Sup, this is the new chapter for Wizards and Mages. Sorry if I didn't update sooner since I have a terrible case of writer's block and homeworkities (Homework overload), please review and read my other story Soulless REWRITE. Anyways, extra credit to Sofia.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter. Please read Throne of Glass.
The Crazy Attack of the Invisible Car! Chapter 21
The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for Harry's liking. He was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but his month at the Burrow had been the happiest of his life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when he thought of the Dursleys and the sort of welcome he could expect next time he turned up on Privet Drive, for Natsu eh not so much (will get onto Natsu's scene later).
On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry's favorite things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding that Natsu mostly ate, thankfully there was more were that come from. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed.
It took a long while to get started next morning. They were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do.
Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car.
Harry couldn't see how eight people, six large trunks, two owls, and a rat were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. He had reckoned, of course, without the special features that Mr. Weasley had added.
"Not a word to Molly please, Harry. Its scary getting told off by her." he whispered to Harry as he opened the trunk and showed him how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.
When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"
Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Harry turning back for a last look at the house. He barely had time to wonder when he'd see it again when they were back George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary. By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high.
Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.
"Molly, dear -"
"No, Arthur -"
"No one would see - this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed - that'd get us up in the air - then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser -"
"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight -"
They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station. There they met Reese, Saphira and the others at King's Cross Station platform, he then remembered that Saphira wasn't at Diagon Alley Last time he saw them so were was she? He shrugged, reminding himself to ask her on the train.
Harry had caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. It didn't hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing.
"Percy first," said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.
Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr. Weasley went next; Fred and George followed. After Reese, Saphira, Loke, Lucy, Natsu and Gray who were not surprisingly fighting and stripping (well Gray was stripping) trailed behind leaving Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Gajeel behind.
"I'll take Ginny and you three come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told the three boys, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off. In the blink of an eye they were gone.
"Let's go altogether, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Harry and Gajeel.
Harry made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier. He felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. Both of them bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and
CRASH.
Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly. Gajeel's luckily stopped in the nick of time, helping the two fallen boys up as people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"
"Lost control of the trolley," Harry gasped, clutching his ribs as he 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. Pantherlily stayed by Gajeel's side just in case Hedwig's cage rolled over and crashed into him.
"Why can't we get through?" Harry hissed to Ron.
"I dunno -"
Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching them.
"We're going to miss the train," Gajeel stated. "I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself -"
Harry looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ten seconds ... nine seconds ...
He wheeled his trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier and pushed with all his 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?"
And they marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station and back onto the side road where the old Ford Anglia was parked. Gajeel widen his eyes.
"Oh no, I'm not going on that death trap!" He exclaimed, slightly backing away from the car but the two boys grabbed his hands and threw him into the car with Pantherlily right behind. He groaned out loud, he could've messaged Reese to Jump him over to Hogwarts but nope! "Can't we just send send something to them."
"That takes time, now shut up or else I'll add some turbulence on our way."
Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of taps from his wand. They heaved their 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. Harry stuck his head out of the window: Traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but their street was empty.
"I'm gonna (he heaves) kill you guys when we get there- blergh!" He threw up outside the window. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you only got sick when the vehicle was moving" he said. He shook his head weakly.
"Motion sickness is ruthless." He grumbled.
"The mighty and scary Gajeel was brought down to his seat by his motion sickness, how sad!" Ron mocked while Gajeel growled. Pantherlily stood up on both of his legs.
"I suggest that we move on, we don't want to arrive late to school. Not to mention the probability of getting expelled." Pantherlily said calmly, this surprised the two human boys but they shook it off since they were kind of use to it due to Happy. Weirdos.
"Okay." Ron said.
Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished - and so did they. Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, hear the engine, feel his hands on his knees and his glasses on his nose, but for all he could see, he 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 his right.
And 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 lay, smoky and glittering, below them.
Then there was a popping noise and the car, Harry, and Ron reappeared.
"Uh-oh," said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. "It's faulty -"
Both of them pummeled it. The car vanished. Then it flickered back again.
"Hold on!" Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; they shot straight into the low, woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy.
"Now what?" said Harry, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on them from all sides.
"We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," said Ron.
