Chapter Eleven
Harry wasn't sleeping well. He kept having bad dreams, dreams of everyone dying, his friends wearing crowns and walking through him as though he were nothing but smoke.
"Hey! Hey, guys wait up!" he called as they walked through him.
Harry went to chase them and found himself alone, heading down a long dark corridor with a locked door at the end.
"Wake up sweetie." Lily's voice called, cutting across his dream and dragging him back into the real world.
Harry jerked awake, pushing her arm away, "S… sorry Mum."
Lily smiled, stroking his hair back, "Are you sure you're all right? We called up ten minutes ago."
Harry nodded and forced a smile, "Yeah, yeah I was just having a bad dream." he rubbed his eyes and shoved his glasses on.
There was a loud shout from downstairs from Mrs Weasley, followed by Sirius's mother's picture waking up and sending her shutters flying open.
Lily sighed, "I better go and sort that out. See you down stairs in a few minutes?"
Harry nodded and waited until his mother had left the room before flopping back on his pillows. He was trying to hold onto the dream he'd had but it was quickly slipping away. Within a minute Harry couldn't remember anything more than the feeling of being alone.
Harry got up and dressed himself in comfortable jeans and his Slytherin t-shirt, before pulling a clean-ish hoodie and double checking everything was in his trunk before heading downstairs. Sirius was struggling to make sure his mother's picture was covered over again, Harry helped him hold the shutters shut so he could clip the latch in place.
"What woke her up?" Harry asked.
Sirius sighed, "Seems Fred and George didn't want to have to carry their trunks down. Lily said that we would help but Molly insisted they could all do it themselves so Fred and George used magic and knocked Ginny down two flights of stairs."
Harry nodded understandingly, "I see."
Breakfast was laid out on the dinning room table and Harry took his seat, helping himself to pancakes and bacon.
"You're not eating much." Harry said, spotting Fred and George's one slice of toast each.
"They can wait till lunch, a bit of hunger might help them think twice before they try and kill their sister." Mrs Weasley commented.
Harry knew enough to stay quiet, it wasn't worth getting yelled at himself, but he slipped a few pancakes into his napkin to give them later.
"We didn't mean to hurt her Mum." George said quietly.
"And she's fine." Fred muttered under his breath.
Mrs Weasley just glared at them until they quietly ate their toast. Lily came in and held Danica's chair for her before sitting down herself.
"What would you like sweetie?" Lily asked.
"Porridge please." Danica asked politely, pointing to the pot.
Lily reached over and spooned some into a bowl.
"Where's Dad?" Harry asked.
Lily sighed, "He got called away, first thing this morning. He wanted to take you to the station but… we'll have other people there though. Nikka and Sirius of course and Remus, Moody will also be coming with us."
Harry gave her a half smile and nodded. He ate quickly and went upstairs with Sirius to carry his trunk down.
Hermione was trying to pull a brush through her hair while dragging her trunk towards the stairs.
"We'll get that down for you Hermione." Sirius smiled, taking her trunk from her.
"Thanks." she said happily, "I can't believe I fell back to sleep!"
"It's fine." Harry grinned, "Breakfast is on the table."
Hermione smiled and mumbled her thanks heading down to grab something to eat. Harry waited on the bottom step, reading over one of his text books half heartedly waiting for everyone else to be ready.
Mrs Weasley had so far sent Ron to change his top three times, turns out he had packed all of his clean ones and Fred and George were refusing to let her look in their trunks, leading her to suspect there was something in there that shouldn't be.
"Right, all ready to go?" Growled Mad Eye Moody, looking over the very full entrance hall.
"I think so." Lily smiled, finishing buttoning her coat.
"Yes we're all ready." Mrs Weasley said, "Do you have the tickets Arthur?"
Mr Weasley nodded excitedly. Harry was used to apparating to Kings Cross but Mrs Weasley didn't have a side along apparation pass, neither did Mr Weasley and it was too many for Lily and Sirius to take alone.
It thankfully wasn't far to the underground though. Mr Weasley was fascinated by how the automatic ticket barriers worked and insisted on making all of his children go through the same one so he could watch, trying to figure out how they worked.
Harry sat between Hermione and his mother on the train. Ron had tried to aim for the seat Hermione was sitting in but his trunk had gotten caught on the edge of the door. Harry was grateful for it. He'd managed to tolerate Ron over the holidays but he was really, really looking forward to having a little space.
It was just passed half past ten when they arrived at platform nine and three quarters, already filled with students and families. Harry knew it was going to be a difficult year as soon as he stepped onto the platform.
Several sets parents glared at him, ushering their children away from him. One other, her children dressed in Ravenclaw robes, went as far as to tell Lily she should be ashamed of herself.
"Just ignore them." Lucius said loudly, walking towards Lily, "The lower classes will believe anything they read in that rag." he pointed with his cane towards a copy of the Daily Prophet that was sticking out of the woman's bag.
