This story is inspired by the fanfiction story titled 'Guy Fawkes Day' by MisterQ. Go read it! Space Expansion Charms are unforgiving when misused in that story.
Just writing a story for fun and enjoyment. Thanks to Rowling for giving the world Harry Potter and his friends (and enemies). She owns everything and I'm just imagining shapes in the clouds on a summer day.
~~~ scene change ~~~
Late DepartureAfter another fifteen minutes, Arthur Weasley came through the portal from Platform 9¾ with the Aurors. Several other wizards and witches followed them under notice-me-not charms to walk quickly to the car park where they could use apparition or portkeys to move out of the train station without being seen by muggles. Mr Weasley stopped at the table long enough to tell Harry and Hermione that none of the students had been injured.
"The receiving room is in ruins, but the train wasn't damaged. I spoke to Fred and George, and the shields on the train cars protected them. That Longbottom fellow said to tell you that the Creevey brothers and the other students from Gryffindor were on the train."
Hermione sighed with relief while Harry thanked the man again. Mr Weasley continued, "The train left ten minutes late, but Molly, Ron, and Ginny never arrived. I'm headed home to find out where they are. Why don't you two go out on the street and call the Knight Bus to get to Hogwarts?"
Mr Granger asked, "Mr Weasley, is that safe?"
Arthur nodded and explained, "There are multiple charms and shields on the vehicle. It's never had an accident – it's a bumpy ride but the muggleborn say it is like their roller coasters."
"Uh, Mr Weasley, could you shrink Hermione's trunk?" asked Harry. "It's too big and heavy to carry on the bus."
Checking with Shacklebolt that no one was watching, Arthur used his wand to shrink Hermione's trunk to be the size of a match box. When he handed it to her he explained, "When you get to your dormitory, a simple tap of your wand will restore the trunk to full size."
"Thank you, Mr Weasley," the teenager replied sincerely.
"Yeah, I dreaded lugging that boat anchor up to the castle," teased Harry. "She packs her weight in books inside."
Mrs Granger nodded, "She does."
Then Mr Granger asked, "Any clue what happened? What caused the explosion?"
Arthur shook his head and explained, "The floo – the fireplace – just exploded. It'll take a few days to get the bricks reset with new mortar, and then the ministry will check the magical wards and charms before they ignite the fire again."
Auror Shacklebolt led Arthur toward the car port where an out of the way area had been set up for apparition and portkeys to be used where muggles wouldn't see people appear or disappear.
~~~ scene change ~~~
Call the Knight BusMr and Mrs Granger walked out of the train station with their daughter and her friend to a deserted stretch of the street where Harry raised his wand in his hand and summoned the Knight Bus. Holding her one parent's hand in each of hers, Hermione waited impatiently until the ghostly, purple, triple-decker bus appeared.
The dishevelled Stan Shunpike stepped down from the bus as soon as it stopped and said, "We're getting very busy this morning! Climb on board! Climb on board!"
"Bye Mum, Dad!" Hermione called as she followed Harry onto the bus. "Love you!"
Their daughter simply vanished from their vision and the couple exchanged grimaces again. Mrs Granger said, "This doesn't feel good."
Mr Granger shook his head. "No… it feels worse than the first years seeing her vanish through the looking glass."
~~~ scene change ~~~
House ElvesThe trip northwards from London required several stops to pick up a few other students – Ernie McMillian's family had been unable to access the floo to get him to the train station, and Blaise Zabini had the same problem. He appeared friendly during the twenty-minute ride north while the passengers were thrown about their seats.
When Harry remarked on the friendliness, Blaise explained, "Draco Malfoy runs his mouth all the time about stupid Gryffindors. It's just easier to play along. Malfoy won't be in all our classes this year and I know Theo, Daphne and Tracy want to talk with you and Granger."
Harry frowned and explained, "It'll have to be in classes without Ron. He hyperventilates anytime we talk to someone from Slytherin."
"Just like Draco does when we talk about you."
Ernie said, "He's the same way about Puffs."
