Harry entered one of the many cabins on the train to Hogwarts. Hermione and Ron entered immediately after him. Sirius had wanted to accompany them to the station now that he was a free man, but unfortunately for him, he had some paperwork to do at the Ministry. With his release, he had to sign and answer some questions. It was important for him to become a wizarding citizen once again.
"Harry, what did Sirius mean?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously.
"You know... about that... what he said before we left Grimmauld Place."
"Ah, that. Don't worry, that was Sirius being himself. He was just making fun of me for not having a girlfriend."
"I see..." Hermione nodded before opening a book and starting to read.
Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the cabin door was opened. The three of them looked towards the door and saw an acquaintance.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"
"None of your business, Weasley," Draco sneered before snorting and looking at Hermione and Harry.
"I don't understand why McGonagall asked me to do this, but never mind. I'll just do my job," Draco tossed a badge towards Harry, who caught it and raised an eyebrow at what it was.
"There's a meeting with the other prefects at the front of the train. Don't be late."
Harry looked at Draco and noticed a small green pouch around his neck. Harry just smiled slightly.
"Well, looks like I'm a prefect now," Harry commented as Draco left.
"That's wonderful, Harry! Although I don't understand why Draco would give you that."
"Maybe McGonagall had a hard time deciding who would be prefect and sent Draco to deliver this," Harry simply shrugged before placing the red and silver badge with a P in the center on his robes.
"I'm sorry, Ron. But it seems we have to attend this meeting."
Ron huffed in annoyance but simply shook his hand off. He didn't seem as jealous or angry as one might expect.
"I thought you wanted to be a prefect. Aren't you angry?" Hermione asked curiously.
"While Mum would be proud, it's too much work. Besides, I can now focus more on Hogwarts Quidditch."
Hermione looked at Ron with concern before giving Harry a look. He simply ignored her before opening the cabin door and leaving. He was curious about this meeting and who the other prefects were.
As Hermione followed Harry, the two walked to the prefect cabin. When they opened the door, they noticed that it was larger than the normal cabins. That can be considered normal for how the place was used. But they noticed the decorations all around, it was like a neat and pretty little living room, there was also a table where some students were sitting.
"Potter? I was expecting Granger as a prefect, but not someone like you."
Harry smiled kindly and said,
"I thought the same, Parkinson. Draco might take his job as a prefect seriously, but you? Although noticing that you follow Draco around like a puppy, it's normal that you end up obeying everything he says."
Pansy gritted her teeth and glared at Harry.
"Harry...", Hermione glared at him sternly.
"Hey, I was just being polite."
"Okay, don't fight," a boy clapped as he stood up from the table.
"Now that we're all here, I'll tell you about your homework. My name is Marcus Turner, by the way."
Harry nodded before moving forward and taking a chair to sit down. Hermione followed immediately and sat down next to him. She looked at the other new prefects, noticing that in Ravenclaw there were Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein. And in Hufflepuff there was Hannah Abbot and Ernie MacMillan.
In Slytherin, of course, there were Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy.
"Does anyone know what prefects do?"
"Patrol the train and also the corridors of Hogwarts. As well as helping the first years," Hermione replied.
"Correct, but that's not all," Marcus nodded. "You will have the power to award and remove house points, as well as assign punishments to those who break the rules. It is a very important role and you should not abuse it. Teachers, especially the Vice-Headmistress and Headmaster can take away your badges if you do not do your job well."
"Also, you cannot take points away from other prefects. This is done to avoid conflict when prefects do not get along. If you could take points away or punish others, many would end up upset and perhaps fighting."
Everyone nodded at that. They understood the point.
"When you arrive at Hogwarts, you will be required to prepare to guide the first years to the house rooms and also help them get to their classes."
"Prefects are also tasked with helping with the decorations of the castle for the holidays: Christmas, Halloween and so on. Do you understand?"
Marcus looked at everyone and saw them nodding.
"Will we be asked to help the teachers as well?" Padma asked.
"From time to time, but teachers tend to try not to. They may be prefects now, but they're still students with their normal duties as well. They usually ask for help moving some things around or helping them organize some things in class."
"I understand," Padma nodded and made a note in a small notebook.
"Well..." Marcus nodded with a smile and looked at everyone before getting back up. "The things you need to do from now on aren't too much, but they require a lot of responsibility and some care. Don't abuse the power you'll have from now on."
"I still have to keep doing my job until we get to Hogwarts. You don't have to watch the train this time, so eat a little, chat, and use the time to get to know each other better."
Marcus left the carriage, though not without concern. He knew Parkinson and Malfoy didn't get along with Potter or Granger, probably with no one else but themselves. He didn't want a fight, but he had to leave them alone. They now had greater responsibilities than most other students. They needed to deal with it and behave more maturely.
Plus, he couldn't keep an eye on them all the time, especially since this would be their last routine on the train. Marcus Turner also wanted some peace and quiet on his last train ride to Hogwarts.
Inside the carriage, Ernie looked around at everyone a little nervously. He really didn't want to hear any arguments. His eyes darted around the place before noticing several bottles of Butterbeer. He stood up and went to get them.
