"Do you reckon McGonagall or Dumbledore's going to be there waiting when we get off the train?"
"McGonagall. Dumbledore would never be there personally to greet us, he's only there for extremely important events," Harry said as he shrugged on his cloak, because he could feel it starting to get chilly.
But as he stepped off the train with the rest of the ambassadors, he realized that he was wrong. Albus Dumbledore stood in flowing light lavender robes, waiting on the platform at the Hogwarts station.
"Professor D-dumbledore?" Neville said, shaking a bit.
"Welcome, brave young souls! I believe you are in need of a hearty meal and a good bed. Come on now!" He smiled jovially at them all, blue eyes twinkling over his half-moon glasses.
Slightly dazed and suprised, the four of them followed Dumbledore across the wide lawn and up the enormous main staircase to the entrance of Hogwarts, their trunks thumping along behind them.
"Oh, let me take care of that." Dumbledore waved his wand and the luggage went soaring up and out of sight in the direction of the Gryffindor tower. Hedwig and Pigwidgeon went spiraling off to the Owlery, screeching.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Neville?"
"When are we going to leave, sir? For D-durmstrang?"
"Tomorrow morning. Excellent question."
Neville nodded, then grabbed Trevor's leg as he tried to escape again.
The front doors opened into the entrance hall. The group walked through it to the double doors across. Having only left a little over a week before, Harry remembered every last detail of the Great Hall. The starry ceiling seemed endless, and the staff table where all the professors usually congregated lay empty.
The only table set was the Gryffindors. It didn't make sense to use the whole table, so they all sat down facing each other at one end. Professor McGonagall appeared from a doorway, took a seat at the staff table, and smiled down at them all. Dumbledore sat next to her.
It was indeed odd, with only six people occupying the vast space. Harry wondered briefly where the teachers went during summer break. Perhaps they all lived somewhere else? He couldn't imagine little Professor Flitwick or Professor Sprout living by themselves in a cottage or apartment somewhere.
Harry was distracted from his thoughts, because at that moment, the food appeared. Neville dug in at once, making muffles satisfied noises, slurping and chewing. Hermione wrinkled her nose.
The dishes were extensive and elaborate, like the Welcoming Feast at the beginning of each school year. There was Shepard's pie, platters of biscuits, gravy, various vegetables like peas and carrots (Harry probably wouldn't touch those), Yorkshire pudding, roast beef, and roast chicken, potatoes in every form-mashed, boiled, and roasted-, lamb chops, and steak-and-kidney pie.
Harry sincerely doubted the four of them could manage to eat even half of the food on the table.
He piled steak-and-kidney pie, potatoes, pork chops, gravy, and biscuits on his plate and began to eat. Everything was delicious and oh-so-filling. Hermione had stopped eating a long time ago, and was reading at the table. When Harry caught her eye, she mouthed "I'm waiting for dessert." Ron, however, was stuffing his face with everything he could reach.
Harry wiped his mouth on his napkin and took a large swig of pumpkin juice.
Dumbledore clapped his hands and every eye turned to him. Ron's mouth was bulging, and he worked quickly to swallow. Hermione averted her eyes from this somewhat nauseating sight.
"No need to get so worried, students. I am merely announcing the start of dessert."
Ron grabbed a last chicken leg before everything disappeared.
Harry's favorite dessert, treacle tart, was right at the center of the table. He helped himself to a large slice and surveyed the ice cream, trifle, apple pie, hot chocolate, and a large assortment of Honeydukes packaged sweets. Harry strongly suspected Dumbledore was expecting for them to fill their pockets with snacks.
He stuffed his mouth with treacle tart and trifle; his pockets with Jelly Slugs, Pepper Imps, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and Pumpkin Patsies.
Hermione shook her heads when she saw all of their bulging pockets.
"Really, must you be so obvious about sneaking food from the table?"
Neville, who'd been swallowing a bit of apple pie, blushed and started to empty his pockets.
"You can just cast an extension spell. It's simple, really. I'm probably carrying half of Honeydukes right now and you can't even tell. I expect the ride to Durmstrang will take a long time, and we're bound to get hungry," Hermione continued matter-of-factly. "I'm going up to my dormitory now. Good night." And she turned on her heel and strode away.
The only thing that broke the silence was the crinkling of Ron opening a new Chocolate Frog.
Harry rolled over in bed, the blankets tangling around his legs. He groped around on his nightstand until he felt his glasses and put them on. Groggily, he sat up and looked out the window at the sunlight streaming inside. It took him a moment to remember that today was the day. Durmstrang was only a couple hours away. He threw back the covers and stood up.
Wanting to look somewhat presentable, so as not to embarrass Dumbledore and McGonagall, Harry washed and brushed his hair, put his school uniform on as neatly as he could, and made his way down to the common room.
Ron and Neville were playing a game of wizard chess, while Hermione was getting Crookshanks ready for traveling.
"You know you're just going to have to pack that up again, don't you?" Hermione said, casting a reproving look at their game.
" Oh, let it drop, Hermione. We're just about done anyways." Ron checkmated Neville, swept all the pieces off the board (the pieces flew neatly into a bag), and stuffed the whole thing into his open trunk. He slammed the lid of the trunk and turned to Hermione.
"There you go. Now, why don't we go get some breakfa-" Ron looked up and saw Harry standing in the doorway. "Harry! You're awake, mate! Neville was just going to go wake you up after we finished the game."
Hermione gave him a good morning wave, and the four of them walked out of the portrait hole, chattering excitedly. They all seemed to be full of boundless energy. The excitement of the upcoming trip was coursing through their veins.
The Great Hall was once again piled with food at the Gryffindor table. The professors were nowhere to be found.
Harry stacked toast and covered it in marmalade and butter. Hermione sensibly packed some food away into a bag. "Undetectable Extension Charm," she said when she caught Harry looking.
Ron stuffed his face with sausages and scrambled eggs, cheeks full like a chipmunk's.
"Er-my-nee," Ron managed, spraying bits of egg everywhere (Hermione cringed). "Pack um uff fo ee too, 'kay?"
Heeding Ron's request, Hermione put extra food in her apparently bottomless bag.
Neville was working on a large plate of porridge. He swallowed a massive amount and said:
"Hey, d'you think they'll bring us in on hippogriffs?"
This struck a sore spot with Harry, as Sirius was still on the run with Buckbeak.
"I don't think that hippogriffs can fly all the way to Durmstrang," Harry pointed out, steering the conversation away from dangerous topics (although Neville didn't know about Sirius Black).
"Maybe we'll take the Hogwarts Express again!" Hermione said, packing kippers, bacon, and a sealed jug of pumpkin juice into her bag.
"Students!" Came a stern voice. Professor McGonagall stood at the head of their table, dressed in emerald green with her hair tied back tightly, as usual. They stopped eating and looked at her curiously.
"Please be ready in the entrance hall in an hour. Have your trunks and everything you wish to take with you to Durmstrang packed in the common room. You are welcome to leave some belongings here while you are on your trip. I assure you, they will be safe and you will be able to return to retrieve them. Oh, and by the way, very nice extension charm, Miss Granger."
Hermione blushed.
"Professor, what about Hedwig and Pigwidgeon?"
"You may take them with you during the trip, if you would like."
Harry looked at Ron, and they both nodded at each other.
"If, I may ask, professor, how are we getting there?"
"You'll find out tomorrow, Potter."