Hogwarts Express, 20 minutes after departure from Platform Nine and three quarters.
"FRED! GEORGE! Give me back my badge!"
"We didn't steal it!"
"Though we wanted to do so for a longtime..."
"GIVE ME BACK MY WAND OR I'LL TELL MOTHER! AND THE OTHER BADGES OF MY FELLOW PREFECTS ARE ALSO MISSING!"
"I told you... we didn't do it!"
"...But brilliant move that was!"
"I know you have something to do with this... it's not yet over... I'm going to tell Professor McGonagall when we arrive."
A young boy gazed at the sky as the Express made good speed towards its destination. He played with a golden badge he had recently 'borrowed', making it dance around his fingers. He smiled as the wind rushed towards his face and lied back down on the roof of the express, using his rolled up robes as a pillow. A toad sat beside him, enjoying the warm sun on its backobserving the strange human that found him in the hallways.
Harry was bored at the compartment he was previously in. After spending a few minutes with a compartment full of students older than him he decided to find a new spot to watch the engine. They were friendly enough, but he felt left out of place since they obviously knew each other well, comparing their summer vacations and about the status of their assigned summer homework.
As he walked along the carriage, his sharp eyes spotted movement in the floor and he snatched it just as it leapt past him. He smiled when a toad stared back at him, its lower mouth inflating back and forth as its beady black eyes stared at its captor. He couldn't decide what to do with the toad and he didn't want it squished by the dozens of students rushing back and forth along the length of the hallway. He placed the toad on his right front pocket and the creature sat still, content at the warm place it was in.
He was excited to ride on the Hogwarts Express and had been looking forward to it since last week. According to the old man it was full of runic magic that allowed the obsolete muggle train turned wizarding transport express to travel as fast as the bullet trains in Japan or the ICE trains in Europe. Harry also felt fondness for the steam engine, as he spent his childhood watching Thomas and his friends.
He was somewhat disappointed when he did not see the Fat controller in the platform as was seen from his favorite show, but he concluded that since there was only one train that ran around the tracks, a controller was not really needed.
His good mood from his excitement at riding the express was ruined from the very beginning. Harry wanted to see the engine up front and decided to take a compartment in the very first car right before the engine to observe the 'engineer' that will operate the controls. He was smiling widely as he imagined the Engineer to be of a wizarding variation, but still wearing the traditional white and blue striped hat and pants of an engine operator.
A thin red headed boy with freckles on his face suddenly entered his compartment just as he was settling in and demanded that he leave, since the compartments in the first car were reserved for prefects and the head boy and head girl.
Harry of course refused, since he woke up very early so just he could ensure that he would have a good seat on the first car. The red headed prefect puffed out his chest, showing the shiny gold letter 'P' pinned on his chest and demanded that he leave. Other prefects arrived on the scene and Harry was forced to relinquish the compartment. After staring for a moment at the engine at the front of the car, He scowled and pushed past the assembled group of prefects, deciding to teach them a lesson for their big headedness.
After admiring the gold badge, which he determined was not actually made of gold but made to look like one he threw it out the side of the train. He fished his pocket and opened a bag full of the small gold badges and started playing with the next one. This time it had the design of a Raven delicately carved over its face.
"I tell you, Percy's crazy... he's off his rocker." George Weasley said to his twin."He's just embarrassed since he is related to the main suspects." Fred answered back. "Who could have stolen most of the prefect's badges?"
"I don't know... but it seems the Weasley Twins have some competition" Lee Jordan said. A glint of light caught his eye as he stared out the window. "Hey look at that!"
"What?" The twins asked simultaneously as they followed their friend's gaze. Another golden object that suspiciously looked like one of the missing Prefect badges flew down and disappeared into the grassy countryside.
"Who is doing that?" Fred asked as he spotted another badge thrown out to the side of the train.
"I think it's our competition dear brother." George answered back. "And it looks like the badges are thrown from the roof of the train."
"The roof? Who could be possibly crazy enough to go up there aside from us?" Fred asked.
"Let's find out then." Lee said and the three third year students headed to the connection between the second and third car where they knew the ladder to the roof was located.
"Bloody Hell!" Lee said as he ducked in time as a golden badge flew past where his head would have been. It wouldn't have killed him... instantly but with the added force of the wind it could have left a nasty cut or bruise on his face.
The three students warily climbed up and found a young boy lying on top of the roof playing with a prefect badge. He didn't seem to notice that he had company due to the fact that he was looking straight up and the rushing wind made it hard for everyone to hear.
Another thing strange was a toad was sitting beside him, looking towards its companion eagerly. The boy flicked the badge again and this time the toad was ready and snatched the metal out of the air and swallowed it.