Chapter 13

Where we're going, we don't need roads

Chamber of Secrets

Marley had found the sky-blue Ford Anglia rather delightful before, squeezing herself in between Ron, Harry, and Ginny before when the family hastily flew over to King's Cross, the three older Weasleys agreeing to get to their destination some other way, Molly having sulked for the whole drive over what illegal or dangerous thing the twins would be doing.

That worried tone now rang through her mind as Ron revved the engine, the Weasley on the right with Harry stuck to the passenger seat. A memory of Mr. Bean seated on top of his own automobile came up as well, seeing as the two cars were both very old and looked pretty similar.

"There we go.", an adrenaline-fueled Sir Ronald proclaimed, "Now all we need to do is find the Hogwarts Express."

"Good. That's good.", Marley tried to trick herself into being okay with this, "Did you turn on the Invisibility Booster yet?"

Having been swept up in the moment, Ron and Harry shared comically scared looks before the underaged driver grabbed a silver switch located on the dashboard, turning their mode of transportation invisible before it could levitate high enough for any unsuspecting Muggles to notice. With that motion Marley momentarily held back her animalistic rage while the boys continued.

"Ron are you sure you can fly this?", Harry inquired in an insecure tone.

"Sure.", his friend responded.

In complete contrast to this statement, a stiff Weasley boy to his right momentarily froze as the Ford Anglia began speeding straight ahead and towards King's Cross' clock tower.

"Watch out!", Harry warned his friend, Ron finally twisting the steering wheel rather abruptly, making the car almost flip over before stabilizing its course once again. The boys let out a sigh of relief, the Weasley starting to get the hang of it.

"That was pretty close.", he let out.

"Did you...", came suddenly from the backseat, "...start a flying car in London...", she continued, a strangely cold violence emitted from the otherwise jolly girl, "...without thinking of turning on the INVISIBILITY BOOSTER?!"

A bark that broke new grounds, representing the most loud and aggressive that any of her friends had ever experienced Marlene Verpe.

"Calm down.", Ron responded both intimidated and angered.

"I will NOT calm down! This is whole thing is... nonsensical! We'll get into..."

Halfway through her outburst Marley seems to have lost the energy, or focus, or both, the girl's voice quieting down significantly as Ron began to ascend into the clouds.

"Why was the gate closed early?", she finally spoke in a much more calm manner.

"It's not supposed to close ever.", Ron explained with his eyes focused on the... uh... 'road'. "That can't be normal."

With curious features the girl leaned forward a bit, her seating option being crammed in between every piece of luggage they couldn't fit into the trunk, which included a caged Hedwig and Scabbers.

"Doesn't it close at exactly eleven-"

"That's a myth perpetrated to scare first year students.", the Weasley driver cleared up as Harry and Marley shared a quick look of astonishment, "It never closes. That's why this is unusual."

"Maybe it has something to do with that house elf that stole all your mail.", Marley spoke this real sentence carrying logical implications with it. The magic of this world, ay?

"Maybe.", Harry returned as he adjusted his glasses, "For now we need to focus on catching up with the Hogwarts Express. I do not want to go back to the Dursleys after how I left..."

Ron snickered to himself as the Slytherin girl put her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll get to Hogwarts in no time.", she assured him with a warm smile. After that the Boy who lived refocused on the clouds ahead while Marley fell back into her seat with a puff.

"Does this thing have a cassette player?", the girl asked after about ten seconds.

"Dad had one installed, but he doesn't know how to use it. Why?"

"Oh, I think you know why.", Harry added with a smirk while Marley crammed around one of her bags looking for a music tape of her choice. Ron let out a tired exhale at that.

The struggle to find something to satisfy all ears was intense, but eventually they settled on a few Muggle albums the Weasley boy could swallow, one example being The Police, a sound which he actually quite enjoyed.

At some point later while soaring across the border between England and Scottland Marley was humming along, well no, singing along to what Ron perceived as a rather obnoxious and repetitive song.

"...just to be a man who walked a thousand miles to show up at your door. Dadada-da. Dadada-da..."

Thankfully a concerning sound emitted by the car's engine silenced the Slytherin's musical tirade. A few seconds of panicked button mashing followed until Sir Ronald was able to figure out that pulling a certain lever on the dashboard gave absolutely zero feedback.

