Chapter 5
N.E.X.T.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley brought Harry back to the burrow before waking Ron (Ron was very grouchy at being awoken twice in one day) and Hermione up and continuing on to Diagon Ally where they would, as usual, get their school supplies.

The trip was short as Mr. Weasley walked with Hermione and Ron while Harry and Mrs. Weasley headed off in the other direction. For the most part, they purchased three of everything on their list; one for Hermione, one for Ron, and one for Harry. Since Hermione's list was slightly different because she was going to be a Healer, some things were purchased separately. Harry bought some large and colorful quills for the three of them as well as a couple of different flavored owl treats for Hedwig the Second (Ron had begun calling her H.S. the moment he got wind of her name. George later pointed out that it could also stand for 'Hermione Stranger,' and so Ron changed it to H.T.S.)

After lunch, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George played Quiditch with Hermione and Harry on one side and Ron and George on the other. They played with apples from the apple orchid again and played until the the sky became dark and night fell. Mrs. Weasley called them inside for a delicious dinner consisting of a rather large chicken, some soup, some sour-dough bread, and a few ears of corn. Desert was chocolate cake which Hermione did not eat much of, for she insisted she was just too full (it turned out that, as Hermione later informed Harry and Ron, that it looked to sugary and her parents would have never allowed her to eat it for the sake of her teeth.)

The next day Harry was allowed to sleep in. Ron brought up some eggs and bacon for him later that morning and they enjoyed a festive breakfast together. Afterwards Harry brushed his teeth and pulled on some clothes besides his pajamas before heading downstairs to find where he had put his school supplies list. Mrs. Weasley then hurried him back up the stairs to pack.

Harry's packing took much longer than Ginny's, and put together with Ron's and Hermione's, packing took most of the day. It was an uneventful sort of thing, so the most interesting thing that happened was that Harry had tried to fold some of his socks with magic and ended up soaking them with water. One thing different about their packing was also that they no longer packed into trunks; instead, Mrs. Weasley put a special charm on the backpacks (like the supply list said) so they could fit everything in. They went to bed in a sort of subdued manner, having not had much of a cheery day, and Harry spent the evening in a bed in Ginny's room feeling rather lonely from her absence.

He woke bright and early the next morning for it was time to go to school. Mrs. Weasley gave them each a bowl of cereal for breakfast as she made some ham and turkey sandwiches and put them in their bags. When everything was ready, Mrs. Weasley ushered them out the door.

"Where are we going mum? How do we get to N.E.X.T. anyways?" Ron asked as they hurried down the doorsteps.

"Oh, N.E.X.T., I think it was something along the lines of National Extra X Training'. X came from that math they do in the muggle world, you know, what they call, 'Variables,' whatever those silly things are. At any rate, they have a subway you ride on, we'll go there," Mrs. Weasley said as they bustled down into the car where Mr. Weasley was yet again waiting for them.

"On you go," said Mrs. Weasley and hoisted them all up and into the car.

A long time later, they had at last arrived at the subway.

"Go into the entrance right there, it has muggle repelling charms so don't worry about any muggles coming," said Mrs. Weasley, and after waving goodbye, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all headed right in.

At the entrance, the three of them handed in the tickets to the guard that they had received along with their supply list. Then they boarded the pearly white and shiny subway that was awaiting them. It was very large with mint green and azure blue stripes painted on its side along with the words, "NEXT SUBWAY" painted above.

Hermione spotted Neville waving to them, so they entered that compartment. The inside of the subway had turned out to be much the same as the Hogwarts Express had been.

"What are you going to study?" asked Hermione as they settled into the seats.

"I want to be a herbology teacher, and gram says here is the best place to learn. She doesn't really seem to be too mad about it, though, so I guess that's a good thing," said Neville.

Harry had almost forgotten the whole place was not the Hogwarts Express, and a little over an hour later, when a women pushing a trolley stopped by, it did nothing to help change his impression. As he normally would have done, Harry pulled out his money bag and purchased many cauldron cakes, chocolate frogs, Bertie Bot's Every Flavored Beans, pumpkin pastries, licorice wands, and other candies.

"You do this every year, don't you ever think about how unhealthy it is?" asked Hermione, eyeing Harry's sweets disapprovingly once he had returned.

"Come on, relax Hermione; even you said so yourself. He only does it once a year, let him think of it as a treat," said Neville, who must have finally learned to stand up to others during his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Oh alright," said Hermione grudgingly. Harry tore open a chocolate frog wrapper and began to eat it.

After that, the four of them played many a game of exploding snap and wizard chess. It was quite fun.

N.E.X.T. came into view almost too soon, and Harry was reluctant to allow the fun they had been having come to an end. He peered out the window after telling himself sternly something would have put it to an end anyways and the thoughts were chased out of his head almost at once. N.E.X.T. was large an magnificent, with many large towers that were round. A giant lake, enormous green house, and large flower bed could be seen dotting the entire area. Harry was sure there was more to it, but after much time craning his neck, he eventually gave up and settled back down into his seat.

A while after that, the subway came to a stop. Students with their backpacks and pets (owls, cats, toads, and a new addition this year, lizards) all clambered out of their subway box cars as the double doors automatically slid open.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all spared one last glance at each other before looking up at the large castle that loomed before them. As they began to slowly walk forward, Harry wondered what surprises and challenges would await them behind the large, wooden door that led to the castle.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry if it seemed a bit rushed in places, the original was much better, but somehow it didn't save properly and it was entirely deleted. If you have anything to comment on (criticism is welcome) then feel free to post it below.I try to post at least two chapters a week, but don't expect much on the holidays (like Christmas or Thanksgiving,) but otherwise I do try to keep to that amount. Again, thanks for reading this chapter, and I truly hope you enjoyed it.