Harriet Potter Year 2: The Dreams of Yesterday
"The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
~Albert Einstein
Harriet Potter, King's Cross Station- August 5, 1992
The rest of the summer flew by. Harriet's parents threw her a small birthday party. Ron and Hermione came over and the three spent the day outside, enjoying the sunshine. They ate cake and laughed and just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice, Harriet decided.
She spent the weeks approaching school working with Snape, brewing potions. The lab was just as dank and musty as she remembered, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment she got from brewing with him.
Harriet also practiced plenty of Quidditch with her father and Sirius. She might have been born with a natural talent for flying, but both of her father and Sirius had years of experience on her, meaning that they were able to teach her a lot.
Harriet grinned as she took breath. The day was bright and sunny, the breeze soft. It was the perfect day to go shopping in Diagon Alley. Harriet beamed at her parents. When Harriet had mentioned that Ron and Hermione were also doing their shopping today, they had been more than happy to take her. Sirius and Remus had come with them as well, but Remus had left to do his own shopping. Sirius was simply basking in the warm air and pleasant company.
"Where are we meeting them?" Harriet asked her mum. Her mother frowned for a minute, trying to recall.
"At Flourish and Blotts. Do you have your book list?"
Harriet pulled it out of her pocket and unfolded it, working out some of the creases. She handed it to her father,
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"Are you sensing a theme in this year's list?" Sirius asked drily. Harriet laughed and her mother laughed. Then she looked thoughtful.
"Lockhart," she repeated, looking a bit curious. "Wasn't he that Ravenclaw a few years above us?"
Harriet's dad snapped his fingers in realization. "That's right! I remember him! Smarmy, little, git, too. Couldn't shut up about himself."
Harriet looked down at the list. "Do you think the new Defense professor is a fan?"
Her father shrugged. "Maybe. Now hurry up! We're going to be late!"
It wasn't too long after that that they arrived at Flourish and Blotts. At least, they tried to. For some reason that Harriet couldn't understand, it seemed as though every shopper and store-owner in Diagon Alley was attempting to cram themselves into the tiny bookstore. As Harriet and her parents moved along with the queue, Harriet noticed a large banner stretched across one of the windows in the store:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30P. 4:30P.M.
Harriet gulped audibly and tugged on her father's sleeve in an attempt to bring him closer to her, so that he could hear her. "He seems popular."
Her father nodded and looked around at the crowd. "Well, hopefully he's gotten better since I knew him."
Harriet frowned. "Better at what?"
"Everything!" Her father quipped. Harriet giggled, but her mother looked stern.
"That wasn't very nice, James," she admonished. Her father shrugged, not apologetic in the least. Harriet peered closer at the books displayed on the window. They featured a rather good-looking, blonde wizard, whose toothy grin sparkled unnaturally and who wore his hat at an odd angle. Harriet supposed this was meant to make him look jaunty, but, to Harriet, it just looked as though it was about to fall off his head.
As her family entered the store, Harriet noticed that, just a bit ahead of them in the line, Ron's and Hermione's families were already inside. Mrs. Weasley waved them over and the three sneakily moved ahead in the line, ignoring the grumbling of some of the wizards and witches. As the adults all greeted each other, Harriet caught up with her friends.
At least, she tried to. It seemed that Hermione was a bit too excited.
"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"
Ron rolled his eyes and turned to Harriet. "Hermione's a big fan of him-not that I understand how. She's never read any of his books." Hermione thumped him on the arm. Rubbing the sore spot, Ron continued. "Mum's the opposite. She's read everything he's ever written. I don't even think she likes his writing. She just fancies him."
"That isn't true!" chided Mrs. Weasley, blushing. Harriet's father's lips twitched a bit, but, otherwise, he didn't say anything.
Harriet didn't think it was a big deal if Mrs. Weasley fancied Lockhart a bit. Most of the crowd, after all, consisted of middle-aged witches...and a few wizards. Including one particularly tetchy looking wizard trying to edge his way through the crowd. He seemed to be trying to keep the peace.
As he tried to maneuver himself through the store, he tried to get people to move away for him. "Calmly please, ladies. "You-no! There is no need to shove-!" He was cut off as several eager women pushed him to the floor in their stampede.
