Hey everyone. Sorry for the lengthy hiatus; I had a lot going on in school in addition to a huge family crisis. But enough with the excuses, here's a nearly nine-thousand word chapter to make up for it.
Disclaimer: Portions of this chapter are directly derived from chapters two, three, four, and five of Prisoner of Azkaban and chapter seven of Half-Blood Prince.
Chapter 5: Undo It
Harry had been looking forward to this night all week: the last night of Aunt Marge's visit. All week he had survived by reviewing the Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare Hermione had given him for his birthday to drown her out and keep his emotions—and magic—under control. He really didn't know how Dawn managed to keep her emotions in check, other than crying herself to sleep at night.
"Yes, I'll have a spot more brandy Vernon," Aunt Marge said to her brother. That night all the adults had been drinking rather heavily, though Harry noted that Marge, despite her best efforts, had yet to see the bottom of her glass. Aunt Marge must have noticed the slightest of smirks on his face and addressed him. "Don't you smirk at me! I might just have to get out my cane and end your holiday properly."
He might have been afraid if he felt that she could stand up on her own volition, but that was clearly not the case tonight. "It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm not saying anything against your family, Petunia," she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovel-like one, "but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a good-for-nothing and here's the results right in front of us."
Grasp your broom handle firmly by the tail. "Now this one," she began pointing at Harry like he was one of her pit bulls in a cage. "He's just not right in the head. You can't blame yourselves for that." Then you…Harry was at a loss for what the next step of the Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers. "He's got that mean, runty look about him. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Nasty. Underbred."
Suddenly, everything he had learned about broomcare was out of his head. Grasping for something to drone out Aunt Marge, Harry looked to Dawn, who was seated next to him. She hid her face behind her long black hair, a feeble attempt to keep Aunt Marge out. "At least this one has some promise," she said, turning her full, undivided attention to Dawn. "She might not have a brain in her body, but she has such a pretty face." She then reached out and tugged on Dawn's chin, with all the subtlety of a dog breeder, to turn her head so their eyes met.
"Dearie, I'm going to give you some advice in life so you don't end up like your brother over there." Her faux-sweat tone made both children cringe. It seemed even Dudley was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Keep your face clean, but don't worry about your breasts, you can always fix those." Dawn tried to shake her head out of Aunt Marge's grip but she was surprisingly strong. "And don't just throw yourself at every boy that comes calling. Find a rich one and do everything he tells you, but don't let him find out that you're a worthless mooch."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Aunt Marge's advice was just complete lunacy. "My sister is not going to be a slag!" he hollered, surprised that he had said those words aloud. It was too late to stop her from hurting his sister, as the tears were already pouring down Dawn's face and she was doing everything in her power to keep from uncontrollably sobbing. He clenched his fists reflexively and considered pulling out his wand.
"MORE BRANDY!" yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone white. Even he was a little shocked at the advice his sister had just doled out to an eleven year-old girl and emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge's glass to try and keep her quiet. "You two, go to bed!" he hissed to Dawn and Harry.
Aunt Marge finally let go of Dawn's face to return her attention to Harry. "You are an insolent, ungrateful little twit. Your parents died in a car crash and left you both to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives. The least you could do is let me help your sister so she doesn't turn out like you." Harry's knuckles were whiter than Uncle Vernon's face and all he wanted to do was hurt this monster as much as she had just hurt his sister.
Aunt Marge opened her mouth again to continue her tirade. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger; but the swelling didn't stop. Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech. Harry ducked as the buttons began bursting off her blouse and flew towards the wall behind him like a bullet. She continued inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of its elastic waistband.
"MARGE!" yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia together as Aunt Marge's whole body, now entirely round, began to rise off her chair toward the ceiling. Uncle Vernon attempted to pull her down by her feet, but he was almost lifted off the floor himself.
Harry took this opportunity to run. While everyone else, including his sister, was staring at the spectacle, he ran towards his former home in the cupboard under the stairs. He was slightly surprised when the door opened magically, but he heaved his trunk to the front door. He then sprinted up the steps to grab his pillowcase full of school supplies and books, along with Hedwig's empty cage, and dashed back downstairs to the trunk.
"COME BACK IN HERE," Uncle Vernon bellowed, though his voice was hard to hear over the popping noises coming from Aunt Marge and Dawn's rather large sobs. "COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!"
Harry had enough though. He kicked open his trunk, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Uncle Vernon.
"No. Now, you let Dawn come out of the kitchen, and we'll be on our way."
"WHY YOU LITTLE BASTARD! SHE WAS RIGHT TO SAY THOSE THINGS!" Uncle Vernon began running as fast as his stubby legs would carry him, determined to force Harry to undo his accidental magic before beating him savagely.
Responding the only way he could think of, Harry grabbed his trunk and sprinted out the door, surprised by how quickly he was able to move while dragging all of his earthly belongings. When Uncle Vernon nearly caught him, Harry threw his wand in the air and said aloud the only spell he could think of.
"Lumos!" His wand tip began to glow and Uncle Vernon stopped in his tracks, terrified of what was going to happen next. Harry was scared out of his wits. Surely Uncle Vernon would realize that nothing was going to happen, not to mention that he was already in a real jam with the Ministry of Magic.
However, not even Harry expected a deafening BANG, and he threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light. To his delight, there was a triple-decker, violently purple bus standing between himself and his uncle. The gold lettering identified this as The Knight Bus.
