Chapter 4
They had a late lunch when Mrs. Weasley came back, finished packing, then moped outside until dinner all in a daze from the shock of discovering Sherlock’s magnifier.
Harry could have sworn he barely closed his eyes to sleep before Mrs. Weasley was rushing them out of bed for the journey to school.
The trip to Platform 9 ¾ was the same as (almost) all of the other years before this one. Harry had Hedwig’s cage shrunk and stuffed in his trunk since she had already beaten him to school, anyway.
The Platform was packed with students and their families and the Trio bid Mrs. Weasley and their escorting Order members a farewell before turning their trunks over to be loaded and going off to find seats.
“Our last year,” Hermione smiled brightly as they settled in to a compartment near the end of the Express. “How exciting.”
“Yeah, until we graduate,” Harry muttered.
Before Bill Weasley married Fleur Delacour, Tony, his cousin Peter and the Trio had found out that the Order planned to send Harry back to his Aunt.
But after telling Peter about the marriage bond, it came out that Harry was under blood protection. That was when they found out that, thanks to the marriage bond, the blood protection no longer applied. And because Tony had made very sure that no one knew about the bond, everyone still believed that the wards were in place.
And therein lie the problem.
“We said we’d come up with something,” Ron poked him. “And we will. Only a matter of time.”
They only left the compartment to wave goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and the crowd as the Express pulled out of the Platform and the students were well on their way to another Year at Hogwarts.
* **
Harry, Ron and Hermione found themselves entertaining their fellow students when they came around in the time before lunch.
Harry was on good terms with most of the school, so he enjoyed the chance to talk to the others one on one.
He was just seeing Neville and Luna Lovegood off when he noticed the clouds and winced.
“It looks like some storm is headed our way,” he announced, the Trio settling for lunch.
“It does, doesn’t it?” Hermione glanced out the window. “To be honest, I didn’t think anything of it.”
Ron looked out at the ever so slowly darkening skies and shook his head. “It’s times like this that I wish Tony was here.”
Harry agreed. The Italian could probably tell them how long the storm was going to last.
They met up with AJ Johnson and the Benson triplets at the lunch trolley about ten minutes later.
“Where are you lot?” Ron asked one of the sisters.
“A few doors down from you,” she answered.
Harry spied AJ frowning out the windows at the sky. “It’s not that bad,” he assured.
“Maybe, maybe not,” she glanced up as the lanterns flickered on in response to the darkening light. “But it’s still a sign to think about.”
“Do you want something from the cart, AJ?” Hermione wanted to know. “I’ll get it for you.”
“Her Foster Mum gave her money,” one of the sisters informed them.
“That’s alright,” AJ told her. “Piper said I could do what I wanted with it. I don’t have to use it right now. Thanks, Hermione. I think I’d like some of those Frogs, please.”
It was quiet after that.
AJ dropped by an hour later.
“We can’t stay here long,” Ron told her. “Prefect meeting.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I heard Hannah got to be Head Girl.”
“She told us yesterday,” Hermione pulled the younger Witch into the seat next to her. “I actually don’t know if I would have been able to, honestly. Our friend that was missing last year is really undercover this time, but it’s always good to keep your options clear.”
“Yeah.”
“The girls didn’t come with you?” Harry asked.
“No, I didn’t really want to talk to the others, so I came here.”
“Just want to sit, huh?”
“I don’t know. I think I have a headache.”
The next hour passed with as little noise as possible to keep her headache from getting worse.
It didn’t much work, despite their efforts.
It was almost twenty minutes after Ron and Hermione went to their meeting, that one of the triplets told AJ that she could come back and lay down after they decided to visit with some others. She accepted the invitation and Harry soon found himself alone for the first time in a long while.
He didn’t much like it, but he wasn’t about to make anyone go out of their way to keep him happy. There wasn’t really anything he could do, because he didn’t want to go to another compartment.
He sighed and resigned himself to temporary loneliness, leaning his head against the window to stare out at the scenery.