Harriet, Ron, and Hermione all winced sympathetically and the line moved forward. They rounded a corner and Harriet got her first glimpse of Gilderoy Lockhart. He looked, Harriet noticed, amazingly like his photograph, only his robes now were a bright shade of blue.
"There he is!" Hermione and Mrs. Weasley squealed in tandem. Harriet wondered whether or not they had rehearsed that.
A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.
"Out of the way, there," he snapped at Hermione, trying to get a better shot. Hermione gasped a bit and rubbed her foot where the photographer had stepped on it. Ron shot the man a bitter look.
"Big deal," he muttered, angry that the wizard had hurt his friend.
Unfortunately for Harriet, Lockhart heard him. He shot an annoyed look at Ron, but then his gaze shifted to her. His eyes locked onto her forehead and he shot up from behind the table.
"Harriet Potter?" Gilderoy gasped, sounding positively delighted. Harriet didn't even have a chance to respond to him. The crowd parted, whispering excitedly, and he grabbed Harriet's sleeve, yanking her towards him. She struggled to be released, but either he didn't notice or didn't care. Her parents tried to get to her, but the crowd closed themselves up again, cramming closer and eager to get a closer look.
"Smile, Harriet," Gilderoy ordered her. His arm was wrapped securely around her shoulder and he spoke through his gleaming smile. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."
Harriet felt her face heat up as the crowd began to applaud. Gilderoy made a huge show of taking her hand and shaking it, almost ripping her arm from its socket. When he finally let go, Harriet tried to escape the attention, but Lockhart was not going to let that happen just yet.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," he announced, seizing her by the hood of her robe, pulling her back. "I never thought that I would have the honor to meet the famous Harriet Potter. Indeed, even for one as accomplished as I, her story is legend. This is, in fact, the perfect moment for me to make a little announcement."
Harriet watched nervously as Lockhart reached backwards and picked up a copy of his autobiography, Magical Me. He presented it to Harriet, who took it as one might take an annoyed snake (well, as anyone save Harriet would take an annoyed snake). Lockhart turned back to the crowd.
"When Miss Potter entered Flourish in Blotts today, she only expected to receive a signed copy of my autobiography, which I will gladly present to her now-free of charge!"
Lockhart waited for the crowd to stop clapping. "She and her fellow classmates will also, much to their joy, I'm sure, receive the real magical me! That's right! This September, I will be journeying to Hogwarts to take up the post of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor! I am honored to have this chance-"
Harriet tuned out his speech. Searching the crowd, she met Ron's eyes and exchanged a horrified look with him. She had a bad feeling that Lockhart was going to be an even worse professor than Quirrell. Sure, he had tried to kill her, but at least she had gotten some decent practice in. From what she could tell, she and her classmates would be lucky if Lockhart didn't spend the entire class talking about himself.
Harriet's own name brought her back to reality. She instinctively took the books Lockhart handed to her, but it took a second for it to actually register. Ah. Lockhart had given her a free set of his books.
Blushing even brighter, now, she finally managed to make her way back to her parents, doing her best to ignore the greedy looks of most of the women in the crowd.
Mrs. Weasley was the first to greet her. "Oh, Harriet! You got to meet him, you lucky girl!"
Harriet didn't want to disappoint Mrs. Weasley (who was probably one of her favorite people in the world), so she just nodded.
"Yea," she agreed half-heartedly. She tipped the books Lockhart had given her into Ginny's cauldron. "You can have those," she offered. For a minute, she was convinced that Mrs. Weasley was going to argue, but perhaps the look on Harriet's face stopped her. Instead, she smiled.
"Thank-you, dear!"
Harriet informed her parents and Sirius that she, Ron, and Hermione were going to go and try to find the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2. The three were small and therefore able to move through the crowd more easily. They finally made it to the less crowded portion of the store.
"I can't believe you got to meet him, Harriet," Hermione said, echoing Mrs. Weasley's sentiments. She grabbed them each the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2. They placed them in their individual cauldrons, along with the rest of their books for the year, and began to make their way back to their parents.
"I bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?"
Harriet made a face at her friends, before turning around to face Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was one of the few people at Hogwarts that Harriet genuinely disliked. His face wore his near-always present sneer and his hair was slicked back.
Harriet hadn't always started out as Malfoy's enemy. When he had first sought her out on the train, it was with the intent to be friends.
It turned out that Malfoy wasn't very good at making friends.
He was much more suited to making enemies.
