CHAPTER NINE: AND SO BEGINS YEAR TWO
The moment I arrived home from shopping with Gran, I immediately headed to Uncle Severus' room while a couple of maids took my new dresses to my room. Gran went to check on Stacy.
'Come in,' Uncle Severus said warily when I knocked on his bedroom door. 'Oh, it's you, Har – what on earth are you wearing?' he asked when I entered the room. He took one look at the outfit I was wearing and tried not to laugh.
Gran made me come home in one of my new dresses. It was a bright purple dress covered with frills and bows. She even made me get my hair done. It was all curly and up in a high bun with a lot of ribbon holding it there.
'It's not funny!' I grumbled, sitting next to him on his bed. 'Can you help me?' I added as I tried to get the ribbons out of my hair. 'I never knew that shopping was so painful!'
'Grandmother can make anything painful,' Uncle Severus laughed as he began to remove the ribbons holding my hair up. 'Let me guess, all the clothes you got are like what you are wearing.'
'Yes,' I grumbled. 'She didn't even care that I find them hideous! Or that I feel uncomfortable in them!'
'Tell your grandmother and she'll talk to your gran,' Uncle Severus said wisely. 'However, don't get your hopes up. Certain things my mother cannot talk Grandmother out of… like trying to set me up with someone,' he added bitterly.
At that moment, there was a loud knock at the door.
'Come in,' Uncle Severus said warily. He groaned slightly when he saw who it was. 'Something wrong, Grandmother?'
'Oh, do not pretend to be so innocent, Severus,' Gran said coldly. 'You know exactly what's wrong. Why don't you like Stacy? She's a nice girl. If you would just give her a chance –'
'No, Grandmother. You have to stop bringing girls here trying to get me to fall in love. I'm not interested.' Uncle Severus was beginning to lose his temper.
Not wanting to be around, I quickly left the room.
Over breakfast the next day, Grandfather handed me my Hogwarts letter. It was the same as last year's letter with the only difference being the school list of books and belongings.
'Do you want to go and pick up your belongings on Wednesday?' Uncle Severus asked me. 'I have to go to Diagon Alley to pick up some more potion stock.'
'Sure,' I said enthusiastically.
Sadly, we had to Floo to Diagon Alley and I proved to be great entertainment for the other shoppers as I tumbled ungracefully out of the fireplace.
We first went to Gringotts to withdraw some gold out of my parents' vaults, which, of course, was now mine. We then picked up some potion ingredients, new robes – I had to be Harry Potter to get them done – and all my other school supplies, minus my books, before we went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour for ice cream. After we finished out ice creams, we went and browsed Quality Quidditch Supplies. Our last stop was at Flourish and Blotts, to pick up my school books.
When we arrived at Flourish and Blotts, we noticed a large, excited crowd gathered outside. The crowd was mostly made up of witches of different ages.
'What's going on?' I asked Uncle Severus.
'No idea – oh, that's why.' Uncle Severus stood glaring at a sign.
GILDEROY LOCKHART
Will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
Today 12:30 P.m. to 4:30 P.m.
'Gilderoy Lockhart?' Isn't he the guy who wrote most of my booklist?' I questioned.
'Unfortunately,' Uncle Severus sighed, before leading the way inside. 'Might as well see what the idiot has to say.'
Many witches turned to glare at him, but he just ignored them.
We somehow managed to get a spot right up front.
'Why don't you like him?' I asked Uncle Severus as he glared at a nearby poster of Lockhart. 'Are you jealous of him or something?'
'Jealous? Of him? There's no way I'd be jealous of that idiot,' replied a slightly outraged Uncle Severus, ignoring more glares.
'Then what?'
'I just don't like him. Something about him makes me want to be creative with my wand.'
Someone snorted next to me. I looked up and saw that I was standing next to Fred Weasley. He had heard Uncle Severus' comment. I then looked around and saw that Ron, Percy, George and their little sister Ginny were also present. I then spotted Mrs Weasley and Hermione. It felt weird being so close to them all with them not knowing who I was.
