Chapter 7: Summer's End and the Term Begins
Claire, Hermione, Harry, and Ron headed downstairs for dinner. When Claire sat down at the dinner table, she noticed her father was missing.
"Mum, where's Dad?" Claire asked her mom.
"He went back home." Carina said. "He's working on something."
"What is he working on?" Claire asked.
"You'll find out soon enough. But he'll be there to see you off on the train." Carina said.
The rest of the dinner was filled with various conversations. Dinner soon ended and Harry went over to talk to Sirius and Carina about his scar hurting. When he finished, they seemed very concerned.
"And this started just before the Cup?" Sirius asked.
Harry nodded. "It was actually the morning of the Cup."
Carina and Sirius shared a worried look.
"Harry," Carina began. "If this happens again, tell us immediately, alright? With all these strange occurrences going on, I can't help but feel that this isn't a coincidence."
"Or if it happens when you're at Hogwarts, go straight to Dumbledore." Sirius said.
"Alright," Harry said.
Just then, Percy appeared from the fireplace in the kitchen and walked into the living room where everyone else was sitting.
"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them importantly as he collapsed on the couch in the living room. "I've been putting out fires all day. People have sent loads of Howlers to us, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."
"Why are they all sending Howlers?" Ginny asked, who was mending a copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.
"Complaining about security at the World Cup," Percy said. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."
"Sounds like he's trying to con the Ministry out of money," Claire said.
Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner and sighed when she saw that Mr. Weasley's hand, which was the longest, was still pointing at work.
"Did your father say when he'd return?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"He said to expect him home late. Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" Percy said. "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first—"
"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" Mrs. Weasley said, flaring up at once.
"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," Bill said, who was playing chess with Ron. "Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"
"Well, it is a bit long, dear," Mrs. Weasley said gently. "If you'd just let me—"
"No, Mum."
"Well, Molly," Carina said. "I think we'll be leaving."
"Alright, Carina. We'll meet at the Platform, right?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Carina nodded.
Claire and Harry went over to Carina and Sirius.
Claire hugged her mum. "Bye, Mum. See you September first."
Claire then hugged Sirius. "Bye, Uncle Sirius. Do you think the Ministry will let you see us off?"
"We're working on that at the moment, but if I don't get to see you then have a good term and be sure to stay away from the boys." Sirius replied.
"That'll kinda be hard considering Harry and Ron are my friends." Claire said.
"They're an exception." Sirius turned to Harry. "And Harry you have a good term as well and if you ever need tips on girls you know who to talk to."
"Wait hold on a second," Claire said. "I have to stay away from boys, but Harry can go after girls? That's completely unfair, isn't mum?"
"Sorry, dear," Carina said. "I agree with Sirius on this one for a change. You're too young to be dating."
"But she already has a boyfriend," Ron said, causing Harry to frown and Sirius to give Harry a curious look before talking to Harry in hushed tones.
"What?" Carina exclaimed.
"Thanks, Ron," Claire muttered angrily.
"Since when?" Carina questioned.
"Since last year," Claire answered. "But we're not together anymore. At least, I don't think we are."
Carina raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"It's complicated. Anyway, have a safe trip home, bye!" Claire was about to leave, when her mum grabbed her arm.
"Hold on, young lady," Carina glared at her daughter. "I'm not done talking to you. When were you going to tell me this?"
Claire shrugged.
Carina sighed. "You know, this means we're going to have to have a talk, right?"
"Isn't that what we're doing now?" Claire said.
"No, the talk," Carina said, starting to look a bit uncomfortable.
"Oh no, I'm fine. I've already had that talk with Mrs. Weasley last year and I'm not going through that again," Claire said.
"Oh ok," Carina said, looking relieved. "Good. Alright, Sirius, you ready to leave?"
"Sure," Sirius said, walking over to the fireplace.
Claire noticed that Sirius had just been talking to Harry in hushed tones. However, she failed to see the light blush that was on Harry's cheeks.
Carina disappeared into the fireplace in green smoke. Sirius grabbed some of the Floo powder by the fireplace and before he stepped in, turned facing Harry and said, "Don't forget what I told you, Harry." He then vanished in green smoke.
"What was that about?" Claire asked Harry.