"Famous Harriet Potter," scoffed Malfoy. "Can't even go to a bookstore without making a scene."
"Leave her alone, Malfoy," defended Ron, reddening a bit. Malfoy didn't look very threatened.
"Weasley!" said Malfoy, sounding too surprised. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you could afford these books! I guess you're parents will have to go hungry for a month to pay for them, hm?"
"Ron!" Called Mr. Weasley, trying to make their way over to them, Ginny following closely behind. "Let's get out of here! You have you're books, yes?"
Ron nodded and went to follow his father, but a low, drawling voice stopped them. "Arthur. What a pleasant surprise."
Mr. Weasley straightened himself up as Lucius Malfoy placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Lucius."
"A busy time at the Ministry, isn't it?" Lucius sneered. "That would explain why I haven't seen you in so long. I do hope they are paying you overtime."
Mr. Malfoy picked up a book from Ron's cauldron. Harriet recognized the tattered cover as a copy of their second year Potions book. It wasn't in bad condition, from what Harriet could see, but Mr. Malfoy held it as though it were something utterly fowl.
"Or not," he muttered, fingering the book. "What is the point in being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't pay you well for it?"
Harriet and Hermione both glared more strongly at Mr. Malfoy and his son. Ron's and Ginny's faces both grew red. Their father's fists tightened and he opened his mouth to speak, but a different voice answered Lucius calmly through the crowd.
"I think we have very different ideas as to what disgraces the name of wizard, Lucius." Sirius spoke crisply, hands in his pockets. He was the picture of relaxation, but Harriet could see the disdain he had for his relative written all over his face.
If Mr. Malfoy was surprised to see him, he didn't show him. Instead he just snorted. "Clearly. And here I thought you could sink no lower to the company you keep."
His eyes darted, rather obviously, first to Mr. Weasley, then the Grangers, who were watching everything nervously. He then shifted his gaze to Harriet's father. By the time he reached Harriet's mum, Sirius lost all semblance of control.
He launched himself at Mr. Malfoy sending them both careening into some book-shelves nearby.
Ron couldn't help but cheer him on, and even Harriet clapped a bit. Hermione screamed and Ginny jumped backwards, startled. At this point, the rest of their group had reached them.
"James, stop him!" Mrs. Weasley ordered. James eyed the fight warily. Sirius was clearly winning and Harriet's father really didn't seem in the mood to ruin his friend's fun.
"Do I have to?" he whined. At his wife's glare, he sighed dejectedly and moved in to haul Sirius off of Lucius. Sirius struggled for a moment but then, realizing that it was Harriet's dad who held him, he calmed.
Malfoy stood and tried to straighten his robes. It was rather difficult to look dignified with a black eye, Harriet noticed. Malfoy Sr. thrust Ron's Potions book back at him, not saying a word. He grabbed his son by the nape of the neck and, together, the two made their way out of the store.
"You should have ignored him, Sirius," Mrs. Weasley mothered as they, too, made their way of the store. She tried to wipe some of the blood off of Sirius's lip with her handkerchief. He took it from her gratefully and did it himself.
"Nah," he laughed. "I've been wanting to do that for ages. I just needed an excuse."
James laughed and Lily didn't even bother to argue. Mrs. Weasley, though, was still a bit upset. "Oh, but think of what Gilderoy Lockhart must have thought!"
"Actually, mum," Ginny chimed, "he loved it! All the publicity and stuff!"
Mrs. Weasley just looked more distraught. To give her some time to calm down, Harriet's mother sent the three kids off to get themselves some ice-cream. The three didn't argue. They made their way through the narrow, winding, street, doing their best to avoid the other wizards and witches around them.
They reached the ice-cream shop and Harriet used her money to buy three, large, peanut-butter and strawberry ice creams for them. After that, they spent their time window shopping.
Harriet and Ron couldn't help but spend an inappropriately large amount of time at the Quality Quidditch Supplies store, eyeing up all of the equipment. In particular, they were displaying several new brooms in the windows. The Nimbus 2001 was the newest in the Nimbus line (Harriet had the older model), but it was outshined by the far superior Firebolt.
"It's beautiful," Ron gasped, eyes wide. There was no price listed on the broom, but Harriet didn't have to see one to know that it was probably worth a small fortune.
"They say that they'll be using this broom in the next Quidditch World Cup," Harriet noted, remembering her Quidditch magazine.