A few minutes later, Lockhart appeared and the excitement level grew. I noticed Fred and George rolled their eyes. I couldn't help but join them. I couldn't see anything impressive about him. I guessed they all liked him because of his good looks.
A little reporter made his way through the crowd with a camera in hand. He roughly barged between Uncle Severus and I, which resulted in me falling into Fred.
'Sorry little girl, but this is for the Daily Prophet,' said the reporter.
'Big deal!' I snapped at him, before apologising to Fred. Lockhart heard my comment.
'Of course you wouldn't find it a big deal, young lady,' Lockhart said, smiling over at me. 'And I thank you for giving me the perfect moment to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!'
'Here it comes,' Uncle Severus groaned.
'While this young lady only stepped in to purchase her Hogwarts books, she clearly knew, from her little comment before, that she and her schoolmates would be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September; I will be taking up the post of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! So a photo in the Daily Prophet is definitely not a big deal to them.'
The crowd cheered and clapped, while I gasped at my uncle. He didn't look very happy about having Lockhart as a co-worker.
'Let's buy your books and get out of here,' Uncle Severus whispered in my ear as Lockhart began to sign copies of his book Magical Me.
Together we weaved in and out of the crowd, picking up my school books. We then headed to the counter to pay for them. While Uncle Severus was paying for the books, I noticed the Weasleys, minus Mrs Weasley, and Hermione talking to none other than Draco Malfoy and a man I assumed to be Draco's father.
'Is that Malfoy's father?' I asked Uncle Severus as he handed me a book bag.
'Yes. That's Lucius Malfoy,' muttered Severus as Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy began to fight… Muggle style. 'Let's get out of here. The Weasley and Malfoy conflicts aren't one you want to be caught up in.'
Uncle Severus led me out of the shop and to a fireplace to Floo home.
-THE UNMASKED MYSTERY-
The school holidays were soon at an end. I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I was really excited to be returning to Hogwarts to see my friends, play Quidditch and learn more about the magical world. However, I was also upset. I was upset because I would be leaving Acacia Palace and that I would spend the next year pretending that this summer hadn't happened and that the fact that my family was alive had to remain secret, as did my true identity.
'I'll miss you, Harrietta,' Gran said as she hugged me goodbye.
'I'll miss you too, Gran.'
'We'll see you at Hogwarts, Harri,' Grandfather said as he embraced me. 'Enjoy the train ride.'
'Will do,' I said before Flooing to Uncle Severus' house.
From Uncle Severus' house, my uncle drove me to King Cross Station where he dropped me off, before heading back home to prepare for the upcoming year.
As I headed to platform nine and three quarters, I noticed a familiar bunch of red-heads in front of me. I quickly hurried to catch up.
'Hey, Ron! Fred! George!' I yelled out.
The Weasleys all stopped and looked around.
'Harry! How are you, mate?' Ron asked when he saw who it was.
'I fine, what about you guys?' I said, stopping next to them.
'Same as always,' Ron laughed. 'Oh, Harry, this is my father. Dad, this is Harry.'
'It's nice to meet you, Mr Weasley,' I said politely.
'You too, Harry. Ron's told us all about you of course.' Mr Weasley said, shaking my hand.
'It's good to see you again, Harry,' Mrs Weasley said, embracing me in a hug.
'Um, shouldn't we be heading to Platform Nine and Three Quarters?' Percy inquired. 'We're running late.'
'You're right, Percy, dear,' said Mrs Weasley. 'Come on everyone.'
Together we all headed toward the platform.
'Percy first,' said Mrs Weasley, when we arrived at the entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She looked nervously at the clock overhead, which showed we had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.
Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr Weasley went next; Fred and George followed.
'I'll take Ginny and you two come right after us,' Mrs Weasley told Ron and me, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off. In the blink of an eye they were gone.
