Chapter V: Hogwarts Express
(Astoria P.O.V)
Astoria had never felt more excited than when she had awoken the morning of September 1st and had found herself facing the scarlet steam-engine christened the Hogwarts Express. Long had she dreamed of finally riding the train to Hogwarts, to finally learn how to properly use magic, and hopefully make some new friends. But more important than the magic and the friendships was the fact that she would finally be getting to spend more time with her sister, Daphne.
Astoria couldn't really recall the last time Daphne had stayed home for long. It killed Astoria inside because, despite the fact that Daphne would tell her constantly it wasn't her fault, Astoria couldn't help but feel it was. It had all started three years ago, a few months before Daphne had left for Hogwarts as a first year. Astoria remembered the awful day like it was yesterday, the day the medi-wizard had claimed that Astoria was the member of the family that was inflicted with the Greengrass Family Blood-Curse.
Nobody in her family knew when it had happened, but long ago the Greengrass family had been cursed by either a powerful artifact or wizard, depending on what elderly relative she would hear the story from, that had caused one member of the Greengrass line a generation to fall victim to a fatal blood-curse. The past generation, it had been her uncle, he died before Astoria was born at the age of twenty-four, young even for one inflicted with the disease. According to her gran Roxanne Greengrass, most inflicted live to be at least thirty until one day, without warning, they die. It isn't particularly painful, but it's sudden and carries no warning signs.
Astoria had tried to be brave upon hearing the news, well as brave as an eight-year-old could be about learning they had received a death sentence. She had locked herself in a room and cried for days, yelling and screaming in a rage about how unfair it was that it was her. Though she would never admit it out loud there were days in her grief-stricken mind that she wished it had been Daphne instead. She remembered how nauseous her father had looked upon hearing the news, unable to believe what he had heard. She remembered how her mother had collapsed to the ground and broke down crying for her 'baby'. And most importantly, she remembered how Daphne had stared at her, a blank expression on her face that showed nothing, no pain, no disbelief, it was as if she was a porcelain doll watching emotionlessly as her life fell around her.
Astoria remembered the night the family had broken apart completely. She had come out of her room in the dead of night with the goal of sneaking some food so that she could return to her hiding place when she had overheard a conversation between Daphne and her extremely drunk father. "Daphne," her father had slurred, "Go to bed, it's getting late."
"I can't sleep," Daphne said, though her voice betrayed her exhaustion, "I need to get through Volume One of The Healer's Help Mate so that I can start on Common Magical Aliments and Afflictions tomorrow, then I have to read-"
"Daphne," her father said more sternly, "Stop this, right now. You're only making it worse."
"So what am I supposed to do!" Daphne shouted. Astoria remembered how shocked she felt hearing Daphne raise her voice for the first time, "Just let her die! She's my little sister, I have to protect her! I have to," she finished her voice lowering slightly under their father's glare.
"There's nothing to be done!" Her father yelled, his voice too rippling with agony, "She's dead! Do you understand Daphne? It may not be now, it may not be in ten or even twenty years, but she's dead! There's nothing that can be done! There's no cure for a blood curse!"
"If you're just going to quit on her then fine!" Daphne shouted back, "But I'm not quitting until Astoria's dead and buried. Maybe if you tried to be a father for the first time in your life and care about something other than your legacy, you'd pick up a book and help me!"
Then, it echoed through the room like an explosion, smack! Astoria's hands began to tremble as she watched her father hit Daphne so hard she fell to the floor, a bruise quickly forming on her face. She had expected Daphne to stay down, she had hoped she wouldn't do anything else, Astoria didn't feel she was worth it, she didn't want her sister getting hurt for her. But much to Astoria's dismay, Daphne stood once more, and to Astoria's sheer disbelief, Daphne spat the blood out of her mouth at their father's feet as she spoke in anger, "Congratulations Jonathan, now both of your daughters are dead to you."
Astoria remembered quickly running up the stairs and hiding in her room wanting to wake up from the miserable dream she must have been having, but the relief of waking up never came. Instead, the next morning arrived and when she had opened her door, she was Daphne with her bags packed and a nasty blue bruise on her face standing in front of her. Trying to act as if she was unaware of what happened she asked, "What happened? And why are your bags packed?"
