HARRY POTTER and the DARKEST NIGHT
Chapter 2 - Back to Hogwarts
By Zero Star (zrostar)
-----------------------------------
The next morning Harry had extreme trouble waking up. He was sleepy and light headed, he almost couldn't move at all. Being up so late into the night was definitely going to have to stop.
He wanted to blame it on those dreams, but knew in the end, he could only blame himself. One
fact did comfort him: all his things had already been packed and everything was ready to go.
All he had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast and take his trunk and Hedwig to the car.
The last day in this house wouldn't last long at all.
Sometime after his alarm when off, he was finally able to move enough to fall out of bed.
Harry gave a mighty yawn and a stretch as he opened his bedroom door.
Harry Potter got an awakening surprise.
The Dursleys were up before he was! The three of them all standing quietly in the hall,
fully dressed and ready to go. He stared at them silently, a look of complete shock
adorning his face. Duddly looking anxious, not wanting to sit still. His aunt held her
hands on her hips tapping one foot irritably. His uncle's large face pressed in on him,
then blurted out in a very angry tone "Get dressed you lazy boy! We aren't going to wait
for you all day!"
----
Harry had always suspected the Dursleys of being afraid of him, granted it was more than
suspicion, especially since he was going to a wizards school and last summer had been making
threats about his murderous godfather, Sirius. But what's a 16 year old boy to do? Perhaps,
it was the fact he was getting older, which meant his magic was getting stronger too.
He'd also suspected that, of all the Dursleys his Aunt Petunia knew more about wizards
and their ways than the rest of them. No doubt she didn't share any of it with them, either.
Harry shrugged to himself and returned dressed, with his things and Hedwig. She hooted sleepily
in a quiet 'good morning.'
---
The drive to King's Cross station seemed disturbingly short. Uncle Vernon was speeding as fast
as he possibly could, disregarding all warning signs, traffic signals and policeman in his way.
At one point he became quite irritated when an old man tried to cross the street after the
traffic light had changed to green. Vernon's great beet of a face changed threateningly colors
of red at the old man.
When they finally arrived to King's Cross Station the car had barely come to a stop when the
Dursleys began to shout at Harry to move faster.
"Get out as fast as possible!" His aunt shouted.
"Take your things and go!" His uncle added.
Harry finally backed away from the curb and the car went squealing away in the same breakneck
fashion that it had arrived.
"Well..." mumbled a sleepy Harry, disheartened to his sleepy Hedwig. "Let's go find our friends!"
----
At the station, Harry found his way to Platform 9 3/4. Busy as usual, full of people trying to
say one last good bye to their family before boarding the train.
About 20 feet from him, a short blonde woman burst loudly into teary eyed sobs and squeezed
an arm full of young blonde girls.
First years. Harry thought to himself.
The Weasley family was across the platform not to far from the engine, Hermione was with them.
Each of them waved and smiled to Harry as he approached. He couldn't help but notice Hermione's parents still hadn't gotten used to the over enthusiastic Arther Weasley and his love affair with Muggles and their culture. It felt good to be back where he belonged.
Molly Weasley, a big woman with a big heart gave him a big kiss and a tight hug in greeting.
Ron and Hermione instantly took their places at his side. He felt his heart warm, always
surprised at how much he missed them each summer.
"Come on mate, get your stuff on board we're already loaded up!" Ron was excited.
"Don't let him be in such a hurry to get away from us, Harry!" Fred stated with a wicked grin,
he and George both looking splendid in their shiny green Dragonhide jackets.
Ron frowned and stuck his tongue out at them, which seemed to encourage the twins to laugh
quite hard. Harry looked to see what was so funny, only to start laughing on his own.
Ron's tongue was a lovely shade of aquamarine.
As if suddenly remembering, Ron retracted his tongue and whispered to his friend.
"You missed the fur that grew about 20 minutes ago, beware of their candy mate, especially
the 'Fuzzy Tongue Twisters', they are still experimenting! Never know what it will REALLY do!"
Harry and Hermione fought to contain their chuckles of sympathy and tried to look like they
both felt deeply sorry for his bad luck. And judging from the look on Ron's face, had failed
utterly.
The train whistled the all aboard, silencing the crowd for just a moment before the sounds
and chatter picked up louder than before from all those giving last minute farewells.
Harry's mind wandered a moment as Ron gave his mum one last hug good bye. The brief image
of what could have been haunted him. Would this have been his mum hugging him one last time
before the school year? What would it have been like?
Harry shook his head and sighed, following his classmates on board the train.
Ginny had been keeping their usual seats safe and Crookshanks was keeping Hermione's seat warm, although the orange, fluffy cat seemed reluctant to move when she returned.
The train pulled out of the station and they settled into their seats. Harry looked out the
window as everyone on the platform waved to the departing.
Before he knew it the plumb jolly witch was bringing the snack trolly around the car.
