Chapter Six: The Famous Food Fiascos

After the rather unique trip to Diagon Alley, the summer vacation passed much too quickly and soon it was time to go back to Hogwarts. On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of their favorites, 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 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.

Blaise (and Harry, of course) couldn't see how ten people, eight large trunks, two owls, a rat, and a snake were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. Of course, not without the special features that Mr. Weasley had added.

"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to the two as he opened the trunk and showed them how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage could be tucked into the boot without a hassle.

When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Blaise, Fred, George, Percy, and the Weaselbee were all sitting quite comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She, Ginny, and Hermione 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. They were back two minutes later because George had forgotten his box of fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt so 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 nervously at his watch and then at his wife.

"No, Arthur—"

"But Molly, dear, 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 the trolleys for their trunks and they all rushed into the station.

"Percy first," Mrs. Weasley said, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.

Percy strode forward and vanished, followed by Mr. Weasley and Fred and George.

"I'll take Ginny and you three come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told Harry, Blaise, and Hermione, grabbing Ginny's hand (who rolled her eyes) and setting off. In the blink of an eye they were gone.

"Let's go together," Hermione ordered. "One, two, three!"

And they and their trolleys ran to the barrier, wasting no time in flying past it and hurrying to the train, taking care of their trunks quickly and jumping onto the train just as the clock struck eleven and the train left the platform.

oOoOo

Oh, no! Dobby was running late! This shouldn't be happening, but his Master had ordered him to polish his seventy-five pairs of boots and make Narcissa's cookies to send to Master Draco the first day of school, and it wasn't like they knew of Dobby's mission! But Dobby had to go; he was running horribly late. . . .

Dobby burst into silent tears at King's Cross. He hadn't made it. Master Harry and his Zabi were off to Hogwarts, into the danger that he had heard his Master and his Master talking secretly of! Oh, no, no, no, no, no . . . But Dobby had to think of something else. If Dobby couldn't block their way of getting them to school, Dobby could just get them expelled! But how to do it . . . ? That was the hard part. Oh, well, Dobby would think of something, and Dobby would think of something quickly, for it would involve the train ride. . . .

oOoOo

"We made it!" Blaise exclaimed, huffing, as she plopped gracelessly into a bench in the nearest empty compartment, which was at the very end of the train.

"Yep, no big, bad orphanage, no having to run away, just the good, old-fashioned 'we're running late.' Isn't that lovely?" Harry said in agreement.

"Mm-hmm, but now we have to find Ginny. She'll be mad if we leave her with Ron," Hermione remembered, grinning at the ready-to-pass-out Harry and Blaise.

"Ginny! I can't believe we left her. . . . Let's go find her, and while we're at it, let's find the twins! They may have time for a bit of before-school mayhem. And Theo! We can't forget Theo!" Blaise left the compartment at a brisk pace, signs of fatigue gone, expecting Harry and Hermione to follow her.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged before doing so.

They spent the next ten minutes opening compartment doors and waving at the occupants, and if they weren't Theo, Ginny, or the twins, they left. Simple as that. So it stands to reason that whenever they found Theo in a compartment full of Ravenclaws, they went to close the door before fully realizing who was inside.

"Theo, my good man!" Blaise exclaimed, pulling him out of the compartment by his arm (ignoring his protests) and shutting the door. "Come with us!"

"Why?!"

"Because we need you to help us find Ginny and the twins!"

"Not the twins. . . . Who the hell is Ginny?"

"Ginny Weasley," Harry answered.

"Ginny Wea—you're associating with another Weasley?" Theo cleaned out his ears incredulously.

"Don't worry," Hermione consoled him, "she's a good Weasley."

"Oh."

They continued their avid search in silence until—

"Is there even such thing as a good Weasley?"

oOoOo

They finally found Ginny (who was stuck in a compartment with Weaselbee, Thomas, Finnigan, and Longbottom) and pulled her along with them, to her immense relief. But Fred and George were with Lee Jordan and a few of their Gryffindor friends, and promised to see them at school, to Harry and Blaise's heartbreak and Theo's "thank God." Blaise glared at him.

They then proceeded to walk all the way back to their compartment, two new ones in tow, just in time for the food trolley.

"Would you like any sweets, dears?" the old witch asked them. Harry and Blaise shot up, Galleons in hand, and proceeded to empty the cart of Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Hermione got some Pumpkin Pasties and shared with Ginny while Theo munched on a dozen Cherry-Flavored Licorice Wands.

Blaise moaned as the velvety chocolate hit her tongue, a burst of flavors entering her mouth. Lazily she looked at the card she got, which she dropped in surprise.