Hermione frowned and contributed, "Professor Dumbledore says that Harry's got responsibilities that keep him from talking to lots of people."
The three boys were confused by the witch's comment and chose to ignore her for the rest of the trip. The bus stopped just outside the gates of Hogwarts and allowed them to disembark. Hagrid came to open the gates and welcome them to the castle. The children gathered in the Great Hall and house elves appeared to collect their trunks and take them to their dorm rooms.
Hermione attempted to lecture on the evils of slavery but found everyone in agreement with her about slavery. However, none of her fellow students agreed that house elves were slaves.
Blaise explained, "Granger, house elves are intelligent creatures that Merlin created by creating more magic inside brownies. He needed a servant that didn't grow up and move away or get old and die – house elves live for a couple hundred years."
Hermione's voice rose when she asked, "Merlin did what?"
"Merlin took some Brownies, a small mischievous creature that lived in the forests that used to cover Britain, gave them more magic and turned them into house elves. The house elves are tied to a human's magic or to the ambient magic of one location like Hogwarts," Ernie said. "They must feed on our magic, or they fade away. And they want to help us – they aren't happy if they aren't helping a human."
"But that's terrible! He enslaved them!"
Pointing at the cat carrier, the Hufflepuff student asked, "Are kneazles slaves?"
"What? No! Crookshank's my pet and I love him!"
"He's a slave," Ernie argued. "Humans captured kneazle kittens and tamed them. They keep them confined, train them to perform tricks, and throw them away when they tire of them."
"I would never do something like that!" insisted the witch.
"Not you, but other people do."
"Hermione, mundane and magical people use animals all the time. Remember, we do eat them," Harry reminded her.
"But they aren't thinking creatures," she insisted for a moment and then stopped to consider everything she knew and had observed about animals. Sensing that his witch was distressed, Crookshanks meowed until Harry let the part-kneazle cat out his carrier. The fluffy animal climbed into his mistress's lap and began to purr as loudly as possible to calm his beloved witch.
Ernie called for an elf and asked the little fellow to bring a book from his trunk. The wizard approached Hermione and offered the book to her.
"I brought this for Justin to read this autumn," McMillian explained. "He had lots of questions about how intelligent other magical creatures are and if they are 'people'. The conversations in Hufflepuff are extremely loud sometimes and I'll make certain you get invited to our next round table."
"Thank you," Hermione said before turning her attention to the book while scratching her pet's neck.
Harry grinned and added, "Thanks McMillian. I've never understood house elves either. Can I read the book too?"
Before the end of the day, the four students were joined by almost a hundred other students who arrived by apparition or portkeys outside the gates. Professor Flitwick passed through the Great Hall several times to speak to different students. He had no firm news and encouraged everyone to wait for the other students to arrive.
"There'll be announcements after the sorting," Flitwick assured them.
~~~ scene change ~~~
The Sorting at HogwartsA pleasant bell began to ring late in the afternoon, just as the sun set and Harry told the others, "That's Hogwarts letting the professors know the Hogwarts Express has arrived at Hogsmeade."
"How do you know that?" asked Hermione.
"When I've been here at Christmas and Spring breaks, the castle always lets the folks in the castle know when the train arrives," Harry explained.
Blaise asked, "Don't you go home at any of the breaks?"
Frowning, Harry replied, "No. I live with relatives, and we don't like each other."
Hermione frowned, wishing she'd stopped that conversation from beginning, but hopefully MacMillan and the others wouldn't pay attention to Potter's comment.
A large crowd filtered into the Great Hall over the next half hour as the horseless carriages arrived at the door. Professor McGonagall passed through twice as the professors arrived and then the headmaster stepped into the hall wearing his signature bright coloured robes.
When the doors closed before the firsties would be allowed to enter for their sorting, Hermione commented, "Ron and Ginny are missing."
Harry added, "It looks like lots of people are missing."
Hermione looked around and confirmed, "Susan Bones and Zach Smith at Hufflepuff aren't here. Hannah looks worried."