Everything seemed to be moving so fast. Harry stretched and shook his head. Was it just
from his sleep being so thrown off? Nothing to worry about. Ron and Hermione chatted
with Harry off and on the rest of the trip, stopping in between to eat more candy and
other snacks. At long last, Ron got an idea!
"You know how Draco and his goons always show up to make trouble? Why don't we surprise him this time!" Ron stood up looking for a suitable place to hide that wasn't taken up by
luggage or animals.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, worriedly.
"Why don't we just hide this time, maybe they will go away." Harry suggested, to tired to
start a fight.
Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. That wasn't the reply they had expected.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, "Do you feel alright? You look awfully pale."
"I'm fine, Hermione" Harry murmured. "Just haven't been sleeping well." Even as Harry spoke
his head rolled back slowly, as he was fighting to stay awake.
With that, Ron and Hermione exchanged another glance. Then she whispered "I think we had
better let him rest."
Ron nodded in agreement as Harry began a light snoring.
----
Harry's companions chatted quietly while playing a card game. They discussed their sleeping
friend, what may happen over the next year, and their favorite teachers.
"I hope he decides to taste his own poison." Ron mumbled with a mimicking sneer of the Potions
Master.
"Well, I'll tell you, I have more respect for him than I do for that anti-psychic quack
Trelawney. If I have to be in the same room with that woman again, I will not be held
responsible for my actions." Hermione stated, matter-of-factly.
"Speaking of psychics, maybe she can tell us where Ginny has wandered off to." Ron glanced
over their small compartment.
"You worry to much," Hermione laid down a card that won her the game. "She left to visit
some other Gryffindors in another
car."
"Me? Worry to much?! Did I just hear Hermione Granger say that I worry to much?"
The only reply Ron earned was a shush from his female companion. She nodded in the direction
of the still sleeping Harry. Ron gave her a small smile, but his face immediately changed to
that of worry, when he saw Harry sleeping.
Harry's head lolled backwards, he breathed very slightly. His skin was so pale.
"What's wrong with him?" Ron whispered.
Harry looked like he was dead or dying. The cold sweat covering his scarred forehead didn't
help their concern. As the two nervously watched him, his face contorted into that of anxiety.
Ron hesitated, then decided to wake Harry up, for his own good. With a slow steady hand, Ron
reached across the seat to touch his friends shoulder.
At that exact moment, the door to their compartment slid open. Draco Malfoy looked in, his
usual smug, vicious expression painted across his pale, pointed face.
================================================================
Hope your enjoying it
written: 10-26-02
rewritten: 06-18-04
Chapter 2 - Back to Hogwarts
By Zero Star (zrostar)
-----------------------------------
The next morning Harry had extreme trouble waking up. He was sleepy and light headed, he almost couldn't move at all. Being up so late into the night was definitely going to have to stop.
He wanted to blame it on those dreams, but knew in the end, he could only blame himself. One
fact did comfort him: all his things had already been packed and everything was ready to go.
All he had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast and take his trunk and Hedwig to the car.
The last day in this house wouldn't last long at all.
Sometime after his alarm when off, he was finally able to move enough to fall out of bed.
Harry gave a mighty yawn and a stretch as he opened his bedroom door.
Harry Potter got an awakening surprise.
The Dursleys were up before he was! The three of them all standing quietly in the hall,
fully dressed and ready to go. He stared at them silently, a look of complete shock
adorning his face. Duddly looking anxious, not wanting to sit still. His aunt held her
hands on her hips tapping one foot irritably. His uncle's large face pressed in on him,
then blurted out in a very angry tone "Get dressed you lazy boy! We aren't going to wait
for you all day!"
----
Harry had always suspected the Dursleys of being afraid of him, granted it was more than
suspicion, especially since he was going to a wizards school and last summer had been making
threats about his murderous godfather, Sirius. But what's a 16 year old boy to do? Perhaps,
it was the fact he was getting older, which meant his magic was getting stronger too.
He'd also suspected that, of all the Dursleys his Aunt Petunia knew more about wizards
and their ways than the rest of them. No doubt she didn't share any of it with them, either.
Harry shrugged to himself and returned dressed, with his things and Hedwig. She hooted sleepily
in a quiet 'good morning.'
---
The drive to King's Cross station seemed disturbingly short. Uncle Vernon was speeding as fast
as he possibly could, disregarding all warning signs, traffic signals and policeman in his way.
At one point he became quite irritated when an old man tried to cross the street after the
traffic light had changed to green. Vernon's great beet of a face changed threateningly colors
of red at the old man.
When they finally arrived to King's Cross Station the car had barely come to a stop when the
Dursleys began to shout at Harry to move faster.
"Get out as fast as possible!" His aunt shouted.
"Take your things and go!" His uncle added.
Harry finally backed away from the curb and the car went squealing away in the same breakneck
fashion that it had arrived.
"Well..." mumbled a sleepy Harry, disheartened to his sleepy Hedwig. "Let's go find our friends!"
