Mr. J Clift Normal Mr. J Clift 1 2 2003-08-07T21:57:00Z 2003-08-07T21:59:00Z 9 5162 23748 Private 329 85 36138 9.2720 120 1152x882
Standard Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to: Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, and Raincoast Books, and Warner Brothers, Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The only things owned by the author are the plot and any character's not previously mentioned in the Official Harry Potter books, all else are property of J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers Inc.
Chapter Four - Another Riddle
Early on the morning that Harry and his friends were to return to Hogwarts, Harry was the first to awaken. In fact he had always been the first to leave the comfort of slumber, ever since his birthday. He used to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, pull his invisibility cloak over his head and sneak into Ginny and Hermione's room. He used to stand there watching the two girls in his life sleep peacefully. Hermione always had her nose scrunched up in a way that made Harry's heart flutter, and Ginny looked like a sleeping angel.
Before they stirred Harry crept silently downstairs into the kitchen. There he found Dobby already up and about preparing Harry's breakfast. "Dobby how come you always have food ready for me when I wake up? I mean how do you know when I'm gonna get up?" he asked the elf politely. "Dobby knows when Master Harry is awake sir because Dobby is an elf and you is Dobby's master. It is the way of house-elves Master Harry to be magically linked to their masters. Dobby knows this too well after his last family. Bad wizards they were!"
"I know they are Dobby, you don't have to tell me how bad they are because I know first-hand. And Dobby," replied Harry, "stop calling me master. You're my friend so call me Harry, like my other friends do." "Yes Mast- err, - Harry." Suddenly Dobby walked over to the kettle brought it level with his eyes and started to bash his head on it, causing himself to screech loudly with pain. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Mustn't say Master anymore!"
Harry, with years of Seeker enhanced reflexes, saw what Dobby was about to do before he'd even started to move. Reaching the elf just after he'd hit himself in the head for the third time, Harry whisked the kettle from the elf's hands. "Dobby you've got to stop doing that! You don't have to keep punishing yourself like this."
"Dobby knows this sir, but sometimes Dobby forgets he works for a good wizard now. Dobby thanks Harry Potter very much for reminding him."
'Well, at least he's stopped calling me Master Harry,' he thought to himself. After eating some pancakes (Harry had taken a liking to them much the same as Dumbledore) Harry set to work carefully packing his trunk with all the things that he would need for the coming year. He paused for a while, debating whether or not he should bring the pensieve and the dragons hide clothes, eventually deciding to bring them with him. 'Just in case' he told himself.
The last thing he packed was the present he had received from Remus and Sirius. Wondering what wonderful knowledge it held Harry took his wand, tapped the parchment and said "I so solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Immediately words spilled onto the page. Harry picked up his wand and tapped the section that read 'Practical Hexes.' Like every other time Harry had done this over the past month the parchment was wiped of all words except for the title of the section, which reappeared at the top. Below this were the twenty-six letters of the alphabet and a box with the words 'What curse do you wish?' beside it. Reaching into his trunk and pulling out his quill and a bottle of ink, Harry wrote into the box.
'I wish to find a curse that will cause the cursed to turn into a ferret every time a single word is said.'
A few seconds later a short paragraph appeared; details on how to perform the curse properly, how to defend against it, and an example of how it worked. At the end of the text was the name Padfoot. It seemed that the Marauder's had managed to do almost every curse they'd written about. They'd even managed to create photo of their unlucky victims. More often than not the curses signed off with a note by Padfoot, such as the one Harry had just read about, showed how the curse worked on one particular wizard by the name of Severus Snape.
Hours had passed when Harry found himself pushing his trolley with his trunk and Hedwig's cage towards the barrier separating Platforms Nine and Ten. With Ron by his side, Harry casually walked towards the wall, and was busy staring at a pigeon that had just collided head first into a train window when he stepped through and found himself staring at a red steam engine that Harry always associated with one thing. Home.
Saying goodbye to Molly and Arthur, Harry got onto the train and went to his usual compartment. As he was about to put his trunk into the luggage rack the catch came undone and the lid opened. Luckily nothing fell out, although Harry did notice the cloak from Hagrid on top. Harry felt the hair rise on the back of his neck and decided quickly that he would wear his present underneath his school robes. He was just pulling his school robes on when Hermione and Ron came in followed closely by a cat the size of small tiger and a large black dog. The dog lazily wandered into the compartment jumped onto Harry's seat and fell asleep.
"What's Snuffles doing here? I thought he was supposed to stay at the Burrow until I get to Hogwarts?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. Snuffles just snored in his sleep. "Oh, didn't you see? Professor Dumbledore apparated onto the platform and came over to us. You must have already been on the train. He told Snuffles to go with you everywhere this year," said Hermione.
"What, another protector? He already told Dobby to watch over me, now Snuffles!" exclaimed Harry. He was tired of people trying to wrap him in cotton wool. If he could face the most powerful dark wizard of modern times and survive not once but on three separate occasions, then he should think that he could look after himself at school for another year. It wasn't as if he was utterly defenceless, afterall he'd learnt more about curses in the past month thanks to his present from Remus than he learnt in a whole year with Professor Moody, or rather Barty Crouch Junior posing as Professor Moody.
"Hey! There's no need to get on your high horse with us Harry! Haven't you heard you're not supposed to shoot the messenger!" answered Ron, just as angrily.
"I'm sorry guys, its just you would think Dumbledore'd let me go one train journey without someone looking after me. I mean come on, Ron and me took a flying car to Hogwarts and nothing bad happened." Then again that wasn't entirely true, but Harry was too busy being angry to care.
"What! What the hell d'you mean 'nothing bad happened'? Muggles saw us, we crashed into the Whomping Willow, I broke my wand, and we nearly got expelled! If that's not 'bad' I don't know what is mate!" Ron was livid.
"You want bad? How about you're going around a maze looking for a trophy. When you get within walking distance of it you see your rival running for it. Suddenly your attacked by a giant spider and the next thing you know you've got a broken leg and your opponents standing over you with a wand in his hand after just stunning the spider! Then you both end up grabbing hold of the trophy only for it to turn out to be a portkey, which takes you to a graveyard. Next thing I know Cedric's laying spread-eagled on the ground deader than a dodo. I came face to face with the most powerful dark wizard of all time and he's reborn from the blood he took from my arm! Is that bad enough for you!" Harry was practically screaming. His face was red, his throat raw and tears were streaming buckets down his face.
Both Ron and Hermione were shocked. They had never seen Harry so angry before. In fact Harry had never been angrier in his life. What really scared his friends though was that Harry's voice had deepened and his eyes were glowing with an inner fire. The compartment had literally rumbled with the sound of Harry's voice. Snuffles still snored loudly - unaware of what had just happened - and Crookshanks was curled up in a corner, his paws over his head.
"Harry, wha - what did you do to your voice?" asked Hermione, shaking slightly. "What d'you mean? I didn't do anything to my voice, I just spoke," said Harry, his voice had returned to its usual level of quietness. Ron began, still quite shocked at Harry, "Yo - Your voice deepened Harry, and your eyes glowed. It was really weird."
Harry was mystified, 'What do they mean my voice deepened? I'm growing up aren't I? Of course my voice is going to deepen.' Eventually his anger dissipated, he couldn't stay angry for long when Hermione was around.
The rest of the journey passed without incident. Ginny and the twins joined the friend's just before lunch and remained for many games of exploding snap. The plump lady that always-brought food came rattling past the door, "Anything from the trolley dears?" she asked. After Harry had bought almost everything she left, travelling back up the train.
Later on, after Ginny had gone off to find her friends and Fred and George had long since disappeared, probably to play pranks on the Slytherins, a very pretty girl from Gryffindor came into the compartment. She had gold blonde curly hair that fell past her shoulders and hazel eyes like Hermione. Ron was dumbstruck, "Vicky! Hi, what are you doing back here?" Seeing the confused looks on Harry and Hermione's faces he whispered quickly, "I met her in Diagon Alley when Fred and George got me those robes."
"Hi Ron," said Vicky, in a surprisingly sultry voice "I've been looking for you all over the train."
Glancing quickly at Hermione, Harry mouthed 'I think we better leave these two alone.' Hermione picked up the drift immediately. "Hi Vicky, I'm Hermione and this is Harry. I'm really sorry we're not going to have the chance to talk more until we get to Hogwarts. Harry and I need to go up to the front of the train. We're prefects." Hermione said this while idly rubbing her badge and quickly grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him out into the corridor. Harry managed to quickly say, "Nice to meet you Vicky," before the door was shut in his face. Looking through the window Harry was glad he'd decided to leave when he did.
