Well, Another Friday another chapter. As I said last chapter I have Volume One written and ready to post. To those few who have read and reviewed, I thank you. Once again remember that this is my first fanfiction, so I am a little green. Please review. I accept anonymous reviews. Help me to better my writing. And make sure you sign the petition on . There are hundreds of great works that will suffer if something is not done. I apologize for any grammar errors and if this chapter is a bit boring. Chapter three will be posted next Friday. This is the longest chapter so far and if I remember right it is the longest chapter of the whole volume.
Disclaimer: I hate doing this every chapter but better safe then sorry. I own nothing in this story except for Gnocx. If I did own Harry Potter, book 7 wouldn't have been open season on the good guys.
Chapter 2:
Dumbledore and I were walking through the corridors of the castle and reached the sets of staircases.
"Watch your step will you," he warned me, "the stairs like to move, and there are trick steps so do keep your eyes peeled."
"If I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to kill your students," I said with a deadpan expression on my face. Dumbledore just chuckled and looked at me.
"Actually it isn't me," he explained, "You'll find in your stay here that the castle itself is at least a semi-sentient being." I met his gaze.
"I can't say I've ever seen something like that, although the world I stayed in before this one had a castle in it that could change its layout based on someone's memory of another place. I never personally used that feature, but it was something interesting to explore." I told him as we descended the stairs, "by the way, who will my escort be?"
"I believe I shall have Professor McGonagall go with you to procure your supplies."
"She is one of the ones who helped you, correct?"
"Yes, she is, she will be relieved to see you on your feet, although she may not say it." I let a smirk onto my face.
"I see. Anyway after I get my supplies will I come back here?" I inquired.
"Unfortunately no, I will have you stay at an inn above the pub, The Leaky Cauldron; it is there that Harry Potter is staying after a minor incident with the relatives he is staying with."
"What is a minor incident?" I asked, knowing he may be downplaying said incident.
"He lost control and unwillingly blew up his Aunt like a balloon. Although, as I understand it, he lost control because she was insulting his parents." He elaborated.
"That sounds like an interesting family gathering." I responded dryly.
"Yes, I agree. Afterword he fled his residence and ended up at the Leaky Cauldron, which is where he is staying until the end of August. Also that is how long you will stay. I recommend getting acquainted with him and his friends while you are there."
"That should be easy enough to do."
"Now that that discussion is finished, we have arrived. Just follow me," he instructed me as we walked into a room that we were about to pass.
Once inside we saw rows of desks that I could assume would hold the students. At the other end of the room there was the woman I saw on the lake last night. Albus knocked on one of the desks as we passed them in order to get her attention. It appeared to succeed as she looked up from the parchment that she was writing on.
"Oh, Professor Dumbledore," she addressed, "how is the morning treating you?" She appeared to have not noticed me.
"Just fine Minerva," he answered, "I would like you to meet our late swimmer, Gnocx." At this she looked at me and I threw a look at him.
"Hello, it's a relief to see you are well." She told me as she shook my hand.
"Thanks, and thank you for your help last night, Professor Dumbledore told me you helped him pull me out of the lake last night." I told her.
"It was not a problem," she said. Dumbledore then addresses her again.
"Our friend here needs a place to stay for a while, so he and I talked and I agreed to have him study here, he has quite a magical talent and I am willing to help him learn even more. Therefore, I wish for you to accompany him to Diagon Alley in order to retrieve supplies. Then he will rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron until the day he needs to catch the train," he told her.
"Oh," she replied with raised eyebrows, "Well we can go right now if you wish. I have nothing to do that can't wait a few hours."
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said with a smile, "now, I have removed the apparition prevention for the moment Minerva. You can apparate with him to Diagon Alley. He has the funds for the supplies all he needs are directions."
"Of course," she said as she walked around her desk to stand in front of us. She held out her arm in front of me, "Take my arm." She told me. I looked at it for a second then hesitantly reached out and touched it.
As soon as I had a good grip I felt like I was being sucked through a narrow tube. The feeling persisted until we found ourselves in the middle of a street. I didn't have time to think about it because I stumbled and struggled to fight away the nauseous feeling I had. I felt a hand on my back and I turned and looked at McGonagall.
