Chapter Two: Second Does Not Mean Least

At the very front of the train known as the Hogwarts Express in the first car was the two compartments reserved for the prefects. It was the prefects who were charged with dealing the problems on the train. There were a mere two adults, the conductor and the trolley lady. That is unless you counted some of the seventh year students. In the wizarding world you were considered legally grown at seventeen.

While two compartments were reserved for the prefects, they could not contain them all. In theory all the precfects except the head boy, the head girl and the fifth years were supposed to scattered throughout the train. In practice most arrived early; the prefects usually took over the entire first car of the train. From fifth year and up a girl and boy from every house was chosen as prefect. This meant six prefects for every house. The grand total of prefects for the entire school was twenty-six.

The oldest Weasley on the train was a prefect. He was tall and thin. He wore horn-rimmed when he need to read something. Like of the rest of the members of his family he had red hair and freckles. An observant reader will know that his first name was Percy. He was a fifth year student. This was his first year as prefect. Percy was dressed in school robes. The badge with the letter P for prefect was pinned to his robes. Percy was exceptionally proud of that badge.

Percy carried himself upright and stiff. He believed in authority. He believed in rules above all else. His younger brothers, the twins Fred and George often made fun of him for this.

Percy's glasses were perched on his nose. He had the prefect's handbook out. It was a volume short in height but very thick in width. He was sitting in one of the official prefect compartments. It made no sense to him that prefects were breaking rules. He kept searching through the book, looking to see if there was any loopholes or rules he didn't know about. There wasn't. He had read the book cover to cover twice this summer. Percy got so mad at the rule breaking but complaining did no good.

The prefects were for most part cheerful and relaxed. The only people who came to prefects for help on the trains were usually first and second year students. Everyone else could generally solve their own problems.

A short heavy boy, a first year came into the compartment. "I-I'm Neville Longbottom," he said, "A girl named Hermione told me I could get help from the prefects. Please would someone help me find my toad? His name is Trevor." The boy looked ready to cry.

Most of the prefects laughed. Percy felt outraged by their immature behaiover. They were failing in the responsibilities they were charged with! How dare they? Percy stood up. "I'll help you," he said.

Neville's face instantly brightened. Percy tucked his book away in his trunk. He placed his glasses in a pocket in his robes. Percy then followed Neville down the train. Percy knew a simple called Acio. He pulled out his wand. "Acio Trevor the toad!" Percy called out. It wouldn't work if the toad was too far away. He kept calling out the spell as he walked down through the train cars.

When they got to the middle of the train, Percy and Neville had to stop. There was a fight ahead of them. A small black-haired boy with glasses was holding his own against two boys much bigger than him. "I may not be to hurt Dudley without risking greater problems," the boy said, "but the same is not true for you two. If you think you are going to beat me up you are sadly mistaken."

Before Percy could get a chance to break the fight up it was over. The two bigger boys ran down the train away from the smaller one.

"Wow, Harry how did you do that?" Neville asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, "I've never fought anyone."

"You could have fooled me," Percy said sarcastically, "Fighting is against the school rules. Do you want points docked for your house before you're even at Hogwarts?"

"You can't do that. At least I don't think you can," Neville said, "He hasn't been sorted yet. I bet you he ends up in Gryffindor though. Knowing my luck I'll probably wind up in Hufflepuff."

"Gryffindor? What's that?" Harry asked, "Are you related to Ron. You resemble him."

Percy groaned. For Percy Weasley this was a bad day. One that was only getting worse. It had started this morning when his brothers the twins charmed his badge to say 'P for Perfect.' Looking at down his badge he could see it was doing it again. The badge was flashing back and forth between the words 'For', 'perfect', and the 'letter P.' Percy stifled another groan. Looking at Neville Percy remembered to say "Acio Trevor the toad!" This time the toad came flying to his hand.

"Perfect!" Percy said, fully aware of the irony.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Neville said as he took the toad from Percy.

"This word Gryffindor what is it?" Harry asked, "I've heard mention of it twice."

Percy stood there for the next minute explaining the house system. When this was done he went back up the train alone. A sound of shouts coming from ahead of him soon had him running. The two boys that the smaller boy Harry had been fighting, were standing in front of a closed compartment door. They were yelling wordless shouts that made Percy think uncomfortably of battle cries. The two boys were beating their fists on the door.