The sky steadily got darker as the Hogwarts Express traveled on.
It started raining not long after that. Thunder could be heard in the distance and it reminded Harry uncomfortably of Third Year, before the Dementors boarded the train.
He sincerely hoped this year went well. That wasn’t asking too much, was it? One year, that’s all he wanted; one year to go well without worrying about missing Agents, homicidal teachers or other like event that had the potential to kill them.
The first step to that, however, was making absolutely sure Tony was alright and that gave Harry the idea to write a letter to Tony while he waited for his friends to return.
He dug his bag out from under Ron’s and was soon tapping his quill against his mouth.
‘Dear Tony,’ he wrote. ‘How are you doing? By the time you get this, we’ll already be at school. Deeks and his friend Lyn stopped by the Burrow yesterday and we all went to Diagon Alley. Did you know that Hermione didn’t get Head Girl? It went to Hannah in Hufflepuff. Deeks said you were undercover and Hermione said that she was glad to have the extra time to find you again if you disappear. Deeks said he’d heard it from Palmer. What can you tell us about it?
‘When we were there, we ran into Eames. I don’t think he’s heard from you since before my birthday, so you might want to write him or something. He didn’t look as bad as he did before. We had ice cream with him and he seemed better when he left, so I hope we made his day a little better.’
Harry paused after that. Dr. Watson hadn’t seemed anywhere near as put together as Eames had been. Not only was … it still a sore subject, but he also knew that the whole incident with Jeanne still hurt the Italian. Though maybe talking about her could help them start to think about… him again.
Eventually.
But maybe Harry should wait until he saw Tony again. The subject didn’t seem to be something one talked about over Owl Po-
He startled slightly as he heard a tap on the window.
Looking up, he blinked as he saw nothing outside.
‘Odd. Maybe something hit the train as we passed?’
Not like it had happened to him before or anything, but maybe it wasn’t unusual to other students.
Harry shook his head and jumped in his seat as thunder rolled over the train.
“Bloody Hell,” he gasped. That sounded close. Harry rubbed his eyes before deciding to finish the letter a little bit later. When he wasn’t in danger of wrecking it.
He startled again when the thunder seemed to roll right over him, shaking him to his core.
Lightning flashed, just as Hermione slid the door open.
“I don’t think I like this,” she told Harry as Ron followed her in.
To be honest, Harry had just been about to join AJ in her compartment because he suddenly didn’t want to be alone. He had been happy to see them many times in the past, but this was probably the moment where he’d never been happier.
“It feels different in here,” Ron settled next to Harry.
“How?” he asked. “I’ve been here the whole time. AJ went back to her seat ages ago.”
“I don’t know,” Ron shrugged. “It just does. A little bit, though.”
“Well, it’s not surprising,” Hermione flinched at a crack of thunder. “There’s only Harry in here, as opposed to the filled compartment we just left. In this weather, it would feel so much different.”
Harry supposed it made sense.
“I guess,” Ron eyed her.
Harry was about to tell them that he’d started writing to Tony when a crack of thunder made them jump at the same time the lights went out.
“I’m starting to be reminded of Third Year,” Harry commented, stiffening when the Express actually stuttered to a halt.
“You don’t think it’s Death Eaters, do you?” Ron gulped.
“But nothing short of Dementors can stop the train,” Hermione didn’t sound convincing. “If it is an attack,” she went on, “then there would need to be some incredible ward breakers or something to that effect, because the wards going down on the tracks would also bring the train to a stop.”
“It could also be the storm,” Harry remembered last year when a different storm prevented them from doing anything because of its electrical energy. Maybe this was similar to that.
“Yeah,” Ron agreed. “That’s what you said, right?”
Harry moved his foot and felt it hit his bag. That’s when he remembered the present Tony gave him and his two friends.
After Sherlock’s funeral right before his birthday, he’d toyed with the idea of waiting to celebrate because he thought it would be ill-received by Tony, who surprised them all by being opposed to the idea. When he got the three of them alone, they found out why.