"Boy, what did you do?" Uncle Vernon yelled. "Remove this idiotic force field now!" The conductor then stepped out of the bus, and apparently his equally purple outfit was visible to Uncle Vernon, as he then began yelling for this new presence to, "LET US SORT OUT OUR FAMILY BUSINESS!" but the conductor either could not hear him or ignored him and began talking loudly into the night.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere…"
"Diagon Alley! NOW!" Harry ran on board and the conductor shrugged as he levitated the trunk into the bus and it zoomed away from the horrible life he hoped to never return to.
"Ain choo a rude one," the conductor muttered. "Didn't even let me finish."
"You caught me at a bad time," Harry admitted. "My uncle was trying to kill me. You can finish now."
The conductor nodded. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening." He once again slipped into his ordinary tone of voice. "Choo say you 'anted to go to Diagon Alley?" Harry nodded. "Eleven Sickles, but for thirteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot-water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice."
Harry nodded again and handed over thirteen sickles. Stan apparently wanted further small talk, but all Harry wanted to do was arrive at the Leaky Cauldron, contact Dumbledore, and get him to take Dawn away from the Dursleys so she wouldn't face his punishment alone. He shuddered at the thought. Stan decided to leave Harry alone after a few moments of silence. He knew that he would be expelled from Hogwarts for inflating Aunt Marge, but he figured that Dumbledore would be willing help a former pupil.
Eventually, Ernie the conductor slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby-looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay the magical entrance to Diagon Alley. Harry was horrified to find Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic himself, on the other side of the doorway
"Uh oh," Harry muttered to himself.
"There you are Harry. Care to have a little chat about tonight?" The portly little man in a long, pinstriped cloak looked cold and exhausted.
Fudge marched Harry along the narrow passage after Tom's lantern, and then into a small parlour. Tom clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate, and he bowed himself out of the room.
"Sit down, Harry," said Fudge, indicating a chair by the fire.
Harry sat down, feeling goose bumps rising up his arms despite the glow of the fire. Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down opposite Harry. "I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The Minister for Magic."
Harry already knew this, of course; he had seen Fudge once before, but as he had been wearing his father's Invisibility Cloak at the time, Fudge wasn't to know that.
Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea and crumpets. He placed the tray on a table between Fudge and Harry and left the parlour, closing the door behind him.
"I'm sure you know why I'm here."
"Look, I didn't mean to do it!" Harry exclaimed.
"You didn't mean to run away? You gave us a rightful scare. We thought that you…" his voice trailed off. "But you're safe, and that's all that matters."
"No, I meant to run away," Harry reluctantly admitted. Fudge didn't chuckle. "I didn't mean…you know, the other stuff."
"Eat Harry, you look dead on your feet. Now then…you will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing-up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Department were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss Dursley has been punctured and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. So that's that, and no harm done."
"How's Dawn?" Harry asked.
"She's fine, considering the circumstances, although she was quite shaken up," admitted Fudge. "We made an arrangement with your relatives to temporarily place you into our custody as long as they took you back next summer."
"Great," said Harry sarcastically. "So, where are you putting me? The Burrow?"
"No, the Weasleys are away. I thought you should rent a room here at the Leaky Cauldron for the last two weeks of your holiday."
"My holiday? As in I'm not expelled?"
Fudge nodded hesitantly. "Why would you be expelled?"
"The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry!"
"Are you talking about flagging down the Knight Bus? Perhaps the use of the Lumos Charm was a bit much, but I still believe that it was perfectly within the limits of the Decree." His face somewhat contradicted the last sentiment, but Harry didn't care so long as he would be on the Hogwarts Express in two weeks.
"What about all the other stuff?"
"What other stuff?"
"The accidental magic? The 'unfortunate blowing-up?'"
"That?" Fudge chuckled slightly. "We don't punish underage witches and wizards for accidental magic, especially before they enter Hogwarts."
"I beg your pardon, but you do realize that I'm going into my third year at Hogwarts" He couldn't understand why Fudge was so intent on not punishing him?
"Yes, you are," Fudge said warily, not sure of why Harry was pointing out the obvious.
"So, I should be punished for my actions."
"Your actions? You don't have to protect your sister. I just told you that we do not intend on punishing her."
"Wait…my sister? You mean she was the one who inflated Aunt Marge like a balloon?" Suddenly, everything made sense to Harry. Dawn was sobbing because she was the one who couldn't control her magic, not because of what Aunt Marge said. When she was at her most vulnerable, he had abandoned her. "Where is she? I need to see her!"
Fudge seemed surprised at his outburst. "She is safe with a friend of the Weasleys. You are to stay here and not go looking for her, am I clear?"
"No! I need to see her!" Harry jerked up and reached for the door but it shut as soon as he was on his feet.
"Harry, she is safe. You'll see her in less than two weeks when the Weasleys return. If you stray away from Diagon Alley or venture into Muggle London, I may have to re-examine your use of magic this summer. Perhaps see if the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy was violated."
"You wouldn't," Harry said as he turned around to face Fudge again.
"I won't if you behave. Now, room eleven's free, Harry," said Fudge. "I think you'll be very comfortable. Tom will show you the way."
Harry begrudgingly followed Tom up a handsome wooden staircase to a door with a brass number eleven on it, which Tom unlocked and opened for him.
