Chapter four: Travelling in the Night

Barry lay on his back on the car trunk with Lemo beside him. Flying on their brooms beside the car, Andy and Andrew started talking about what they had done when they were apart, while Emo said,

"Well I feel as though I'm just a tag-along...Where's Jesse when you need him?"

Lemo laughed, but Barry sat up,

"Jesse? I thought his name was Joel?"

"No, different guy. Dumped Joel. He annoyed me. So then I went out with Jarrod," Emo said shaking her head.

"Jarrod? What? I thought you said Jesse?" Barry said totally confused.

Emo looked at him,

"Yea...I dumped Joel, went out with Jarrod, he was too clingy. And now I'm going out with Jesse."

Barry just shrugged,

"Whatever..."

Don put his head out the driver's window,

"All okay back there guys?"

"Yea, we're sweet!" Lemo called back.

"Don! Whose car is this?"

"Well, Barry you see-"

"DON! WATCH THE BLOODY SKY!"

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!"

The car suddenly dived, Barry and Lemo clung to the car for their lives, as Andy, Andrew and Emo dived with the car. The narrowly missed plane, roared over head.

"Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-" Don chanted.

"Don! You're a prized dumbarse! The muggle pilot of that plane probably saw us!" Mione yelled clearly from the front of the car.

"Is the backseat empty?" Emo interrupted.

"YES!" Mione and Don yelled back to her.

"Whoa...grumpy..." she said, flying closer to the car, before opening the door and jumping in.

"Hey!" Barry exclaimed, "If the backseat is empty, then where's my stuff!"

Lemo knocked on the trunk they were sitting on,

"Uhh...The boot maybe?"

"Oh, of course..."

"Hey, Barry. What were you on about with a hobbit?" Andrew asked curiously, as he held Andy broom steady, she was attempting to use it like a surfboard.

"Well, that's an accident waiting to happen," Don said looking at Andy in the rear vision mirror.

"So...? It's all good!' Andy replied she then jumped a small way backwards - off her broom.

"HOLY SHIT!" Andrew yelled as Andy fell, but she only fell a bit, before grabbed onto her broom with her hands. Laughing she pulled herself back onto her broom.

"Fuck! Guys! Did Andy just fall?" Don asked worried, to scared to turn around.

"Nope, she just was freaking the shit out of Andrew..." Lemo replied rolling around on the trunk laughing at poor Andrews' pale, shocked face.

"Again!"

"Yep."

Andrew folded his arms across his chest,

"Guys that did look scary! Anyway...Barry you haven't answered my question about the Hobbit!"

"Oh, yea. Cobby."

"Yea..." Andrew said waving his arms encouragingly, "And...?"

"Was his last name Corn?" came Emo's muffled voice.

"Corn?" Lemo said confused.

"Cobby...Corn...!" Andy spluttered, laughing at the slightly sad joke. At this explanation Lemo joined in on the laughing,

"That's so corny!" Lemo said this earned more laughing from Emo, Andy and a small giggle from Mione.

"C'mon, guys focus!" Andrew moaned.

Barry shook his head,

"Well, I don't know about the 'Corn' bit, but he was definitely weird. He told me that I shouldn't return to Hogwarts because 'terrible things' were supposed to be happening..."

"'Terrible things?'" Andrew asked doubtfully, Barry nodded, while Lemo looked at him,

"Wait...you had a hobbit in your house?"

Barry nodded again. Lemo grabbed his glasses,

"Me thinks you need to get a stronger script for your glasses!" she said looking at them closely.

"No, Lemo I saw him, he talked to me!"

"And perhaps get rid of the weed you've been smoking..."

"No, Lemo-"

Lemo gasped,

"You're really smoking weed!"

"No, that's not what I said..."

Lemo calmed slightly,

"Good, because if you had been smoking it and hadn't offered any to me...I mean I wouldn't smoke any, but it would good to be offered-"

"All okay back there?" Don asked.

"Yea..."

"Yea, whatever, Lemo you saw Cobby too!"

"I did?"

"Yea! It was the weird thing I was talking to!"

"The pile of dirty laundry?"

"Yea! I mean, no! Well...sort of...I mean he does look sort of-"

"Oh my fucking god! I know what it is! It was a house elf!" Lemo said in triumph, "A poorly looked after one, I might add..."

"A house elf?" Andy said wrinkling her nose, "I thought your Aunt and Uncle were muggles, Barry?" At the same time, Andrew said,

"What the fuck is that!"

"Like a little slave for the rich wizard families - mean and unfairly treated most of the time," Andy said with an offhand wave of her arm, as she pulled a face.

"Oh."

"So, your saying a house elf told me not to go back to Hogwarts?"

"Yep! Rather weird really, house elves have a good amount of their own magic. But they don't tend to use it...too afraid of what their families would do, I suppose…" Lemo said, also pulling a face.

"What their families would do?" Andrew and Barry said at the same time.

"Yea, if they do something bad, then their families usually punish them..."

"Why?"

"Because they misbehaved, and in their opinion they need to punish them."

"Wow," Barry said.

"Harsh," Andrew said shaking his head.

"Well, Cobby did seem to be trying to hurt himself a lot. I just thought he was emotionally unstable or something..."

"He was probably punishing himself to save his family the effort."

"But that's just-"

"Insane? Yea, that's the wizarding world," Lemo said grimly, "Which brings me to another point-"

"Everyone okay back there!" Don called again.

"YES! Don! No matter how many times you ask, WE'RE fine! If you hear the sound of slipping and one of us disappears - THEN ASK IF WE'RE OKAY!" Lemo yelled back impatiently, "Now, what was I saying? Yes! That brings me to another point...It's highly unlikely Cobby would've gone to visit you Barry, unless he had been ordered to. A joke maybe?"

"Are you saying Cobby was pulling my leg?"

"Exactly, Cobby Corn was bullshitting ya," Lemo said with a triumphant arm movement.

"But, why?" Andrew said, stroking his chin.

"You really have a thing about stroking your chin don't you Drew?" Lemo said noticing.

"He does?" Andy said looking at the now blushing and struggling to stay balanced on his broomstick Andrew.

"Uhh...Not really..." he said, removing his hand immediately.

"Yes you do! You did it when you were thinking at the chess match last year!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yea you did!"

"No-"

"Guys?" Barry said waving his hands in the air, "Problem at hand?"

"Oh yea! So Barry, any person you know who wouldn't want you back at Hogwarts?"

Andy began stroking her chin, mocking Andrew, pretending to think,

"Hmm...I wonder...who hates Barry...? Who's a total rich dick...? Hmmm... Toughie..."

"Malfoy!" They all yelled, including Emo, Mione and Don. Lemo turned to look into the car,

"What are you guys on about?"

"Well, all we heard was Andys' little speech, so we knew who it was..." Emo said.

"Fair enough," Lemo said turning back to the other way.

"Yo! Don, how much further?" Andy called to the front,

"Uh...No idea, probably get there by sunrise..."