Chapter Two
Harry slept uneasily, flashes of the war frequenting his mind and disturbing his rest. The next day was a blur of packing and animated conversations about returning to Hogwarts. Harry didn't realize just how much he missed Hogwarts until his letter arrived.
Finally, the following morning, the time came for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to head off. Since they were all of age, they decided to Apparate to King's Cross on their own, with much protest from Mrs. Weasley.
Harry felt himself relax when he stepped onto the Hogwarts express. Ginny left to find her friends and Hermione headed off to the Prefect's cabin, leaving Ron and Harry to find an empty carriage. They found Neville and Luna in the back of the train and joined them.
"So how was your summer?" Harry asked the pair once he had settled into a seat.
"Oh, it was wonderful," Luna said with a dreamy smile. "Dad and I went to Canada in search of Crumple Horned-Snorkacks."
"Did you find any?" Ron asked, trying to keep the smirk off his face. No one but Luna and her dad believed that the Crumple Horned-Snorkack even existed.
"No," she said, not looking at all upset about this.
"What about you, Neville?"
"Oh, I just stayed home. Every Time I tried to leave the house, I was surrounded by photographers and interviewers," he told them, wide eyed. "It was a nightmare."
"Tell me about it." Harry smiled. Even though Neville wasn't quite as much of a media sensation as The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry still saw quite a few articles gushing over Neville and his slaughter of Nagini.
"I don't know how you handle it Harry. I don't think I could ever get used to that kind of attention." The train lurched forwards as it started to move. "Although, it wasn't all bad. I convinced my Gran to let me build a miniature greenhouse in the backyard."
How Neville found Herbology so interesting was a complete mystery to Harry, but he was glad that his friend was happy. They continued talking, with Luna occasionally looking up from her edition of The Quibbler to make an odd remark, until the trolley came along and they bought enough sweets to choke a horse. Hermione came in some minutes later, and Neville and Luna were happy to hear about her appointment as Head Girl.
Darkness fell over the train as day turned to night, and soon the five students were conversing about the Hogwarts professors.
"So who's teaching Transfiguration then?" Neville asked.
"I'm not sure." Hermione wrinkled her brow. "I don't know if there's any sort of official rules that forbid Headmasters from teaching classes."
"I just hope we have a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Ron said gloomily.
The Hogwarts students had never had the same DADA professor two years in a row. This year would be no exception.
The rest of the train ride passed in a blur of chocolate frogs and laughter. They changed into their school robes and stepped out of the Hogwarts express. All the laughter stopped as soon as the students caught sight of the carriages.
Harry glanced around, wondering what could possibly be rendering his classmates dumbstruck before he remembered the Thestrals: the black winged horses one could only see after one had witnessed death. He had been seeing them since fifth year, after the murder of Cedric Diggory, but he realized that after the battle of Hogwarts, most of his friends would be able to see them for the first time.
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Harry Potter and The Boy Who Had No Choice
Fanfiction"Face it Malfoy, you're a bloody coward." Harry's smile was gone, replaced by a menacing scowl. While he was talking, he had made his way back to Malfoy, who was now standing in front of him, seething with anger. "I. Am. Not. A. Coward," Malfoy sa...
