Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 156

The previous night, Crookshanks had showed up at the Burrow out of nowhere, looking fluffier and more playful than ever before. Jenna was happy to see Harry again, but she couldn't deny that she had missed Hermione too.

The next morning, Crookshanks went into her cat basket and Hermione closed its door with a knowing smile at Jenna which went unnoticed by the others. There was a rush in the house that day as everyone got ready to leave for King's Cross station.

     "Au revoir, 'Arry," said Fleur, kissing Harry good-bye as they all stood outside the Weasleys' house.

     Ron hurried forward hopefully, but Ginny stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in the dust at Fleur's feet. Jenna wanted to snort with laughter if only she could as she watched Ginny admirably through the cat basket. She noticed that the red haired girl had grown more beautiful and more fierce than ever before.

     "Nice one," Lexi chuckled, fist-bumping Ginny as Ron hurried into the car without saying goodbye, red-faced and dirt-spattered.

    Despite being in her cat form, Jenna tried looking around cautiously, searching for any sign of trouble, even though there wasn't much she could do as a cat.

     Under Dumbledore's orders, Ministry cars were going to get them to King's Cross for more safety. Once they arrived, Aurors in dark Muggle suits moved forward the moment the cars stopped, escorting them through the station.

     "Quick, quick, through the barrier," said Molly hastily. "Harry had better go first, with —"

     She looked at one of the Aurors, who nodded briefly and tried to seize Harry's upper arm. Jenna tensed for a moment, glaring at the man with her large yellow eyes through the holes of the basket, as she was being carried by Hermione.

     "I can walk, thanks," said Harry irritably, jerking his arm out of the Auror's grip and quickly pushed his trolley directly at the solid barrier.

    The rest of them followed him through as well, finding themselves moments later in platform 9 3/4.

     "You'd better get straight on the train, all of you, you've only got a few minutes to go," said Molly, consulting her watch. "Well, have a lovely term."

     "Mr. Weasley, can I have a quick word?" said Harry, causing everyone to look at him curiously.

     "Of course," said Arthur, who looked slightly surprised, but followed Harry out of earshot of the others nevertheless.

    Jenna then sharpened her ears, trying to listen to their conversation while Hermione was saying goodbye to the Weasleys. Her hearing senses heightened each time she was in her cat form.

"When we were in Diagon Alley," Harry began, but Arthur forestalled him with a grimace.

"Am I about to discover where you, Ron, and Hermione disappeared to while you were supposed to be in the back room of Fred and George's shop?"

They what!? Jenna thought to herself in horror, her yellow eyes widening.

Harry stared back at Arthur in surprise. "How did you — ?"

"Harry, please. You're talking to the man who raised Fred and George."

"Er... yeah, all right, we weren't in the back room."

"Very well, then, let's hear the worst."

"Well, we followed Draco Malfoy. We used my Invisibility Cloak."

Jenna had to hold back the urge to shake her head at those words. Harry was so much like James, specially when it came to causing trouble with the use of her father's old Invisibility Cloak.

"He went into Borgin and Burkes," Harry went on, "and started bullying the bloke in there, Borgin, to help him fix something. And he said he wanted Borgin to keep something else for him. He made it sound like it was the same kind of thing that needed fixing. Like they were a pair. And..."

Harry took a deep breath.

"There's something else. We saw Malfoy jump about a mile when Madam Malkin tried to touch his left arm. I think he's been branded with the Dark Mark. I think he's replaced his father as a Death Eater."

Arthur looked taken aback. After a moment he said, "Harry, I doubt whether You-Know-Who would allow a sixteen- year-old —"

"Does anyone really know what You-Know-Who would or wouldn't do?" asked Harry angrily.

Jenna had to agree with Harry on this one, knowing better than anyone else that it wasn't strange for a sixteen-year-old boy to join Voldemort. After all, Regulus Black had been the same age when he had become a Death Eater.

"Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry, but isn't it worth investigating? If Malfoy wants something fixing, and he needs to threaten Borgin to get it done, it's probably something Dark or dangerous, isn't it?"

"I doubt it, to be honest, Harry," said Arthur slowly. "You see, when Lucius Malfoy was arrested, we raided his house. We took away everything that might have been dangerous."

"I think you missed something," said Harry stubbornly.

"Well, maybe," said Arthur unsurely,  but before Harry could speak again, there came a whistle behind them; nearly everyone had boarded the train and the doors were closing.

"You'd better hurry," said Arthur, as Molly cried, "Harry, quickly!"

Harry hurried forward along with Hermione and Ron as Arthur and Moly helped them load their trunk onto the train. Ginny and Lexi had already boarded.

"Now, dear, you're coming to us for Christmas, it's all fixed with Dumbledore, so we'll see you quite soon," said Molly through the window, as Harry slammed the door shut behind him and the train began to move. "All of you, please make sure you look after yourself and stay safe!"

They all waved until the train had turned a corner and Molly and Arthur were at last lost to view. Harry then turned around and motioned to Ron and Hermione to follow him up the train's corridor, looking for an empty compartment.

"We can't, Harry," said Hermione, looking apologetic. "Ron and I've got to go to the prefects' carriage first and then patrol the corridors for a bit."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," said Harry. "I'll see you later, then."

Ron gave him a sad smile before he followed Hermione away, who was carrying Crookshanks's basket with herself and leaving Harry and Lexi behind.

Although before they were gone, Jenna could see through the holes of her basket that Harry was now looking over at Ginny's direction, who was a little way along the corridor, chatting to some friends. He made his way toward her, dragging his trunk, with a familiar look of longing in his eyes.

Jenna knew that look very well, which warmed up her heart. It didn't take a fool to realize that he was starting to like Ginny.