"The Invisibility Booster must be faulty.", the Weasley loudly concluded while turning down the music all the way.

"Shouldn't be a problem as long as we stay above the clouds, right?", Marley asked timidly with her hands on her knees.

"We should go lower.", Harry contradicted her, "We still need to find the train."

Not wanting to turn this into an argument, Ron went ahead and shifted gears before descending to lower levels, beautiful, scenic, green hills greeting them alongside a more than familiar train track continuing on an old, stone viaduct.

"Seems like we're on the right track. Quite literally.", the Slytherin girl optimistically declared, causing Harry to smile at her pun.

"I still think we should find the actual train. Just to be safe.", he added, sounding way more serious again.

"We can't be that far behind.", Ron pondered in a confused tone.

Then, almost as if to make a point, a distant train whistle sounded, heard by everyone inside the magical Ford Anglia.

"Did you two hear that as well?", Harry asked redundantly for reassurance.

"Phew. And I thought I imagined it...", Marley spoke with relief.

"We must be getting close.", Ronald initially theorized. Though as some seconds passed and more train related sounds increased in volume, all three of them slowly realized something was very off about all of this.

"Hold on...", Harry mumbled for all of them collectively.

As the train's whistle howled once more, the kids covered in goosebumps plus Harry's owl all comedically turned around, spotting the crimson shimmer of the Hogwarts Express as it came crashing towards them, Hedwig's eyes widening presenting the punchline for their lethal hijinks.

"Ahhh!", all three cried at once.

With an instinctive jolt from the driver the Ford Anglia managed to escape its execution via locomotive, performing quite an impressive loop below the bridge before finding stability back above the Hogwarts Express. Unfortunately, at a rough 45 degree angle, with Harry on the passenger side dangling from the car and barely holding onto the door handle.

"Harry! Hold on!", Ron exclaimed first.

"HARRY!", Marley added, hand already fiddling to find her black wand.

"Take my hand!", Ronald bravely reached out his arm with the other side on the steering wheel, "Hold on to it!"

"I can't! Your hand is all sweaty!"

"Levicorpus!", chirruped from Marley's lips first, then from the tip of her wand, an invisible hand grabbing a hold of Harry's legs before pulling him back inside the car, Ron reangling the vehicle back to an even level while closing the door, reaching over his upside-down friend.

The Boy who lived (yet again) needed some more seconds to adjust to a regular, seated position, before grasping what exactly just went down, his and Ron's head jolting back to Marley holding her wand with both hands and currently suffering from stage fright.

"How did you do that?!", Ron hurled at her.

"You saved my life.", Harry spoke more calmly, though missing none of the excitement. With all eyes on her and plenty of praise engulfing her ego, the girl briefly flushed with colour as she scratched her neck.

"Hermione isn't the only one who knows some spells, you know...", the Slytherin almost whispered. Ron had meanwhile refocused his attention back to the road, turning left as did the train down below them. Harry meanwhile kept his impressed gaze glued onto the girl in the back.

"I owe you. Big time.", the Gryffindor declared, Ron side-eying him with an intrigued frown.

"Well... I shall keep that in mind.", is all Marley had to add with a smirk. From here on out there was also no more arguing regarding music selection.

The sun had set as a flying Ford Anglia made its way across the Black Lake, slowly and dramatically revealing the illuminated castle ahead, all three sets of eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Welcome home.", Ron spoke like a tour guide. Harry exhaled with relief, truly feeling at home as there was now enough distance between him and his surrogate family.

"I take it all back.", Marley admitted in defeat, "This was a fantastic idea."

She winked at Ron rolling his eyes and gifted a warm smile at Harry, who reciprocated accordingly.

At the track change her demeanour rapidly morphed back into that overly excited kid that Marley is at heart.

"I love this song!"

Excited to hear "Should I stay or should I go" at full blast, the girl frowned quickly as the music cut off after a few seconds of electric guitar goodness.

"Hey!", she protested, accusingly directing it towards the driver.

"I didn't do anything!", Ron defended himself, pressing the play button repeatedly to no effect.

"Maybe it's broken.", Harry suggested while literally scratching his head.

