The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for Harry’s and Evangeline’s liking. He was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts but it still was fun over at the Burrow after all.
On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry’s and Evangeline’s favorite things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed.
It took a long while to get started next morning. They were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do. Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny’s trunk to the car.
Harry couldn’t see how nine people, seven large trunks, and four owls were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. He had reckoned, of course, without the special features that Mr. Weasley had added.
“Not a word to Molly,” he whispered to Harry and Evangeline as he opened the trunk and showed them how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.
When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Evangeline, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, “Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don’t they?” She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. “I mean, you’d never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?”
Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Harry and Evangeline turning back for a last look at the house. They barely had time to wonder when he’d see it again when they were back. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she’d left her diary. By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high.
Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.
“Molly, dear —”
“No, Arthur —–”
“No one would see — this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed — that’d get us up in the air — then we fly above the clouds. We’d be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser —”
“I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight —”
They reached King’s Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station. Harry and Evangeline have caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn’t visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. It didn’t hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing.
“Percy and Arthur first,” said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier. Percy and Mr Weasley strode briskly forward and vanished. Fred and George followed.
“I’ll take Ginny and you three come right after us,” Mrs. Weasley told Harry and Ron, grabbing Ginny’s hand and setting off. In the blink of an eye they were gone. “Let’s go together, we’ve only got a minute,” Ron said to Harry and Evangeline.
Harry made sure that Hedwig’s cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier. He felt perfectly confident; this wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. The three of them bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and —
CRASH.
All three trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron’s trunk fell off with a loud thump his owl cage landing right on top of it, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig’s cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; Evangeline managed to catch her cage and trunk perfectly though; people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, “What in blazes d’you think you’re doing?”
“Lost control of the trolley,” Harry gasped, clutching his ribs as he got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd.
“Why can’t we get through?” Harry hissed to Ron.
“I dunno —”
Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching them.
“We’re going to miss the train,” Evangeline whispered. “I don’t understand why the gateway’s sealed itself —”
Harry looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ten seconds… nine seconds…
He wheeled his trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier and pushed with all his might. The metal remained solid.
Three seconds… two seconds… one second…
“It’s gone,” said Ron, sounding stunned. “The train’s left. What if Mum and Dad can’t get back through to us?”
“I guess we have to teleport there then” said Evangeline with a sigh. “It’s no fun compared to the train, but better than not going at all.” She then helped them to teleport to school.
Everyone was astonished that they arrived early, but when Ron, Harry and Evangeline explained, they felt it fishy that they weren’t able to pass through the barrier but let them go anyway since they did not break any rules. They, however, had to explain everything to Hermione, who was worried sick when they did not appear on the train.
