The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks. They were very relieved to get out at King's Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder than ever, and they got soaked carrying their crossing the busy road and into the station.
Ryan was used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters by now. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention. They leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it. . . and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them.
The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts.
"You're going to have an interesting year," said Dad, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it. "
"A bit of what?" said Tonks.
"I'd invite you for Christmas, but. . . well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with. . . one thing and another. "
"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mom, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting – mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules -"
"What rules?" said Harry, Tonks, Daphne, and Luna together. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you. . . . Now, behave, won't you?" giving a hard stare at Ryan mostly who whistled nonchalantly and said "Wonderful weather isn't it?" as he looked up at the downpour and gloomy dark skies.
The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.
"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Tonks yelled out of the window as Mom and Dad sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"
But Mom only smiled and waved. Before the train had rounded the corner, she, and dad, had Disapparated.
They quietly went back to their compartment. The thick rain splattering the windows made it very difficult to see out of them. "Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," she said grumpily, sitting down next to Harry. "At the World Cup, remember?" Ryan didn't let on that he already knew what was happening but just watched them try to guess with frustrated frowns on their faces.
"Shh!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. They listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.
". . . Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man's such a Mudblood-lover – and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do. . . . "
Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.
"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" she said angrily. "I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him. "
"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" said Harry.
"Yes," said Hermione sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts. " Where is it? What country?"
"Well, nobody knows, do they?" said Hermione, raising her eyebrows.
"Er – why not?" said Harry.
"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," said Hermione matter-of-factly.
"Come off it," said Tonks, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts – how are you going to hide a great big castle?"
"But Hogwarts is hidden," said Hermione, in surprise. "Everyone knows that. . . well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway. "
"Just you and Ryan, then," said Tonks. "So go on – how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"
"It's bewitched," said Hermione. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE. "
"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?"
"Maybe," said Hermione, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable -"
"Come again?"
"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"
"Er. . . if you say so," said Harry.
"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms. "
"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Luna dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident. . . . Shame his mother likes him. . . ." The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Ryan bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for them to share and some spare items for his gate it never hurts to have more candy stockpiled even if I can't eat it all. that's the good life he had like 3 barrels of bertie botts beans in there and everything from blood pops to hubba Bubba bubblegum he didn't skip out on Muggle candies what type of fool you take him for. He had even gotten a stock of Ramen noodles like a true shut in.
Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Dean Thomas, and Neville, Dean was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking "Troy – Mullet – Moran!" but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way. After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm.
Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match.
"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though. "
"It was," said Tonks. "Look at this, Neville. . . "
She rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum.
"Oh wow," said Neville enviously as Tonks tipped Krum onto his hand.
Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean had left ajar.
"No poor people allowed, Malfoy," said Ryan smugly. Malfoy went pink and started to stutter. Then it evolved into him bragging about how he was in on the secret that was happening this year and was promptly hit with a silencing charm by Ryan and a banishing charm firing the three out the door before locking it with a smirk. as the people in the compartment were angrily staring they really wanted to know what's going on this year.
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 up Crookshanks in her cloak, 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 righ'?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"
First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.
"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Daphne fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd A hundred Thestral carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. They climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut 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 toward Hogwarts Castle.