"Well, take out the cassette then.", Marley ordered, sounding frustrated, "I'm already short one Madonna thanks to Dumbledore."

Before Ron could fulfil her demand their vehicle suddenly began to create turbulence, yanking his arms away and setting up everyone for a theme park ride, then very abruptly pulling to the left, passing by the Great Hall's glass windows in jittery motions.

Inside the Great Hall Hermione was seemingly the only one who caught a glimpse of the vehicle passing by, letting out an annoyed sigh, somehow correctly assuming that those were her friends out there.

"Up! UP!", Harry ordered in a panic, Ron's hectic input on the steering wheel having zero impact as the vehicle took a sharp right before beginning to descend downwards, "Mind that tree!"

"Don't worry!", Marley announced with her raised wand, feeling heroic, "Wingardium-"

BONK!

One particularly harsh quake from their mode of transport flung the girl against the headrest of Harry's seat, knocking down her glasses and making the girl dizzy in the process.

"Ow!", the girl yelled before a crackling sound informed her of the breaking of her binoculars, "Well, great."

With a crash imminent and neither of his companions any useful, Ron made use of his last resort, taking out his own wand and repeatedly tapping the steering wheel refusing to obey.

"Stop! Stop! STOP!"

Did I say tapping? Suppose I should've used "bludgeoning". The effects of this stunt were immediately apparent with the second, more aggressive crackling sound, Ron staring in shock at his wand snapped in half, hanging on only by a thread much like Nearly Headless Nick.

And that was that. All options exerted and with no alternatives up their sleeves, the kids instead braced for the inevitable impact, which finally came in a jerky, uncomfortable fashion, the car finally stopping within the thick branches of a strange tree.

When all noise finally subsided, the group of friends took some hectic breaths, attempting to calm their minds at all of this commotion. Even Leaghon briefly popped out and vibrated slightly, a buzz sounding vaguely angered.

"My wand. Look at my wand...", Ron broke their silence in what sounded like a genuine cry, showcasing his almost broken tool which he held up with the same posture as a small child holding up an empty cone, ice cream dropped to the ground.

"At least it wasn't your neck.", Harry shrugged.

In the back Marley picked up her glasses and put them on with a frown, the right side slightly cracked and with the left missing half of its material, small shard below her feet causing her to grunt rather loudly.

"I'd have preferred my neck, honestly.", she deadpanned.

And because our heroes can't seem to catch a break, yet another ominous noise accompanied by the car shaking pumped their systems with adrenaline again.

"What NOW?!", Marley openly barked.

"What's happening?!", Ron added, sounding more terrified than angry.

"I don't know.", Harry answered them both, or at least that's my best guess.

A second jolt and the sound of glass breaking finally gave the kids an answer as tentacle-like branches entered their car.

"WHAT ON EARTH?!", Marley shouted, her anger having morphed very quickly back to fear again.

With every knew clubbing sound accompanied by the car moving back and forth it became clear that the very tree they had crash-landed into was now pounding their automobile like a pinata. With some more thinner appendages entering, Marely raised her wand as she slowly backed away.

"I don't want to break my arm again..."

Thankfully the tendril invasion subsided as the more swollen parts of their vegetation-based opponent began knocking the car around some more, the treatment akin to a game of pinball, ending as the vehicle was pushed from their wooden platform, crashing through a few more branches before landing on the lawn like an apple.

Thinking that they are safe, this time the children learned from their prior naiveté, turning their heads and spotting the willow behind them, which was much larger than they had guesses, leaning backwards and charging up one final smash attack.

"I hate plants so much...", Marley whimpered.

"Come on – FAST!", Harry had the brains to order Ron, the Weasley stomping the gas pedal as hard as he possibly could, accelerating the car again and getting it away from the violent piece of greenery before all three of them could be squashed to death.

Celebrations were put on hold, much like the sentient Ford Anglia, which manually hit the brakes, before opening the two front doors and ejecting Ron and Harry in a rather comical fashion. Next it opened the backdoors and trunk, ejecting any all luggage, the boys successfully catching their respective pets in cages. For Marley it had the decency to simply honk as loud and as obnoxiously as possible.

"Okay, okay! I got the message!", the almost-teen complained as she was allowed to exit normally, Ron meanwhile checking on the health of his weird-looking rat.

