Chapter 37: The Train
When we returned to the Leaky Cauldron, we met up with Ron's family and everyone greeted Harry warmly. I was reminded that Harry had spent the second half of the last summer staying at the Weasley's, so of course, they would all be on familiar terms.
For dinner, Tom, the barman pushed three tables together so that we could all eat together. It surprised me how talkative and loud the Weasley family actually was. Whenever I ate with my family, the conversation was polite and quiet, and usually the evening involved lots of listening to forks scratch against plates.
I had, of course, eaten meals with loud, rambunctious groups; that was inevitable when you lived at Hogwarts and ate in the Great Hall. But when the table consisted of hundreds of students, supervised by a handful of teachers; that was to be expected. Eating with Ron's family was different.
Mrs. Weasley questioned Fred and George about their time shopping with their friend, Lee. Mr. Weasley chatted with Harry and Ron about the upcoming term. Percy spoke loudly, above everyone else, in an attempt to grab someone's attention and tell them, yet again, how responsible he was going to be now that he had been made Head Boy.
When Mrs. Weasley started asking me questions about myself, I was surprised. She asked me about my hobbies, and my favorite subjects, and I felt like she really cared about my answers. I knew my parents cared about me, but ever since I started at Hogwarts, they hadn't asked me those kinds of questions. It was nice to be able to talk to a parental figure, even if she wasn't actually my mother.
I glanced over at Ron, who was presently being teased by Fred and George, and I felt a little jealous. I wanted what Ron had. I wanted a family like this. I wanted brothers and sisters to joke around with. I wanted parents who weren't intimidated by their children. I wanted a family that spent time together and actually enjoyed it.
After we had finished eating, Mrs. Weasley insisted everyone go and pack, since we would be leaving the following day. Even though they had just arrived this morning, somehow all the Weasleys had managed to completely unpack everything they had brought.
Since I hadn't really touched my trunk since bringing it upstairs, I offered to help Ginny pack her things. We returned to our shared room and I began folding clothes that were strewn across the room.
After a few moments of silence, Ginny finally spoke.
"Do you think people are going to judge me for what happened last year?" she asked in a small voice.
I hesitated to answer, partly because I was caught off guard by the question, and partly because I didn't think Ginny was going to like my answer.
"I think you shouldn't worry about what other people think," I replied.
Ginny sighed. "That's what I figured," she said sadly.
I felt badly. I didn't want to bring Ginny's spirits down. It was clear that this was something that had been weighing on her mind for a while.
"Look, don't worry about it," I said. "It won't be as bad as you think. It'll be a little uncomfortable at first, but people will settle down quickly enough. Besides, it happened two months ago. Most people have probably moved on."
Though the majority of the students hadn't been told the real truth – that Ginny herself had been the one who'd been opening the Chamber of Secrets while under the control of Tom Riddle's diary – they still knew that she'd been the one taken into the chamber and that Harry had had to go rescue her.
"I don't want people to look at me like I'm a victim," Ginny said. "I just want to be able to move past everything from last year. I want a do-over."
"Unfortunately, we don't get do-overs," I said sadly. If we did, I would be able to go back to first year and make friends with my dormmates. Not that I regretted befriending Harry and Ron. I wouldn't change that for the world. But it would be nice to have some female friends too, especially now that I was getting older.
"Yeah," Ginny sighed. She went back to packing her newly purchased second year textbooks into her trunk.
As I leaned over to place a stack of folded robes in her cauldron, I caught a glimpse of a Quidditch poster. I said a quick thank you to myself for having read that book on Quidditch back in first year and attempted to start a new conversation.
"So, you like the Holyhead Harpies?" I asked casually.
"Oh yeah, they're great!" Ginny replied enthusiastically. "I think it's amazing that they're an all-witch team that go up against the male teams. They're so inspirational."
Since I didn't really know all that much about Quidditch, I racked my brains for something to say. I recalled the book I had read and tried to remember the paragraph on the Holyhead Harpies.
"Yeah, their defeat of the Heidelberg Harriers in 1953 was really something," I threw in as casually as I could.
"I think I want to be a Harpy one day," Ginny said shyly.
"Really?" I asked. "You play Quidditch? Which position?"
"I'm a pretty good seeker, but I think I prefer playing chaser," Ginny replied, blushing slightly.
"You should try out for the team," I suggested.
"Oh, no, I don't think so," Ginny replied, turning her head away.
"Why not?" I asked. "You've got to start somewhere. You don't have to make the team, but maybe trying out will be good for you."
"Maybe I'll try out in a couple years," Ginny mused. "Not this year, I'm only a second year."
"Why not try out now, so that you've already established yourself next year?" I asked.
"No, there's no point really. I mean, the team's already set; nobody's graduated since last year. Nobody new is going to get on the team," Ginny replied.
"You can't know that. Look at Harry, he got on the team in his first year," I said, remembering how he hadn't even needed to try out. All he had to do was break the rules and fly without supervision and Professor McGonagall had put him straight on the team. Sometimes I couldn't understand the way that the teachers think.
"Yeah, but Harry's an AMAZING Quidditch player," Ginny said. I noticed a dreamy look in her eyes and a blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Just think about it," I said instead, deciding not to call Ginny out on the crush that she clearly still hadn't gotten over.
"Okay," Ginny replied. I handed her the last of the clothes I had found and folded and then I grabbed my pyjamas out of my trunk and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
As I did, I could hear yelling down the hall that sounded a lot like Percy and Ron. I vaguely wondered what they were arguing about, but then dismissed it. It was none of my business anyway.
