"I'd watch my language if I were you, Robins" said a voice. Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his usual cohorts Crabbe and Goyle.
"Yeah well, you aren't, so tell us what you want or fuck off!" Amy snapped at him bravely.
"You lot better watch your manners, or I'll have to put you in detention. "You see, I, unlike you guys, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."
"Yeah," said Harry, "but you, unlike us, are a git, so get out and leave us alone."
We all laughed. Malfoy's lip curled.
Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" he asked.
"Shut up, Malfoy," said Hermione sharply.
"I seem to have touched a nerve," said Malfoy, smirking.
"Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line."
"Get out!" said Hermione, standing up. Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and departed, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in his wake.
Dogging your footsteps, surely that couldn't mean what I thought it did? Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them and turned to look at us. We knew at once that she, like us, had registered what Malfoy had said and been just as unnerved by it.
"Chuck us another Frog," said Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing.
I decided to change the subject and ease everyone's nerves by saying "Has anyone ever heard Crabbe or Goyle speak? Because I sure haven't"
Harry thought for a moment, then laughed "you know what, I don't think I have" Everyone else shook their heads.
The weather remained undecided as we traveled farther and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a halfhearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more.
"We'd better change," said Hermione at last. She and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests. At last the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this; they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving the rest of us to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon. "I'll carry that owl, if you like," said Luna to Harry, reaching out for Pigwidgeon. "Oh — er — thanks," said Harry, handing her the cage and hoisting Hedwig's more securely into his arms.
Demelza, Amy and I were carrying our own owls, Placy, Hector and Savannah respectively.
As we were walking down the platform, we saw Avery, Mulciber, Yaxley, Sarah, and Andreas Selwyn, Avery's boyfriend, emerge from a carriage just ahead of us.
Demelza immediately grabbed hold of Amy and I "Whatever they do, just don't react and keep walking" she hissed.
To our surprise however, the five of them didn't engage with us and just kept walking ahead.
"That's weird, but a nice surprise I guess" I said
"Yeah, makes for a good change, them not antagonizing us on sight" said Amy
"Umm, girls" said Stefan, pointing at our owls.
We noticed that our owls were expanding at an alarming rate, and Demelza quickly cast Reducio on all three of them. Ahead of us, the dark 5 laughed.
"Fucking wankers!" I said agressively
Amy fired a Stunning spell at Mulciber's back, but it missed and hit a low hanging light, which exploded.
"Reparo" Demelza muttered as she passed "honestly what is it with you!" she hissed to Amy
"Can you really blame me?!" Amy replied
Demelza bit her lip and shook her head.
It was at this point that we noticed we weren't hearing Hagrid's usual call of "firs' years, first years over here please!"
Instead a quite different voice, a brisk female one, was calling, "First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!"
A lantern came swinging toward us and by its light we saw the prominent chin and severe haircut of Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry said out loud.
"I don't know," I said
Once we'd gotten a carriage together, I said "Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman? What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"
"He better not have" said Harry, "the last thing I need is one of the few people who believe me to be gone"
Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy up the road. When we passed between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds, I told Harry to try and see whether there were any lights on in Hagrid's cabin by the Forbidden Forest, as he was on that side of the carriage, but the grounds were in complete darkness.
"Can't see a thing" he said, frustrated.
Hogwarts Castle, however, loomed ever closer: a towering mass of turrets, jet-black against the dark sky, here and there a window blazing fiery bright above them. The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of the carriage first. The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast. The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky we could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again we noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as he passed; Harry gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared.