Harry's trunk was packed; he had just lured a very disgruntled Hedwig back into her cage when he heard Mrs. Weasley's voice come from downstairs.
"Harry! Ron! Where are you? Get down here!" Ron was still in bed, snoring loudly. Harry shook him awake.
"Come on Ron, get your stuff together. We gotta get moving!" Harry said hurriedly, now dragging his trunk from the room. Ron jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on. Harry was about to lift his trunk up and lug it down the stairs when Mrs. Weasely appeared at the bottom.
"Locomotor trunk!" she said, pointing her wand at the trunk. She levitated it all the way to the front door for him. "There you are, Harry dear."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley!" he said. He opened the front door and saw Moody, Lupin, and Tonks waiting for them in front a single purple ministry car. Harry gave them a look that plainly asked, Why are you here?
"Hello boy," Moody said, nodding at him. "We're here to see you off on the train." Harry felt his face burning.
"I don't need a babysitter," he mumbled.
"Oh come on, Harry, we're just a precaution. Besides, only two of us are really on duty anyway," said Tonks with a mischievous look on her face.
"Huh? Who's not on-"
"RON!!!" Came a shrill yell from the house. Seconds later, Ron came bursting out the front door, dragging his trunk.
"Keep your hair on, mum! I'm going!" he said angrily. "I swear, sometimes she just gets too riled up," he said in an undertone to Harry.
"I suppose she means well though," Harry replied. He carried his trunk to the back of one of the cars and hoisted it into the trunk. It had magically expanded to be able to fit all of their luggage comfortably. He saw that Ginny and Hermione were already sitting in the back seat, chatting about the D.A. and whether they should keep having meetings.
"If we have a competent teacher we might not have to keep it up," Hermione said.
"But it's so much fun!" Ginny exclaimed. Harry made a last check on his trunk and Hedwig's cage to make sure they were secure and slid in the back seat beside Hermione.
"Did you oversleep?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.
"Yeah, I guess," he replied. Meanwhile, Ron was cramming his trunk into the back; apparently, he wasn't being polite to the car and it kept revving it's motor at him and taking up the space in the back so his trunk wouldn't fit. Harry heard a couple words escape his mouth that he knew he wouldn't have said in front of Mrs. Weasley. He finally managed to get his trunk in and closed the tailgate. He got in the car, followed by Moody, Tonks, and Lupin. The car must have sensed that there wasn't enough room because a middle row materialized in front of them and the car stretched so it was more like a station wagon. Mrs. Weasley got in the front seat and looked at her watch.
"Merlin! We've only got twenty minutes! Step on it, Timms!" she said to the driver. The elderly driver nodded politely and punched the gas. He drove like a maniac to King's Cross Station (Harry was strongly reminded of the Knight Bus) and they made it with only five minutes to spare. Everybody quickly unloaded their trunks and ran to the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
"Come on, Harry and Ron!" Lupin yelled. He grabbed both their arms and pulled them through the barrier. Platform 9 ¾ appeared in front of him, and Harry saw the great scarlet steam engine with the words Hogwarts Express neatly painted on the side. He turned around just as Hermione, Ginny, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley were coming through. They all ran full tilt to the train and loaded their luggage. Mrs. Weasley was just handing Ron Pig's cage when they heard the conductor shout,
"All Aboard!"
"Have a good term everyone!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. The door slid shut and the train started moving. Harry started toward the back of the train, but Hermione grabbed his sleeve.
"Prefects meeting, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Harry said. He had almost forgotten that he was a prefect in the usual chaos of boarding the train. He followed Ron and Hermione up the corridor, drawing many curious looks from inside the compartments. He came to a great oak door with a golden doorknob. Hermione opened the door, and Harry saw a magnificent room with deep blue carpet and curtains of all the house colors in the windows. There was a great banner bearing the Hogwarts crest on the back wall, and there were comfortable looking poufs scattered throughout the room. They were the only people in the room at the time. Harry nervously took a seat. Hermione walked to the front of the room and took a sheaf of parchment out of her bag.
"Hermione, aren't you running this meeting?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I just have to tell you what you can and can't do, and what to watch out for…things like that," she said, arranging her papers.
"Excellent…so you'll make it quick, right? I'm starving!" Ron said, rubbing his stomach.
"Honestly Ron, it's your own fault you overslept and missed breakfast, " she said, shaking her head.
"Maybe if he'd grow up and not rely on his fat mummy to do everything for him, he would have gotten up on time," came a voice from the door. Draco Malfoy strutted in, his white blond hair slicked back and his icy blue eyes flashing. Ron stood up, clenching his fists.
"Ron,NO!" Hermione said sternly. "Just let it go." He slowly sat down, glaring at Malfoy with hatred on his face.