Hermione, sick of brooms and Quaffles and Snitches, finally dragged them out and into the joke-shop, where the twins had managed to find themselves. In a small shop filled with used items, Harriet, Ron, and Hermione bumped into Percy, who was reading a book called Prefects Who Gained Power.
"Percy is very ambitious," Ron explained as the trio were chased out of the shop by Ron's annoyed brother. "He has it all planned out. He wants to be Minister of Magic one day."
Harriet raised an eyebrow. "He'll probably do a better job than Fudge is doing," she noted. Hermione shushed them, warning that it wouldn't be a good idea to appear less than fond of Fudge in public- at least not now.
Harriet, Ron, and Hermione bumped into Remus on the way back to their parents. He had several bags of items, but refused to reveal what was inside. Instead, he let the three kids explain to him what had happened between Mr. Malfoy and Sirius. Harriet had honestly expected Remus to be angry at his friend, but she received a pleasant surprise.
When Remus finally found Sirius, Remus didn't rebuke him. Instead, Remus gave him a large hug and congratulated him for a job well done.
Harriet Potter, King's Cross Station- September 1, 1992
By the time the school-year rolled around, Harriet had almost forgotten about Dobby's warning. Her parents, on the other hand, had not.
"Alright, Prongslette," her father told her. "We'll be right on the other side, waiting for you, alright?"
Harriet nodded and watched as her father, mother, and Sirius disappeared through the barrier. Remus hadn't been there, but her mum had explained to her that it was "work related" and that he "would be seeing her soon." Harriet had dropped it after that. Remus had lost his job when the Flamels had died (apparently their great-great-however-many-greats- grandson hadn't been as open to hiring a werewolf) and was not having trouble finding a new line of work.
Harriet still missed him, but she could understand. She and Ron were now left on the outside of the platform, alone now. His family had gone up ahead with Ginny. She turned to Ron, who looked just as antsy as she felt.
"They're taking this thing a bit too seriously," she said, referring to her parents' need to make sure that the other side was safe before she went through.
"Better safe than sorry, I guess," Ron offered, although it looked like he agreed with her. "Let's just get to the Platform before the train leaves. Or Hermione goes mental. I don't know which would be worse."
Harriet couldn't argue with that logic, so she grabbed her trolley and began to run into the wall, Ron directly behind her. Harriet could see the wall approaching her, but, unlike the first time she had tried to enter the platform. That time, she had been so worried that she was going to-
CRASH.
Harriet's trolley hit the wall first, sending her flying over it, headlong into the wall, knocking poor Hedwig over in the process. Isaura, curled on one of the bars of the trolley, hissed in disapproval, tightening herself up to prevent injury. Ron let out a gasp as he tried to stop his trolley, but he failed. He too was sent soaring over his trolley, falling on top of Harriet in a tangled heap.
For a moment, neither one of them said anything, focusing on catching their breath. People around them, though, weren't nearly so considerate. As a bunch of people stared and a small crowd started to form, a burly security guard yelled at them, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"
"Sorry," Harriet gasped, finally sitting up. "Lost control of the, uh, trolley."
The guard looked unconvinced, but dropped the matter. Harriet righted Hedwig's cage and checked to make sure that Isaura was alright. Once that had been done, she looked over to Ron. He was paler than normal, freckles standing out against his skin, one hand pressed firmly against the barrier.
"What happened?" she hissed, ignoring the odd looks still being sent her way.
"I don't know!" Ron exclaimed. It seemed like he was on the verge of hysterics. "The barrier just...closed!"
Harriet eyed the clock on the wall with a growing sense of foreboding.
3...
2...
1...
"The train is gone," she whispered. "It actually left without us."
Ron's eyes widened and he looked back at the platform. "We can't get through."
"I thought we'd established that already," she snapped, annoyed. She instantly felt guilty seeing his wide-eyed gaze.
"I just meant," he muttered, "that if we can't get through, can our parents?"
Harriet instantly felt like more of an idiot. "Oh."
Lily and James Potter, Kings Cross Station-September 1, 1992
Lily frowned. "Its taking Harriet far too long. She should be across by now."
Sirius wasn't bothered. "Don't worry," he told Lily, striding forward, "I'll just go get- Merlin's beard!"
