With a characteristic bang, all the windows in the carriage burst, showering glass crumbles inside. Some of the rather large fragments, like shrapnel, scattered in different directions. All the walls were studded with these fragments, for a moment I saw the shine of the magical protection that was imposed on the carriage. So why didn't it work from the very beginning?
My shield showed its best side, covering not only me, but also the Moon, who, shrinking into lumps, hid from the whole world in my arms.
Dust (where did it come from here?) partially obscured the view. All I could see at the moment was the outline of Potter's figure peeking out from behind that curtain.
Suddenly, Harry's figure rose into the air and flew with a whistle towards the nearest wall, hitting it with a loud, dull sound.
With a characteristic clap (which is the characteristic sound of almost all methods of movement in the magical world), a short figure appeared in front of Potter hanging in the air, with his hand outstretched and pointing at Harry.
- Harry Potter, sir, is bad. He tricked Dobby. You told Dobby that you weren't going to Hogwarts, but you lied, as if an offended child began to wail. "But Dobby is smart and double-checked Harry Potter." True, Dobby had to punish himself - the dust began to clear, gradually revealing the whole picture in its entirety. Raising his other hand in front of him, the house elf began to examine it. Quite thick bandages were wrapped around them and were soaked in blood. - Dobby will bring you home. For your sake, Harry Potter.
Apparently, the hero himself did not want to deal with this. With a sharp wave of his right hand, he sent a wave of rather dense mana towards the house-elf who was not expecting it. (Not as much as I have now, but at the level of what I had during the middle of my first year for sure. Although the color of this mana interested me a little - dark blue with "veins" of incredibly dark green mana. At first I I actually thought it was black mana, but then I took a closer look)
At the very last moment, Dobby closed himself with a barely visible dome of dense mana, but, however, not completely. The small body swayed, the spell holding Potter disappeared.
Having freed himself from the restraining spell, Harry softly landed on the ground and, drawing his wand, sent a spell beam towards the house elf, which, however, turned out to be useless. Dobby disappeared from the spot with a pop.
Without stopping, the brown beam of the spell flew towards me. A wave of the wand and the beam bends around us and crashes into the wall.
- Be careful, Potter. "You're not alone here," he said, lifting Luna to her feet. - And what actually happened here? No tower fan? Although, as is the idol, so is his fan, right? - complete nonsense, but it costs a lot to piss off a boy. Is it likely that he will shake it up?
"Why are you even..." the guy began his speech, being in the grip of emotions, but...
*Bam* The dome that surrounded me began to flutter. Something hit him, and with such force that the waves became visible even without magical vision. Turning sharply, I noticed the figure of a house-elf who was looking at me angrily with his unrealistically large eyes.
"How dare you insult Harry Potter!" - this "fan" squeaked, switching to ultra sound, it seems he is not at all friendly with his head. Filling per person is a direct violation of the house elf code. Look, he's getting crushed by the recoil: his nose began to bleed, open wounds began to appear on his body, and his mana went haywire. - Dobby will show you that Harry Potter is Great!
Another scream and a monstrously powerful telekinetic ram flew into me. By sending a little more mana into the shield, I strengthened it, thereby extinguishing the wave. Alas, you can't run much with the Moon next to me. But we still need to do something about this patient.
In a couple of seconds, I managed to send about a dozen simple spells at the house elf: stunning, binding, fettering and a couple of others, but here I didn't seem to notice them, spreading them with brute force. And the pullback hit him harder and harder.
Okay, enough ceremony. A wave of his wand (more for show, after all, Potter is here, and Luna should be warned later) and a whole wave of icy air burst out towards the house elf. It became noticeably colder in the carriage, frost ran along the walls, completely closing the doors to the compartment, which I had previously held with the help of telekinesis. No one needs to come out, you never know how many more people will get hurt.
Gathering around the figure of the house-elf, the air mixed with ice crystals rushed towards him.
- Ah-ah-ah! - closed Dobby, who did not expect such a thing. Ice began to cover his figure, slowly but tirelessly.