"Dad and I had a little disagreement is all," Daphne said comfortingly, "I'm going to be staying with the Davis' for a while, but don't worry, I'll be back."
Astoria had felt awful, she knew it was all her fault and with tears streaming down her eyes, she leapt for her older sister, wrapping her up in a crushing hug. To Astoria's surprise, Daphne, a notorious hug-hater, returned her embrace with equal intensity and for the first time Astoria recalled seeing tears stream down her sister's cheeks as she whispered, "I'm going to save you Astoria, I swear it."
"I'll miss you," Astoria said, her voice shaking.
"I'll miss you too Tori," Daphne said with a hug, "Be good alright, don't give mom a hard time okay? I love you, Tori."
"I love you too," Astoria said, tears streaming from her eyes as she watched her sister leave the Greengrass Estate for the last time that year.
Their mom had forced their dad to continue paying for Daphne's schooling though Mr. Davis, a wealthy wizard in his own right had claimed he had no problem paying for Daphne due to the current familial situation as Daphne had essentially begun living with the Davis' full time. Yes, Daphne would come home occasionally, but rarely stayed for more than a day, and Astoria treasured those days greatly as whenever Daphne was home, she'd never leave her sister's side.
Now ,however, long times apart would be a thing of the past as Astoria and her sister boarded the Hogwarts Express together and Astoria honestly couldn't remember the last time she had felt as happy as when she had found a compartment on the train to sit beside her sister and her two friends Tracey Davis, and Tracey's boyfriend a tall and dark-skinned boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes named Blaise Zabini.
Astoria felt ecstatic as she watched the train slowly pull out of the station, and as platform 9 ¾ began to fade away and the train began to barrel into the lush mountainsides, Astoria couldn't help but wonder what adventures laid ahead. After all, she was on borrowed time and she intended to make the most of it.
(Harry P.O.V)
"Harry," Sirius spoke in a locked and abandoned waiting room at King's Cross Station, "Are you sure you want to do this? Kreacher can just apparate us to Hogsmeade and we can wait for the train to arrive there."
"I know, Sirius," Harry said exhaustedly, it was an argument they had been having about his safety for days, eventually with the help of Remus, Sirius had folded, but it seemed like he was making one last attempt, "I know I'm the 'chosen one', I know I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, but I don't want to miss out on everything a normal student gets to do just because of that. I know I'll be treated differently, but just for a little while longer, I want to pretend I'm normal before the world comes crashing down."
Harry looked up at Sirius, he couldn't put into words how much he loved the man, the person that had rescued him from Godric's Hollow, the person that had made him his son, the person that loved him unconditionally through every success and every screw-up. He had fought so hard for him to have a happy childhood, leaving behind the only land he knew just to ensure Harry's safety. Never in his life did Harry think he could repay him for everything he had done for him. A small smile appeared on Sirius' face once again Remus had placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "He's going to be alright Padfoot. I'll be on the train as well, plus, he's Prong's son, after all, we can try all we'd like, he's going to find a way to get into trouble regardless."
Sirius chuckled, "The New Age of Marauders off to cause some more chaos at Hogwarts," Sirius then turned to Remus, "Can't say I envy you Moony."
"Are you kidding me?" Remus said with a smirk, "Sure unlike you Padfoot I grew up a bit, but I'm absolutely tingling with excitement to see what this mind thinks up." Then Remus grabbed his shoulder and stared at him, "But not in my classroom, clear?"
"Crystal," Harry said with a smirk.
"Alright Harry," Sirius said with a nod, "Remember, I'm not going to be able to see you for a while, not until the next Hogsmeade weekend. I've made Andromeda the legal proxy until I get exonerated and she's already sent the permission slip so don't let Dumbledore tell you otherwise."
Harry nodded before Sirius continued, "And keep in mind, you have study hard and do your best, unfortunately, your time at Hogwarts can't be all fun and games like it was for your father and me, but don't forget to live a little. If you can, try and find our old treasure the Marauder's Map. You remember the words, right?"
Harry smirked and with his wand held high he spoke, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Sirius barked out a laugh as he nodded before with a bittersweet smile he spoke, "Mischief Managed. Good luck out there Pup, I love you kid."
Harry wrapped Sirius up in a tight hug himself trying to hold back the tears as he spoke, "I love you too, you mangy mutt."
