Menacie

Chapter - 17 : Under the Starry Sky

"Yes. Yes I am." Ava replied.
"Wow! How does it feel having so many voices in your head?" Hermione was fascinated.

"It's not so bad now. I can just shove them all in the back of my head till I decide to focus on any particular one."
"Curious," said Hermione. "Which other books have you read?"

"A fair few. But I like Hogwarts : A History the best." Ava answered
"No way! So do I!" agreed Hermione. "Do you want to go to my compartment and talk some more?"

"Sure! I'd love that! Let me just quickly put back my clothes." Ava was excited - she'd made another friend! So the count was up to 4 people! She's never had more than one friend at a time and it was always her sister.

The next half hour or so, the two girls spoke in such sync that it would seem as though they were reading each other's mind (Ava was not listening to Hermione's thoughts for she was busy listening to her own).

Half an hour later, Ava made her way back to her compartment only to see Draco and the two blobs were almost on the verge of fighting in hand to hand combat with Harry and Ron - THE YEAR HADN'T EVEN BEGUN YET!

"What's going on here?" Ava almost shouted. At the same time, Scabbers bit one of the blobs who shook his hand till the poor rat got knocked out. She saw the horror on Draco's face for her being a witness. So he scrammed. The two blobs followed.

Harry explained to Ron about the short meeting with Draco at Madam Malkin's. Hermione had caught up with them at this point and she lectured them briefly on not being childish and getting into fights. Annoyed, Ron asked the girls to leave the compartment while the two of them changed.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." a voice echoed through the train leaving their stomachs lurching.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform.

A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Ava heard a familiar voice, "Firs'-years! Firs'-years, over here! Alright there Ava, Harry?"

Hagrid's big hairy face boomed over the sea of heads as they nodded.
"C'mon then, follow me - any more firs'-years? Mind yer step now! Firs'-years follow me!"

Stumbling and slipping, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that it seemed as though there must be thick trees there.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a second," Hagrid called over hood shoulder, "jus' round this bend 'ere."

There were loud sounds of exclamation as the children saw, perched atop a high mountain on the other side, a vast castle with many turrets and towers; it's windows sparkling in the starry sky.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Harry, Ron and Ava were followed by Hermione in their boat.

They moved forward till they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.

They clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass, right in the shadow of the castle.

Hagrid raised his gigantic fist and knocked three times in the castle door.

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Woopdee do! I'm happy for no apparent reason today! XD
But I'm going and visiting a few family members (all safe, don't worry!) and I'm going to be seeing them after so long! And I'm excited cause my Great Aunt always makes my favourite food! Eeeep!

Anyways! I hope you enjoyed today's chapter! Comment, vote, share and follow (I literally stalk everyone's pages for no apparent reason, lol)!

Always,
Ana