"Uh—" Harry stuttered.
It was luck that Harry was interrupted by Mrs. Weasley telling them to go to bed at this very moment.
The final weeks of summer holidays passed by quickly. Mr. Weasley and Percy were barely seen at home during these weeks. (Of course, the twins, Claire, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry didn't mind that Percy was gone.) One afternoon, Mr. Weasley and Percy returned home from pulling an all-nighter at work. They were completely warn out and talked about how Rita Skeeter had taken the liberty of ferreting around the Ministry searching for more of their mess-ups to report.
"Now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing." Mr. Weasley said. "No doubt that'll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."
"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks," Percy said swiftly.
"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," Mr. Weasley said irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."
"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" Percy said hotly.
"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!" Hermione said angrily.
"Hermione." Claire said warningly.
"Now look here, Hermione!" Percy said. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants-"
"His slave, you mean!" Hermione said, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"
"Fred! George! What are you two up to?" Mrs. Weasley said sharply, her eyes on the twins sitting in the far corner of the living room, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.
"Homework," Fred said vaguely.
"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Fred was looking over some of my Transfiguration problems," Claire stepped in, trying to spare the twins from their mother's wrath. "Since I was put in their grade level for Transfiguration, I want to make sure I'm prepared for the work. I thought since Fred managed to get an O.W.L. in the class that he'd give me some pointers. Right, Fred?" Claire turned to them and gave them a look saying 'just go along with it'.
"Yep, I always try to help those who lack brains such as mine," Fred said.
Claire held back slapping him.
"Oh, alright then. Good." Mrs. Weasley said. "For a moment there, I thought you and George were writing out a new order form and restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"Now, Mum," Fred said, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed when we get on, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that one of the last things we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"
Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley then left the room to make lunch. Mr. Weasley and Percy went upstairs to their rooms to take a nap.
"Claire, you shouldn't have lied to Mrs. Weasley like that," Hermione scolded her.
"It wasn't a complete lie," Claire said.
"Yea, I did look over her Transfiguration problems for our grade level. But I did it a few days ago." Fred said.
"So, you two really are restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Ron asked the twins.
"We will neither confirm nor deny that statement. It's confidential." George said.
"Besides it isn't any of your business, little brother." Fred replied. "So, keep your nose out of our business."
Mrs. Weasley soon called them for lunch. As they ate their lunch, the twins, Ron, and Harry decided they were going to play Quidditch after they finished eating.
"Claire," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Claire replied.
"Didn't you say there was a Muggle music store near here?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I did. It's about a mile from here. Why?" Claire replied.
"Well, since the boys are playing Quidditch, maybe us girls could go visit the store." Hermione suggested.
Claire shrugged. "I don't see why not. I haven't been there in a long time. Do you wanna come with us, Ginny?"
"Definitely. It was amazing there. Not to mention that boy who worked there was really cute." Ginny said.
Claire rolled her eyes and continued to eat her sandwich. When everyone was done eating, Claire, Ginny, and Hermione went outside.
"Where are you three going?" Ron questioned.
"We're taking Hermione to the music store in the Muggle town center nearby," Ginny said.
"Music store?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, it's really cool. There's tons of instruments and vinyls. Everything you could possibly imagine about music is there." Claire replied.
"How far is it?" Harry asked.
"About a mile," Claire said. "Do you guys wanna come with us instead of playing Quidditch?"
"What's so special about this place?" George asked.
"I told you there's instruments, vinyls, cds, cassettes, everything." Claire said. "Look if you're coming with us then you guys need to decide in the next few seconds or we're leaving without you."
The boys shared a look before shrugging and following the girls. They soon made it to the muggle village and Ron and the twins were shocked by it. Claire and Ginny had to keep them from standing out as they gawked at peculiar sights.
"Well, here we are," Claire said as they stopped in front of a store that read "Treble and Bass".
Claire led them inside and the boys were shocked like when Ginny first saw the shop.
"By the way," Claire said to Ron and the twins. "Try not to draw attention to yourselves. We don't need people suspecting anything."
The twins set off to the drum section.
"It's pretty cool in here," Harry said to Claire.
"Yeah, Claire. No wonder you came here a lot." Ron said as he saw the guitars.