Each of them had gotten a small torch – ‘flashlight’ – that was useful for a number of reasons, but the most important was when they were prevented from using their wands. While Muggle, the older man explained that he charmed them with the same spells he used on the radios and they ran on their magic.
Harry dug into his bag and felt the slightly rough touch of the middle of the torch. He clicked it on as he pulled it out and the other two reached for theirs. They hid their beams as other students started moving around the train and the Witch from the trolley came by to usher them back into their compartments.
“Just a small hiccup,” she assured as Ron opened the door. “The storm disrupted the Express, but we’ll soon be on our way.”
“But now that I think of it,” Hermione mused when Ron sat back down and the Witch moved on. “Someone was supposed to have warded the train against storms. I wonder if there’s a way to check on that.”
Harry just sat back and sighed. While he felt his heart slow again, he still readied for anything until the train resumed its journey.
‘Constant Vigilance’, after all.
* **
Ron and Hermione went on their rounds when they were an hour or so out from Hogsmeade station.
One of the Sixth Years came by to tell them to return the Quick Notes Quill that one of the Ravenclaws had let him borrow on their way to a different car closer to the front.
Harry waved them both off before deciding to change clothes in their absence.
The storm that had plagued them for most of the day finally gave up to clear night skies filled with stars. Harry had been unaccountably relieved at that, especially since the journey had resumed and continued without further delay.
Harry hoped it was a one-off and that it wouldn’t happen again.
Munching on some chocolate, he breathed deeply.
One more year and then…
What would he do after that? It was kind of a given that they’d be involved in the Ministry somehow, but what about the time between graduation and Auror training? Dumbledore and the Order planned to send him back to his Aunt’s, which was just not going to happen.
Besides the still present fear that the Order would try to break the Trio from Tony, there was still the problem of the blood protection wards.
Or… lack thereof.
Tony’s cousin Peter told them that the magic was gone from his Aunt’s blood and was lying dormant until it was needed again. But instead of someone dying to keep him safe, the marriage bond that connected Tony and the Trio had done something to those wards and Peter was now their caretaker, if you will, should something happen to Tony.
Merlin forbid.
Tony’s wand work now prevented anyone outside the Notebook List with finding out about the Wards.
As of right now, Peter and Donners, presumably, were trying to figure out what they could do with Harry’s placement, but – short of arresting him – he wasn’t sure what they could possibly come up with.
Actually, being arrested would be loads better than staying with his Aunt.
Exiting the compartment, he found AJ nearby.
“Can you watch our stuff?” he asked. “I have to run to the loo.”
The Second Year just lifted a shoulder, leaning back against the wall separating two compartments. She was staring out at the rushing sights and he shrugged to himself, figuring her headache had gotten better or was making her queasy and she wasn’t sure how sick she was feeling before heading toward the middle of the train car.
Seeing no one else around, he headed to the loo.
There were five stalls there that kind of reminded him of the girls’ bathroom that Moaning Myrtle haunted and he briefly wondered if all the girls’ loos were designed the same. The boys had it, too, except in the dorms where there were less people. There was a sink directly across the space from each stall and he picked one of the far side. Passing by the bank of mirrors, his eyes caught a movement and he turned to see who had followed him in.
“Maybe the storm rattled me more than I thought,” he sighed as he found no one there. Deciding to make it quick, he hurried into the stall and closed the door.
After a few minutes, he flushed the toilet and turned to open the stall door when he just so happened to glance down.
There, on the other side, was a shoe.
It didn’t look familiar, not that he made a habit of looking at people’s shoes and memorizing them, but that didn’t mean anything since everyone wore the same shoes with their uniforms.
“Um, excuse me,” he called out. “I have to open the door toward you, so you should probably move back.”
The shoe stayed still for a moment before he heard a giggle.
“AJ? What are you doing in here?” he frowned. That was a girl’s giggle and AJ had been the only one in the corridor when he’d come in.
