^I just love Harry's expression in the picture xD
* ° * ° *
The twins went through the barrier and teleported into Platform 9 3/4. It was just as Drew remembered, with the brick walls and big shiny train.
They were early again, because Ari is an ugly bird who likes being first to eat the worm.
"Who exactly are your friends?" Drew asked her, out of curiosity.
Ari looked pleased by this question and gave Jinx a more affectionate rub. "Lisa Turpin, Sue Li, and Sylvia Svee. The last one's in Gryffindor but she's my best friend. We do everything together, why, this summer we wrote—"
"Okay," Drew broke in, "I don't need the whole plotline, just the characters, thanks."
The Ravenclaw huffed irritably and grit her teeth, but didn't say more. They waved goodbye to their mother, and once they stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, they went their separate ways.
Like always.
Drew slid open the door to an empty compartment and held it open with her foot, and pushed her suitcase in.
She was seconds away from slamming the door like a dramatic person would in someone's face, but became aware that she was actually going to slam the door in someone's face.
Cyndee Piramyd, her fourth roommate, was passing by with her trunk, and they made accidental eye contact. But this was going to be more than simply awkward if Drew wasn't careful. The door was still open, and she slowly backed off, careful not to make any sudden moves that would get Cyndee upset and Drew in trouble.
The girl outside did nothing but stare, her delicate face slowly morphing into one of terror.
"Hey," Drew said hurriedly, "I'm not gonna do anything, relax."
Her tone wasn't helping matters, as Cyndee shrunk away and covered her ears like a hamster. Then she turned so fast she was practically a tornado, and ran straight into Wilby Blue.
She screamed bloody murder, which made him shriek and drop his trunk, and it thumped heavily on the floor and frightened Cyndee even further.
But she didn't run, like you'd expect, but gradually inched away, like he was some sort of coiled predator that could sense fear.
Wilby gave Drew a questioning look, who made an annoyed gesture for him to do something.
So he opened his palms to show they were empty, and said quietly, "I won't hurt you."
His attitude was, of course, much more gentle than Drew's, and Cyndee actually calmed down visibly. She reached backwards for her trunk and shook her head, "Of course...I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, are you looking for someone?"
Trust Wilby to offer even more help.
"No, it's fine," Cyndee smiled weakly, almost like a completely different person. "I've got to go, thanks." She dragged her trunk down the hall.
Drew waved for Wilby to just sit down and leave her alone. "She's always like that," she said before he could ask. "Best to just let her be; she freaks out if there are less than five people in the room with her."
He stared at her for a moment, "There are only four people in your dorm."
"Well, when we're with her she either does homework or reads the newspaper over and over. When it's late she reads it until we're all asleep. I think it calms her down."
He looked concerned, "She isn't like that in class."
"No," she agreed, "she feels safe when there's a lot of people. Guess she thinks Millicent and Isabell and I are all going to band together and attack her one day."
The solemn expression was still on his face when a man burst into the compartment, all smiles. He wore the most flamboyant clothes known to wizard-kind, and Drew felt momentarily blinded.
"I heard a scream, is everyone all right?" he asked.
"It was one of the owls," Drew lied. She was about to tell the guy to get lost in a maze, but realized that there was a small possibility that he might be a teacher and telling a teacher to get lost wasn't a good idea.
This guy never stopped smiling though, and she didn't know any professors who did that. And it wasn't a small smile that some people have on 24/7 because they're just happy people, it was a gigantic smug movie-star that should only last long enough for a few photos.
"Oh, of course, of course," he chuckled. "I studied owls in my youth, you know. I can tell you all the hoots of all the owls of England."
"Then why did you mistake a screech owl for a scream?"
"Why, my dear, you can never be too careful! Who knows? Perhaps there's a boy running around with a screech owl scream!"
He laughed at his own joke (?), and Wilby smiled politely. This guy didn't sound anything like a teacher, and she leaned away from him. "Who are you?"
The man gave her a curious but still cheerful look, "Muggle-born, are you? No worries, here, read my autobiography! I happen to have a signed copy right here." He reached into his coat and thrusted a heavy book with his picture at her.
When she wouldn't take it, he simply shoved it into Wilby's hands, "Take this and read it, my boy. All my breath-taking accomplishments in a single page-turning action-packed autobiography."
Drew had never known a autobiography to be either page-turning or action-packed. For that to be possible it would have to be a pretty unboring autobiography.
"I am Gilderoy Lockhart," the man said, straightening up and giving them a dangerously blinding smile. "Order of Merlin Third Class, and—"
"Ew," Drew said, wrinkling her nose. "Is that really something you brag about to people you just met?"
"—and," Lockhart went on, "I won Britain's Best Dressed Wizard Award, and I'm a five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."
"More like Most Alarming."
Still, the man ignored her. "You'll know I have many other things to brag about once you read my wonderful autobiography, Magical Me, but a humble man like me can't go around boasting!"
"Right," she said, unimpressed by all his red flags. "Are you even a teacher? What are you doing on this train?"
"You haven't heard?" he chortled like she was a silly goose. "I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"
"Get. out."
"I know! It is such a wonderful opportunity for me to connect with my fans."
"No really. Get out of here."
He just chuckled. "Unbelievable, right? It's such an honour! For this school, I mean, to have me as—"
She drew her wand. "NO! Just get out! Nodigitum!"
All five of Lockhart's fingers on his right hand promptly fell off.
He yelled in horror, and Wilby gasped.
There was no blood, but it was still unnerving. The fingers looked like five fat dead worms lying on the floor.
"I...I'll just gather these up," he said nervously, bending down and retreiving his fingers. He stood up, awkwardly cramming them into his coat pocket. His smile looked forced now, "I-I'll be going now. Good day!"
He rushed out the door, muttering that he knew the exact counterjinx for his hand.
While Drew slammed the door closed, Wilby put the revolting book aside. "He was at Diagon Alley."
"Flourish and Blotts?" she asked. When he nodded, she explained, "I didn't go in. It was mega-crowded, remember? I had Ari buy my books for me. Thank the heavens I didn't have to see him any more than I had to."
So they amused themselves by writing rude messages on paper airplanes and shooting them through the window. After Drew wrote an insult, Wilby would try wiggling in a little compliment, and she had to kick him away to prevent him from drawing a happy face at the end of one.
When the train started moving along, the door burst open.
Hermione Granger was standing in the doorway, her eyes wandering around the room like she was searching for something.
"We don't have a toad," Drew told her.
"What? Oh, no, that's not what I'm here for, sorry." She was starting to sound increasingly worried, "but have you seen my friends Harry and Ron? They never showed up! Fred and George are laughing because they think they're trying to skip school, which is absolutely absurd, but WHY IS THERE A FINGER ON THE FLOOR?!!"
"Oh. Er..." Drew's hesitation horrified Hermione further, so she quickly explained what had happened with Lockhart.
"You — you jinxed his fingers off?" she looked faint. "Oh...alright," she bent down and gingerly picked it up. "I can return it to him. I saw him earlier..." she blushed and tried to pat down her bushy hair. "But never mind that, have you seen Harry and Ron?"
"No," Drew said, and Wilby shook his head.
"Ohh where are you?" Hermione muttered to herself, then marched out briskly. "Thank you."
The door slid closed.
"I'm going to take a nap," Drew announced. "I woke up at ten o'clock today, which is much too early. Buy me some Cauldron Cakes when the cart comes around."