Chapter 1
Harry – arriving at Hogwarts
The Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch darkness of Hogsmeade Station. As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled Crookshanks up in her cloak, and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.
“Hi, Hagrid!” Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform.
“All right, Harry!” Hagrid bellowed back. “We’ll see you at the feast if we don’t drown.”
First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.
“Ooh, I wouldn’t fancy crossing the lake in this weather!” said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd.
One hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, shut the door with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track towards Hogwarts Castle.
Through the gates flanked with statues of winged boars and up the sweeping drive, the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky. As their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps, people who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torchlit entrance hall with its magnificent marble staircase.
“Blimey!” said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere. “If that keeps up, the lake’s going to overflow. I’m soaked!”
His words were followed by a deafening crash and a flash of light that momentarily blinded them. Startled, they turned around to look back out the large door just as a large red, water-filled balloon dropped from the ceiling onto Ron’s head.
Percy – going to Hogwarts
The snake-haired ladies were starting to annoy Percy.
They should have died 3 days ago when he dropped create a bowling balls on them at the Napa bargain market. They should have died 2 days ago when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez. They definitely should have died this morning when he cut off their heads in Tilden park.
No matter how many times Percy killed them and watch them crumble to powder they just kept reforming like large evil dust bunnies.
He couldn't even seem to outrun them. He reached the top of the hill and caught his breath. How long since he'd last killed them? Maybe two hours. They never seem to stay dead longer than that. His clothes were torn, burnt and splattered with monster slime.
He'd only survived this long because The two snakehead ladies – gorgons, they called themselves - couldn't seem to kill him either. Their claws didn’t cut his skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him. But Percy couldn’t keep going much longer. Soon he’d collapse from exhaustion, and then, as hard as he was to kill, he was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.
Where to run?
He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he might’ve enjoyed the view. To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods and a few herds of cows. To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west.
The she-wolf Lupa had taught him to sharpen his senses – to trust the instincts that had been guiding him south. His homing radar was tingling like crazy now. The end of his journey was close – almost right under his feet.
As that thought hit him, the ground seemed to shift out of focus, darkened as though in shadow, though there were no clouds in the sunny sky. Alarmed by the sudden shift, Percy moved to try and escape the growing circle of darkness, only to experience the uncomfortable feeling that accompanied falling as the darkness covered his vision.