"Come on now Harry," Remus said with a smile, "Let's be off, we don't want to miss the train."
"Right," Harry said with a nod before turning to Sirius, "Until next time."
"Until next time," Sirius said with a nod, "Now wipe those tears off your face and go catch your train, oh yeah and one more thing, go easy on McGonagall okay? Your father, Remus and I put the witch through a lot bless her soul."
Harry just chuckled and behind Remus, the two of them marched out towards the magical barrier before finally Harry had arrived on Platform 9 ¾. It made him feel stupid as he looked around the platform, somehow expecting to see someone he knew, but only to face the obvious results of recognizing nobody. He turned to Remus who nodded, "Alright, I've got to go to the teacher's compartment, suppose I'll be the only one on the train as most tend to live nearby, all the same, you know where to find me. Now you go find a compartment, don't want to be the last one on now, do you?"
Harry nodded and with a final glance at his uncle, he departed towards the student's entrance for the scarlet steam engine, Loki and his cage in one hand, and his trunk in the other. He looked at the Hogwarts Express and with a smile he spoke in his mind, Hey mom, dad. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, keep watching over me, alright?
With that last thought in mind, Harry bordered the train and with all the haste he could muster, he found himself in an empty compartment. He threw his trunk onto the overhead rail, before letting Loki out from his cage much to his delight, and with his Kneazle resting on his chest, Harry leaned against the wall of the Hogwarts Express and watched as with a loud whistle the train departed the platform.
(Daphne P.O.V)
"Wait, wait, wait," Blaise said in disbelief trying to comprehend the story Tracey had just told him, "So you're telling me, that two days ago, not only did you meet Harry Potter, but he asked Daphne out and she said no."
"Yes," Daphne said with a sigh, having to deal with the same reaction from Tracey for the past few days as well, "That is exactly what happened."
"Okay, okay," Blaise said trying to calm himself before he erupted again, "Are you absolutely insane! This isn't like turning down Malfoy, this is Harry freaking Potter, do you understand how powerful your stature would become if you dated him. God, you could probably run the entire school if you wanted to."
"He was a conceited jerk," Daphne growled, "The fame clearly got to his head, thinking he can just have anything he wants, it was absolutely disgusting."
"Okay fair," Blaise spoke, "But counter-point, he's Harry Potter! You know, the Boy-Who-Lived, only person to ever survive the killing curse, not to mention the itty-bitty fact that he killed You-Know-Who! Of course, he's conceited! If I had killed the Dark Lord I'd make sure everybody knew it too."
Daphne simply shook her head. She loved Blaise and Tracey, they had formed a little against the Dark Lord coalition in their primarily supporter filled house. They would play their part to avoid ridicule, but neither Daphne nor Blaise really cared about Pure-Blood superiority, hell Tracey was a half-blood and she was her best-friend and Blaise was even dating her. But Blaise's opinion about Potter was getting under her skin.
Yes, he was cute, no more than cute, Potter was aggravatingly attractive. His soul piercing green eyes, his messy hair that it took all her willpower not to want to run her hands through. He was tall and tan, not to mention that when Daphne had bumped into him she had felt like she had run into a wall of pure lean muscle. But, he was arrogant, the way he just gave her that annoying nickname, how he asked her out with the expectation that she'd say yes as if he had never been told no before, it infuriated her.
Plus, Daphne didn't have time for dating, she had one goal and one goal only, dating would just get in the way of her already limited free-time that was dedicated to reading every single healing-based book in the Hogwarts library. The fact that her sister was sitting right beside her only strengthen her resolve. Dating, getting married, having kids, all of that could wait until she was certain Astoria was safe. She had walked out on her family, Astoria was all she had, and she'd be dammed if she lost her to some stupid curse.
However, before Daphne could even give Blaise a retort the compartment door swung open and standing there was one of her least favorite people to walk the earth. A slender boy with rather sharp and pointed features. As if he needed to appear cockier than he seemed, he leaned against the door of the compartment, and ran his pale hands through his sleek white-blonde hair as he eyed the members of the compartment, "Greengrass, Zabini," He spoke curtly.
"Nice to see you too, Malfoy," Tracey muttered beneath her breath.