'Let's go together, we've only got a minute,' Ron said to me.
I quickly made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of my trunk and wheeled my trolley around to face the barrier. I felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. Ron and I both bent low over the handles of our trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, we broke into a run and CRASH.
Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, I was knocked off my feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; people all around us stared and a guard nearby yelled, 'What in blazes d'you think you're doing?'
'Lost control of the trolley,' I gasped, clutching my ribs as I got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd.
'Why can't we get through?' I hissed to Ron.
'I dunno –'
Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching us.
'We're going to miss the train,' Ron whispered. 'I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself –'
I looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. Ten seconds... nine seconds...
I wheeled my trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier and pushed with all my might. The metal remained solid.
Three seconds… two seconds... one second...
'It's gone,' said Ron, sounding stunned. 'The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?'
I shook my head.
'Nope. Only wizard money.'
Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier.
'Can't hear anything,' he said tensely. I gave him a look that said, 'As if you would hear anything,' but he didn't notice as he said, 'What're we going to do? I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us.'
We looked around. People were still watching us, mainly because of Hedwig's continuing screeches.
'I think we'd better go and wait somewhere,' I said. 'We're attracting too much atten –'
'Harry!' said Ron, his eyes gleaming. 'The car!'
'The what?'
'We can fly the car to Hogwarts!'
'Fly the car?' I was completely nonplussed.
'Oh yeah, you wouldn't know. My dad modified a Ford Angelia which can fly and turn invisible.'
'I don't know, Ron…'
'We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even under-age wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy…'
'I don't think this counts as a real emergence,' I said uncertainly.
'Course it does,' said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. 'C'mon, let's go, if we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express.'
I hesitated before I followed Ron off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station and onto a side road where an old, blue, Ford Anglia was parked. Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of taps from his wand. We then heaved out luggage back in, put Hedwig on the back seat, and got into the front.
'Check that no one's watching,' said Ron, starting the ignition with another tap of his wand. I stuck my head out of the window: traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but our street was empty.
'Okay,' I said.
Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished - and so did we. I could feel the seat vibrating beneath my, hear the engine, feel my hands on my knees and my glasses on my nose, but for all I could see, I had become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of parked cars.
'Let's go,' said Ron's voice from my right.
The ground and the dirty buildings on either side fell away, dropping out of sight as the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London , smoky and glittering, was below them.
Then there was a popping noise and the car, Ron, and I reappeared.
'Uh-oh,' said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. 'It's faulty –'
The car vanished again before it flickered back again.
'Hold on!' Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; we shot straight into the low, woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy.
'Now what?' I said, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on us from all sides.
'We need to see the train to know what direction to go in,' said Ron.
'Dip back down again - quickly –'
We dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted around in our seats, squinting at the ground.
'I can see it!' I yelled. 'Right ahead - there!'
The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below us like a scarlet snake.
'Due north,' said Ron, checking the compass on the dashboard. 'Okay, we'll just have to check on it every half hour or so - hold on…'
We shot back up through the clouds. A minute later, we burst out into a blaze of sunlight.
As I looked around, I felt as though I had entered a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy cloud, the sky a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun. It was actually rather peaceful… like something out of a dream.
'Now all we've got to worry about are airplanes,' said Ron.
We looked at each other and just started to laughing, for no reason. For a long time, we couldn't stop.
It was as though we had been plunged into a fabulous dream.
This, I thought gazing out my window at my beautiful surroundings, is surely the only way to travel - past swirls and turrets of snowy cloud, in a car full of hot, bright sunlight, with a fat pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and the prospect of seeing Fred's and George's jealous faces when we landed smoothly and spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle.
We made sure to make regular checks on the train as we flew farther and farther north, each dip beneath the clouds showing us a different view. London was soon far behind us, replaced by neat green fields that gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, a great city alive with cars like multi-coloured ants, villages with tiny toy churches.
Several uneventful hours later, however, I had to admit that some of the fun was wearing off.