"Poor Snuffles, having to put up with that kind of thing in his presence," smirked Harry, knowing full well that his godfather wouldn't notice a thing unless the train blew up. "What about Crookshanks then?" Hermione asked the same smile in her voice.
The pair wandered briskly towards the front of the train, Hermione chatting idly about what she thought they'd be doing as prefects. Harry felt so at ease in Hermione's company that he was just basking in her presence, hardly taking notice of her words. Somehow, just being next to her made Harry feel content and happy, as if he didn't have a care in the world. He felt the troubles and bad memories of the past year just melt away. Harry had no idea what was happening to him, wasn't even sure if he wanted to admit to himself what he could be feeling.
All too soon for Harry, they'd reached the prefects compartment, guessing already who he'd find beyond the oak panelled door with the Hogwarts emblem inlaid in the centre. 'I'd bet my Firebolt that Malfoy's a prefect,' Harry thought to himself as he reached for the handle, 'Probably got Lucius to buy the governors. Again.'
"What are you doing here Potter! I knew you were the muggle-lover's favourite but I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to make you a prefect!" sneered a familiar voice as he stepped out of the corridor, Hermione by his side. 'I just won a bet,' thought Harry, 'against myself,' he remembered. A deep voice spoke up then, a voice he'd only heard once, in Diagon Alley almost three weeks ago. "Watch your mouth, Malfoy, unless of course you wish to find it attached to a Dementor!" laughed Jonathan Clift; looking resplendent in his Gryffindor robes. The girl, 'Clara was it?' thought Harry, was by his side giggling at Draco.
"Enough of this bickering," said another voice, "You know that Malfoy's a coward Jonathan. He'd never do anything to Harry. He'd be scared out of his wit's if Potter here actually accepted a duel with him." Turning to look at the speaker, Harry saw that it was none other than Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, wearing his robes, but instead of the familiar crest with a raven the shield of Hogwarts was on his breast. There just above the logo was a badge that read 'Head Boy.'
Without a single glance or snide comment, Harry noticed Malfoy and the other Fifth Year Slytherin prefect, Pansy Parkinson, stand up and sweep out of the compartment arm in arm. Turning back to Roger, Harry noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Jonathan placing his wand into his robe pocket. 'I wonder what he did to Malfoy?' thought Harry, smiling internally.
"Hi Roger," said Harry, "Mind if we join you?" "Not at all, come in and have a seat. Clara, would you mind budging up a bit so Hermione and Harry can sit down?" asked Roger politely.
"Sure, no problem. You can sit by me if you like Harry," she said, batting her eyelashes at him. Looking properly at her for the first time Harry found that she looked as familiar to him as Jonathan did. It wasn't as noticeable with her, obviously, but there was also a resemblance to Tom Riddle. 'What is it with me? Why do I keep thinking everyone looks like Tom Riddle?' Harry thought nervously to himself.
"Thanks," he muttered politely, sitting down quickly. Hermione sat down to his left and immediately entered a conversation with Roger about what the role of a prefect at Hogwarts might entail. Harry had switched off long ago, and was busy staring at Clara. In Harry's defence, she was staring back at him just as much. "I'm Harry, we met a few weeks ago. Outside Flourish & Blott's."
"Oh yes! Errr - I'm terribly sorry about what happened there, I have bad eyesight you see and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going so I really want to apologise for that," said Jonathan quickly. From the look on his face Harry could tell he really meant it. Holding his hand out for Harry to shake, Jonathan continued, "In the mix-up there we kind of didn't introduce ourselves properly. I'm Jonathan Clift, Gryffindor obviously, and this is my beautiful girlfriend, Clara Riddle from Slytherin."
Hermione let out a short gasp, only audible to Harry, as she was sitting quite close to him. Roger Davies had left a minute ago, 'Off to find some friends no doubt,' Harry surmised. He felt a nervous feeling creep into his body at the mention of Clara's surname however. 'Another Riddle? How can this be?' Harry asked himself. 'Tom was not the last Riddle,' said a voice at the back of his mind. It was the same strong voice he'd heard at Diagon Alley, the same deep mellifluous voice that was the only thing bar a golden light and the song of a phoenix he'd started remembering from the nights he'd had nightmares.
