Chapter 27, everybody! In which we get the kids shipped off to school….

TroyWeb, thanks for the review! Ah, glad you liked it! :D I was wondering about writing The Monster Book of Monsters like that, so I'm glad it went over well. :D

TheVoraciousBibliophage, thanks for the review! Thank you, I'm glad you like him! Love writing his snark. XD

Harry Potter © JK Rowling

Late August saw Harry seeing lots of familiar faces, chatting and eating lunch with them and discussing which classes they had that year. Dean informed him he was taking Divination, same as Ron, wondered if he'd be able to see if West Ham would win that year.

From what Ron had told Harry (which he had heard from his grandmother), Divination was something you either had or did not, and he and Dean both agreed that if nothing came of it he'd see about fluffing through it for the year and then asking about changing to something else.

Luna was as Luna as ever, with Mauve a few inches longer and looped around her neck like an untied scarf. Harry introduced her to one of the Enchanting Everyday Ware's umbrellas, which kept the user dry from head to toe when open and always showed clear skies through the canopy, gave it to her with the statement that it was a early or late birthday gift, depending on how she wanted to swing it. Which was how most of his encounters with friends went, seeing as how he had been in the alley long enough to know where everything was and point everything out to everyone.

He also gave everyone his two-week's notice, and asked if maybe he could do this again next year. General consensus was that they'd see, but were open to the concept.

It wasn't until the week before September first that Harry saw Ron and Hermione, more than happy to greet them both and give them their copies of the monster books, since they were both taking Care of Magical Creatures (both books had been acclimated to people and came with a big bag of paper).

They, like all his other friends, had been apprised of how he had come to be in Diagon Alley to begin with, and they couldn't have had different reactions if they tried.

"But that's horrible!" Hermione said over Ron's laughing. "You could have gotten in serious trouble, Harry!"

"But he didn't!" Ron gasped. "Course he didn't, he's Harry Potter—I would have been sent to Azkaban for that—mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would have killed me."

Harry wobbled his head, acknowledging the situation, was more than happy to lead them on to the next topic of interest, that of Scabber's health.

"I don't think Egypt agreed with him," Ron said, holding the rat up as they headed for the nearest pet store. "He's been looking peaked for weeks."

"Maybe there's a potion for rats?" Harry asked, looking at Snips. Snips thought about it, nodded, mimed being hanged. "Maybe there's a nice potion for rats."

Snips shrugged at that, and by that time they were at the store.

"Ah, Harry!" Lana greeted, coming in from the back. "Nothing on creatures resembling your friend yet."

"That's too bad," Harry said, truthfully. "If you find anything, can you send it to Hogwarts?"

"Sure, sure…so what can I do you for?"

Ron fretted as Lana gave Scabbers the once-over, then a twice-over, then a third pass….

"Well…honestly, all I can recommend is a tonic," she told him finally. "It'll reduce most ailments of older rats…how long have you had him?"

"He's been in the family for over a decade," Ron said. "He was Percy's—my brother's—rat to start with."

"Awfully long-lived for a common garden rat," Lana said, poking at Scabbers. "But with that in mind, you'd…I hate telling pet owners this, but you're going to want to keep him comfortable while…well he's approaching the end of his life expectancy, to be honest."

Ron seemed crushed by that, and despite never having much to do with the rat Harry felt sorry for Scabbers.

The cat attacking Scabbers and then later being adopted by Hermione didn't help matters.

Dinner that night was spent with the Weasleys and hearing all about Egypt—it was good to see them again, and to see Ginny in good health and spirits.

It was odd though when Mr. Weasley pulled him aside.

"Now Harry," he told him. "I've already told my kids this several times, and I told Hermione too, but I want you to be very careful this year."

"There's not another basilisk or three-headed dog, is there?" Harry asked.

"I certainly hope not—but no. You've heard of Sirius Black by now, I'd wager?" When Harry nodded: "I want you to be careful—extra careful—until he's captured, do you understand? No going off by yourself, no hunting him down—"

"Two questions," Harry said. "Maybe three. One, why would Black come to Hogwarts; two, how would he get in Hogwarts; and three, why would I want to hunt him down?"

Mr. Weasley considered this—patted Harry on the shoulder. "Fair point. You'll be smart and stay out of trouble then?"

"I keep trying."

That night Harry gave the whole room the once over, even with Tom assuring him he'd send anything he might have missed along to Hogwarts. Packed several books in his travel tote, everything else in his trunk—debated before putting the spider plant in the tote and the monster book in the trunk, giving it an pair of Dudley's old jeans and telling it to not chew on any of his books or papers, please. It seemed content to gnaw on the faded denim, so Harry had some hope.