The toffees had made us extremely thirsty – Ron especially since he had more than me - and we had nothing to drink. Ron and I had pulled off our sweaters, but my T-shirt was sticking to the back of my seat and my glasses kept sliding down to the end of my sweaty nose.
I had stopped noticing the fantastic cloud shapes now and was thinking longingly of the train miles below, where I could buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from a trolley pushed by a plump witch. Why hadn't we been able to get onto platform nine and three-quarters?
'Can't be much further, can it?' Ron croaked hours later as the sun started to sink into the floor of cloud, staining it a deep pink. 'Ready for another check on the train?'
It was still right below us, winding its way past a snow-capped mountain. It was much darker beneath the canopy of clouds.
Ron put his foot on the accelerator and drove us upward again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine.
Ron and I exchanged nervous glances.
'What was that?' I asked nervously.
'It's probably just tired,' said Ron. 'It's never been this far before...'
We both tried to pretend that we couldn't hear the whining growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. I ended up pulling my sweater back on, trying to ignore the way the windshield wipers were now waving feebly, as though in protest.
'Not far,' said Ron, and I knew that he was talking to the car, 'not far now,' and he patted the dashboard nervously.
When we flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, we had to squint – well, Ron did - through the darkness for a landmark we knew.
'There!' I shouted, making Ron and Hedwig jump. 'Straight ahead!'
Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake stood the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle, but the car had begun to shudder and was losing speed.
'Come on,' Ron coaxed, giving the steering wheel a little shake, 'nearly there, come on –'
The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the hood. The car gave a nasty wobble as we flew across the lake. Glancing out of my window, I saw the smooth, black, glassy surface of the water, a mile below.
Ron's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The car wobbled again.
'Come on,' Ron muttered.
We were over the lake - the castle was right ahead – Ron put his foot down.
There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely.
'Uh-oh,' said Ron, into the silence, while I closed my eyes. I know knew that I should have gone with my gut feeling right at the beginning and not hopped into the car… especially with a thirteen year old driving it.
The nose of the car dropped. We were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall.
I braced myself for the impact of the car crashing into the castle wall while Ron yelled, 'Noooooo!' while swinging the steering wheel around; we missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and then out over the black lawns, losing altitude all the time.
Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand out of his back pocket.
'What are you doing?' I screamed.
Ron ignored me and began yelling as he continuously whacked the dashboard and windshield
'STOP! STOP!' he yelled, but nothing happened. We were still plummeting, the ground flying up toward them.
'MIND THAT TREE!' I bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late.
CRUNCH.
With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, we hit the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled hood; Hedwig was shrieking in terror; a golf ball-size lump was throbbing on my head where I had hit the windshield; and to my right, Ron let out a low, despairing groan.
'Are you okay?' I asked urgently, quickly looking over at him.
'My wand,' said Ron, in a shaky voice. 'Look at my wand –'
It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters.
'That's what you are worried about?' I said, unable to believe what I was hearing. 'We were almost killed and you are concerned about your wand? Something that can easily be fixed up at the school? You should be gratefully that it's not your neck!'
At that very moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending me lurching sideways into Ron, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof.
'What's happen -?'
Ron gasped, staring through the windshield, and I looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree we had hit was attacking us. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummelling every inch of the car it could reach.
'Oh no,' I said, paling dramatically.
'Aaargh!' Ron yelled as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door; the windshield was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to be caving in -
'Run for it!' Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second he had been knocked backward into my lap by a vicious uppercut from another branch.
'We're done for!' he moaned as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating - the engine had restarted.
'Reverse!' I yelled, and the car shot backward; the tree was still trying to hit us and we could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at us as we sped out of reach.
'That,' Ron panted, 'was close. Well done, car –'
The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two sharp clunks, the doors flew open and I felt my seat tip sideways: Next thing I knew I was sprawled on the damp, cold ground. Loud thuds told me that the car was ejecting our luggage from the trunk; Hedwig's cage flew through the air and burst open; she rose out of it with an angry screech and sped off toward the castle without a backward look, while I looked worriedly after her.
Then, dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear lights blazing angrily.
'Come back!' Ron yelled as he ran after it, while I fixed up my luggage. 'Dad'll kill me!'
But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust.
'Can you believe our luck?' Ron said miserably as he walked back to me where I was tending to a terrified Scabbers, Ron's pet rat. 'Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get one that hits back.'
He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, which was still flailing its branches threateningly.
'Come on,' I said wearily, 'we'd better get up to the school...'
It wasn't at all the triumphant arrival we had pictured. Stiff, cold, and bruised, we seized the ends of our trunks and began dragging them up the grassy slope, toward the great oak front doors.
'I think the feast's already started,' Ron said, dropping his trunk at the foot of the front steps and crossing quietly to look through a brightly lit window. 'Hey - Harry - come and look - it's the Sorting!'
Sighing, I went over and joined Ron at the window, where we both peered in at the Great Hall. Innumerable candles were hovering in mid-air over four long, crowded tables, making the golden plates and goblets sparkle. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling, which always mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with stars. However, we were more interested in the long line of scared-looking first years filing into the Hall. Ginny was among them, easily visible because of her vivid Weasley hair.
Meanwhile, Grandmother was placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers.
My eyes wandered past the Sorting to where Grandfather sat watching the Sorting from the staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon glasses shining brightly in the candlelight. Several seats along, I saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine. And there at the end was Hagrid, huge and hairy, drinking deeply from his goblet.
'Hang on...' I muttered to Ron. 'There's an empty chair at the staff table... Where's Un - Snape?'
'Maybe he's ill!' Ron said hopefully.
'Maybe,' I said disbelievingly. Uncle Severus didn't look sick when I last saw him that morning.
'Or he might have been sacked!' Ron said enthusiastically. 'I mean, everyone hates him –'
'Or maybe,' said a very cold voice right behind us, 'he's waiting to hear why you two didn't arrive on the school train.'
I spun around. There, his black robes rippling in a cold breeze stood Uncle Severus, disguised as a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair.
'Follow me,' said Uncle Severus.
Not daring even to look at each other, Ron and I followed Uncle Severus up the steps into the vast, echoing entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches. A delicious smell of food was wafting from the Great Hall, but my uncle led us away from the warmth and light, down a narrow stone staircase that led into the dungeons.
'In!' he said, opening a door halfway down the cold passageway and pointing.
We entered Uncle Severus' office, shivering. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars, in which floated all manner of revolting things I didn't really want to know the name of at the moment. The fireplace was dark and empty. Uncle Severus closed the door and turned to look at us.
'So,' he said softly, 'the train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we, boys?'
Uncle Severus' angry eyes met my ashamed green ones and I saw that his anger was only a result of him worrying about our safety, especially mine. I hung my head and remained silent.
'No, sir,' began Ron, 'it was the barrier at King's Cross, it –'
'Silence!' Uncle Severus said coldly. 'What have you done with the car?'
Ron gulped and I raised my head. How did he know about the car? Did he see us crash it into the tree? I soon got my answer when he unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet.
'You were seen,' he hissed, showing us the headline: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES. He began to read aloud: '"Two Muggles in London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the Post Office tower... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her washing... Mr Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to police..." Six or seven Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?' he said, looking up at Ron.
Ron paled and I knew why. If anyone found out Mr Weasley had bewitched the car...
'I noticed, in my search of the school grounds, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow,' Uncle Severus went on.
'That tree did more damage to us than we –' Ron blurted out.
'Silence!' Uncle Severus snapped again. 'Most unfortunately, you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with me. I shall go and fetch the people who do have that happy power. You will wait here.'