Inside was a very comfortable-looking bed, some highly polished oak furniture, a cheerfully crackling fire and, perched on top of the wardrobe sat his snowy owl.
"Hedwig!" Harry gasped. He opened his trunk and pulled out some parchment and ink. He quickly wrote a note to Dawn.
"Dear Dawn, I'm sorry I had to run away like that. I didn't realize that the incident was your doing. If I had known, I would have stayed to comfort you. The Minister for Magic says that I'll be able to see you in less than two weeks, and I promise I'll make it up to you. Again, I'm really sorry. Love, your stupid brother Harry."
He quickly attached the note to Hedwig's leg. "I don't know where she is, but find Dawn and give this to her." She hooted and flew off to attempt to fix his worst mistake yet.
..::..
Despite having the most freedom he had ever had in his life, Harry was decisively unhappy about his situation. He had received no response from Dawn, who had angrily sent Hedwig back empty-handed, nor had he seen any sign of her or the Weasleys in two weeks. He also felt like there were people trailing him around to prevent him from straying into Muggle London or trying to find his sister, though so far he had yet to see the same person following him twice.
With one day left before he had to return to school, Harry resigned himself to the fact that he would not see Hermione, Ron, or Dawn until the Hogwarts Express left. With this attitude, he sat at Fortescue's, graciously accepting ice cream every hour as his only way of marking the time.
About halfway through his third bowl of chocolate, Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. As talking to strangers about his celebrity had been a constant for the last two weeks, Harry turned around slowly, only to find himself face to face with Ron. "I thought that was you mate. How've you been?"
"Great!" Harry said dumbstruck, hugging Ron. "I didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow."
"Well, we just got back from Egypt yesterday," Ron admitted sheepishly. "I've actually been looking for you up and down the Alley all day."
"Where's your family?"
"Oh, they're off shopping for supplies. Books, robes, and the like…" his voice trailed off.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'what?'"
"You're keeping something from me. Out with it!"
"Well, Dawn's with my mum and dad shopping for robes right now…"
"Then let's go find your family!"
Harry jumped to his feet and tried to walk away from the ice cream parlour, but found his arm firmly in someone's grasp. "She's still mad at you. I mean, is it true that you ran away when she blew up your aunt?" Harry turned to see that Hermione had not only joined their conversation but was currently the one restraining him.
"That foul woman is not my aunt. And I did run away, but I only did it because I thought I did it and I thought I would be expelled."
"Seriously?" asked Hermione. "Why would you just run?"
"I needed to get away from there. I tried to take Dawn with me."
"She doesn't care about what you tried to do, she cares about what you did," Hermione admonished. "She's really upset that the big brother who's promised to be there for her every stop of the way at Hogwarts abandoned her when she needed him most."
"I know that!" he shouted. "That's all I could think about for the past two weeks!"
"That's all she could think about too!" Hermione responded.
"Stop it you two!" Ron yelled. "Listen, if you want to talk to your sister, go for it, but she's really pissed off."
"Don't you think I know that!" Harry screamed as he ran towards Madam Malkin's. The normally curious crowd that assembled around Harry gaped in wonder at the screaming boy followed by his two friends.
Harry burst through the shop doors at top speed, not noticing whom he nearly knocked over. Just as Ron said, Dawn was standing on a platform while Madam Malkin's tape measures where flying around her body. Harry's caught a glimpse of Dawn's bright blue eyes in the mirror for a moment before they darted to the ground.
"Dawn! I'm so sorry for everything!" He expected some sort of response from his sister, however he was met with silence. "Don't you have anything to say?"
"No."
..::..
Although Harry had promised to be a good older brother and allow Dawn to sit in his compartment on the Hogwarts Express every time the subject had been breached for the past two years, when the big day finally came, Dawn had run off with Ginny the first chance she got. She was apparently still upset with him, given that any message she wished to communicate in his presence was filtered through Ginny, although he wasn't sure whether anger or sadness was to blame.
Other than that, the rest of the trip seemed relatively normal, until the train suddenly came to a stop, hours away from the castle. Without warning, the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
"What's going on?" said Ron's voice from behind Harry.
"Ouch," gasped Hermione. "Ron that was my foot."
Harry felt his way back to his seat.
"D'you think we've broken down?"
"Dunno…"
There was a squeaking sound, and Harry saw the dim outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out.
"There's something moving out there," Ron said. "I think people are coming aboard."
The compartment door suddenly opened and someone fell painfully over Harry's legs.
"Sorry! D'you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry…"
"Hello Neville," said Harry, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak.
"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. Harry felt her pass him, heard the door slide open again, but then a thud and three loud squeals of pain.
"Who's that?" three female voices asked at once.
"Ginny? Dawn?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, groping around in the dark until he found his sister and pulled her into the seat next to him. Instinctively she grabbed onto her brother in fear, though she quickly remembered her anger and released him.
"Where's Professor…" Dawn began.
"What's going on here?" Ginny asked.
"We don't know! Just sit down."
"Quiet!" yelled a hoarse voice suddenly.
Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. Harry could hear movements in his corner. None of them spoke.
There was a soft crackling noise and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired grey face, but his eyes looked alert and wary.
"Professor Lupin! Thank goodness I found…" Dawn began again, strangely recognizing their new Defence professor.