Lily smirked, "Good to see you."
Narcissa gave her a warm hug, "We've found a compartment, near the front so our new Prefects can pop back easily."
Harry made sure he was holding tightly to Danica's hand and followed him through the crowd. It was far easier this year than before, mostly because people kept moving out of the way to avoid him.
It was one of the larger carriages that the Malfoys had managed to claim for them this year, which was good as there were already more than half the seats filled.
"We're never all going to fit in there." Ron huffed, "Come on Harry, we'll find somewhere else."
"I would much rather Harry stayed near the front of the train and therefore the driver, considering everything that is going on." Lily said quickly, "Why don't you move down with your brothers Ron, I think Fred and George have managed to find a compartment."
Ron gave Harry a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, I'll find you during the journey."
Harry nodded, "Yeah. Couple of games of chess."
He hauled his trunk into the compartment with Pansy's help and hopped back down so he could say goodbye.
Danica sat on the edge of the compartment door, swinging her legs, "I can see the tracks!"
Remus laughed and moved closer so she wouldn't fall.
"Hi!" Daphne called, dragging Astoria behind her, "I thought I wasn't going to be able to find you all!"
"I want to go sit with my friends." Astoria moaned.
"I'll take her." Daphne's mother offered.
"She hasn't stopped whining the whole trip." Daphne said rolling her eyes, "It's a pain not being able to apparate."
"Why can't you apparate?" Lily asked.
Daphne's father sighed, "We were denied our passes, paperwork error apparently. We should be getting them in a month or two."
Harry took a deep breath; a paperwork error was the most pathetic excuse, the Ministry were just showing who had the power, again.
"We made it and that's the main thing." Daphne's mother said with a smile, "Astoria is on the train with her friends, she was the last one there so I could shut the door."
Daphne gave her mother a hug as the whistle blew, telling them all they only had five minutes before the train left.
"Now do you best, study every night. It's an important year." Daphne's father told her before helping her onto the train.
Lily pulled Harry to the side, "Be safe OK? You're going to be fine, just study for your exams and do your best."
Harry grinned, "Always."
Lily shook her head, smiling, "You'll be fine. I love you."
"Love you too Mum." Harry smiled.
Nikka moved forward, "As your Mum said, do your best and stay safe."
Sirius gave him a big hug, "Safe but fun, yeah?"
Lily smacked him playfully on the arm.
"Wait!"
Harry looked over and saw Severus walking quickly towards them.
"I managed to get away, wanted to come and say goodbye." Severus smiled, pulling Harry into a hug.
"You'll see me at school Dad." Harry grinned.
"It's not the same though." Severus said, trying to flatten Harry's hair a little.
Remus walked over, Danica had managed to guilt him into giving her a shoulder ride, although Harry suspected it hadn't taken much.
"Take care Harry." he said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Bye… bye…" Danica sniffed, "Will you be home for Christmas this year?"
Harry nodded, "Yep I think so. I've missed watching you open your presents."
Danica smiled, tears dripping down her cheeks and soaking into her long black hair.
Harry hopped on the train and closed the door. He and his friends crowded round the window, waving goodbye to their families as the train pulled away.
Harry flopped down on the seat next to Neville and stretched out his legs. Thomas said goodbye to them, also choosing to head off and find his friends.
"When do you guys need to head off to the Prefects carriage?" Daphne asked.
"Straight away, according to our letters." Hermione said, pinning her badge to her top, "I don't think we'll be too long though."
Pansy, Draco and Neville also pinned on their badges and waved goodbye, shutting the compartment door behind them. Harry and Daphne looked to each other,
"Well..." Daphne smiled, "Then there were two."
Harry grinned, he looked out the window for a moment, "Do you think it's odd, that Dumbledore made Draco Prefect rather than me? Not that he didn't deserve it it's just…"
"You're the favourite?" Daphne finished.
Harry nodded, "How much of a bad friend does that make me?"
Daphne shook her head, "No, not one at all. And I would love to say that Dumbledore has taken it purely on credit and school work, as it should be, but that seems a little out of character for him, doesn't it?"
Harry sighed and nodded, "That's what I was thinking."
"I can't say I'm not disappointed as well." Daphne shrugged, "I always get better marks than Pansy."
Harry nodded, "I guess Dumbledore has his reasons, not that he'll ever bother to explain them to anyone."
"Does that make us bad friends? That we're disappointed?" Daphne asked, worriedly.
Harry shook his head, "I don't think so. You can be happy for someone and disappointed for yourself at the same time."
Daphne nodded, feeling a little reassured that she wasn't a bad person for her guilty thoughts.
The weather turned nastier the further north they travelled. The new Prefects returned to the compartment after an hour or so.
"So?" Harry asked, "How did it go?"
Neville shrugged, "Pretty straight forward, lots on how we needed to be good examples to the younger students, that we need to take a couple of walks up and down the train to make sure everyone is behaving."