Ron and I stared at each other, white-faced. I felt extremely sick. If Uncle Severus had gone to fetch Grandmother, head of Gryffindor House, we were hardly any better off. Ten minutes later, Uncle Severus returned, and sure enough it was Grandmother who accompanied him. I had seen Grandmother angry on several occasions, but either I had forgotten just how thin her mouth could go, or I had never seen her this angry before.
She raised her wand the moment she entered; Ron flinched, but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, where flames suddenly erupted.
'Sit,' she said.
We both backed into chairs by the fire, not daring to disobey her.
'Explain,' she said, her glasses glinting threateningly.
Ron launched into the story, starting with the barrier at the station refusing to let us through.
'-so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn't get on the train.'
'Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl?' Grandmother said coldly to me.
I gaped at her. Now she said it, it seemed the obvious thing to have done.
'I - I didn't think –'
'That,' said Grandmother, 'is obvious.'
I began to turn red and lowered my head to try and hide my embarrassment.
There was a knock on the office door and Uncle Severus, who had been watching on emotionlessly, opened it. There stood Grandfather. My whole body went numb. As if it wasn't bad enough Grandmother and Uncle Severus showing how angry and worried they were, but know add Grandfather, who was looking unusually grave, well, I might as well have crawled into a hole and hid with shame.
Grandfather stared down his very crooked nose at us, and I suddenly found myself wishing Ron and I were still being beaten up by the Whomping Willow.
There was a long silence. Then Grandfather said, 'Please explain why you did this.'
It would have been better if he had shouted. I hated the disappointment in his voice. Just like with Grandmother and Uncle Severus, I was unable to look Grandfather in the eyes, and spoke instead to my knees. I told Dumbledore everything except that Mr Weasley owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though Ron and I had happened to find a flying car parked outside the station. I knew Grandfather would see through this at once, but he asked no questions about the car. When I had finished, he merely continued to peer at us through his spectacles.
'We'll go and get our stuff,' Ron said despairingly.
'What are you talking about, Weasley?' Grandmother barked.
'You're expelling us, aren't you?'
I looked quickly at all three members of my family. The thought of them expelling us hadn't occurred to me.
'Not today, Mr Weasley,' replied Grandfather. 'But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you.'
'Mr Weasley, if you would be so kind to wait outside, we wish to have a private word with Mr Potter,' said Grandmother, making me wince.
'Sure,' said Ron, shooting me a concerned and sympathetic look, before leaving the classroom. The moment he was out, Uncle Severus put up several privacy charms to prevent him eavesdropping. I sat there dreading what was to come.
'Harrietta, we are most disappointed in you,' Grandmother said sternly once the privacy charms were in place. 'What were you thinking? You could have been seriously injured or worst, killed!'
'I didn't mean any harm or to make you worry,' I said quietly, looking down at my hands. I couldn't bring myself to look at them and see the disappointment in their eyes. It was bad enough hearing it in their voices. 'I – well, I guess I sort of panicked and allowed myself to be talked into Ron's idea about the car –'
'So that's whose bright idea it was,' Uncle Severus said ominously.
'I know I what I did was stupid and I'm ready to face the consequences,' I said glumly.
'Every night you will have to go to Severus' quarters and study or do chores or something you don't want to do for a month,' Grandmother said firmly. 'And no going easy on her either, Severus,' she added warningly to her son.
'Yes, Mother,' Uncle Severus said.
'How am I meant to get to his chambers?' I asked suddenly. 'I mean, I think my friends will notice if I keep sneaking out.'
'Tell them you have extra potion lessons. They'll believe that seeing as your grade wasn't the best last year,' Uncle Severus suggested.
'That is an excellent idea,' said Grandfather. 'Now, I must go back to the feast. I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample –'
Uncle Severus shot me a warning look as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving me alone with Grandmother, until Ron re-entered the privacy charm free classroom.
'You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're bleeding,' Grandmother said suddenly, noticing the cut above Ron's eye. He was lucky to have walked away with only a cut. Somehow I managed to walk away unscathed.