"Did you say something Half-Blood?" Draco muttered with boredom.
Daphne watched as Blaise' hand began turning to a clutched fist, but thankfully Tracey had placed a hand on her boyfriend before he did something rash. Draco smirked once more before Daphne spoke, "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"Aw come on beautiful, don't be that way," Draco spoke slyly, "I was thinking to myself that maybe you had realized you made a mistake last year rejecting me and over the summer you've come to accept that. So I was considering giving you another shot, what do you say?"
"Save it, Malfoy," Daphne snarled, "I'd have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to ever fall for you. Go bother Parkinson or somebody who cares."
"You're going to regret that Greengrass," Draco said with a wicked look, "Come on Crabbe, Goyle, let's get out of here, clearly Potter's not in this compartment either."
With a quick turn, the compartment door slid shut behind him and Tracey couldn't help but chuckle, "Cold blooded, even for the Ice Queen. Why do you think Malfoy was looking for Potter?"
"I don't know, and I don't care," Daphne said with a shrug, "I imagine they'll make fast friends, they're both too arrogant for their own good."
"Malfoy and Potter being friends," Blaise said with a shudder, "That's a frightening thought."
Once again, Daphne simply shrugged before turning once more to her sister who was looking at her with concern. Daphne smiled as she placed a hand on her younger sister's shoulder, "Don't worry okay? Everything's going to be fine. Malfoy's all talk anyway."
(Michael P.O.V)
Michael was currently weaving through the corridors of the train trying to find an open compartment, the final words of his mother at King's Cross Station still ringing heavily in his head, "Micha, my brilliant boy," His mother spoke softly, "Please try to stay out of so much trouble this year. You're so smart, I've seen you in the shop with your father, you're brilliant, all you have to do is try. Please try to bring back at least E's this year."
Michael ran his head through is charmed bright blue hair, honestly, sometimes he hated being sorted in Ravenclaw. All his life, his intelligence had been his claim to fame. When he was a kid, his father a muggle mechanic by the name of Henry Corner, and his mother, a Pure-blood witch Rachel Taylor took him to one of those awful gifted programs that had opened up at his school. Had he known that it was a test, Michael would have bombed it intentionally, but they had convinced him it was a game.
It was a bunch of misshaped wooden logs, that under careful evaluation and placement could be meshed together to form a perfect cube. The faster someone could solve it, the higher their I.Q was. Like an idiot, Michael tried, and as soon as he realized his evaluators face upon finishing the cube he knew something was wrong. Based on the time it had taken him to solve the puzzle, he was determined to have an IQ in the range of 145-150, well within the genius range.
That was when his life had taken a turn for the worse, suddenly, nothing he did was ever good enough. Every grade he'd bring home that wasn't perfect was a call upon his lack of effort, his lack of work ethic. His mother had tried to be more understanding, but his father was not having it. His old man was one of those, 'I never went to university and you shouldn't squander your potential' types of people and it had created a strong rift between his father and him.
It was something his father could never understand about him, Michael didn't care about going to college, and on the day, he found out he was a wizard, he didn't care much for doing well at Hogwarts either. He loved building things, he used to love working in his dad's mechanic shop, he had a gift for it, and all he wanted was for one day to inherit the business from his dad.
His family wasn't having it however, his mom had dreams of him becoming an unspeakable, the cream of the crop of all researchers who worked for the Ministry of Magic. Incredibly skilled wizards who worked in the arts of time-travel or the studies of death and the afterlife. His father coming from the muggle world had aspirations for him like becoming a lawyer or a doctor, something with prestige. They could never understand that all Michael wanted was to work with his hand and bring objects to life.
Michael had stopped at the bathroom compartment of the train and slowly washed his face. He smiled as he saw his bright blue hair, he used to have black hair, but he felt it was far too standard and learned the spell to charm it blue. He ran his fawn-colored hand through his hair adjusting his top knot before washing away the crust from his light brown eyes. His owl, Athena squawked loudly as the Hogwarts Express ran over a bumpy bit of rail, and slowly he stuck his hand into the cage to calm his beautiful screech owl and smiled as she nipped affectionately at his fingers.
"Don't worry Athena," Michael whispered, "When we get close to Hogwarts, I'll let you fly the rest of the way."