"And help the first years get to the dorms, although that is normally taken over by the older ones." Hermione filled in.
"We also get to take house points if we need to." Pansy grinned, "Gryffindor is going down this year."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Excuse me, we're sitting right here."
"Exactly." Neville grinned, "Tut tut Miss Parkinson, five points from Slytherin when we get to the castle I think."
Pansy laughed and pulled her tongue at Neville, "Sorry Mr Longbottom but I think you'll find Prefects cannot take points from another Prefect or Headboy or Girl. You should have been paying attention more closely."
Harry felt better, surrounded by his friends, less alone. He still couldn't remember his dream, although he thought it might have had something to do with a door, but he could remember the feeling of being totally alone.
"We'd better change." Draco said, checking his watch.
Harry nodded and opened his trunk to dig out his robes, he smiled, seeing his mother had slipped a dozen chocolate frogs into his case for him with a note, saying how much she loved him.
"What's that?" Pansy asked, pointing inside Neville's case.
Neville pulled out a strange looking cactus that looked like it was moving slightly.
"This is a mimbulus mimbletonia." Neville said proudly, "My great uncle got it for me, for my birthday, they're really rare. Professor Sprout doesn't even have one at Hogwarts, can't wait to show her. I'm hoping we can breed from it."
"I've never even seen one." Daphne said, looking carefully at the specimen, "They are said to be very defensive."
Neville nodded, "Oh yeah. My room got covered in stink sap a couple of times but it seems to like me well enough now."
Harry grinned at his friends, straightening his tie. Neville was brilliant at Herbology and his parents only encouraged his love for the subject.
"Hallie seemed quite interested in it, Hannah just thought it was gross." Neville said, "Considering they always want to dress alike, they are so different."
"I just can't believe how big they'd gotten." Draco said, straightening his Prefects badge.
"Yeah, they just turned four." Neville beamed proudly, "And Matthew will be starting Hogwarts next year."
"If Danica gets her way so will she." Hermione laughed.
Harry felt like he needed to cover the side of his robes, they seemed very empty without a badge, he could tell that Daphne was feeling the same way.
They were getting close, the sun was starting to set and the view outside was now nothing but steep hills rather than softly rolling fields.
There was a knock on the compartment door showing Luna's dreamily smiling face. She opened it and gave Harry a wave.
"I've been looking for you Harry." Luna said softly.
Harry smiled, "Come on in. Everyone, I think you've met Luna Lovegood."
There were a round of murmured hellos and waves.
"What can I do for you Luna?" Harry asked.
"Oh? Oh… I wanted to give you this." she said, handing him a copy of the Quibbler.
Harry had never read a copy of the Quibbler, it was normally filled with strange articles that weren't really Harry's thing, however there was a large picture of him in the corner of the front page. Harry flipped to page four to read the article.
IT IS A COVER UP!
As many of you know, last year at Hogwarts Harry Potter was suspiciously chosen as a Champion in the TriWizard tournament. Despite being too young to participate, organisers Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch (now dead) INSISTED he take part. Why would they do this unless they had ulterior motives?
At the end of this tournament, Harry Potter told us that the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who was back! And did these officials, the same ones who insisted he take part, listen to him? NO! Of course not! Because this was their plan all along!
They forced Potter to participate in order to make it seem like he was going mad with stress, not that we would blame him if he had, but he has not! They have done this to discredit him, to try and show him as a scared little boy and not the hero we know he is!
Was this their only motive? No! Because now who is Minister of Magic? Cornelius Fudge himself, one of the ones who organised the tournament and is partly responsible for forcing Potter into the tournament that could have ended his life, and did sadly end the life of Cedric Diggory.
They have been very clever in their cover up, not leaving a shred of evidence of what they are doing but here at the Quibbler, we know the truth! We know what they are trying to do to poor Harry Potter, and we stand behind him! We encourage our readers to do the same, these are the beginnings of very dark times, and we must be united! This is what the Ministry are trying to do, separate us, scatter us so we cannot stand against them for truth and justice!
What will they do next to discredit him? What will the next Hogwarts year bring? Last year, a deadly tournament which Harry Potter was dragged into, but to remind our readers that the other three champions were chosen at random meaning one thing; THEY ARE WILLING TO LET OUR CHILDREN DIE! for nothing more than their entertainment! This is madness! When will they draw a line? When will they stop doubting Potter in the truth that You-Know-Who is back? When will they stop covering their eyes and looking the other way while another war is starting?
These are dark times, and we must stand united behind Harry Potter; Saviour of the Wizarding world. We believe you Harry, and we stand behind you! We will not let Them win!
Harry smiled and handed it back to her, "Thank you, Luna. It means a lot."
Hermione clearly didn't approve of any article that was in the Quibbler but wisely didn't say anything.
"It's OK Harry." Luna smiled, "I wanted you to know there was someone on your side you know. See you later."
She turned and walked away without another word, as the train pulled into the station.