Violet Potter and the Basilisk Plague (Year Two)

Chapter Six: The Sorting Of Ginny Weasley

So instead of taking the most responsible steps possible under the circumstances, which would have been to wait for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, or even to write an emergency letter explaining their predicament to be sent to Hogwarts by Hedwig, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley flew Arthur Weasley's Enchanted Ford Anglia all the way to the Scottish Highlands where Hogwarts was located, while finding and following the Hogwarts Express.

Little did they know the invisibility booster sometimes took at least ten minutes to be fully operational. So when at least seven muggles had noticed the Ford Anglia flying higher and higher above London, they would each have to be tracked down and have their memories magically wiped of what they saw by Special Magical Law Enforcement officers, and the mysterious flying automobile, and with it the two mysterious boys would end up in that evening's edition of the Daily Prophet.

***

It was twilight by the time the Hogwarts Express had pulled into Hogsmeade Station, and Hagrid was waiting to give the instructions. "All righ', first-years follow me to the boats, second-years and above are to follow Mr. Filch to the carriages."

Sure enough, there was Argus Filch, the unfriendly Hogwarts caretaker who had long ago made it his mission to make any young wizard or witch in training who walked the hallowed halls of Hogwarts miserable at some point or other. Filch had been one of those individuals who, after losing his brother Hermes, who was attacked and murdered by a few terrorists who were Purists, the precursors to Death Eaters, had afterward seemed to have given up on discovering any other joys in life and had since grown embittered.

On this night however, Filch actually looked satisfied about something, which Violet took to mean nothing good could have happened. "What are you looking at missy?" Filch snarled at her. "Nothing! Nothing at all, I'm just wondering if...if you're all right?" Violet asked the caretaker nervously.

"What do you care, you little pustule? I'm sure you haven't once cared whilst you were running and zooming about the castle all last year, you and your Satan-spawned friends, making your messes for me to have to clean up! It's only that there are at least two of 'em I might not have to put up with for much longer, I reckon." Filch told her, with a leering smile full of really bad looking teeth.

Tori, and Hermione had caught up with Violet and Hermione had said, "You'd better hurry Violet, if you want all three of us to find our own carriage and not be separated." And Filch snarled at Violet to just scram away from him, unless she wished to join him in his next nightly round of scouring and mopping, without using any magic. So Violet quickly followed her friends. "What was that all about, Filch is even more disgustingly unpleasent than ever! And what was he talking about, there are two of 'em I might not have to put up with for much longer, I reckon?" Violet repeated in her best impression of Filch's gravelly, cranky voice.

***

Up in the notoriously violent magical tree known as the Whomping Willow, Harry, Ron, and the car had the misfortune of crashing right into it, and they were both screaming at the top of their lungs and praying to Merlin they would somehow make it out fairly unscathed. Ron's wand however, was to be a casualty. He held it up in front of Harry. "My wand! Look at my wand!"

The wand was very much broken, the top half only hanging on by its' core. "Be thankful it's not your neck." Was all Harry could manage to say. The car began to creak and tilt backwards out of the Whomping Willow. "What's happening?" Ron squeaked and the car fell to the ground with a loud crashing noise. It automatically drove itself away from the willow, and, almost as if it were magically angry at Harry and Ron, it suddenly sprung open its' doors and ejected the boys, Hedwig, Scabbers, and all their luggage and sped off toward the Forbidden Forest.