"Stand aside," Percy said. The boys moved back. Percy tried the door handle. It moved but the door would not open. Percy tapped his wand against the handle. "Alohamora!" The door still didn't budge.

From other side of the door a boy's voice said in a calm serious manner, "You can try all you want. You are not coming in here witches!"

"Don't be insulting!" Percy said.

Kids from other compartments started to come out into the hall. A crowd gathered. Percy knew a bunch of spell for unlocking or unsticking doors. He knew them from dealing his prankster brothers Fred and George. Percy cast spell after spell. None of them worked on the door. He stepped back frustrated.

As you probably already know the two boys were Crabbe and Goyle. Seeing that the prefect they went back to banging on the door.

"You traitor Draco," Goyle said in a dull manner.

"You dirty rotten perverted scoundrel," Crabbe said in an equally dull way. This resulted in a lot laughter from the crowd, more than half of whom was convinced that the dull witted first year had no idea what he was saying. In this they were actually right. Crabbe was just repeating something he heard his father say.

8

One car down in a crowded car filled with Hufflepuffs was a boy named Cedric Diggoery. He was handsome with dark brown hair. He was tall. He was athletic. He was a third year student much as the Weasley twins were. In other regards he was entirely different from them. Cedric was one of the most poplar students in his year, liked by students throughout the four houses.

The compartment was crowed because there more than double the amount of student that there were supposed to in there. The students, mostly third years, were joking and laughing. Cedric was one of the first people in the compartment, one of the few who actually had a trunk in there. Cedric was hardworking and loyal. He was kind hearted and possessed very natural but under developed leadership skills. If he had one flaw it was that he wanted to be liked. He wanted to please people too much. This was why he didn't order the crowd out. At his word most would have willingly left.

The compartment was so crowded that Cedric was trapped in his seat. The only non-third years in the compartment were two unsorted eleven year old girls. One had black hair. Her name was Leanne Spinks. The other had curly brown hair. Her name was Lavender Brown. Both girls were attempting to flirt with Cedric. The fourteen year old Cedric was both amused and flattered. In the seat next to him, his best friend Joe Summers was growing increasingly annoyed.

"I'd be a lot happier if you'd just leave," Joe said looking at Lavender. Joe Summers was thirteen. Joe and Lavender were first cousins. If you looked them for a few minutes you could sort of see a resemblance. The most ovibius thing in common about their apearxces was the curly brown which for Joe was a few shades dark and considerably shorter.

"Ceddy doesn't seem to mind," Lavender said. She giggled.

"Ceddy?" Cedric muttered. That was it. He'd had enough. Cedric was tolerant and paishunt but this was too much. "Out!" he yelled, "Everyone who doesn't belong in here get out!"

"Finally," Joe said.

Most of the kids left. Only the four boys who belonged in there and Lavender remained. Lavender pouted. "You can't me, Ceddy," she said.

"I do," Cedric said, "Don't call me Ceddy!" He pointed at the door.

Lavender walked out the door. She turned head back. She tilted her head in a smug way. "Just for that Ceddy dear, I'll make sure I don't get in Hufflepuff!" With that she was gone.

"Hufflepuff will be better off without her," Joe said. The other three boys nodded in agreement. The compartment was shut and in very quick order the four boys in the compartment changed into their school uniforms. The uniforms consisted of a white under-robe, a yellow and black tie, and black robes with the Hufflepuff house crest. The crest had a badger on it, the symbol of the house. All four boys were in Hufflepuff.

The two other boys besides Cedric and Joe, were Hugo Macavoy and Tristan Prewit. Hugo had reddish brown hair that was shoulder length.. He was otherwise so average looking that many forgot what his face looked like. He was not a standout personality. His grades were so pathetic that he was repeating third year. He was not dumb. He was lazy. He seemed to want to fade in the background, to be forgotten.

The same could not be said of Hugo's siblings. Hugo Macovoy was the oldest in a set of fraternal triplets. His sister Hedi Macovoy was chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Cedric being the Hufflepuff seeker since last year was friends with her. Hugo's brother Harold Macovoy was a Ravenclaw who made the top grades in his year.

"It's humiliating!" Hugo complained, "My brother and sister younger than me by minutes are going into the fourth year! But I'm still stuck in third!" Cedric didn't know Hugo that well. He wasn't sure what he thought of him yet. He knew that his friend and fellow third year Tristan was friends with Hugo. Hugo and Tristan grew up in the same village.