"That's right, Weasley," Malfoy whispered, as people started filing into the carriage. "Listen to the mudblood."
It took all of Harry's willpower to keep him from unleashing a wicked curse on Malfoy. He was still glowering as Hermione called the meeting to order. Malfoy looked as though he was enjoying all the attention. If he does anything to Hermione, Harry thought. Just as he thought this, one of the lamps behind Malfoy exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere. Everyone looked around nervously…except Hermione, who was giving Harry a curious look. He shrugged and she continued on with the meeting. He noticed that many people were giving him weird, almost sympathetic looks. Harry ignored them; he didn't want their pity. His mind drifted throughout the whole meeting. Finally, almost a half hour later, Hermione called the meeting to a close. Harry stood up and stretched; the carriage was emptying quickly, and Hermione was carefully putting her papers into her school bag.
"All right, let's go find a compartment," Hermione said, closing her bag. They went out into the corridor and finally found Neville and Luna sitting together in the last compartment. Neville was gazing out the window, and Luna was reading The Quibbler upside-down again. She was wearing earrings in the shape of large purple carrots and her wand was behind her ear, as always. When they walked in, she looked up.
"Hello, Ronald," she said dreamily. "Did you have a good holiday?"
"Er…it was all right," Ron replied, giving Harry and Hermione a look that plainly said help. All they did was grin at him and sit down. Ron sank into a seat, looking very embarrassed. Luna went back to The Quibbler, completely oblivious to the exchange between the trio.
"Where's Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"I have no idea. She left the meeting before we did, didn't she?" Harry asked.
"She's probably sitting with some other friends," Ron said absentmindedly.
"Here, have some Cauldron Cakes," said Neville, handing them each two. They ate them in silence, each with their own thoughts.
"So…are we doing the D.A. this year?" Neville asked. Harry looked up. "I don't know. Maybe if enough people want to…" he said.
"I'm sure even more people will want to join, now that they know the truth," Hermione said feverently. "I can't believe them."
"I would love to re-form Dumbledore's Army," Luna said, her pale eyes gazing at Harry over the top of her magazine. At the mention of Dumbledore's name, Harry felt a strange feeling in his mind; it felt as if there was a presence. All of a sudden, his scar exploded with pain. He yelled and fell to the floor, clutching his scar. He heard screams, and felt someone next to him. All of a sudden, he felt a barrier in his mind break.
"Hello Harry," an icy voice said.
"Who are you?" Harry asked frightfully.
"You know who I am," the voice replied. "Come now, Harry. Tell me where the book is, and I promise I won't bother you again."
"You liar," Harry snarled. "Voldemort!"
"Very good, Potter," his voice said. "Of course…you probably don't even know about the powers the book holds. You're just an ignorant boy."
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Get out of my head!" Harry yelled. With all his might, with every fiber of his being, he forced Voldemort from his mind. Then everything went black…
"Harry! Harry please wake up!" Harry slowly opened his eyes. His head was throbbing painfully.
"What happened?" he whispered. He felt someone hand him his glasses. He pushed them up the bridge of his nose and saw Hermione kneeling beside him, her face chalk white, tears in her eyes. Ron was sitting, also very pale, making his fiery red hair stand out more than usual. Neville looked as though he would faint. Luna, however, looked mildly bored.
"You had a…a sort of fit," Ron said nervously.
"Your eyes…they were like snake eyes," Hermione said, her voice quaking. With Hermione's help, he sat up and put his face in his hands.
"It was Voldemort. He was in my head," Harry whispered, so only Ron and Hermione could hear him. Hermione gasped.
"But how? What did he say?"
"He asked me about a book…I don't know what he was talking about though," Harry said, massaging his scar. It was still tingling. "Then I kind of…forced him out, I guess."
"Blimey, you had us scared for a second. We thought you weren't going to come out of it," Ron said.
"We were so worried," Hermione said, tears rolling down her cheeks. Harry pulled her into a hug.
"Don't worry, I'm fine…" he whispered. They separated and she helped him onto his seat. "Are we almost to Hogwarts?"
"We'll be there soon. We'd better change," Ron said, standing up. "You sure you're okay, mate?" he asked Harry.
"I'm fine. I'll talk to Dumbledore when we get to school," he said shortly. He didn't feel like talking about what happened, especially in the presence of Neville and Luna. Hermione and Luna left to change, and Ron, Neville, and Harry changed in the compartment. Harry sank into the seat by the window, staring out it. The weather was better than it had been in past years; no rain, but it was pitch black outside. Just as the girls reentered the carriage, Harry saw what he had been longing for all year…Hogwarts castle.
"I'm finally home," he whispered, smiling.