'Not much,' Ron said hastily, wiping the cut over his eye with his sleeve. 'Professor, I wanted to watch my sister being Sorted –'
'The Sorting Ceremony is over,' said Grandmother. 'Your sister is also in Gryffindor.'
'Oh, good!'
'And speaking of Gryffindor –' Grandmother said sharply, but I cut in: 'Gr - Professor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so - so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points taken from it - should it?'
Grandmother gave me a piercing look, before smiling ever so slightly, making Ron's eyes widen slightly.
'I will not take any points from Gryffindor,' she said, and I let out a sigh of relief. 'But you will both get a detention.'
We nodded our head showing that we understood what she had said.
Grandmother raised her wand again and pointed it at Uncle Severus' desk. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of-iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop.
'You will eat in here and then go straight up to your dormitory,' she said. 'I must also return to the feast.'
When the door had closed behind her, Ron let out a long, low whistle.
'I thought we'd had it,' he said, grabbing a sandwich.
'So did I,' I admitted, also grabbing a sandwich, but deep down I knew that they wouldn't send me away from Hogwarts. I knew that my family wanted me to remain close by after the years we spent apart.
'Can you believe our luck, though?' Ron said thickly through a mouthful of chicken and ham. 'Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them.' He swallowed and took another huge bite. 'Why couldn't we get through the barrier?'
'I have no idea. What I do know is that we'll have to watch our step from now on,' I said, taking a grateful swig of pumpkin juice. 'Wish we could've gone up to the feast...'
'She didn't want us showing off,' Ron said wisely. 'Doesn't want people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car.'
'Good point.'
When we had eaten as many sandwiches as we could (the plate kept refilling itself and I had to wait for Ron to finish seeing as he ate a lot more than me) we rose and left the office, walking the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet, which meant the feast was probably over. We walked past muttering portraits and creaking suits of armour, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until we eventually reached the passage where the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower was hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
'Password?' she said as we approached.
'Er –' I said.
Grandmother hadn't told us the new password and we hadn't met anyone on our way up to get the password. Fortunately, help came almost immediately. We heard hurrying feet behind us and turned to see Hermione dashing toward us.
'There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumours - someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car…'
'Well, we haven't been expelled,' I assured her.
'You're not telling me you did fly here?' said Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Grandmother.
'Skip the lecture,' Ron said impatiently, 'and tell us the new password.'
'It's "wattlebird",' Hermione said irritably, 'but that's not the point –'
Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping.
'What the - ?' I said as I entered the common room.
It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for us to arrive. '
Brilliant!' yelled Lee. 'Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years –'
'Good for you,' said a fifth year I had never spoken to; someone was patting me on the back as though I had just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, 'Why did you call us back?'
Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but I could see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling us off. I nudged Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron got the point at once.
'Got to get upstairs - bit tired,' he said, and the two of us started pushing our way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.
'Night,' I called back to Hermione, who was wearing a scowl just like Percy's.
We managed to get to the other side of the common room, still having our backs slapped, and gained the peace of the staircase.
We hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of our old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. We entered the familiar, circular room, with its five four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Our trunks had been brought up for us and stood at the ends of our beds.
Ron grinned guiltily at me.
'I know I shouldn't've enjoyed that or anything, but -'
The dormitory door flew open and in came the other second year Gryffindor boys, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom.
'Unbelievable!' beamed Seamus.
'Cool,' said Dean.
'Amazing,' said Neville, awestruck.
I couldn't help it. I just laughed at their reactions, before listening to Ron recount our little adventure to the other boys. Though I did notice he exaggerated a few details, which made me snort.
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Written: 24 June 2012
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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. FAIR USE ONLY. I DO, HOWEVER, CLAIM SOME COPYRIGHT OVER HARRI SINCE SHE IS HALF BASED ON MY ORIGINAL VALKYRIE CHARACTER, PRINCESS HARRIETTA.