Claire looked at the guitars to and her eyes caught one in particular.
"No way!" Claire went over to one of the guitars in a display case. "This guitar was signed by Kurt Cobain!"
"Really?" Hermione said curious.
The guitar was a red Fender and in the bottom left hand side was Kurt Cobain's signature.
"Who's that?" Ron asked.
"He was the lead singer of Nirvana." Claire said. "He died though."
"It costs a fortunate." Harry said looking at the price tag.
"What do you expect? It was signed by the Kurt Cobain." Claire replied.
"What are those things over there?" Ron asked pointing towards where the listening stations for CDs were.
"You put on the headphones and listen to some of the music there." Hermione said.
"What are headphones?" Ron questioned.
Hermione sighed. "Honestly, Ronald. You should think about taking Muggle Studies. C'mon, I'll show you how to work them."
Hermione led Ron over to the listening stations leaving Claire, Harry, and Ginny alone.
"I'm going to go check out what the twins are doing." Ginny said.
When Ginny left, Harry asked Claire how long she'd been coming here.
"Several years. I started coming when I was about eight or nine." Claire replied.
"Can you play any of the instruments?" Harry asked.
Claire nodded. "Yea, I can play guitar and piano. But I'm not that good at them."
"Can I hear you play something?" Harry asked.
"Sure." Claire chose one of the black Fender guitars from the rack and started playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. When she finished, she put the guitar back on the rack.
"So, yeah, that's how I play. I know it's not that great or anything but-" Claire was cut off.
"What are you talking about? You play fantastic! Did you teach yourself?" Harry said.
Claire nodded. "It's amazing what you can accomplish with a book. That's how I learned how to play guitar and piano."
"Look who's here!" said a familiar voice.
Claire turned to see Jeremy. Jeremy was the son of the owner's of "Treble and Bass".
"Jeremy, its been a while. How are you and your parents?" Claire asked him.
"Pretty good. Business is as good as ever. You haven't been here for practically two years. What's been going on?" Jeremy asked.
"Oh, there's been a lot that's happened over the past two years." Claire said.
"Well, I'm glad you're back." Jeremy then noticed Harry. "Brought another friend along to the shop?"
"Oh, yeah, this is Harry. Harry this Jeremy. His parents own this place." Claire introduced them.
Harry watched the two talk and couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealously in his stomach as he saw the way Jeremy stared at Claire as she talked. Harry's thoughts drifted back to the conversations he had with Sirius.
"Are you going to tell me why you frowned when Claire mentioned her boyfriend?" Sirius asked Harry as he glanced over to Claire who's mom was going off on her about not telling her about her boyfriend.
Harry tried to force a small smile. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sirius."
"Hmmm," Sirius eyed Harry obviously not falling for it. Then Sirius's lips curved into a sly smirk. "Am I right in thinking that my godson has a crush on my niece?"
Harry blushed. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
Sirius chuckled softly, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Alright, fine. You don't have feelings for her. But just so you know, if you ever do happen to have feelings for a girl you know who to talk to. And the number one piece of advice I can give you is, don't wait too long. Odds are that they won't wait for you forever. I know people personally who've done that and it has scarred them for life."
"Thanks, Sirius," Harry said.
"Ready to go, Sirius?" Carina called.
"Yeah!" Sirius called back. Sirius then whispered in Harry's ear, "Just so you know, if you happen to like a certain someone (Sirius subtly nodded his head towards Claire) then I would approve. However, if you hurt her don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're my godson."
And with that Sirius went to the fireplace and took some flop powder. He turned back to Harry and said, "Don't forget what I told you, Harry."
Harry snapped back into reality as he heard Claire introduce him to Jeremy. Harry's scar pricked slightly as Jeremy shook his hand. Harry had a bad feeling about this boy; and it wasn't just because of the look he gave Claire.
"Nice to meet you," Harry said.
"Likewise." Jeremy replied. Jeremy then saw people at the register. "Well, I better go ring up those customers before they burn down the place. Nice seeing you, Claire."
Jeremy left them and Claire glanced at the clock on the wall.
"It's getting late. We should go head back. Maybe we can get a game in of Quidditch before dinner." Claire suggested, making Harry instantly forget the bad feelings he had about Jeremy.