"Apparition has that effect on everyone the first time. In fact I am surprised you did not throw up," she explained.
"Well aren't I just the lucky one?" I replied. Finally regaining my equilibrium,
I followed McGonagall to a store that had a sign naming it, Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. We went inside and got the attention of a woman whom I assumed to be Madam Malkin. She took notice of us and hurried over.
"Ah, Professor," she greeted McGonagall, "how may I help you today?" McGonagall then gestured me forward and introduced me.
"This is a new student and he is in need of robes," McGonagall stated. The woman then came and grabbed my hand.
"Alright then, this way dear so I can get your measurements."
She then had me step on a stool and proceeded to have a tape measure take my sizes by itself as she wrote them down. Then the arduous process of having them made and fitted occurred. I was able to keep still when she accidentally stabbed me with a pin multiple times. After what felt like forever, my robes were made and packed so I could carry them with me. I pay for the robes out of my pouch, the munny automatically converting to whatever currency I would happen to need in any distinct world. At McGonagall's inquisitive look I whispered to her.
"I'll explain in a minute." She nodded and we headed out of the shop. I lied to her and told her that my money is spelled to take on the form of the orbs she saw as a safeguard incase my pouch gets stolen. The spell won't work on anyone else, so it'll just look like they stole a bunch of useless marbles.
After my explanation she asked if I knew the spell, to which I replied that I didn't and the person who spelled it died. We then made our way to a store called Flourish and Blott's where I decided to get the first four sets of books in order to try to catch up to the other students that I had to masquerade with. After purchasing the textbooks we headed into another shop, so that I could buy a trunk to keep everything in, although it wold be useless in the long run because I couldn't take it all with me when I eventually had to leave this world. Our final stops were to just get parchment, quills, ink, and potions supplies. Afterword she made to walk to the wand shop, Ollivander's, but I stopped her and tell her that I already have a wand.
"Well, if you have everything now then you can head to the end of the alley and book a room for yourself. I will be seeing you in two weeks Mr. Gnocx, be ready to work," she told me before she pointed me in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron and took her leave.
I headed in the path directed to me and eventually I made my way through a wall into a darkened, dirty looking pub. I walked up to the bar and am greeted by a bald man with a hump in his back.
"I need a room," I told him, "I'll be staying for two weeks."
"Student are you?" At my nod he reached under the bar and pulled out a key. He told me what I owed and I quickly paid him, wanting to get out of the smelly bar area.
He then lead me up a set of stairs away from the bar. At the top of the stairs, there was a hallway. There were several rooms lined up and a couple hallways branching off. He took me to the closest room and opened the door. I walked in and set my trunk down. Then I looked around. It was a small room with a bed and stand with a small lamp on it. There was a window that had a view of the muggle London streets. Then a foot away from the door there was a wardrobe that looked like it was about to fall apart. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was about to set. I looked away, moved my trunk to the foot of my bed, and opened it to take out the textbooks for the first year. I threw the history textbook to the side because in hindsight it was unnecessary to buy.
I started with charms and sat up through the night trying to perform the ones that at least seem important like levitation, and leaving ones out like the tickling charm out. I got through about 60 percent of the book and I noticed that it was dark out and the moon was halfway across the sky. The spells I tried to perform were, for the most part, a success. I theorized that this is because of my experience in using the wand less magic that I use. I decided to pack it in for the night, so I could use the whole day tomorrow to get more done. Hopefully I could get myself to be at least semi-competent before term so I wouldn't stand out more than I already did.
I awoke at about nine the next morning and realized, with help from my traitorous stomach, that I had not eaten since the day before I fled Castle Oblivion. So I cleaned myself up and left my room to see if I could get something at the pub downstairs. I locked my room and pocketed the key before I headed down the stairs. Once downstairs, I walked up to the counter and asked for a menu. With that in hand, I sat down at a table close by to peruse it. I decided on the cheapest thing offered and made my order. Within the next hour I had received my food and ate it as quickly as I could without making myself look like a slob. I paid the man and left to head back to my room to cram. I busied myself with rifling through my pockets for my room key; as a result I hardly noticed when someone bumped into me. I looked up and to see the person that ran into me on the floor. I offered my hand and he took it. It was a boy, younger than me with messy black hair and glasses that looked to be in disrepair.