"Draco Malfoy's not at the Slytherin table," replied Harry. "Parkinson, and that tall Flint fellow aren't there either."
The sorting proceeded normally with students going to all four houses. An unusual development was that all the students applauded each sorting to welcome the first-year students to Hogwarts. The spontaneous applause was noted at the staff table but none of them commented aloud.
Albus Dumbledore rose from his throne to welcome the students and ordered the feast to begin. Harry ate a prodigious amount of food, but he ate neatly and used proper manners. Hermione kept her eyes on the staff table as she ate and reported that Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick argued with Headmaster Dumbledore throughout the meal.
Both professors remained disgruntled when Albus rose to make announcements before dismissing the students to their dormitories. There was a great deal of surprise in the Great Hall as Albus Dumbledore glossed over the explosion at Kings Cross Station and the missing students.
His announcements concerning the Triwizard Tournament and the arrival of two visiting schools were received without much enthusiasm. But when the headmaster declared there would not be a Quidditch tournament this school year, the students expressed their opinions with boos and hisses that caught the headmaster off guard. And worse, Dumbledore didn't find any support from his staff to chide the students for their behaviour.
~~~ scene change ~~~
First MorningNone of the missing students had arrived during the night – the same empty chairs were there at breakfast the next morning. The Daily Prophet and mail weren't delivered by the postal owls. Harry noticed that the Weasley twins were silent and looked worried. Hannah Abbot spent the mealtime frowning and only the support of the other Puffs kept the always reserved young witch from storming the staff table and demanding answers.
Everyone was aware that there was another argument between the professors and headmaster at the head table. To allow the students to hear, Professor Sinistra circumvented Dumbledore's privacy spell by duplicating what she heard onto the plates set on the tables. The discussion involved Professors Sprout, McGonagall, and Flitwick being certain that it was better to start classes this morning, while Dumbledore planned to suspend classes while there were so many unknowns about missing students (five).
Professor McGonagall's voice grew loud when she declared, "You're being gone all day won't affect our classes. We need to keep the Weasley twins, and all the students occupied!"
"No," argued Albus. "I am certain no one will focus on their classes while the mystery of the missing students continues."
Flitwick spoke up and said, "Albus, you need to go to the Ministry for Magic now. It's not just a few students who are missing. There were explosions all over Britain yesterday! Minister Fudge is dead. They might be under the impression that you're dead."
"What? How do you know this?" Dumbledore demanded to know.
"My relatives at the bank informed me last night via another method of communication. Your floo connection is still cold and you're out of touch!"
"Fawkes!" shouted Dumbledore. The phoenix appeared in a ball of fire in the Great Hall and Albus grabbed the tail feathers while calling out, "The Atrium at the Ministry for Magic!"
The phoenix flames grabbed the headmaster and he vanished. Deputy Headmistress McGonagall grimaced but she bowed her head to the diminutive charms professor and mouthed, "Thank you."
The four heads of house distributed the student schedules, and everyone noted mandatory study halls in the Great Hall anytime they were not in class. Minerva announced, "Professor Moody, the new DADA professor has not appeared so all DADA classes will be held here in the Great Hall. Senior Auror David McCallum (retired) will supervise your study halls here. No one is excused from these study halls."
During lunch, Professor McGonagall collected the Weasley twins and took them to entry hall to meet with their father. At supper, Fred and George confirmed their mother and siblings were still missing and their home had burned to the ground around the same time that explosion occurred in Kings Cross Station.
Rumours of other homes burning to the ground included Bones Manor and Malfoy Manor. Several students received owls during supper to confirm that family members were safe, but the letters generated rumours about multiple of explosions and fires in Diagon Alley and at the ministry.
Hannah Abbot smiled and shared a letter from Susan Bones. The fourth year Puff and her aunt had been injured when their floo exploded but had been treated at Saint Mungo's. Hannah announced, "Susie will be here tomorrow!"
Harry and Hermione kept their concerns about Ron's safety to themselves. Fred and George were not themselves because they recognized things were not as they should be for their brother and sister.
~~~ scene change ~~~