Athena hooted merrily and slowly, Michael left the bathroom compartment on the lookout for a place to sit for the remainder of the trip. Initially, he was hoping to find Terry, or Anthony, or somebody from his Ravenclaw year, but when he did stumble across the compartment it was completely full. He wanted to stick around, but he felt sick to his stomach as he watched Terry eye down the girl who Michael was convinced was the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts.
Her warm amber eyes, her long and curly auburn hair, her kind smile and adorable laugh, Susan Bones completely drove him crazy. It irritated him, his crush of Susan hadn't been a secret to his fellow third-year boys, and yet despite knowing his feeling for her, Terry was flirting with her and worse, she was responding. Which I mean, of course, she was. Despite Michael's burning rage against Terry at that moment, he couldn't deny that Terry was a handsome bloke, he was a straight O student, and he was a genuinely nice guy while he on the other hand, well it put it nicely, he was a bit of a troublemaker.
Before anyone noticed him, Michael swallowed down his hurt and began to move on towards other compartments. The first one he saw was a compartment consisting of Granger, Brown, and the Patil Twins, and instantly Michael thought, Pass. It wasn't that Hermione was insufferable like Snape had called her, she was nice enough, and won a lot of points for their house, it was just that she was so strict and hardly any fun to be around at all. Then there was the ungodly gossip circle of Lavender and the Patil sisters and Christ, Michael had made the mistake of sitting near them in the library once and he had sincerely wondered if jumping out the window from that height would kill him.
Finally, however, he found a compartment near the back of the train that was nearly empty. It only had one student in it, and a cat. From the outside of the compartment, Michael was certain he had never seen the boy before, he had a keen eye for faces, and never before had he seen the emerald-eyed boy. Realizing this was most likely his best bet for finding a seat, he slid the compartment door open, and instantly both the boy and his cat jumped to attention. Michael walked in and spoke softly, "Hi, um, the name's Michael Corner, I was wondering if I could sit here, there's no place left."
"Yeah man," the boy said enthusiastically, "I was waiting for someone to show up, I've got plenty of room."
Michael smirked at the boy's attitude before he walked in and slid his trunk beside the mysterious new kid's. He placed Athena on the bunk next to him before pulling a treat from his bag and feeding it to the bird who hooted in satisfaction. "Cool bird," the boy said, "What kind of owl is that?"
"Thanks, her name's Athena, she's actually a screech-" Then Michael looked up at the boy and instantly he felt his jaw drop in disbelief. He had seen celebrities before from professional quidditch players to even Leonardo DiCaprio and Morgan Freeman once, but to see the Boy-Who-Lived in his compartment was a bit shocking, to put it mildly. Slowly, he closed his jaw and with a questioning look he jested, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Instead of annoyance the boy just laughed, "Yeah maybe," he said with a shrug, "Supposedly I'm a pretty big deal in the wizarding world."
Michael smirked, "So the great Harry Potter's return to the wizarding world and he brought along a sense of humor."
Harry smiled, "I'll have you know I'm a regular riot. Plus, I guess it's nice to meet someone that doesn't shout my name like a deranged fan."
"Mate," Michael said slowly, "I have a signed poster from the movie Unforgiven by both Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman in my bedroom at home, you're cool and all, but you're not Clint Eastwood cool."
To Michael's amusement, the Boy-Who-Lived began to crack up laughing before he wiped away his tears and smiled, "Fair enough mate, fair enough."
"So," Michael said trying to keep the mood light, "What brings the Boy-Who-Lived back to the magical world?"
"Middle School got boring," Harry said with a shrug, "Magic sounded much more fun."
Michael smirked as he shook his head in amusement, "Potter, I think this is the beginning to a beautiful friendship."
"It could be," Harry said nonchalantly, "But I got a question for you. How do you feel about pranks?"
"How do I feel about pranks," Michael said in fake appalment, "I'll have you know last year I received the second most detentions for pranks behind the great Fred and George Weasley."
Harry chuckled as he lifted his hand, "Well then, let's try to beat them this year."
"I'm in," Michael said with grin taking Harry's hand and shaking it, "Maybe this year won't be so boring after all."