"Are you alright?" I asked him when he got to his feet, "I apologize, I should have been paying more attention to where I was going."
The younger kid looked up at me and I noticed he had green eyes and a scar on his forehead that is mostly covered by his bangs.
"No, no," he said to me, "it's my fault; I was in too much of a hurry and to the shops."
Then he noticed my wand that I carelessly left sticking out of my pocket, I must have pulled it out partially while searching for my key.
"You have a wand," he noted, "are you a Hogwarts student?"
"Uh... Yeah," I replied as I took my wand out of my pocket, "I am starting this year, I was homeschooled, but it wasn't very good so I am starting in fourth year in an effort to catch up. My name is Gnocx, who are you?" He blinked at my question and replies.
"I am actually surprised you didn't recognize me. Most everyone in the wizarding world does. I'm Harry, Harry Potter." He held his hand out.
"Oh," I replied, "well it's nice to meet the famous Harry Potter."
"Well I appreciate you not getting all fan-like about it." Harry told me.
"Well I would think that you would get tired of it and just want to be spoken to like a normal kid right?" I asked as I started to walk to my room. "Why don't you eat dinner with me downstairs later and we can talk like normal people and suffer through substandard food?" I offered as a way to get in and to lighten his mood. He laughed a little bit and accepted my offer. I then headed back into my room to resume my two week cramming session.
My dozens of hours of reading with Zexion during my internment in Castle Oblivion have paid off. There was no other way that I could have sat in my bed for seven hours and plowed through a set of textbooks trying to learn magic that I had no use for other than to keep my cover. I finished the first two years of charms books, and had a little laugh when I came across a spell that is pronounced like my name. At the moment I was putting my things away and was about to leave to meet Harry in the pub downstairs. As I turned to open my door I heard a tapping noise from the window. I looked over and saw a brown owl tapping on my window, asking for entrance. I obliged and opened the window seeing the letter on its foot. As soon as I took the small envelope the bird gave my gloved hand a nip and sat on my bed. I shut my window then set the letter in the drawer of my nightstand. I looked at the owl and assumed that it was waiting for me to write a reply. I told it to wait until I got back and that I would bring it food. It gave a hoot as a reply and I left.
Downstairs I saw Harry waiting at a table with a menu in his face while one sat in front of the chair across from him. I hurried, took my seat, and plastered on a smile.
"Sorry I'm late," I apologized, "I lost track of time because my nose wouldn't come out of my textbooks."
"It's no problem," he told me, "I just got here. You're reading your books already?"
"Just as review," I clarified, "I want to make sure I am prepared to go into Hogwarts this year and not look like an incompetent."
"I'm sure you'll do fine," he tried to assure me.
The whole meal was like this. We had random conversations and I said things that made me seem normal. He told me about his horrid family and how he came to stay at the Cauldron. I told him a story about how I had been homeschooled since I was 11 and how I was originally from America and came to England when I was very young. When he asked about my parents I told him that they were away on business. After we ate I offered to pay the bill and he reluctantly accepted. Then he offered to buy me food tomorrow and, seeing the opportunity, I accepted. I grabbed the piece of bread that I had left over and we headed up to our rooms. We said our goodbyes and we headed into our separate rooms. I tossed the bread to the owl and it proceeded to pick it apart.
"You make a mess and I will make a mess out of you." I threatened it but with no real intention of maiming the poor bird. Instead I scratched its head as I pulled open my drawer and grabbed the letter. Seconds letter I was reading through it,
Dear Mr. Gnocx
I assume that you are familiar with the creatures of darkness called the Heartless. I am writing to ask you a favor. I failed to mention as a result of some miraculous slip of my mind, probably due to our riveting conversation, that, while my barriers are powerful, once in a while a few heartless will appear in and around the castle. It has only started recently, I believe as some consequence of Sirius Black's escape. My favor is that I wish for you to assist me in fighting them off. We can talk more at the start of term. Happy studying.
Sincerely,
Albus Percival Wulfic Brian Dumbledore
I pulled out a piece of parchment and I wrote a short reply.