"Stay where you are," he interrupted, in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him.
But the door slid slowly before Lupin could reach it.
Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downwards and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water…
It turned its gaze around the room, though he seemed to linger on Harry. It took a step forward and the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest, and he felt Dawn clenching up beside him, once more grabbing onto him for dear life.
From far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was. He fought off a thick, pale green fog swirling around him for long enough to see the hand reach out towards Dawn. Professor Lupin was yelling at the creature, though he couldn't hear the words or see the spell that he cast. Suddenly, the glowing stopped, but Harry gave into the fog and collapsed.
..::..
"Hey Dawn, wait up!" Harry called down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express. Although he and Dawn were, surprisingly, currently on good terms, she had still rushed onto the train ahead of him. Since Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all had to begin the journey in the Prefect's Compartment, he hoped to sit in a compartment with her, although her eagerness to run ahead of him was forcing him to revaluate these plans.
After stumbling through the corridor, tripping over smaller children that seemed to magically lose their ability to walk, blink, or even move their head slightly in his presence, Harry found a compartment where two students were snogging. Normally, he wouldn't care, but scaring away two kissing teenagers would probably be the only way he could find an empty compartment.
"Hey you two!" Harry exclaimed as he burst through the door. The two figures quickly separated themselves, and Harry was horrified to find that the rouging faces belonged to none other than Dawn and Colin. "I've been looking for you everywhere," he added on desperately to salvage the moment.
"I'll bet," Dawn grumbled, repeatedly rubbing the creases out of her skirt.
"Uh, Colin, how was the rest of your summer?" he attempted to ask cordially.
"Great," he answered enthusiastically. "How was yours?"
"Good," Harry responded, sitting down across from the couple. What followed would have been an awkward silence, had Anyanka not decided to fill it by squawking. "Take any good pictures?" he tried to ask cordially.
"Of course!" he responded eagerly, reaching into his bag to pull out a stack of photos. "These were taken on my family's trip to…"
"Knock it off Harry," Dawn interrupted.
"Knock what off?" Harry asked, genuinely confused.
"Listen, we both know you're only in here to keep us from snogging."
"How have I been keeping you from snogging? Go ahead if you want to, I don't care," Harry retorted.
"Fine then," Dawn said as she put her hand on Colin's chin and forced him to kiss her. However, Colin's eyes never left Harry, carefully examining his demeanour, and though it did not change, he still hastily broke away.
"Stop intimidating him!" Dawn yelled.
"How am I intimidating him?" Harry snorted. "With kindness?"
"I hate you!" she screamed as she grabbed her trunk and stormed out of the compartment.
"Sorry," Colin muttered as he picked up his belongings.
"Happens more often than you think," Harry responded bleakly.
..::..
"I never thought we'd find an empty compartment again," Dawn said slyly as she sat down in blissful silence.
Colin put his trunk down beside hers and sat down next to her. "Me neither. I assumed your brother would kill me on sight. He seemed really cool with everything though."
Dawn smirked and leaned in to kiss him. Their lips were only locked for mere seconds, or at least what seemed like seconds, before Ginny burst into their compartment. "Oh, uh, um," she stammered while Dawn and Colin separated while red spread to their faces and ears. "Sorry to interrupt. But John Andrews isn't on the train."
"We knew that, didn't we?" Dawn asked. "His dad told us when we went to Diagon Alley?"
"Yeah, but we didn't know he was named prefect," Ginny admitted, holding up the badge.
"Oh, so does that mean the position is vacant?" Dawn asked hesitantly, realizing that Ginny must have come in their compartment to say…
"No, it's Colin. Congratulations!" Ginny exclaimed as she tossed the badge to him.
"Me? There must be some mistake," he questioned as he fumbled with the badge.
"No mistake. Professor McGonagall specifically said that you were to take the vacant post. Now get your trunk! We have to go to the prefect's carriage and sit through the most boring two hours of our lives."
Colin nodded and gave Dawn a quick peck. "Don't worry, they'll be plenty of time after the meetings over." Then he grabbed his trunk and the two newest prefects rushed out to run down to the prefect's carriage.
"So much for finding an empty compartment," Dawn mumbled. She picked up the Daily Prophet, which she found much less enjoyable now that they had stopped being critical of Harry, and read through it in boredom, the silence occasionally interrupted by Anyanka's light screeches. She didn't dare leave though out of fear that she might bump into Harry.
"Excuse me?" a quiet voice asked, interrupting her silence. Dawn peered over the newspaper to see a young first year girl opening the door to her compartment. "Can my friend and I sit in here with you?" she asked nervously.
"Only under one condition," Dawn responded with a reassuring smile.
"What?" the girl asked panicked.
"You have to tell me your name," she smirked, sliding over to give more room to the two girls, who both muttered a quick thank you.
"My name is Sally," the first girl said. She had short blond curls and wore pink jeans that Dawn would have killed to own at that age, when all she owned were Harry and Dudley's old trousers.
"And my name is Danielle," the other said. She had longer brunette hair and had already changed into her school robes.
"Well, I'm Dawn. Pleased to meet you," she offered cordially before returning to her paper. The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at her while she read. "Are you okay?"
"Can we ask you some questions?" Sally asked.
"Um, sure."
"What year are you?" Sally asked quickly.
"What house are you?" Danielle asked even faster, the words barely more than a jumble.
"Are your parents wizards?"