----
At the station, Harry found his way to Platform 9 3/4. Busy as usual, full of people trying to
say one last good bye to their family before boarding the train.
About 20 feet from him, a short blonde woman burst loudly into teary eyed sobs and squeezed
an arm full of young blonde girls.
First years. Harry thought to himself.
The Weasley family was across the platform not to far from the engine, Hermione was with them.
Each of them waved and smiled to Harry as he approached. He couldn't help but notice Hermione's parents still hadn't gotten used to the over enthusiastic Arther Weasley and his love affair with Muggles and their culture. It felt good to be back where he belonged.
Molly Weasley, a big woman with a big heart gave him a big kiss and a tight hug in greeting.
Ron and Hermione instantly took their places at his side. He felt his heart warm, always
surprised at how much he missed them each summer.
"Come on mate, get your stuff on board we're already loaded up!" Ron was excited.
"Don't let him be in such a hurry to get away from us, Harry!" Fred stated with a wicked grin,
he and George both looking splendid in their shiny green Dragonhide jackets.
Ron frowned and stuck his tongue out at them, which seemed to encourage the twins to laugh
quite hard. Harry looked to see what was so funny, only to start laughing on his own.
Ron's tongue was a lovely shade of aquamarine.
As if suddenly remembering, Ron retracted his tongue and whispered to his friend.
"You missed the fur that grew about 20 minutes ago, beware of their candy mate, especially
the 'Fuzzy Tongue Twisters', they are still experimenting! Never know what it will REALLY do!"
Harry and Hermione fought to contain their chuckles of sympathy and tried to look like they
both felt deeply sorry for his bad luck. And judging from the look on Ron's face, had failed
utterly.
The train whistled the all aboard, silencing the crowd for just a moment before the sounds
and chatter picked up louder than before from all those giving last minute farewells.
Harry's mind wandered a moment as Ron gave his mum one last hug good bye. The brief image
of what could have been haunted him. Would this have been his mum hugging him one last time
before the school year? What would it have been like?
Harry shook his head and sighed, following his classmates on board the train.
Ginny had been keeping their usual seats safe and Crookshanks was keeping Hermione's seat warm, although the orange, fluffy cat seemed reluctant to move when she returned.
The train pulled out of the station and they settled into their seats. Harry looked out the
window as everyone on the platform waved to the departing.
Before he knew it the plumb jolly witch was bringing the snack trolly around the car.
Everything seemed to be moving so fast. Harry stretched and shook his head. Was it just
from his sleep being so thrown off? Nothing to worry about. Ron and Hermione chatted
with Harry off and on the rest of the trip, stopping in between to eat more candy and
other snacks. At long last, Ron got an idea!
"You know how Draco and his goons always show up to make trouble? Why don't we surprise him this time!" Ron stood up looking for a suitable place to hide that wasn't taken up by
luggage or animals.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, worriedly.
"Why don't we just hide this time, maybe they will go away." Harry suggested, to tired to
start a fight.
Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. That wasn't the reply they had expected.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, "Do you feel alright? You look awfully pale."
"I'm fine, Hermione" Harry murmured. "Just haven't been sleeping well." Even as Harry spoke
his head rolled back slowly, as he was fighting to stay awake.
With that, Ron and Hermione exchanged another glance. Then she whispered "I think we had
better let him rest."
Ron nodded in agreement as Harry began a light snoring.
----
Harry's companions chatted quietly while playing a card game. They discussed their sleeping
friend, what may happen over the next year, and their favorite teachers.
"I hope he decides to taste his own poison." Ron mumbled with a mimicking sneer of the Potions
Master.
"Well, I'll tell you, I have more respect for him than I do for that anti-psychic quack
Trelawney. If I have to be in the same room with that woman again, I will not be held
responsible for my actions." Hermione stated, matter-of-factly.
"Speaking of psychics, maybe she can tell us where Ginny has wandered off to." Ron glanced
over their small compartment.
"You worry to much," Hermione laid down a card that won her the game. "She left to visit
some other Gryffindors in another
car."
"Me? Worry to much?! Did I just hear Hermione Granger say that I worry to much?"
The only reply Ron earned was a shush from his female companion. She nodded in the direction
of the still sleeping Harry. Ron gave her a small smile, but his face immediately changed to
that of worry, when he saw Harry sleeping.
Harry's head lolled backwards, he breathed very slightly. His skin was so pale.
"What's wrong with him?" Ron whispered.
Harry looked like he was dead or dying. The cold sweat covering his scarred forehead didn't
help their concern. As the two nervously watched him, his face contorted into that of anxiety.
Ron hesitated, then decided to wake Harry up, for his own good. With a slow steady hand, Ron
reached across the seat to touch his friends shoulder.
At that exact moment, the door to their compartment slid open. Draco Malfoy looked in, his
usual smug, vicious expression painted across his pale, pointed face.
================================================================
Hope your enjoying it
written: 10-26-02
rewritten: 06-18-04