The brownie didn't think to dwell on this. In a matter of moments, he directed so much mana to his defense that the air began to "crackle" from its amount, but alas, it was not completely under his control, so he was unable to completely stop the icing. And I didn't sit idly by.
I said with my baton like a conductor directing an orchestra. With every moment, more and more new spells fell on the house elf. Icy roots entwined his legs, icy chains enveloped his figure, and shackles bound his limbs.
A sharp crunch distracted my attention. Turning in his direction, I found the heads of curious Slytherins peeking out from behind the door. Damn, I didn't freeze the door enough.
- Ah-ah-ah! — a new cry from the house-elf filled the carriage, followed by another bang.
Dobby disappeared, leaving behind my ice constructs. With a ringing sound they hit the floor, which was covered with a small crust of ice. Damn, he's gone. You need to be more prudent.
Having put my wand in my holster (I still have time to get it), I turned towards the onlookers. Behind me, all the ice dissipated without leaving a trace behind, well, except for its damaged interior (the chains were "nailed" to the floor, and the roots must grow from somewhere).
Looking around at the onlookers, I just mentally sighed. Eh, there just weren't enough of them. We need to do something about this, it's best to shift attention from me to another participant in the events. Speaking of Potter, he's staring at me way too intently. Why such hostility and caution mixed with suspicion?
-What are you staring at? Have you ever seen our hero attacked by enemies? - Sorry Potter, but you're better off than me. Moreover, you're not used to extra attention. - And yes, it was our hero who was attacked once again. And he was able to protect not only himself, but also us," he patted Luna on the shoulder, who was still approaching me. "By the way, Potter," as if by chance, he changed the "topic" of the conversation, and the attention too. -Who attacked you again? Who didn't you please?
All the "spectators" stared in anticipation at the figure of our hero, but he did not deign them even a drop of his attention, continuing to drill his eyes into unintended holes in me. Holy holy, I don't need such happiness.
"Come on, answer," going up to him and slapping him on the shoulder. "There, your fans are waiting," he nodded his head towards the crowd of onlookers, and in the end he completely pushed our "hero" to the side.
The crowd instantly surrounded the "victim," cutting off his escape route. Farewell Potter, you died a heroic death. In the meantime, sideways towards our compartment.
Closing the compartment door behind me, I was finally able to at least partially relax. I hope I don't have to explain myself. Better to let Harry deal with this.
Alas, Neville remained there. Apparently, once he got into the crowd, he wouldn't be able to get out right away, so let's wait.
Sitting down in my seat, I joined Luna next to me. Putting my hand on her head, I gently stroked it.
- That's it, you can let go already. That house-elf is no longer there, so you'll need to work on your sensory skills. It is quite possible that the brownie will want to take revenge on me. I am an angry and disgusting person who said a bad word against a HERO.
In response to my words, Luna only squeezed my hand harder. Eh, another child.
— Scared? - nod. "Me too," he lied a little. The girl looked up at me with her silver eyes in disbelief. - Do not believe? Well, I was actually scared, my hand was shaking," I showed my hand, which did not show such symptoms at all. - Oh, damn. "Wrong hand," I said, as if making an unintentional mistake, I raise my other hand. The result is the same. - It seems to me that I made a mistake somewhere.
However, this performance was quite enough. The figure of the girl, who was all on nerves, instantly relaxed. And then a quiet laugh filled Luna.
"Hee-hee," she laughed quietly into her palm. Smiling slightly, I took out a chocolate bar from my bag. I have it, especially the bitter one, but I think the milky one would be better for Luna.
Handing the laughing girl a chocolate bar, I said with a smile:
- Hold it. "Eat," Luna carefully picked up the chocolate bar. - Chocolate helps. Believe me.
There was a rustle of paper and foil, and then the sound of chocolate breaking. Great, that will be better.
With a characteristic sound, the door leading to our compartment opened. Nev stood in the doorway, embarrassed about something. What has already happened? I voiced this question.
- What happened already? Who or what confused you, Nev? — I answered with a half smile. Here, from Nev's side, there was a whiff of fun and interest. What?..
"I'm here..." he said hesitantly, stepping aside. Behind him was an eleven-year-old girl with white and blue hair, wearing a school robe. I see... - He brought a guest here.
