direction. I swear, they're getting smaller and smaller…"
"Do we dare ask what you lot have done?" asked Alicia, raising her eyebrows.
"Nothing too dreadful," said George nonchalantly. "Weasley's Seismic Chuckhole, our latest invention."
"McGonagall's going to have a fit," Lee said happily. "Once she sees the first-years. Blimey, they scare easy."
They weren't kidding; the compartment behind was unnaturally silent. The look in the first-years' eyes spoke volumes though.
"Naturally, it was all in good fun," defended Lee, still smiling.
"Nobody got hurt," George said, gnawing on a Chocolate Frog.
"What about that chubby bloke? The one that was stuck in his seat and almost fell out?"
"Well, ALMOST nobody got hurt," corrected George. "He'd only a scratch on his knee, and we mended it perfectly."
"Though we couldn't vanish the deed he did in his knickers," chortled Lee. "Even if we knew how, we wouldn't have. That was a classic."
Fred and George doubled over in their seats, laughing.
"Really," groaned Wood, attempting to erase the mental picture but to no avail. "Was that really necessary?"
The rest of the day was spent listening to the jokester trio's presentation of their new line of merchandise. Who knew the three slackers were such great entrepreneurs? They seemed to be doing very well, and that was what mattered. By the time Wood tore his eyes away from their latest invention, the sun had already set and the countryside was barely visible.
Moments later, the Hogwarts Express came to a screeching halt.
"The carriages are gone!"
In place of the carriages that usually carried the students of Hogwarts across the lake was a very long bridge.
"A'right, c'mon, first-years over here!" came the booming voice of Rubeus Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor and Hogwarts gamekeeper.
"Reckon it's safe to cross?" asked Angelina, who looked concerned. "I mean, there could be Death Eaters camped out in the darkness and we wouldn't even know!"
"It's safe," said Alicia, taking the first steps. "I don't sense any Dark magic."
"Well, just to be safe," Oliver pulled out his wand. "We should be on our guard. Lumos!"
The others agreed and crossed the bridge.
"Hurry up, yeh stragglin' – eh?" Hagrid, having sent a group of six-years towards the castle, bent down slightly as a cloaked wizard muttered something in his ear. "All right. Wood, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Jordan, Weasleys, get a move on!"
The seven graduates looked at each other, confused.
"I didn't know half-giants could see in the dark," said Lee, looking for confirmation.
"That's because they can't," Alicia muttered, glaring at the cloaked figure.
"C'mon, ye lot," said Hagrid gruffly, pushing them along. "All right, Professor?"
The figure nodded and, whipping out his wand, shot a scarlet beam that hovered above the castle before dispersing all around the grounds. After sending the charm, he collapsed on the grassy slopes the same time the makeshift bridge did.
"Rubeus, help me up, will you?"
"Yeh a'right?" asked Hagrid, holding out his hand.
"Yep," he answered, ushering the half-giant toward the castle. He stared at Oliver's group. "You should escort them inside to the safety of the Aurors. I have some last minute inspection to conduct."
Hagrid nodded. "A'right, you lot, let's get a move on."
On the way to the Great Hall, they were met with the entire Hogwarts population and several Aurors. The Great Hall oak doors were shut and everyone was waiting outside. There was an angry buzzing amongst the students as the Aurors patrolled the corridors.
"What's goin' on?" asked Alicia.
"What's the holdup?" Katie shouted above the noise.
"Blimey, I'm hungry!" Lee whined.
"Let us in!" Fred and George moaned dramatically.
The doors opened slightly and McGonagall slid out. "The Sorting ceremony will begin shortly. Now will you PLEASE be quiet?" She looked around and spotted Wood. "Mr. Wood, if you and your colleagues can restore some sense of order."
"No problem, Professor," Fred and George said simultaneously, pulling a dark, spherical object from their bag. Fred chucked it into the air where it exploded with a deafening 'BOOM!', showering the mass with a liquidly purple substance.
"Detention for both of you!" shouted McGonagall after recovering from the initial shock. "I have never -"
Behind her, a quavering voice said, "Professor, it's ready."
"I'll deal with you two later," said McGonagall, pushing the double doors wide open. "Everyone take a seat."
Oliver entered the Great Hall with the rest of the goo-covered school behind him.
"Wonder what took so long?"
He looked at the staff's table; McGonagall was making her way to her usual chair right next to the Headmaster, and the cloaked wizard from before on the other side, but the Headmaster's chair was vacant. The sky was pitch black except for four bright lights above the House tables and the staff's table.
Looking around, Wood also noticed that almost all of Slytherin House was vacant.
"What's goin' on?" wondered the Scottish Keeper.