"There, there," Tristan Prewit said in a semi-condensing tone. He patted Hugo on the shoulder. Hugo swatted his hand away. Tristian had dark red hair so short he was nearly bald. Tristin was a member of the Prewit clan, a distant cousin of the Wealesy brothers on their mother's side. The Prewetts were a very old wizarding family but there were no more pureblood Prewetts males. Tristan was the grandson of a squib.

Squibs are believed to be non-magical people. Non-magical people who are born to wizarding families. In truth they sometimes do have magic. It is magic that is so weak that it impossible to use wands or cast spells. It is residual magic, the product of growing up surrounded by magical energy. Squib are often misfits and outcasts, the shame, the embarrassment of their families.

In the wizarding world there are people who hold purity of blood in high esteem. To some wizards if you cannot trace say that your anseters were wizarding folk up to at least four generations back then you are considered worthless. Muggleborns are sometimes insultingly called mudbloods. It is a sad fact, but forms of racism exist in almost every society. If it isn't racism then its religious prejudice. If it's not that then it's something else. People have many varying viewpoints. Not all agree to disagree. Human beings are always finding ways to create division and strife. For all that the wizarding world pretended to be different from muggles, they were, they are, still human.

Cedric Diggory was a pureblood from a wealthy family. He was from one of those families that not did not care much about blood purity. The more obsessed purebloods called such people blood traitors.

As soon as all four Hufflepuff boys had finished changing clothes, Cedric left the compartment. He went up the train to the next car. There was a crowd there worse than the crowd that had been in Cedric's compartment five minutes before. Dozens of people were there. Someone was banging against something, the sound was noticeable even over the chatter.

A taller older boy shoved Cedric aside and went past him. It was Marcus Flint. Cedric knew him from playing Quidditcth against him the last year. Flint was on the Slytherin Quiditch team. Flint was big and strong. He pushed aside many people as he worked his way through the hall. People hushed up as he went by them. "What is going on here?" Flint yelled in a booming voice, "Hey, that's my compartment! My stuff is in there!"

Most of the crowd scattered going off in different directions up and down the trains. The few that remained included a prefect with flame red hair and his brothers, a set of identical twins, Fred and George Weasley. Cedric knew of the twins for the same reason he knew Flint. Fred and George were the beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Percy, Cedric knew only because Percy was loud, his voice carried a long ways. In Cedric's opinion, Percy was too outspoken for his own good. It was a wonder to Cedric that Percy never got into fights. He was too polite even when mad. He was always too obsessed with manners and proper protocol.

As the crowd cleared away, Cedric saw where the banging noises were coming from. A compartment was closed. It appeared to be locked. Two boys about the sized of second year students, were banging on the door. The heavier of the two had bleeding knuckles.

No one ever accused Crabbe and Goyle of intelligence. The only thing the boys had going for them was persistence. In this case it did not work.

On the other side of the door Draco who thought he was Edmund stood stubbornly rushing to open the door. Whether he was Edmund or not was not the most important issue. He was not in his right mind. "I refuse to take the broom from the door! I refuse to unblock the door!" he said.

Back in the hall, Flint's face went as red a tomato. His brows went down. "My broom!" he yelled.

The Weasley twins looked at each other. They grinned. "Brother oh mine," one said, "Correct if I'm wrong but doesn't Marcus Flint have a racing room?"

"I think you're right, dear Fred," the other said, "Isn't it a Nimbus Ninety-nine?" "Yes," Fred said, "A Nimbus Ninety-Nine, one of last year's top model racing brooms."

"It's expensive," George said.

"Very," said Fred, "I wonder if it snaps, will he be able to get a new one?"

"Or," suggested George, "will he have to quit the team?"

Fred waved his arms about. "I can just picture him on one of the school's cleansweeps."

"The cleansweeps?" George asked, "Those brooms are older than you and me. The shoddy broom might just give up in mid-air!"

"Yes," Fred said, "It would give the Gryffindor team a great advantage!"

"Shut up!" Flint yelled at the twins.

"Yes, please be quiet," Percy said, "You're not helping matters any."

"Who's behind that door?" Cedric asked.

Percy sighed. "He says his name is Edmund."

"I am ," the boy behind the door said. He paused. It occurred to the paranoid and bewildered boy that he should not say his name. Was he Draco? Was he Edmund? He wasn't sure. The memories of both were swirling around in his head. He was growing increasingly delirious. "I am not telling you who I am. My name is my business and mine alone!"