"Scabbers, are you okay?"

Just as Harry was checking on Hedwig too, the car finally shut all doors, revving its engine and making a sharp U-turn, rapidly approaching the forest.

"Wait!", Ron shouted, though all three ran after the vehicle for a few seconds before realizing that it had no use, the battered Ford Anglia disappearing into the shadows of the woodwork.

"Dammit – it still had my cassette in it!", Marley exclaimed in her fury, Ron sounding more so defeated.

"Dad's gonna kill me."

"Stupid Marlene. Stupid...", Marley mumbled to herself, only now remembering the right spell that would've rendered their encounter with the clubbing tree less dangerous. The three of them had meanwhile entered the staircase leading up to the Great Hall, leaving their luggage with the rest.

"See you, Hedwig!", Harry quietly sent off his pet before joining Ron and Marley as they trekked up the stairs.

"So...", the Boy who survived two dangerous situations today began, "...a house elf shows up in my bedroom, we can't get through the barrier at platform 9 3/4, we almost get killed by a tree..."

"It seems like something doesn't want you here this year.", the Slytherin girl surmised, fidgeting around her broken binoculars.

"Or someone.", Ron added rather smartly.

Their discussion had to be put on hold just before the trio reached the top of the staircase, Argus Filch greeting them as he petted his cat Mrs. Norris with a sadistic smile.

"Well... take a good look. This night might well be the last you spend in this castle.", he spit at them with venom, sending shivers down their spines more so than almost getting killed did.

"Oh dear, we are in trouble.", he added, as if they hadn't gotten the point yet.

And, as if there couldn't be a worse continuation of events, the closest teacher that could take care of the trio was one Severus Snape, glaring at them in his potion-filled office made from bricks that oozed and shimmered slightly green.

"The three of you can consider yourselves lucky that no Muggles saw your little stunt today.", he began, Marley internally raving with joy that she remembered right away to pull the cloaking button. She almost glared at her male friends who stupidly showed their relief with smiles.

"Don't smirk at me, Mr. Potter! Weasley! You are still being held responsible for the damage inflicted upon the Whomping Willow, which has stood on these grounds longer than all three of you have been on this Earth."

"Honestly Professor Snape...", Ron began, firing up Marley with even more unnerve, "...I think it did more damage to us-"

"Will you shut up?", the girl correctly scolded her friend in a reserved tone, a smarmy remark the last thing Snape needed to hear right now. It came unfortunately too late, as the Potions teacher had already risen from his seat, leaning threateningly onto his desk as his head closed in on the kids like a snapping turtle about to strike.

"I can assure you...", Snape addressed Harry and Ron specifically, though Marley felt no less threatened by this, "...if the two of you were of Slytherin House and your fate rested with me, you would be sent home this instant. Is that under stood?"

The boys nodded at first, though immediately realized the danger their friend was in right now.

"As for you Miss Verpe...", he adjusted his cloak before continuing, the girl beginning to quiver as her friends feared for her future, Harry especially, "...I am more than a little disa ppointed by your actions. Your continued associ ation with Mr. Potter seems to have had a negative effect on your behaviour."

"But, Professor-", Harry interrupted, this time gaining him no negative reaction from Marley.

"SILENCE!", Snape... well, silenced him, "Or should I expel you right this instant?"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that."

All turned immediately to the entrance, the bearded headmaster looking unfittingly stern, alongside another teacher.

"Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall.", Harry deducted redundantly, though the boy obviously went through some stuff today, so I won't judge him for repeating pointless information.

"Headmaster...", Snape began in a strangely submissive tone, erecting his arm and index finger to their comical, full extend, "...these troublemakers have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. As such-"

"I'm well aware of our bylaws, Severus, seeing as I wrote quite a few of them myself.", Dumbledore calmly began, "As for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, it is up to Professor McGonagall to determine their appropriate punishment."

Which doesn't fix everything, but it's a start. Though for some reason Ronald assumed the worst here.

"We'll go get our stuff.", the boy announced in a sad tone.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?", McGonagall asked him, sounding honestly, genuinely very confused.

"You're going to expel us, aren't you?"

The old woman let out a quiet sigh, relieved to speak the following words and reassure these kids.