She giggled again before the shoe moved out of sight.
“You should go before someone sees you,” he told her before opening the door and blinking at the empty space where he’d been expecting to see AJ.
She wasn’t in any of the other stalls because the doors were open and showed the emptiness inside.
The Hufflepuff moved extraordinarily quick and silent, he sighed.
He washed his hands and periodically glanced in the mirror to see if she came back and was just wiping his hands on the paper napkins when he started at the slight noise on his left.
Turning toward where he thought it came from, he saw more empty air.
It wasn’t his Cloak, since that was in his trunk and he wasn’t too sure if there were others who had them on the train, but –
“Harry.”
He jolted forward before whipping back around to look behind him.
No one there, either, but the door.
‘Okay, Potter,’ he rubbed his eyes, nerves shot. ‘It’s probably just you being tired and worried about what Tony could be doing right now. That storm and the train stopping didn’t help in the least, either.’
He breathed again and turned to the door, leaping back with a yelp when he saw a figure in front of him.
“Are you alright, Harry?”
“Hermione?”
The brunette was standing in the door with a frown. “I thought I heard someone in here.”
“Have you seen AJ?” he asked, heart racing from the scare. “I thought she was in here.”
“I didn’t see anyone,” she shook her head.
“I suppose it could have been AJ,” he amended. She’d just been the most likely subject, that was all.
“You’re the only one I saw,” Hermione shrugged. “Ron’s coming, too.”
He joined her at the door and waited for Ron in the hall.
“I’ll be glad to eat something about now,” Ron told them, rubbing his stomach.
“I need to eat something, too,” Harry agreed.
“Well, we’ll be there soon enough,” Hermione lifted a shoulder. She turned to lead them back to their seats and started violently when she suddenly came face to face with AJ almost right on top of her. “Good Merlin, AJ,” she gasped. “Where did you come from?”
Harry turned at the sound of scratching and blinked at the Quill taking her words down. “You didn’t find that Ravenclaw?”
Ron shrugged. “We’ll send it with one of the others,” he grinned as the Quill wrote his words down, too.
Turning back to AJ, Harry was about to open his mouth to ask if she’d just been in the loo with him before getting a good look at her face.
“How’s your headache?” Hermione wanted to know. “Is it better?”
“Hermione.”
“Or did you need to get sick? I could help –”
“Hermione,” Harry tried again, hand grabbing her wrist as she started forward.
“What?” she glanced over her shoulder before something occurred to her and she turned back to AJ. “Oh, are you sleepwalking? I read a little about that.”
“No, Hermione!”
“Don’t wake her,” she chided. “You never wake some-”
“Hermione,” he hissed. “Look at her eyes.”
Ron took a look from where he was standing next to Harry and shrugged. “They’re a nice grey color?”
“I’ve seen that look on Trelawney’s face twice before and hers just once,” and that was three times too many in his opinion.
"Harry,” Hermione pointedly lowered her voice. “You’re imagining things,” she turned to him with disapproval writ on her face. “Trelawney has things in her tea that makes everyone believe her. AJ is sleepwalking, so –” she broke off when AJ slowly took uneven steps toward them, a thin line of grey lining wide pupils behind her glasses.
Harry’s heart was in his throat, his hand slowly tightening on Hermione’s arm as Ron moved closer, when AJ finally opened her mouth. He felt shivers run up and down his spine as she spoke into the silence.
“The balance has been disturbed for long, long years. The secret mark has transferred its hold to the other Headmasters and only when all is known will the balance be restored. For it is writ that the light of eternity’s crescent shines upon her eyes while she looks upon the soldier guarding the mark of childhood. The Four Headmasters will know and all will be well, but only when the hidden is known, guided by the spilled blood of Grey. For what has been hidden shall eventually see the light of day.”
Harry barely registered Ron hugging him tighter as AJ promptly turned on her heel and left the three staring wordlessly after her.
* **
When they finally made it to their seats, Harry was certain that Ron, at least, believed him about AJ being a Seer.