Astoria Greengrass, who turned out to be the guest, smiled joyfully at us and entered our compartment. Looking at Luna, who was eating chocolate without paying attention to anything, she turned her gaze to me. At that moment, real stars lit up in her eyes. What kind of illusion?
- Hello! - this person shouted in greeting. "My name is Astoria Greengrass," she said with a slight bow, but then quickly straightened up and smiled again.
"Nice to meet you Miss Greengrass," I said with a slight smile, standing up from my seat. — My name is Calder Wilson. You can call me Calder, otherwise if a girl like you calls me Mr. Wilson, then I will feel very old," he tried to smile at her. Although, judging by their reaction, it didn't work out very well for me. Well, okay. "The embarrassed guy next to you is slumped over - my friend, Neville Longobot," after hearing my words, he stared at me "indignantly." Hah. "Don't look at how embarrassed he is now." Usually this manifests itself much more strongly in him.
- Hey!..
"And this person," I continued, not paying attention to Nev's cry. — The current hamster parody is called Luna Lovegood. She is also my friend," the designated person did not react in any way.
"Nice to meet you, Calder," Astoria wrote happily. "And it's the same with you Luna, Neville."
"Uh-huh," Nev hummed, sitting down on the owl. Luna was silent.
Waving my wand, I closed the door leading to the compartment. Having pointedly hidden it in a holster, he turned his gaze to this electric broom.
- Okay, Astoria. First, sit down. As they say: there is no truth in your legs," after listening to me, the girl sat down opposite me, thereby pushing Nev a little closer, but he was still timid in her presence, so he did not react at all. We need to somehow increase his self-confidence. - Since everyone is seated, we can begin the main topic of conversation. Austria, what do you need from us?
-How did you use those spells? How do you know them? Who taught them to you? Will you teach? Who attacked Potter? What happened there? And... - questions poured out of her like from a cornucopia. If you don't stop it, you can become completely bogged down in these issues. Look, Nev's eyes are already glassy.
"Wait, wait, wait," I said, raising my hands in front of me. - Hold your horses. Let's go in order. So be it, I will answer your questions. But note that our time is not rubber.
And sure enough, the train started moving. So the problem was solved without me. That is great.
-Who attacked Potter? "And then he left without saying anything at all," Astoria said, puffing out her cheeks. I would believe it, but during the entire time we met, only one emotion emanated from her: interest and a certain joy. Nothing else.
"Don't you think that telling secrets to a miracle is not the best thing to do?" — he asked this person, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms on his chest.
"And I won't tell anyone, rest assured," she said quite sincerely.
- Hm-yes? Well, okay, let's see - there's something I'm not at all sure about, but I didn't promise not to tell Potter about it. So... - I don't know the name of the attacker, but it was definitely a house-elf. A crazy house-elf, talking some nonsense about a Hero who is in danger.
- Brownie? - she was surprised. Wow, after all, Astoria knows how to experience other emotions. Incredible. - But are they...
— Didn't swear allegiance to an entire race? - but what an oath. They hardly work if you educate a reasonable person in the right way. There's something different here. - Yes, that is right. I'll tell you more - the oath hit the house-elf himself, but he still attacked.
Our further journey passed in such conversations. Of course, in time, I didn't tell anything unnecessary, not about myself, not about my abilities, not about anything else. It is not known what kind of person Astoria Greengrass is, but Nev and Luna liked her.
Speaking of them, they were silent almost the entire way. It's even interesting why, but I'll ask about that myself, only later.
Ten minutes before arriving at Hogsmeade, Astoria left us. Well, we changed clothes and began to wait for further arrival.
Coming out of the carriage, Nev and I went to the carriages, and Luna, together with the newly arrived Astoria, went towards the forester.
Well, this time there was no delay, although I was looking at the thestrals again, and of course, stroking them would be of no use.
Having climbed into the carriage to Nev, I began to wait for departure. But it was not there. And at the last moment Potter joined us. A very angry and dissatisfied Potter, looking at me suspiciously.
So what again?