The morning of September first came too quickly for anyone's liking and the weather outside seemed to mimic the end-of-holidays gloom. Heavy rain splattered as everyone got dressed and made sure all of their belongings were packed for the term. They brought their trunks and other belongings downstairs and entered the kitchen to eat.
"Oh, Ron!" Mrs. Weasley said as Ron walked into the kitchen with Harry, Claire, and Hermione. "I have something for you."
Mrs. Weasley handed Ron a rectangular box. Ron took the box from her eyeing it curiously.
"What's this?" Ron questioned.
"Open it and you'll find out," Mrs. Weasley said as she piled eggs on their plates.
Ron opened the box and pulled out the dress robes. It looked like a long, maroon velvet dress. There was a moldy-looking lacy frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs. Ron looked at it in disgust and then turned to Hermione, Claire, and Harry.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Ron whispered to them.
Claire and Hermione tried to stifle their laughs.
"I think they're your dress robes," Harry said.
Ron looked at the dress robes in shock. "No, there's no way. Mum!"
"Yes, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.
"I think you must've given me Ginny's dress robes by mistake." Ron replied.
"Of course I haven't," Mrs. Weasley said. "That's for you."
"You've got to be kidding," Ron said in disbelief. "I'm not wearing that, no way."
"Everyone wears them, Ron!" Mrs. Weasley said crossly. "They're all like that! Your father's got some for smart parties!"
"I'll go starkers before I put that on," Ron said stubbornly.
"Don't be so silly," Mrs. Weasley said. "You've got to have dress robes, they're on your list! Which reminds me, Harry, dear, here's yours."
Harry took the package from Mrs. Weasley dreading what would be inside. However, when he opened the parcel he found his dress robes had no lace at all- in fact they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black.
"I thought they'd bring out the color of your eyes, dear," Mrs. Weasley said fondly.
"Well, they're okay!" Ron said angrily, looking at Harry's robes. "Why couldn't I have some like that?"
"Because...well, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasn't a lot of choice!" Mrs. Weasley said, flushing.
"I'm never wearing them," Ron said stubbornly. "Never."
"Fine," Mrs. Weasley snapped. "Go naked. And, Harry, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh."
Mrs. Weasley then turned back to the stove and began furiously cooking.
"You should be grateful for what your mother gave you, Ron," Hermione scolded. "Honestly, you're just as bad as Claire when it comes to complaining about dress robes."
"Well, excuse me that I don't want to wear a dress," Claire muttered.
"At least you won't have to wear something that looks like it was worn a thousand years ago," Ron said angrily.
"If it bothers you so much, Ron," Hermione began. "I suppose I could find a Transfiguration spell to see if I can fix your robes."
Ron's face lit up. "Really? You're brilliant Hermione, you really are!"
Claire and Harry noticed Hermione's cheeks tinge pink. Claire gave Hermione a curious look and Hermione waved her hand dismissively.
The fireplace then began to glow green and Mrs. Weasley rushed to the foot of the stairs.
"Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"
Mr. Weasley came bustling downstairs with a piece of parchment, ink, and quill. He bent over the fireplace as Amos Diggory's head appeared in the middle of the green flames.
"Ah, Arthur, good to see you," Mr. Diggory's head greeted. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems—please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there! It's a real stroke of luck I heard about it. I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off—if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one Arthur—"
"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" Mr. Weasley asked, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes.
Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes. "Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."
"What did the dustbins do?" Mr. Weasley asked, scribbling frantically.
"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," Mr. Diggory said. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up—"
Mr. Weasley groaned.
"And what about the intruder?"
"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," Mr. Diggory's head said, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the earlier morning? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it—think of his record—we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department—what are exploding dustbins worth?"
"Might be a caution," Mr. Weasley said, still writing very fast, his brow furrowed. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"
"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through his window," Mr. Diggory said, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."
"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out of the kitchen again.
Mr. Diggory's head looked around at Mrs. Weasley.
"Sorry about this, Molly," it said, more calmly, "bothering you so early and everything...but Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose this morning..."
"Never mind, Amos," Mrs. Weasley said. "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?"
"Oh go on, then," Mr. Diggory said.
Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, and transferred it into Mr. Diggory's mouth.
"Fanks," he said in a muffled voice. and then, with a small pop, vanished.
Mr. Weasley left the kitchen in a rush and the twins, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, and Percy came into the kitchen and sat at the table.
"Where's dad going?" Ginny asked her mother.
"Urgent call from the Ministry. Someone tried to break into Mad-Eye's house earlier this morning," Mrs. Weasley said, putting some scrambled eggs on Ginny's plate.
"Mad-Eye Moody?" George said thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. "Isn't he that nutter—"
"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," Mrs. Weasley said sternly.
"Yeah, well, Dad collect plugs, doesn't he?" Fred said quietly as Mrs. Weasley was cooking. "Birds of a feather..."
"Moody was a great wizard in his time," Bill said.
"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" Charlie said.
"Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" Fred said. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything..."
"Who is Mad-Eye?" Harry asked.
"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," Charlie said. "I met him once when Dad took me in to work with him. He was an Auror—one of the best...a Dark wizard catcher," he added, seeing Harry's blank look. "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though...the families of people he caught, mainly...and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."
Mr. Weasley walked into the kitchen in his work robes. "I'd better hurry— you all have a good term. Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King's Cross?"
"Of course I will," she said. "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."
When Mr. Weasley vanished, Carina and Sirius appeared out of the fireplace.
"Made it just in time," Mrs. Weasley said to them. "Go on and have a seat Carina, Sirius. Breakfast is ready."
"Hey, Mum. Sirius." Claire said them as they sat down.
"So, you're coming to see us off. How did that happen?" Harry asked.
"Lots of convincing. I reckon the Ministry got tired of Carina yelling at them so they decided to give in this one time," Sirius said.
"Where's dad?" Claire asked.
"He's meeting us at the Platform." Carina answered. "Don't worry, he'll be there in time."
After everyone ate breakfast, they got ready to leave. Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King's Cross Station, but Percy, apologizing most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.
"I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment," he told them. "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me."
"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" George said seriously. "I reckon he'll know your name soon."
"Hurry, kids. We have ten minutes before the train leaves." Mrs. Weasley said as she led them through King's Cross Station to Platform 9 3/4.
"We'll get there in time, Molly," Carina told her.
They soon made it to the barrier and paired everyone in groups; Harry, Claire, Ron, and Hermione (the most conspicuous, since they were accompanied by Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks) went first; they leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it...and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them.
The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of stream billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts. Harry, Claire, Hermione, and Ron set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train. They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Carina, Sirius, Bill, and Charlie. Claire said good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie. Claire then glanced around and saw her father wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"You'll see your father soon enough, Claire," Carina said noticing her daughter looking for her father.
"What are you talking about?" Claire replied. "He's not here and I won't be able to see him until the holidays."
"Actually, I think you may want to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays what with everything happening this year." Sirius said.
Claire had the feeling that they were hiding something and it was irritating her.
"What are you hiding from me?" Claire questioned.
The train whistle blew.
"You'll find out this evening, I expect," Carina said. "Now, go board the train before you miss it. I love you, Claire. Have a good term."
Carina hugged her daughter and then Sirius hugged his niece.
"Bye Sirius," Claire said.
"I'll see you at the end of term." Sirius said. "Be mindful around boys (Claire rolled her eyes) and if you decide to cause trouble, don't get caught." This earned him a slap on the arm by Carina. "Ow! Geez! I was just kidding!"
"Claire, come on!" Hermione yelled from the train.
"I'm coming!" Claire yelled and ran towards the train.
She soon entered the compartment she was sharing with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The train began to move as the pistons hissed loudly. They watched the platform disappear from view and the only sound they could hear was the thick rain pounding on top of the rain. Ron undid his trunk, pulled out his maroon dress robes, and flung them over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle his hooting.
"Am I the only one who thinks they're keeping stuff from us?" Claire said as she sat down next to Harry.
"No," Harry said.
"I didn't see your dad on the platform, Claire. Where was he?" Hermione asked.
Claire shrugged and folded her arms over her chest, leaning back against the seat. "Don't know just another thing my mom and Sirius kept from me."
