Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Forty-One

"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because
they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."

"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Ron dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident..."

"Too bad his mother likes him," I said sadly. "I suppose we'll have to-- Oh! Cagney!"

"Bless you?" Ron said in confusion.

"Happy Ginger?" Jab said excitedly.

"Cagney!" I repeated, waving to him as he came down the train.

"Ash!" Cagney said in surprise, coming in. "How's Jab?"

Jab crawled up Cagney's leg, chattering ecstatically. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared in confusion at the scene.

"Oh, right," I said. "Introductions. Harry, Ron, Hermione: Cagney; Cagney: Harry, Ron, and Hermione." I grinned, then added, "Cagney watched Jab at Grandma'am's while I was at camp this summer. And, uh," I smiled sheepishly at Cagney. "You probably know who Harry, Ron, and Hermione are."

"Yeah," Cagney agreed, picking up Jab.

"Oh, that's good," Hermione said. "You like magical creatures?"

"Yes," Cagney replied. "After Hogwarts I want to travel and try to discover new creatures, mostly dragons."

"My brother Charlie works with dragons," Ron said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. In fact..." Ron and Cagney continued to talk about dragons. It was surprising how much Ron knew about them. Finally, Cagney said he was going to go find his other friends and, after managing to pry Jab off him, left. Jab went back into his kennel, mumbling grumpily.

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Harry bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for us to share.

Several of our other friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom. Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking "Troy — Mullet — Moran!" but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way. He noticed my green hoodie and pointed it out.

"Well, I told you I was rooting for the Irish," I said, rummaging in my trunk and pulling out my figurine of Moran. I handed it to Seamus and he grinned as he watched Moran walk around his palm. "You should've seen Ron's brother Charlie, he dyed his hair green the other day..."

After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm. Neville listened jealously to our conversation as we relived the Cup match.

"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."

"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville..."

He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum.

"Oh wow," said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.

"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box —"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."

Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Seriously, why was everyone taller than me? Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar.