Chapter 606: The Late Arrival of the Weasley Family
Chapter 606: The Late Arrival of the Weasley Family
The next day, King's Cross Station bustled with activity as usual, but with a unique addition: a group of passengers dressed eccentrically, hurrying between platforms with an air of excitement. What drew even more attention were the large birdcages on their luggage trolleys, housing a variety of owls.
While some of the newer guards eyed them curiously, the veteran guards wore an expression that suggested this was nothing out of the ordinary. Every year, there was some sort of owl-related festival, and they had grown accustomed to it.
On Platform 9, a vibrant red steam engine sat idle, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of parents seeing their children off.
"Thanks for bringing me here, Dobby," Kyle said to the house-elf by his side. Having intended to take the Knight Bus to the station due to the start of term, Kyle was pleasantly surprised when Dobby offered to transport him directly to the platform. It certainly saved him the trouble of navigating the busy station.
"Dobby is always happy to help Master Kyle," the elf replied with a broad grin.
"I think Harry's going to be a bit late," Kyle noted, checking the time. "It should only be a few minutes though."
Dobby hesitated, clearly tempted by the prospect of seeing Harry Potter, but after a moment's internal struggle, he shook his head. "No, Dobby has much work to do today. The invisible creatures also need tending to." He paused, then added, "Could Master Kyle perhaps give Dobby's regards to Harry Potter?"
"Of course," Kyle assured him.
Delighted by the affirmative response, the house-elf bowed happily and then vanished from sight.
"Kyle!"
Connor approached, pulling a suitcase behind her. "When did you get here? I didn't see you come through the station entrance."
"A house-elf brought me," Kyle explained. "Via Disapparition."
"How convenient," Connor remarked.
Soon, Cedric and Autumn arrived as well, but there was still no sign of the Weasley family. The group decided to board the train and secure a compartment for themselves.
With the departure time drawing near, they made their way from the engine to the rear of the train before finally stumbling upon an empty compartment.
"How was your holiday?" Autumn asked as she hoisted her luggage onto the rack, a hint of gloom in her voice. "I stayed home for two months. My mom had promised to take me to Sydney, but it fell through because of work."
"I went to Hampshire to stay with my grandfather," Cedric shared. "My dad insisted I go there because of the recent unrest. He only brought me back yesterday afternoon."
"Oh, and Kyle," Cedric turned to him, "I heard you received a warning letter from the Ministry. What was that about?"
"You got a warning letter?" Connor asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"How did you know about that?" Kyle questioned, surprised. "It shouldn't have been in the newspapers."
"My dad mentioned it," Cedric explained. "I got him drunk yesterday and pried a lot of information out of him about the Ministry."
"..."
Well, he certainly was Mr. Diggory's son.
"It's nothing," Kyle replied with a roll of his eyes. "It was all a misunderstanding, and it's been resolved."
"I bet it had something to do with the mysterious person," Connor speculated. "I've been reading the Daily Prophet, and they're calling Dumbledore crazy every day. Clearly, the Ministry doesn't want to admit that the mysterious person is back, and you must have gotten caught up in all that."
"That's right," Kyle confirmed. "But thankfully, it's all been sorted out now."
A loud whistle pierced the air, signaling the imminent departure of the train.
Cedric opened the window and poked his head out. "The train's about to leave. How odd, Fred and George still aren't here. Weren't you with them, Kyle?"
A few minutes later, another loud whistle sounded, and the train began to pull out of the station slowly.
"It looks like they really are late," Autumn said, furrowing her brow.
"No, they're here!"
Kyle instinctively looked outside, and just as the train was about to leave the station, Fred and George finally appeared.
They made it at the last moment, apparating into the compartment.
"Phew... we finally made it," Fred panted, leaning against the compartment door.
"What happened?" Kyle handed him a bottle of pumpkin juice. "Where's Harry? Why are you two the only ones here?"
"Moody was attacked," Fred said after taking a big gulp of the juice. "It happened early this morning. A Death Eater broke into his house."
"How's Professor Moody?" Cedric asked.
"Injured, but thankfully, he's alright," George replied. "Sturgis was there and saw the Killing Curse fly right over his head."
"That was close," Fred said. "Moody almost got killed."
"It's not that easy to take down Moody," Autumn said. "Don't forget, he's one of the most famous Aurors. It won't be that simple for the Death Eaters to kill him."
"Maybe," George said. "And everyone thinks there might be Death Eaters lying in wait near King's Cross Station to target Harry, so they're being extra cautious on the way here."
"But no one paid attention to the time..."
"...and by the time we got to King's Cross, we were already late."
"I ran as fast as I could, and so did George," Fred said, then added, "but Harry had too much luggage."
As he spoke, he poked his head out the window to look outside.
However, the train had already traveled a considerable distance, and there was no sign of the platform behind them.
"Darn, I wonder how Ginny will get to school now."
"It's a shame we can't take people along when we apparate yet."
"Don't worry," Kyle said, "there are adults with them, and they'll definitely find a way to get Ginny to Hogwarts."
"That's true," George said as he sat down next to Cedric. "Mom won't let Ginny and Ron be late."
"I wonder what they'll do," Fred said as he sat down beside them. "Hey, George, do you think Sirius' new car can fly?"
The two brothers paused, considering the possibility.
"If it can..." George trailed off, his eyes widening. "I won't be able to sleep tonight."
"Me neither," Fred agreed.
"It's simple," Cedric said. "Just ask them when you get to school. But don't you find it strange that the Death Eaters suddenly attacked Professor Moody?"
"Maybe they wanted to get information about Harry's whereabouts from him," George sighed. "Everyone knows that Voldemort has been trying to kill Harry."
"But we can't figure out why they targeted Moody," Fred said. "He's obviously a tough nut to crack."
"Do you think..." Autumn hesitated. "Could it have something to do with the Dark Arts curse? It's odd, isn't it? The two professors from last year were fine, and this has never happened before."
As Autumn spoke, the others realized that there might be a connection.
Indeed, for decades, every Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had only lasted a year, except for Moody and Sirius, who managed to make it to the end of the school year and left Hogwarts with everyone else during the holidays.
Initially, people thought it might have been because there were two professors sharing the role, thus dividing the curse between them. But then, on the day before the start of the new term, Moody was suddenly attacked.
If there wasn't a connection between these events, it would be quite a coincidence.
(End of Chapter)
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