Harry looked over at her in concern. "What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing, just . . . got a surprise when I saw the card. I suppose you could call it a souvenir for last year." Blaise showed him the Dumbledore card.

Harry's mouth formed an 'O' of understanding, but he never had time to comment, for at that moment, there was a crash right outside their compartment.

Blaise and Hermione shrieked while Ginny jumped in surprise. Theo choked on his licorice wand and Harry's head swerved to the door, which had started vibrating.

When Harry said the door was vibrating, it was vibrating. The hinges were barely keeping it in place, and if it started shaking any harder the hinges would pop off.

POP! BANG! CRASH!

Well, they did pop off. . . .

And . . . what the bloody hell was that in the door?

"Dobby!" Blaise shrieked. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Zabi! What is you doing on the train? There is trouble there. Harry Potter and his Zabi mustn't go!" Dobby banged his head on the doorframe, which was all that was left. . . .

"Dobby, don't do that!" Harry ordered, pulling Dobby away from anything that may endanger him. "We have to go, you don't understand. We don't belong anywhere else, don't you see?"

Dobby's large tennis-ball-sized eyes glared at him, scandalized. "You belong away from Hogwarts! There is great danger!" Dobby stomped his feet on the ground for emphasis.

Harry sent a pleading look at Blaise, but she just shrugged.

"Dobby, we can't jump off the train. . . . We have to go."

"You may have to go, but Harry Potter and his Zabi don't have to stay. . . ." Dobby's eyes widened as a wicked idea formed. He eyed the Chocolate Frogs and the rest of the sweets, and Harry saw it.

"No, Dobby . . . you can't do that! We'll get expelled!"

"Exactly the point, Harry Potter, sir."

Harry panicked, glancing at Blaise and the other people in the compartment for ideas, but Dobby was too quick. With a snap of his fingers, the Chocolate Frogs were taken from their wrappers and sent zooming around the compartment and out of the open doorframe. The Every Flavor Beans were likewise levitated, instead sent around tapping people's heads and trying to stick themselves up nostrils. Hermione's Pumpkin Pasties were joining the Chocolate Frogs; Theo's Licorice Wands were whipping people in a rather suggestive manner, causing him to cringe. While Harry just thought Dobby had charmed theirs, he had in fact charmed every piece of candy on the train, and they all rushed out of the compartment when multiple screams were heard as girls hurried from compartments to escape the charmed Frogs, Beans, Pasties, and Wands. One girl gasped and put her hands on her hips when one of her boyfriend's Licorice Wands whipped her across her bum.

Summed up in one word: chaos.

"We're so screwed. . . ." Blaise whispered before swatting lazily at the strawberry-flavored Every Flavor Bean that was trying to go down her shirt.

oOoOo

"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" Snape snapped. Harry, Blaise, Hermione, Theo, and Ginny were gathered in his office. "This is a disgrace; most unfortunately, not all of you"—here Snape glared at Hermione—"are in my House, which means the decision to expel Miss Granger does not rest with me. I shall go and fetch the people who do have that happy power. You will wait here."

Harry, Blaise, and Theo stared at each other, fear-stricken. They were about to be expelled, and they knew it.

"Damn, we're already about to be expelled. This must be a school record," Blaise put in.

Harry and Theo glared at her.

"Okay, then. . . ."

Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough it was Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore who accompanied him. Harry had seen Professor McGonagall angry before, but this beat all. Blaise gulped.

"Sit," she ordered. Because the Slytherins weren't sure who she was talking to, they all backed into chairs by the fireplace.

"Explain."

"It wasn't our fault!" Blaise cried. "There's this weird house-elf stalking me and Harry, telling us not to come to school. I thought I'd gotten rid of him, but he arrived when we were on the train and charmed all the candy to act like perverts! After that, he just disappeared."

"Would this house-elf have a name?"

"Dobby," Harry pitched in.

Dumbledore was looking unusually grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and Blaise suddenly found herself wishing she was back on the train with all the perverted Beans.

There was a long silence.

"You will be punished, of course," Dumbledore began regally, "but none of you shall be expelled. It is much too drastic when a house-elf was the cause of it all. For this, you will each be serving three detentions with separate professors early this year. No extra punishments will be given, as the charms were easily nullified by Professor Flitwick. Now, I believe there's one last Sorting to get to."

They walked quickly to the Great Hall, where the noise of chatter and forks and knives clanging on golden plates reached their ears. Professor McGonagall went in first with the Sorting Hat, followed by Professor Dumbledore and Snape, who was livid. Harry, Blaise, Hermione, and Theo entered quietly and made their way quickly to their own House tables. Everyone in Slytherin turned and glared at the other three members.