In the hall, Flint said, "I can't remember his last name. "I know it's famous. I know he told me his name is Draco."

"It is," Crabbe said. He stopped beating his fists against the door. He rubbed his bleeding knuckles. "It hurts."

"That traitor in there is Draco Malfoy," Goyle said, "I'm no genius but I get what he did. He insulted us! Friends don't do that. He called me a girl!"

"He called you a witch, not a girl," Percy said.

Goyle shrugged. "Same thing."

To Cedric Diggory this whole situation seemed surreal. He couldn't help it. He burst out in laughter.

"We could get our brooms," Fred said, "We could fly out of the train and crash back in through that compartment." His twin nodded with great enthusiasm. Fred and George were grinning so wide it didn't look like they could grin any wider.

Percy put a hand over his eyes. "No," he said, "Just no. That's suicidal even for you. Don't you dare do it!"

This made Cedric laugh even harder. He could tell or that thought he could, that the twins were teasing Percy. Poor Percy was too tightly wound. He believed them. Cedric laughed so hard his sides hurt.

"You shut up Puff!" Flint growled more than said, "If you don't, I'll make you!" Flint pushed Crabbe and Goyle away from the door. He slapped a hand against the door twice. "Hey, you in there! I'm talking to you firstie! If you don't open this door right now you'll regret it. When you do come later, and you have to come out some time, I'll beat you into next week! Worse, I'll hex you there!"

From behind the door, the boy said, "I have fought worse men than you. I've slain Minatours and Orges. I have faced Jadis, herself. You do not scare me."

Cedric breathed slowly. His laughter ceased. This was serious. He could tell that threats were not going to work. Another tactic was required. "Let's talk about this," Cedric said, "What would take to get you to open this door?"

"I will not negotiate with witches!" the boy's voice shouted.

"What's a miantour?" Fred asked, "He said he killed Mintours. So what's a minoutrer?" Fred looked to Gegore with an inquisitive expression.

"Beats me," George said, "I might read a little more than you but I don't know everything. Go ask a real bookworm!"

Fred looked at Percy. "Percy my big brother," he said in a mocking tone, "what's a minatour?"

Percy groaned. He recited as if from a textbook, "A minotaur is an ancient, long extinct magical creature from Greece. They had fur covered bodies similar in shape to humans. They ranged from seven feet to ten feet in height. Their heads were comparable to those of bulls or cows. They have been extinct for two thousand or more years. The last known minotaur was slain by a wizard who traveled with a muggle army, a Roman legion, sometime between thirty-five and twenty-two B.C."

Fred and George stared at Percy with identical over-exaggerated expressions of awe. "That's right," George said, "You would know that, wouldn't you?"

Fred snickered. "It's cause you're Perfect Percy!"

"Mintours," Cedric said, "I've never heard of them. It sounds obscure."

"It is," Percy said, "in wizarding circles. Muggles tell stories about them. I think it fair to say, none of those are reliable. I got the facts about them out of an old dust covered book in the Hogwarts library last winter."

"So," Flint growled, "these mintours thingies, why is that firstie bragging about killing them?"

"You would have to ask him," Percy said, "I have no idea what's in his mind. That boy sounds insane. I don't see much choice but to break down the door."

"Percy! How destructive of you!" Fred exclaimed, "There may be hope for you yet!"

"We have spells that might do the task," George said.

Percy glared at his brothers. "No! Go back to your compartment. Go anywhere you like so long as you go away from here!"

George lifted a brow. "Anywhere?"

Fred's face was a picture of fake innocence. "Let's go get our brooms!" he said.

"Anywhere that's on this train!" Percy shouted, "Inside the train, not on top of it, if you please!" His voice was borderline hysterical.

Fred and George walked off laughing, with George saying, "I think we broke him!"

"Nah," Fred said, "He'll recover. He'll…" Fred's voice trailed off out of hearing range as he got further away.

Flint look back and forth between Cedric and Percy. "You aren't breaking down that door. That would snap my broom. If you snap it, I'll snap you! I'll break you in half!" Flint moved his menacingly. He lifted a fist.

Percy went pale. That bad day he was having was indeed getting worse. Percy was getting a headache. He wished he was some place else, anywhere else.

Cedric rolled his eyes. Wands beat fists anyway. He couldn't believe how serious Percy was taking Flint's threats. Cedric looked at the two boys, first years that to him looked like bullies in the making. "You two are friends with the boy in there?" Cedric asked.