Sirius careened face-first into the wall. The force of it knocked him backwards. Thankfully, James was right behind him, and managed to stop him from hitting the floor. Sirius looked back and forth between his friends and the wall. "What was that?"
Lily placed her hand on the wall. "That barrier has closed."
James shook his head. "That's impossible. The magic involved-"
"Well something is blocking the barrier!"
"What do we do?" Sirius demanded, banging more firmly on the barrier, as though pure strength and willpower alone would be enough to get to the other side.
"Lily! James! We can't find Ron!" Molly came running through the station, her husband in tow. Ginny and the twins and Percy had all been placed on the train. Only Ron was left. Molly was a bit hysterical.
"He's with Harriet." Lily soothed.
"Where is Harriet?" Arthur asked fearfully. James looked a bit uncomfortable.
"On the other side of the barrier. Which is closed."
"Are you sure?" Molly cried. Lily wrapped her arms around the older woman's shoulders. Sirus spoke through his broken nose. "Yes, we are sure."
"The train is leaving," James pointed out, watching as the train pulled out of the station.
"We've got more important things to worry about, Prongs," Sirius snapped. Lily tutted.
"I think he meant that, at this point, the kids are probably panicking."
"Harriet has a pretty cool head," Molly soothed. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
Arthur paled. "Oh god."
"What?" James demanded.
"Ron is with her." He pointed out.
"Right," Lily agreed, looking a bit nervous. I'm sure Harriet will keep them in line, right? They won't do anything too ridiculous."
Ron and Harriet, King's Cross Station-September 1, 1992
They stood in silence for a moment. Harriet honestly didn't know what to say. "What do we do now? Do we wait? We could Floo, but I don't have any change."
"Neither do I, so I guess we don't do anything. What other choice do- The car!" Harriet blinked as Ron did a complete one-eighty. She goggled at him.
"What?"
"My dad's car! We took it to the station! We can drive it to Hogwarts!"
"How are we supposed to get a car to Hogwarts?" Harriet asked. Ron huffed, annoyed.
"We fly it."
"Oh," Harriet nodded, as if that made perfect sense. "Right. Why didn't I think of that."
"My dad did it," Ron explained. Harriet's eyes widened in realization. Ron continued before she could say anything else. "I know underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic, but this is an emergency, right? And Dobby threatened you, so it isn't safe for you to wait out here!"
Harriet didn't say anything for a minute. "And you know how to fly this thing, right?"
Ron nodded eagerly. "Fred and George taught me!"
Harriet didn't think that that was the most reassuring thing she could have heard, but she was too excited about the idea of a flying car to care. "Alright. Let's go! Hurry!"
Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Express-September 1, 1992
Hermione had looked inside of almost every train compartment. Nobody had seen or heard from Ron and Harriet in a while. She was worried.
One more compartment, she assured herself. She opened the door and looked inside. There was only one person inside-and he wasn't Ron or Harriet. She shot the man an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin. I'll just be on my way."
"Of course, Hermione," Remus said, his voice highly amused. Hermione closed the door to the compartment and took a few steps away. She stopped. Wait. She ran to the compartment and yanked open the door. Mr. Lupin was still there, obviously expecting her.
"Hello, Hermione," he offered. "Would you like to take a seat?"
"Mr. Lupin?" she questioned. He nodded and she hesitantly took the offered seat.
"Actually, its Professor Lupin, now." He looked delighted at the fact, and even Hermione was excited for him. She beamed.
"Thats wonderful! What position are you taking?"
"History of Magic," Professor Lupin said. Hermione's jaw dropped.
"You mean Professor Binns finally quit?" Remus laughed.
"Something like that." Remus said. Hermione frowned.
"But why?" Hermione wondered. "He loved that job."
"He did," Remus revealed carefully. "He just wasn't too happy about the changes that Fudge was making to the school."
Hermione leant forward and lowered her voice to prevent anybody from overhearing. "What changes?"
"Rumor has it," Remus's voice lowered to match hers, "that Fudge is sending dementors to Hogwarts."
Harriet and Ron, The Sky- September 1, 1992
"There," Ron nodded. "That should do it."
After a rather bumpy start, Ron had finally managed to get the car up to a safe height. They had tracked down the Hogwarts Express and were now cruising safely above it in the clouds. Harriet leant back, making herself comfortable. Isaura once again hissed her disapproval of the idea.