Professor Dumbledore
I have no problem taking care of any heartless that may decide to be foolish enough to show themselves. I will also attempt to investigate the cause of their appearance. Also, as much as I hate to say this, I think it would be more efficient of you to inform the teachers of my 'situation.' I feel that it would make my job easier if I didn't have teachers mistaking me for an intruder while I am disguised in my coat. More so the point that McGonagall and Hagrid would recognize me. If I have the teacher's support then it will increase the effectiveness of my work.
All best, Gnocx
I sealed it in an envelope and attached it to the owl's leg, then opened the window so it could leave. Once it did, I sat on my bed and pulled my third year charms book out; along with my wand and spent a few hours going through it. I was done at about one in the morning and then I set it aside and shut off my light. I laid in the bed and was asleep within 20 minutes.
The rest of the week went in a pattern of cramming, cramming, eating downstairs late in the evening with Harry and us taking turns footing the bill, and finally more cramming before I go to bed. The break in the routine came a week before the term began. It was small, but someone had knocked on my door in the middle of the day. I look over with a raised eyebrow.
"Coming." I said before putting my open third year defense against the dark arts book on the bed. I walked over and opened the door. Harry was standing in the doorway with two ice cream cones in his hands.
"Harry," I said, "what's up?"
"Obviously I brought you ice cream," He answered with a playful smirk. I laughed and took one of the cones I moved aside to let him in.
He shook his head however and says, "No thanks. The ice cream is a thank you for keeping me company while we've been here. I don't want to interrupt you and I need to go and pick up some more things today. I will however meet you tonight and I can teach you about exploding snap." I thanked him again and he left. I shut the door and made quick work of my chocolate ice cream before hitting the books again.
I finished my cramming three days before I had to leave for the train station. I let my curiosity get the better of me and I spent one of the days exploring the rest of Diagon Alley, as I did not when I was purchasing my supplies. That was how I spent day one. Day two I just ate up time with Harry. We met a few of the other kids from the school who were there getting their supplies at the last minute. Harry told me he had been hoping to run into his friends at some point, but had yet to do so.
On the day before we were supposed to leave for the station I had packed everything and had thought to offer to take Harry for ice cream seeing as how he had made a point to buy me some a week ago. I left my room and headed across the hall to his door. I knocked, but received no answer. He must be out, I thought as I decided to just go to the alley anyway. I had thought about heading to find someplace else for lunch because I was getting tired of the bar food at the pub. I was about to pass Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor when I heard my name being called.
"Gnocx!" I heard a familiar voice yell.
I looked over into the ice cream parlor and saw Harry waving at me to come join him and two others. A redhead with freckles and a bushy haired girl. I assumed them to be Ron and Hermione, so I put a smile on and I walked over to them. I reached them and sat in a chair that Harry had pulled up for me.
"Gnocx, this is Ron and Hermione, those friends I told you about, and guys, this is Gnocx. He is staying in the room across mine at The Leaky Cauldron. He is the one I told you was keeping me company while I've been here." Harry introduced me and I shook Ron's hand.
"Nice to meet you two," I said as I shook Ron's hand, then I moved to shake Hermione's.
"A pleasure." Hermione replied.
"Did you get your studying done?" Harry asked me.
"Yeah, I finished two days ago." I told him.
"Studying?" Hermione asked, interest obviously peaked.
"Bloody hell here she goes," Ron muttered only to receive a glare from Hermione. I had a small laugh at their antics before I turned to Hermione.
"I was homeschooled before this year. I decided I wanted to come to a regular school, so here I am. My curriculum was shoddy at best so I am starting off in fourth year until I catch up. At the end of this year if I am deemed sufficient I will be moved to the year I am supposed to be in," I explained, "I have spent the last two weeks reviewing the material in the books for the first three years. So I can make sure I can start with the fourth year level, luckily learning magic is second nature to me."
We talked a little more about academics and I told them that I have already been sorted into Gryffindor house. After a while we decided to head to the pet shop nearby to grab some tonic for Ron's rat. When he showed the rat to the clerk she asked what its power is. Ron replied that it didn't have any and she told him that it wasn't commonplace for a garden variety rat to live more than three years. I found this to be odd. It didn't help that the thing seemed hell-bent on avoiding me. Every time I got near it would scurry up Ron's sleeve slowly or try to hide behind his arm. The strangest thing however was the darkness that I sensed from it. I filed those thoughts away for later as we leave the store, Ron had gotten his tonic and Hermione had bought a cat that had tried to make Scabbers its dinner.