"Anybody want a Butterbeer?"
"No thanks. I already have some for me," Harry smiled kindly at him before pulling out his small pouch that hung around his neck and used his wand to pull out a can of soda. Everyone blinked at that.
"How long have you been carrying that?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"For weeks now. Do you want a can?"
"No thanks. It's not good for your teeth."
Harry snorted.
"Please, Hermione. It's not like you're drinking twenty liters of cola. It's... 350 cc," Harry said with a smile, looking at the measurements on the red can.
"What kind of drink is that?" Ernie asked curiously. As a pureblood wizard, he had mostly stayed in the wizarding world. And when he was on the muggle side, he didn't buy things most of the time, mostly because he didn't fully understand them.
"Want to try?" Harry held up his can.
"Well... if you don't mind."
Harry nodded, opened the can, and handed it to Ernie. Ernie looked at it curiously before taking a small sip and blinking.
"The taste is weird. Sweet, but not as sweet as butterbeer or pumpkin juice."
"Anybody else want it?" Harry asked, looking around at everyone.
"No thanks," Padma replied with a small smile. Hannah just shook her head and frowned.
"Malfoy?"
"I'll decline," Draco replied neutrally, surprising everyone. He received strange looks, as if his answer had been odd. Harry just smiled at him, knowing why he wasn't being annoying or disrespectful.
"Why don't we agree on monitoring the corridors at night?" Padma asked.
"That's a good idea," Hermione said seriously.
"I propose that a couple patrol near the houses they don't belong to. For example, Hermione and I near Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, even Slytherin. That way, we could avoid any kind of favoritism."
"That's fair," Ernie commented. "I don't think anyone wants to favor acquaintances. Or find arguments and requests for favors with friends or acquaintances."
"How about we rotate it?" Hanna asked. "I mean every few days we patrol closer to one house or the other. For example, Monday through Wednesday, Ernie and I spend time near Gryffindor, Thursday through Friday near Ravenclaw, and on the weekend near Slytherin."
"That's a very good idea," Padma nodded.
"What do you guys think?" she asked the two Slytherins.
"It's not a bad plan. Although I'd like to make sure that Slytherins aren't punished just for being part of the house. We all know that rivalries are... more annoying than you might think at first glance. Plus, first years always end up getting the short end of the stick, especially when they barely know how things work at Hogwarts. Some might expect certain things, but in the end they're different than what they might tell you."
"Everyone should be punished impartially, no matter the house," Harry said before taking a sip of his drink.
The group nodded almost in unison.
"We can't go around punishing and taking points away from others just for belonging to one of the houses at school. It's unfair," Ernie said more forcefully than he had intended, so he stayed quiet and looked at everyone, but seeing the positive responses, he smiled a little. He had been a little nervous surrounded by students who were well-known, especially two of them, who were famous for their fights, but it seemed like everyone was being mature and responsible, which calmed Ernie a little.
All the new prefects continued talking about their duties, some less than others, like Anthony or Pansy, but each one gave their opinion. And without realizing it, they spent almost the entire trip in the prefect compartment on the train. When they realized they were almost there, they all left to get ready with their robes.
Harry had been ready, so he just quietly went back to the compartment where Ron was. When he entered, Harry found his friend sleeping with his head against the window.
"Ron!" Harry yelled a little, causing Ron to jump in fright and look around.
"Did you really have to do that, Harry?"
"Sorry, it was unavoidable," Harry smiled at him before sitting down.
"You need to change. We're almost there."
"Huh?" Ron looked out the window and blinked before scratching his head.
"You're right... What about Hermione?"
"She's on her way."
Ron nodded before pulling his robes out of his suitcase and began changing. When Hermione walked in, everyone already looked like Hogwarts students.
"Was Malfoy too much of a jerk?" Ron asked with a smile, as if he expected a positive response from his friends.
"No. He was actually a lot more polite and calm than I could have imagined. He gave his opinion on our responsibilities and came up with ideas. In fact, neither Harry nor Malfoy argued angrily. Which is quite surprising."
Harry shrugged.
"Maybe we both matured a lot more than you could ever hope for, Hermione. Besides, fighting over anything has gotten boring."
"This year looks like it'll be a lot quieter than any other," Hermione smiled excitedly.
"Hey, you can't say that kind of thing!" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "That's like putting a death flag on yourself. You're tempting Murphy, Hermione!"
"You're overreacting, Harry," Hermione rolled her eyes before snorting.
"Who's Murphy?" Ron asked innocently.
"The one who ruined countless people's buttered toast."
Hermione covered her mouth upon hearing Harry's response. She had almost spit a little at the sudden laughter that came out of the blue.
"That guy must be just as evil as He Who Must Not Be Named. You can't ruin other people's food."
Now Harry laughed, but he didn't hide it, causing Hermione to be unable to resist any longer.
"Hey, don't laugh! We better get ready to leave!" Ron shouted angrily.
"Yeah... you're right," Harry wiped away a tear before standing up and looking out the window, noticing that they were slowing down little by little.
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