"Dip back down again - quickly -"
They dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted around in their seats, squinting at the ground.
"I can see it!" Harry yelled. "Right ahead - there!"
The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake.
Reese, Lucy, Loke, and the others were in a compartment, four of them were chatting, reading or taunting while the others who were dragon slayers were laying down sick. Happy was just snacking on his fish peacefully until someone slammed the door wide open making him jump in surprise along with his fish. It flew in the air and landed on the person's head which turned out to be Hermione, he started to cry out loud and went down on his knees dramatically.
"Nooo! My perfectly good fish is now ruined by a horrible person's bushy hair!" Hermione fumed.
"I'm sorry Happy but I am not horrible!" She then turned to Reese who was reading by the window, "Do you know where Harry and Ron are?"
Reese shook her head, "No but have you by any chance seen Gajeel? I would've expected him to be with Draco and his lackeys."
She also shook her head, "No, I just passed by his compartment and only saw him, Crabbe and Goyle." she looked at happy who was staring at the window, "I'm sorry happy about your fish but maybe I can get you some at school?" He didn't answer, "Happy?"
"Flying...car...Ron's...dad." He murmured out which confused everyone, she followed Happy's gaze and spotted the reason why, "Isn't that the Weasley's car?"
He turned to the window and saw an old Ford Anglia with two boys who were Harry and Ron driving it, then Gajeel's head popped up along with Pantherlily's.
"Holy Nightshade..." Lucy said as they saw the car zoom off in front of them.
Hermione ran to the window, "I hope they're safe."
Loke snorted, "They will be fine with Pantherlily with them."
Hermione looked confused, "But Gajeel is with them as well."
Lucy smirked, "I think your forgetting that Black Steel has motion sickness."
"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."
And they shot up through the clouds. A minute later, they burst out into a blaze of sunlight.
It was 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.
"All we've got to worry about now are airplanes," said Ron.
They looked at each other and started to laugh; for a long time, they couldn't stop.
It was as though they had been plunged into a fabulous dream. This, thought Harry, was 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 they landed smoothly and spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle.
They made regular checks on the train as they flew farther and farther north, each dip beneath the clouds showing them a different view. London was soon far behind them, replaced by neat green fields that gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, a great city alive with cars like multicolored ants, villages with tiny toy churches.
Several uneventful hours later, however, Harry had to admit that some of the fun was wearing off. The toffees had made them extremely thirsty and they had nothing to drink. He and Ron had pulled off their sweaters, but Harry's T-shirt was sticking to the back of his seat and his glasses kept sliding down to the end of his sweaty nose. He had stopped noticing the fantastic cloud shapes now and was thinking longingly of the train miles below, where you could buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from a trolley pushed by a plump witch. Why hadn't they been able to get onto platform nine and three-quarters? Gajeel's groaning snapped them out of la la land.
"Can't be much further, can it?" croaked Ron, hours later still, as the sun started to sink into their floor of cloud, staining it a deep pink. "Ready for another check on the train?"
It was still right below them, 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 them upward again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine.
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances.
"It's probably just tired," said Ron. "It's never been this far before ...
And they both pretended not to notice the whining growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. Harry pulled his sweater back on, trying to ignore the way the windshield wipers were now waving feebly, as though in protest.
"Not far," said Ron, more to the car than to Harry, "not far now," and he patted the dashboard nervously. When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, they had to squint through the darkness for a landmark they knew.
"There!" Harry 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 said consolingly, giving the steering wheel a little shake, "nearly there, come on -" The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the hood. Harry found himself gripping the edges of his seat very hard as they flew toward the lake. The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his window, Harry 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. They 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.
The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall.
"Noooooo!" Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they 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
"STOP! STOP!" he yelled, whacking the dashboard and the windshield, but they were still plummeting, the ground flying up toward them
"WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!" Harry bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late.
CRUNCH.
With an earsplitting bang of metal on wood, they 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 Harry's head where he had hit the windshield; and to his right, Ron let out a low, despairing groan.
"Are you okay?" Harry said urgently.
"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. Gajeel slowly rose from his seat, rubbing the side of his head.
"Are we there yet?"
Harry opened his mouth to say something but was then interrupted when something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof.
