Chapter 3: Halliwell

Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were going to a secondhand robe shop. Mr. Weasley was insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your school books," said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny.

"And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and John strolled off along the winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver, and bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry's pocket was clamoring to be spent, so he bought three large strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they slurped happily as they wandered up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows. John didn't want some ice cream and elected for a water which was free. Ron gazed longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies until Hermione dragged them off to buy ink and parchment next door. John had noticed his expression as he had never known that Ron was a fanboy of the Chudley Cannons. He already knew what he was getting Ron for Christmas as a thank you for allowing him to stay over at the Burrow during the summer. In Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, they met Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who were stocking up on Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous
Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, and in a tiny junk shop full of broken wands, lopsided brass scales, and old cloaks covered in potion stains they found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called Prefects Who Gained Power. They hadn't even noticed that John had closed his eyes and looked to go pale for a few minutes. Unknown to them, John had used his astral projection ability for a small task that will appear big later on in the year.

"A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers," Ron read aloud off the back cover.

"That sounds fascinating…" Ron added sarcastically.

"Go away," Percy snapped.

" 'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out… He wants to be Minister of Magic…" Ron told Harry, Hermione, and John in an undertone as they left Percy to it.

"I would really hate for that to happen," John frowned, "not to be insulting, but Percy is a bit of a stick in the mud and incredibly dull."

"Yeah," Ron sighed, "but he's my brother so I have no choice but to support him… otherwise mum would find a way to ground me for life."

An hour later, they headed for Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:

GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"Egotistical wanker," John grouched as he gave the banner the evil eye.

"Don't be like that!" Hermione snapped.

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed forgetting her anger at John's evident hate towards Gilderoy Lockhart . "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies… Don't push, there… mind the books, now…"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione squeezed inside. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair, "We'll be able to see him in a minute…"

"Maybe he'll drop dead," John said hopefully earning scowls from several of the witches and grins from several of the men that happened to be married to several of the witches… who were clearly crushing bigtime on Gilderoy.

Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy
Hair.

A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot, "This is for the Daily Prophet-"

"Alarte ascendare," John whispered aiming at the camera with his wand causing it to go flying out of the photographer's hands and into the air before falling back down. Unfortunately for the photographer he was too slow to catch it in time before it broke on the floor

"Who the bloody hell just-" the photographer exclaimed before he whirled on Ron with a ferocious look.

"You little shit!" the photographer shouted as he grabbed Ron just to be blasted in the face by a red bolt of a spell.

"You keep your hands of my son you dick!" Molly Weasley said angrily but calmly with her wand raised.

Gilderoy Lockhart noticed the commotion in the corner of his eye and looked up. He saw Molly putting her wand away, but he didn't care about that. Standing next to her more or less… were Harry Potter the Boy Who Lived and John Constantine the Youngest Exorcist in a Century.

"It can't be Harry Potter and John Constantine!" Gilderoy Lockhart shouted as he jumped to his feet.

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seized both Harry's and John's arms each, and pulled them to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face burned and John's face grew even more annoyed as Lockhart shook their hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys. The photographer had clearly repaired his camera after recovering from the spell launched at him by Molly. The spell was stupify.

"Nice big smile, you two," said Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, the three of us are worth the front page."

When he finally let go of their hands, Harry and John could hardly feel their fingers. They tried to sidle back over to the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm around each of their shoulders and clamped them tightly to his side.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!"

"Why don't you just shut up," John growled so only Lockhart and Harry could hear him. Harry felt the same, but he was way too kind to reveal that fact.

"When young Misters Harry and John here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, they only wanted to buy my autobiography-" Lockhart began ignoring John.

"I would like to buy the lot," John muttered, "only so I could use them as kindling."

"Which I shall," Gilderoy continued still ignoring John even though he heard him, "be happy to present them now, free of charge…"

The crowd applauded again.

"They had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Harry and John a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

John grinned internally as he had already decided how he was going to get the exorcism done. Just do it during Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Outwardly, his glower turned into a glare.

The crowd cheered and clapped and both Harry and John found themselves being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, they managed to make their way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.

"You have these," Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron, "I'll buy my own-"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a voice Harry had no trouble recognizing. He straightened up and found himself face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, who was wearing his usual sneer.

"Sod off bird feed," John snarled. Draco immediately paled and stumbled back as he didn't even realize that John was there. Also, he was now irrationally afraid of birds… except for owls.

"Famous Harry Potter," continued Malfoy as he recovered, "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"And you're no better," Draco said with a hateful glare towards John.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny. It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. She was glaring at Malfoy.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" drawled Malfoy. Ginny went scarlet as Ron and Hermione fought their way over, both clutching stacks of Lockhart's books.

"Even if he had," John said with a sneer, "it's more than you'll ever get. You're nothing but a slimy, useless, incompetent, waste of space who can't even fly a broom properly. Potter is infinitely better at flying than you ever were or ever will be."