Hermione, on the other hand, was silent and he wondered if she now finally believed him.
They gathered their things before Harry went with Ron outside, the Quill following.
“Bloody Hell,” Ron shook his head, changing into his uniform. “Whatever we used to think, we know now.”
“So, you do believe me?”
“Hard not to after that. What do you reckon it meant?”
“I have no idea,” Harry frowned. “She kept going on about the Four Headmasters, so…”
“The only four Headmasters were the Founders,” Ron pointed out. “Think that means they’re involved?”
“Dunno,” he shrugged. “But what about the rest of it?”
Maybe they were destined to find the portraits of the Houses’ namesakes. It wasn’t going to be easy and no one knew if they were actually in the school, but it wasn’t unheard of to not have portraits of a school’s Founder(s) hanging up somewhere.
They’d once asked if Tony had ever met his school’s founder, but he’d simply shrugged and said that it had been one of the only mysteries they never managed to solve. And it hadn’t been for lack of trying.
“Think there’s some kind of rule that says the Founders of any Magical school can’t have their portraits there?” Harry mused.
“Wouldn’t surprise me at this point,” Ron thoughtfully scratched his nose.
They returned to see Hermione not as tense as she was before. Instead, she turned a bright smile on them.
“AJ’s going to be a wonderful novelist when she grows up,” she gushed. “A mystery writer!”
“But –”
“She can talk when she sleepwalks, can’t she? It’s that simple.”
“But that’s not what the Quill wrote down,” Ron brandished the page in question and Harry startled violently when Hermione simply snatched it from him and aggressively balled it up before stowing it in her bag.
“Nonsense,” she sniffed. “And you’re being superstitious. Why, she was probably acting a scene out and didn’t warn us because she wanted genuine reactions.”
Harry and Ron exchanged looks.
‘Guess she’s determined to keep hiding,’ Harry sighed to himself.
The train soon pulled into the Station and all the students flooded to the doors and onto the sidewalk. From there, the First Years would be joining Hagrid as he led them around the lake to the boats they would take. All the others were herded to wait for a carriage to appear for them.
Harry shook off the earlier encounter with AJ as he greeted some of his Housemates and blinked when he found himself face to face with Vince Muldoon. They didn’t share a dorm room despite being in the same Year and House, but Vince just lived right there in Hogsmeade. “Vince? What are you doing here?”
“Vince!” Hermione smiled warmly as she gave the other Gryffindor a hug. “How’s your Mum?”
“Very good,” he smiled back. “I’m here because all the students who live or reside in Hogsmeade have to take the same transport as everyone else up to the school.”
“I didn’t know that,” Ron frowned.
“I think it’s to promote school unity or something,” he shrugged.
Vince talked with them for a bit before he was called away by some others.
“I’ll ask Mum if I could stay with Vince during Easter,” Ron promised Harry and Hermione.
“Mum might let me if I find another girl like before,” Hermione mused. “I think Ginny could, if Mrs. Weasley won’t mind. And perhaps AJ.”
“I don’t know, Hermione,” Harry told her. The first time she’d given a prophecy was still as vivid in his mind as the second just minutes before.
“What’s wrong with AJ?” she frowned.
“I don’t know. What’s wrong with me?”
Ron yelped and leaped into Harry’s arms as AJ frowned at them. “Where the bloody hell do you come from?!”
“I’m not sure,” she answered. “We haven’t been able to figure that out, yet.”
“Are you feeling better, AJ?” Hermione threaded their arms together.
“Yeah. Could I ride with you three? The triplets are with one of the other girls.”
“You didn’t want to ride with them?”
“No. I wanted to ride with you three.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Harry started, Ron carefully untangling himself.
“Don’t be silly,” Hermione spied an open carriage and gleefully tugged AJ along toward it. “You’ll sit next to me, of course. Come on, boys.”
Harry and Ron exchanged uneasy looks before reluctantly following them.
The door closed when all were settled in and the carriage started for the school.
