Dudley had a good time at The Burrow. Sure, it wasn't as nice as home, but Mrs. Weasley was a fantastic cook and let him eat as much as he liked. He also got a lot of flying practice—Ron and the twins loved to play two on two quidditch. Ginny always insisted on playing, but not having a broom of her own, she wasn't allowed. Dudley had seen her, when the twins had gone to town, steal their brooms to have a private fly on a couple of occasions.
Arthur Weasley took them all to King's Cross in his Ford Anglia which had been enchanted to increase its capacity. They were running late and arrived with barely 15 minutes to spare.
"Hurry, go on Percy, you first," said Molly anxiously.
Percy the Prefect, then the twins together, then Arthur and Molly with Ginny between them. Finally, it was Dudley and Ron's turn. Dudley went first, pushing his cart which contained his trunk and cage holding his fruit bat, which he had nicknamed Shadow. He slid through the barrier and onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters, he waited for Ron and together headed to his parents. Percy, Fred and George were already on the train and Ginny was saying goodbye to her parents.
"Now, Ronald," Molly said sternly. "Make sure to look after your little sister."
"Of course I will," Ron said, bracingly, but said under his breath, "As long as she doesn't bug me too much."
After saying goodbye to the Weasley's, Dudley and Ron heaved their trunks onto the train and headed through the carriages to find Dean. Ginny, struggling with her own trunk, followed behind like a small, red-headed shadow.
They found Hermione sat alone reading—also in the carriage was Pavati Patil, Padma Patil, Lavender Brown and a girl who Dudley didn't recognise. He and Ron greeted Hermione who said "Hello," in return, politely if a little stiffly.
"You don't reckon she's still mad about us beating up Malfoy?" Ron whispered.
"Probably," Dudley shrugged, not really caring. Hermione was smart, and did help them to study, but he didn't care much if their relationship went beyond being study partners.
Ron, however, looked concerned. "What if she doesn't let us copy her homework?"
They eventually found Dean who was sat with Neville. Also sat with them was a strange girl with dirty-blonde hair, a necklace of butterbeer corks and slightly bulging eyes. She had a magazine open on her lap and was glancing down, her tongue stuck out slightly.
"Thought you weren't going to make it," Dean greeted.
Neville gave a somewhat nervous "Hello," as if unsure whether he would still be accepted or not.
"Who's this?" Dudley gestured at the girl.
"Dunno, she was here when I got here," Dean said.
"Scram," Dudley said to the girl.
The girl raised her head, looking at him curiously as if he was some sort of weird bird that had flew into the carriage.
"Why?" the girl said.
Dean sniggered.
"Because I said so," Dudley replied.
"But why should I scram, just because you say so? There's more than enough room for two of us here. Unless ..." she looked around.
"Unless there's a Flibbertigibbet around," she whispered.
"A what?"
"A Flibbertigibbet. You can't see them, but you can feel them. They're the opposite of ghosts which you can see but can't feel. If one of them is here, then of course, we will need an extra seat."
Dudley looked at Dean, then they both looked at Ron.
"I've never heard of a Flibbertigibbet," Ron said.
Dudley looked at the girl who was reading a magazine. He heaved his luggage to one side and sat down in an empty seat. Ron sat next to him, and Ginny sat next to the strange girl.
"Your sister?" Dean said, grinning at Ginny.
"Yeah ... hopefully she finds some friends of her own so she stops bugging me."
Ginny stuck her tongue out at him.
The talk turned to what they had been doing for the summer holidays. After the trip to Diagon Alley, Dean had gone on a short vacation to Wales to visit his grandparents. Neville had gone to Scotland with his Uncle Algie but otherwise had had a quiet summer.
"My daddy took me to Australia to find a Drop Bear," Luna informed them, without prompting.
"A what?" Dean asked.
"A Drop Bear—they're like koala's but they drop on your head and eat your brains!" Luna said, her eyes bulging slightly. "It was either go to Australia, or go to Sweden to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. The Quibbler sold quite well last year, so daddy said he would treat me. Perhaps we will save up to go and find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack in a few years—they are quite elusive."
After this little speech, the girl lowered her magazine and continued reading.
Dudley looked at Dean—he had barely understood a word of what she had said. Ron looked befuddled. Ginny, however, had her hand over her mouth and was trying not to laugh.
As they were partway through a game of exploding snap, the trolley witch came around. Dudley, of course, stocked up on as much as he could carry. Dean bought a small selection of cauldron cakes and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Neville bought some chocolate frogs. The other three went without.
Dudley immediately began stuffing his face, whilst Dean handed Ron and Ginny a cauldron cake. He hesitated a moment before offering one to the strange girl.
"Thank you very much," she said, smiling brightly. "That's very kind of you." she looked at Dudley. "You know, you should share too. Or a Tallywaggle will get you."
"A what?" Dudley said, through a mouthful of pumpkin pasty.
"A Tallywaggle—if you're greedy, they come into your room at night and steal all of your things."
Dean snorted with laughter, accidentally spraying Neville with cake.
"Who even are you?" Dudley asked in amazement.
"Luna Lovegood, this is my first year," she said, brightly.
"It's my first too," Ginny said, turning to chat.
"Luna the Loony," Dudley said, not bothering to keep his voice down as he turned to Ron and Dean.
Luna didn't seem to have heard him as she was talking to Ginny.
"At least she's got a friend now," Ron said. "Now she might stay out of my hair."
"Hope that Loony Lovegood isn't in Gryffindor," Dudley muttered, digging into another chocolate frog.