Draco opened his mouth to respond in kind, but stopped when Ron and Hermione arrived.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at Malfoy as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket. However, John was too quick for them and proceeded to punch Draco hard in the face breaking his nose.

"Ever insult any of my friends again," John whispered darkly as he pulled Draco's ear close to him, "and I'll do more than break your nose."

"Ron!" said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

They didn't even see john punch Draco hard enough in the face to break his nose. However, when Lucius showed up he noticed Draco's condition and turned his cold stare towards John and smirked. He was about to pull his wand from his cane when Arthur Weasley arrived. He then stopped and gave Arthur and even colder stare.

"Well, well, well…" Lucius said coldly, "Arthur Weasley."

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding just as coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy, "All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said rudely, "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny. John's furious expression went straight to pissed off at that, and he inched his hand towards his wand. He stopped when Arthur gave him a quick look. He then returned his hand to its former position and just settled for clenching his fists.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Arthur said calmly but angrily.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower-"

"You son of a whore!" John yelled as he and Arthur both leapt at Lucius. As they did that, there was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying. Both John and Arthur had knocked Lucius Malfoy backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their heads; there was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, John, no!"; the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over; "Gentlemen, please… please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all…

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up…"

Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley, John, and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools. John's clothes had been ripped and one of his eyes looked like it was bleeding internally due to a bookshelf slamming right onto it. He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl… take your book… it's the best your father can give you…" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that… no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter… bad blood, that's what it is… come on now… let's get outta here."

"I'll try not to be offended," John said still pissed off.

"Sorry," Hagrid said apologetically, "I forgo' about tha'. Yeh just don' seem like a Malfoy to meh."

The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them from leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set for your children…" Molly said sarcastically, "brawling in public… what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought-"

"He was pleased," said Fred, "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report… said it was all publicity… "

"Besides," John said as he bumped into people and things as his right eye was going blind, "Lucius deserved what he got. He insulted both the Grangers and your family at the same time."

"That snake," hissed Molly before she looked back at the Grangers.

"Don't let the Malfoys ruin your impression of the wizarding world," Molly said kindly, "most of us don't share the same prejudiced and racist beliefs that people like the Malfoys do."

But it was a subdued group that headed back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry, the Weasleys, and all their shopping would be traveling back to the Burrow using Floo powder. They said good-bye to the Grangers, who were leaving the pub for the Muggle street on the other side; Mr. Weasley started to ask them how bus stops worked, but stopped quickly at the look on Mrs. Weasley's face.

"Is anyone here other than me noticing that my right eye is badly damaged?" John asked as the pain increased, "I can't see out of the thing either."

"Oh…" Hermione said as she whipped out her wand and aimed it at his eye, "hold extremely still."

"Anepneo," Hermione said for the second time that day. John blinked more than once till the pain had vanished and he could see again.

"Thanks luv," John smiled, "cya at Hogwarts."

"You too," Hermione said in return.

"Have my books," John grunted as he gave the Lockhart books to Harry, "i won't be going to Defense Against the Dark Arts this year anyway."

Harry took off his glasses and put them safely in his pocket before helping himself to Floo powder. It definitely wasn't his favorite way to travel.

Later…

The end of summer vacation came too quickly for Harry's liking. He was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but his month at the Burrow had been the happiest of his life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when he thought of the Dursleys and the sort of welcome he could expect next time he turned up on Privet Drive.

On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry and John's favorite things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster 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 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. He had reckoned, of course, without the special features that Mr. Weasley had added.

"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Harry as he opened the trunk and showed him how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.

"I should use that enchantment myself," John mused, "maybe on a backpack? The possibilities…"

When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, John, 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. He barely had time to wonder when he'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. John quickly realized that he forgot his tan raincoat that ended at his thighs, so he hurried back to the house alongside Ginny. By the time they had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high.

glanced at his watch and then at his wife.

"Molly, dear-"

"No, Arthur-"

"No one would see… this little button here is an Invisibility Booster 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's 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 platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. 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 had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.

Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr. Weasley went next; Fred and George followed.

"I'll take Ginny and you three come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told John, Harry, and Ron, grabbing 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 and John. Harry made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier. John did the same with his trolley and then prepared himself behind the other two. Harry felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. All three 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-

CRASH

All three trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"

Harry and Ron glared at John who managed to stop himself before colliding at them and was laughing at their misfortune. Harry then turned his attention towards the guard.

"Lost control of the trolley," Harry gasped, clutching his ribs as he got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd.

"Why can't we get through?" Harry hissed to Ron.

"I dunno-"

"Let me see if I can find out," John said as he pulled what looked like a monocle and held it up to his eye.

Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching them.