“So,” Hermione gave AJ her undivided attention. “What did you plan on doing when you grow up?”
AJ shrugged, glancing at Harry, who avoided her gaze. “Maybe something with plants.”
“Oh? Have you given any thought to writing?”
AJ gave her a puzzled look. “Well, no… Not really. Why?”
“Well… were you aware that you sleepwalk? You walked on the train.”
“I don’t think I’m dangerous,” she immediately told them.
“Where did you get that idea?” Hermione frowned.
She seemed reluctant to answer. “Um, someone… might have … said something about a different person and he said she was dangerous…”
“No, AJ,” she hugged the younger girl. “You’re not dangerous, even if you do talk in your sleep.”
“I do?”
“No one thinks you’re dangerous, right, Harry? Ron?”
“Of course not,” Harry agreed.
Okay, well, if she was a Seer, it wasn’t her fault. It could get passed down in the family for all he knew, so - if he thought about it – she had no say in the matter. That didn’t make her dangerous.
He didn’t think.
Ron watched AJ thoughtfully. “No,” he said slowly. “I don’t.”
“You said I talk in my sleep,” AJ told Hermione. “What did I say?”
“Well, it sounded like a wonderful start to a mystery novel,” she smiled. “Something about ‘the hidden will be known by the spilled grey blood,’ I think. If you ever decide to finish it, I would love to know how it ends.”
“Spilled grey blood?” AJ frowned, tilting her head. “How could blood be grey?”
“You’re the author, right? Although, maybe you wouldn’t know, sleeping while talking and all.”
Eventually, the carriage stopped and the four piled out, the boys more at ease with AJ, who didn’t seem to know why they weren’t acting themselves but was happy that they were back to normal.
They rejoined the crowd and headed for their respective Tables when they got to the Great Hall.
The First Years were brought in and the Sorting Hat also appeared to agree with AJ about hidden things, this year. The Founders didn’t show up in the song, but that didn’t have to mean anything.
Eventually, dinner appeared and everyone dug in.
Tales of summer trips were told and gossip spread. Some of the other Gryffindors asked after Agent and he answered, but it was the talk of Sherlock’s death that surprised him more.
“I didn’t think anyone outside Muggles knew about it,” Ron drained his juice.
“It was in the Prophet,” Hermione reminded. “On the front page. While he might have been Muggle, he obviously had an impact. Then again,” she leaned in, “it was probably to keep other news out of the paper.”
Harry scowled at that. He wouldn’t put it past them.
It made him mad on Sherlock’s behalf to have been used as a distraction that way, but Sherlock wasn’t there anymore…
Ron noted his friend’s mood darkening and scoured the Staff Table for any new faces. “Hey,” he blinked. “I wonder why the Defense teacher isn’t here, yet.”
“Who is it?” Neville looked over.
“Dunno.”
“Can’t be any worse than Lockhart,” Harry huffed. “Or Carlin, for that matter.”
“I hope we don’t have any more accidents,” Hermione added. The ‘accidents’ had been designed for Ron, but had ended up targeting Harry, Hermione, ‘Agent’ (Tony) and everyone else, instead.
They wondered what their new Professor would be like, among other things, until said figure slipped into his seat halfway through the Headmaster’s speech.
Ginny noticed him first and choked on her juice. “Ron!” she punched her brother on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me he was teaching this year!”
“Who?” he rubbed his arm. “That hurt, Ginny.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she waved a hand dismissively, “but the teacher –”
“As I am sure that you are all aware,” Headmaster Dumbledore continued, “there is a new face amongst us on Staff. I must admit that the original teacher I had in mind could not be pulled away from her family until after the New Year and I was slightly desperate at that point. Luckily, an old friend was available until she could get away – Merlin permitting – for the remainder of the school year. From that point, she will be the new Defense Professor for the next few years if she decides to stay on a more permanent basis.”
Harry exchanged looks with his two friends before they turned to look at the Staff table to see who they hadn’t seen before. But they went from one end of the table to the other, still unable to pick out a new face.