Harriet ignored her and looked out the window. "Its amazing!" she laughed. "Even on a broom I've never been this high up!"
"Yup," Ron agreed, fiddling with some dials. "All we need to do is follow the train and we should be-uh oh."
Harriet looked at him, worried. "What? Whats wrong?"
"Nothing too bad," Ron assured her, smacking the dashboard with his fist. "The Invisibility-Booster is shot, though. We just have to be a bit more careful about being seen."
Harriet let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, alright then."
She shifted again, this time leaning against the door. A soft click alerted her to her mistake. She didn't have time to react as the door swung open, taking Harriet, who was holding on for dear life, with it. Harriet scrambled for a better grip. Isaura, wrapped around her ankle, squeezed tighter.
"Harriet!" Ron called, shuffling over to her side carefully, trying not to tip the car over. "Whatever you do, don't let go!"
"Wasn't planning on it!" Harriet yelled back. One of her hands slipped, so she let out a small cry. Ron looked down at her. He reached a hand towards her and she grabbed it. Harriet held on for dear life as he pulled her back into the car. Shutting the door behind her, he let out a sigh of relief.
"That was interesting," Ron muttered. Harriet whacked him in the arm.
Remus and Hermione, Hogwarts Express-September 1, 1992
"Dementors!" Hermione gasped, now thoroughly horrified. "I've read about those. They guard Azkaban, don't they?"
"Yes," Remus sighed, looking more old and weathered than ever. "They do. They are terrible creatures, dementors. They feed off of human happiness, leaving them nothing but their worst memories."
"Thats awful!" Hermione protested. "Why would Fudge want them at Hogwarts?"
"He believes," Remus said carefully, "that Dementors would protect the students of Hogwarts from another situation like Quirrell's. Dumbledore was furious, of course. Wouldn't hear of it. But-"
"Harriet was still at the Durlsey's," Hermione finished, "and Dumbledore couldn't risk her being stuck there."
Remus was impressed at her deduction. "Well,well, Hermione. You really are the brightest witch your age that I've ever met." Hermione blushed. "And you're right. However, Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge to keep the dementors at the entrance, only."
"And he hired you to help keep an eye on things," Hermione pointed out. "And by things, I mean students. And by students, I mean Harriet."
Remus laughed. "Harriet does have a way of making trouble, doesn't she? Where is she, by the way?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "I don't know! I haven't seen her or Ron anywhere! They aren't on the train-"
"Hermione," Remus got up and put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to try and calm the near-hysterical witch. "She might be in the prefect carriage with some friends. Or even up front, for some reason. I'll go check. I'll be back in a moment."
Even though Remus only took a few minutes, to Hermione, who was tense with worry, it seemed as though he took ages. When the compartment door finally slid open Hermione shot up from her seat.
"Well?" she demanded, wringing her hands. Professor Lupin's face was twisted into a confused frown. He shook his head.
"They aren't here. I had them check storage, too. Their luggage never made it aboard the train. I doubt they even made it off of King's Cross station."
Hermione's eyes widened. "What happened to them?"
Remus couldn't tell her. "I'm not sure. When we get to Hogwarts, I'll send a message to Lily and James. If we're lucky, Ron and Harriet will be with them."
Hermione bit her lip. "And if we're not? Lucky, I mean."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Lily, James, and Sirius, King's Cross Station-September 1, 1992
"They took the flying car," James said, his voice echoing his disbelief. They stood around the empty parking space, stunned into silence. James decided that the best way to break said silence was by stating the obvious. He was proven wrong when Arthur and Molly glared at him, obviously thinking that he wasn't helping.
"That's brilliant!" Sirius cheered, very impressed with their daring. He caught Lily's raised eyebrow and added quickly, "but bad. Very bad. Not at all impressive. I'm going to go and ah, do something. Somewhere else." Sirius retreated quickly back into the Station, most likely to inform the school of the whereabouts of their students.
Lily rolled her eyes. "It won't be impressive if they get seen. I doubt the Ministry will be very happy if they break the Statute of Secrecy."
Meanwhile, Arthur was trying to console his wife. "It'll be alright, Molly."
"But it's all my fault!" She sobbed. "If I had waited for him, instead of taking Ginny to board the train-"
"James and Lily were there with him," Arthur said as he desperately tried to reason with her, "other any other circumstances, he would have been perfectly safe-"
"-and now he's god knows where in that dratted flying car of yours!" Molly wailed. Arthur realized that danger that he was now in and decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to say anything at the moment.