"Jesus bloody christ," hissed John.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Portal has been closed," John said grimly.

"Oh," Ron groaned, "we were too late."

"No," John said as he put the monocle away, "a third party closed it. He then held his chin with one hand as he thought of how it could happen or rather who could've done it.

"Can't have been a witch or a wizard," John muttered to himself, "happened too quickly. Could've been a goblin, but they don't give a damn about stopping a student from going through a portal unless said student had a goblin made device they felt belonged to them. That leaves only…"

"Son of a bitch!" John yelled as he kicked the pillar hard with his right foot.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"A house elf was what closed the portal," John explained as he massaged his foot while leaning on the pillar.

"Why would a house elf want us to miss the train," Ron asked confused.

"Think about it you dunces," John said sourly, "what house elf do we know that has already tried to stop one of us from going to Hogwarts."

"Dobby," Harry said in realization, "Dobby tried to stop me yet again!"

"You're definitely smarter than you appear mate," John grunted as he put his foot down on the ground. They then looked at the clock and noticed that it had hit the precise time that the train was supposed to leave.

"It's gone," said Ron, sounding stunned. "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?"

Harry gave a hollow laugh, "The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years."

Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier.

"Can't hear a thing," he said tensely.

"What do you expect?" John snorted, "it's a bloody pillar."

What're we going to do?" Ron said ignoring John, "I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us."

They looked around. People were still watching them, mainly because of Hedwig's continuing screeches.

"I think we'd better go and wait by the car," said Harry, "We're attracting too much atten-"

"Harry!" said Ron, his eyes gleaming. "The car!"

"What about it?"

"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!"

"No," John said sharply, "Way too risky. I have a way risk-free solution."

"What's that gonna be?" Ron asked with a frown, "more of your muggle-magic?"

"No," John said, "I'm going to use my astral projection."

"I thought you wanted that kept secret except from those you trust," Ron said forgetting his irritation.

"I'd say we don't have much of a choice in the matter," John said, "unless any of you are willing to write to the Headmaster and let him know of our situation."

"Of course!" Harry said slapping his forehead, "I can't believe I forgot that is what Hedwig was born for!"

"Let's do so at the car," John said.

A few minutes later, at the car…

John, Harry, and Ron were at the car minus one living creature. Harry had written his letter very quickly and had already sent it to the school. Now they were just waiting for Molly and Arthur Weasley to return.

"Hi there," said an american female voice from nearby. They turned and saw three girls standing nearby as a cab. Two had black hair and one had brownish hair. The brownish haired girl and the taller black haired girl were the only two of the three to have short hair. They did have some similarities however. The older girl was the only one with cleavage while the other two were fairly flat.

"Hi there," Harry responded.

"We're new around here," the older one explained, "can you lead us the way to platform 9 ¾?"

Ron, Harry, and John looked at each other once before looking back at the girls.

"There's no such-" Harry began.

"Nevermind," the older girl said with a frown directed at Harry, "come on Phoebe and Piper. We have to catch that train or we'll never get to Hogwarts."

"Just wait by us," John called over to them, "Heading to the platform is a waste of time now anyway."

"What makes you say that?" the older girl challenged.

"For one," John said as he walked up to her, "we missed the bloody train ourselves. The portal to the platform closed on us preventing us from catching it."

"And for two?" the older girl asked.

"I'm my friend over there with the lightning shaped scar," John said as he pointed a thumb at Harry, "already sent a letter to Hogwarts via his pet owl Hedwig."

"My lord," Phoebe said, "is that really THE Harry Potter?"

"Aye luv," John said.

Phoebe then ran over to Harry and began curling her hair in her hand as she said, "Hi."

"Um," Harry said uncomfortably, "Hi?"

"What is your name?" the older girl asked John.

"I'm John Constantine," John said as put his hands in his pockets, "Exorcist, Demonologist, and wizard."

"The John Constantine?" the older girl asked.

"So," John said raising his eyebrow, "tales of my exorcisms have reached America already has it? Specifically Ilvermorny?"

"Yeah," the older girl said with a smile as she began shifting her body's weight between each foot.

"What years are you three?" John asked, "and what are your names? Don't just want to call you the three hermanas."

"My name is Prue Halliwell and I'm a 3rd year," the older girl, "the one who rushed to Harry Potter is my youngest sister Phoebe, and the one next to me is Piper. Piper is a 2nd year, and Phoebe is going to become a first year."

"What's with the transferring?" John asked curiously.

"Our only family that's left resides in the U.K," Prue said sadly.

"I don't think your sister is going to let Harry out of her sight for a while," John said as he looked back towards the car, "so, you three may as well stick with us."

Another few minutes later…

Ron was the first one to perk up when Molly and Arthur exited King's Cross Station. As soon as the adult Weasleys saw them they hurried over with a concerned expression on their faces.

