~ The Whomping Willow ~
The summer holidays ended much too quickly for Lucy's liking. Although she was looking forward to Hogwarts, this month at the Burrow had been the happiest of her life.
It was hard for her and Harry not to envy Ron when they thought about the Dursleys and how they would probably welcome them the next time the twins showed up at Privet Drive.
On their last night, Mrs Weasley conjured up a sumptuous meal of Lucy and Harry's favourite dishes, topped with a delicious treacle pudding.
Fred and George rounded off the evening with a little performance of their filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars darting back and forth between the walls and ceiling for at least half an hour.
Then it was time for the last mug of hot chocolate and for bed.
~~
The next morning, they took quite a long time to get going. They woke up at the first cock crow, but strangely enough, they all still had a lot to do:
Mrs. Weasley scurried about in a bad mood, gathering pairs of socks and quills.
Half-dressed and clutching slices of toast, they kept bumping into each other on the stairs, and Mr Weasley almost broke his neck carrying Ginny's suitcase across the yard to the car, tripping over a stray chicken.
Harry couldn't imagine how nine people, seven huge suitcases, two owls, a cat and a rat could fit into a small Ford Anglia.
Of course, he hadn't counted on Mr. Weasley's special equipment.
"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Harry as he opened the trunk and showed him that it had been magically enlarged so the suitcases could fit easily.
When Harry, Lucy, Ron, Fred, George and Percy were finally comfortably seated in the back seat, Mrs Weasley peered inside the car through the window:
"Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and Ginny took the front seat, which had expanded to the size of a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"
Mr Weasley started the engine and they drove leisurely across the yard Lucy took one last look back at the house.
She barely had time to wonder when she and her brother would see it again before they pulled up: George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks.
Five minutes later, they returned to the yard with tires squealing and Fred running to get his broom. And they were about to get off the freeway when Ginny screamed to announce she'd forgotten her diary.
When she finally got back in 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–"
"Nobody would see it – this little button here is for an invisibility servo drive I put in – that would take us up into the air – and then we'll fly above the clouds, we'll be there in ten minutes, and nobody would have that slightest glimmer -"
"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight–"
They pulled up at King's Cross station at a quarter to eleven. Mr Weasley ran across the street for trolleys and they rushed into the main hall at a double stride.
Lucy and Harry had ridden the Hogwarts Express a year ago. The trick was that they had to get to platform nine and three quarters, a platform Muggle eyes couldn't see.
To do this, it was necessary to go through the barrier separating platforms nine and ten. It didn't hurt, but they had to be careful that no muggle saw them disappear.
"Percy first," said Mrs. Weasley, glancing nervously at the clock above their heads, after which they had only five minutes to casually duck behind the barrier.
Percy marched forward undaunted and disappeared. Mr Weasley went next, followed by George, Lucy and Fred.
"I'll take Ginny and you two come right after us," Mrs. Weasley said to Harry and Ron, taking Ginny's hand and walking away. A moment later they were gone.
"Let's go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Harry.
Harry made sure that Hedwig's cage was locked, and that the trunk was strapped securely, and turned his trolleys towards the barrier.
He felt completely safe; it wasn't nearly as troublesome as the Floo powder thing.
Both bent low over the handles their carts and walked purposefully towards the barrier, slowly accelerating – a few more meters, they started to run–
CRASH.
~~
Lucy said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Weasley and thanked them for letting her and Harry stay with them this summer. Then she got on the train and found her best friends in one of the train compartments.
The three chatted about the new school year and what had happened in Diagon Alley.
Lucy was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn't realize her brother wasn't on the train.
After a few hours, the older witch passed the compartment with the trolley.
"I'll be right back," the black-haired girl apologized.
Lucy entered the corridor and bought a chocolate frog for herself, Ophelia and Louisa.
On the way back she saw another girl sitting on her suitcase and dreamily looking outside. Lucy didn't know her, so it had to be a first year.
The other girl was slim and had blond hair.
"Hi," the second year addressed the blonde girl.
"Hello," she replied, and even her voice was dreamy.
"Why are you sitting here so alone?" Lucy wanted to know.
The blond girl looked away from the window at Lucy and shrugged.
"If you want, we still have room," Lucy offered her.
"That would be great."
Lucy nodded and helped her with the suitcase.
"By the way, I'm Lucy."
"I'm Luna."
Together they stowed away Luna's suitcase and sat down.
While Lucy was going, Ginny had sat in the compartment with Ophelia and Louisa. She was looking for Ron but found neither him nor Harry.
That made Lucy suspicious. Where were the two? The twelve-year-old could have sworn that she saw her brother on the platform.
Ginny started talking excitedly to Luna while Lucy and her friends put their heads together.
"Where are Harry and Ron?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know, but I hope they don't cause trouble," Louisa replied.
Lucy wanted to look for her brother and Ron herself, but Ophelia stopped her.
"Calm down. They will be okay. I mean, what can possibly happen, school hasn't even started."
~~
Late in the evening the train stopped at Hogsmeade station.
Like all older students, the three friends drove to the castle in carriages. They drove themselves. Lucy liked the carriage ride more than last year's boat ride.
The great hall was already full of students when the young witch sat down at the Slytherin table– alone for the first time.
Automatically she looked for her Brother and Ron, but she still couldn't find them. Where the hell were those two? Lucy kept asking herself. She was really getting worried.
