Chapter 5: All Aboard

Harry woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and raring to go. He noticed Hedwig was back, sleeping quietly near the windowsill. He gently woke her up and moved her to her cage, before giving everything a double check. Then he headed down for a quick breakfast with the Weasley's. A few minutes later, he heard Mr. Weasley call out that the cars were finally here to pick them up. Herminone and Ron bickered about Crookshanks again, while Harry just walked quietly, not really seeing a place to speak. Harry found himself slowing down his pace to get even with Fred and George.

The twins looked as energetic as usual, psyched for their fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry never actually remembered hanging out with them much. He was always with Ron and Hermione. Maybe it was time to broaden his horizons. And "corrupt" his mind.

"Hows it going, Gred, Forge?" He said speaking up from beside them. The twins snickered and replied with their standard answer.

"No I'm Gred - And he's Forge." said the pair.

"Oops, my bad"

"We're just joking, - You had it right the first time!" said the twins with a hearty laugh.

"So ready for another year?" asked Harry.

"Of course, we already have everything planned out"

"And I'm guessing the OWLs aren't on your list?" questioned Harry.

"Not they're there - Just very low on the list"

"Are yous still planning to open that jokes shop?"

"Yep – Of Course"

"Great, live on the edge" said Harry, punching Fred on the shoulder.

"Spoken like a Maurader!" Harry pretended to look confused.

"Maurader?"

"Yep, they are our role models – the gods of pranks – the epitome of brilliance – the-"

"Sounds great and all, but who are they?" asked Harry innocently.

"No clue, but – we know their nicknames – Messers Moony, Padfoot – Prongs and Wormtail"

"Sounds like they knew how t-" but Harry was interrupted by Mr. Weasley calling for them to get into the car. Harry quickly complied, but sat over next to Ron and Hermione, since they called him over. He ride there was relatively uneventful. Once they got there, everything was quickly unloaded and the Weasley's, along with Harry and Hermione, found themselves waiting for the Hogwarts Express to be boarding ready.

Harry found everything to be the same as the previous time, once again. Just before leaving, Mr. Weasley called him over again and made him swear he wouldn't go searching for Sirius again. Harry made his promise, knowing that Sirius was going to come for him, or he was going to be given a fair trial, Pettigrew be darned.

And thus Harry boarded the Hogwarts express. He didn't really have much to say to Ron or Hermione this time around, as compared to before where he felt compelled to share the story of Sirius. It was better for their own good to be ignorant for now. Ron didn't tell off Ginny this time around, and the four ended up in a compartment with a sleeping Remus Lupin.

Harry sat their, dazed in his thoughts for a while. He pulled out his Advanced Defenses And Dualing Tactics book and pretended to read while he gave somethings some consideration. The dementors were going to come again, and Harry doubted that they choose to skip this cabin this time around. He couldn't perform his fully corporal patronus with everybody present, it would raise many questions, of which he didn't have a sufficient basis to lie.

Last time around, Harry had fainted almost as soon as the dementor had stepped into the cabin, right before Remus had cast his patronus. Harry deftly constructed mental barriers, preparing to fend off the dementor. It would only affect him worse this time around, and unless he had sufficient defenses, he wouldn't last ten seconds.

"Harry!" came Hermione's eager voice, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Yes?" Harry answered. Hermione had probably been calling him for a bit, not taking too keenly to being ignored. She looked concerned as did Ron. Ginny was just staring at him.

"Are you alright? You've been really quite lately."

"Well... I just found this book pretty interesting, and I've been thinking about things I've read over the summer..."

"Oh no, Harry! Are you alright! You actually read a book, FOR PLEASURE!" exclaimed Ron

Harry chuckled while Hermione began to lecture Ron on the benefits of being an educated individual. Ron just sighed.

"Next he'll be telling me he dropped Divination for something like Ancient Runes or Arithmacy..."

Harry merely smiled meekly, "Well actually Ron..."

Ron instantly went wide eyed, "No... Harry you didn't..."

Ginny and Herminoe broke out laughing as did Harry. Harry almost could have sworn he saw a smile on Remus' face. But then entered Harry's belevoed guest, Malfoy and his cronies.

"Well well well, look who it is. The Potty and the Weasels."

"Well hello to you too Malfoy"

"See you got yourself a g- Who is that?" Malfoy suddenly took notice of the compartments fifth member.

"The new Pofessor" Harry answered cooly. Draco knew better than to pick a fight under a professor's nose, so he quickly made a U-turn, and headed back down the hall. *

"Well I'm glad he's gone" whispered Ginny.

"Second that" replied Hermione.

Then train came to an abrupt stop. Harry instantly went into high alert mode. Ron began to complain about not making it to feast in time, when the lights suddenly went out. The temperature seemed to drop. Strike that, it actually did drop. Fog formed on the windows. Harry saw an outline of Neville's face, who must have entered sometime. Remus was finally up and told them to stay put, as he went into the corridor to make sure everything was okay. Harry simply pulled out his wand and gripped it tightly.

Suddenly, frost began to creep up on the window, and the temperature plummeted below freezing. The shadow of a dementor was easily visible, even through the darkness. Its frail fingers closed around the screen, as it slid the shutter open. The monster drifted inwards. Harry began to hear screaming, and the dying voices of his closes friends. Ron and Hermione seemed very shaken, while Ginny looked petrified.

Harry took a deep breath and tried to hold on longer. Ron was now muttering something, while Hermione seemed to shrink back into her seat. Ginny had now passed out, considering her memories of the year prior. Harry began to feel dizzy, and his heart was plunged in agony. It took all his willpower not to cast the protronus, not unless it tried to administer a kiss.

Then, as a wave of relief, Remus' patronus slammed into the dementor. Harry gasped for air, as relief took over him. But it seemed as if his body couldn't handle the amount of pressure it had been through. Reliving 25 years of horrid experiences was not a task for a 13 year old's body. Harry found himself woozy, as his eye lids shut and he passed out right where he was sitting.

Footnotes:

(1) This scene was virtually unedited from the book, just thought I might note that. So far my story hasn't diverged too much, but it will once they make it to Hogwarts. Excuse me if it feels like I'm rushing through these chapters, I just want to get to the fun part!