"What's happen -?"
Ron gasped, staring through the windshield, and Harry looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every inch of the car it could reach.
"Aaargh!" said Ron 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
"Run for it!" Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second he had been knocked backward into Harry's 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!" Harry yelled, and the car shot backward; the tree was still trying to hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach.
"That," panted Ron, "was close. Well done, car -"
The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two sharp clunks, the doors flew open and Harry felt his seat tip sideways: Next thing he knew he was sprawled on the damp ground. Loud thuds told him that the car was ejecting their 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. Gajeel was rolling across the castle grounds and then stopped. Without a backward look, then, dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear lights blazing angrily.
"Come back!" Ron yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. "Dad'll kill me!"
But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust.
"Can you believe our luck?" said Ron miserably, bending down to pick up Scabbers. "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," said Harry wearily, "we'd better get up to the school..." Gajeel nodded
It wasn't at all the triumphant arrival they had pictured. Stiff, cold, and bruised, they seized the ends of their trunks and began dragging them up the grassy slope, toward the great oak front doors.
"I think the feast's already started," said Ron, dropping his trunk at the foot of the front steps and crossing quietly to look through a brightly lit window. "Hey - Harry, Gajeel- come and look - it's the Sorting!"
Harry hurried over and, together, he and Ron peered in at the Great Hall.
Innumerable candles were hovering in midair 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.
Through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, Harry saw a long line of scared-looking first years filling into the Hall. Ginny was among them, easily visible because of her vivid Weasley hair. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her hair in a tight bun, was placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers.
Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed, and dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin). Harry well remembered putting it on, exactly one year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its decision as it muttered aloud in his ear. For a few horrible seconds he had feared that the hat was going to put him in Slytherin, the house that had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other -but he had ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Last term, Harry and Ron had helped Gryffindor win the House Championship, beating Slytherin for the first time in seven years.
A very small, mousy-haired boy had been called forward to place the hat on his head. Harry's eyes wandered past him to where Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, sat watching the Sorting from the staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon glasses shining brightly in the candlelight. Several seats along, Harry saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine. Then there was Professor McGarden, Marvel and Strauss but where was Professor Scarlett. And there at the end was Hagrid, huge and hairy, drinking deeply from his goblet.
"Hang on. . . " Harry muttered to Ron. "There's an empty chair at the staff table ... Where's Snape and Scarlett?"
Professor Severus Snape was Harry's least favorite teacher. Harry also happened to be Snape's least favorite student. Cruel, sarcastic, and disliked by everybody except the students from his own house (Slytherin), Snape taught Potions. Professor Erza Scarlett was a Gryffindor teacher but was strict with everyone, she taught Summoning and had a weird obsession with strawberry cake. But they didn't care.
"Maybe he's ill!" Gajeel joked.
"Maybe he's left," said Harry, "because he missed out on the Defense Against Dark Arts job again!"
"Or he might have been sacked!" said Ron enthusiastically. "I mean, everyone hates him -"
Then Harry felt a firm hand on his shoulder and turned to see the deadly glare from Professor Scarlett. Erza was a red headed, well looking body with stern brown eyes wearing scarlet (a pun that was not intended) robes with her wand sticking out from one of her pockets. The glare that he, Ron and Gajeel received told him that they were in very deep trouble. Readers, let us pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Just joking, not about God and Jesus, carry on.
"Follow me," Erza commanded as they obeyed her orders.
Not daring even to look at each other, Harry, Gajeel and Ron followed Erza into the vast, echoing entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches. A delicious smell of food was wafting from the Great Hall, but she led them 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.
They entered Snape's office, shivering. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass) jars, in which floated all manner of revolting things Harry didn't really want to know the name of at the moment. The fireplace was dark and empty. Erza closed the door and turned to look at them, joining Snape who was sitting at his desk.
"So," he said softly, "the train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick Weasley. You just had to drag Redfox along didn't you to make him get in trouble as well. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we, boys?"
"No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it -"
"SLIENCE!" said Erza shouted as she banged her fist into his desk. "NOT HAVE YOU ONLY ASHAMED AND DISRESPECTED YOURSELVES AND THE SCHOOL WITH ITS RULES, YOU HAVE BEEN-"
"That's quite enough Erza," He said then gave the three boys a cold glare in his cold voice,"What have you done with the car?" Ron gulped.