Hermione had also recognised the name of Riddle, afterall, Harry had told Ron and her everything about Voldemort that Professor Dumbledore had told him. As she wondered about the many possibilities for Clara sharing the same last name as the Dark Lord, she noticed the muscles on the back of Harry's neck tense. Hermione guessed - wrongly - that Harry was deeply shocked because of this fact alone. 'Not only has he just come to terms with Jonathan and Clara being together despite their houses, he's just been told her last name is one and the same as the man who murdered his parents,' Hermione thought.
To the outside world, and Hermione, Harry had merely paused a few seconds before replying "N-nice to meet you Clara, Jonathan." Inside, Harry was in turmoil. The momentary happiness he'd felt with Jonathan standing up to Malfoy and possibly cursing him, left him the instant Clara's name had passed the elder student's lips. Mostly, however, it was the voice in his mind that scared him. 'What does it mean?' He kept asking himself, but to no avail, as no answer was forthcoming.
Jonathan seemed to pick up on Harry's feelings, as he quickly changed the subject. "I hear congratulations are in order, Harry. I'd just like to say well done for becoming Quidditch captain. Your dad would be proud of you. Hell, all of Gryffindor'd be proud of you Harry. If you keep flying the way you do, and you're as good a captain as Oliver was, then we'll have the Quidditch Cup again this year!"
"Thanks Jonathan, that means a lot to me," said Harry, wondering just how Jonathan had found out. 'Must have talked to Fred and George, they are friends and all.'
"So that was the big secret you were keeping from me! You little snitch! Sorry Harry, no pun intended," spoke Clara, playfully knocking Jonathan in the arm. Jonathan caught Clara's hand brought it to his lips, kissed her fingers gently, and without taking his eyes from Clara, continued his conversation with Harry. "So how are things like staying with the Weasley's Harry? Fred and George are nightmares I can tell you." Again it seemed, Jonathan was reading Harry's thoughts. 'That's it' he said to himself, 'I'm not thinking another word.' Jonathan laughed quietly under his breath, which Harry barely noticed.
"Yeah they can be at times, but I love it at The Burrow. It sure beats staying with the Dursley's," said Harry, eliciting a giggle from Clara and a smirk from Jonathan. "I bet it does," said Jonathan, his deep blue eyes twinkling with an inner light. In some ways those eyes reminded Harry of Dumbledore, the twinkling and the warmth that flowed easily from them.
Hermione had also noticed Jonathan's eyes. To her they were like deep pools of light that sucked you in. She was swimming peaceably in them when the train suddenly lurched slightly on the tracks, jogging Hermione out of her semi-trance. "It was nice to talk with you Jonathan, Clara. Harry and I need to go back and get our things ready now," said Hermione. Looking out of the window pointedly, she continued "It's getting late, meaning we'll be arriving soon. Maybe we'll see each other at Hogwarts sometime." Standing on Harry's foot, she effectively brought his attention to the present, she got up and waited in the doorway for Harry to follow her.
"Yeah. I mean yeah, it was nice meeting you guys," Harry half-mumbled. "Nice to meet both of you properly," said Clara and Jonathan in unison. Waving goodbye Harry walked back along the empty corridor of the train, Hermione at his side, towards their compartment. They both were lost in thought, and with good reason considering all of the thing's that'd just happened to them.
As they neared their section of the train Harry landed flat on his back. A large black face with white teeth and huge black orbs for eyes was staring down at him. "Snuffles! Get off of me!" Harry nearly shouted. Snuffles just stayed where he was for a second before looking up and bounding away back up the corridor, the way he and Hermione had just travelled. Picking himself up Harry looked in the direction Snuffles had disappeared and laughed.
There, lying flat on their backs, were Crabbe and Goyle, their wands useless in their open hands. Again they had tripped over their own cloaks and knocked themselves out. The trip back to Hogwarts was getting better and better as the day wore on. "Thanks Snuffles," he called out, eventually reaching his initial destination.
