The end of summer vacation came too quickly for Harry's liking. She was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but her month at the Burrow had been the happiest of her life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when she thought of the Dursleys and the sort of welcome she could expect next time she turned up on Privet Drive.
On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry's favorite things, ending with mouthwatering treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Fillibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed.
It took a long while to get started the next morning. They were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do. Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car.
Harry couldn't see how eight people, six large trunks, two owls, and a rat were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. She realized it was with the help of the special features that Mr. Weasley had added.
"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Harry as he opened the trunk and showed her how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.
When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"
Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Harry turning back for a last look at the house. She barely had time to wonder when she'd see it again when they were back. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary. By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high.
Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.
"Molly, dear --"
"No, Arthur --"
"No one would see -- this little button here triggers an invisibility charm I installed -- that'd get us up in the air -- then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser --"
"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight --"
They reached King Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station.
Harry had caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky part was getting onto the wizard's platforms, which weren't visible to the muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barriers dividing the platforms, this year ten and eleven. It didn't hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the muggles noticed you vanishing.
"Percy first," said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they only had five minutes to get onto the train.
Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr. Weasley went next; Fred and George followed.
"I'll take Ginny and you two come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told Harry and Ron, grabbing a displeased Ginny's hand and setting off. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.
"Let's go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Harry.
Harry made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of her trunk and wheeled her trolly around to face the barrier. She felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using floo powder. Both of them bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and nearly ran over Mrs. Weasley on the other side.
Parents were talking to their children on the train through the windows, and siblings too young to go to Hogwarts were crying. The Weasleys specifically were rushing at a door on the last passenger compartment, trying to get all their trunks aboard.
"Where'd my boomstick go?" one of the twins said, leaning out the window.
"I put it in the luggage compartment," the other twin said from the platform.
"Hurry up!" shouted Mrs. Weasley.
After a few minutes of scrambling and shouting, the Weasleys children and Harry were panting, and on the way to Hogwarts. Ginny, Ron, and Harry were sat across from Percy, who was clearly not enjoying having the twins partially sitting on him.
The compartment door slid open.
"There you are!" said Harry's bushy-haired best friend. "Hannah was starting to get annoying, asking where you were."
"I was not!" Hannah said, from behind Hermione. "I asked, twice!"
"You asked twice where Harry was," said Lacy.
"Three times if she was okay," said Flix.
"And four times if she was ever going to show up," said Jex.
Hannah, now very embarrassed, went back into the next compartment to pout.
Harry left the older Weasleys and Ginny to recount, for another time, why she hadn't responded to their letters. She got interrupted so many times that they were well into the countryside by the time she finished.
Flix then recounted, to Harry's embarrassment, how Harry stood up to the transphobic aid at Madam Malkin's. This led to everyone wanting to see how Harry looked in her uniform. That led to all of them putting on their uniform.
When Percy came back to tell them to put on their uniforms, they all enjoyed a laugh at his surprised expression.
Soon after Percy left, the door slid open abruptly. Standing in the doorway was a small gaggle of Slytherins, with the green and silver emblem proudly on their breast pockets. Heading the brood was Draco Malfoy.
"Rumor has it that Potter stole Granger's uniform," Malfoy sneered. "Wasn't quite expecting him to be wearing it."
"Actually," Hermione said. "My uniform hasn't been touched."
"Do you like my outfit?" Harry decided to tease. "I might let you try it on if you're nice."
All the Slytherins except Malfoy burst into laughter. Malfoy was too busy impersonating a blond tomato to laugh. Malfoy slammed the door shut and stormed off.
Because they were so far back on the train, they were almost to Hogwarts by the time a kind old witch knocked on the door.
"Anything from the trolly, dears?" she asked.
Despite almost being at Hogwarts, where there was bound to be a feast, they all jumped up and got some, except Flix and Ron, who were too engrossed in their game of Wizard's Chess to notice.
At last, the train pulled into the station in Hogsmead. Hagrid could be heard calling out to the first years on the other end of the train.
"He won't hurt you," Fred told Ginny, who was looking quite pale.
"Not intentionally at least," George added.
"He likes us Weasleys," Fred joked.
"Especially Ron. He and his palls visit Hagrid all the time," George explained.