The next morning was utter chaos. Something must have happened last night, because Percy was in a foul mood and Fred and George were positively beaming and kept congratulating Ron for something. Ginny was in a panic as well, because she couldn't find her favorite quill, which she had, apparently, taken out of her trunk in the middle of the night to write in the journal she had bought to replace Tom Riddle's diary from last year. Mr. Weasley had insisted on running a thorough check on it before allowing his daughter to write in it.
Over breakfast, Mrs. Weasley told Ginny and I stories about her time at Hogwarts and then before we knew it, the ministry cars had arrived to take us to King's Cross. The ministry driver was silent through the whole ride and didn't even say goodbye before driving away. We headed towards the barrier, and I waited while Harry went through with Mr. Weasley and then Percy and Ginny ran through.
When it was mine and Ron's turn to go through, I grabbed his hand and we pretended to be strolling through the train station as we slipped through the barrier. We emerged on the other side and our hands remained linked until Ron realized that they were and pulled his away, turning and immediately asking Harry a random question about socks. I felt my face heating up, though I couldn't fathom why, and I shook my head almost imperceptibly.
We climbed aboard at the end of the train, where it seemed mostly empty, and said our goodbyes to Ron's parents. When Mrs. Weasley gave me a big hug, I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. It was amazing how included in the family I felt in that moment, and I remembered how awkward it always was now when I hugged my parents.
I got onto the train and turned to find that Ron was there, but Harry had mysteriously disappeared. Fred, George and Ginny all climbed on, and Harry was still nowhere to be seen. Mrs. Weasley started calling to her husband that Harry needed to get onto the train. The warning whistle blew and the guards began to come around to shut the doors. As the train began to pull out of the station, Harry appeared from behind a pillar and ran for the train.
"Ron! Open the door!" I cried, since he was closest. Ron threw it open and Harry had to jump, since the steps had already been removed. Thankfully he made it before the train picked up too much speed. He indicated that he needed to talk to Ron and me in private, so we set out to find an empty compartment leaving Ginny to her own devices.
The only compartment we could find was empty save for a man who was sleeping against the window. He was definitely too old to be a student, so I checked the name on his trunk, noticing that it said professor. I guessed that this was probably our new defence against the dark arts teacher, since Professor Lockhart had lost his memory at the end of last year. Since he was asleep, and the train was rather full, we decided to take the chance and Harry told us what Mr. Weasley had told him on the platform.
It was shocking to discover that Sirius Black was after Harry, but I knew he'd be safe at Hogwarts. This wouldn't be like the past two years. In our first year, Voldemort had been hiding on the back of the head of a professor working inside the school, and last year, Tom Riddle's diary had been smuggled into the school unbeknownst to the staff. But there was no way that Black would be able to sneak into Hogwarts without being caught. So really there was nothing to worry about.
The rest of the afternoon went quite smoothly. Professor Lupin – I read the name off his trunk – never woke up, even when the lunch trolley came by. When Malfoy stopped by with Crabbe and Goyle at his sides, he couldn't pull any of his usual crap because we had a teacher with us.
As we got closer to the school, it began to rain and I hoped we would get there soon so we wouldn't get too wet walking to the castle. I did some quick math in my head and determined that we would arrive in about forty-five minutes. Almost as soon as I thought this, the train started to slow down, and I looked around in confusion.
It seemed the entire student body was equally as confused as students began poking their heads out of their compartments in bewilderment.
The train jolted and came to a complete stop and I frowned, wondering what was going on. The jolt caused our luggage to tumble out of the luggage rack, and I held in a cry of pain as Ron's trunk landed on my foot. Suddenly, all the lamps went out too, and I could no longer see anything at all.
In the dark, things became even more confusing. Ron began to stumble around and I snapped at him, not understanding why he thought now was a good time to start wandering around. The compartment door opened and Neville appeared, only adding to the confusion and soon after that Ginny was added to the mix. Our compartment was getting more and more crowded, and I could feel Crookshanks, who I was holding in my lap now that all the seats were occupied, getting anxious.
Just as I was deciding whether I should take the lead and venture out into the pitch black corridor in search of some answers, an unfamiliar voice spoke and light filled the compartment, illuminating the face of the now awake Professor Lupin.
I was immediately relieved to have an adult in charge. He would know what to do. He would know how to figure out what was going on.
He started moving towards the door, but before he could reach it, it slid open on its own, revealing a cloaked figure on the other side. It suddenly got very cold. I could feel the cold penetrating deep within me and I shivered.
As I continued to stare at the creature, I realized how truly alone I was in the world and a wave of sadness washed over me. I thought about my parents, and how they'd given up on me. I thought of Harry and Ron, who though they were my closest friends, would never be as close with me as they were with each other. It became very obvious to me just how unimportant and insignificant I was. If I died, who would really care? Certainly not my parents. They'd be relieved to no longer have the burden of raising a witch. Harry and Ron would miss my help with their homework, but beyond that I couldn't imagine my absence would be felt. My dormmates would rejoice.
And then suddenly, there was light and warmth and I realized that I was wrong. My parents may not understand me, but they still loved me. They were just struggling. And of course Harry and Ron cared about me. When I'd been in the hospital wing last year, they'd visited me every day, even when I was petrified.
The light and warmth slowly faded and I was left with a strange hollow feeling. So many emotions had run through me in such a short period of time that I didn't know what to feel. I felt empty, confused, dazed.
I looked around, seeing similar expression mirrored in my friends' faces. I noticed some of them were looking down at the floor, and I followed their lines of sight to find Harry, lying there, completely unconscious.