(Harry P.O.V)
Harry wasn't really sure what it was about Michael, but as soon as he had entered the compartment, something had just clicked. The two had talked about muggle movies and quidditch for nearly an hour. Their opinions on their favorite schools of magic and their discussions about their early muggle school years had also taken up a good amount of time as Michael had introduced him to the world of exploding snap.
When the trolley had come around, the two of them had gorged themselves on chocolate frogs and nearly died due to their awful luck with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Harry had acquaintances back at his old school, and he had a fair share of flings as well, but never had he had such a relaxed and unforced, nearly instantaneous connection with another person. Michael may not have been exactly like him as he for example favored the school of charms while Harry loved DADA, but they had come from a very similar walk of life and Harry was glad to talk to someone who had lived in both the muggle and wizarding world.
However, Harry's fun was cut short when to his great discontent, the compartment door slid open, and standing there was a boy with sleek white-blonde hair and daunting grey eyes being backed by two gorilla looking cronies. Harry had an idea who the blonde may have been, but kept his mouth shut until to his dismay, the boy stepped in like he owned the compartment and called out, "I'm looking for Harry Potter, my father received word that Harry Potter appeared in the ministry registry after a long hiatus from the magical world, anyone in here seen him.
Harry looked at Michael with a tired stare as he rolled his eyes causing Michael to smirk before Harry turned to face Malfoy. A sinister grin appeared on Malfoy's face as the grey eyed git approached Harry with his outstretched hand, "Welcoming back to the wizarding world Potter, you've probably heard of me before, the names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. You've been gone from the wizarding world a while, I'd be glad to show you around, make sure you don't consort with the wrong kind of ilk. We elites need to stick together after all."
"Malfoy, huh?" Harry spoke maliciously, "Yeah, I've heard about you and your father. I heard that over night you lost all control over the Black Family fortune, that must have hurt an 'elite' such as yourself."
Malfoy flinched, and Harry continued cultivating an extremely cunning lie, "You know, when I stopped at Gringotts, I learned a very curious thing, somehow, I became the future holder of the Black Family Vaults, which means if my calculations are correct, the Potter Family holdings are for above a small insignificant family like yours."
A look of blistering rage filled Draco's face as Harry kept a content and lazy grin on his face as he spoke, "So yeah, you might be an 'elite', but I'm so far above you that it would disgust me to even shake your hand. How about you try to get your money up to my level before you come and talk to me again."
"How dare you!" Malfoy barked lifting his wand, "My father has the ear of the Minister for Magic himself, the Malfoy family is one of the most powerful names in all of the wizarding world, how dare you talk down to me."
"Put the wand down Malfoy before you get hurt," Harry said boredom lacing his voice, "Let me ask you something. If the Potter family made a sizable donation to both the Ministry and the Daily Prophet and asked it to voice concerns over the fact a man so weak he fell susceptible to the Dark Lord's imperious curse, the same Dark Lord who died at the hands of an infant, was guiding the direction of the Ministry, how long do you think your father would stay in power?"
"You see the funny thing about having money and power is," Harry started, "That you feel so in charge, until another person with even more money and power shows up. This is a warning Malfoy, tread carefully, because if I wanted to, I could destroy your entire family."
The vein in Malfoy's forehead looked about ready to pop, but the calm and easy expression never left Harry's face. The stare down lasted for nearly a minute, and Harry had found it hard to keep a straight face due to the fact that Michael was damn near close to exploding with laughter. However, eventually, Malfoy blinked and with a huff, he spun on his heels towards his gorilla sized goons, "Crabbe! Goyle! We're leaving!"
"Have a good school year Malfoy!" Harry called out teasingly as he watched the heir of the Malfoy family storm away. Harry didn't like Malfoy, but he honestly as of now at least didn't want to destroy him. He didn't really want to destroy his mother either, according to both Sirius and Andromeda she had never officially taken the mark, and more importantly, she was a Black after all. No, the only person Harry wanted from the family was Malfoy Sr. though that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun tormenting the death eater's spawn.
"That was incredible," Michael said with a laugh, "God, Malfoy's been a pain in the ass for two years now. I'm so glad I got to see someone put him in his place."
"Yeah," Harry said with a shrug, "I don't really care that much about money or the wealth of my friends, but bullies really piss me off."
"You Mr. Potter," Michael said tossing Harry another pumpkin pasty, "Are quite the character."
"I try, Corner, I try."