That seemed to turn Ginny's mood right around, as she glanced at Harry, then ran to Hagrid.
Harry didn't get to greet him herself yet, as she was ushered towards the horseless carriages that waited to take them up to the castle. She still wanted to know why they still made the sound of hooffalls but refrained from asking.
As the castle came into view, it was bathed in the pink light, from the sun just barely visible below the horizon. On the old willow tree that was on the edge of the grounds, it looked more like a menacing red. Harry reminded herself not to go near that one.
A sense of joy and warmth washed over Harry, as she stepped into the entrance hall. It felt like coming home. She allowed herself to be taken by the flow of the crowd towards the Great Hall. That is, until she was pulled out by Jex.
They were standing off to the side, next to Flix and Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall was a stern woman, the Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts, the Deputy Headmistress, and the Head of Gryffindor House; Harry's house.
"I'm sorry Professor, were you calling for me?" Harry asked. "I didn't hear you over all the other students."
"Yes, Ms. Potter," McGonagall said. "That's quite obvious. You three are to accompany me to the Medical Wing." Without waiting for a response, McGonagall turned and walked away.
Jex, Flix, and Harry shared a look before following as fast as they could. Thoughts were flying through Harry's mind as fast as her heartbeat, which was beating quite fast due to McGonagall's fast pace.
Could the potion be ready? Would she have to take them forever? Maybe all the potions are ready and she could start her proper puberty too? What if it was actually to tell them the potions would never work? What did muggle trans people do? Would she have to do that too?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into Jex's back, as they stopped just outside the Medical Wing.
The Medical Wing took up the east wing of the second floor. It was certainly larger than Harry ever thought necessary and would definitely be too much for the school's Medi-Witch, Madam Pomfrey, to run her own at full capacity. There were many long hallways, with numbered doors for the rooms.
McGonagall turned to the three students following her.
"Remember to listen carefully to Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape," she said. "They've spent a long time developing this, at the Headmaster's request, and should your eagerness impede their task, you'll face the consequences."
All three nodded with unsettling synchronicity.
They were led to a laboratory that was at the very back of the Medical Wing. Along the walls, small creatures that looked almost like mice, if not for their duckbills and longer fur, were in glass terrariums.
Huddled in front of one such tank, reading the self-updating piece of parchment attached to it, was a witch with her long, gray hair tied into a bun, and a wizard whose greasy black hair was pulled into a small ponytail.
"Are you sure it's ready, Poppy?" Snape asked. "The vilnarats may have not developed any physical traits of adolescence, but I don't want to be accused of poisoning Potter if this goes horribly wrong."
"I'm certain, Severus," Madam Pomfrey replied. "And that's why we'll be sure to closely monitor all the volunteers."
"Who have arrived, as requested," McGonagall announced. No one was able to properly hide their amusement from Snape jumping at her voice.
Harry had to admit, Snape looked better when his hair wasn't framing his face.
"Very well," Madam Pomfrey said. "We have much to discuss."
"Don't be late, Minerva," Snape drawled. "You need to host the sorting, don't you?"
Professor McGonagall nodded and left. Harry was glad Snape was outnumbered, with Madam Pomfrey, Jex and Flix here too. He was glaring at her again.
Madam Pomfrey quickly got the student's full attention, explaining the intended effects, the expected side effects -- but not guaranteed -- and what to do with any sudden or unexpected side effects. Snape then went over the process of monitorization they'd be agreeing to by taking the experimental potion, titled Pomfrey's Puberty Preventer.
When the two finally finished their warnings and asked again if the students were willing to be test subjects, Harry actually jumped up and hugged Madam Pomfrey. She almost hugged Snape too, but he seemed particularly uncomfortable at the prospect.
The three downed the first dose and made their way to the Great Hall. They took too long to see the sorting but were able to join their house tables as Albus summoned the food from the kitchens.
"There you are!" Hermione shouted as Harry sat down. "You missed the big announcement!"
"It's not that big, Hermione," Ron said before digging into the numerous things he'd loaded onto his plate.
"Gilderoy Lockhart is going to be our new DADA teacher!" Hermione said with a squeal. "I bet he'll break that curse on the teaching position."
Harry didn't really care one way or the other. Something about that man just seemed too artificial for her.