"Where's Harry Potter?" That one was met with an internal groan.
"What magic can you do?"
"What magic will we do?"
"Are the professors nice?"
"Do you know Harry Potter?" Dear god, was there no limit to his fan-club?
"Do we really have to use a quill?"
"Why are the people in that newspaper moving?"
"Do people…"
"Slow down!" Dawn said with a laugh. "Are you both muggle-born witches?" They nodded. "Well, I'll answer all of your questions if you don't ask them that fast again. I'm a fourth year Gryffindor, I can do a fair bit of magic, and I do use a quill for everything. It takes getting used to. Nearly all of the professors are nice, and I think you have nothing to worry about."
"Can you do a spell for us?" Sally asked.
Dawn nodded as she pulled out her wand. "Wingardium leviosa." On cue, one of the trunks began to hover slowly above the rack. The girls looked on in amazement.
"Woah!" both girls said in awe.
"You'll be able to do that too by the end of the year," she said as pocketed her wand.
"Do you know Harry Potter?" Danielle asked again, apparently unhappy with how Dawn purposely ignored that question.
"I do know him fairly well," Dawn admitted.
"What's he like?" she asked.
"He's a descent older brother."
"That's so cool!" Danielle exclaimed.
"Yeah, pretty cool," Dawn mumbled.
"So, your parents are wizards?" Sally asked disappointingly.
"Were. They're dead. I grew up with my muggle aunt and uncle," replied Dawn warily.
"Oh, so you're like us," Sally said with relief.
"Well, yes, I didn't grow up knowing I was a witch, but that doesn't make a difference."
"That's not what some boy said," Danielle revealed with a frown.
"What? Who…" Dawn began, but she was interrupted by gentle knocks on the door.
"Hey Dawn. I thought I'd find you here," Cassie said in her usual upbeat manner. The two girls hugged briefly before sitting down next to each other. "How was your summer?"
"Fine," Dawn said.
"How did Harry piss you off this time?"
Dawn couldn't stifle a chuckle. "How'd you know?"
"Don't change the subject," she lightly admonished.
"Nothing he hasn't done before, but I'm not exactly mad."
"Who are your new friends?" she asked.
"Oh, these are Sally and Danielle. They're first years."
"Hi, I'm Cassie. I'm also in Gryffindor. You'll love it!" The two girls nodded along. "And you'll be great witches."
"Thanks," they mumbled under their breath.
"It's true. Don't listen to what those older Slytherins say," she insisted.
The girls looked up quizzically. "How'd you know?" Danielle asked.
"I overheard them saying those things about Muggle-borns. Don't let it bother you. Blood is nothing. Dawn's boyfriend Colin is a Muggle-born and he's a Prefect this year. Hermione is another friend of Dawn and she's a sixth year prefect Muggle-born. My father's a Muggle-born and he's high up in the Ministry of Magic. Don't buy into the nonsense."
"Really?" Sally asked.
"Really. Hermione is the top of her class and she's probably going to be head girl too," Dawn said, looking over at Cassie for reassurance. She was nodding hesitantly, though her eyes darted to the floor.
"Just study hard. You'll need to learn a lot this year. So will you Dawn."
"Huh?"
"Well, we're going to have a tough time in Defence this year, since we have O.W.L.s at the end of next year and we're more than a term behind. Potions might be a little more challenging too this term."
Dawn nodded absentmindedly. The two girls had quickly zoned out and were having their own conversation about cute boys they saw on the train. "Did you want to go back to your compartment?"
"Oh, no. I'd rather protect these two from prejudices. We won't be able to for long."
"They haven't been in our world for an hour and they already feel like they're inferior."
"It's not going to get any better. Especially with You-Know-Who on the loose. People are already starting to run."
"So you heard about John Andrews already?" Dawn asked.
"Something like that. Better than ending up like Bones or Vance though. My dad's going to be leaving for America soon."
"Why?"
"If You-Know-Who wants to take over Wizarding Society, the first place he'll go is the Ministry. By that point, Muggle-borns won't be able to leave the country even if they wanted to."
"Is that what he did the last time?" Dawn asked. Cassie was better versed in History due to her upbringing and Dawn was never really awake during Professor Binns' lectures anyway.
"Something like that," she cryptically repeated. Dawn went back to the Prophet for a few minutes, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Cassie was hiding something from her. She thought about probing for more answers, but the food trolley came by and Cassie insisted that they show the two girls Wizarding Candy.
..::..
A few hours later, the newest Gryffindor prefects returned from a presumably long and boring meeting. Ginny and Colin plopped down on either side of Dawn in exhaustion. "So how was it?"
"Long and boring," Ginny moaned.
"Followed by an agonizing patrol on the train," Colin continued, his usual excited demeanour diminished by his experiences. He pulled out a Fanged Frisbee from his pocket. "Got this for you though," he said as he handed the forbidden product to Dawn.
"What is that?" Sally asked.
"A Fanged Frisbee. Who are you?" Colin asked.
"Oh, sorry. Colin and Ginny, these are Sally and Danielle. They're Muggle-born first-years and they came in right after you left," Dawn explained.
"I thought those weren't allowed," Danielle wondered aloud.
"I won't tell if you won't," Colin shrugged.
"I'm so proud of my prefect," Dawn joked.
"So, what house do you want to be in?" Ginny asked the two girls.