"Were," Crabbe said, "not is."

"It's that stupid four-eyes, fault," Goyle said, "He did something to Draco."

"Four eyes?" Cedric asked.

"Little kid with glasses who beat us up. Real puny looking he was," Goyle said. He pointed at Percy. "You saw him. All he did was look at Draco. When he did Draco flipped out. Those twins stupidly called him Harry Potter. No way that boy is him!"

Cedric thought about this for a second. It was possible, fair unlikely but possible that the with the glasses boy did something to Draco.

Flint gazed helplessly at the door. "My broom!" he wailed.

8

Across the train in a compartment near the end, Harry Potter sat with Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley. Harry was completely unaware of what was going in the middle of the train.

Neville sat clutching Trevor, his toad. Ron pulled out his wand. Ron's rat Scabbers went on sleeping even as Ron pressed the wand against its back. "My brothers Fred and George gave me this spell," Ron said, "I tried to use yesterday to make Scabbers interesting. It didn't work. He's so boring! I think I'll try again."

Ron cleared his throat. "Sunshine daisies, butter, mellow, turn this stupid, lazy rat yellow!"

Neville looked skeptic. "That's not a real spell, is it? I think, I'm not sure, that real spells, the English ones, are based on Latin. My Gran's never used one that wasn't."

"That figures," Ron muttered. His ears went red.

A trolley came by. A lady with a gentle smile was pushing it. "Is anything you want off the carts dears?"

Neville and Harry both lept to their feet but Ron stayed put, mumbling something about sandwiches. Ron's ears went red again. There were all kinds of candies and sweets that Harry never heard of. There was

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pastries, Caldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a great deal of other strange things that Harry had never seen in his life. Harry had seldom gotten candy. The Dursleys never gave Harry money for sweets. Now he had some pocket money from his parents bank vault, he wanted to spend some of it. He wanted to try some of everything on the cart. He got an armful of sweets. Neville only bought three caldron cakes.

"You must be very hungry," Ron said.

Harry was. He had manipulated his uncle into leaving the house early that morning. He hadn't dared push for breakfast. Harry had left that morning without eating. He wanted to say he was starving. Somehow in the back of his mind Harry knew this wasn't true. He had never gone hungry for too long. The Dursley weren't' that bad. They weren't truly abusive, just mean and neglectful. Harry had never really starved but somehow he felt a tugging in the back of his mind as if there was a memory of having done so. Harry pushed this line of thinking aside. This wasn't the first time he had such an odd thought. He knew it probably wouldn't be the last.

Harry begin to go through the candies. When he noticed that Ron had just sandwiches he offered some of the sweets to Ron. Harry shared his candy with Neville and Ron. There was a lot more than Harry could eat alone.

Harry opened up a Chocolate Frog box. The frog leapt from the package. It went past Neville startling the boy and his toad. Trevor the toad leapt from Neville's hands to go down the corridor. Neville just sat there shaking. "Not again!"

The chocolate frog hit the back of the chair behind Neville. Harry's brows went up in disbelief. "That is not a real frog. What is it?"

"Eww!" Ron made an awful face. "Would you have eaten it if it was?" he asked.

"If it was properly cooked, perhaps." Harry was not squeamish about weird and unusual foods. He never tried anything exotic but he didn't object to the idea of doing so. As long as it was edible and tasted good to him, he didn't care what he ate.

Ron's feeling on this were clearly something else. Ron's face went a shade of green. Neville who had appeared ready to cry, stopped. Neville smiled a little with mild amusement.

A tall red headed youth in black robes with a badge came to the compartment where Harry Potter. It was Percy Wealesy, Ron's brother. Behind Percy was Marcus Flint and Cedric Diggory. "I can't say that I believe it," Percy said, "But I have to ask. Did you do something to Draco Malfoy?"

Crabbe and Goyle moved past Percy into the compartment. "That's him!" Goyle said, "He did it! He did it! He made Draco go all weird. Four-eyes here, made Draco crazy!"

Harry piled up all the candies in his lap off into the empty seat beside him. He stood up. There was a commanding presence to him as he spoke that all of the three older boys could sense. "I have no idea what it that you speak of. If you mean me harm you will regret it. I will not warn you twice."

Neville and Ron looked at Harry in true awe. Goyle and Crabbe were frightnted so much so that they ran out of the compartment without another word. The shock was evident, in varying degrees it could be seen on the faces of Cedric Diggory, Percy Weasley, and Marcus Flint.

