Home Away From Home

Chapter 1: Return To Long Halls

Harry really didn't understand why he needed four bodyguards to be escorted to the platform at King's Cross Station.

Death Eaters wouldn't risk an attack since Voldemort hadn't revealed himself yet. If Death Eater activity started up again after the scandal with Harry being deemed a liar (absolutely fucking stupid - Harry, 1995) then it would raise suspicion in the general public. Voldemort was playing the long game, one that would probably last until the end of the year. Tensions would probably snap by that point.

But, as fate would have it, Harry and his friends were being escorted by disguised members of the Order. They needed to be a bit earlier than usual since Ron and Hermione had gotten prefect badges with their stationery lists. That meant that they had to attend a meeting that started before the train left the platform. Harry had felt a little jealous that he didn't get a prefect position, but he'd forced it down so that he could be happy for Ron. Harry wouldn't have been a good prefect anyway; too many broken rules.

Padfoot bounded along beside him snapping and barking at pigeons. Harry wondered if he was doing it for fun or if he actually felt the urge to. Animagi probably adopted the habits and traits of their animals didn't they?

Hermione and Ron arrived with Mr Weasley, and Fred, George and Ginny showed up with Remus.

After boarding the Hogwarts Express he said bye to his friends and went with Ginny  to find a carriage to sit in. They found Neville in the very last carriage, he was struggling to pull his luggage and keep a hold on Trevor. Ginny squeezed past to scope out the nearby compartment.

"There's only Luna in there, she's all right." She said, turning to look at Harry and Neville.

Neville mumbled that he didn't want to disturb anyone but Ginny brushed him off and opened the door.

"Hi, Luna, is it okay if we sit here?"

A girl with waist length blonde hair looked up from the magazine that she was reading upside down. Her wand was tucked behind her left ear and she had a necklace of Butterbeer corks around her neck. She glanced over Harry and Neville with her large eyes and nodded.

With their trunks in the rack, Harry sat opposite Luna while Ginny sat next to her. Luna recognised Harry but didn't say much on the matter, only remaining focused enough to be introduced to Neville and then going back to her reading.

Neville brought out his birthday present when the silence got a bit awkward. It was a cactus that seemed to have boils rather than spines. Talking about the Mimbulus Mimbletonia, Harry had never seen Neville so lively. He even demonstrated one of the cactus' defense mechanisms, even if it ended with the compartment and the people inside getting covered with dark green goop. Neville apologised profusely afterwards.

"Oh... Hello, Harry, ummm... bad time?"

Harry wiped his glasses only to see Cho Chang standing in their doorway. Oh right; Harry fancied her, didn't he?

"Hi..."

"Um... Well, just thought I'd say hello... Bye then..." She walked off, closing the door behind her. She looked a little red in the face.

Ginny ended up using the Scourgify charm to clean everything up, much to Harry's relief. The sap had gotten in his mouth and it left a horrid taste. Luckily it wasn't poisonous.

Ron and Hermione got back from the prefects meeting nearly an hour later, complaining about the choices for the other house prefects. Of course Draco- Malfoy, he had to call him Malfoy, was one of the Slytherin prefects, alongside Pansy Parkinson.

Harry wondered how D- Malfoy was doing, now that he had been returned to human form. Been returned to a caring environment.

Harry was broken out of his thoughts when Luna let out a scream of laughter. She laughed so hard that she dropped her magazine, the Quibbler, and was rocking backwards and forwards.

Harry was more focused on the article with a very unflattering cartoon of Cornelius Fudge. Underneath were the titles of other articles;

Corruption in the Quidditch League:
How the Tornados are Taking Control
Secrets of the Ancient Runes Revealed
Sirius Black: Villain or Victim?

Harry asked for a look, only to find what appeared to be a joke article claiming that Sirius was, in fact, a man named Stubby Boardman. There was nothing of substance, really, so he closed it and began to hand it back.

"Anything good?" Ron asked.

Hermione butted in, scathingly, before Harry could answer. "Of course not! The Quibbler's rubbish!"

This started a very awkward interaction between her and Luna, whose father was the editor.

Harry sighed and turned his head, only to spot Malfoy coming up to the door by himself. They made eye contact through the glass, then Malfoy glanced at the other people in the compartment who hadn't noticed him. He brought his attention back to Harry, mouthing, "How are you?"

Harry smiled, giving him a small thumbs up. This seemed to satisfy him, and the platinum blond walked off before anyone could see him.

The train ride continued and the weather took a turn for the worse. It began raining and took away the remaining light they had before nightfall. The lamps came on and Luna had taken to watching everyone in the compartment. When the train stopped, Haryy expected to hear the bellowing of Hagrid calling the first years. Instead there was a woman calling out.

Harry frowned. Where was Hagrid? Maybe he was sick and had to get someone to fill in for him. But if that were the case, then it must be bad if it could leave Hagrid, a half giant, house bound or possibly bed ridden.

The next thing he noticed were these skeletal horses with reptilian, dragon-like heads that were harnessed by magic to the coaches. The horses had black, leathery skin and bat-like wings. There were no irises or pupils in their eyes and rumbled like thunder.

"I haven't got Pig yet!" Harry jerked as Ron came up behind him, his friend's voice directly in his ear. Hermione had already headed off to the nearest coach.

"What are those things, d'you reckon?" He asked, gesturing to the horses.

Ron looked at him, concerned. "What are what?"

Harry frowned again. "The horses pulling the coaches. They look dreadful, honestly."

"Harry there's nothing pulling the coaches... Are you sure you're okay?"

Harry remained staring at them, looking back and forth between them and Ron and wondering if it was a joke. After Ron boarded the coach, Luna came up beside him.

"It's alright." Her dreamy voice carried over the small gap between them. "You're not going mad, I can see them too."

Posted: 17 Feb 2022