The sorting ceremony began, and the first years were sorted into their houses.
Lucy remembered last year and how nervous she was.
As expected, Ginny became a Gryffindor. Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw and both seemed happy with it.
When all the first graders were sorted, like last year, the food appeared on the tables.
Lucy didn't eat as much as last year. Being at the Weasleys with Harry, she wasn't that hungry– And had even gained some weight, which made her feel a lot better.
"Miss Potter," Professor Dumbledore addressed Lucy as the black-haired young witch was about to put more food on the plate. "I need to talk to you for a moment. It's about your brother–"
"What about him? Is Ron with him? Are they both okay? Why–"
"Don't worry, your brother and Mr Weasley are fine."
~~
Ten minutes later, Snape returned, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
Harry had seen her angry several times before, but he had either forgotten how tight her mouth could get or he had never seen her so angry.
She had barely entered when she raised her wand. Harry and Ron flinched.
But she just aimed it at the empty fireplace, which was suddenly blazing with flames.
"Sit." Ron and Harry settled into chairs by the fire.
"Explain," she said through ominously shimmering glasses.
Ron plunged into the description of her experiences and began at the barrier that she didn't want to let through.
"–so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn't get on the train."
"Why didn’t you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl?" Professor McGonagall said coldly to Harry.
Harry looked at her in dismay. Now that she said it, it seemed like the most natural thing.
"I... I didn't think..."
"That," said Professor McGonagall, "is obvious."
There was a knock and Snape, cheerful as ever, opened the door.
In came the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore and Harry's sister Lucy. Harry felt his whole body go numb.
Lucy had her arms crossed across her chest and Dumbledore looked unusually serious.
Dumbledore looked at her up his very hooked nose, and Harry wished the Whomping Willow were still beating him and Ron.
"What were you thinking?" Lucy asked angrily. "You guys are such idiots–"
Professor Dumbledore gestured for her to be quiet.
There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, "Please explain why you did this."
It would have been easier to bear if he had yelled at them. Harry didn't like the disappointment in Dumbledore's voice at all. For some reason he couldn't meet Dumbledore's eyes and he was talking to his knees instead.
He told Dumbledore everything except that the enchanted car belonged to Mr Weasley and pretended that he and Ron had found a flying carriage outside the station quite by accident.
He knew Dumbledore would see through this hoax immediately, but Dumbledore didn't want to know anything more about the car. When Harry was done, he just kept looking at her through his glasses.
"We'll go and get our stuff," Ron said weakly.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" Professor McGonagall snapped at him.
"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron.
Harry gave Dumbledore a quick look.
"Not today, Mr Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Snape looked like Christmas had been canceled. He cleared his throat and said, "Professor Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree – surely acts of this nature–"
"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these boys' punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "
"They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility." He turned to Professor McGonagall.
"I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample–"
Snape gave Harry and Ron a look that was pure hatred, and then let Dumbledore usher him out of his office. Now they were alone with Professor McGonagall, who was still eyeing them like a preying eagle.
"You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're bleeding."
"Not much," said Ron, hastily wiping his sleeve over the tear in his eyebrow. "Professor, I wanted to watch my sister being Sorted–"
"The Sorting Ceremony is over," said Professor McGonagall. "Your sister is also in Gryffindor."
"Oh good," said Ron.
"And speaking of Gryffindor..." Professor McGonagall said sharply, but Harry cut in.
"Professor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so – so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points taken from it – should it?" he finished, looking at her anxiously.
Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but he was sure he caught the hint of a smile.
Anyway, her mouth looked less thin.
"I will not take any points from Gryffindor," she said. "But you will both get detention."
This was better than Harry expected. Dumbledore wanted to write the Dursleys - so what? Surely, they would only be disappointed that the Whomping Willow hadn't crushed him.
Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and pointed it at Snape's desk.
With a soft pop, a plate of sandwiches, two mugs, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared.
"You eat here and then go straight to your dormitory," she said. "I must also return to the feast."
Lucy and Professor McGonagall left the office
As the door closed behind her, Ron gave a long and loud whistle.
"I thought we'd had it," he said, reaching for a sandwich.
"So did I," Harry said, helping himself.
"Can you believe our luck, though?" Ron smacked his lips through a mouthful of chicken and ham. "Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them."
He swallowed and took another huge bite.
"Why couldn't we get through the barrier?"
Harry shrugged.
"We'll have to watch our step from now on, though," he said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. "Wish we could've gone up to the feast…"
"She didn't want us showing off," said Ron sagely. "Doesn't want people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car."
~~~~
"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people’ll be talking about that one for years–"
"Good for you," said a fifth-year boy Harry had never spoken to; someone slapped him on the shoulder like he'd just won a marathon.
Fred and George pushed their way through to them and said at the same time, "Why the hell didn't you call us back?"
Ron's face was scarlet, and he was grinning in embarrassment, but Harry saw a boy in the crowd of heads who didn't look happy at all.
Behind some excited first years, he recognized Percy, who was apparently trying to get close enough to lecture them.
Harry nudged Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron understood immediately.
Harry was sure that his sister had enough to say the next morning and didn't need to hear it twice.
"Got to get upstairs – bit tired," he said, and they made their way to the opposite door, which led up to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.
"Night," Harry called to the others.