This wasn't the first time Snape had given Harry the impression of being able to read minds. But a moment later, he understood, as Snape unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet. "You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline: FLY ING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES 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 Artifacts Office?" he said, looking up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. "Dear, dear ... his own son. . . " Harry felt as though he'd just been walloped in the stomach by one of the mad tree's larger branches. If anyone found out Mr. Weasley had bewitched the car ... he hadn't thought of that ... "I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Snape went on.
"That tree did more damage to us than we -" Ron blurted out.
"Silence!" snapped Snape 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 while Professor Scarlett will supervise you just in case that you will not be causing anymore mischief." Harry and Ron stared at each other, white-faced. He then left the room leaving three scared boys and one fuming teacher, she looked at Gajeel who tried to look away. Harry didn't feel hungry any more. He now felt extremely sick. He tried not to look at a large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a shelf behind Snape's desk. If Snape had gone to fetch Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, they were hardly any better off. She might be fairer than Snape, but she was still extremely strict.
Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough it was Professor McGonagall who accompanied him. Harry had seen Professor McGonagall angry on several occasions, but either he had forgotten just how thin her mouth could go, or he had never seen her this angry before. She raised her wand the moment she entered; Harry and Ron both flinched, but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, where flames suddenly erupted. Erza took her leave to feast on her delicious desert that was waiting for her.
"Sit," she said, and they both backed into chairs by the fire.
"Explain," she said, her glasses glinting ominously.
Gajeel launched into the story, starting with the barrier at the station refusing to let them through. Since the others were to afraid he decided that he should do it, plus they couldn't expel him since he was needed on this mission. The worst they could do to him was give him a beating from Mira, Erza, Makarov and Reese but she would never agree except from watching him suffer.
"-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? Or maybe send that exceed of yours who has seemed to run away." Professor McGonagall said coldly to Harry.
Harry gaped at her. Now she said it, that seemed the obvious thing to have done. Oh wait, Gajeel may have mentioned
"I - I didn't think -"
"That," said Professor McGonagall, "is obvious. But did any of you even thought of that suggestion?"
Gajeel gulped, "I did."
"And why didn't you stop them?"
He looked down, "I have a terrible case of motion sickness."
There was a knock on the office door and Snape, now looking happier than ever, opened it. There stood the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore.
Harry's whole body went numb. Dumbledore was looking unusually grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and Harry suddenly found himself wishing he and Ron were still being beaten up by the Whomping Willow. Gajeel just stared.
There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, "Please explain why you did this."
It would have been better if he had shouted. Harry hated the disappointment in his voice. For some reason, he was unable to look Dumbledore in the eyes, and spoke instead to his knees. He told Dumbledore everything except that Mr. Weasley owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though he, Gajeel and Ron had happened to find a flying car parked outside the station. He knew Dumbledore would see through this at once, but Dumbledore asked no questions about the car. When Harry had finished, he merely continued to peer at them through his spectacles.
"We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron in a hopeless sort of voice.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Professor McGonagall.
"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron.
Harry looked quickly at Dumbledore.
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon the three of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to 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." He gave Gajeel a hidden amused look.
Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled. He cleared his throat and said, "Professor Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree - surely acts of this nature -"
"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these boys' punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility but you do have the choice over Gajeel." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample., you can choose his punishment later-" Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry and Ron as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall, who was still eyeing them like a wrathful eagle.
"You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're bleeding."
"Not much," said Ron, 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 Professor McGonagall. "Your sister is also in Gryffindor."
"Oh, good," said Ron.
"And speaking of Gryffindor -" Professor McGonagall said sharply, but Harry cut in:
"Professor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so - so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points taken from it - should it?" he finished, watching her anxiously. Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but he was sure she had almost smiled. Her mouth looked less thin, anyway.
"I will not take any points from Gryffindor," she said, and Harry's heart lightened considerably. "But you will both get a detention." It was better than Harry had expected. As for Dumbledore's writing to the Dursleys, that was nothing. Harry knew perfectly well they'd just be disappointed that the Whomping Willow hadn't squashed him flat.
Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and pointed it at Snape's 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," said Harry, taking one, too.
"Can you believe our luck, though?" said Ron 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?"
Harry shrugged. "We'll have to watch our step from now on, though," he said, taking a grateful swig of pumpkin juice. "Wish we could've gone up to the feast..."
"She didn't want us showing off," said Ron sagely. "Doesn't want people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car. By the way I feel sorry for Gajeel, he has to deal with Snape."
When they had eaten as many sandwiches as they could (the plate kept refilling itself) they rose and left the office, treading the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the feast was over. They walked past muttering portraits and creaking suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until at last they 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 they approached.
"Er -" said Harry.
They didn't know the new year's password, not having met a Gryffindor prefect yet, but help came almost immediately; they heard hurrying feet behind them and turned to see Hermione dashing toward them.
"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors - someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!"
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured her.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Professor McGonagall.
"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password."
"It's wattle bird," said Hermione impatiently, "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. 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 them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble in after them. The only ones who were unimpressed were Hermione and Lucy, partly Saphira but she was busy reading a book.
"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "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 Harry had never spoken to; someone was patting him on the back as though he'd just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"
Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassingly, but Harry could see another 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 them off. Harry 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 them started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.
"Night," Harry called back to Hermione, who was wearing a scowl just like Percy's.
They managed to get to the other side of the common room, still having their backs slapped, and gained the peace of the staircase. They hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of their old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. They entered the familiar, circular room, with its five four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks had been brought up for them and stood at the ends of their beds.
Ron grinned guiltily at Harry.
"I know I shouldn't have enjoyed that or anything, but-"
The dormitory door flew open and in came the other second year Gryffindor boys, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Natsu Dragneel and Neville Longbottom.
"Unbelievable!" beamed Seamus.
"Cool," said Dean.
"Amazing," said Neville, awestruck.
"You guys are such trouble makers, and that's a compliement!" Natsu grinned while Ron laughed.
"That's not how it goes Natsu."
He pouted, "Don't be such a buzzkiller and ruin the mood."
Ron put his hands up in sign of surrender, "Just saying, I'm not the killer of the buzz."
Seamus raised an eyebrow, "Dude, you just ruined the meaning of 'buzzkiller'." Everyone then laughed at Ron's embarrassed face, soon enough he joined in too.
Harry couldn't help it. He grinned, too.
"YOU RUST BUCKET! DO YOU WANT OUR COVER TO BE BLOWN?" Makarov yelled as Gajeel shivered in fear.
Titania- I mean Erza then summoned her lighting empress armour and shot a bolt of lighting at him which did not effect him but still visibly hurt. Don't get, me either, she is complicated that way.
Lucy looked at Loke who was doing something random and Reese was revising for a lesson (I never actually do that) by reading (that I actually do). Lucy crossed her arms.
"Are you going to do anything about this?"
She shook her head, "Nope."
"Why not? You heard his story," Reese then gave Lucy a doubting look, "Look I am not on his side but don't you think that it was a tiny bit suspicious that the gate just closed before the eleven o'clock?"
Reese rubbed her chin and looked at the ceiling, "Now that you do mention it it does, I faintly remember Natsu talking about a house elf who tried to stop Harry from arriving at Hogwarts. That must have been his doing, but the question is what trouble is brewing here that is worse than Voldemort arising?"
Loke then turned his attention to the two chatting girls, "Dunno but it must have immense power to be that scary, especially if we're around. I mean come on, we're talking about Sabertooth, the most powerful and number one guild of all of Fiore." He exaggerated the last sentence which caught the attention of the Fairy Tail boys, demanding him to fight him which he gladly accepted. Lucy sighed.
This reckless guild Fairy Tail was the guild that they just had to work with...great, yep this is the team. But then she counted all the members and noticed one was missing.
"Where is Saphira?"
Unknown to them all, Saphira was aimlessly wandering the school halls but stopped when she found a shadow slithering through the shadows, as she grabbed for it it was revealed to be what was the child of the problem but they didn't know yet...it was a baby basilisk.
I apologize if I post my chapters late.
Gomensai and review~
^3^