"What are you three doing out here?" Arthur asked, "you should be on your way to Hogwarts by now."

"Portal closed before we could," John explained.

"No it didn't," Arthur said.

"Then it turned into a one-way portal," John said, "point is… we're going to need aid to get to school."

Arthur and Molly finally registered the three sisters when the older one cleared her throat.

"Oh hello," Molly said nervously, "we're just talking-"

"They're witches," John interrupted the Weasley adults.

"Oh," Molly said relieved.

"Molly, Arthur," John introduced, "meet Prue, Phoebe, and Piper Halliwell. Halliwell sisters meet Molly and Arthur Weasley."

"Hello," the sisters greeted.

"Americans," Molly said shocked, "what are you girls doing all the way in London? Shouldn't you be in Ilvermorny?"

"Piper and I are transfers," Prue explained, "Phoebe is a first year."

"You missed the train as well, didn't you," Arthur realized.

"Yes we did Mr. Weasley," Prue confirmed.

"Oh you poor dears," Molly sighed, "We'll send an owl to Hogwarts immediately."

"Harry already did, Molly," John said.

"Before those two arrived," John added as an afterthought.

"Well, then," Molly said, "I guess we'll just head home for the time being. You three are more than welcome to join us girls."

After the girls graciously accepted, Molly and Arthur got in the front seat with Ron while Harry got in the back. Piper was to John's left, and Prue was to his right. Phoebe was to Harry's right while Prue was to his left.

Later, at night…

John, Harry, and Ron were busy helping with cleaning things. Of course, John finished his part of the chores quickly. That is why he was currently just sitting against a tree once again absentmindedly drawing in the air with his wand. This time it was a Triquetra. However, he was once again jolted to alertness by an american female voice.

"You have premonitions too!" said Phoebe excitedly.

"Premo-what?" John said confused. He then looked at the drawing and frowned as this was the second time he had done so. He quickly waved his wand through the air destroying the drawing before he stood up.

"Premonitions," Phoebe explained, "it means you can see the future and past. Mostly the future though."

"Sorry to burst your bubble," John grunted as he began walking off, "I don't have premonitions."

"But you drew my family crest," Phoebe said as she hurried to catch up, "how else would you know about it?"

That stopped him in his tracks as he looked at her with the intention to speak. However, he didn't have the chance as someone appeared out of nowhere right behind them with a loud crack. Both Phoebe and John cried out in surprise before they turned around and saw an older man wearing a purple set of robes with a long white beard and half moon spectacles staring at them.

"Professor Dumbledore," John said in relief.

"Hello John," Dumbledore said with a kind expression, "I do apologize if I startled you and young Miss Halliwell."

"You know who I am?" Phoebe said confused.

"Of course my dear," Dumbledore said kindly, "Your name was added to my school's list before last year ended after all."

"Oh," Phoebe said.

"Now then," Dumbledore said as he looked around, "I must speak with Molly and Arthur Weasley. Do you have any idea where I might find them?"

"Probably inside," John said.

"I see," Dumbledore said, "Well, lead on then. As you lived here during the summer, you are the host."

John just grumbled as he and Phoebe led Dumbledore to the crooked house. When they arrived, John opened the door and looked around before he saw Molly in the kitchen.

"Molly," John called, "guess who's come."

Molly Weasley looked towards the sound of John's voice and saw Professor Dumbledore standing behind John and Phoebe.

"You're Professor Dumbledore," Molly said in realization.

"Indeed I am ," Dumbledore said as he waited outside the house, "Mind if I come in?"

"Of course, of course!" Molly said quickly as she waved her wand causing allowing the dishes to start cleaning themselves, "Do you want some tea?"

"No thank you Mrs. Weasley," Dumbledore said as he raised a hand to indicate for her to stop bustling about while he himself entered the house, "I've come to take the students to Hogwarts, but first I need to know what happened from your point of view. I already know Harry's."

"Of course," Molly repeated as she led Dumbledore to the living room where they sat down.

"Let's let them talk in private," John said as he slowly walked towards the stairs, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to start packing again."

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed as they headed up the stairs, "I'll go tell Prue and Piper that one of the Hogwarts teachers are here to take us to school."

"He's the headmaster," John informed her as he stopped by his room, "I'll send a message to Ron and Harry as well."

Once everyone was packed and Dumbledore and Molly finished their conversation, Dumbledore led them out of the house and held out his arms.

"Hold tight," Dumbledore instructed. As soon as everyone grabbed his arms and held tight, they vanished with a resounding crack leaving Molly the only person at the Burrow till Arthur returns from work.

I was planning to have John stop them from taking the flying car to Hogwarts ever since i was writing Hellblazer and the Philosopher's stone. Just seemed the type of thing John would do. don't expect another chapter for a while. i have too much on my plate as the saying goes. combined with the fact that i recently started another one. i will definitely continue this story though.