"You bought that monster!" Ron exclaimed.
"He's gorgeous isn't he?" Hermione asked, seemingly ignoring Ron. To me the cat was one ugly thing but I had enough tact to not say anything.
"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me," Ron complained.
"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" Hermione asked the ugly cat.
"What about Scabbers?" Ron asked, pointing to his chest pocket, "He needs rest and relaxation! How is he gonna get it when that thing is around?"
"That reminds me," Hermione said, "you left the tonic." She said pulling the vial out of her pocket and handing it to him. "Stop worrying. Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been there for ages; no one wanted him."
"I wonder why?" Ron said sarcastically as we set off toward the Leaky Cauldron.
Once we entered the trio walked toward the bar, I followed. There was a red haired man reading a copy of the Daily Profit. He looked up from the paper and spotted us.
"Harry!" he said, smiling, "How are you?"
"Fine, thanks," said Harry, as he Ron and Hermione sat with him he said, "This is Gnocx, he's been hanging with me while we've been here." I shake the man's hand.
"Arthur Weasley," he says to me, "nice to meet you Gnocx. Thank you for being so good to Harry. We all know he needs more people like that."
"Uh… Thanks." I say a little taken aback. I wasn't expecting the man to say something like that. I take my seat next to them and then Harry notices the picture on the newspaper.
"They still haven't caught him then?" Harry asks, referring to Sirius Black.
"No," Arthur replied gravely, "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far."
"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" Ron asked out of the blue, "It'd be good to get some more money-"
"Don't be ridiculous Ron," Mr. Weasley interrupted appearing very strained.
"It's highly unlikely that Black will be caught by a thirteen year old." I said.
"Gnocx is right," his father nodded in agreement, "It'll be the Azkaban guards that catch him, you wait and see."
At that moment the others looked toward the entrance and I followed their gaze to see a redheaded woman come in with shopping bags, followed by a pair of twins, an older teen that appears to be the same age I was physically, and a girl who appeared to be maybe 12 years old, all red headed. They walked over to us. The little girl took one look at Harry and her face turned red she only muttered a greeting to him before the oldest one went up to Harry and shook his hand.
"Harry, how nice to see you," the teen said in greeting. Harry looked as though he's trying not to laugh.
"Hello Percy," Harry replied.
"I do hope you're well," The teen named Percy replied in a snobbish manner, making me want to roll my eyes.
Then I noticed the badge on his chest that said Head Boy. Just as Harry started a reply Percy was shoved aside by one of the twins.
"Harry!" the twin said louder than necessary while performing a deep bow, "Simply splendid to see you old boy-"
"Marvelous," The other twin said pushing the former aside and grabbing Harry's hand, "Absolutely spiffing," he said no doubt making fun of their now scowling older brother.
"That's enough now," the woman said.
"Mum!" the first twin shouted as if she just arrived. Grabbing her hand he said, "How really corking to see you—"
"I said enough!" the Weasley matriarch said while putting her bags in a chair. "Hello, Harry dear," she greeted, "I suppose you heard the news," she said while pointing at Percy, "Second head in the family," She stated with pride.
"And last," the first twin muttered.
"I don't doubt that," Mrs. Weasley replied. "I noticed you two haven't made prefects."
"Why would we want to be," said the second twin looking revolted, "It'd suck all the fun out of our lives." The girl giggled.
"You should set a better example for your sister!" Their mother snapped at them.
"Mother," Percy addressed, "She has other brothers to set an example for her. I'm going to change for dinner." He then walked upstairs.
"We tried to shut him in a pyramid," the second twin said to Harry, "Mum caught us though."
"Who is this," Mrs. Weasley asks Harry, Ron, and Hermione as she was the first to finally notice my presence.
"This is Gnocx," Ron answered his mother, "He's been staying here the past two weeks."
"He's been keeping me company," Harry explained, "He's actually a pretty cool guy." I looked at him at that. Once again not used to having people say anything positive about me; or anything at all really.
"Hello dear," she greeted me, "I'm Molly Weasley, Arthur is my husband, The one who went upstairs is Percy, my son, the twins are Fred and George, she points them out so I know who is who, then you know Ron, and this is my daughter Ginny."