"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," Ron said grumpily, sitting down next to Hermione. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what—"
"Shhh!" Claire whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. Harry, Hermione, and Ron listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.
"...Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore—the man's such a Mudblood-lover—and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do..."
Claire got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.
"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" she said angrily. "I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with his arrogant self."
"Where is Durmstrang?" Ron said.
"Well, nobody knows, do they?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows.
"Er—why not?" Harry said.
"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"But Durmstrang's got to be the same size as Hogwarts—how are you going to hide a gigantic castle?" Claire said.
"But Hogwarts is hidden," Hermione said. "Everyone knows that...well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway."
"Just you, then," Ron said. "So go on—how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"
"It's bewitched," Hermione said. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE."
"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?"
"Maybe," Hermione said, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable—"
"Come again?"
"Isn't that where you enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map?" Claire asked.
"Er...if you say so," Harry said.
"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."
"Or maybe it's because they're all cold hearted," Claire muttered bitterly.
"Ah, think of the possibilities," Ron said dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident...Shame his mother likes him..."
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 them to share.
Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. After a half hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in her Transfiguration book.
Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relieved the Cup match.
"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."
"It was," Ron said. "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," Neville said enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.
"Really Ron? You got a doll version of Viktor Krum?" Claire deadpanned.
"It's an action figure." Ron said.
"Sure, it is," Claire muttered.
"We saw him right up close, as well," Ron said. "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. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar.
"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said coolly.
"Weasley...what is that?" Malfoy said, pointing at Pigwideon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, the moldy lace cuff very obvious.
Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.
"Look at this!" Malfoy said in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean—they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety..."
"Eat dung, Malfoy!" Ron said, the same color as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly.
"So...going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know...you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won..."
"What are you talking about?" Ron snapped.
"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss chance to show off, do you?"
"Either explain what you're on about or get out of here, Malfoy," Claire said snapped.
A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face.
"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago...heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry...Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley...yes...they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him..."
Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned to Crabbe and Goyle, and the three of them disappeared.
Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.
"Ron!" Hermione said reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered "Reparo!" and the glass shards flew back into single pane and back into the door.
"Well...making it look like he knows everything and we don't..."Ron snarled. "'Father's always always associated with the top people at the Ministry'...Dad could've got a promotion any time...he just likes it where he is..."
"Of course he does," Hermione said quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron—"
"Him! Get to me!? As if!" Ron said, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.
Claire noticed this and said, "Yep, you're definitely not letting Malfoy get to you."
Ron's bad mood was continued throughout the whole journey. As they got closer to Hogwarts, Hermione and Claire went to change into their rooms. Claire and Hermione were walking back to their compartment when Hermione realized something.
"Oh no! I left my Transfiguration book in the changing rooms." Hermione said. "Go on back to the compartments. I'll meet you there."
Hermione rushed back to the changing rooms while Claire continued back to the compartment. She was walking down the corridor when someone ran into her knocking her to the ground.
"Sorry—" Claire looked up to see an angry Jason.
Claire stood up and Jason pushed past her.
"Jason, wait!" Claire said, but Jason continued walking down the corridor.
Claire sighed. What did she do to make him angry? Claire shook the thought away choosing not to deal with it for the moment.
"Claire?" Hermione appeared with her Transfiguration book in her arms. "I thought you were heading back to the compartment—"
Hermione seemed to notice the look on Claire's face. "Are you alright, Claire?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Hermione. Let's just head back," Claire led the way back to the compartments.
The Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station. The train doors opened and there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermioen bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak, Ron left his dress robes over Pigwideon, and Claire took out one of her school robes to throwing it over Jinx as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.
"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, seeing the a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform.
"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"
First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.
"I'm so glad we're not crossing the lake in this weather," Claire said fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Claire, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.
I'm so glad I was able to finish this chapter today. So what did you think of the conversation Sirius and Harry had? Do you trust Jeremy from the music store or do you think Harry's just being jealous? Why do you think the Doctor didn't show up at the platform? What about Jason and Claire meeting on the train? Why do you think Jason is mad? Thank you to everyone who votes, comments, likes, and reads these stories! It means everything to me! Somethings Aren't Meant to Be Easy just hit 1.1K and I'm thrilled! Thanks for your support!