The morning of September first saw the Ministry of Magic providing cars for them to make the trip to King's Cross, which was cool—and the gate actually let Harry through this time, which was even better.

Goodbyes were said, luggage was loaded, everyone gave assurances that they'd behave themselves (Fred and George with their hands behind their backs, fingers crossed), and soon enough the train was leaving the station.

Which left them with the issue of finding an empty car—or maybe one with friendly faces in it.

Fred and George quickly dispersed, as did Percy, who at the very least had Prefect duties. Ginny disappeared in the other direction, seeking out her friends, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left trying to find a car that wasn't standing room only.

It was surprisingly difficult, considering this was most likely a magic train.

They finally gave up, settled on a cabin that was otherwise unoccupied but for a man curled up in the corner and sleeping. Snips growled and tugged on Harry's hair, pointing away from the cabin.

"We can't, Snips—we've been up and down the train twice now, everywhere else is full."

Snips sighed heavily, made Harry sit in the corner farthest from the sleeping stranger, flitted down to his leg to glare at the man and silently growl the whole time.

"Wonder who this guy is," Ron mused.

"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione reported.

"How do you—how did she know?"

In response, Hermione pointed at the trunk overhead. "His name is on the trunk. And since we're in need of a Defense teacher again…."

"Ah." Ron peered at the man. "Doesn't seem all that sturdy."

"Ron."

The man stayed resolutely asleep through most of the train ride though, from the lunch trolley trundling by through several rounds of chess and then through a long discussion about the book Hermione had given him, The Fellowship of the Ring.

"If this shows up in Muggle Studies, can I borrow it?" Ron asked, having spent most of that round of chess listening in and stealing Harry's pawns while he was distracted (and offering points where what Tolkien wrote differed from the actual magical creatures).

"I don't think it'd be covered this early," Hermione offered. "The Hobbit, maybe, but not this."

Really, the trip was quite pleasant right up until the Dementors decided they wanted a ride.

When Harry came to, it was to find everyone hovering concernedly over him and the now-awake Defense professor offering him chocolate before heading to the front of the train. From the rippling conversation, no one had had a pleasant experience with the Dementors, although Harry was the only one who had fainted.

This quickly became the top headline.

Harry ducked his head at the chatter rippling up and down the students as they made their way off the train and to the carriages—apparently everyone had heard about him fainting on the train. Although Malfoy's attempt at belittling him was cut short by Snips diving for him, hissing and spitting the whole way.

He returned to Harry just as they were reaching a carriage, landing on his shoulder and wiping his beak.

"You really shouldn't be biting Malfoy," Harry pointed out, climbing in.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Don't know what kind of germs that git's got."

"Ron," Hermione sighed.

Getting sidelined by the teachers before they could even reach the Great Hall only compounded the problem, as did Madame Pomfrey being in the room.

"Could you not even wait until term started?" she asked, examining Harry and handing him another bar of chocolate.

"I was actually kind of hoping I could skip the hospital wing this year," he sighed.

"I was too—we don't grant bonuses for frequent visitation, Mr. Potter."

He and Ron were dismissed after the adults were assured they were fine, although Hermione was further detained by Professor McGonagall.

"We're just needing to discuss her schedule," McGonagall said, waving them off. "Go take your seats, she'll be with you in a moment."

They hastened to do so, managed the Great Hall in record time. Neville spotted them—stood and waved, prompting them to run over and sit next to him.

"What'd we miss?" Ron asked.

"Just the sorting—it was a good year for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Where's Hermione?" Neville asked, looking back at the door.

"Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to her about something," Harry said, looking. "But she should be—yeah there she is."

Hermione scurried over and sat down, tucking something under her sweater.

"So what did Professor McGonagall want to talk to you about?" Harry asked.

"Just how to budget my time this year," Hermione said. "I have a planner and everything. Pass the potatoes."

That felt like there was more to it, but Harry didn't have the energy to question it. Dinner was a blur, and he was going to have to ask Percy about the password again, because he didn't quite register it.

He did, however, make time to put the spider plant on his bedside table (Neville gave it a once-over and declared it healthy, told Harry they could discuss it over breakfast tomorrow), let his monster book out (it was still happily teething on the jeans), and make sure Hedwig and Snips were settled in before collapsing into bed himself.

Travelling really shouldn't be this exhausting.