"Gryffindor," they both answered at the same time.
"Why?" Dawn asked.
"You're all so nice," Sally said.
"Of course we are, but there's nice people in every house," Colin insisted.
"Yeah, but you're the prefects and all," Danielle explained.
"All the prefects are nice. Some are just less brave," Ginny said with a laugh.
"You'll love the tower," Cassie said from out of nowhere, looking up from the Prophet for the first time since Ginny and Colin returned. Dawn raised an eyebrow at her friend's blind reassurance, but Cassie resumed her reading.
Before their conversation could continue, Zacharias Smith barged into their compartment with purpose. "Oh sorry Ginny, didn't think I'd find you in a compartment full of Mudbloods. I guess I should've expected it though."
"Watch your language Smith," Ginny chided, pointing herself toward him in a way that showed off the Prefect badge. Colin took notice of this and shifted himself similarly.
"What, can't a guy just point out the truth?" he asked, taking a seat between Cassie and Sally. "Looking for a boyfriend in this compartment then?" He awkwardly reached up and wrapped his arms around the two girls.
"Very funny," she said, sliding away from him. Sally attempted to do the same but was unable to push him away.
"What, I'm just saying that there's some cute boys in this compartment. At least there are now that I'm here," he chuckled to himself.
"Do you have a reason to be here?" Dawn asked him.
"As a matter of fact I do. I just wanted to hear about what happened at the end of last semester." He glared at Ginny, making her shift uncomfortably beneath his gaze.
"It was all in the Prophet," she said through gritted teeth.
"We all know there's more to the story than that."
"I don't think that part of the story is any of your business. Besides, we shouldn't be talking about such things in front of the first-years."
"They don't care. They don't know anything anyway seeing as they're just stupid Mudbloods."
"Get out!" Dawn screamed. The two young girls in their compartment hung their heads low, losing faith in everything they had just been told. "They're a smarter lot than you!"
He got up out of his seat and began to walk up to Dawn with his wand drawn. "I have every right to be here, you little bi…"
"Chiroptera!" Ginny yelled, hexing him with a bit of magic that Dawn recognized. Instantly, Zacharias buckled over and began vomiting bats, with others flying out of his nose. He ran out the door and tried to stumble towards the toilet, though he leaked bat bits over the floor.
Dawn began to laugh at the predicament, but the door to the compartment slid open as quickly as it had shut. "I'm sorry, but is one of you responsible for this?" asked an old, enormously fat wizard with a moustache that faintly reminded Dawn of a walrus. He was wiping bits of bat and vomit off his robes, though he didn't seem completely disgusted.
Ginny paled instantly, regretting her decision to hex him instead of following any of the protocol she had just been taught. "Professor Slughorn, I…"
"Sorry Professor, I got a little carried away," Dawn said, standing up to face her elder, apparently the new Defence professor. Ginny looked at Dawn questioningly, but let her continue. "He was saying nasty things and bothering Ginny, and I couldn't control my temper."
"That's really no excuse Miss…" he paused slightly
"Miss Potter, I agree Professor!" Ginny said, jumping to defend her friend. "Um, five points from Gryffindor." Dawn shot her friend a quick look, but bit her lip and returned her gaze to the Professor. "And detention." Dawn discretely stomped on Ginny's foot, attempting to tell her friend that enough was enough.
"Now, now, Miss Weasley, that's a little harsh. I daresay, she might have just set the record for fastest detention in school history."
"I can assure you, she didn't. My brothers once…"
"I'm sorry sir," Dawn said, cutting her off.
"Good. See to it that it won't happen again." His gaze shifted to Ginny, as though he knew the truth behind their story. "Now Miss Potter, I shall return your five points for one magnificent Bat-Bogey Hex, and I will allow you to serve your detention with me right now. Miss Weasley, you should join us in compartment C for lunch."
Dawn and Ginny exchanged a quick glance and shrugged their shoulders. "Yes Professor," they said in unison.
"Wonderful! Miss Potter, follow me into my compartment please." He began to walk away, though Dawn thought it more to resemble a waddle, but she nonetheless blew a quick kiss to Colin and waved goodbye to her compartment before running off to follow him.
Professor Slughorn led her all the way down to train to Compartment C, which she noted was a bit larger than most of the others, most likely the reason why he had picked it. "Now, I have a very important task for you. Can I trust you?"
"If it gets me out of a real detention you can," she said.
Unexpectedly, he let out a roaring laugh. "You are quite droll. What I would like you to do is deliver some invitations for me." He handed her a small stack of scrolls, each labelled and tied together by velvet ribbon. "There's one for Blaise Zabini, Cormac McLaggen, Marcus Belby, Neville Longbottom, and Harry Potter."
Dawn nodded along, but she couldn't resist rolling her eyes at the last name. Harry had warned her that this would happen, though the twinkle in Slughorn's eyes while saying the name was a little much to take. "Miss Potter, you are related to Harry I assume, yes? A cousin or the like?"
"He's my brother," she said with as little enthusiasm as possible, though the statement caused him to clap his hands in joy.
"Splendid! Then you shall return here after delivering the invitations for lunch. Now go on, you have precious cargo to deliver!" He practically shoved her out of the compartment and hastily shut the door behind her.
Looking over the list of names, Dawn decided to go from most annoying to least, then go back to find Harry and Neville to go to lunch with them. So, that meant that Zabini was first. She knocked on the door to a compartment with a large group of sixth-year Slytherins and was notably disappointed when Pansy Parkinson opened the door.
"Look, if it isn't the little Potty," she snickered. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for Zabini. Is he in here?"
"Tired of necking the mudblood?" she asked with a chuckle.
The dark-skinned boy suddenly appeared behind Pansy. "I'm flattered, but I don't associate with filth."
Dawn groaned and handed him the invitation. "I'm sorry, but apparently Professor Slughorn does, seeing as he wants you at his little lunch party." She attempted to turn and walk away, but she suddenly found a hand on her shoulder.
"Thought you could sneak off without giving my Draco his invitation?" Pansy chided. "I have half a mind to give you a detention. Now be a good little owl and hand it over."
She turned to face Pansy with a grin. "I don't have an invitation for him. Your Draco will have to take that up with the professor." Dawn had to suppress a laugh when Pansy flared her snout, though she managed to coolly walk away to deliver the next envelope.
Since she had never heard of Marcus Belby, she had to ask around for quite a bit until someone pointed her to a compartment full of Ravenclaw seventh years. "Excuse me, but is one of you Marcus Belby?"
A tall, thin looking boy stood up. "Yes, I am. Is something wrong?"
"No," Dawn replied, extending one of the scrolls to him. "I was told to give you this by Professor Slughorn."
"Who's he?"
"The new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor."
"How am I in trouble with a professor I don't even know yet?" Marcus asked, panic clear on his face.
"It's not about a punishment…" Dawn began, but she was interrupted by someone tapping on her shoulder and forcibly turning her around.
"Hello, Cormac McLaggen," a tall boy said, shoving his hand into Dawn's for an aggressive handshake. "Who might you be?" he asked, taking a minute to examine Dawn fully.
"I'm delivering invitations from Professor Slughorn…"
"Old Sluggy? Then surely you must have one for me. Big M-Little C-Big L-A…"
"McLaggen, yeah, here you go," she mumbled, shoving the invitation into his hands. She turned to leave, but once again she felt his arm on her shoulder.
"I'm afraid I didn't catch your name," he said smoothly.
"Didn't give it," Dawn replied, twisting her shoulder out of his grasp and walking out of the compartment.
"What can I call you?" he hollered after her.
"Try 'Taken!'" she yelled over her shoulder.
Thankfully, the last two invitations were for Harry and Neville, so she was able to quickly find them both in the same compartment with Luna, Ron, and Hermione.
"Dawn? What are you doing here?" Harry asked, admittedly surprised by to see her after what had happened earlier.
"I'm supposed to give you these," she said as she handed the invitations over to the last lunch invitees.
"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his.
"An invitation," Harry said as they both read the parchment.
"But what does he want me for?" Neville asked nervously, as though he was expecting detention.
"No idea," said Harry, which Dawn knew was a lie, since he had been the one to tell her about Slughorn. "Listen, let's go under the Invisibility Cloak, then we might get a good look at Malfoy on the way, see what he's up to."
"Malfoy's not up to anything," Dawn scoffed.
"How do you know?" Harry demanded in a hostile tone.
"I had to give Blaise Zabini an invitation and Pansy was all upset that I wasn't giving Malfoy one. She thought I was hiding it from him."
"What was he doing?" Harry again demanded in the same tone.
"Talking. Unless you want to try and sneak in there, you're not going to see anything interesting."
"Listen to your sister and let it go," Hermione said in agreement.
Harry grumbled something in agreement and led the way to compartment C, though Dawn noticed that he hurriedly shoved the cloak in his bag.
..::..
A few agonizing hours of slow torture later, the train finally arrived at Hogwarts. Although Ginny claimed that Dawn didn't miss anything during the few brief episodes during lunch when she had nodded off, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had neglected to notice something.
Nonetheless, the carriage rides were largely uneventful, despite Ginny awkwardly gaping at the empty space in front of the carriage as though something were there, and they found themselves in the Great Hall waiting for the sorting to start. Ginny and Colin were required to sit at the end of the table next to the empty seats that the first years would soon fill, so Dawn and Cassie sat there as well, far away from most of the conversation.
After everyone settled into their tables, Professor McGonagall escorted in the first-years and placed the familiar sorting hat on its stool. Colin reacted in the usual manner, camera in hand of course, while Dawn waved at the two excited girls in line, who were noticeably taken aback when the hat began its song.
Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin:
One of those I shall call when I look within.
For a thousand years ago this school became,
And evermore does it exude great fame.
If Hufflepuff I call,
Then friendship you value above all.
Perhaps you shall be in Ravenclaw
And be among those whose intelligence is no flaw.
Slytherin is what many wish to hear
Specifically those who hold cunning dear.
Last but not least is Gryffindor
Where the brave dwell and lions roar.
Perhaps you've heard something terrible
That might make your assignment unbearable.
But Slytherin is not immoral
Nor is Gryffindor deplorable.
In the coming dire times,
You will hear of many wrongdoings and crimes.
Those are wizards who haven't learned Hogwart's true lesson
So listen up and pay attention.
Today might mark the beginning of your education
But you should learn this axiom now and its application:
Together we stand, divided we fall.
For are we not wizards all?
"Pretty deep for an old rag," Ginny muttered as soon as the hat ceased its song. Similar comments were coming in full force from the Slytherin table at the other end of the hall, where everyone seemed to have ignored the hat's message and were up in arms about the comment that all wizards are equal.