Fred and George clapped my shoulders and Ginny waved at me, her shyness gone.
"Nice to meet you all," I said with a smile.
"Now," she said, "Let's get dinner, Tom has put three tables together for us. Harry, Hermione, and Gnocx, you are all too thin, so you are getting a proper meal tonight if it kills me." Mrs. Weasley said as she put a hand on Harry's and Hermione's backs and she pushed them into the next room with the tables. Next thing I knew I had a set of matching arms looped around mine and I had the twins dragging me into the other room with the others.
"Come on Gnocx," Fred said, "let's get some food in you. Our mother will hunt you down if you don't."
"She's always like that by the way," George explained to me, "She sees Harry as another son and she hates that he has to live with his aunt and uncle."
"I heard about them," I told them, "It must be awful."
"It probably is," They said in unison, "But he always is happy around his friends so it's worth the wait for him."
I looked at Harry and noticed he was indeed very happy surrounded by his friends. It was the happiest that I had seen him in the few short weeks that I had known him.
After dinner everyone was very tired. One by one everyone went to bed. I was one of the last. I left and Harry followed. Once we were heading up the stairs he spoke.
"Sorry to kind of force you in there," he told me, "I know it must of felt awkward being in the middle of a bunch of people you don't know."
"You didn't do anything," I replied, "The twins grabbed me and dragged me in. It was nice, they didn't treat me like a stranger."
"They are good people, the best part is they don't care that I am 'The Boy Who Lived' all they see is Harry."
"I can see where that would be nice." I told him as we reached our rooms, we stopped when we heard yelling in the room next to Harry's. It was just Percy demanding that his Head Boy badge be found and Ron telling him to shove it. Harry then went back to the parlor where we had dinner to get the tonic that Ron forgot, again. I told them goodnight and headed into my room. Once again I found myself asleep fairly quickly.
The next morning was, in one word, chaos. The Weasley clan were all running around trying to get everything situated for the car ride. I was already prepared and headed downstairs trunk in hand. I passed Harry on the way and he stares at me.
"What?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow and blank face.
"How are you not breaking your back or arms? That trunk must weigh a ton with all the books in it." He observed. I cursed myself for not thinking of that. Attributing it to a lack of sleep I replied.
"I am older than you, you know?" I told him with a little bit of fake sarcasm in my voice, "I have always been used to lifting heavy things, this isn't all that." I said as I walked past him. "I'm gonna go Harry. See you on the train." As I said this Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs and appear to have overheard what I said.
"Nonsense dear," She accosted me, "You can ride with us in the car."
"I don't want to be a bother Mrs. Weasley, I have money I was just gonna grab a cab." I was once again surprised at how kind they were being to me.
"Oh posh," She said as she reached me and pushed me toward the others, "The car is free because of Arthur's work at the Ministry, and it is spelled to accommodate as many as we will need. One more won't hurt."
"I wouldn't fight her Gnocx," Hermione said as she comes down the stairs with her trunk, supplies, and cat.
"Yeah," Ginny said coming right behind her, "You've been sucked in. Just go with it." The others laughed as Molly gave her daughter a pointed look.
"Come on everyone time to go," Arthur called from the pub entrance.
We all filed out and piled into the car. I stayed and helped Arthur and a man that I presumed to be our driver put the trunks in the back of the car. The ride itself was pretty uneventful. Fred and George were antagonizing Percy while Ron and Harry laughed. Hermione was talking to me about all of her classes and how excited she was. Ginny was petting Crookshanks and talking with her mother. For some inexplicable reason I found myself smiling at the picture. This moment was almost enough to make me forget about the Organization.
We arrived at the station and the ministry workers found us all trolleys and unloaded our trunks onto them. Then Mr. Weasley stayed glued to Harry's elbow as he and Mrs. Weasley led us to a pillar in between platforms nine and ten. Harry and Mr. Weasley then walked to the pillar and through it. My eyes widened for a second but it was long enough for Hermione to see it.
"I had the same reaction the first time I saw it," she told me as Percy and Ginny went through next. After them the twins went then Ron and Hermione then Mrs. Weasley went through with me.
