The end of summer vacation ended to quickly. None of the children were looking forward to get back to homework so soon. Violet and Harry's month at the Burrow had been the happiest of their lives. It was hard not to be jealous when they thought of the Dursleys and what they would be expecting if they turned up at Privet Drive again.
On their last evening there, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a dinner that included Harry and Violet's favourite things. Even treacle pudding, much like the one Dobby had dropped on the floor of the Dursleys' kitchen. Fred and George ended the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks that filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced around for half an hour before disappearing. Then it was time for a last cup of Hot Cocoa and bed.
***
It took a long time to get ready the next morning. Everyone was up bright and early but they still had a lot to do. Mrs.Weasley was definitely in a bad mood while looking for spare socks and quills. People were rushing up and down the stairs, half-dressed with toast in their mouths. Mr.Weasley almost broke his neck tripping over a chicken while carrying Ginny's trunk to the car.
When they were all packed into the car, Mrs. Weasley looked back. Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Violet, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side. "Muggles actually know more than we give them credit for, who would've thought" she said. Ginny was in the front seat, which had been stretched so that it was similar to a park bench. "Just think about that. You'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?" She continued.
Mr.Weasley started up the engine and they pulled out of the yard. Harry turned back for a last look at the house. He didn't even have time to think about when he would ever see it again because George had forgotten his fireworks and had to go back. About 5 minutes later they had successfully made it to the highway when Ginny screamed out that she had left her diary. By the time they had made it back to the highway, they were running late and Mrs. Weasley's temper was running high.
"Molly, dear----"
"No, Arthur----"
"No one will see us. You see, I installed an Invisibility booster that will get us up in the air. Then we can fly above the clouds and get there in ten minutes tops----"
"I said no Arthur Weasley"
They reached King's Cross at 10:45. Mrs. Weasley quickly got the trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station.
Violet and Harry had caught the Hogwarts Express the year before. The hard part was getting onto platform 9 3/4 (nine and three quarters), which Muggles could not see. What you had to do was walk through the brick wall dividing platforms nine and ten. It was simple and painless, but you had to do it carefully so that no Muggles saw you vanishing.
"Percy" said Mrs.Weasley, looking nervously at the clock that showed that they only had 5 more minutes to board the train. Percy walked forward and vanished. Then Mr.Weasley, then Fred and George followed. "I'll take Ginny, you three come right after us," said Mrs.Weasley, taking Ginny's hand and disappearing through the barrier. "Let's all go together, we've only got a minute left" said Violet to Harry and Ron.
Harry made sure that the owls' cages were secure and turned he and Violet's trolley to face the barrier. They moved back a little, then walked quickly toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it they began to run and----"
CRASH.
Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a thump, Harry was knocked off his feet, Hedwig and Earwing's cages fell to the ground and began to roll. The birds were shrieking with fear. "Good heavens girl, what in blazes d'you think you're doing?" said a voice behind them. They turned around and saw a guard checking on Violet, who had collided into the barrier and gone unconscious for a while.
"Lost control. We...lost control of the trolleys," Violet spoke, sounding drowsy. The guard helped her to her feet, gave the boys 'the look' and went on his way. Ron ran to pick up the owls and put them back on the trolleys, people were muttering about cruelty to animals from the crowd surrounding them.
