Harry Potter And The Breeding Darkness

Chapter 15

The morning of September 1st was decidedly hectic. The Weasley's, it seemed, were biologically incapable of doing anything in a timely and organized manner. It also appeared that packing ahead of time was a foreign concept to the males of the family. Even the twins were scrambling.

Mr. Weasley had arranged for a couple of magically expanded cars from the Ministry to take them from Grimmauld Place to King's Cross station. Even with the vehicles expanded as they were, two cars were needed to accommodate not only Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Harry, but also the two Aurors, Kingsley and Tonks, Remus, Emmaline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, and a large black dog.

Sirius had taken Harry aside back at Grimmauld Place early that morning and given him a gift that he said was to make up for his shoddy gift on Harry's birthday. It was a specially charmed mirror. He told Harry that it was part of a pair and that he had the other. He would keep it on him at all times, and if Harry ever needed to talk to him, all he had to do was look into the mirror and say his name.

Harry had stowed the mirror away in his trunk and given his godfather a hug. Now the man was in his animagus form and following as the large group hurried through King's Cross station towards the barrier that lead to Platform 9¾.

The group made it with only minutes to spare before the train was scheduled to depart at 11 o'clock, and their goodbyes had to be brief. Harry had knelt down and given Padfoot a hug and earned himself a slobbery lick on the side of his face in return. Harry shook Remus' hand and gave him a significant look. Remus had nodded his head slightly, but still looked a bit ill and unsettled.

The teens finished their farewells and boarded the train. The twins went off to find Lee Jordon, while the rest found an empty compartment to stow their trunks in, Hedwig's cage, and Hermione's kneazle-cat, Crookshanks. Ron pouted as he was left behind with the pets while Harry and Hermione bid him a quick goodbye so that they could go to the Prefect meeting.

Harry and Hermione made their way to the front of the train where the prefect's car was located, directly behind the train engine. Upon entering the car, Harry's eyes were drawn to Draco Malfoy, who was relaxing in an arrogant pose, beside Pansy Parkinson, Miles Harper and Chastity Warrington, the Slytherin 6th year prefects, and Adrian Pucey, one of the Slytherin 7th year prefects. Their eyes remained connected for an instant, and Harry even let a small smirk curl his lips before his eyes darted away and he pointedly ignored the Malfoy heir.

He and Hermione sat down beside Nathan Lubbock, one of the Gryffindor 7th year prefects. Hermione greeted Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein, the two Ravenclaw prefects for 5th year and Harry gave them a curt nod.

Cedric Diggory walked into the compartment then and Harry greeted him with a smile and a nod. Diggory was apparently the Head Boy that year, and Harry congratulated him on the position. Cedric gave him a warm smile in return and thanked him. Cedric then introduced him to Patricia Stimpson, a 7th year Ravenclaw who had been made Head Girl.

The meeting quickly got underway and the older prefects began to explain to the new 5th year prefects the duties they would be responsible for during the train ride to Hogsmeade. For the first half of the journey they would need to patrol the halls, stop any fights, and lend assistance to anyone who needed it. Cedric asked the eight 5th years if any of them knew the charm for expanding the train compartments, since that was one of the most commonly requested things during the train ride. Harry, Hermione, and Padma were the only ones who knew it. Draco scowled when he wasn't able to claim that he could do it.

Cedric then demonstrated the charm for the remaining 5th years, and told them if they still couldn't do it, and they came across a group that needed their compartment enlarged to make room for more people, to just find one of the older prefects.