"Not today."

While the boys were initially excited, Harry was quick to remember that his female friend was not off the hook yet.

"But I must remind the both of you...", their House teacher continued in a more serious tone, "...that what you did today is absolutely not tolerable. I will be writing both of your families tonight. And you will receive detention."

Ron's initial joy quickly subsided at this thought.

"What about Marley?", erupted from Harry, his body language expressing pure panic.

"Miss Verpe's fate rests with Professor Snape.", Dumbledore proclaimed.

In an instant the boy turned to his hated Potions teacher, his voice trembling with anxiety as Marley watched in awe.

"Please don't expel Marley, Professor! She didn't want to come along with us in the first place, we – we made her! Please don't do this!"

By the end of his rant a film of tears had covered his eyeballs, all present in the room in shock at Harry's outburst, Marley of course most of all.

"Cont rol yourself Mr. Potter.", the man shot out like a cobra, "I am not going to expel Miss Verpe, nor was I planning on doing so, ever."

Not very surprising, though to the trio it was still a relief the size of Atlas laying down his globe for a moment.

"She possesses more talent in her little finger than the two of you combined when it comes to potion making. Expelling her would be a waste of poten tial."

Which is definitely something nice to hear for Marley, though the girl was far from smiling.

"Her parents will however also be informed via mail about today's events, and she will receive more than enough detention under my guidance. Is. That. Clear?"

Marley nodded, swallowing down a clump of dread that formed in her throat at the mention of her parents, alongside a pale face adequately reflecting her state of mind.

As the trio was finally let go and allowed to join the tail end of dinner, her look of sorrow persisted.

"Marley, what's wrong?", a worried Harry inquired as they stopped close to the Great Hall, Ron reacting rather grumpy as his empty stomach would have to wait a few seconds longer.

"This is awful. Mum and dad are going to be... well... they won't be very happy with me.", the girl timidly answered, her right hand clutching Leaghon's locket.

"Don't worry about it, Marles. At least we're not expelled.", Ron tried to sound supportive, though also came of as dull.

"You don't understand, Ron.", Marley retorted with a quivering tone, "My parents and yours are... very different."

Which is a hauntingly cryptic thing to hear, though there could not be someone more qualified to handle childhood trauma than Harry Potter.

"Well, I'll... go and catch Hermione up on everything.", Ron decided correctly.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Harry dared grabbing Marley's left hand with his own, his and her face feeling slightly warmer because of it.

"It's going to be alright, Marley."

"It won't. I already had to beg all summer just to visit Hermione. After tonight... they won't allow me to leave my room ever again."

"Don't say that. They can't do something like that"

"Of course they can.", she scoffed, sounding more and more defeated, "Didn't your uncle put bars in front of your window? My dad would do that in a heartbeat."

"And yet here I am.", he said with an arrogant shrug, inspiring his friend somewhat.

"They can't keep you as a prisoner. And they also have no power over you as long as you're in Hogwarts. I... I won't let them hurt you."

A sentence representing the straw that broke the camel's back, Marley blushing openly now, though neither she nor Harry realized it.

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise"

It took the girl a few moments to readjust after his heroic declaration, Harry wondering if maybe he had been a bit too intense.

"You're still very sweet.", was all she could muster, also not sure if the boy had been too intense or not.

"Oh, before I forget.", he switched topics as he got out his wand, their hands now no longer entangled.

"What?", she inquired curiously.

"I've always wanted to try this.", he announced with a smirk before pointing his tool directly between Marley's eyes, "Oculus Reparo."

A sharp flicking noise later and Marley's broken glasses, which she had completely forgotten about, magically reassembled to a state of being fixed. The girl took of her binoculars for a moment to admire them, Harry tossing her the cockiest of smirks.

"Harry Potter.", an angered voice called rather suddenly. He turned to find Hermione at the Great Hall's entrance, Ron behind her looking comically distraught.

"What did you two drag Marley into?! Are you CRAZY!?"

Harry rushed to apologize, Hermione having briefly slipped back into her pedantic, anti-rule-breaking persona, despite all of last year's escapades.

As Marley looked to her friends arguing amongst each other, she once again took a moment to admire her fixed glasses, which from this point on felt different.