Harry stared at Percy, his eyes intense. "What is it you accuse me of doing?" Harry asked. Percy felt nervous. Percy felt ridiculous for feeling that way. It was absolutely ridiculous for a fifteen year old to intimidated by an eleven year old.

Percy didn't know it but Flint and Cedric behind him weren't feeling much different. There was an odd quality to Harry, an uncommon strength of will. There was at times a maturity that went beyond his years. This was one of those times.

"Um," Percy said, "Those two who ran out, they accused you of doing something to Draco Malfoy. He's blocked himself up in his compartment. He won't come out."

"He's using my broom! My broom to block the door!" Flint said.

"Simple diplomacy," Cedric said, "doesn't seem to work."

"Almost anyone can reasoned with if you but know how," Harry said. Harry thought he was good at manipulation. It was one of those unexplained talents he just knew he had. This seemed like a good way to test it. Harry followed Percy, Cedric, and Flint back to the middle of the train to the blocked compartment. Ron and Neville out of curiosity followed Harry.

It was this small crowd that stood before the closed door. Harry knocked on the door

8

In the compartment Edmund recognized not much the voice as the way the voice spoke. Edmund calmed down. He was still delirious as he took down the broom. He opened the door slowly. Three young wizards, Percy, Flint, and Cedric had their wands out in seconds. They weren't taking chances. Their precaution proved unnecessary. Edmund took one look at Harry then collapsed towards the floor. He was soon on his knees. He said something so softly that only three people heard it. "My brother, my king," Draco said. Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His eyes were shut before his head hit the floor.

The first of the three that heard Draco was Harry. Harry was bewildered. He was shocked into silence. There was something about this boy's words that seemed vaguely familiar. Harry's confusion was very plain on his face.

The second person was Cedric. He did not understand it. He was more concerned about injures and the over all wellbeing of the boy. Cedric was the first person to touch Draco after the eleven year old passed out. Cedric checked his pulse, then checked to see that he was breathing.

Neville was the third person that heard Draco. His confusion was mistaken for fear and nervousness, feelings which he was also experiencing. Neville was never particularly outgoing. He kept quiet because sometimes he found it was easier not to speak.

"He's okay," Cedric said, "I think he just had some kind of panic attack. He's breathing alright. Pulse is steady. He just knocked himself out with all that panicking." It was difficult but Cedric managed to lift Draco. He carried Draco in his arms. He took the younger boy into the compartment. Cedric placed Draco in a seat in the compartment.

Flint moved to grab his trunk. Said trunk was now directly above Draco's head. Flint was not at all careful. The trunk nearly hit Draco. Cedric barely caught it in time. "Watch it!" Cedric yelled, "You could have hit him!"

Flint snorted. "Like I care. It would have served him right if he got hurt." Flint picked up his broom. "That brat…That firstie, he almost cost me my broom! I'm not staying anywhere near that nut!" Flint stormed off down the train, dragging his trunk with one hand and carrying his broom with the other.

"Um…" Crabbe shrugged. "What he said?" Crabbe and Goyle went into the compartment and grabbed their things. In a matter of seconds they too were moving down the train.

Harry, Neville, and Ron still stood there in the corridor staring. Percy glared at them. "Move along," Percy said, "there's nothing more to see!"

"Bloody hell!" Ron said glaring back at his brother, "You're not the boss of me!"

Percy held up his wand. "As one of the perfects on board this train I am an authority. I am as you put it, a 'boss.' For using such language that our mother would ashamed of, I ought to use a charm I learned that would wash your mouth out with soap!"

Ron's face went red with fury. "You wouldn't!"

Harry grabbed Ron by the arm. He dragged him down the train. A nervous looking Neville followed them.

Percy stepped in the doorway of the nearby compartment. He shook his head. "I can't believe he believed me. That spell would be a complete volition of school rules." Percy walked back to the first train car. Cedric soon returned to his friends/ Though Cedric did keep looking in on Draco every so often.

A few hours later, the sun set. Draco awoke in an half empty train compartment just as the Hogwarts Express was pulling into Hogsmeade. The other boy in the compartment was Cedric who was very much relived to see that Draco seemed okay. As for Draco, he was feeling bewildered. He knew that he was Draco but at the same time he remebered bits and pieces of life of Edmund the Just the second of the co-reigning kings of Narnia, the third of the four siblings who ruled from Cair Paravel.