Finding Ron asleep was one thing that Harry had gotten used to over the years as his friend. Finding him asleep with Vicky Ryan's head on his shoulder was quite another. Whispering, he quietly said to Hermione, "Do you think we should wake them?" Hermione just shook with silent laughter. She used her wand to gently lower all of their trunks from the overhead luggage trays. Crookshanks stirred lazily in the corner, his lanky ginger tail shivering slightly in the cool breeze from an open window. Intending to shut it Harry stood by the window and let the wind brush lightly against his face. Watching the landscape rush past in a tinted blue blur, he could just about see the lights shimmering in the windows of an ancient castle. An ancient castle that stood on a peninsula reaching out into a lake and surrounded by a dark and foreboding forest. At last Harry Potter had come home.
As the train pulled into the station Harry stepped off of the train into the cool night air. Sensing that something was about to happen Harry span around in time to catch Hermione in his outstretched arms. She fell heavily onto him and for the briefest of moments their lips brushed. For one instant the world stopped turning, this was the moment Harry had been waiting for, for as long as he'd known her. Harry could have sworn it was his imagination, but he thought Hermione had actually deepened the kiss. It was heaven on Earth. It was bliss. It was the most wonderful experience of his life.
It wasn't to be. The world began to spin again as Ron leaned out of the carriage and helped Vicky outside.
'Damn Ron! Why'd you have to come out right that moment?' thought Harry, glancing for a second at his friend. A flash of anger flowed through him and once again a fire came to his eyes, but Harry willed the anger away. Instantly he felt the chill as an icy gust coursed through the group of young wizards.
***
Hermione was just about to step outside when Crookshanks ran, bandy-legged, past her. She almost tripped and landed on her face, except someone caught her. As she fell she looked deeply into his emerald eyes and suddenly their lips met. Tiny bolts of electricity were running through her veins, and for a second she debated whether to deepen the kiss or not. Her body was working much quicker than her mind for once though, and before she knew it she was kissing Harry Potter, falling deeply for the 'boy-who-lived', her best friend.
To Hermione it felt as if time itself had broken. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Since she'd first laid eyes on him she'd known that somehow they were destined for each other. Their personalities fit together like a simple jigsaw puzzle; what Hermione lacked in sheer courage and bravery where all things were concerned, Harry made up for in endless bounds. What he needed was someone who knew him, and Hermione did. In that fleeting second Hermione knew every thought that was racing through his head. The pain of his parent's death; the joy at learning he was a wizard; meeting Ron; becoming Hermione's friend; the terror of Voldemort's rebirth; the guilt over Cedric's murder. All emotions left her then. She had shared an insight into the mind of her friend and was totally unprepared for the horror's he held locked within his mind.
The kiss ended far too soon for Hermione. At the moment she thought that Harry might respond in full, Ron stepped out of the carriage and helped Vicky with her luggage. Immediately both Harry and Hermione pulled away from each other but were unable to miss the looks in each others eyes. A mutual understanding flowed between them. Harry briefly turned his head towards Ron and for a second Hermione felt an aura of power surround him. She could feel the magic rolling from him in waves, feel his every cell bursting with internal power. In the blink of an eye the aura disappeared and he was back to being 'just Harry'.
***
"First Year's, this way please. Come on, fall in line there. Miss Jordan would you mind not standing so close to the tracks, wouldn't want you falling on them now," called a gruff voice that Harry didn't recognise. The girl in question stepped over towards the group of shivering children that were standing in front of a tall man, with brown hair so dark it was practically black. He had a short beard, close to his skin with flecks of white running through it. The man's face was covered in lines, the crows feet at his eyes were easily visible behind his spectacles. Harry noticed the man's eyes then and suddenly something in Harry clicked, 'Where have I seen those eyes before?'
Suddenly a tall sixth year strode into Harry's vision from the front of the train, a familiar girl on his arm. Jonathan and Clara walked towards the man taking over from Hagrid's usual role and gave him a brief hug. 'My God,' thought Harry, 'That must be Jonathan's dad.' Together with his son the bearded man walked over to the lake, the first years trailing along in their wake. Harry just watched as the young witches and wizards clambered into the boats with no oars, just watched as they soared across the unnaturally calm waters.
Just before turning away he saw in the corner of his vision the boat carrying Clara, Jonathan and his dad stop. One of the figures stood up and threw a large bundle into the watery depths, floating for a second before starting to sink as a pair of giant tentacles rose up to the surface. One slippery appendage pulled the bundle below the waves, the other reached towards the figure and shook its arm.
Thinking that this was a strange turn of events he moved his head to look closer, but what he saw didn't correlate with what he had seen a few seconds earlier. The boat was gone and there was no trace that the giant squid had ever been anywhere near the surface of the lake. 'Well that's different,' he thought silently.
Meanwhile Hermione had wandered off towards the horseless carriages, requisitioning one for herself, and made sure that all other students had been accounted for. Beckoning Harry to come over, he remembered that she had done something he had forgotten about. 'Make sure all students are accounted for before leaving the station,' Harry recalled from the list of duties McGonagall had sent with the letter. "Come on Harry, we don't want to miss the Sorting," called Hermione, a mysterious look in her eyes that Harry couldn't decipher.
'Maybe she didn't want that kiss,' thought Harry unhappily. Yet again Harry knew only that where his feelings were concerned, he had no idea what to do. 'Come on,' he encouraged himself, 'I've barely gotten over Cho choosing Cedric for the Yule Ball.' A pair of blank, grey eyes clouded his sight for a second before he willed them to disappear. He was getting better at doing this now. Barely two months had passed and he was starting to come to terms with Cedric's death.
'I know now that it wasn't my fault he died. It wasn't my fault that my parents, Mr. Crouch or Bertha Jorkins are no longer around. It all boils down to one man. One vile man undeserved of the title 'man'. It's all Voldemort's fault.'
Again Hermione beckoned for him to hurry. Stepping into the carriage he noticed that Ron and Vicky were sitting opposite each other and Hermione was talking animatedly to Vicky. "What's up mate? You look like someone stuck a wand up your nose," remarked Ron, referring to the incident in their first year where Harry had helped to stop a troll from killing Hermione by doing the only thing he could, sticking his wand up its nose.
"Don't worry Ron, it's nothing," lied Harry never taking his eyes away from Hermione's sensuous form. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He'd never believed it himself until the moment their lips had met. 'I think I'm in love with Hermione,' thought Harry, shocking himself that he'd finally admitted his deepest secret. Hermione stammered noticeably for a second, as if she'd just heard his thoughts, before continuing her conversation with Vicky.
"So Vicky, how did you meet Ron?" she asked politely, her beautiful lips shimmering in the light of the moon and the candles within the carriage. 'My God, she looks amazing.' Harry was trying to test a theory. He kept thinking of ways to compliment Hermione and tried to think only of that thought. His theory was working to a degree. Only the most beautiful forms of praise he could think of elicited a visible reaction from Hermione.
'Can she read my mind?' he asked himself. 'Only your most passionate thoughts. Your deepest feelings,' replied a voice from the deepest part of Harry's mind. Again the otherworldly tune of phoenix song resonated in Harry's mind. It was a good job that Vicky was now talking with Ron again because Hermione literally span around and faced Harry, an expression on her face that clearly radiated deep shock.
Leaning towards him she whispered, "Did you hear that voice Harry?" It was Harry's turn to be shocked. "You mean you heard the voice in my head as well?" he asked, the mist of confusion falling over him. "What do you mean, 'in your head'? I just heard a deep voice say something about thoughts and you had an expression on your face as if you heard it too."
"This is weird, Hermione. Seriously weird," said Harry, a strange feeling sweeping along his nerves, "I've been having nightmares for ages, they started about a week after my birthday I think. Up 'til recently, I haven't remembered anything about them, but now I keep having the feeling that there's a golden light, a deep voice keeps speaking to me and then I hear phoenix song. Over the past few days I've been hearing the voice while I'm awake. It answers my questions." Before Hermione opened her mouth Harry voiced the words he knew she was thinking. "I'll go see Dumbledore as soon as the sorting and the feast is over. Okay?"
"Alright Harry, you make sure you do that. In fact, do you mind if I came along with you?" she asked, trepidation slithering into her voice. Harry was always the brave one of the trio, that was obvious considering Ron's complete lack of steel when it came to spiders, but Hermione was usually cool and confident about approaching teachers. Not so when it came to the headmaster, however. Flashing a grin at her which sent tingles of electricity running through her veins again, Harry answered, "Of course you can. I need someone to hold my hand while I retell everything again."
Not long after, the carriage trundled past the gates and along the drive heralded by the statues of winged boars. There, a short distance away, were the doors to the only place Harry had ever called home.
Amazingly, although they'd been the last carriage to leave, they were the first to arrive. Walking through the grand doors, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Vicky stepped into the Entrance Hall.