After a menacing stare from Professor McGonagall, the hall quieted down and she began to call out names. Though there were a few familiar sounding last names that were sorted into Gryffindor, Dawn only celebrated half-heartedly, as she only really cared about the two girls she had met earlier.
"Sally Hannon," McGonagall called about halfway through the sorting. The blond eagerly walked up to the stool and the hat was put on her head. It shifted briefly but eventually announced "GRYFFINDOR!"
Dawn gave the loudest cheer from the table and the young girl excitedly sat next to her older friend, clearly relieved by the result. A little while later, "Danielle Mitchell" was called too and the brunette was also sorted into Gryffindor, much to Dawn and Sally's mutual delight. Danielle took a seat next to Cassie, who gave the young girl a knowing smile.
Several more students were called, and eventually the feast began, though it was quickly interrupted when the entire Hufflepuff table abruptly stood. "What's going on?" Ginny asked as she joined the majority of the hall. Dawn was quick to note that, in addition to her, the majority of the Slytherin table was also seated.
"Say Dawn, is that your brother?" Colin asked suddenly.
"Yep," Dawn responded without looking up from her pudding.
"How can you tell?"
"It's always him."
"What's that on his face?" a younger voice asked in disgust.
"Blood," she answered in the same tone. "It's always blood," she added on before the question was asked.
"There's a lot of it," Ginny noted as she sat. "Even for him."
Dawn took a glance to the other end of the table, where a gaggle of people, including Nearly-Headless Nick, was gathering around her brother. Someone must have quickly cleaned up his face, because it looked the same way it always did. "Nothing too serious if they didn't need Madam Pomfrey to fix it."
Colin looked like he was about to ask something, but Professor Dumbledore chose that moment to begin his usual speech, and when he finished, Colin and Ginny stood up to do their duties. While everyone else in the table cleared out, Dawn stayed behind to cheer on her closest friends.
"Hello everyone!" Colin exclaimed in his usual exuberant manner, which Dawn knew had to be a little forced at this point. "I'm Colin and this is Ginny. We're your fifth year Prefects!"
"Feel free to ask us any questions, but for right now we're going to show you up to the tower and give you the password to get in." They then turned to walk out of the Great Hall and expected everyone to follow. While Danielle went straight to the front of the line, Dawn decided to hang back and make sure none of the stragglers, including Sally, got lost.
"Why are you still here?" Sally asked her. "Is it really hard to find?"
Dawn laughed. "No, just here to cheer on my boyfriend. And maybe congratulate you on being sorted into the best house."
"Thanks. We couldn't have done it without you."
"It's no problem, but we had no influence over where you went. Only you did."
"I guess, but what your friend Cassie said really helped."
Dawn couldn't help but cock an eyebrow. "What exactly did she say?"
"She said that we were going to be in Gryffindor, that's all."
"Huh," Dawn mused. They continued to trudge along in silence, but as the group passed an empty lavatory, she heard some voices coming from it. "Listen, you follow the rest. I'm going to make sure no one in here is lost." Sally nodded and ran to catch up with the group as Dawn opened the door slowly.
"Do you have it?" a gruff, older male voice asked. Definitely not a lost first year, Dawn thought to herself. She kept the door open only a bit, just enough to hear the conversation discretely.
"Yeah, I have it," another male voice answered. It sounded familiar, but it was rather hoarse, so Dawn couldn't identify the speaker. "Do you have the gold?" Dawn could hear the jingle of coins. "You're not cheating me out of what you promised, are you?"
"Why would we cheat you Smith?" the first voice asked.
"No, I guess not. Such a silly trade to cheat me out of a few Galleons," Zacharias Smith responded. Dawn wanted to chuckle at his hoarseness, as it had to be a result of Ginny's hex, but she didn't want to divulge that she was eavesdropping. Besides, she was really curious as to what they were trading.
She heard the jingle of the coins again, presumably as the exchange was made, and the first voice told Zacharias, "The offer still stands, anytime. Now get to bed before we get caught."
Hearing that, Dawn ran away from the door and up the staircase before Smith or the mystery traders could catch her. She knew that whatever deal was going down in the lavatory, it was not something to take lightly.
..::..
Dawn quietly entered the dark dormitory room, careful to not wake her four other roommates. She really had no interest in talking to Romilda, Eloise, or Demelza, but she was curious to have a little conversation with Cassie, who slept in the bed next to hers.
Why had she practically promised the girls that they would get into Gryffindor repeatedly? Didn't she know how much of a letdown it would have been if they had been sorted into any other house? When everyone else in the compartment had tried to tell the girls that any of the houses is a good place to live (which wasn't technically lying, especially since they never brought up Slytherin), Cassie remained steadfast in reassuring the girls that they would be in Gryffindor.
Did she perhaps know that giving the girls confidence and reassurance would allow the hat to see their natural bravery?
Did she see the girls' bravery in standing up to those Slytherins that had picked on them?
Or did she truly know something they didn't?
So, lots of fun little tidbits in this chapter, along with what might be my favorite set of memories. I really wanted to get the characters to Hogwarts, and I promise that I have a very clear endgame, so nothing in this chapter is inconsequential.
Thanks to everyone for your feedback! I love hearing from you! Keep telling me what you like and don't like about this story.