“In the meantime,” Dumbledore went on with a wave. “Please allow me to introduce to you your temporary – yet far from unwelcome – Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor –” Harry followed his arm as the person stood up.
It took a moment for the candle to light, but when it did, the Trio’s mouths dropped open when they met the sparkling green gaze of –
“Anthony DiNozzo, Jr.!”
* **
“You should have seen the looks on your faces!” Tony howled with laughter.
Hermione had practically ordered all the students to Gryffindor Tower and none of them dared disobey, Tony, Ginny, Neville and the Trio all ending up in the Common Room in short order.
“Priceless!” he went on, “Just priceless.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Hermione smacked his arm.
“What and ruin the surprise?”
“But I thought you said you wouldn’t teach,” Ginny pointed out.
Tony shrugged. “Dumbledore, poor guy, was getting desperate for a teacher and he somehow got Vance to sign off on it. It was more of a last minute thing and I decided, ‘What the hell? You only live once, after all.’ So, here I am. The details are a little fuzzy, but I’m here until January. Besides, I couldn’t leave you to fend for yourselves again.”
“I just can’t believe it,” Harry was still in shock. He couldn’t help thinking it was a dream brought on by worrying about Tony. “Deeks gave us a story about you being undercover.”
“Well, I gave enough truth in it. But that’s what Vance gave me before I really understood. He told me about the same thing, along with ‘it would help international relations’ or something.”
“This is going to be brilliant!” Ginny laughed. “I can’t wait to see you in class!”
“I guess I can’t, either.”
“Hey, Tony? Er, I guess I should call you ‘Professor’ now,” Neville fidgeted. “Did you hear what happened back on the train?”
“I did, actually,” Tony frowned, the amusement simmering down. “I found it incredibly unlikely that it happened at all. The storm shouldn’t have been that bad enough to disrupt the Express – which is warded like you wouldn’t believe – unless one of the wards was already weakening beforehand.”
“How much before?” Ron wanted to know.
Tony moved his head from side to side. “Depends. You could probably ask Dumbledore about it… He knows who’s warded what. On the other hand, maybe it was Displacement. Remember our first few days at the Burrow?”
Harry nodded.
Some of the wards had shifted that first night, making another slip out of place and toward where Tony and the Trio were in the house. The Order had had to strip the wards to fix it and nothing else had happened since.
“It could be,” Hermione acknowledged.
“At least nothing bad happened,” Harry pointed out.
“And that’s the important part,” Tony agreed. “Now, you must be tired, so I’ll go track down McGonagall and pester her.”
“I’m more relieved than anything else,” Harry told him.
“And excited,” Ron added with a grin.
“Yeah,” Neville nodded. “They’ll be able to focus on other things without worrying that a Death Eater’s gotten into the school.”
“And it’ll be an experience for me,” Tony told them. “I get to see what it’s like on the other side of the desk. My friend, Pin, is in that position all the time and I never thought I’d be the same.”
“You’ll do great,” Ginny assured.
“I wish I had your optimism,” he poked her. “For all I know, the school will collapse on our heads within the first week!”
“It won’t be that bad,” Hermione hugged his arm.
“Yeah,” Ron agreed. “With any luck, the school collapsing on our heads will probably be the most exciting thing this year.”
“Keep an ear out for any ominous groaning, just in case,” Tony advised.
“Can we not talk about anything falling on our heads?” Neville sighed. “With any luck, it’ll be my fault.”
“If anyone asks,” Tony told him, “you were with me the whole time.”
Eventually, Tony had to leave and they had to sleep.
“I guess we’ll see you tomorrow,” Harry, Ron and Hermione saw him off.
“I’ll be here,” he waved.
Harry watched the Portrait close behind him and felt a wide smile cross his face, the smile being mirrored two-fold on his friends’ faces.
How could they be expected to fall asleep now, as excitement for the coming months raced through their veins?
This year was going to be great!
* **