On the other side of the pillar I was met with the sight of a huge, scarlet, engine. We made our way to the cars attached to it and we loaded our trunks into the side. Mrs. Weasley ushered us onto the train as Mr. Weasley took Harry aside. I got on and waited with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry got on as the train starts moving. He whispered something to Ron and Hermione.
"Go away Ginny," he commanded his sister, "sorry mate, but you too." I raised my eyebrow at this and turned to walk away with Ginny.
"Hold on Gnocx," I turned around and look at Harry.
"Yeah."
"You can sit with us if you want," he told me. At Ron and Hermione's look he said, "I trust him guys." I raised my eyebrow at this as well but followed them. We found a compartment occupied by a sleeping man. Harry sat next to him while Ron sat across from him by the window, I sat by the door and Hermione sats in between us.
"Who do you think that is?" Ron asked, referring to the sleeping man.
"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione and I said at the same time. We looked at each other.
"How do you know that?"
"His suitcase" Hermione says and I nodded in agreement.
Harry and Ron took a look at the suitcase in the compartment above him to confirm it.
"Wonder what he teaches," Ron mused.
"There is only one position open," Harry stated.
"He must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Hermione finished.
Harry went on to tell us a conversation he overheard between The Weasley parents and what Mr. Weasley said to him before he boarded. At the end we all had surprised looks on our face, although mine was fake.
"Sirius Black escaped to come after you? You must be very careful this year Harry," Hermione warned.
The conversation continued with the three of us warning Harry and him assuring us he'd be fine the conversation stopped when a sort of whistling was heard.
"What was that?" Ron asked. I stood up and looked up at the bags.
"It's coming from your bag Harry." I said. He reached up and pulled a spinning object out of the bag.
"Is that a sneakoscope?" Hermione asked interested. Harry put it away before it could wake Professor Lupin up.
"What was that?" I asked them.
"It is a sneakoscope," Hermione answered, "It is supposed to activate when someone
untrustworthy is near." That slightly unsettled me although I didn't show it. The conversation took a turn towards Hogsmeade village. That was the topic for a while.
Hours later the sweet car came around. I bought nothing but Harry bought a bunch for himself and the other two. After she left a few more hours passed and it started raining. The door opened again and there were three boys. One blond and two bulky dark haired kids who had an air of self-imposed superiority.
"Well, if it isn't potty and the weasel," he said condescendingly, "Heard your family came into a bit of money over the summer. Did your mother die of shock?" Ron and Harry threw glares in his direction. It was then that the blond noticed the teacher and me.
"Who are you?" He asked. I just stared. He became frustrated and sneered, "What? Too stupid to speak, or do you know to not speak to your superior—"
"I suggest you leave before you wake the new teacher up." He just looked at me in indignation but realized that he couldn't start a fight in front of a teacher. He then left.
"Nice one," Ron said.
"There was nothing to it." I told him, "You just have to use your head." More time passed by and the train came to a halt.
"We can't be there already," Hermione said, looking at her watch.
The train jerked and we almost fell out of our seats.
"What's going on?" Ron asked.
"I'd like to know myself." I said.
I was about to stand up when I was attacked with a feeling of dread. It fely like something cold was pressing into me trying to suffocate me.
I looked over and noticed Ron's hand on the window, and the window was icing over. We heard something outside and kept still. After a minute the door cracked open and a mutilated hand came through it. The hand pulled the door the rest of the way open and floating in the doorway was a creature I have never seen. It was covered in a cloak, so we couldn't see what it looked like. It turned toward Harry who was growing paler and advanced toward him. I tried to get up, but something happened. My head exploded in pain and I had to grab it with my hand that was not squeezing the life out of my leg. The pain is the only thing I can concentrate on and then all of a sudden I hear it.
"What have you done with my friend?"
"What have I done? Master, I just—"
"Master Xehanort, why?"
I held my head trying to block out the noise when, all of a sudden, it stopped. I looked up, still with a headache to see the creature gone, Professor Lupin standing with his wand out, and Harry unconscious on the floor.
What the hell was that?
Some plot development there at the end. Finally getting it started. It will take a while for the point of the series to emerge. Something relevant to the plot will happen at the end of the next chapter. Please leave your thoughts. See you all next week.