"Now," Professor McGonagall stated. "There is one last Sorting to get to before we're done, so now . . . Ginevra Weasley!"

Ginny walked up to the Hat courageously and put it on her head. Her eyes went wide when she heard the Hat speaking to her, and then the hall waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It seemed the Hat was having trouble, and Ginny was trying desperately to get it to make a decision. Finally it seemed that she yelled at it in her head and the Hat called out:

"SLYTHERIN!"

To say that the Hall went into shock and started having seizures would be an understatement. The members of Slytherin and Gryffindor went into apoplectic shock, their eyes bugging out of their heads and even a few fainting. McGonagall herself seemed to be having trouble breathing, and Snape, who had taken a drink of his goblet around this time, was covered in what seemed to be firewhiskey.

Then Hell broke loose. Gryffindor members stood up and declared that she be re-Sorted. The twins, of course, were cheering and Hermione's hand covered her open mouth. Slytherin members, of course, were not to be outdone by anyone.

"A Weasley can't be placed in Slytherin!" exclaimed Weaselbee incredulously.

"This is preposterous!" came from Percy.

"Go, go, Ginny! Go, go, go, Ginny!" the twins were chanting.

On the other side of the Hall . . .

"There is no way a Slytherin will be welcomed into the noble House of Slytherin!" Malfoy yelled.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Ew!" came from Parkinson.

"Go, go, Ginny! Go, go, go, Ginny!" Harry and Blaise chanted with the twins.

Ginny was at the front of the hall, looking as if she might cry, and Harry, Blaise, and Theo were the only people (along with the twins) who were cheering for her. Hermione still seemed to be in shock at her classmates' actions.

When Ginny's eyes landed on the three clapping Slytherins (and the two clapping Gryffindors) her tears dried and she ran over to where they were in relief.

Some random Gryffindor then realized they were still supposed to be eating and grabbed a chicken wing, throwing it at the nearest Slytherin (which happened to be Malfoy). Malfoy gasped and flung his entire goblet of pumpkin juice at a group of Gryffindor girls, who shrieked and retaliated in kind. Soon a full-fledged food fight had broken out, and the four "important" Slytherins deemed it necessary to get away from the scene of the crime.

Blaise went up to a fifth year prefect and tapped her on the shoulder. "What's the password?" she yelled over the ruckus.

"Basilisk!" the prefect answered.

"Thanks!"

Blaise went back to the other three and they snuck out of the hall, going down the stairs to the dungeons. "Time to show you our noble sleeping quarters, Gin," Harry said, leading them down the labyrinth.

"So . . ." Theo started. "Did you expect to be in Slytherin?"

"Well, after the Hat started going on and on about how ambitious and cunning I was, that I wouldn't do well in Gryffindor like my brothers and 'those before me,' I kinda figured Slytherin was the place for me, so I told it so."

"What a unique Sorting," Blaise giggled.

"Yeah, the Hat looked at me and goes 'Well, you're brave, cunning, and intelligent, but where should I put you?' It was rather annoying afterward, but awfully scary at the time," Harry added.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Blaise put in.

"The Hat didn't talk to me," Theo said, frowning.

"Must've known where to put you, then."

"Yeah, but the Hat probably considered Ravenclaw before Slytherin. You're much too studious, Theo." Blaise patted him on the shoulder.

"Am not."

"Are, too."

"Am not."

"Are, too."

"Shut up!" Harry yelled.

Blaise hissed, and she got a surprise when Sneak hissed back from his hiding place in Harry's sleeve. She looked highly affronted and began sulking.

"Here we are," Harry said, stopping at a blank stretch of wall. "Basilisk."

The wall opened to reveal their common room, no changes visible in the mass of emerald green and polished silver. Ginny looked around in awe. "Wow."

"Yeah," agreed Blaise.

"So, now we're out of the Famous Food Fiascos, can we go to bed? I'm beat," Harry exaggerated, just a bit.

"The Famous Food Fiascos?" Blaise questioned, raising an auburn eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, the first time on the train, and now at the feast."

Blaise nodded. "Yeah, I know. Nice names."

"Nice?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, it's nice. A way to remember it."

"More like 'what the hell?'"

"Shut up, Theo, you just don't understand."

"You know what? No, I don't. You two are impossible to understand."

Ginny giggled. "They're not that hard to understand, Theo."

"Well, to me they are."

"That's just what you think. Have you actually gotten to know them?"

Theo glared at her. "Yes."

"Well, think whatever you want." Ginny sighed.

"And I think they're impossible to understand."

"Why, thank you, Theo." Harry grinned.

"We never knew you cared." Blaise continued.

They took a bow.