"We've alerted the school," Sirius told the guilty mother, walking back out of the station, looking considerably more calm than he had when he had left, "and the aurors have spotted the car in the air. They can't bring them down-"
"What?" screeched Molly.
"But the children are perfectly safe and en route to Hogwarts." Sirius finished. Lily gaped at Sirius, incredulous.
"You can't actually mean that you are going to let them fly the car to Hogwarts, are you?"
Sirius nodded. "Nothing more we can do here," he informed her cheerfully. "Might I suggest that we all return to our homes for a lovely Howler-writing session?"
"Sirius," sniffed Molly, the fire in her eyes returning already, "I think that might be the best idea you've had all day!"
"Thank-you, Molly!" Sirius told her. Then he realized how back-handed the compliment was and pouted theatrically. "Oi!"
Harriet and Ron, The Sky-September 1, 1992
The glamor of driving a flying car to Hogwarts had worn off a long time ago. The car had, at this point, become hot and stick. Harriet's mouth felt like cotton, but neither she nor Ron had thought to bring any water on board. Hedwig hooted dolefully, feeling just as warn out as her mistress. Isaura, fed up with the owl's complaining, hissed in annoyance.
Harriet glared at them both. Ron, in the seat next to her, took the car down for a moment. Once he was sure that they were still headed in the right direction, he brought them back up. Harriet resisted the urge to hit him.
"I'd like to go on record and say that this was all your idea."
"Okay," he huffed. "I get it. Not my best move. But at least the sun is setting, now!"
Harriet couldn't help but agree with his point. Once the sun set, the car would hopefully cool down. It also meant that they were a step closer to getting to Hogwarts-which meant food, water, and a nice, soft, bed.
"What do you think they'll say when we land?" Harriet asked idly. Ron shrugged.
"Fred 'n George will probably be jealous. Percy will be pissed. Hermione will be-well, Hermione."
"And our parents?" Harriet smirked. Ron winced. He obviously didn't want to think about that right now. Harriet didn't either. At the time of them leaving, she hadn't really thought to leave a note for them in the parking lot, but, now, looking back, it was a stupid thing to forget. She could only hope that her mother and father were smart enough to figure out what had happened on their own.
Harriet felt the guilt eat at her. They had been so worried about her safety ever since Dobby's warning. It seemed, though, that there had been something else. She had caught them whispering several times about her, but they had clammed up the moment she entered the room. As for Sirius, he had been more grim than usual. Not at all his usually cheerful self. He obviously had something on his mind, which spelled trouble for Harriet.
Harriet shook it off. She was just overreacting-obviously a side-effect of spending too much time with Hermione.
I hope they know that I'm okay.
"Harriet, look!" Ron cried. Harriet squinted to try and see what he was pointing at. She almost sobbed with relief when she made out the silhouette of Hogwarts, standing tall and proud.
Ron cheered, "We made it!"
Harriet slapped her hand over his mouth. "Don't jinx it!" she hissed.
Ron made a face and licked her hand. She squealed (not that she would ever admit it) and yanked it off of him, wiping his spit off on her clothes.
"Don't be silly," he retorted. "I'm not going to jinx anything."
The engine of the car chose that moment to sputter violent.
Then nothing.
Harriet raised her eyebrow. "What were you saying?"
For a split second, neither of them did a thing. The reality of their situation hit them, though, and they reacted as though somebody had set their pants on fire. Ron's hands shot to the wheel, even though it would be rather futile of him to try driving if they were falling out of the sky.
"We're falling!" Harriet yelled, her hands grasping desperately at the sides of the car for some way to brace herself. "We're going to land in the lake!"
"No we aren't!" Ron said, face screwed up in determination. He yanked the wheel sharply to the left, veering away from the lake and towards and the school. Everything in the car shifted to the right, sending Isaura hissing in anger and Hedwig flapping frantically in her cage. Ron righted the wheel and heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"We made it!" he informed her cheerfully. Harriet's eyes widened.
"Ron!" she warned, leaning forward to try and take the wheel. He batted her away and scowled at her.
"What?" he snapped. Harriet pointed out the window.
"Watch out for the-"
The car crashed into the Whomping Willow.
