There was an apparent end of the holiday gloom in the air when Silver woke up. They all went down to breakfast as Mari-An collected the mail "Rob, message from the Ministry. It's urgent". Silver was expecting her to hand Rob a letter but instead she pointed at the fireplace. Silver blinked to make sure he was seeing it right. Jules the Hedgehog's head was in the fire completely undisturbed by the flames or sparks going on around him. He was speaking to Rob "It's a real stroke of luck I heard about it. I had to come into the office early to send a couple of Flickys, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off. If Breezy gets hold of this one, Rob?". Rob took notes "What does Striker say happened?". Jules rolled his eyes "Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins" "What did the dustbins do?" "Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell". Rob frantically scribbled down his notes "And the intruder?" "Rob, you know Striker. Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked Chao wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Striker, he's had it. Think of his record. We've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department. What are exploding dustbins worth?". Rob tried to think "I could get it down to a warning. He didn't actually attack anyone, did he?" "Huge mess but no casualties" "Alright, I'll get over there".
Rob ran up to his room to get his stuff. Jules sighed "Sorry about this Mari. Bothering you so early. But Rob's the only one who can get Striker off. He's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night?" "Oh, it's fine. Sure, you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?" "Go on then". Mari-An used some tongs to put a slice of toast in Jules' mouth "Fanks" he then vanished. Rob came back down and said goodbye to everyone "Have a good term, boys" he said to Razor and Silver. He then kissed his wife "Are you sure you're okay to take them to Radical Train?" "Of course. Just go help Striker". Rob walked into the fire with a Flame Shield and disappeared. Ash walked in "Did someone say Striker? What's happened?" "He says someone tried to attack his house last night". Mighty poked his head into the room "Striker? He's that nutter, right?" "Your father thinks very highly of Striker" "Well, Dad collects plugs". Rotor and Ash sat down for breakfast opposite Silver "He's a great wizard, Mighty. And he's friends with Locke" "Locke's not exactly normal, is he?" "Who's Striker?" Silver asked. Rotor gulped down some tea to wake himself up before answering "He's a retired Diamond Cutter. One of the best. I met him once when Dad took me into work with him". He noticed Silver's blank look "A dark wizard catcher. Half the cells on Prison Island are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though. The families of people he caught, mainly and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere".
Ash and Rotor decided to see them off at Radical Train, Hamlin however apologised profusely as he had work to do "Mr Puff is really starting to rely on me" "Yeah, I reckon he'll know your name soon" Ray said. Mari-An had used the village phone to call some taxis to come and collect them. She and Silver stood watching the drivers try to load the luggage into the boots "Rob tried to get Ministry cars again, but they couldn't spare any. Oh, dear, they don't look happy". Silver failed to mention that Muggle's weren't used to driving manic Flicky's and Chao, Crusher especially was making a real racket.
Finally arriving in Knothole, the group stretched once they got out of the cramped taxis. They took their luggage and Mari-An (With help from Silver) paid the drivers. They went through the barrier as normal and found themselves on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Crusher was more hyper than ever at the busy activity of the platform. They all loaded their luggage into one of the empty compartments and then went back out to say goodbye to Mari-An, Rotor and Ash. Rotor grinned "You might be seeing me sooner than you think" "Why?" "You'll see. Just don't tell Hamlin I mentioned it. It's classified information until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it, of course". Ash stared wistfully at the train "Wish I was back at Soleanna this year" "Why?" Ray asked impatiently. Ash shook his head "Can't say but you're gonna have a hell of a year. I might be able to come and see it" "See what!?" Razor snapped. The whistle for the train went "Thanks for having us, Mrs O'Hedge" "Yeah, thanks for everything" Silver and Coral said. Mari-An smiled "Oh, it was my pleasure. I'd invite you for Christmas but well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Soleanna, what with one thing and another" "Mum, what is happening" "You'll find out tonight, I expect". They got nothing else, they refused to talk. They got on the train, Mighty and Ray joined their friend Manic and Blaze went into a compartment with some racoon girl. Silver, Coral, and Razor went into their own compartment.
They talked for a while theorizing on what Mari-An was talking about then they heard a familiar voice outside "Father wanted me to go to Grimm rather than Soleanna, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Locke. The man's such a Mudblood-lover, and Grimm doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Grimm takes a far more sensible line than Soleanna about the Dark Arts. Grimm students actually learn them, not just the defence rubbish we do". Razor scoffed "He thinks he would do better at Grimm, eh? I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him" "Grimm's another wizarding school, isn't it?" Silver asked. Coral nodded "And it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts" "What country is it in?" "Well, nobody knows do they" Coral said as if it was obvious. Silver didn't understand "Why?" "There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Grimm and Sylvania like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets" "Come off it. Grimm's got to beat least the size of Soleanna. How're you supposed to hide it?". Coral was surprised "But Soleanna is hidden too. Everyone knows that. Well, everyone who's read Soleanna: A History" "So just you then" Razor joked. Coral glared at him as he asked "So how's it hidden?" "Well, normal Muggle Repelling Charms like at the Sky Chase Cup. And for other wizards it would be unplottable" "What?". Coral rolled her eyes "Unplottable. You can't mark it on a map. A Mercia wizard could visit Grimm, but they won't be able to tell anyone else where it was? The most we know is it's somewhere up north where it's cold because they have fur capes as part of their uniform". Razor laughed "Oh, think of the possibilities. It would've been so easy to push Rutan off a glacier and make it look like an accident. Shame his mother likes him".
As the journey went on a few of their friends checked in to talk about the Sky Chase Cup. Larry still had all his souvenirs. Antione didn't have much to say "Gran didn't want to go. Wouldn't buy tickets. Sounded amazing though" "It was. Look at this" Razor showed Antione his moving Reynard action figure "Wow" "We saw him up close cause we were in the Top Box" "For the first and last time, Razor". Rutan was standing at the door to the compartment "Don't remember asking you to join us, Rutan" Silver said calmly. Rutan however was staring at the trunk under Crusher's cage "What's that, Razor?" a sleeve was hanging out from under it. Razor tried to grab it but Rutan was too fast and got it first. He was now holding Razor's second-hand dress robes "Look at this. Razor, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean, they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety" "Get the hell out!" Razor snatched the robes back. Rutan crossed his arms "So are you entering. Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well; you know. You'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won" "What're you talking about". Rutan then glanced at Silver "Suppose you'll be entering, Hedgehog. You never miss a chance to show off, do you" "Either explain what you're on about or go away!" Coral told him. Rutan's smile grew "Do you not know? You've got father and brother at the Ministry, and you don't even know, Razor? My God, my father told me about it ages ago, heard it from Max himself. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry. Maybe your father's too junior to know about it. Yes, they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him". Rough and Tumble laughed as they followed Rutan out of the compartment. Razor slammed the door shut behind them so hard that the glass shattered "Razor!" Coral yelled. She performed a spell which repaired the window "Don't let him get to you" "Dad could get a promotion anytime. He just likes it where he is" "Of course he does".
Razor's bad mood continued the rest of the journey. It didn't help that they walked out of the train into heavy rain "Hi, Big!" Silver yelled. Big waved over to him as he rounded up the first years "Hi, Silver. See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!". Silver didn't like the idea of Big crossing the lake in this weather.