"-tree," Harriet finished lamely, as they dangled, caught in some of the branches. She and Ron exchanged very worried glances.
"The Whomping Willow," Ron began slowly, "likes to hit back, doesn't it?"
"So I've been told," Harriet gulped. She reached over her shoulder and gripped the seatbelt that she had removed earlier. She clicked it into place.
Click.
Bam.
Ron and Harriet screamed for all they were worth, as they were tossed around the car as though they weighed next to nothing. The branches hit the front and back of the car a few times and the car, now unbalanced, fell to the ground. That was when Harriet noticed that, over the sound of their screams, the engine had started up again.
"RON!" she screeched, "THE ENGINE! GO!"
Ron slammed his foot down hard on the gas and the car shot forward. It seemed to Harriet that the car was as desperate to get away from the Whomping Willow as they were. The car stopped once they were a safe distance away. Harriet winced as the seatbelt cut into her ribs, preventing her head from hitting the dashboard.
"Ow," she mumbled, rubbing her sides. Looking over at Ron, she noticed that he hadn't been so lucky. His forehead was bleeding slightly, but he looked otherwise unharmed.
"Okay, let's get out of-" Ron was cut off as the car doors opened. Harriet's seatbelt was undone and, the next thing she knew, she was being ejected out of the car and onto the grass in front of the Hogwarts entrance. She gasped slightly as she landed on her bruised ribs.
Harriet heard the clatter of mettle and Hedwig's indignant screeches as she, too, was launched out the car. Harriet turned over just in time to see the car shut its doors and the drunk, then drive off into the Forbidden Forest.
Isaura slithered off of her ankle and began to make her way towards Hagrid's hut. "Isaura, no!" she called. Isaura hissed, annoyed, but didn't give her mistress an answer. She was clearly (and rightfully) not too happy with Harriet at the moment.
"Not quite the entrance I imagined," Ron muttered as he carefully stood up, testing to make sure that nothing was broken. Harriet nodded at his understatement and did the same.
"Who cares," she told him. She sat Hedwig's cage up. "Let's just get to the feast, quickly. If we're lucky, we won't be caught and maybe snatch something to eat."
"Good idea," Ron said. He was almost drooling. "I'm starving. Do you think we've missed Ginny's sorting?"
Harriet shrugged. It was a bit difficult with all of the luggage she was carrying, but she managed just fine. Ron took that as a signal to pick up his own things and follow her towards the Hogwarts entrance. Harriet felt as though her heart was flying when she saw the large double doors of the school.
"We're almost there!" Harriet called over her shoulder to Ron. She saw his lips move as he called something back to her, but she couldn't hear over the screaming. Harriet blinked and shook her head, but the screaming was still there. The night, which had been warm and breezy only a few moments ago, had suddenly gone cold. The air was still. Ron pointed at something and Harriet turned to see what it was. Harriet got only a glimpse of the hooded figure coming towards her.
Then she was lost.
Lost. So lost. She wanted to leave.
Screaming. So much screaming. Why wasn't anybody helping?
The cold. So cold. It gripped her tightly and wouldn't let go.
She couldn't see. Couldn't feel.
Nothing but the pain.
"Run! Take Harriet! I'll hold him off!"
No! Don't you'll die!
"Harriet!"
"Harriet!"
A bright light.
Nothing.
AN: Well, sorry about that! This update took longer then I thought. Anyways, thoughts? Reactions? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!
P.S. Since I'm taking the update off of my profile page, I'm posting it here for future reference.
Update 8/7/11: Hi all! Just a quick heads up. My computer has been sent into the shop for some minor repairs and, while I was smart enough to e-mail myself the documents, I wasn't smart enough to e-mail them as a Word Document (I normally work on a Mac). I tried opening the documents on the PC I've been borrowing, but the computer just isn't having it. I've tried a number of File Converting sites, but most won't work on Harriet Potter since its just too big. That doesn't mean I'm not working on it. In fact, I've finished another chapter! Its just that I have part of the chapter on this computer and the other part is only accessible with my computer. As for The Skasis Paradigm, that file was smaller, so I've converted it to a Word Doc and am finishing up the next chapter as we er... speak. Once I get my computer back (hopefully by the end of this week), I'll be able to upload the next chapter of Harriet Potter.
Sorry for the inconvenience and, in the meantine, please enjoy The Skasis Paradigm.
h's and k's,
tinyrose65